The Founder's Financial Playbook for Scaling Without "Flying Blind"

William Lieberman on Financial Frameworks, Founder Hubris, and the "One Horse" Mistake

In this "Freeing the Founder" episode, serial entrepreneur William Lieberman, founder of The CEO's Right Hand, details the financial and operational frameworks necessary for scaling a professional service firm. Drawing from a career that includes building a FinTech company from a $195/month service to a $100,000/month enterprise deal and a subsequent 10-year journey with his current firm, Lieberman outlines the critical lessons learned from both profound success and near-failure.

The conversation provides a blueprint for founders to move from "flying blind" to making data-driven, confident decisions.

Key Insights from the Conversation

1. The Core Problem: Founders Are "Flying Blind" Lieberman identifies the most common pain point for founders: a lack of financial foresight. Many leaders come to him unable to answer fundamental questions like, "Can I afford this new hire?" or "Can I sustain this new ad spend?".

He compares this to "flying a plane without the knobs and dials." Most founders have a bookkeeper, which acts as a rearview mirror (showing what happened last month), but they lack a financial forecast, which is the windshield (showing where the business is headed). The primary consequence is an inability to make effective decisions quickly, leaving the business vulnerable to market disruptions, sales slumps, or supply chain issues.

2. The Solution: The "Break the Glass" Emergency Plan To solve this, Lieberman implements a strategic framework built on scenario planning:

Forecast: First, a realistic financial forecast is created.

Scenarios: This forecast is then modeled into three scenarios: Best Case, Base Case, and Worst Case.

Guardrails: Clear "guardrails" are established. For example, the team agrees that if sales miss projections for two consecutive months or cash reserves dip below a pre-determined level, specific actions will be triggered.

The Plan: This becomes the "break the glass in case of emergency" plan. Its purpose is to remove emotion from critical decisions. When a guardrail is breached, the leadership team doesn't panic; they execute the difficult, pre-agreed-upon plan (e.g., cutting specific expenses, freezing hiring), allowing them to react with speed and decisiveness.

3. The Human Obstacle: Founder Hubris When founders resist this financial guidance, Lieberman notes the problem is rarely a lack of intelligence. The most significant impediment is hubris.

He describes the "hardheaded" founder as one who is arrogant, operating with "rose-colored glasses," or driven by a chip on their shoulder. They ignore data and tell their team, "Trust me, I got it." This is the most dangerous personality trait in a CEO.

The countermeasure is firmness and leveraging the wider team. By presenting the black-and-white data and aligning with other executives or board members, the founder is forced to confront the reality that "those companies [who ignore the data] don't exist today".

4. The Operational Parallel: The Founder Bottleneck This financial chaos is often a symptom of the "Founder Bottleneck". Lieberman, who has experienced this himself, notes that founders often fail to delegate or hire the right team because they don't trust anyone to do the job as well as they can.

The solution is to hire people who are better than the founder at a specific function (sales, finance, operations). The CEO's job is not to be the best at everything; it is to provide the vision, the resources, and then "let them go get 'em".

5. A Career-Defining Lesson: The "One Horse" Mistake Lieberman shares the most critical lesson of his career, learned during a capital raise at his first company. His advisory team convinced him to "run one horse"—to pursue a single strategic investor. The deal dragged on, and the company’s cash reserves dwindled. Lieberman was within two weeks of having to lay off half his staff before the deal finally closed.

His guiding principle ever since is to always have options. "Even having two options is better than only having one". This philosophy of building in strategic options applies to sales pipelines, financial plans, and overall business strategy, creating the resilience needed to navigate the inevitable hurdles of entrepreneurship.

Transcript for Search & Skimming

Below is the complete, searchable text of the interview. You can use the speaker tags to quickly search or skim the conversation for key insights on the CEO's role as the "adult in the room," the necessity of scenario planning, and avoiding the mistake of "running one horse."

William: Oh yeah. Thank you. It was really cool. We, you know, we had a nice all hands Zoom. As a, you know, meeting. And it was really cool. It was fun to sort of reflect on all the things that have had transpired over 10 years. And it's interesting 'cause you know, my very first executive admin who is still with me, and she is been with me, working with me now, she's not doing as much now. Um, but still, she's been with me for 10 years and so I, I gave a good shout out to Julie. She's fantastic. So that was fun. And then we did a, you know, there's a service, uh, that I know about. That does Zoom, um, games. So we did like a big trivia game with everybody. It was fun.

