One of the best things you can invest in is yourself and your education, because no bankruptcy, no divorce, no government nobody can take that away from you. This is Boosting your Financial IQ, where I help business professionals with financial responsibility to elevate their careers and run profitable companies. My hope is that you'll apply these lessons to achieve your greatest ambitions, cheers and enjoy. One of the most common questions I get asked by people like you who want to boost their business financial IQ is Steve, how do I get started? So check this out. Today I'm going to walk you through, step-by-step, what you need to do right now, in this minute, to start building better financial skills and to improve your financial life. Does that sound good? Now here's the deal Straight talk. There are no more excuses, none, seriously. Last week, I made a huge announcement that I was making my financial pro program. That was a paid program and is expensive. I'm making it absolutely free. All right, there are no gimmicks, there's no trickery, there's no hook. All right, this is not a marketing ploy or some new age thing to like get you into my free program so I could later on upsell you. In fact, it's absolutely free. Now you may be wondering okay, steve, there's gotta be something. Nothing's free in life, right, that's the old saying. It's free because here's what I realized Instead of adding more zeros to my bank account, that doesn't give me fulfillment. I've already been successful enough in my career and in my company, Coltivar. That's my day job, right, that's where I go and I turn around and grow companies. I've achieved success, so I don't need to add more zeros to my bank account to give me more fulfillment. My fulfillment comes from helping millions of people around the world, and that's my mission is to empower 10 million business professionals with financial literacy skills, and it starts with you. Okay, so that's the deal, right. Seriously, I care about you as an individual and I love to hear success stories from people around the world. So, because I want you to be successful and because I want you to complete the program that's the whole goal there are big rewards to recognize people like you who complete the program. Okay, so I want you to become a financial pro. I can't emphasize this more. So I know thousands of people listen to this podcast every single day. I see the stats right, and there's already been huge success as soon as I opened this program. Every single day, I see the stats right and there's already been huge success. As soon as I opened this program up for free, like, my phone was going crazy with notifications every time somebody was signing up and downloading the app. So, okay, cool, it's working and people are really excited about it.

So, if you haven't already, the first thing you need to do is either pull out your phone right now You're on some device, probably you could pull out your phone, you can go to the Apple app or the Google Play store and you could download the app so you can sign up through the app. Now, if you want to sign up through your computer, that's fine. Just go to BYFIQ, which stands for boosting your financial IQ. So go to BYFIQcom and then you'll see, there there's a button and you can just sign up and you could create a login and, bam, you're in. You have access to the entire program. Okay, like I said, over a hundred video lessons, quizzes, et cetera to get you certified. All right. So that's the first step.

Now, if you're wondering what is my financial IQ, where do I sit on the spectrum of financial literacy? There's an assessment that you could take. You could find that at byfiqcom. There's a button on the homepage and in the navigation it just says take the financial IQ assessment. Just click on that. You could take the assessment, answer the questions, you'll get your score. And also, at the end of the assessment, you have the opportunity to ask a question. All right, and then I'll answer your question, either in the community or on this podcast later on, or I'll just gather it to understand, like what are people most interested in? Right, so that's the assessment. Okay, so you have the app on your phone, the boosting your financial IQ app. Okay, great, Now you can learn finance on the go from any device, anytime across the world. Or you could get onto your computer and you can log in on the byfiqcom website. Right, so that's how you access the program. But it's the same thing If you're doing lessons on your phone through the app, or if you switch over to your computer. It's all going to be synced. Your progress is going to be saved right Now.

How does the program work? There are six different levels that I walk you through to become a financial pro. I'm going to get into each of those levels, but as you progress, the content just builds on itself. The cool thing is with all this is that you have the opportunity to go through a case study and to build out a financial model in Excel. I provide you with a template so you could go down that path if you want. In fact, in the program I kid that you could go down the path for the nerds or you could go down the path for the birds. So if you're like Steve, I don't want to get into a case study, I just want to learn the fundamentals. But I don't want to open up Excel and start modeling. Okay, then go the path of the birds, right when you say finance is for the birds. I'm going to just stay high level. If you want to get nerdy with me and you want to build out a financial model, you should download the model and follow along, because that will be huge.

