Profit Through People: Jonathan Maharaj Builds Human-Centered Growth That Improves Cash Flow | Ep. 214

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:00:00

The purpose of business ultimately is to make profit, right? We as accountants are the masters of preparing the data and finding ways to, you know, improve results. And I think there's many ways to it, right?

You can increase your revenue, you can reduce your costs. People always remember how you made them feel.

And if your staff, if your customers, if your suppliers, your lenders, your investors, if any of these stakeholders feel like they are disposable, they, they will lose their trust in you and your business will slowly decrease in value and growth and all of those things. But I am the world's biggest super fan.

Intro/Outro: 00:00:38

You're like a super fan. Welcome to the Business Superfans podcast.

We will discuss how establishing business superfans from customers, employees and business partners can elevate your success exponentially. Learn why these advocates are a key factor to achieving excellence in the world of commerce.

We discuss the invaluable insights of business owner who have successfully implemented the strategies in the book to build their own team of devoted superfans. Gain insightful knowledge from the experts who create applications that help you create passionate superfans.

This is the Business Superfans podcast with your host, Freddie D. Freddy Freddie Foreign.

Freddy D: 00:01:29

Hey super fans. Freddie D. Here and welcome to episode 214 of the Business Superfans Advantage podcast.

In this episode we're joined by Jonathan Maharaj, founder of Aurora Financials. Jonathan helped service based business leaders solve one of the biggest challenges in business.

Making confident decisions when the numbers feel unclear, the market is shifting and the next move really matters.

With more than 20 years across auditing, consulting and strategic finance, Jonathan has worked with founders, executives, listed companies and global brands. His career has taken him from traditional financial roles to building a high trust remote first advisory firm grounded in what truly sets him apart.

A people centric first approach. If you ever wished your financials gave you more clarity, confidence and direction.

Jonathan's philosophy of helping people first and trusting that the money follows offers a better path forward.

Freddy D: 00:02:31

Welcome Jonathan to the Business Superfans Advantage. Great conversation that we had before we started recording. So let's continue that conversation. Welcome to the show.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:02:41

Thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity to be here.

Freddy D: 00:02:44

Yeah, and you were all the way down from Wellington, New Zealand, from what I understand.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:02:49

Yes, I speak to you from the future. It's a day ahead but everything is as it was yesterday.

Freddy D: 00:02:56

Yeah, yeah. I like said before we started recording, I've been down to the country three times.

I love New Zealand and so I'm grateful for you to share your time with our listeners.

So Jonathan, you're into the financial space and in accounting and things like that, but share the story of what led you down that road to what you do today, which is working with businesses and helping them really get their financial, not just books and stuff in order, but really long term financial strategies that I don't think a lot of people are just reactionary. You really help them be proactive with a mission and a direction.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:03:34

Thank you. I grew up in a place called Fiji. A very beautiful place, wonderful people.

And I'm grateful for the upbringing there because Fiji is a third world country.

We, we don't have a lot materially, but you, you grow up with people who are willing to share what they have, you know, and that builds a lot of char in business. I think it's all about trust, it's all about connection, it's all about resonating with other human beings.

And the reason I left Fiji was because even though it's a very beautiful place, it's a paradox. It's a paradox between beauty and this chaos. Because growing up, we had four military coups as I was growing up.

And you see a lot of that instability as a young person and you wonder, hey, will things change or will things keep going the way they are? Fiji is a former colonial territory. It's still finding its way in terms of democracy. Right.

And so after I finished university, I moved to New Zealand. I studied accounting and computer science at university mainly because my mom was a big influence on my life.

Would ask some of her colleagues at work, you know, what are some careers that my son can study for that would future proof his career in over 40 years. And they said technology because things are going to keep changing and accounting, which is the language of business.

And so after I graduated, I worked at PwC and moved across to New Zealand and, and worked my way up in the traditional accounting firm way and then just started to see things that I thought I could do better. And you know, many people get into entrepreneurship because employment is not really cut out for us. It's, it's a very hard thing to describe.

But you know, when you see things and you want to innovate and you can see ways to improve the value for your customers and then you get the pushback of, we've always done it this way and there's a whole channel that you have to go through to do things, it grates on you.

And I just got tired of having a ceiling on my progression and I thought I would love to just create value for people without, without the barriers and so that's what led me to the work that I do in my firm at the moment with clients. And I'm really enjoying it.

Freddy D: 00:05:34

What a story. I mean, didn't realize that you were originally from Fiji. It's a place I have not been to.

It's next to Tahiti, so I've got to go check it out on our bucket list of places to visit. But what made you go from Fiji to New Zealand in the first place? Why New Zealand?

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:05:51

New Zealand is just three hours away from Fiji. So it felt like it was close. My first trip when I was young, I was a teenager was to the us.