Randell Mauricio: That's awesome. So why, why don't we, uh, start there, get a bit, uh, about your background, uh, about you personally, and, uh, what was the catalyst to you starting 10 years ago?

William: Sure, sure. So in a prior life, so business school, Wall Street, did M&A for a while. Then I, I started an investment management consulting firm. I ran operations and finance for that firm. And after a few years, uh, somebody came to me and said, "Hey, uh, we need some technology developed. Will you do it?" And so my business partner at the time said, "Sure." So we developed some software and it was a FinTech company selling, uh, sales compensation solutions to folks like MetLife, AXA, UBS, LPL, you know, some big ones, and then a lot of smaller ones that no one's ever heard of. And it was literally. I, I have to say, one of the very first subscription model businesses in financial services. I mean, other than Bloomberg terminals, we were selling for $195 a month back in 1995. So this is before SaaS was even phrase. I mean, we, we we're talking way long time ago. And like, just to date myself, and it was great. And you know, from there we built it. From there. You know, within about four years, I signed an enterprise deal with MetLife. From, you know, we started $195 a month. That deal with MetLife was a hundred thousand dollars a month. Just to show you how we grew that business quickly. It was fantastic. That was a ride. And then I, I sold, you know, I built it up about 55 employees and then I sold my stake. This company provide strategic financial advisory services and HR to small and medium businesses. You know, it was interesting because I, when I was looking for my next thing, you know, I was like, "Oh, do I want to go get a job and be on the hamster wheel and all that?" And I was like, "Nah," you know, I've been an entrepreneur my whole life. And so I said, "You know, maybe there's a way I can do some consulting on my own." And I was just gonna be a solopreneur. And I got, so, you know, I had such a big network that people, you know, as soon as they found out what I was doing, they go, "Can you help me? Can you help me come in?" And then by the end of my first six months, I had enough work that I needed more. Then I said, "Hey, maybe there's a business to be had here." And so then I, it just snowballed from there.

Randell Mauricio: That's interesting because there's, there's so many entrepreneurs and founders, you and I both know, um, who would probably say "I'm one and done." But you did it again. What, what was the feeling like as you exited your first company? Did, did, was, did it take a lot of reflection?

William: Oh my God. Oh, my. Scary as shit. It was, "Am I doing?" I have no income, I have no, you know, benefits. I have no anything. I'm just out there. Now, thank God my wife was working full time, so, you know, we had a backstop, so she had a nice income and, and that enabled me to actually make the move. And we had some savings. But it was hard. It was really hard. Leaving my business because I, I left the business and, but the business remained, right, so it, it, it existed for another 10 years and it was, it was just sold a year, year and a half ago. So that was really hard. I remember, um, driving to my business partner's house and telling him I'm done. Just started crying. I was just, I was, I was just like, and he's like, "Dude, it's okay. I know what you need. It's not a problem. We'll be fine and you'll, more importantly, you'll be fine." And he was super supportive.

Randell Mauricio: Oh, I'm really intrigued by this. Uh, let's dig into why you were done. What, what was the emotion? What was the reason behind the emotion?

William: So a big piece of this, um, unfortunately was I went through a really bad divorce. So what happened is it was literally seven years in the making, um, trial, like exhibits and witnesses and shit, right? Like is unheard of for divorce. While I'm going through divorce, I, um, I was running the company, but at some point I was spending so much time because I had to. For a long, most of the divorce, I was representing myself 'cause I couldn't afford a lawyer. So my business partner took over as CEO, I stepped down as CEO. I said, "Dude, you gotta run this company. I need to focus in on this other crap. Um, I'll be CFO." Um, so we, we transitioned the roles and that enabled me to, to handle my personal stuff. But after that, you know, the business was kind of stagnant. It wasn't growing. There wasn't really a need for a CFO to be honest, full-time. And I was, honest, kind of bored, and still going through the divorce and et cetera. So I was like, look, this just does, doesn't make sense for me to stick around and, and take a salary and. And I, so I said, I, I gotta go do something else. I need to fulfill that entrepreneurial juices, if you will, and go after the next thing. Because I just, I wasn't feeling it at, with, with my old company. And so I, I said, "Hey, I have to make a change here." And it was hard. It was really hard. I, it took me maybe a year, um, of soul searching to finally make the decision and, and tell him.