I'm telling you, okay, this is no joke. Like I said, there are no gimmicks. I can't, like, emphasize this enough. I'm telling you, if you boost your financial IQ and I don't care if you're in marketing or in operations or you're a sales director, it doesn't matter or you're running a business, like, obviously, if you're running a business, you need to learn how to read financial statements and how all this stuff works, but it doesn't matter your role, and it doesn't matter if you're a student, maybe you're not even in business yet. I guarantee you, okay, if you take this program, you're going to build financial skills that will impact your life in so many different ways, in a positive way, moving forward. Okay, I can't like lead you to water any more than I am already doing right now. Okay, but you have to drink. That's the whole thing, all right.

So there are six levels. So in level one, level one is called essentials, all right. So what you're going to do in that module you'll see start here, okay. So you click the start here module, watch this little video where I just do a quick little introduction of myself and tell you how the program works. And then there are participant materials. This is where you're going to download the financial model for the case study, all right. And then you're going to jump into the essentials.

So in the essentials, I start off really really simply, right. So if you have zero financial literacy, like none, you're like I don't even know what an income statement is, cool. Okay, I'm going to meet you where you're at and we're going to go through the basics. So in the essentials, I walk you through the income statement, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows. Then we get into some misconceptions about cash, which are really important, and then I'm going to talk to you about how to compute free cash flow, which is going to be fundamental throughout the entire program. I love free cash flow, right, and it drives the value of organizations. So just you're going to want to know that. I'm going to walk you through how to do that. And then I'm going to teach you some other things, like how to compute break-even points and what metrics to pay attention to to drive value in an organization. And then, at the very end of level one essentials I'm going to introduce you to the concept of combining strategy and finance to drive value, and then how to become a value creator. All right.

So level one, as you can see, is packed full of awesome content and, like I said, you don't need to have any experience or any background in finance to get started. Just jump in, start taking the lessons and complete the quizzes to ensure this information is sticking and you're learning it. And also, you got to complete the quizzes in order to become certified at the very end. All right, so that's level one. Super easy, right, like my cat can do this. It's like download the app, do it on your phone while you're working out, while you're commuting, while you're in the car, whatever it may be. Now, there's some lessons where you're going to want to pay attention to the screen, so don't do that while you're driving, but you can take this on the go, all right, no excuses. Or do it at your computer. Now, when you get into some of the other levels, like when we get into the finance models, obviously you're going to want to do that on your computer, because trying to follow along in an Excel spreadsheet may be a little difficult from a phone. But just do whatever is best for you. Okay, that's level one.

Level two involves the fundamentals. All right, so I kick things off by explaining how strategic financial leadership will change your life. All right, by understanding this concept and applying it in your career, in your business, will make all the difference in the world. Okay, then we talk about things like entity structures. We talk about the general ledger gap versus IFRS, cash versus accrual accounting. So I just get into the essentials, the basics, the fundamentals of accounting, and then we dive deeper into the financial statements.

One of my favorite lessons is lesson seven in level two, which is called financial statements, and the three things that kill businesses. So be sure to check that out. That's a good one, and I think I even sing a song to you at the beginning, which is like so embarrassing, but maybe it'll be entertaining to you. All right, so I go through the killers of business. There are three killers there that I unravel and then we start talking about things like profit, like what's the difference between net operating profit after taxes versus net operating profit less adjusted taxes? We get into value and the components of economic profit. We talk about value hacks, multiples and formulas, invested capital, value in the stock market, changes in working capital, net property plan equipment and CapEx. So all these things we go through in the fundamentals in level two. Level two is awesome. Okay, I'm excited for you to jump in, but be sure to check that out, okay.

Then we get into level three. Level three involves analysis, and this is really important. So if you're a business owner, learning how to read financial statements and the story behind the numbers is like such a huge skill. And if you're not a business owner or an entrepreneur, understanding this will accelerate your career. And if you're a student and you want to get a job, like understanding how to speak the language of money will give you such a leg up when it comes to finding employment and then kicking butt once you get that job Right.