I was got a scholarship for Journey Achievement to go to one of its global trade conferences.

And so my first ever trip was to the US And I remember like flying there and I was like, wow, you know, so I'm always a fan of the US and its history. And for me, New Zealand and Australia was just very close. You know, they were the most developed countries in our region.

And I think there was a lot of cultural similar popularity and mainly because I knew that if things did not work out, I was just only a three hour flight away from home. I could go back and I could restart.

But my story was I had a, I was working in a big four accounting firm, I was in an audit role and Fiji had had its fourth coup at that time. And you know, as a young person now, like you've qualified and you know, accounting skills are always in demand, right?

Everywhere in the world there is a need for financial professionals because many people make bad financial decisions. And you know, if you have good people, you can save and you can grow.

So the true story is a, I, I had applied to Migrate and as I was waiting for all of that, I got a, I got a weird request from somebody because at that time it was a military takeover, right? And so things were very chaotic.

And one of the clients that I was working on, my last, my last audit at PWCI was up for two and a half days basically with a graduate trying to turn around this business and finish the audit and fix their accounts. And at the end of it, one of the managers just walked up to me and said, hey, we want you to work with us.

We'll put $30,000 into your bank account, no questions asked. And that kind of gave me a bit of goosebumps because I've never taken a bribe, never.

And I knew that that was the signal that, hey, it's time to leave. Because back then that was almost like an annual salary you know, that's the offer and many people, they take it and they'd be blinded by it.

But for me, I was like, you know, I grew up going to church and I, I, I always, you know, there is a certain line you do not cross, right? And you try and do good. So I moved across to New Zealand. It was a struggle. It was during the gfc. I was out of work for quite a bit of time.

I had to study, I had to basically start from scratch without having any networks. And you know, as a young person, you start to question your value.

You know, you bring all of these qualifications and experience and then you're in a place that doesn' nice overseas experience because they want you to be having local experience. And so you kind of question your value and your self worth.

But really I'm grateful to my mom because she, at a very young age instilled in me this growth mindset. Before we started talking about what growth mindset really was, right? She'd always say, hey, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Always be the guy that puts your hand up and asks questions in the class, right? Go out and help people.

Like, we were such a charitable family, even though we didn't have a lot, but we had a, I had a, a happy upbringing, you know, so moving to New Zealand, you've got to, you've got to have your struggles at some point, right? And so for me, that was the toughest time.

I think that move at gfc, being out of work and having the economic conditions such that people didn't want to hire and you know, that balance of like, hey, I know I've got value, but I just need someone to give me an opportunity.

So I'm grateful that I had that challenging time as a young person because you make your mistakes, you learn your lessons, and then when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up. And I think from there on, you know, you just don't take any opportunity for granted. You keep doing your best, you keep adding value for others.

You do good and good comes your way. Since that's kind of been my journey.

Freddy D: 00:09:27

Yeah, you get, I mean, it's a great story now, you know, now we got into the real depth of it.

But you know, I can relate in a way because I left my house at 17 years old because of, you know, my dad and I did not get along and it just, and he was a product of World War II and so he had his challenges and things like that and he, he didn't know how to get Rid of some of that stuff. But that helped me also kind of, you know, remember paying rent at renting a bedroom in someone's house.

Cause I was working, doing drafting work back in high school.

I was still in high school, and I finished high school, graduated, but I, you know, was living on my own for almost a year and a half before I graduated. So I can appreciate the challenges that you went through. It really helps you become who you are because you realize that, okay, I can overcome this.

And now I have confidence in myself. And then that just propels.

The other thing that I would really emphasize is that your mom really instilled a positive outlook and a give to the universe. I'll word it that way. And you give out to the universe, the Universe gives back.

Freddy D: 00:10:37

10 Times now.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:10:40

You've nailed it on the head. And I think many people, like I have this philosophy of help people first and the money will come.

And the reason I say that is because if I were to break down business to its real core, like essence, what is it? There is a problem. You have a solution, and you can deliver that solution to solve this problem for less than what people are willing to pay for it.

That's business. And at the heart of it is people, you know, like, yes, we've got AI and technology and systems and processes and all of this stuff.

But, you know, I've worked in some big organizations, and what I found is the bigger the organization, you know, they end up floating in the clouds. They fly, their feet have left the ground. You know, they're disconnected from their customers. And that is, you know, you become irrelevant.

And so a good example, the company Kodak. Right, Kodak, with its printable images. Yeah, they developed the digital camera, right. And it was revolutionary.

But it was not released by the company because it would cannibalize its existing business. So what did they do? They just locked it away. And then eventually others were able to kind of develop their own versions of it. And.

And that kind of made the company irrelevant. So for me, I think you've got to be very, you know, your customer is here. If your team is way across here, you're going to be disconnected.

