Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert E. Johnson.
Robert, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have always been, in one sense, a “numbers guy”, though I feel that this is only half of the picture. I am an accountant by trade – a board-licensed CPA for nearly 20 years – and I do know how to deal with numbers and finances. But the fuller truth is that I am a people person: my heart lies in helping others, in teaching and training, and in making a positive impact in people’s lives. Today, very thankfully, I have a thriving consulting practice that provides a full range of CFO services to small business owners across many industries and geographies:
• Acquiring funds for growth and expansion. Cash flow management. Forecasting. Profitability analysis. Bid preparation. Economic modeling. Investment analysis. Contract negotiation.
• Health & Fitness. Oil & Gas. Construction. Food & Beverages. Storage & Warehousing.
• Texas. Louisiana. Mississippi. Tennessee. Florida. New York. California. Canada.
But it took more than twenty years to accumulate the knowledge and relationships needed to arrive at the place my firm is today…
I graduated from the University of Virginia and moved to Houston with my wife in 1996 to take a job as an international tax consultant with one of the “Big Four” public accounting firms. It was a great experience, but I moved on from public accounting after a few years and spent the next fifteen years with two companies in the energy industry where my roles gradually developed from tax accounting and financial reporting to forecasting, strategy, and more forward-looking pursuits.
It can be difficult in a large corporate environment to “make a difference” in the way that I wanted, so after many years I started to consider going out on my own and starting a business – to build something new and relevant and meaningful. How, though, do you blend and merge a quantitative and technical base of financial knowledge with a desire to help people achieve their goals and dreams?
I wanted to use my business acumen and financial skills to help others – I knew that was what I wanted to do. But I had little idea of what specifically to do or how to do it, much less how to access the clients I was hoping to serve. In late 2014, however, I was introduced to an advisory firm that provided me with training and counsel on how to start and build a consulting practice geared toward the small-business community. Based on their input and my own self-reflection, I established Sabre Financial Group with the goal and mission to provide business consulting and financial leadership to small business owners that are overworked, overcharged, under-resourced, and under-served.
Larger companies have CFOs that earn $250K to $500K+ per year. They have floors full of accountants and financial analysts. And they have board rooms with seasoned professionals to build and develop mid-term and long-range strategies.
In the small business community, entrepreneurs have an unmatched vision and passion for their businesses. The business is theirs, many have spent their life creating what they now have, and they are usually focused on and proficient with their sales and marketing and operations. These business owners, however, in many cases do not have the time or the background to address the financial side of their business. They don’t know – or don’t have time – to access capital. They don’t always know exactly how and why they are making or losing money. They do not have the budget for a high-priced, full-time CFO.
And so this is where Sabre Financial Group meets a critical need and fills the gap – by providing financial insight and expertise to the small business community, at a price-point that is geared to the small business owner, for services customized and tailored to each business, and for results that deliver an exceptional value and return. From advisors that care about small business and dedicated, individualized service. From real people that are small business owners themselves.
Has it been a smooth road?
Of course not – that wouldn’t be any fun at all! There is a scene in Season 1 of the TV Show “Better Call Saul” where the main character Jimmy is starting his own law practice, and his office is a storage closet in the back of a nail salon. He walks through the salon every day, trips over brooms, etc., to get into his office, sits down in his chair, looks at the answering machine… and sees nothing. No blinking light, no new messages, no new clients. It’s the same thing every day, until one day he gets his break, the phone is ringing off the hook, and then he’s on this way… I wouldn’t say that it was such a dramatic change for me from one day to the next; it was more gradual, and we never set up shop in a nail salon. But I remember watching that scene a few years ago during the first months of my business. And, believe me, I could relate.
My own business, as with nearly all of the early stage businesses that we have seen and support, took time to gain traction – and then longer still to grow roots. I was very confident at the onset that I could make the business model work, and now it has, but certainly I underestimated the time it would take to build relationships with clients, lenders, investors, and strategic partners.
After the initial challenge of securing a client base, the next challenge – which many project-based business owners face – is finding time to execute the existing projects while at the same time reaching out to prospective clients for new opportunities. You can’t afford to let the pipeline empty out before looking to refill it; it needs to stay full. It’s a common problem for small businesses and one that I struggled with as well.
