Mike is the Founder of JETRO, a modern-day digital accounting firm servicing small business owners across the country. Mike has spent the majority of his career as an entrepreneur. He was CFO and co-founded several companies and has experience in all business stages.

He set out on a mission to help businesses that have seen and lived the same experiences he did in business. Mike has both a Bachelors and Masters in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant.

• CEO Hack: (1) Drinking lots of water and coffee (2) Breaks and exercise during the day
• CEO Nugget: Tax planning to make the financial difference in businesses
• CEO Defined: Leading clients and employees

Website: http://www.jetrotax.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikejesowshek/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jetroinc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jetroassociates
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jetroassociates/
Steps to Success Free Program: https://www.JETROtax.co/Challenge
Small Business Tax Secrets Free FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/taxsavings

FULL INTERVIEW

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresham from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have as Mike Jesowshek of JETRO.

Mike, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Mike Jesowshek 0:39

Awesome. Yeah. Thanks for having me. I think you hit my last name perfectly. Usually, when people try to say my last name, it comes out in all sorts of sounds and very well chatted on there.

Gresham Harkless 0:50

Yeah, there you go. Don't you see what I've been doing for the whole week just practicing to make sure I get it? Right. So definitely glad I do that. Practice makes perfect, they say Right.

Mike Jesowshek 0:59

Yeah, that's awesome.

Gresham Harkless 1:00

So Well, what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Mike so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Mike is the Founder of JETRO, a modern-day digital accounting firm servicing small business owners across the country. Mike has spent the majority of his career as an entrepreneur. He was CFO and co-founded several companies and has experience in all business stages.

He set out on a mission to help businesses that have seen and lived the same experiences he did in business. Mike has both a Bachelor's and Master's in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mike, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Mike Jesowshek 1:35

Yeah, let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 1:36

Let's do it. So the first question I had to kick everything off was to hear about what I call your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Mike Jesowshek 1:43

Yeah. So, you know, basically, I've been like you mentioned, I've been an entrepreneur all my life. And so it's, it's always been in kind of different industries, I started at a young age in the online marketing industry. And when I started in that industry, kind of just worked in different areas of that online marketing industry. And I was at the same time going through college.

So got my Bachelor's and Master's in accounting, started to get on the finance side of that marketing industry, and got the CPA license, so I really kind of want to also kind of push that that experience I got on that. And, so when we, when I was going through college, and going through that different stages in the entrepreneurial journey, you know, a co-founded multiple companies, again, mostly in the online marketing industry, and be partners with others as well.

And the last stop was at a CFO of an online marketing company, which I was also a part owner of. And what I realized when kind of working in that industry is that there was a lot of need for an accountant that was just modern day, more focused on kind of the digital age, just catering to that younger generation, the industry that we're in was the much younger generation, everyone was working remotely.

And you know, when I looked out there, there wasn't a whole lot of options out there. So that's the time when I decided about six years ago, to go off on my own, starting an accounting firm and kind of make it that digital accounting firm, that firm that most that the typical count, it's not it's not really around out in the country now. So that's what we made six years ago, and we've been digital since the beginning.

And ever since then, I really just kind of set out on a mission to take that it's those experiences I had starting companies, seeing companies grow, seeing companies sell, take those experiences that I learned and work with other clients work with other business owners that are facing those same challenges that I faced, let them know things that I've learned failures that I've had, and take the experiences, I had to help business owners and accounting, bookkeeping taxes out in that realm, in an area that a lot of business owners might not be, you know, that experienced in.

Gresham Harkless 3:50

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And a lot of times, because you're working with so many different, you know, businesses and types of, I guess, legal formations, you kind of have to have or that you don't have to have. But it really helps to be able to have, you know, some of the some of that experience to kind of lean on. But I also love the fact that, as you mentioned, I considered accountants and kind of CPAs in the finance industry, it'd be a little bit more old school.

So the fact that you have that new edge on it, I think is definitely something that's, you know, super awesome that you guys are building and you have built. So you might have already touched on this. So I guess if somebody does reach out to you, can you take us through a little bit more about what it is that you do and how a client gets started with you?

Mike Jesowshek 4:30

Yeah, so you know, we're a digital accounting firm, which lobules what does that mean? It basically just means that we work with clients all around the country. We have employees scattered around the country. So we have a small team of us here of seven. But we're all kind of scattered around.

We all work from home. And we work with clients remotely and digitally, when we're working with them and everything is cloud-based. So that's our key try to avoid paper at all costs, move everything to the cloud and encourage our clients to do the same thing.