You've got to be as close as you can to them so that you can empathize with what they're going through. And I feel that the journey has always been, for me, that whatever we do, we try and help people. You can't help everyone.

And I don't mean like business needs to be a charity because you have to make money to pay bills and Everything.

But what I mean is that if you really understand what your customers are going through, 90% of the calls I get from my customers are not about accounting or audit or consulting or the work we do. It's about the challenges that they're going through. And maybe it's my voice or the way I speak, but they just start opening up to me.

And I'm not a counselor, but they tell me what they're going through and I go, you know what? I'm going to help you. We'll, we'll get through this together and we'll walk through the process.

And I feel that, you know, if you resonate with not business to business or business to consumer, but human to human, you've done something that many big corporates have not done, which is commoditize the customer. Every customer is different. You have to have a standardized offering of your services and products in order to kind of be efficient.

But never, never stop listening, never stop improving, never stop like taking on feedback and finding way to keep improving. So I think that was quite important for me.

Freddy D: 00:13:15

Sure. And what you just described is how you created what I call a business superfan.

Because it's really when, you know, one of my quotes in my book is people crawl through broken glass for appreciation and recognition.

And what you just described there is basically recognizing that person with the challenges that they're going through and being a friend more than a business guy. Because at the end of the day, people do business with people they like and trust.

And so by building that friendship, your connecting with them on a personal level, and then you're helping them achieve their aspirations in the business level. And when you start pulling people up or helping people, pushing people towards their goals, that's how you create superfans.

Because those relationships go beyond the business aspect and they carry on for years.

I still have friends all over the world from the distributors I set up because I spent time building relationships with them and understanding some of the challenges to the point where people invited me to their houses and stay with me. They would pick me up at the airport, I'm flying, and I'm the guy in charge of global sales.

They'd pick me up, invite me into their home, give me, cook food for me and all that stuff. I'm a super fan of them.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:14:30

No, that's an incredible story. And I think for me, we can't forget. We can't forget that we're human beings, right?

No matter what sort of achievements we have or accolades in our journey, we, as we look at Other people, we've got to realize that they too are going through their own challenges. I started off my career as an auditor and we do audit services in my business.

And it's a really good profession to be in because you get exposure to strategy and then operations and then processes and all of that. And when I look at issues within businesses or organizations, you know, there's three main buckets that the issue could be in.

It could be a system issue, it could be a process issue, or it could be a people issue. And I tell you, in my experience, it's always a people issue.

And the reason for that is because you could have an amazing system and an amazing process. But if people are not doing things the way it should be done, all the culture is not right, all the leadership fails. Right.

All of those things contribute to business challenges.

And so for me, my approach to business and to work and even recruitment and sales and everything is to really be as human as possible and understand that if somebody has a need for a solution to their product, it might just not be that they need the product. It might be there's certain other root causes of the challenges that they're going through.

And so my role is to help uncover that through questions, through empathy, through listening, and basically be the most relevant help that I can be. And sometimes you are not the right solution for them. And if that's the case, I'm very upfront with potential clients.

I'm like, look, I'm sure there's a better provider out there that can meet your underlying need. Not me, because for me it's nice to have sales, but I want sustainable long term sales with people who I love working with, who want to work with me.

And we all get along and we're happy, we're supportive, and like the young people say, there's good vibes and everyone's on the same page, we're moving towards the same goal versus in some corporate organizations where you have to, you know, it's bigger and there's a lot of bureaucracy and the culture and all of these other stuff. That's not me. I'm not a political person. I am a person that, you know, sees what the issue is and does my best to help.

And if upper layers of management and the board don't want to do that, there's really only so much that you can do. Right. And you just, you just have to step back and let, Let things run its course. Yeah.

Freddy D: 00:16:54

And I want to emphasize something that you brought up, Jonathan, and the fact that, you know, if you can't help the people. You'll step away or point them in a direction that someone else can help them with their specific needs.

That's how I sold when I sold manufacturing software for years. But that's how you create.

You still create a super fan out of that person because of the fact that they respect you for not trying to shove your solution down their throat. That wasn't going to necessarily do the job. And now they're becoming your champion.

I prefer the term superfan where they're going to tell other people about your integrity and maybe you weren't able to help them, but they will probably know somebody that your services and technology and whatever it is that you've, you're providing to somebody else.

And that collapses that whole sales cycle because of the fact that now Mike says, you need to talk to my buddy and it's gonna be the verbiage, my friend Jonathan, he's gonna be able to help you that solution and that whole sales cycle has collapsed just like that.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:17:58

Yeah, we call it word of mouth referral. Right. That's the simplest, but the best way to get new business.

And somebody will only recommend you when they genuinely trust that you are the best solution. And they believe, you know, that what you've done for them, you can do for others.

