Fiducial | We help your business grow and be profitable.

April 1, 2005—As a teenager Northern California native Amy Capano worked in retail and dreamed of one day owning her own store. That dream became a reality 10 years ago when she opened an upscale candle shop, Cathedral, in San Diego. Three and a half years ago, she opened a high-end furniture store, Cathedral Home, also in San Diego.

Assisting Capano in her small business ventures is Gene Polley, her San Diego-based Fiducial business advisor. Of all his clients, Polley says he thinks he's helped her the most.

"She is the best combination of work on my part and acceptance on the client's part of my advice," said Polley. "She has just finished the process of incorporating. Her corporation is named Light My Fire Enterprises, Inc."

This goes along with what Polley has observed during business counseling sessions with his clients.

"I've noticed that women accept advice better then men," he said. "This is my experience. Perhaps others have different perspectives. But for that reason women seem to make better clients."

Polley pointed out the advantages of incorporating to Capano who had never thought about it before. He told her she was paying a ton in self-employment taxes so she should consider the advantages of incorporating next year.

Relating sound business advice to clients is one thing but having them act on it is another matter entirely. Of five clients that he's advised to incorporate thus far this tax season Polley says Capano is the "only one who's pulled the trigger."

Made her more confident in what she was doing

Capano earned a degree in fashion merchandising in college which was geared for the corporate business setting but that kind of approach didn't fit into her plans.

"I'm a creative and visual person," said Capano. "In the corporate world it's kind of hard to learn that balance of giving up creative ideas that you have."

Polley became her business advisor in mid-2004 but already his counseling has reaped benefits for her stores. After a decade of operating her own business, Capano says she's finally found an accountant that knows where she's coming from.

"Gene's phenomenal," she said. "This is the only time in 10 years that I feel like someone understands me and my business. He shows you how to look at things differently."

Capano appreciates getting monthly print outs of Profit & Loss statements from Polley and cited the differences between him and her former accountant.

"I would always get these statements from my former accountants but nobody went over them with me," she said. "In the last six months Gene made me more confident in what I was doing. He showed me that he really cared and I learned that everyone has strengths."

The biggest lesson Capano has learned from Polley is knowing exactly where her money is going which is sometimes a hard thing to see. For example, he lets her know when she's spending too much on payroll.

"He kind of breaks it down into how much you are putting out compared to what you're taking in," she said. "Your business is only worth what the business can pay."

You don't have to go it alone

Cathedral Home started off slowly but began growing last year as Capano spent more money on inventory and put things on sale more quickly then she had in the past.

"That's your money [inventory] just sitting there so your money just can't be tied up," she said.

Unlike her ex-accountants, Capano says Polley grasps exactly what she's trying to do and was familiar with different areas of her store.

"Gene's very smart and knowledgeable about what he is doing," she said. "He understands small business." Compared to her old accountants, Capano finally feels that when she talks to Polley she's "getting an answer back instead of the runaround."

Now that she has two stores, Capano dreams of owning "a huge store" but knows that it's hard to get from a small business mentality to the next stage without a solid game plan. Fortunately, she realizes that she doesn't have to go it alone due to the help she's receiving from Polley.

Word has spread about Polley's small business prowess and Capano has already referred two of her neighbors, fellow entrepreneurs, to him. One of the referrals has become a client and meetings are scheduled with the other one.

Having a business advisor in her corner like Polley makes all the difference these days to Capano who knows that there's a trusted professional ready to help her when problems arise.

"It feels like a weight has been lifted from me," she said.