Speaker 1:

Welcome to today’s episode of David vs Goliath, a podcast dedicated to helping small businesses leverage technology to not only help them compete against their large competitors, but win. Your host is currently the CEO of Anthem Business Software, a three time Inc. 500 recipient and a serial entrepreneur with a passion to help small businesses everywhere find, serve, and keep more customers profitably. Please join me in welcoming your host, Adam DeGraide.

Adam DeGraide:

Great day everyone. It’s Adam DeGraide from the David vs Goliath podcast. I hope you’re having an amazing day, because I am. I spilled coffee everywhere on today’s information sheet, but what are you going to do? Today we’re going to be interviewing Bill Boersma from the OC Consulting Group. He has got a couple of audio issues on his side. He was in his second house, but I think it’s adequate enough to get through. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed talking to Bill.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Automate My Social, where if you’re a small business, you can automate up to 100% of your social media across all your channels and never have to think about it again. Save time, save money, and save energy at automatemysocial.com. Visit us online at davidvsgoliathpodcast.com. There you can subscribe to receive our newsletter and also apply to be on the podcast.

Well, let’s get right to it with Bill Boersma. Bill, welcome to the David versus Goliath podcast.

Bill Boersma:

Hey, it’s good to be here. Thank you.

Adam DeGraide:

I’m so glad to have you. I don’t know if you can tell, on my way to the studio this morning, this is the sheet that I spilled some coffee on it and as Rush Limbaugh used to say formerly nicotine stained hands. I can say my formerly caffeine stained hands.

Bill, it’s great to have you on the podcast. You’re the founder and operating principal of OC Consulting Group, a national life insurance consulting practice. And one of the things that I thought was interesting is the fact that you are a for a fee life insurance practice. In other words, you don’t just make commissions on the selling of the life insurance, people hire you as a consultant. Is that correct in assuming? Am I stating that correctly? For the folks, tell them exactly what OC Consulting Group does?

Bill Boersma:

Yeah. It is a fee-based life insurance consulting practice. I started it almost 20 years ago now. I’ve been in the industry a lot longer, but it’s not unheard of, but it is a rather unique a model in the industry. You don’t see a lot of people doing it that way where the advisor market is bringing me in for this kind of work for their clients and looking for that third party independent objective source of information.

Adam DeGraide:

That’s interesting, because I recently have gone through a bunch of life insurance stuff. I had a major transaction again in my business. I sold one of my businesses in 2020, and that obviously created a need, because the net worth went up. And then you have to create a need for life insurance to balance all those things off. And we actually did hire, I wish I knew you because at the time I didn’t know you. We ended up hiring an independent, as well that came alongside of the providers of the life insurance to help us structure it, whether it would be with our family trust, should it be in our individual names, how do we remove portions of it out our estate, all those different types of things. I would imagine for the listener, that’s kind of what you do. How did you get into this space? I’m always fascinated to learn how people do that.

Bill Boersma:

Well, I’ve been in the industry for over 30 years now and way back when it was, I can’t say I grew up and said, “Hey, I want to be a life insurance guy.” I kind of defaulted into the industry in a way, partly through an extended family member who was in the industry. And so one thing leads to another, and it was about 10, 12 years later that some things were going on in the market that I started noticing and said, “Hey, if this is real, people need to understand it, be more aware of it.” And so I kind of changed my… Well, frankly, rather than change, I developed a new practice. I have a few different practices in the industry, and so I started working much more closely with the advisory community, attorneys, accountants, family offices, trustees. They’re the ones who I try to educate.

Adam DeGraide:

Do they ever bring you in, if there’s an… I’m working with a CPA firm right now that specializes in fiduciary accounting and trying to help protect families on their estate side from their family members suing them when the program is set up the right way. And obviously they go to court, and there’s mitigation and mediation. Are you also brought into those types of situations, as well too?

Bill Boersma:

There’s almost nothing you can imagine regarding life insurance that somewhere some advisor across the country is not bringing me in to deal with. I literally don’t know if I could think about anything regarding life insurance that somebody’s not bringing me in about. And lately, litigation support expert witness work is the fastest growing part of my practice due to some niches in the market where things aren’t going exactly right.

