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Whether you’ve been doing this entrepreneur thing for a while or are just picking it up, these important John Zabel Business Tips will surely help keep more money in your pocket!

Today I’ve got a very special guest: meet John Zabel, Financial Advisor and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) (who’s also my dad!)

Why am I bringing a financial advisor on here to chat business tips?

Well, because like many of you, I run my own business and around this season things get tough, tight and stressful! 

When I get stressed, I make poorer choices for my health (i.e. eating all my S’mores Bark while trying to crunch numbers for taxes!)

Suffice it to say, advice like this helps keep me calm while giving me more motivation to be a little sharper this year in my accounting.

Since John Zabel is a trusted entrepreneur himself who has built his business over the last 15+ years to represent some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, such as the Sony and Fox Entertainment Groups, I think we’re in good hands!

And, truth be told, I’m very proud of this man because he just so happens to be my dad!

I remember when I was in high school and he made the decision to leave his role as Chief Financial Officer for Mandalay Entertainment and start his own gig from his tiny office that also dubbed as my sister’s room when she was home from college.

His passion, persistence and determination to work for himself, setting his own goals, expectations and realities, has led him to become one of the most respected financial advisors internationally.

Now, for those who’ve met my dad, you also know he’s one of the most down to earth guys ever.  You’ll likely spot him in his pj pants, tube socks and fedora or basketball shorts.

I truly believe his “style” alongside his cast career experience has kept his clients coming back year after year.

And, lucky for us, he’s opening up about his business tips below!

So, what is John Zabel’s advice for entrepreneurs?

Find out in the top business tips he’s sharing with us below!

• Get paid for your work – in order to survive for any length of time, you have to generate real cash.  The tendency when starting out is to cast a wide net and provide a lot of free services which are chalked up to “marketing” or “business development”. 

• You need to determine quickly which of those efforts turn into real business and focus attentions there, and keep a balance with your growth plans/free services or you can find you were really busy but there is no money in the bank. It’s important to have an up to date IT system.

• Keep expenses in line with receipts – while the great thing about working for yourself is that most things are deductible for taxes, that deductibility at best saves you only 33% of the spend, so only spend where there is going to be a return on investment for the business.

• Take all your deductions for tax purposes – as a small business working from home, you can deduct what you use exclusively for business and an allocable portion of things that serve dual purposes – personal and business – Do not be afraid to take all you are rightfully entitled to.

• Maximize health care deductions – all your premiums are deductible and if you set up an HAS qualifying plan [one with a generally high deductible], you can still set up a free online HSA savings account  and put up to almost $8,000 away to cover any of your expenses and deduct from your taxes.

• Take care of retirement needs immediately – you can also set up a myriad of retirement related accounts and take a deduction off of your taxes to boot [the funds will be taxable once you start to withdraw them] – IRAs, SEP plans or my favorite – Defined Benefit Plans.*

• Use a rewards card for ALL purchases – you need to pay the balance off each month, as interest charges will eat you alive, but all that means is treat each item purchased as if you needed cash to buy it – and do not use the balances on your cards as a loan!  You can earn as much as a 4-5% rebate on some items and generally close to 2% on all – and best of all the rewards are tax free.

• Don’t forget to pay your estimated taxes – there are a couple ways to monitor and pay, but they are due for the IRS each April, June, September and January 15^th and for a business that is growing, paying in at least 110% of what you owed the prior year is a safe harbor.

• And, it’s a way to get another interest free loan from Uncle Sam – just make sure you track what you will really owe come April 15 and make sure it’s available then [for CA it’s a little more complicated as you make larger payments in April and June and then none in September and a smaller one in January].

• Be tax efficient with your purchases – luxury autos make look nice, but their tax treatment is not great, heavier SUVs and trucks – if they work for your business and lifestyle, allow for almost immediate write-off in many instances.

• If you don’t want to purchase a vehicle for work you can always lease one and it can be written off against your tax as it’s purpose is solely for work, use this website as a useful reference point. You may find that some businesses both small and large may use financial advisors to be as tax efficient as possible,.

• Know the rules if using employees – myself I stay away at all costs here, as CA labor rules are extremely burdensome, but if an absolute need, make sure you know and follow ALL of them – as the penalties and legal risks are significant.*

• Do something you Love – I have this only because I started with the financial aspects in mind, but obviously, you can only be successful AND happy if you enjoy what you spend your time on, so figure it out and make a plan to accomplish it.

Thanks so much John (dad) for your sage Business Tips. Be sure to pin this post below so you can come back to it when April rolls around!

Disclaimer: Please note that this information does not represent financial advice for all businesses. Consult with a CPA to assist with your particular business needs. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it with a friend and tagging me on social: Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.

If you’re thinking there’s a typo here, I did not mean LMAO! In fact, TMAO is a compound that’s received a of attention over the past few years and surprise surprise without much solid evidence has created a sense of fear in consumers yet again. Let’s set the facts straight and give you the research so you can decide for yourself.

What does TMAO stand for?

First off, TMAO is the acronym for the compound trimethylamine-N-oxide. Since that is obviously such a mouthful, TMAO has been used widely across scientific literature for short.

Why does TMAO have such a bad rap?

TMAO is a compound that has been shown in some studies to increase risk of cardiovascular disease, leading people to become terrified to consume foods that naturally contain or produce TMAO during their metabolism.

For instance, many read this study that showed a higher rate of atherosclerosis development when choline was added to the diet of a specific species of mice who were already at risk for heart disease and become skeptical of TMAO.

