A Look Back at Q1 Webinars

Presented by Michael Helton, CPA and Shareholder at APRO member Rivero, Gordimer, and Company, PA

Mike has worked with owners who are ready to transition out of the RTO business, and he listed many reasons to exit. He joked that clients should not call him for a valuation the day before they’re trying to sell the company. He stated that the reason to exit is just as critical as timing. Make sure you’ve looked at the numbers well in advance to maximize planning time, especially if you’re the one selling. It’s an entire team that will help make the decision, including your CPA, your attorney, your wealth planner, and anyone else who serves as an advisor.

Some reasons to exit include:

• Retirement / Lack of Succession Plan: You must ask yourself if it’s your time to go, and if you are ready to make a succession plan. 
• Unexpected Health Concern / Death: Health problems and even death can force a decision to exit the business.
• Economic Uncertainty / Regulatory Changes: State statutes may become unfavorable and impact decision-making to exit.
• RTO Is Not the Right Business for You: It might just be that rent-to-own is not the right business for you. Sometimes, great employees don’t translate into great owners. Sometimes, people come into the rent-to-own business without a clue – because it’s not retail. 
• Competitive Threats: A competitive threat is something outside the company that may impact its ability to continue operating, e.g., new competition in the market.
• Receive an Offer You Can’t Refuse: Sometimes, you receive an offer you just can’t refuse, which becomes your reason to exit. If somebody wants to pay top dollar for it, you might suddenly be motivated to go.
• Bad Location / Territory: Other times, you may be in a bad lease, bad location, or bad territory, and you just want out.

Presented by Miguel Duhlin, Director of Professional Development at the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA)

Miguel surprised and delighted the attendees right out of the gate by creating an anagram of APRO to easily remind us how to create superior prompts in ChatGPT:

• “A” stands for “Articulate” – Articulate clear goals, defining what you want as clearly as possible with examples and samples
• “P” stands for “Provide” – Provide context and constraints (include background and boundaries)
• “R” stands for “Refine” – Refine with iteration (test and tweak prompts)
• “O” stands for “Optimize” – Optimize for use cases (customize prompts based on needs)

Miguel also provided a QR code to scan his presentation and access all of the incredible AI resources available for us to use. He urged us to pick one or two tools to incorporate into our work in 2025. To help everyone tackle their AI fears, Miguel created a seven-step playbook to help guide you in your progress. 

Presented by Katie Marie Meyer, SHRM-CP at GRO Consulting

Katie provided a great overview of benefits versus perks. She noted that when reviewing the employee handbook, she tends to focus on those that benefit the employees the most, so they understand how to navigate the company and get the most out of their employment. Helping employees understand the expectations and the rewards leads to better retention and lifelong employees.

• Insurance Options (Stipends and Direct Primary Care Doctors): Not everyone has the same needs, so they may want insurance, and they may not.
  • An employer can offer stipends that employees can use to pay for health insurance, or it just becomes a bonus. 
  • Direct primary care doctors are doctors who are basically on call for your employees. It’s a membership that employers pay a set amount for each month, and employees can go as much or as little as they need. The employer gets billed the same amount every month, regardless.
• Gym Memberships and/or Childcare: Employers can partner with local businesses for childcare or gym perks. It’s in your interest to keep drivers in top-tier condition. 
• Clothing Perk: You may also consider offering a clothing perk for new shoes because shoes get worn out quickly. 

Benefits can be expensive, but they’re cheaper than the cost of turnover.  You really want to consider offering perks for high performers and by role. The perks for the high performer should be transparent because you want people to know that they can work up to them. You can tell them that you want to give them this perk, because if you’re doing the steps to get this perk, it means the company is bringing in money, too.