Adam DeGraide:

I would imagine portfolios strength by 33%, you’ve got a problem with the potential way it was structured. The family members going, “Wait a minute. I don’t want to manage that this way. This isn’t fair to me. This is my now.” And obviously they don’t realize how things are structured, and I can imagine that that creates challenges. How old were you when you first decided to start your own business?

Bill Boersma:

What was that? What I doing then?

Adam DeGraide:

No? How old were you when you decided to start your own first business?

Bill Boersma:

Okay. Well, I got into the industry when I was 24. I was 24 years old. I’ll be turning 55 next month. Well, no, later this month, sorry. 24 is when I came into the industry. At that point, in a way you could call yourself a business owner, and I suppose I was. Because it was 100% commissioned at the time and it was fee base back then. But it was about four years later where I really had my own company and then developed a couple of different companies in this market over the years. Let’s just say early to mid 20s.

Adam DeGraide:

That’s awesome. It’s almost like my timeline. I started my first business, I think I was 26, 27, something like that.

Bill Boersma:

In this business too, I don’t think that I can ever remember a time, not very many times in my life that I actually worked for somebody. We’re going back to junior high, high school and college where I was always doing something, whether it was lawn maintenance, painting, you name it. I kind of had that mentality from the beginning.

Adam DeGraide:

I love it. We’re going to have to take our first break from our corporate sponsor, Automate My Social, but when we come back with Bill, it’s going to get really exciting here. We’re going to fix Bill’s audio problems. I promise you, watchers and listeners. Everyone, stay tuned. We’ll be right back.

Speaker 1:

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Adam DeGraide:

And we’re back and we fix Bill’s audio issues at least to help you guys get through the episode without wanting to rip your head off. And I love the stories of people, how they start their businesses. I really love the life journey from being a young man, working different jobs. I was a paperboy. I was a dairy stock shelf guy. I installed carpets. You name it. Basically like you said, you’ve been everywhere in insurance. I pretty much have done almost every job you can imagine. You had the same type of thing.

But one of the things that I thought was interesting here that people don’t often realize is that there’s fun things that you do in your life, as well. You’re not just only doing life insurance. And I was fascinated because you have a number of hobbies it says here. One of them was canning and salsa and applesauce, and jams. My grandmother was a massive canner. She canned some of the grossest foods in the world. No offense, Grandma. God rest her soul. But she also canned some really good stuff too, and my mom did it for a while. How did you get into that? It’s a fascinating hobby.

Bill Boersma:

You know? This is not something I got from my mother or grandmother. Don’t ask me exactly how I got into that kind of stuff. But yeah, salsa, apple sauces, jams, you name it. And whenever I do something I like it to do, I like to do it big. I’m using 40 quart stock pots and making 100 jars or something at a time. Just it’s fun. I like creating processes and making stuff.

Adam DeGraide:

Do you find that hobby passion of yours can spill over even into your work ethic?

Bill Boersma:

I think that when you have it, you have it regardless. Everybody has different personality traits. They have different drives, and so when I find something I like you get to go whole hog into it, whether it’s personal, whether it’s family, whether it’s business.

Adam DeGraide:

I love that. And for me, one of my hobbies right now is golfing. During the covid years, I was playing four times a week. I haven’t played now almost a month and a half, but I got down to a six handicap when I was playing. Now I’m back up to, I’m playing, I’ll shoot 94 one game, and then two weeks later I’ll shoot a 75. It’s like I’m all over the map. In consistency practice is the key. And so when it comes to your business and dealing with life insurance and trying to proactively help people as you’re consulting them not run into these issues that sometimes you’re brought in to solve, how do you do that? With a typical client, a lot of your clients I would imagine would be lawyers and also other firms that are working on estate planning. Do you have direct clients, as well too?

Bill Boersma:

Yeah. I’m introduced to my clients, so brought in by again the professional advisor community. But very often I’m ultimately working in engaging directly with the consumer, with the policy owner. There’s a lot of different models. And at the end of the day, I’m going to work the way the advisor and the client want me to work with them. Sometimes it’s hand in hand at every step of the way and sometimes it’s an introduction. “Bill, here’s somebody expecting your call, run with it.”

