Interview with Rob Nixon, the Accountant’s Coach

On this week’s episode, I chat with Rob Nixon. Rob runs a highly successful coaching business that helps accountants reach $1 million in annual revenue per partner. Beyond this he’s a serial entrepreneur and has launched and exited multiple businesses. We chat about the systems he uses to reward himself as a business owner, the five questions he asks himself before setting on a new business venture and what his major goals are every year with his own coaching business.
Connect with Rob:
Website: https://robnixon.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/growaccountingfirm/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therobnixon/
02:06 – Rob Nixon’s life until now
05:06 – Making money while growing a business.
10:09 – What is financial and personal success?
12:07 – Investments outside of your business
15:53 – Appropriately rewarding yourself
18:14 – Balancing rewards
19:30 – Response to “he has it easy”
21:37 – Thanks and outro
Q: How did money show up for you in the home when growing up?
- Born in New Zealand. Grew up on a farm, his dad was an entrepreneur (albeit a poor one) and they had very little money
- Left home when he was 19 and had started a couple of businesses by then
- Made money since he was 11
- To Rob, money was about working hard and then realised it wasn’t about that
Q: Your brothers are also successful entrepreneurs. How did all three of you manage to be successful in the entrepreneurial space?
- At 17, Rob started his education in marketing, sales and business as well as personal development
- He’s a voracious reader, attended seminars and conferences
- It was a constant quest for knowledge around the world
- He was on the Australian archery team too
Q: Has making money always felt easy?
- Making top-line revenue has always been easy but keeping it is a different matter
- He’s had an interesting career on chasing shiny objectives and has difficulty staying on track
- After investing $6 million of his own capital on a business venture, he became frustrated and realised it was an issue around business lifestyle rather than business wealth
- Rob has five questions he asks himself:
- What do I want my business life to look like?
- What do I want my numbers to be?
- What products and/or services do I want to sell and/or deliver?
- What do I want my culture to look like?
- Who do I want my clients to be?
- The answers are the rules of business which has immensely helped him
- His entire methodology has been on profit-first
Q: You’re very clear about your rules. When it comes to your personal wealth and finances, what is financial success for you?
- It’s doing what I want, when I want, with whom I want in a manner that I want
- Had a taste of a first-class lifestyle when he worked for an employer in his 20s
- Business should be fuel for the life(style)
- For Rob, it’s all about ticking off goals on the bucket list items – mainly experiential
- Spends money on himself
Q: How does investing fall into place with your wealth management?
- Business used to be his cash cow and he expected to sell out and that would be his cash-out
- He realised it was delusional. He asks two things:
- Can you get to that number?
- Is there a buyer?
- He has four major goals every year:
- Increase income
- Increase lifestyle
- Decrease debt
- Increase wealth
- He invests in three asset classes – the business, share market and property
- As a sole business owner, he needs to develop wealth outside of the business
- The more prudent approach is to have a more steady longer-term growth outside the business
Q: One of the challenges that people have in business is rewarding themselves as financial success climbs. You don’t have this problem. Tell me more about it.
- For every 8 clients he’d reward himself
- One of the things he rewarded himself was a chicken coop
- Another one was a BBQ and a shed
- It should be part of the thrill of the chase and journey
Q: Tell me about your sense of balance. Your rewards are becoming increasingly extravagant. How are you balancing it out?
- The rewards must be paid for in cash
- It needs to be significant enough to push you
- Rather than celebrating at the end, why not celebrate all the way through
Q: People would look at you and say that “he’s got it easy”. How would you respond to that?
- Over the years, he’s worked his butt off. Not always smart but very much so on learning
- Did a lot of travelling and keeps a flight diary
- In 2016, he spent 5% of the year in the air
- The biggest challenge regarding the five questions he asks himself about business design: most people have a bunch of things to unravel to get a ‘blank sheet of paper’
- Most people don’t have the courage to back themselves to walk away from their business and situation
1. WATCH OUR TRAINING – The New Model For Wealth – Discover how to protect your personal wealth from the impacts of unexpected personal and economic events. Watch Now.
2. JOIN OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – It is a value-packed Facebook Community where smart investors learn about what’s working in the world of investing. Join Now.
3. JOIN ME ON CASH-FLOW MAP DAY– I show you exactly how I help smart business owners design a personal blueprint to take advantage of private investment opportunities. Get Moving.
4. JOIN FREEDOM WARRIOR – Our signature boutique program for those who want results effectively and safely. Become a Warrior.
Related Podcasts
Why it’s Not Business as Usual In The Property Market Just Yet
In this week’s episode, I talk about...
The Harsh Reality of Property Investing Today
In this week’s episode, I talk...
The Lone Wolf Investing Model
In this week’s episode, I talk about...
How Economic Uncertainty Is Affecting Investors
In this week’s episode, I talk...