So in my journey at building, like you say, superfans, my goal has always been to really have a consistent approach to everyone. Right. Every one of our audit clients gets through the same process, they get the same information requests.

We may tailor it to add a few more things depending on their industry. We look to find efficiencies, we don't have a fancy office that we'll have to increase our overheads. We are agile, we work like a startup. Right?

Right. And we do a lot of these things because we think, you know, there's three things that I think, you know, there's a paradigm like a triangle, right.

In terms of business, there's price, there's quality and there's time. Right. And, and typically like if you want something done faster to a higher quality, you'll have to pay more. Right.

So it's kind of a trade off because you can get two, but not, not the third one. And so for me, I think about how we can compete on all three dimensions.

We're not a huge firm, but, but the way we compete, the way we treat people, the way we win awards and deliver services in a very human centric way means that we are winning clients of the likes of PwC and all of these Bigger firms, because the bigger you get, your focus is on the hundreds and the million dollar clients that buy government and all of this stuff because that's going to pay your overheads. Right.

Whereas for us, my passion has always been small to medium sized enterprises and businesses mainly because they need the quality that comes with these bigger firms. But they can't afford to have 10 people sit down in the office, right? They want efficiency.

And so we found that sweet spot of quality at a fair price and service delivery. And so that in itself is like the little speck of, you know, the snowball that's rolling down the hill. Right.

And then eventually it begins critical of mass and then you become unstoppable. But you know, on your business journey to creating, we call it loyal customers or customers that are advocates say, put it in.

If you look at the net promoter,.

Freddy D: 00:20:09

Business super fans, it's called business super fans, those things.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:20:12

Yeah, the people that will back you all the way. Right.

And so I have an example that I want to share with you right through my network of cpa, with my CPA membership, I had a request from someone in Australia who needed assistance for someone based in Australia with their New Zealand tax requirements. And I said, hey, I'm happy to help.

And I got in touch with this lady, she lived in New Zealand 20 odd years ago and basically was getting a letter from the tax department in New Zealand because, you know, they can find you, they will find you wherever you go. And she thought it was a scam until she started really getting letters and then she realized, hey, I think I need to really do something about it.

So we onboarded her as the tax agent and the story goes that the tax department here was alleging that she had 40 to $50,000 of student loan debt. And in, and you know, back, you know, like I had to walk through, like, hey, let's go back 20 years.

Like when you were living here, what was your situation? So her thinking was, I don't recall signing a student loan agreement. I, I think I had a training grant. And I was a single mom.

I had two young kids, one of them had medical issues. And you're a single mom trying to get by with two young kids. You want to improve yourself. And education was one of those ways.

And as we walked through her circumstances, the human being and the empathy in me kind of clicked and said, you know what, what?

Yes, I've quoted you a price, but I just don't think I can take any money from you because I feel like I need to help you get through this, and we will.

And so my first task as her advocate was basically to go back to the tax department to say, hey, look, we don't think there's a loan based on, you know, my client's recollections. This is what's happened.

And sure enough, ready, 20 odd years ago, they've managed to find a document that was scanned in their system and they clearly provided a loan agreement with the signature. And so I told my client, like, look, we can't argue it wasn't a loan. Now we've got to just sort this out.

And so I asked her, how much can you realistically pay? And she said, probably 20, 20 something thousand. I'll sell my vehicle. Her husband was going through cancer treatment.

Her kids were a bit bigger, but still, because of their health issues, were still dependent, right? Lost her business during COVID because of shutdowns in Australia.

And so it pulls on your heartstrings because I got to see what my mom was struggling through when I was growing up and I'm like, you know what, I want to help. So I wrote to the tax department and I wrote with empathy and like a human being, right? And I said, we're not even taking any money from this person.

This is the maximum that they can afford. You have the discretion to waive fees. They are super interested in getting this all settled. Please, can you exercise your discretion?

And they did, Freddie. They reduced the debt from 40 to 50,000 to the 20, 20 something thousand that she could afford.

I called her and I said, hey, I want you to know, can we talk?

When I gave her the news, there was this silence and there was this kind of response with tears and the joy of, like, the relief that now I can just focus on the bigger challenges that I'm going through with my family, with the health and the husband and all of this stuff and trying to make a way forward after losing the business and having that resolved. She asked me, is there anything that I can do? I'm happy to pay you.

And I'm like, this is one of those cases where I, I don't want to take anything because I don't want to taint it. My gift growing up was teaching. I never wanted to be a teacher because I never wanted money to be, you know, you wanted to keep your passion pure.

You wanted to help people. You want to be able to share your knowledge and you learn more and do all this stuff.

And so, like, for me, I said, look, I'm really grateful for your offer, but I don't. I Don't want the money. I just want you to know that, that I'm so grateful to have been a part of your journey.