Adam DeGraide:

Got it. Yeah. That’s exactly what the guy that I used during my process of evaluating it, as well too. It’s good to get a third party view as to what’s being trying to be sold to you or being recommended to you. Because obviously with tax ramifications, your state ramifications, all these things come into play and how you structure life insurance matters big time, especially if you’re dealing with multiple millions of dollars. Are many of your clients, are they all over the map in size, or do you specialize in high net worth individuals?

Bill Boersma:

It is actually all over the map. In general it’s high net worth individuals, mostly business owners, a number of high level executives in doctors and surgeons. But for my 30-year career, it’s mostly been the owners of closely held companies, and those companies are anywhere from mom and pop companies to individuals and families on the Forbes billionaire list. It runs the gamut. That’s for sure.

Adam DeGraide:

If you were in a ballpark, how many people you’ve helped in your career. You’re 55 now, you started around 26, 27, somewhere in that vicinity. Call it basically half your life. How many people have you served?

Bill Boersma:

Man, I’ve never even thought about that. Now, I would probably say it’s going to be in the 100s, not the 1,000s, because of the nature of the beast of my practice. It tends to be a smaller number of very large situations as opposed to high volume. But maybe I’d be surprised. [inaudible 00:14:11] But when you think about it, even if it’s-

Adam DeGraide:

Even if it’s 500, 600, that’s a lot of people. I was thinking about it the other day. I was laying in bed and I was like, “I’ve helped almost over 5,000 small businesses grow their business, myself and my businesses.” And probably 80% of them would work with me again. And that’s pretty good in the field that I’m involved in with CRM and marketing and stuff like that. But obviously the 20%, you always kind of kick yourself, right? “Man, what could I have done differently? Did we make mistakes? Did they make mistakes?” All those things that you think about. Is the same thing for you? If you were to think about your 100s of clients, what percentage of them do you think would do it again with you?

Bill Boersma:

I have to imagine that it’d be an overwhelming majority. Of course, you’re never going to hit 100%. And sometimes that’s for reasons that you can control and sometimes it’s for reasons you can’t control. But I think I’ve been kind of pretty good at ignoring that type of thing, because there’s no real value. There’s no productivity in dealing with it. And sometimes it’s because I’ve brought news that people don’t want to hear, but that of itself is a huge value. Just because you don’t want to hear it doesn’t mean I did anything wrong.

Adam DeGraide:

Hey, just because it’s the truth, don’t shoot the messenger so to speak. Well, we’re going to take another break from another awesome sponsor here on the David versus Goliath. You’re with Adam Degraide, your handsome host, Bill from OC Consulting Group. I hope I’m saying that right. I think I am saying that right. And we’ll be right back to talk about what it takes to have the courage to start your own business. We’ll be right back.

Speaker 1:

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Adam DeGraide:

And we’re back with the salsa canning master of the universe Bill. Bill, it’s great to have you so far. One of the things I love that you said on the sheet was your mantra. Tell the watchers and listeners one of your mantras.

Bill Boersma:

I think you’re referring to kind of my attitude in life that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. Which sometimes they say is a joke when people kind of roll their eyes at me. But you think about it and if it’s something you really enjoy, you really think it’s worthwhile. Maybe that’s reality.

Adam DeGraide:

I’ve got 16 guitars, a bunch of instruments I make recording albums as a hobby and also as a small business myself. I definitely overdo it. My wife will tell you I literally can’t stop writing music. I’m releasing a piano and string quartet album, my number two album coming up. I’m releasing a full EP tomorrow when this is being recorded on Cinco de Mayo, full LP, 20 hard rock songs about video game characters. I’ve got a new single coming out in July. I play golf. I work like a freak. People are like, when do you sleep? I sleep great. I go to bed anywhere from 9:30 to 11, and I wake up every day between 6:30 and 7:30. And then I am on the rest of the day. Every once in a while I take a little bit of a nap, but I love the idea of passion.

What your mantra speaks to is passion, right? And every business owner has to have it. What gave you, in your life’s experience, do you think you inherited that trait? Did you learn that trait? Tell the watchers and listeners what gave you that passion, that overdoing passionate just go out and crush it?