So we work exclusively with business owners, we obviously do personal returns and personal tax for business owners, but most of our focus is 100% lasered in on small business owners. And, you know, we do accounting, bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, kind of, we have packages built out for a full-service offering so that they can come to us and really have that we're touching every point of their business.

For some clients, we only do one of those services and, we work with another professional to handle the other service for them. But we do have that offer in there if they need it. And when it comes to how we work with small businesses, we take a much more proactive kind of hands-on approach. So we don't just say, Okay, let's prepare and file your return at year-end, we'll say let's, let's dig in.

And let's use tax planning throughout the year, and let's, let's really kind of key in on your business, how can we help you grow? How can we help you out instead of just being that kind of doer in the background that produces financials or produces paper for you that you really don't understand or know? So that's really our goal is to, to take that hands-on approach working with our clients on a more, you know, daily basis.

Gresham Harkless 6:03

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Because a lot of times, you know, I think it's a wrong approach, or I shouldn't say wrong, but maybe not the best approach to actually look at your taxes only around April 15. And when you need to actually file but it's something that you can't be doing on a regular basis.

And it's great that you guys are that one-stop shop where literally anything related to that you guys can kind of help out with so. And I know you might have also touched on this, but I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for you or your organization, but what do you feel kind of makes you unique and sets you apart?

Mike Jesowshek 6:33

Yeah. So again, it's kind of that digital from that digital space where, you know, most a lot of people have this idea of an accountant of someone that they have to go into their office, they throw him a box of receipts, they go to work and come back, they give them a tax return, whatever it might be. The one thing that we did differently, again, is that digital space, so we take that that need of having to have that face-to-face meeting outside of that account.

And so we, we don't need to have those face-to-face meetings. And we can have Zoom calls or, or video calls and things like that. But they don't need to take time out of their day and travel out of their day to come to us to really kind of be able to service them. And, we look at our clients as a partner of them. So we're that CPA or accountant partnering with our clients.

And so we always say we're working for our clients, they're not working, you know, that we're working for our clients to help them in their business as a partner of some sort. So again, working throughout the year, but you know, having those hands not just one touch point during tax season.

And a lot of clients like that digital idea, because we're much more modern, and innovative, and so everything that they use their accounting program, it's in the cloud, so they access it wherever they want it wherever they need to, they can open up access partners, if they have another advisor of some sort that needs to see their financials, they can access, open up access and see live data at any point in time.

And so that's that kind of modern, innovative approach that goes in with being a digital firm is easy to access their financials, and more up-to-date financials because we're able to update it on a more regular basis. Another thing about services, is we try to let our clients, and our clients have let them know a good idea of what they're going to be paying what they're getting for that pain and no kind of surprises.

So we have flat monthly fee clients know exactly what they're paying and what they're getting for it ahead of time. At the end of the tax year, there's no kind of surprises, they're also oh, here's a big bill for this type of work. You know, we let clients know upfront, it's usually a flat monthly fee. And one other thing that we do in our firm, is we take the kind of helping out the less fortunate or giving back really seriously and we tie in our clients with that.

So based on the performances that our clients are working with us that were with us on, we're taking those metrics and determining how we're giving back. So for example, this last tax season, we gave back and we helped out those that are helping feed the homeless so we kind of worked with a program where they help recover meals that are leftover from say, restaurants and things like that.

And so they take those meals that are leftover and work with these companies to donate them to the homeless. And so last year alone, just this past tax season, we donated over 1600 meals and 2000 pounds of food. And so we always like to say that that's our clients kind of doing that work for us. We base it on the number of tax returns we do.

So we take that into consideration. And if we really see that feed off on our clients, a lot of clients will come in and say, you know, I think that's an awesome idea. I really appreciate you kind of doing that for us. We're going to do the same thing.

You know, for every deal. We close, we're going to donate this or for every, you know, contact email that we send out we're gonna do this. And so that's kind of another approach that we take is giving back and encouraging our clients that as a business owner, we often have we're much more fortunate and kind of realizing that and taking some of the funds that we have types of business to give back to others.

Gresham Harkless 10:05

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. And I love kind of like the energy that it provides. You know, a lot of times sometimes, whether it be business owners or even individuals, sometimes you don't realize the impact that you can have. But when you're able to couple that together, as you guys have been able to do where these, all your clients have been able to say, to provide all those meals for the homeless, for the people that are less fortunate, I should say, that makes a huge impact.

And then it, as you said, manifests itself in a lot of different ways where the clients start to incorporate that into their products and their services and their sales as well. So that's awesome that you guys are doing that. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app or book or a habit that you have, but something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Mike Jesowshek 10:47

Yeah, so this one might be kind of seem kind of weird. But I think as a business owner, as someone that's just working in more of an office environment, getting up and kind of doing exercise and getting out of that just funk of always sitting in front of a computer for 8-10 hours, whatever it might be.