Randell Mauricio: Interesting. So as you were turning that corner, uh, was it clear to you what your problem was that you wanted, de you wanted to dedicate yourself to this new problem?

William: I knew I had, um, the ability to help people with finance, right? And accounting and, and those types of issues. I had a skillset there and I enjoyed, you know, I'm kind of a spreadsheet junkie, so I, I enjoyed that work. At the same time, as a, I was a member for many years of, of EO (Entrepreneurs' Organization) and as part of that, I was a mentor to 12 different, really early stage companies. I was, it's an accelerator program that EO has. So I knew I loved helping small companies grow and scale. And so I go, "Well, maybe there's a way I can do that because I love doing it. Maybe there's a way I could do that and make a living at it." And so I said, "Hey, you know, there, there's an opportunity here for me to be a consultant." And the great thing about being a consultant, great. Part of the decision making criteria was I didn't wanna be beholden to one. I didn't wanna be beholden to one income stream, and so I diversified my risk by having multiple clients, and so if any one of them went away, I would still be able to make my mortgage payment. And so that was a big part of the decision. Another big part was the lifestyle of being a consultant, and, and we had a 2-year-old at the time, so wanting to see him as opposed to getting on the train and going to, you know, Manhattan every day from seven to seven. That was important. And, you know, being a finance guy, the tax implications are significant. I mean, I have a lot of ability to write off expenses that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. And so you put it all together and it all made sense at the time for me to be a consultant and then to eventually grow a consulting boutique.

Randell Mauricio: Certainly you, you earned your stripes many, many years ago, and here you are, you know, fast forward to today, you're, you're, you're serving and you're helping, uh, founders and, and many businesses really navigate, uh, business finances. Uh, a big part of this, or what's critical is the trust, is the accuracy, is the reliability. You know this very well. What, what's, what's your core principle, uh, around this? Ideology and how, how do you deliver on all of those things?

William: I think that the, one of the most important things is setting expectations upfront and literally starting in the sales process. So understanding what the client or prospect needs, what they're re, what they're looking for, what their goals are, and making sure that you communicate all along the way. "Here's how we can help you achieve your goals," and then actually doing it, right? So "Here's what we're gonna do," do the work, and then report back. "Here's what we did, and now here's what we're gonna do next week, next month, next quarter." Um, and but always trying to be in sync with the decision maker as to what their needs are, because their needs are gonna change all along the way. Being small businesses, they have to pivot just like I do. So we need to make sure that we remain in sync with their needs and expectations and communicate very clearly how we are going to help them achieve.

Randell Mauricio: Them achieve the, the saying that came to mind as you were sharing that was, "Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em. Tell 'em, and then tell them what you told them." Right. I don't know if that resonates with you.

William: It's "Tell 'em what you're gonna tell, tell 'em what you're gonna do. Do it, and then tell 'em what you did." But yes, exactly that.

Randell Mauricio: Yeah, so you've probably analyzed and worked with thousands of, of founders, thousands of businesses. What do you feel are were the common themes or the common pitfalls that actually hindered growth?

William: Well, I can tell you the, the, the pain points that we run into, um, so a lot of pain points. A lot of people come to me and say. As an example, "I don't know if I can afford blank," fill in the blank. "I don't know if I afford, I can afford to hire this person or spend $20,000 a month on Facebook ads or, you know, acquire this other business." So they don't have a clear understanding of their own business finances, their own business cash flow, and their forecast and where they're headed and how they're gonna get to where they want to get to. So they're, you know, I like to use the phrase, you need the knobs and dials to fly the plane. And many, many CEOs do not have those knobs and dials. They'll have a bookkeeper, right? And they'll, and they'll get a report from QuickBooks or whatever their accounting system is that says, "Hey, last month we did this." And you know, they think it's correct, but they don't know a number and that's a whole nother issue. Um, but they don't have insights as to where the business is headed from a financial lens. This comes across in many aspects because they cannot make. A, they can't make effective decisions and, and or B, they can't make them quickly enough. And so then they get caught and they're spending money, they don't need to spend, or there's supply chain disruptions, uh, tariffs or whatever, and they can't react because they don't have the tool set to make the right decisions quickly enough. And that's one of the main pain points that I get, um, when I talk to prospective clients.