In my experience, what I find is that, you know, the world needs good leaders, leaders who genuinely have empathy. Not fake empathy, real empathy.

People who see human to human and realize that, hey, the decisions that I'm going to make in my organization may mean job losses, may mean difficult decisions, may mean restructuring, may mean like, we've got to merge or acquire another business or sell off this out. And in finance, unfortunately, the CFOs like us, we have to be the ones to justify those decisions. And it's hard in our profession.

And for me, the hardest thing is when you know that there's going to be a human impact of your decision. But you've got to do the best that you can to lead the right way, right? And a lot of times, many leaders, they don't front the difficult decisions.

They do the zoom call and fire thousands of people with an email and this and that.

And you know what that does is it not only destroys the confidence of the existing employees that you have in your business in terms of how they will be treated, but also your customers look at it and go, I don't want to work with people who treat their, you know, they call them family, right? Our staff are our family or our assets, and this is how you treat them.

And so for me, I'm like, no, be the leader that turns up in the front and says, you know what, guys, the economic times are such a challenge.

We've done our best to revive the business, to turn it around, but we have to make difficult decisions and be able to take it, Take the feedback, take the anger, take the disappointment that people have and be there within as they go through that process of grief, and then helping them to support them, to find other work as they go forward. I feel like if you, if I.

Freddy D: 00:25:41

Want to emphasize something here, Jonathan, and that a lot of people don't think about is customers will know what took place. Even though you don't tell them, it will. It will get to them one way or another.

I mean, people will talk the street, talk, all that stuff, and it gets to them.

So I want to really emphasize that people may not think that, okay, we're going to get rid of 100 people, 200 hundred people, whatever it is, and it's not going to have a bad impact on the business because we got to look at the bottom line. And yes, you got to pay attention to the bottom line, but you need to have the messaging properly.

And where I've seen companies do an excellent job is that, okay, we've got to reduce staff.

But what we're going to do is we're going to set up a department to help that staff find new jobs so that they can propel now somebody, a customer or a vendor or supplier, complimentary business, hears about that, their whole mindset go, all right, I can understand this stuff. And these guys are doing the right thing by their people. Their people are super fans of the company.

Even though they lost a job, they may end up getting a better job because of the help that the company did. And it's a win for everybody. It's a W across the board. And I completely agree.

People sometimes can't see further than their nose because they're looking at the numbers. It's a business transaction and that's it. Sorry to be you. And off we go. And nobody wants to work for that kind of a company.

I've gone through it myself. I was a district manager for a company, and we got acquired by another company.

Of course, they put in their management in charge because they were the acquiring company. And so there was two district managers. Even though I was doing quite well, I wasn't part of their team, I was part of the other team.

So there was an overlap. I got the bullet and said, sorry, you know, there's an overlap and there's no other position, so you've got to go.

And I was like, wait a minute, minute. You know, since the holidays are coming up and everything else, can't you just wait till first week of January? Nope.

Make sure the numbers are clean for the end of the year.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:27:43

You've. You've touched on the brutal reality of business, right?

I mean, I think there is a place for business and capital generation and wealth and all the other kind of stuff, right? And the purpose of business ultimately is to make profit, right?

We as accountants are the masters of preparing the data and finding ways to improve results. And I think, think there's many ways to it, right? You can increase your revenue, you can reduce your costs.

Ultimately, like you've said, people always remember how you made them feel.

And if your staff, if your customers, if your suppliers, your lenders, your investors, if any of these stakeholders feel like they are disposable, they will lose their trust in you and your business will slowly decrease in value and growth and all of those things.

And many times I get prolonged on to turnaround businesses because they've lost their way and they don't know what the root cause is of the issues that they're facing. And the bigger you get and the more management layers you have. Like, everybody's incentivized to look after numero uno, right.

Themselves and to try and work their way up the totem pole, right? But many employees get sold this illusion of job security. But the reality is, is every job can be taken away at any point of time.

It's just a matter of time, right? Depending on employment law, right. In the US People can lose their jobs almost on the spot.

And in New Zealand, there's a whole process that you've got to go through to talk about performance and give them an opportunity.

And even if you go through the whole thing, you still can get litigation about how you were treated and people's feelings hurt and all this other stuff.

And so for me, the simplest way is to just be consistent as a leader leader and build a culture where people feel comfortable sharing what they're going through. Again, we can't solve all of society's issues through a business because every business is set up for a specific purpose, right?

And while we try to be good corporate citizens and we try to do our best for our staff and our customers, there's a lot of stuff we cannot do.

But one thing we can do is lead with empathy and also be the type of leaders that really can understand what this decision is going to feel like and be like for the people that are going to be on the other side.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are times where you have to make tough decisions and you have to use your mind and the logic rather than the feelings, because those are the two components of, like, what most of us have to use when we do make decisions. But it's about how you go about it, right? I, you know, and the holidays and being let off before the holidays, it just shows.

