Financial protection for small business owners

Protect what you've built.
Plan what comes next.

You built the business. Now build the plan — protect what you've earned, lower your tax bill, exit on your terms.

Lower your tax burdenWatch: R&D Tax Credits →
Protect your income
Retain your top employees
Exit on your terms
Book a 30-min conversation
Family enjoying time outdoors

The business is what you built. They're who you built it for.

The 5 Core Challenges Facing Small Businesses

Every small business owner I meet is navigating at least three of the following challenges. Most are dealing with all five.

01

Cash Flow

Business must continue when there is a cash flow crunch. Most owners are managing the gap without a financial structure underneath them.

02

Customers

The trust, the history, the reason a client stays — it's personal. The moment you're not there, those relationships are at risk.

03

Employees

Every person on your team — and the family behind them — is counting on the business being there tomorrow.

04

Tax Burden

Strategies to reduce tax burdens have been on the books since 1981 — most owners have never been shown how to access them.

Watch: R&D Tax Credits
05

The Exit Strategy

Every year the exit question goes unanswered is a year it compounds. The planning that keeps getting deferred.

What Amazon knows that most small business owners don't

Over four years, Amazon achieved a 5% effective rate on nearly $80B in profit — including $0 in federal income tax on $11 billion in profit in 2018. They used strategies written into the U.S. tax code in 1981 — not for Fortune 500 companies, but for any business owner who knew how to access them. Your CPA files your return accurately. A tax strategist builds the structure most owners have never been shown — and the difference can be significant.

Business owner reviewing financial documents with advisor

What this looks like in dollars

The plans don't just speak. They add up.

An illustrative example. A business owner netting $300,000 per year, currently maxing out a standard retirement plan at $70,000, is still paying tax on $230,000.

Through a properly structured combination of qualified plans — IRS-approved, written into the tax code since 1981 — that same owner could shelter an additional $150,000 to $200,000 from federal income tax. At a 35% effective rate, that's $52,000 to $70,000 saved every year. Compounded over a decade, the impact is substantial.

Numbers vary by income and situation. The first conversation gives you the actual numbers for yours.

$52K–$70K in annual tax savings (illustrative)
$150K–$200K additional income sheltered legally each year
$520K–$700K tax saved over 10 years (cumulative)

Watch the deep-dive

How R&D Tax Credits Actually Work

A short, interactive, “choose your own adventure” presentation walking through one of the most powerful — and most overlooked — tax strategies available to small business owners. Press play, take it at your own pace.

The plan your business has been missing

You've built something real. But like most small business owners, you've probably got a CPA over here, an attorney somewhere, maybe an insurance agent who calls once a year — and none of them are talking to each other. That's where money gets left on the table, gaps in protection appear, and the eventual exit never quite gets planned for.

My role is to bring those pieces together. I sit down and listen, learn what you've built and where you want to go, then coordinate the right specialists to put one plan in place that actually fits. You don't manage four different relationships — that's my job.

What you get back is simpler than what you started with: your business and family protected, a tax bill that reflects strategies most owners never get shown, and a real exit plan for whenever the day comes.

One Team, One Facilitator

You don't manage four relationships. I do. Here's the team I bring to every plan.

CPAs

Tax filing & compliance — ensuring the structure underneath works in your favor.

Attorneys

Legal structure for ownership, succession, and estate planning.

Tax Strategists

Strategies that reduce your tax burden — built alongside your CPA, not instead.

Watch: R&D Tax Credits

Financial Planners

The funded plan that protects your business, your income, and your family.

Me

Frequently asked questions

The questions owners ask before we talk

If something on this page raised a question for you, there's a good chance it shows up below.

Q1.What exactly is a Small Business Advisor? Is that a licensed title?
It is a description of what I do rather than a regulatory title. I am a licensed financial professional who specializes exclusively in small business owners — their financial protection, tax strategy, and planning needs. Most advisors serve everyone. I serve one specific group and I have built my entire practice and my team around their specific challenges.
Q2.How is this different from what my financial advisor already does?
Most financial advisors manage your investment portfolio and focus on growing your personal assets. What I specialize in is the business side of the picture — protecting the business itself if something happens to the owner, structuring the tax strategy to legally reduce what goes to the IRS, building employee and retention programs, and planning the exit. These are the pieces that most investment advisors either refer out or do not address at all. My clients typically have both a financial advisor and me — we serve different functions and we work well together.
Q3.Who are the experts on your team?
The team I bring to each situation depends on what that situation needs. It typically includes specialists in tax strategy and qualified retirement plan design, business protection and continuity planning, legal structure and succession planning, and financial planning for the owner’s personal picture. My role is to coordinate all of those specialists around your specific situation — so you get one coherent recommendation, not five separate opinions that do not connect.
Q4.What does the first conversation look like?
It is a forty-five minute diagnostic conversation — no cost, no commitment, no pitch. I ask you about your business, your income, your current advisors, your family situation, and what your future goals look like. I listen far more than I talk. At the end of that conversation I will tell you honestly whether what I do is relevant to your situation — and if it is, I will explain what a customized plan would look like and what the next step would be. There is no pressure and no obligation.
Q5.Do you work with businesses of any size or is there a minimum?
The strategies I work with tend to make the most sense for business owners who are generating consistent profitability — typically net income of $150,000 or more per year. Below that threshold some of the tax strategies become harder to justify on a cost-benefit basis. The first conversation is the right place to figure out whether your situation is a good fit — and I will be straightforward with you if it is not.
Q6.How do you get paid?
Great question and I appreciate you asking it directly. I am compensated through the financial products and structures that are implemented as part of the plan — similar to how an attorney is compensated for the work they do rather than charging for the initial consultation. The planning conversation and the analysis are at no cost to you. If we move forward with specific recommendations, I will explain exactly how compensation works for each component before you make any decision. Transparency about that is important to me.
Q7.Can you give me an example of the kind of tax savings you are talking about?
Absolutely — though the numbers depend entirely on income and situation so what I share is illustrative. A business owner netting $300,000 per year who is currently maxing out a standard retirement plan at $70,000 is still paying tax on $230,000 of that income. Through a properly structured combination of qualified plans, that same owner could potentially shelter an additional $150,000 to $200,000 from federal income tax — legally, with IRS-approved structures. At a 35% effective rate that is $52,000 to $70,000 in annual tax savings. Over ten years the compounding impact is substantial. The first conversation gives us the actual numbers based on your specific situation.
Q8.Is any of this risky or aggressive from a tax standpoint?
No — and that is one of the most important things I want to be clear about. Every strategy I work with is IRS-qualified. These are not loopholes or grey areas. They are structures that Congress deliberately wrote into the tax code and that the IRS has approved and administers. Your CPA will confirm the deduction on your return. There is nothing exotic or aggressive about any of it — which is part of why it has been in the tax code since the Reagan administration and why thousands of business owners use these structures every year.