The first six months in business weren’t very stressful – it was a new adventure, and I didn’t expect much in the way of results that quickly. The next twelve months were very stressful (!), as the model and the relationships took their own time to mature and develop. (Thanks to my wife Jennifer for her salaried job with health insurance!) And now the last couple of years have been constantly busy, exciting, and ever-changing, with incredible opportunities to work with all kinds of interesting and wonderful people.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
In short, we help small business owners to address and monitor the financial side of their business, so that they can focus on their operations during the day… and sleep well at night:
• A husband and wife from Houston that acquired a garage storage installation company
• A husband and wife from Texas buying a construction company in Florida
• A husband and wife buying a child activity franchise in Texas
• A Houston gym owner looking to acquire a second fitness facility
• A retired US Marines officer that bought a warehousing company in Texas
• A retired US Marines officer from California that designs and distributes cowboy, military, and other boots
• An owner of multiple wine & spirits stores in Texas
• The owner of a martial arts academy that established a second facility in Louisiana
• A retired police chief that purchased a fitness facility in Ohio
• An early-stage oil & gas company purchasing production properties near Houston and throughout Texas
• Two other start-up oil & gas companies buying assets in Mississippi and Kentucky
• The owner of a manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals establishing a production facility in New Jersey
• A husband and wife in northern California establishing an independent personal training facility
• Two surgeons establishing a high-end wellness facility in southern California
• A Canadian manufacturer of LED signage requiring capital for research and development
• A Canadian manufacturer of specialty auto wheel rims seeking growth capital
• A Canadian cybersecurity company seeking capital for research and development
We provide a wide variety of CFO functions on a part-time or interim basis. In most cases, the first point of contact is helping a client to secure funding for acquisition, growth, expansion, sustenance, or whatever the case may be. And then, in many situations, our initial role as a transaction advisor – “please help us to get some money!” – evolves into one where we support and guide the business on an ongoing basis. Budgeting. Forecasting. Economic modeling. Creation of joint marketing agreements with newly identified strategic partners. Financial training of staff. Or many other roles as the business requires.
Some of our clients have a level of sophistication and experience in terms of acquiring financing, but they engage our firm because they know too well how time consuming and distracting it can be to handle while running the day-to-day business at the same time.
Other clients are not familiar with how to access capital at all – who to contact, how to present their business to lenders or investors, and so on. Maybe they go across the street to the closest bank, are turned down for funding, and then don’t know that there are other options.
Usually there are other options – each investor, whether a bank or an investment fund or a wealthy individual, has its own set of preferences and parameters. Some like certain industries. Some like certain geographies. Some need to see many years of business history while others will consider start-ups. Some require that real estate be involved while others aren’t so concerned. Some want strong credit but don’t need to see a lot of industry experience by the ownership team, while others want the opposite.
Our firm has an extensive network of personal relationships with decision-makers at these financial institutions that provides us with access to and efficiency within these groups that our clients would likely not be able to secure on their own. And we have an extensive amount of proprietary research regarding the preferences and biases of each group such that we can save our clients a tremendous amount of time by introducing their opportunities to the types of lenders that are most likely to have interest in their company.
I am proud of these relationships and the investor database that we have established, which is the result of tireless networking efforts during our first couple of years in particular. I am also proud that establishment of this business has provided some excellent technical and life-learning experiences for my teenage children, all of whom have worked for and supported the business as interns in various ways.
However, I am by far most proud of the level of integrity and transparency and ethics that we demonstrate with respect to our clients on a daily basis. Every prospective client receives from us almost immediately a “Business Borrower’s Bill of Rights” document that outlines our commitment in treating our clients fairly and with their best interests in mind. And we remain committed to those principles. Always.
We do not “string along” prospective clients if we know their situation is an uphill battle; rather, we refer them to credit repair specialists or other groups that may be able to strengthen their position. And we have routinely recommended to clients that they not take a funding offer – in direct conflict with our own immediate financial interests – because we feel that the proposed financing could be more detrimental than beneficial, because better options are on the horizon, etc.
We treat our clients’ right, and that is the best thing that I could possibly say about our firm. No exceptions. No shortcuts. No technicalities. Most importantly, we treat them right because it is the right thing to do. But we also know that the trust and credibility we receive from our clients is an incredibly valuable asset for a business that truly cannot survive without our client’s confidence and trust.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Houston is an exceptionally good location for our business. The financial diversification of the city is an extraordinary asset for the city itself and for the business owners that are a part of it. The energy industry is important to Houston, and we have several oil & gas companies among our clients, but the city is not dependent on energy alone.
The regulatory climate in Texas is more favorable to small business owners than in other parts of the country. And there are literally hundreds of investor groups, covering every imaginable industry, that call Houston home.
With that said, only half of our clients are located in Texas. Our business model and investor network also allow for access to small business owners throughout the US and Canada as well.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1804 Snake River Road, Suite C
Katy, TX 77449 - Website: www.Sabre-Financial.com
- Phone: 832-321-9304
- Email: robert.johnson@sabre-financial.com
Image Credit:
Molly Jean Designs
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