Susanne Mariga - Profit First For Minority Business Enterprises

PRAISE FOR

Profit First

for Minority Business Enterprises

If you want to turn your business into a profitable money-making machine, Profit First by Susanne Mariga is exactly what you need to level-up your business operations. Her book lays out a winning system to build your dream business.

Melinda Emerson , SmallBizLady and author of Fix Your Business

Anyone, Susanne counsels, can change the legacy they have inherited and become the first-generation financial success story in their family. Highly recommended for fans of Michelle Singletary, Patrice Washington, Tiffany Aliche, David Bach, and Suze Orman

BlueInk Review

A vigorous and highly readable plan for building the finances of a new business.

Kirkus Reviews

Profit First for Minority Business Enterprises

By Susanne Mariga, CPA

The Avant-Garde Project, LLC, Houston, Texas

Copyright 2021 The Avant-Garde Project, LLC

All Rights Reserved

ISBN 13: 978-1-7357759-0-6 (trade paperback)

ISBN 13: 978-1-7357759-1-3 (eBook)

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Book Design by CB Messer

Printed in the United States of America

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be mailed to Permissions, The Avant-Garde Project, LLC, P.O. Box 41595, Houston, TX 77241-1595.

This book is for informational purposes only. Information contained within should not be considered legal, financial, or tax advice. You should consult with your attorney or tax professional to determine the best course of action for your business.

Mariga CPA PLLC does not make any guarantee of results from the use of the content in this book. This publication is sold with the understanding that neither Mariga CPA PLLC nor its publisher is engaged in rendering legal, investment, or other professional services. If you require legal or other expert assistance, you should seek the services of a competent professional.

To protect the innocent, some names have been changed.

To my children, Florence and Emmanuel.

Thank you for giving me the courage to take the leap into entrepreneurship and the fortitude never to accept the limits that the world would place upon me.

Contents

Ndatenda!

(Thank you! in Shona)

I have committed a percentage of the proceeds from this book to education for girls in Zimbabwe. Your purchase of this book enables us to change the legacy of many young girls in Zimbabwe by sending them to school.

Unemployment in Zimbabwe is very high. It is estimated that more than 75% of the population survives on informal trading, which makes it difficult for most parents to afford to send their children to primary and secondary school. Historically, the government has provided support in the form of grants and scholarships to college-bound students; however, parents are responsible for paying for their childrens education until they get to the college level. Unfortunately, some students are left behind because of their financial situation and are unable to afford primary and secondary school fees.

The cause of girls education has always been important to me, especially that of African girls, whose parents are sometimes left to choose between sending a daughter or son to school. Typically, sons are given the opportunity to pursue their education while daughters must stay at home to help with chores and care for the rest of the siblings. In extreme instances, girls are forced into early marriages. Our goal is to empower as many girls as we can by giving them an opportunity to pursue their education.

When we allow young women to receive an education, we not only alter their future, we pivot the future of their offspring for generations to come. Education allows young women to create their own destiny.

So, when you purchase Profit First for Minority Business Enterprises , you contribute to life-altering education for Zimbabwean girls. Thank you for being part of our mission to change legacies.

~ Susanne Mariga

Foreword

by Mike Michalowicz

The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, was a result of incessant, toxic prejudice. I realize that, as a white male, I cannot begin to comprehend the depth of pain and prejudice so many African American and other people of color have experienced. I cannot begin to comprehend the depth of toxicity, fear, and unwavering inequality that minority business owners are forced to live with. I cannot even begin to comprehend the inhumanity experienced by humanity. But I do believe it can be changed.

I asked my long-term friend and colleague, Susanne Mariga, if I could write the foreword for her book. My focus is small business. I love our institution endlessly. I want to serve all entrepreneurs. I want to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty. I dont believe that George Floyds life, nor the lives that have been lost before and after his due to racial inequality, will be in vain. Change is afoot. A facilitator, or more likely the facilitator, of equity and inclusion is wealth. Thats exactly what this book in your hands will create for you and all minority business enterprises (MBEs).

Susanne Mariga knows the MBE community because she is a minority business owner herself. Susanne is the child of an African-American mother from North Carolina who comes from a legacy of sharecroppers and slavery. Susannes father is Chinese, and has also witnessed firsthand the inequities faced by people of color. Even though Susannes father graduated magna cum laude in the 1970s, none of the Big Eight accounting firms would hire him because his accent was too thick.

Against the odds, Susanne rose up. Susanne was the first Black woman in her family to graduate from college. She was the first female family member to become a Certified Public Accountant. She was the first to work at a Big Four accounting firm. She was the first to start a business. She was the first to write a book. Unfortunately, she was not the first, nor the last, to experience racism. She had to learn to navigate rooms where no one would look at her. She had to disregard muttered words and condescending glances. And she had to build a business in a context where people deliberately didnt work with her not because of her capabilities, but because of her skin.

She started her accounting firm while on maternity leave, with $500. $500 of her own money. No golden parachute from her past employer. No money from family. No prior legacy.

Against the odds, Susanne grew an accounting practice that was recognized as a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business and received the E-10 Award from the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council. And she is the first person in her family lineage to become a millionaire. She is a gen-one millionaire, and intends for you to gain that notable achievement too.

You too may be working against the odds. There is no question that you have the drive, the passion, and the talent to grow a wildly successful business. But you also experience forms of racism and oppression. You may wrestle with success guilt, which pressures you to hire friends and family. No matter what, you are busting through the stereotypes that have been thrust upon you. It takes immense bravery to recreate who you are and embrace what you really want in the very public way that entrepreneurship requires.

When I wrote Profit First , I wrote it to teach a system for achieving wealth. Susanne has taken Profit First for Minority Business Enterprises to an entirely new level. This is not only a book about a proven system for generating entrepreneurial wealth; it is also a system for shifting your mindset. You will learn to think differently, to manage your taxes differently, and to position yourself differently in order to achieve every facet of entrepreneurial wealth.