So one thing that we have kind of implemented in my life is I drink a lot of water during the day and a lot of coffee during the day. And every time I take a bathroom break, I make sure that I do some type of exercise. So that could be set up. So that could be a plank, or that could be a pushup whatever it might be. But what it does is it helps take my mind off of it and gives me that break.

Gresham Harkless 11:23

Yeah, I absolutely love that. It's funny because I usually say I work out usually at the end of the day. And I say, that usually helps me break up my day, and it does help you to hit, you can continue to work if you want to, or you can go on to something else. But that little workout or whatever does that but incorporate that into every little aspect of the day, if you're going up to go to the bathroom, I love that kind of hack, because it kind of gives you the opportunity to kind of break away actually get some time away and then come back and be even more energized.

It sounds like. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Mike Jesowshek 11:58

You know, it really comes down to tax planning, tax planning, and tax planning with the IRS code, there's nothing wrong with a strategy that you plan out and build out to avoid making a payment to the IRS, the IRS code doesn't avoid that. And so what we say is, is tax planning is really the financial defense of your business.

Gresham Harkless 12:19

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And it's funny because you get the playbook of what exactly are going to be the taxes or how it's going to be structured. And like you said, you know, you have a proven strategy if you execute on according to whatever your business or organization is doing. But if you execute that, then that's going to give you those tax savings as long as you execute on that. But you have the playbook of what exactly you need. And it's just a matter of executing that.

So I love that CEO nugget on that reminder as well. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have a different quote-unquote, CEO on the show. So, Mike, I want to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Mike Jesowshek 12:54

One of the main things when it comes to being a CEO is really to lead. And it's to lead not only clients and people that you're working with, but also your employees. You know, being a CEO means that other people are doing a lot of the work or a lot of the day-to-day activity that needs to go on in your business. But that CEO part is making sure everything's getting done making sure that you're representing your company the way you need to. And by doing that you need good leadership.

And I think that if you have a CEO, or you're in a position where your leadership is maybe not the level it needs to be, you're gonna see that in the output of whatever your company might provide. And so I think when it comes to being a CEO, the first thing is, you're a leader.

Gresham Harkless 13:35

Yeah, absolutely. I love that kind of three-pronged definition just because it incorporates every single aspect of you know, what I would echo as well too, for being a CEO. And it's a great reminder to understand, like, all the impact that you can have, whether it be like, you know, having a great mission, or, of course, the leadership as far as the clients, and then also, of course, the people that are working with you.

So, Mike, I truly appreciate your time, what I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and our listeners know, and then of course, how best they can get a hold of you.

Mike Jesowshek 14:04

Yeah, absolutely. So you know, just to kind of touch on, you know, tax planning is one key thing, but over and above that, too. You know, I always stress that to clients. Bookkeeping should also be your number one task on what you're looking to focus on in your business.

Not only does bookkeeping make tax season easy, but bookkeeping should be really that kind of foundation for your business, that core start on where your business is growing from. So it makes tax season easy, but throughout the year, it can be so helpful to you know, you can compare your financials from this year to last year, see what went up, what went down how things changed.

If you started a marketing campaign in January, you can look at your bookkeeping, you can look at your financials to see what happened in March. What happened in April? Has that made sense? Can we make your crew Shall we do it again? Should we invest more money in advertising based on the response from that? And you know, you know, bookkeeping. Again, it's something that needs to be done right away. I think a lot of small business owners don't think bookkeeping is very important to their business.

And then at the end of the year, they have this big pile of stuff that they need to get done. And so doing it regularly is not only going to help in that tax season piece, but it's also going to help your business grow, understand where you've been, but also use that information for budgeting forecasting and see where you're going to go based on prior information.

As far as reaching out to us, you can catch us online. So our website is www.jetrotax.com. We also have a podcast. So we do a small business tax savings podcast where we share little tidbits of information, I try to make it quick and easy. So clients are there so listeners aren't just inundated with a bunch of information. So it's low quick tidbits.

So if you search small business tax savings podcast, you can find it that way. You can go to taxsavingspodcast.com And our information will be there as well. If you want to reach out to me via email, our email sales@jetrotax.com, and obviously, any kind of social media site or anything like that, if you've adapted to the good old-fashioned phone kind of communication, our phone number is 844 Easy CPA.

Gresham Harkless 16:12

Awesome, awesome, awesome, man. We'll make sure to have all those links in the show notes as well. So Mike, I truly appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day

Mike Jesowshek 16:19

Yeah. Gresham, thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

Outro 16:23

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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