So, level three analysis, like I said, I introduce you to things like the logic tree, how to build a logic tree, which is so critical and so cool. When I show people the logic tree, like in companies, when I go to turn around or to grow a business, and I can break down the show people the logic tree, like in companies, when I go to turn around or to grow a business, and I can break down the value of the business into its component parts, they're like their minds blown. They're like, oh my gosh, this is like crazy. So you should learn how to build a value logic tree and then you'll be so valuable in your business. All right, I'll teach you how to common size financial statements so you can start analyzing them. I'll teach you how to break down revenue into its component parts, how to calculate the X factor, the profit essentials. I'll teach you the difference between EBITDA and EBITTA, why ROIC is better than ROA or ROE. If you don't know these terms, this is just a little primer to get you excited about all the things that are going to come, and then you can start speaking. Nerdy like me, kind of scary, right, okay. I'll talk to you about how to account for inflation. I'll teach you some other financial metrics. We'll get into things like profitability, liquidity, leverage, growth, asset management. I'm just looking at all the lessons right now. I mean it's like action-packed. I'll teach you income statement insights, how to analyze a balance sheet, how to set up the statement of retained earnings, and then I'll provide some final remarks. And this is where you're going to get into the case study in level three. All right, if that hasn't got you excited, level four and beyond is going to be like mind blowing, okay.

Level four is when we get into forecasting. Now, forecasting is huge. I explained the difference between forecasting and budgeting, which you need to know, right? Budgeting is all about like command and control. It doesn't work super well. Forecasting is about being more predictive and being cool, because you understand the numbers behind the business and what the future may look like, so you can anticipate things and be part of the cool cats who drive value in a business. I'll teach you about the high jump, arm wrestling and the hockey stick. Those are different concepts that I teach in this level four. I'll help you to set up a financial forecast and the three financial statements the income statement, the a financial forecast and the three financial statements the income statement, the balance sheet and the statement of retained earnings.

And then here, guess what? You get to choose your own adventure. That's where I was talking about. You get to either go down the path of the nerds, like me, or the path of the birds. So there's two different paths. So you can get into the case studies or you can skip past it. See, I have this all set up for you. Whatever path you want to go down, like, whatever your preference is like, this is all about you. This is all for you. I teach you how to forecast capital expenditures no-transcript. I teach you how to estimate long-term debt and all these other things to build off these financial statements, and you're not gonna wanna miss level four. Okay, level five. Ooh, I love this one.

Valuation. Oh, valuation is such a cool concept and if you can do this proficiently, you are gonna be a powerhouse in business. So I'm gonna teach you the pillars of value creation, common approaches to valuation and then I'm gonna to teach you the pillars of value creation common approaches to valuation, and then I'm going to get into the valuation methods how to build a discounted cashflow model a DCF total nerd alert, but super cool. How to compute wiggity wiggity whack which it's really not called wiggity wiggity whack out there in the real world, but it is called whack, which stands for weighted average cost of capital. We'll get into that and then you will choose your own adventure for valuation. You can get in there with me, roll up your sleeves, get dirty and we could build a financial model together. Or you could be like you know what. I'm gonna skip that and I'm just gonna learn the concepts from a high level.

Your choice, level six, is for strategy. I'm gonna introduce you to strategy. I'm gonna teach you what it is, the approaches to strategy. I'll share with you strategic choices and how that relates to value creation. We'll talk about value creation drivers like growth and return on invested capital. I'm going to teach you my framework for turning around and growing companies, which is through initiatives, actions and results. I call those IARs. And then I will help you to master other concepts of strategy so you could take all this stuff from a financial perspective, tie it together with strategy to drive real value in a company, and that's a big thing that I talk about all the time.

It's like there are those who only know strategy, or they pretend to know strategy, and they're like hey, we got mission, vision, values, yay. Like, here's our five-year plan, that strategy. And then you have those on the other side who are like the total nerds like me. Right, you're building out financial models and all these forecasts and you're like here's the strategy of the business. We're going to grow by 20% because our spreadsheet says so, but there's no connection between the two. That's why you got to connect strategy and finance together.

So I could teach you all the stuff you need to know about accounting and finance, but then if you can't go out there in the real world and put in place a strategy or pursue the right initiatives, actions and results, guess what? Like, you're just going to be one of those professors who's super smart, who's very academic, but doesn't really create value in the real world. I don't want you to be like that. I want you to be a value creator. So those are the six levels. You could totally do this. Like I said, I don't care what level you're at. You don't need to have a bachelor's degree or a master's or a CPA or any background in accounting or finance. Literally, you can get on there today, right now. Okay, I walked you through all the steps. There's no excuse.

