Why I’m excited about NapaDo

Well, in case you weren’t aware, it is in Napa…which is basically enough to get me excited.

Also, it is a fascinating dynamic to me.  I’m in no way involved in the organization of NapaDo, nor have I been for any ResellingDo. From an operational (attention demand) perspective, it means nothing, I just need to turn up in time (and somewhat reasonably dressed) to be professional. Financially, no share of profits, no payment to speak, no stipend to travel (if I can’t figure out traveling for free I’m in the wrong game here..)  what I’m excited about here is the same feeling I was excited about with our first Saverocity Do’s and with TravelCon, the passion of a few people to help share knowledge and empower others.

What has changed in NapaDo (and perhaps other events) is the price point seems more meaningful. I saw a ticket price of $350.

The first time I saw it was when I read Trevor’s post announcing it. The first 3 seconds of my reaction to that were surprise, and a warm smile. I think it is fantastic that someone has finally stepped up to putting a more reasonable price on a ticket like this, and truthfully, I would say the same at $995.

In order to help understand my joy, I ask you to suspend belief on sticker price. If you haven’t already consumed Robert’s post on the power of ‘Free’, please do so. I ask you to take the notion of free further, and understand that price means nothing. What matters to people is the emotional draw that ‘Free’ or ‘Expensive’ really means. Personally, I’m going through a phase where ‘Free’ (or cheap, low end gigs) makes me worry, and ‘Expensive’ makes me look further.  It is very important to understand the truth that lies between Free and Expensive, and that truth is called ‘Value’. Value can exist anywhere, from a $1 item to a $100K item. Interestingly, there is more opportunity to find value in something that costs more.

Some may have noticed that my posting has dropped off over the past year or so, and dramatically in the past few months. This hasn’t been through lack of interest, rather through the need to focus on my real job.  In that, I work as a Fee Only Advisor. I’m paid by clients to optimize their situation, and fix problems as they arise.  For me, the sale (or resale) of knowledge is not a bad thing. Representing the best interest of another (the Fiduciary duty) and being compensated appropriately is a truly wonderful thing. This differs from other relationships where there may be the appearance of expertise, or renown in a topic,  but the underlying compensation is less transparent.

To the topic at hand, why am I excited about NapaDo.

For one, to see my friends, Trevor, Phil, Andrew, Geoff (and others) to them, I plan to deliver knowledge that should be worth perhaps 50x the ticket price, likely a lot more.  I’ve spent approximately 500 hours study in Q4 2017 on taxes, balance sheets and investments. At the final hour, we also received the news that the tax laws changed.  Changes to those laws made tremendous differences to small businesses of certain types and the ‘reseller’ fits right into that category. As much as I’d like to, today, I’m not fully able to quantify the value of this, but the impact of this to certain resellers I know, it is likely worth an additional 5-6 figure deduction in 2018.

What I want to do in my presentation at NapaDo is touch on core topics:

• Income Statement Vs Balance Sheet
• Inventory vs Asset
• Deduction Options

The above would be linked into the appropriate US Tax returns (1040 Schedule C, 1120C, 1120S) and the following:

• TCJA Pass Through Tax deductions
• The purpose of payroll to lower your taxes.
• 401(k) vs SEP vs others

Also, and I think most importantly, I want to go into the nitty gritty. This means I want to bring up actual IRS tax forms, and fill them out, show the flow of money, and what elections actually do.

I should probably mention that Mrs Saverocity brought up was that I can be a little intense on this stuff, so maybe I need to also poll the crowd. As such, I’d like to (if Trevor permits) send survey questions out to steer my talk, and also to include an ‘AMA’ question that I can address in the talk.

Who should come to see this?

The part of the day that I’m involved in is going to be focused on trying to clarify the complication of running a business.  That this business happens to be ‘reselling’ is an aside, other than I will touch briefly on how inventory works, since people sometimes make mistakes in thinking it is an expense item.

If you are a points and miler type that coupons, and maybe does (or could do) $10K in reselling, the value of my topics is limited. I’m striving towards a presentation that teaches at the CPA/JD Continuing Education level, with a delivery that is understandable to a normal person. It is no small order, and a driving force into the ‘why’ of the excitement here. If you are a person at the $200K+ level of sales (before costs) in reselling, or in consulting/other self employment at perhaps a net of $30K after expenses, I think there is value.  If you just want to catch up with the latest fad in free travel, this gig isn’t for you.