Three speakers, three very different businesses, and one idea underneath all of it: you do not have to know everything yourself. You have to know the right people, look after what you already have, and be willing to share what you have learned with someone who needs it.
Business Education: Know Who to Call, with David McKay
Black Sheep Customs
Automotive Restoration
727-946-1550
mckaysauto@gmail.com
David opened with Henry Ford. Ford often gets credit for inventing the car or the assembly line, but David's point was that Ford was an improver. He took the automobile, the assembly process and the supply chain that already existed, and made each of them better.
Then the story that tied it to networking. Asked how he knew so much, Ford's answer came down to this: he did not need to know everything. He knew the people who did.
That is the job of a room like ours. Nobody here needs to become an accountant, an electrician, a mortgage broker and an attorney. You need to be great at your own work, and know exactly who to call for everything else. When a client brings you a problem you cannot solve, there is a good chance someone at this table can.
- Successful people know who to call.
- Be excellent at what you do, and surround yourself with people who fill the gaps.
- Look for ways to improve before you try to reinvent.
- Sometimes the most valuable thing you know is who.
Keep the Money You Make: Getting Ready for 2027, with Tina Jacobs
Jacobs Tax Pros Inc
Tax & Accounting
727-210-2552
christinejacobs2121@gmail.com
Tina brought 44 years in accounting and taxes to a timely question: what should a business owner do before the year ends? Her opening line set the tone. The businesses that make the most money are not always the ones that keep the most.
Know your numbers
Revenue and cash flow are not the same thing, and a busy business can still run short of cash. Could you handle a sudden slowdown? Could you handle a sudden rush? Know what is actually coming in, going out and available.
Look hard at your expenses
Subscriptions, services, the recurring charge you signed up for years ago and forgot. Cutting just $250 a month is $3,000 a year.
Plan your taxes before December 31
Some decisions only help if they are made before the year closes. Planning gives you options; waiting until everything has already happened takes them away.
Watch what is changing, and protect who you already have
AI, automation and customer expectations are moving fast, so stay ready to adapt. And do not spend all your attention on the next customer: the people who already know you, trust you and have paid you may be the most valuable asset your business has.
The takeaway: making money and managing money are two different skills, and both matter.
The 5 Cs of Mentoring, with Kert Rhodes
Kleer Title
Title Company
727-674-0276
lorie@kleertitle.com
kleertitle.com
Instead of the expected talk on title work and closings, Kert spoke about mentoring: a trusted partnership in which someone with more experience helps someone with less grow personally, educationally or professionally. He walked us through the 5 Cs.
- Challenges. Understand the real problem before offering advice.
- Choices. Lay out the options, including doing nothing.
- Consequences. Weigh the upside, the downside and the risk of each path.
- Creative solutions. This is where the mentor's experience helps: not handing over the answer, but widening the possibilities.
- Conclusions. The mentee owns the decision, makes the plan and commits to the next step.
Then Kert told us how he got involved. Following a gut feeling, he joined a YMCA mentoring program with students from Palm Harbor Middle School: eight mentors working with 13 kids facing some hard circumstances. He called it life-changing, for the mentors as much as the students, and said the biggest impact came from one-on-one relationships. Mentoring is listening, asking questions and sharing experience until the other person is confident enough to decide for themselves.
Around the Room
Final Thought
David reminded us we do not have to know everything, only the people who do. Tina pushed us to understand and protect the financial side of our businesses heading into 2027. Kert reminded us that the experience we have gathered is worth the most when we use it to help someone else grow. Build relationships, share what you know, know who to call, and pass your experience on.
Want to see it for yourself? Come meet local business professionals at an upcoming Friday meeting. RSVP to visit PROs.