However, what most people don’t realize is that there was a major flaw in this study in that this species of mice lacked an important protein found in humans that actually helps reverse cholesterol transport in the body.

This same animal model was repeated with the human gene added into the mice and guess what, TMAO was raised but atherosclerosis did not ensue! 

Where is TMAO found?

Absolutely! So, TMAO can actually take on a few different forms so let’s look a little closer at each of them below.

TMAO in Fish

One of the most common forms of TMAO is its action as an osmolyte (or substance) that is naturally present in fish. In this capacity it offers a protective layer that helps keep the enzymes within the fish safe from the salt water.

Thus, fish naturally have a high TMAO concentration.

If you follow the AHA and FDA recommendations to eat fish twice a week, you will certainly have a high level of TMAO circulating until your kidneys naturally do their thing to rid your body of this (aka your own detox system)!

TMAO in this capacity is considered a biomarker (or indicator) that you’re eating fish, not that you are going to get heart disease, gestational diabetes or anything else in healthy individuals. 

TMAO Produced in the Gut

TMAO can also be produced from microbes in the gut that help metabolize choline. (Curious what choline is? Then I highly recommend you revisit the post here first! For a quick refresher, choline is found in foods like eggs, beef, pork, chicken, lima beans, liver as well as dietary supplements.)

It’s well known every single individual has a very diverse gut microbiota, with both good and bad guys taking up residence in there.

The amount of TMAO produced here varies tremendously on the micrbiome in addition to each individual’s health states.

Does having a circulating TMAO mean one is at higher risk for those cardio-metabolic diseases?

Not exactly.

It can actually mean a few different things, like perhaps that individual has a higher prevalence of those “bad” gut microbes that produce more of the TMAO.

Solution: Improve the balance of your good gut bacteria with dietary changes like more fermented foods, not cutting out fish, eggs or a choline supplement. 

It can also mean someone has improper kidney functioning. For instance, if someone has poor functioning kidneys (remember that natural detox system), then they’re likely going to have higher TMAO circulating in their body. 

Solution: Address kidney functioning and the underline dietary and medical therapies to improve their GFR rate, if possible.

And, last but certainly not least, insulin resistance can also play a role!

Solution: Evaluate insulin resistance and see if other dietary concerns need to be addressed.

Do dietary sources of choline impact cardiovascular risk?

Again, choline is an essential nutrient critical for fetal brain development with emerging evidence of impact on cognitive function.

It’s also found in foods that have been given some heat lately if you’ve read the latest from the Cleveland Clinic and perhaps caused some confusion as to if they should be consumed or not.

While I highly encourage you to absorb all the information you can for yourself on this subject matter, there are a few interesting things about the latest study discussed by the Cleveland Clinic that was addressed in this editorial by researchers from Cornell.

Here’s the link to check out the editorial yourself, but a great point was made by authors Kevin Klatt and Marie Caudill I’m going to cite below:

…history reminds us to be cautious about the preemptive translation of this evidence into public health and clinical recommendations.

The field of nutrition has seen multiple instances where promising associations, coupled to preclinical evidence and trials with surrogate outcomes, have not yielded clear evidence of benefits in large randomized controlled trials, and in some cases, have led to unintended harm.

This current trial was relatively small, with no control group or random treatment allocation, and utilized a single, ex vivo surrogate outcome without established thresholds to assess thrombotic risk.

Pressing the trimethylamine N-oxide narrative

As we noted above, choline serves as a precursor to TMAO.

Simply put, if you eat choline containing foods or foods that contain TMAO (like fish, beef, pork, eggs), you will naturally have higher levels of circulating TMAO in your blood.

Interestingly enough there is plenty of evidence to support the notion that dietary choline does not impact cardiovascular risk.

A recent systematic review did not find a link between dietary choline and cardiovascular risk. Plus, current research indicates that eggs are a bioavailable source of choline that does not significantly impact levels of TMAO in healthy adults.

And, in case that wasn’t enough, in another study that compared choline food sources and TMAO, the highest increase in TMAO was observed with fish consumption, which is important given the known connection between fish intake and reduced cardiovascular risk.

Fish raises TMAO more than 50 times that of choline. Yet, fish has long been recognized as protecting against the risk of heart disease and continues to be recognized as an important part of a healthy diet!

Now, what about choline supplements and the impact it has on health?

To date, no controversial effects have been shown on human participants in the randomized control trials that have ensued using choline supplementation as a means to evaluate maternal and infant health markers.

More research is certainly needed though to look long term at the health of women, men and children to ensure the current recommendations continue to hold true.

What is my stance?

I highly encourage you to proceed with caution before taking out entire foods that are so rich in nutrition because of media hype around an acronym like TMAO. 

TMAO in my opinion is not to be feared. It’s more so an educational point to understand that our body functions as a whole, not in parts!

In order for our health to be complete, we need to ensure the entire body is working synergistically together to metabolize and process the foods and supplements we consume.

Science is a beautiful thing but it’s also always evolving, as will the TMAO discussion. We have to stay on our toes to ensure we help communicate the latest facts, not fads, when it comes to your health!

Can you give me a brief 411 so I can remember all of this?

TMAO is indicative of a biomarker for having consumed foods like fish, egg yolks, or meats. The amount circulating in your body is dependent upon the make-up of your gut!

Before eliminating nutrients that are already under consumed, consider taking a look at your microbiome and focusing on healthy ways to feed your gut (like this post on probiotic rich foods here!)

I’d love to hear from you on this topic! Please feel free to comment below, send me an email or shoot me a message over on Instagram!