You can download the app or you can log in on a desktop at byfiqcom Either one and then, interchangeably, you can be on the app, you can switch over your computer, you go back and forth and you can complete this program, and you can complete it in six weeks. Now some of you, like I said, have already downloaded the program and you're in it because I can see when quizzes are completed, and some of you are like bam in it already, completing quizzes already through level one, which is super cool. So, seriously, why wait? I care about you guys. Like I love the BYFIQ community, seriously, I do, and when I hear from you, like on LinkedIn, or when you connect with me elsewhere, like when you send me a message through the website or whatever it may be, a lot of you connect with me through my different channels and when I hear from you, it just like seriously warms my heart and like I love communicating and connecting with you and I'll always try to respond when I can. You know like this thing may blow up and I may not be able to respond to every single person, but I try to respond to everybody because I am invested in you and that's why I'm doing this for free.

Like after I did this, after I made it free, there was a flood of people who signed up for this program and I started thinking is this dumb? Should I go back to monetizing this, because obviously there's a huge demand? But then I'm like no, Steve, don't, don't even go down that path. Like it doesn't even matter, just empower people with financial literacy and then everything will like change and you'll be like super fulfilled, all right, so that's where I'm at. But like hashtag, real talk Seriously. Like if you're just listening to my podcast but you're not applying the principles, like okay, that's cool, like I'm glad that you're listening to my podcast, but like what are you doing? What are you doing Seriously? Because you don't want to be that person at the end of 2025 to say, okay, next year I'm going to do this.

It's funny because I had lunch with some family members just the other week and they're talking about entrepreneurship. They're like, yeah, one day I'm going to do this, one day I'm going to start this business, which I think they will. I think they'll, they'll go down that path. But I could tell you there's so many people in my life friends and whatnot, colleagues that are like oh yeah, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm going to start this business. And then two years later I run into them. I'm like so what are you up to? And it's like they're doing the same thing. Then I run into them five years later, they're doing the same thing. It's like don't be like that, don't be one of those talkers. Or don Like one of the best things you can invest in is yourself, in your education, because no bankruptcy, no divorce, no government nobody can take that away from you.

So in my life, like my biggest thing is I invest in education and experiences. Like it's kind of crazy. Like when I go to the store, I'm like okay, I don't need to buy another pair of jeans, I already have three and I'm good, okay, I don't need five to 10. Now, I'm not shaming you if you have 10, 20 pairs of jeans. I'm not saying that at all, because who am I to talk? I have like 10 pairs of vans. But instead, what I'm saying is that I have a hard time buying a pair of jeans for a hundred dollars, but then, on the other hand, I have no problem spending a couple thousand dollars to go on a trip, because I value experiences, because the jeans are going to wear out, but I will always have those memories regarding that experience. So the same thing is true with you. Like invest in education, invest in experiences, and nobody could ever take that stuff away from you.

And when I was first starting out, when I was 16 years old, I started my first company as a landscape business out of my sister's garage. I grew it into a multimillion dollar business. I had no clue how to read financial statements Seriously, I had no clue. And if there's a program around at the time that I could just take on my phone I mean, phones were like flip phones. Back in the day I'd like my phone and my pager Right. But like nowadays, there's seriously no excuse because, number one, I've made it free and this is like way better than most college courses out there and it's better than a lot of the paid content.

Now, I'm a little biased here, but I'm super confident in this because I've done this program and then I redid the entire program, like literally, I created over a hundred videos in lessons and then I redid all of them. So I'm standing in front of a whiteboard to make it more engaging. So I've done this multiple times and this is like all my best stuff. This is my gift to you. Okay, that's enough. I'm not going to just keep going on this rant here. I just want you to become a financial pro. Okay, seriously, just become a financial pro and let's do it together. All right, more to come. I hope you have a fantastic week. Please be sure to share this with everybody that you know. Okay, that would mean the world to me. That's. The biggest compliment you could provide is by sharing this with other people, getting other people to sign up for the financial pro program, because I want people to become more financially literate in the world of business. All right, have a great week until next time. Cheers.