Bill Boersma:

Well again, you’re asking me all these questions, never really stopped and thought about it or asked myself before. And I don’t know, this is just me talking. But I don’t know if this is something that you know you’ll learn. I think it’s something that you’re born with. Now, some people will say that’s a flaw and others will say it’s an asset. I guess it all depends on who you’re talking to and what you’re talking about. But I can understand you can see it both ways.

Adam DeGraide:

Totally. And my name is Adam David DeGraide. My initials are ADD. Doctors tried to drug me up. I wouldn’t let them drug me up, because ADD is a gift. And I tell people all the time, the concept of the Windows Microsoft operating system was based on my brain. The ability to have a lot of things going on in different windows open at a time. Some people can’t do that, but for whatever reason, God gave me that gift. What gave you the courage though to start your own business versus going to work in somebody else’s firm? What was that intangible in you that help you do that?

Bill Boersma:

Yeah. That part, I’d probably would go back to my parents. My mother’s a pretty driven individual, never a professional or business owner, but still a pretty driven individual. And so some of the things I would think about in my past, it’s like, “Okay, I did that.” And I go, “Well, maybe I did.” Maybe that’s something she nudged me into. It’s the environment that you grow up in, and then it’s the experiences that you get out of that. And then ultimately maybe it’s experiences that you have that you go, “Hey, this isn’t what I particularly like, so I don’t want to work this way or for that person, or I want to have a little bit of more autonomy in control.”

Adam DeGraide:

I like that.

Bill Boersma:

And it’s not all smooth sailing all the time. And I have people who look at me and say, or any entrepreneur or business owners like, “No, I need a little bit more of a level keel, know what I’m going to be making every year.” And I go, “Well, I get that.” It’s nice, but I don’t know if that’s quite as exciting.

Adam DeGraide:

It’s not as exciting. And when you mentioned your mom’s drivenness, I could sense a 10-year-old version of yourself remembering some of the driving things that she would make you do to get yourself going. And you have to thank your mom. My mom was the reason why I played music in the first place. She forced me to. Basically with a knife to my throat. Not literally, Mom, I know you didn’t. But figuratively, it felt like there was a gun to my head. But thank God she did, because it’s one of the greatest joys in my life. And that’s awesome that you learn that trait from your mom.

Now, we’re going to close up this week’s episode, but I want people to be able to find you. Because if you are a business owner, and you’re dealing with life insurance and estate planning and you have a lawyer that you’re working with and a CPA firm to help you with all this stuff, don’t forget that you need to have somebody like Bill involved in this process, as well too. Bill, how can they find you online?

Bill Boersma:

The main website is OC, www.oc-lic.com. Oc-lic.com. It’s pretty straightforward there. I have a couple of different websites, but they’re all available and connected to that particular one, including my blog and others. It’s probably kind of pointless listing them all out. But oc-

Adam DeGraide:

Are you on LinkedIn? Can they find you on LinkedIn?

Bill Boersma:

Absolutely. On LinkedIn.

Adam DeGraide:

Bill Boersma. And you spell that B-O…

Bill Boersma:

B-O-E-S-R-M-A. [inaudible 00:22:00] There’s a couple of different ways. It’s a good Dutch name.

Adam DeGraide:

I love it by the way. It’s been great having you on the podcast, and have you subscribed to the podcast yet?

Bill Boersma:

I have.

Adam DeGraide:

Make sure you do.

Bill Boersma:

Thank you. Nope, I figured that I… You know what? I did watch once, and then that’s one of the first questions you asked the guy. And I said, “Oh Lord, if he’s going to ask me that, I’d better be able to say yes.”

Adam DeGraide:

Well, it’s funny, I realized about halfway into it that I wasn’t really asking people to subscribe, but we’ve done pretty well. We are almost up to 1600 on YouTube. We’ve got almost 13,000 on Rumble, 100s more on Spotify, iHeartRadio. It’s been a lot of fun, and I really enjoy talking with small business owners who are crushing their giant in their market, where we get inspiration, activation, and education here on the David versus Goliath podcast. Bill, have you had fun being on here?

Bill Boersma:

I have. This has been a good experience. Thank you very much, Adam.

Adam DeGraide:

And when we get him back, folks, his microphone will be perfect next time. And we really, really appreciate your time. For the watchers and listeners, thanks once again for tuning in. We’ll see you next week. Have an awesome day.