I mean, like, it's just a few weeks of pay, right? You'd still have to hand over and do all of the other kind of stuff.

But the feeling of being disposable, it leaves this bitter taste when people leave, right? And Glassdoor is full of many reviews about how people felt.

Freddy D: 00:30:40

Let's get into a little bit that you do work globally. And so let's talk a little bit about that and also some of all the different services that you guys offer.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:30:50

Thank you.

So because we are a CPA Australia firm, we are regulated, and I would say in the Aurora financials firm that I have, we do audit, which is the main service, accounting, tax and consulting.

I Am not able to do tax accounting and audit globally for certain countries because, you know, in the US you have to be a CPA in California in order to audit in California. And so, so you just, you can't scale that unless you're in a multinational office.

But the consulting arm is the one that we offer services to clients. In most cases, people. People need an experienced financial expert that can walk with them through what they're going through. Right.

They may be going through some issues such as they're losing money, cash flow is not good, they've lost a major contract, they don't know how it's going to affect their business going forward. Because in many cases the founder is not, not really great at finance.

They probably are a technical expert with building the system, or they could be great with sales and marketing and all the other kind of stuff. And typically I get brought in when there's a turnaround that's needed to be done in the business. So things are not going as they should.

So I created this profit partner program where I guarantee that in I think it's 90 days or so that we will reduce losses or increase profit by I think, at least 15% it. And the guarantee is that if we don't, we don't get paid.

And the reason I am able to kind of offer that to people is because I know based on my experience what works and how to turn around a business. The only challenge that I find is that if you're an external person coming in to help fix a business, the founder can always overrule you. Right. If.

If they don't want to make changes.

And so for me, it's like, hey, but if you're following everything in the plan and we do doing it the way I've advised you should see the same results. But if people choose not to listen, then there's only so much you can do, right? Like, sometimes I think of it like there's an issue.

You go to the doctor, you sit down with the doctor, they diagnose you and they offer you a solution in terms of medication or treatment or whatever. But they're not going to be sitting there next to you watching you take what was prescribed to you or follow through.

You have to take accountability for that.

And so what I would describe as my work, I kind of work at the intersection of people, culture and finance because I feel that there is a bit of a cultural mindset change that's needed in order to fix the root causes of what is holding many businesses back from scaling.

These are issues that have probably been pushed under the rug for many years as you focused on growth and funding and all of this stuff, but now it's bigger because you neglected it.

Freddy D: 00:33:35

Sure.

Freddy D: 00:33:35

And that's where I kind of go back with the analogy of you got to get everybody into a racing rowboat where everybody has one, or. And you got the coxswan at the front and getting everybody in rhythm.

And first you got to get back to the vision and the direction, because once you get everybody in line, then that transcends through the whole business ecosystem.

I had one guest on the show that said everybody that's talking to everybody externally is a director of first impressions, and they should be treated as a director, not as the customer service person,.

Freddy D: 00:34:07

Because that's the front line.

Freddy D: 00:34:09

So you're really right about that.

And that brings me to share a story is that I, you know, I've shared this before on a show, but it's applicable is I work with the language services company a couple years ago, and they had been in business for 30 years, husband and wife team. They've been 901.1 million, 1.2 million, 1 million, 1.1 million, 50, you know, stuck there.

And I came in as a CRO initially, then I flipped the hat and became a CMO to redo some of their story and their branding and everything else.

And then I became flipped the other hat and became the COO and brought in technology and systems and stuff in place, and we started to grow the company. The goal was that they wanted me to run the company, and they were going to retire and travel the world.

He unfortunately passed away unexpectedly, and the wife didn't have the skill sets to run the company. So I took it over.

And the first thing I did was kind of like what you're talking about got everybody aligned, and here's where we want to go and here's the goals that we're setting. And then it was really looking how can I pull people up? And it was one of the. The team members.

She had challenges with depression and stuff like that. And so there's days that she had. Wasn't able to make it to the. To the office.

And you can't get rid of somebody like that because that's a whole nother conversation. But what I ended up doing was I ended up giving her more responsibilities and more trust in her, which gave her purpose.

And so she started to level up and come up with ideas and everything else. Long story short short, that department was doing under 100 grand a year, which was a document Translation department.

sition and it got acquired in: 2024

So I had to bring in a forensic accounting firm to fix the books because that was a mess. So really can appreciate what you and your team bring to the table because what you've been talking about throughout the whole show is a com.

All of it, all parts come into a play into it because. And a lot of people forget that and they come in and this is all we're doing and this is what we're fixing and we're doing that.

But none of it's interconnected. And if it's not interconnected, it doesn't work.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:36:30

One of the things that I always say when I look at the books, accountants will look at the books and see transactions. I actually see people.