Randell Mauricio: I'm really intrigued by this because, uh, outsider looking in outsider to to, to your domain and your expertise. Certainly when a founder gets started, a big part of it is money. Certainly money is not the only motivator, but. You know, you get into business to make money, and that's the, that's the purpose of a business. However, uh, at the same time, just listening to you, it makes me wonder what is the, what's causing this barrier? Is it nature nurture? Is it tendency, is it a lack of, is it a lack of interest? So if I were to surmise my question to you is. After dealing with so many CEOs and founders, what is it in your perspective, in your opinion, that actually is that impediment to digging into the finances and actually understanding it?

William: So that's a good question. So I think have different personalities, right? So if you do the, the whole leadership personality matrix kind of thing, you'll have a lot of people, a lot of CEOs are, you know, the sales promoter, right? So they're passionate about, you know, I'll make one up about, um, craft beer, really good at making craft beer, but they don't necessarily understand the actual. And cost, good sold and gross margins and distribution costs, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They kind of do, and some of the better ones obviously will. Um, but know, they're really good at beer and so they, they need help, uh, understanding what does it take to create a product or service and go to market with it in a very profitable way. And that just takes. Either education or time, but sometimes literally it's their brain's just not wired for it. And that's okay. They're really good at this other thing. Other part of growing and building a business, they augment what they're not good at. And that could be finance, it could be HR, it could be customer service, right? There's a million things that CEOs might not be good at, and the smart ones augment their, their team with people that are better than they are in these other areas. And that's really the hallmark of a great CEO is somebody says, "Hey, look, for, like for me, I'm not the best salesperson in the world, so I know I need to bring in people that are better at sales than I am to elevate this business as an example." And so the really good ones will do the same thing on finance and HR and on all the other non-core functions.

Randell Mauricio: So William, I'm gonna ask you next to, uh, flex some of your muscles, dig back to your illustrious career, and think back to a time when you and your team were able to provide some expert guidance to A CEO. What was the problem? What was the advice given without giving out sensitivities and how were you able to, to turn that business around?

William: I mean, there's, there's a. They were spending more money, right? They were, they were, uh, let's say, spending more money than what's coming in because they say, "Hey, look, I'm investing in the business. I'm investing in growth, et cetera, et cetera." And I go, "Okay, well that's. I go, 'Okay, well that's great,' but at some point you see this cash runway, it's gonna end. Like you're." So let's take a step. So let's take a step back. This forecast of where you, you think you. But most importantly, let's create some. So we have best case, case and worst case. And let's give you some what if analysis so analysis. Well, what if we don't close this many deals? What's gonna happen? What decisions can we make? And then what we do did is we set up a up the break-the-glass in case of emergency plan. And in some cases we had to do that. We had to cut expenses, um, as as much as possible because sales didn't come in. And this has happened multiple times in a variety of industries, right? It could be technology, it could be, there's one I'm thinking that's e-commerce. There's a few cases where we have to put in the guardrails so that a CEO who's like really headed forward, "No, I know this will work and it'll, I, I, trust me." Right? "Okay, we'll trust you. But within this sort of band. Once you get beyond this band, we're gonna make different decisions. Otherwise this company will fail." Then when you say it that way and you show it to 'em in black and white, they're like, "I get it." And the, the, the smart ones really did, and every once in a while, some didn't. And those companies don't exist today.

Randell Mauricio: That's powerful. I can tell you, just listening to you, I can, I myself, not having a financial background like you, I can understand the value of the modeling and the what if thing, but to your point earlier, there's different personalities out there, and I can imagine that there may be some hardheaded individuals who don't want to listen. And so my, my next question is how do you overcome those differences? Like what is the key or best practice? Just to making sure that you can actually sit down with a CEO and give them clear, solid advice in a way that will actually be received well.

William: So you, you outline it obviously, and you put it together in, in very simple terms. And so you say, "Hey, if we stay on this path, here's what's going to happen and why." In addition to that. What I try to do is, is leverage their other executive team members, right? So, not, not that it's an intervention, but just to make sure that the, the CEO understands, it's not just my one perspective, that there's other people that the CEO trusts and has worked with for years that are echoing the same message. And in some cases, companies that are a little bit further along, they'll have board members or advisors that I work with that will say, "Hey, you know, their hands as well. Say, you know, there's a yellow flag. Oh, now it's an orange flag. Hey, now it's a red flag." And so, you know, they're helpful to, to the cause if you will. Um, but you have to be firm and you have to say, "Look, you hired me because of my expertise. So if you don't wanna listen to me, you know, I, I get it. I don't agree, but that's your prerogative. But I'm telling you from my experience working with hundreds and hundreds of companies, if you don't do this, this, and this will happen. Now it's on you, it's your decision. But you hired me for a reason and, and here's my advice to you."