Watch: R&D Tax Credits
Q9.What happens if my business has a bad year — am I locked into anything?
Flexibility is something I build into every plan specifically because business income is not always predictable. Some of the structures I work with have annual contribution ranges rather than fixed amounts — meaning you can adjust up or down depending on the year. Others have more fixed commitments which is why we evaluate fit carefully before recommending them. Part of the first conversation is understanding your cash flow patterns and income consistency so that the plan we build is one you can actually sustain — not one that creates pressure in a slow year.
Q10.I have heard about these kinds of plans before and they seemed complicated. How much work is involved for me?
That is a fair concern — and the honest answer is that there is some initial setup work, primarily coordinating with your CPA to make sure the structures are implemented correctly. After that my team handles the ongoing administration and reporting. Your job is to make the contribution decisions each year based on what makes sense for your business. Most of my clients tell me that once it is in place it requires very little of their time — which is exactly the point. You should be running your business, not managing your financial plan.

We work with business owners from all types of industries

Every small business is different in what it does. But the core challenges underneath — the ones that keep owners up at night — tend to be remarkably the same.

Restaurant owner
Restaurants
Medical practice
Medical Practices
Contractor
Contractors
Retail business owner
Retail
Law Firms Consultants Skilled Trades Franchise Owners Dental Practices Real Estate Marketing Agencies Financial Services Veterinary Practices And many more

From people I work with

What owners say after the conversation

Restaurant interior

"I didn't realize how much was falling through the cracks until someone looked at the whole picture."

— Restaurant Owner, Boulder CO
Construction workers on site

"I needed someone who understood what a contractor actually faces — the equipment, the crew, what happens if I'm out for six months. What I got is one plan that holds up whether I'm on the job site or off it."

— Contractor, Longmont CO
Dental office and operatory

"I had a CPA and an attorney, but no one was looking at the practice as a whole — the team, the tax bill, the eventual sale. What I needed was coordination. What I got is one plan that does it."

— Dental Practice Owner, Boulder CO

The first step

Let's have the conversation

A 30-minute conversation. No cost, no commitment, no pitch. Just two questions: which of the core challenges felt most relevant — and is a follow-up conversation worth your time?

If our plans are a match for your needs, they will speak for themselves. The only way to know is the first conversation.

1

Book a free 30-minute call

2

I listen, ask questions, assess your situation

3

You hear honestly whether I can help

4

You decide if a follow-up makes sense

Book a conversation

No cost · No commitment · No pitch

Jane Roberts — Small Business Advisor

Jane Roberts

Small Business Advisor · Boulder, Colorado

Boardroom thinking for Main Street businesses

A former career in corporate leadership, a real estate investment portfolio I manage myself, a small business owner, and a parent navigating the same questions you are. I've spent my career learning how to build something, scale it, and protect it carefully.

I'm also licensed to bring the right financial structures into a plan when one calls for them — but the plan is what I lead with, always. The strategy comes first. The structure follows.

The questions you're facing — what happens if I can't show up tomorrow, what does my exit look like, am I paying more in taxes than I should be — those are the questions I've sat with personally. That's why I do this work.

What I stand for

Brand Values

The strategies I recommend are ones I believe in enough to use myself. I don't sell products. I build plans — comprehensive, coordinated, customized for your business and your family.

01

Personalized over packaged.

No two businesses are the same — and neither are their risks. Your priorities shift as your business, family, and life evolve. I build plans that fit where you are today and flex as you grow. There's no shelf here; everything is made for you.

02

Long-term thinking over quick wins.

Good planning doesn't happen fast. I take the time to understand your full picture, work alongside your CPA, attorney, and other advisors, and build a strategy that holds up both now and in the future.

03

The whole picture, not just the product.

I hand you a coordinated strategy that addresses all your core challenges. Every client gets a clear view of their business risk, tax exposure, and exit strategy addressed in the right order, coordinated with your full team of experts.

04

Advice I'd take myself.

I've faced the same risks, fears, and hard questions you're facing right now. The strategies I recommend aren't just ones I believe in — they're ones I use in my own business and life. I won't recommend anything I haven't put to work for myself first.

05

Community over transaction.

I'm showing up to events and the sidelines because this is my community, too. I'm a neighbor and a fellow business owner first. When you work with me, you're working with someone who's genuinely invested in seeing this community thrive.