I actually see the story of the business and how it got to where it was going and the decisions that were made and the mistakes, they're all in there. And so for me, the lowest level of value that an accountant can do is the bookkeeping. Right? Just preparing the records. It's very mechanical.

The highest level is to really help the human condition.

And I describe that as being advocates for change or financial experts that can truly make a difference in the lives of our clients and the businesses that we work with. And the reason why I say that is because we just don't do tax return. We just don't do bookkeeping. We've done everything.

So whenever there's an issue, we can look at it and we can see all around it, we know where the issue is.

But the hard thing is working with people to change, working with people to be willing to make the right decisions so that your team is firstly in aligned with the vision. Like you mentioned, everyone is on the same bus. We're going through the same destination.

Because your team are the ones who are going to be customer focus facing you as the business owner and the founder. You can't be everywhere. There's a limit on your, your availability and your time. So you need people who are extensions of yourself.

If you want business super fans, your employees need to be your supervans, right? They need to believe that hey, if we're going to exactly double or triple our sales, this is going to be.

There's going to be a link between outcome or output to do some progression and benefit for me, because if there is a disconnect between that, what's the point? Why do you want to put 20% more effort?

Because even if you do, you're not going to get a return, you're just going to get the marginal increase that you'll get every year. And so the philosophy I have is with businesses that you have to be customer centric.

And to do that, just be human to human, like, well, everybody's a customer. Understand what customer agreed.

We just, we just start calling them stakeholders or internal, external, like users of information or all of this stuff.

But at the end of the day, if you really want to grow your business fast, make sure that people are happy, people are happy working with you or getting your service.

And they're like, wow, you were able to achieve the outcome faster, cheaper and better then the previous provider, like capture the testimonial, put it onto your website. That in itself is bill, script, goodwill. And in this day and age I'm.

Freddy D: 00:39:06

Going to add to that real quick, is that it's more than just customers.

And I want to really emphasize that because I look at the business ecosystem and you do too, is it starts internally, it transcends externally to customers, suppliers and vendors.

If you got distribution, it goes into distribution, it goes into complimentary businesses and it also goes into who people never think about as ancillary businesses. That at the end of the day is the real business ecosystem. That's the growth engine that you're talking about. And so the team is absolutely correct.

They've got to believe in the vision, they got to believe in the leadership because the leadership believes in the team. And so in the team now that transcends to the suppliers and vendors you're talking with.

And that's how favors and things happen and better deals and better margins and everything else. Because everybody's looking to help each other. And that's how you get that growth going that you're talking about.

And everybody's excited, excited because it's a collective effort.

And I think people forget to share with their external complementary vendors and et cetera, what their mission is so that these people know what is expected for them to help. Want people want to help you. You just got to ask and give them the information that they need.

So they say, okay, yeah, I want to help you get to another million. What can we do to help make that happen? Well, we need this and this. And I always say is the little things are really the big things.

Saying I appreciate your extra effort, Jonathan, on this particular project is a very little thing. But to you it's a huge thing.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:40:41

You've raised some really Good points there, Freddie. And if I can add, many businesses, they focus on sales because they say sales cues all and sales is really important.

But sales like we've all been sold to in the highest hard selling way, where somebody is really after the money, not treating the person well and not making them feel comfortable. Right? That's the hard sell. That's the old way sales has really evolved because now there is no longer information asymmetry. Right.

You know, 30, 40 years back before the Internet, you could walk up to buy a car. You didn't know too much about market values and all until you started calling people and traveling around.

But nowadays, consumers have so much information available that they can make informed decisions even without meeting you. And so the way to sell now, it's more social selling. You have to have social proof.

You have to have credentials from a reputable accounting professional body or a university, or you have to have testimonials up there. You have to be willing to put yourself out there so that people can see you in 3D form or even online and hear you and see you and feel like, hey.

And so for me, my approach with my team and how we hire as well, there's one area that we look at as well in our hiring process and that's care. And it's a very odd thing to hire for in the finance professional like care. But the questions that we ask in the interview really are designed.

And one of the questions is, can you give me an example of a time that you made a difference in somebody else's life? Doesn't have to be professional anything. And that question is really designed to elicit it. Does this person have genuine care for others?

Because if they don't, how will they care about my client that they are trying to prepare books for, or help them with their audit, or help them through a consulting way to fix an underlying issue. Right. If they cannot empathize with them? And I feel like if you really want the sale, I don't think about the sale. Think about the person.

What are their needs and wants?

How best can you be the most relevant, reliable person that they'll choose you because you genuinely believe in, because you care about helping the person, you care about solving the problem they're going through. And that in your bones that you are the best person to do that because you're aligned with your values, your team are already on the same bus.

You know where you're heading, you know how you can help them. What I will say to your audience as well is you can't Help any, everyone.

