NonprofitX University: Thrive By Helping People Thrive™

innovation grants for authors and book publishers

Scale Your Impact With The Help Of AI And Innovation Grants

A million dollar bankruptcy put me on a quest to discover how to build bankruptcy-proof businesses...

In 2020, I was invited to speak at TEDx Ocala about how businesses can scale their impact by embracing innovation, education, and corporate philanthropy.

This "idea worth sharing" (in the words of TEDx and TED Conferences) involves transforming free "educational content" into high-value intellectual property, housed through an educational nonprofit platform, that is supported and funded by the world's largest tech firms.

It's a very unique formula that I discovered in the late 2000s, while running a bankruptcy and tax consulting firm, one that was driving a ton of revenue but also faced steep overhead costs and shrinking margins.

I had entered the world of bankruptcy law after suffering a crippling $3 million dollar bankruptcy and losing all my assets. This experience put me on a quest to pursue law and technology at a deeper level and discover how to build "bankruptcy-proof" businesses.

Two decades later - this "quest" and the "curiosity" to build bankrupty-proof businesses is stronger than ever and that's our core mission at NonprofitX.

I was 22 years old when this happened - it was life-changing experience at a fairly young age. I had also just graduated, and was awarded a nice Bachelors Degree along with a Bankruptcy Court Case Number as well, while my friends were able to secure gigs at Fortune 500s.

It could go two ways - I go into depression and take out my anger in bad way, or I use this as a life-changing experience and solve the thing that wiped me clean! I choose the second.

I worked at the Bankruptcy Court for the next year or so and obtained several certifications in Bankruptcy and Tax Restructuring. My mission to empower other entrepreneurs who were facing bankruptcies and foreclosures to navigate the process with confidence. My message resonated and people attended my educational workshops, which in turn generated clients for my firm. The firm took off like a rocket.

But, there came a point around 2008-2009 where my overhead and advertising expenses were consuming the lion's share of resources - I had to innovate or was going to be wiped out again. The firm was generating a ton of revenue, but the profits were shrinking aggressively. Remember - this was the peak of the recession, and banks were very tight on lending.

Additionally - operating a business with a "BANKRUPTCY" plastered all over your credit report is very tough. I had no assets, and could not even secure a $1,000 credit card to fund my bankruptcy mission - I had to reinvest most of the revenue back into the business to keep the momentum I had built-up.

Additionally - I had just enrolled in law school in the UK and was hovering back and forth between Toronto and London to do both things - attend law school and run a sizable bankruptcy firm. I did this from 2008 - 2013, first when I attended law school in the UK and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue an advanced degree in law, called LLM, with the dream of becoming a professor.

Anyway, I digress, back to the shrinking profits.

That's another problem in the process of scaling - you get to a point where you have massive momentum and lots of revenue, but the underlying profits are slim due to several internal and external factors. These can include:

High fixed overhead
High variable overhead
Lack of innovation
Lack of capital and funding
Lack of product differentiation
Fierce competition
Poor legal and financial decision making
Inefficient use of resources
Lack of experience
Inflation and economic fluctuations
Change in consumer behavior and habits

Think about these factors for a quick second- all of these, and more, can wipe out a business. Thousands of businesses were collapsing every day during this period. Long story short, I had to innovate or my business would collapse - again.

That's when I started digging deep into the world of nonprofits and charitable tax donations - the section of the tax code that powers the philanthropic world.

Charitable Tax Deductions: The Fuel For Your Rocket

I discovered that the tax code directly incentivizes individuals and corporations to donate a piece of their cash or assets to fuel humanitarian causes - education, science, research, religion, charity, innovation, inventions, infrastructure, environmental causes, etc.

This concept is embodied in the section called "Charitable tax deduction" which is line-item deduction for most companies and individuals. This reduces the burden on the government to carry out all those functions, and reduces the time it takes to ensure those initiatives are funded adequately. This section was indoctrinated into the code in 1917 - it's not new!

The big aha: This is the structure that most billionaires and wealthy families use to control and manage wealth, generation after generation - It's a whole new segment of the "tax code" that most entrepreneurs and business owners are just not exposed to.

Over the years, we've discovered that most lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, realtors, and insurance agents are also not exposed to this section of the code - and all of these professionals were helping me manage my wealth behind the scenes - they never suggested these strategies to me.

Had I known about this in 2001 when I started my bakery, I would have taken advantage of this section of the tax code that is right at our fingertips - we just don't know about it.

I was driven by the question: How can "billionaires" go bankrupt several times and not lose everything but a hard-working and enterprising entrepreneur like me got wiped out clean so easily?

So - with that discovery, I realized that if I could "reposition" my mission so that it aligns with the CSR projects that these corporations are "donating and funding" - I could also tap into this goldmine of an opportunity. Additionally, I could develop and control intellectual property through my nonprofit, and because those assets are owned by the nonprofit, not by me on an individual level - I have asset protection and risk reduction built-in. My personal assets, investments, real estate, and other business ventures could be totally separated from the "educational workshops, seminars, and consulting work - which has risk involved -

Not just that - it actually makes my business a lot more "bankruptcy-proof". Additionally, I can transform from a bankruptcy and tax consultant to the leader of an educational mission: To make businesses bankruptcy-proof by providing the tools and resources to educate and empower them!

My story fits the narrative and the mission of the nonprofit fits within the parameters that these corporations were already funding - even at the peak of the recession!

I could leverage the grants and funding from large corporations, individuals, local businesses, and even government agencies, who in get a tax deduction for donating to my nonprofit - and, in turn, I could leverage those funds to attract more people, share my knowledge and insights, and gain more authority, trust, and thought leadership at the same time?

BOOM!! Sign me up NOW!

I spent the next decade - from 2010 to 2020 - testing, mastering, perfecting, and embracing this "philosophy".

Give the gift of knowledge, wisdom, and education to others to become the preeminent thought leader in you niche.

Well - guess what, there's is a good chance that most of you are already doing that - donating your time, intellectual ideas, and insights FOR FREE to gain thought leadership - except you're doing it on your own instead of partnering and collaborating your efforts with the world's largest brands who are also on similar missions themselves!

I've built several legal and technology companies using this framework and have empowered millions of people through our free educational courses, blogs, ebooks, workshops, and in our online communities. We have DONATED over $10,000,000 in intellectual property through various forms over the past 15 years to empower people and have changed the life of MILLIONS of people - directly or indirectly.

That was the formula that I shared on the TEDx Stage in 2020, titled: The steps to create a risk-free, recession-proof business and monetize your knowledge.

I Finally Got The Memo: Master The Art of OPM, OPT, OPR To Shrink My Risk and Scale My Impact

OPM: Other people's money (a concept taught in real estate) - why risk my own money when someone else is willing to foot the bill

OPT: Other people's technology (free social media) - why build a tech from scratch when I can use one a billion dollar one for free

OPR: Other people's resources (joint ventures) - why build from scratch when I can partner with others on the same boat