Randell Mauricio: I love how you put it back on the other person that's so effective. How about, um, I. You know, go let, let's, let's spend a, a few more moments on this challenging individual. Somebody who, who is, uh, a bit judgmental. Um, what are their common mis.

William: Sorry to interrupt. Another word is hubris. That's a very dangerous person. And those are the ones that I have the most trouble with.

Randell Mauricio: Tell me more.

William: People that are, um, arrogant enough. To say, "Nope, this is gonna work. Nope. You don't know what you're talking about." Yeah. "I, I got it." Right. And every once in a while I fire those clients. Right. I just say, "Look dude, if you're not gonna listen to what I have to say, then what?" You know, it's silly to continue to, to work together. Um, but those are the ones that. And, and there's not many, right? But there's a, there's a couple in the. Right. That have just been so stubborn or so arrogant or, or have the hubris to say, "Hey, I'm gonna do this and we're gonna make a, you know, millions and millions of dollars no matter what." Um, and then I'm like, "I don't see it," and "I don't see it." And then month goes by, another month goes by, another month, and then a year goes by and they're like, "You know, you're, you are running out of bus, you know, gonna run this business into the ground." Um, and they do. Those are the ones that are I, I struggle with.

Randell Mauricio: Hmm. Do you think they carry some sort of a, a misunderstanding or misperception about the accounting advisory and analysis field?

William: No, not at all. No. Okay. You know, it could be rose colored glasses kind of situation. It could be, know, they have a chip on their shoulder from a failure in their past. I think that's, you know, oftentimes they're like there to prove something either to themselves, could be to their parents, right? If it's a, if it's a family business, um, there's other issues that are involved because these aren't stupid people. Um, but they're, they're just challenged to the point where they're like, know, I know what I'm doing and everybody else be damned. So it's not necessarily, they're not, you know, they're not like ignoring finance and accounting and what the reports are saying. They're kind of ignoring what everybody's telling them.

Randell Mauricio: Yeah. William, as you know, the problem that I solve as a, as a COO or or fractional executive is the founder bottleneck, and I'm sure you've seen your fair share of, of this dilemma with the companies and businesses you've worked with. Um, I. So I just wanna dig into that. How, how have you seen this founder bottleneck, uh, translate to some of the clients and companies that you've worked with? Does it actually slow that growth?

William: I've experienced it myself, right? So I've lived the founder bottleneck. Um, but yes, I've seen it happen many times, um, where, you know, the, the CEO either doesn't trust other people to do the job as well as they could do it. Uh, which means that they have the wrong team, right? They don't have the right people on the team. Uh, like, like back to my other comment, you need to have people that are better at X, Y, Z function than you are as CEO. You're the leader. You're supposed to provide the vision and the resources like capital. So, and then say, "Hey, we're, we're gonna head over the hill and there's the bad guys, and here are all your guns and bullets. Go get 'em." Right. Um, if they're like, "No, I'm gonna storm the hill myself, and you guys kind of just come along for the ride," that's dangerous because they could get shot and fall and fall on the field. And then there's no leader. So the ones that are really good have that understanding that they need to delegate to the right people. And cannot hold all this on themselves. And again, I've done this myself. I, I, I, you know, it's hard to give up control. It's, it's hard to say, "Hey, you know, I need X, Y, Z person to do this presentation, I know I could do it better." Right. "Well then I don't have the right person." Um, I need to find the right person who can do a presentation better than I can. And so it took, it takes a while to find those people and to trust them and to delegate them, and to, I'll give them the runway to prove themselves as truly valuable members of the team. It, it, you know, it takes a little bit of soul searching and digging and, and letting go. Um, and that's, that's hard to do, especially for entrepreneurs that are control freaks, which many are.

Randell Mauricio: Hey, I resemble that comment. Um, have you been in positions though, where you've, because of your analysis, and certainly you start with, with, with the financial side, but have you been in positions where you've been able to give coaching and advice or guidance that actually leads to some sort of operational change for that founder, for that CEO? So. I, I, in other words, do, do you find yourself cross? Not crossing the lines is, is the wrong way of saying it, but, you know, do, do you breach that boundary of finances?