Even if, you know, like the price was the lower than a competitor, the quality was better than a competitor, you were able to deliver it faster than the competitor. For some unknown reason, people can still not choose you because you can't be everything to everyone.

And so it's okay, you know, like, for me, if clients don't want to work with me, it's okay because there will be others who align.

And I feel that you can add the most value when you are selective in terms of your ICP and the clients that you want to deal with, the people that you, you hire to work with you, because then everybody is aligned from start to finish on the customers at the center of what we do. We want them to be super fans, we want them to be highly engaged.

There is no point getting a client just for one year or one project or one engagement, right? Because our business model in accounting and finance is, is repetition.

Everyone needs a financial statement done every year and audit done or something. You want to build value over long term.

And, and one of the benefits that I do give to my clients is I don't actually charge them for phone calls or emails or even attending their annual general meetings or board meetings.

Because my approach is, I want to be able to help you without you worrying about, hey, is this bill gonna cost me x hundred or x thousand dollars talking to this person? I'm like, no, let's just remove all of these ceilings and doors and things that are the barriers to the solution that you need and let me help you.

And they like that, because when I turn up to an agm, I mean, I'm getting asked the hard questions and I'm like, I'm the auditor, the accountant is there. They're the ones that can drive a lot of this stuff.

But people like that because people like when people front, you know, and they're able to handle the pressure. And in most cases, in my experience, I've always been the youngest one in the board meeting or trying to turn around a company, right?

And even though you're young, your experience with what you, you've dealt with, you know, all through that journey, the challenges, helping people, all this stuff, no one takes it away from you. And so I'm grateful. I grew up in Fiji. Like I said, my dream was always to study at Harvard.

And life, political issues, all these challenges meant that I never got the opportunity when I was younger. And then you grow older, you have a business, you have a family, and you wonder, hey, is it possible?

And then two years ago, I realized that Harvard had an extension school where you can study remotely at your pace. And I am eight courses into my 12 course management master's degree and I want to graduate in two years.

Freddy D: 00:45:38

Congratulations.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:45:39

In two years. And really my story, because I go out and I talk to, you know, students in high schools and universities and all that.

I'm like my, my mom never got to finish high school. She was the best in her class, but financial resources, right, she had to start working. I was the first in my family to be a university graduate.

And in two years I will be a Harvard graduate.

And, and when I graduate, I want to be able to look back and tell my two preschool sons that we were able to go from your grandma in one generation not being able to finish high school to your dad being a first year university graduate, to being a Harvard graduate in one generation. And I grew up in Fiji where we don't have much resources, right? And so really my story, and this is what makes us unique, right?

Your product, your service might be repeatable like others are doing an audit, others are doing accounts, others are doing tax returns. There's so many consulting firms out there, why would somebody choose you?

And I bring it back to this formula of V R I N valuable, rare, hard to imitate, non substitutable and you know what meets all of the criteria. Each of us individually is unique on earth and we have to just be our unique selves.

And our story is unique to us and it resonates with some, it not resonate with others. That's okay.

But I want to tell my boys and to anyone who's listening that if, you know, I believe if you work hard enough and smart enough and you look after and you do good, good will come your way.

That's been my story, that's been my journey and that just helps me not get distracted as we scale because I'm always about are we, are we solving what our customers need us for.

Freddy D: 00:47:23

Great conversation. Jonathan. Jonathan, as we come close to the end of the show here, how can, how can people find you?

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:47:31

Thank you very much. So yeah, if people want to connect with me, I am on LinkedIn. I also have two websites. I'll share the link with Freddie.

One is my personal website where I talk basically about what I do in terms of personal branding and consulting and public speaking. And the other one is my firms website which covers a range of services. But yeah, I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation with anyone.

Please just let me know if you want to connect on LinkedIn that you heard me. On this and I will connect with you and I would be grateful to learn more about you and help wherever I can.

So thank you so much for the opportunity of being here.

Freddy D: 00:48:06

Jonathan, thank you so much for being on the show. Great conversation. You and I could talk about this for days, no question about that, and really appreciate your time.

We'll make sure everything is in the show notes and we'd love to have you on the show down the road.

Jonathan Maharaj: 00:48:19

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Freddy D: 00:48:21

Jonathan's biggest takeaway is that real growth happens when leaders stop treating fine finance culture, customers and people as separate problems and start seeing the human story behind the numbers.

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Have you ever wondered why even though you're the best at what you do, you're still stuck dealing with people, problems, squeezed margins, unpredictable growth and nagging feeling.

Freddy D: 00:49:12

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Freddy D: 00:49:14

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Intro/Outro: 00:51:12

We hope you took away some useful knowledge from today's episode of the Business Superfans podcast. Join us on the next episode as we continue guiding you on your journey to achieve flourishing success in business.