EDUCATION IS A SIMPLE PROCESS; TRAINING IS NOT.  EDUCATORS GIVE PEOPLE KNOWLEDGE.  TRAINERS HELP PEOPLE PUT KNOWLEDGE TO USE.

- Jay Beecroft

Jon Beck, CPA(inactive)

Mentor, Trainer, Consultant

I knew I wanted to be a CPA when I took my first accounting class in High School.  When I was about to graduate with a degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Clarie, I attended a Career Fair and realized my “true” passion was management consulting (ask me how I came to that conclusion during our first chat).   Luckily, my accounting degree allowed me to interview with large, national CPA firms and because I also had a minor in Computer Science, I learned that IT consulting was a natural fit for me.  And so my journey in the consulting world began.


It's been a wild ride for me over the past 35 years, but I think it's prepared me well to help you with your journey.

Fast forward to last year.   I had just completed a very difficult organization transformation and found myself wondering what I wanted to do next.  This personal journey led me to new passion:  sharing what I’ve learned regards growing a successful service business and training them on how to do it.  I won’t bore you with a recitation of my work history but you might be interested in knowing some of the things I’ve done . . .

  • I’ve had extensive training in the most effective sales methodologies like Miller-Hieman (Strategic Selling and LAMP), Value Selling (based on Xerox sales training) and Action Selling by the Sales Board.
  • I’m a recovering CPA(inactive).  Recovering because I think I have a personality.  Inactive because where I live (Minnesota), the state requires me to say that.  It simply means I hold a valid CPA license in Minnesota, but I’m not allowed to issue audit opinions.  Since I REALLY don’t want to issue audit opinions, I’m good with it.
  • I know how to read and interpret financial statements and identify key metrics (both financial and operational) to keep a business on track.
  • Started a business application and IT Strategy practice for one of the largest CPA/Consulting firms in the world.
  • Started a consulting line-of-business for 4 companies
  • Consulted with small, medium and large companies around the world.  My client list includes iconic brands and companies I’d never heard of before.
  • Learned how to effectively communicate with, convince, and cajole entire organizations to change.  By the entire organization I mean from the Board of Directors down to folks on the manufacturing line.
  • Started an investment bank with a twist.  Rather than “putting lipstick on the pig” like traditional investment banks, we applied our change management expertise to the company before taking it to market.  Then we ran our marketing process like a “project”.  As far as I know, we were the first to ever approach Investment Banking from that perspective.
  • Been on my own, just like you, for almost 20 years.

WHAT MY LIFE LOOKS LIKE

Since this site is about making money and getting your life back, I felt it important to tell you a bit about what I do when I’m not working.  I live in Minneapolis and remodel houses in my spare time.  I have two beautiful daughters, an incorrigible Corgie dog, I ride a motorcycle (frequently, well as frequently as Minnesota weather lets me) and enjoy music outdoors with friends.