William: Well, what happens is, um, the way I like to say is, you know, we act as a financial business partner, but in many cases our. Team members have great operational experience also. Right. Been in the seat of helping companies grow and scale. From a strategic perspective. Perspective, so. Know, you know, we have clients where we're like the, you know, the adult in the room, right? And so they lean on us for that advice. Like, "Should I hire this person? What do you think?" And then we'll interview that person, you know, "Should this person be my head of sales?" And because our team and has experience working with so many different types of C-level executives, we can bring to the table. A different perspective than the CEO will have on whether or not this is a good team member or "Give equity out to my team?" Right? And does that make sense? Strategically, how do I build this business for maximum profitability, not just a finance question, it's a strategic question about what am I really good at and what, what will at the end of the day create the most value? For the shareholders or the owners of the business. That's, again, very strategic input that the CEOs will definitely rely on us, um, many times as they're making the difficult decisions. I get, you know, calls from clients today still where it's like, "Hey, should I divest myself of this business or not?" Right? And that's like a question. There's a lot involved in that question. Um, and so we, we get into it absolutely.

Randell Mauricio: I'm glad you mentioned your, uh, uh, your team. I remember a couple of years ago, first going onto your website, and I looked at your roster and I says, "Wow, that is an impressive group of people." I mean, you have a large, uh, list of, of experts. Um, you've been at this for, for 10 years, but certainly not your first rodeo. What do you think has been a core principle that's guided you and what has made you, uh, attractive, uh, to to, to the people who work with you?

William: I like to, it's interesting, we, we actually did a survey of the team and you know, we got some really good feedback. To what they like, right. And they love working with, with me. And, you know, my wife Sarah, who runs the HR side of the house, uh, HR consulting division, and they really enjoy the interaction. We are very, easy to work with. Um, and we like to have fun, we're also very focused in on meeting the client's needs, we can't do that without these team members. And having the right people with the right set of expertise is, is one piece, but you also have to have it in the, in the business we're in. You also have to be a good consultant. You need to be a subject matter expert in finance or HR or M&A or whatever it might be. But you also have to be able to have that communication, that one-on-one, that gravitas that you can sit across the table from a CEO who's been doing, you know, his or her thing for 20 years and they know everything there is to know about widgets. You need to be able to sit down and get up to speed very quickly on that business and then have a conversation with 'em that might, but not be the easiest. Like, "Hey, you're not doing this right. Your baby's ugly." But we can fix it and here's what we need to do to fix it. So. The team that we've built has that ability to have those types of conversations. They love working with us, they love working with the types of clients that we have, they like to have fun along the way. Um, and so you put all that together and a tune that really enjoys working together and working towards the vision of building a really preeminent, um, boutique, uh, for what we're doing.

Randell Mauricio: Final question for, for you, William, is going to be personal to, to you, this not being your first rodeo. Uh, and as you look back at your, your 10 years of, of, since you started this firm, is there one thing or two things that continue to be a guiding light for you? Perhaps something that you learned in your first business that is. Every now and then guiding you and that little voice in your shoulder saying, "Do not make this mistake again."

William: Yeah. Hmm. So a big one, a big mistake I made in my software company that I built was when we were out looking for strategic investors, uh, we had an advisor, an M&A advisor, and he said, "There's this one firm. They're the ones we're gonna run down the path with them." And we did that, and he said, "We don't need to talk to these other ones. Let's just play this one out. I know them. They're good guys." And so what happened is we ran one horse. And it took a lot longer than we all thought. The company was running outta money. I was within two weeks of having to lay off half the company. Then. Wow. The deal and we, we got, um, we got the company funded, but the mistake was running one horse. And so now I always think about making sure that I have options. And this doesn't work, I could do this, or I could do this, or I could do this, right? Even having two options is, is better than only having one. And so that's really important to me. And that's, when, when like sometimes sales drops, I have the ability to scale back the business because I'm thinking ahead, "Well, if this were to happen, what would I do?" So I have options as opposed to, "Oh, I just gotta lay off a bunch of people." And because that's the worst, worst case. And so that's really important to me is making sure that. Um, you know, I have the ability to navigate the hurdles along the way, uh, because I have set aside or, or, or planned for various scenarios.

Randell Mauricio: That's the type of wisdom that only you gain through experience. So I appreciate you sharing that. William. I can tell you that you know, we're crossing the 30 minute mark. I've learned from you as I always do, and I guarantee that the viewers and listeners of this content are gonna learn from you. Thank you so much and congrats again to 10 years.

William: Thanks.