Financial Advisor for Business Owners in Tampa Bay
Your business is your biggest asset and your biggest risk. We help Tampa Bay owners protect it, tax-shelter income, and plan the eventual exit.
Specific topics covered
401(k) & Simple IRA Plans
Retirement plans for small and mid-size businesses, designed to be useful, not just compliant.
Profit Sharing
Flexible employer contributions inside a qualified retirement plan, useful for rewarding key people and deferring tax.
Buy/Sell Agreements
A funded plan for what happens to a partner's share if they die, become disabled, or want out.
Key Person Insurance
Protect the business against the financial impact of losing a person who can't easily be replaced.
Executive Bonus Plans (162)
A simple, flexible way to provide deferred-comp-like benefits to key employees outside of qualified plans.
Business Succession Planning
The multi-year process of preparing a business, and its owner, for an eventual transition.
Most business owners pour everything into the company and leave their own financial plan for later. The problem is that your business is both your biggest asset and your biggest single point of failure, and “later” has a way of arriving as a surprise. Working with a financial advisor for business owners in Tampa Bay means getting ahead of that: sheltering income tax-efficiently, protecting the business from the loss of a key person, and building the plan for the day you eventually step away.
This is the work I do every week with owners across Wesley Chapel, Tampa, Lutz, and the wider Tampa Bay area, from two-person shops to established companies with a payroll to protect.
Financial planning for Tampa Bay business owners
You did not go into business to become an expert in retirement plans, insurance structures, and succession law. That is the point of having a coordinated advisor. My job is to look at the whole picture, your income, your team, your taxes, and your exit, and connect the pieces that owners usually handle in isolation or not at all.
Whether you are a solo owner looking to shelter more income, or a partnership that needs a plan for what happens if something goes wrong, the starting point is the same: a clear look at where the risks and the missed opportunities are. If you have been searching for a financial advisor for small business owners near me, that is exactly the conversation to have.
Where owners leave the most money and risk on the table
A few gaps show up again and again, and each one is fixable:
- Retirement plans built for owners: many owners are still saving inside a SIMPLE IRA set up when the company was tiny. A Safe Harbor 401(k) paired with profit-sharing can let an owner-employee defer far more each year, often five figures more, with recent tax credits to help offset the cost of starting.
- Buy-sell agreements: if you have co-owners and no funded buy-sell, a partner’s death or exit can hand you a new, unwanted business partner. We coordinate the funding with your attorney so the agreement actually works when it is needed.
- Key-person protection: if the business would stumble without a specific person, coverage keeps the doors open and the bank calm while you regroup.
- Executive bonus and benefits: tax-efficient ways to reward and retain the people who make the company run.
- Succession and exit planning: the plan for turning years of work into retirement income, whether you sell to a third party, transfer to family, or hand off to a partner.
You do not have to tackle all of this at once. We start with the gap that carries the most risk or the biggest tax cost, and work down the list.
The tax angle owners underuse
For a profitable business, the retirement plan is not just a benefit, it is one of the largest legal tax shelters available to you. The right plan design can move a meaningful share of profit out of this year’s taxable income and into accounts that grow for your future, while also helping you attract and keep good employees. The catch is that most owners set their plan once and never revisit it as the business grows, quietly overpaying tax for years. It is worth a look every couple of years, and especially after a strong one.
The exit is a plan, not an event
Every owner exits eventually, by choice or otherwise, and the question is whether it happens on your terms. A succession or exit plan is not a single document you sign the year you retire; it is a runway you build over years so the business is actually sellable, the value is real, and the proceeds genuinely fund your retirement.
What that looks like depends on your path. For a family business, it means preparing the next generation and structuring the transfer to minimize taxes and family friction. For a partnership, it means a funded buy-sell agreement so an unexpected exit does not force a fire sale at the worst possible time. And for owners planning to sell to a third party, it means getting the books, the team, and the owner’s own day-to-day involvement into shape well before a buyer ever looks, because a business that cannot run without you is worth far less than one that can.
Here is the pattern I have watched play out for decades: start this conversation five years early and you have real options and negotiating power. Start it the year you want out and you take whatever the market happens to give you. We help Tampa Bay owners build that runway deliberately, coordinating the financial side with your attorney and CPA, so the single biggest financial event of your life is one you planned for rather than one that simply happens to you.
I spent 20-plus years as a business owner before I did this, so I have sat in your chair. The mistake I see most is treating the business as the retirement plan and assuming the sale will fund everything. Sometimes it does. Often the number at exit is lower than expected, or the sale falls through, and there is nothing built alongside it. Build wealth outside the business too, deliberately, while the business is strong. Let's look at whether yours is doing that.
How we work together
It starts with a conversation, not a commitment:
- A free 30-minute call to understand the business, the owners, and what is keeping you up at night.
- A gap review of your current plan, insurance, and structure, so you can see clearly where the risk and the tax leakage are.
- A prioritized plan you can act on in order, coordinated with your CPA and attorney so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Ongoing reviews as the business grows and the tax rules change.
No pressure, no jargon. If we are not the right fit, I will tell you.
Why Tampa Bay owners choose Mike Garcia
Credentials and lived experience both matter here. Mike Garcia holds the AAMS designation, Series 7 and Series 66 securities licenses, and a 2-15 insurance license, and moved into financial services in 2018 after more than 20 years of owning and operating his own companies. That combination means your retirement plan, insurance, investments, and exit strategy are coordinated by one person who has actually run a business, not handed between departments.
It shows in the response: a 5.0 rating from 39 Google reviews from Tampa Bay families and business owners, and a steady stream of referrals. Securities and advisory services are offered through BRIA Capital Group. You can read more about Mike’s background and decide for yourself.
If you own a business in Wesley Chapel, Tampa, or anywhere across Tampa Bay and you know your own plan has been on the back burner, the next step is simple. Book a free 30-minute consultation, and let’s find the gaps worth closing first.
How much does a business financial advisor cost?
The models are the same as for personal work, with one wrinkle: business owners often pay for two overlapping things without realizing it.
An advisor managing personal and business assets typically charges a percentage of what is managed, commonly around 1% a year. Plan-level work, like setting up a 401(k) or a SIMPLE IRA for the company, may carry its own administrative and recordkeeping fees paid by the business or shared with participants. Insurance used to fund a buy-sell agreement pays a commission from the carrier.
Ask which of those apply to you, who pays each one, the business or you personally, and what the plan’s total participant cost works out to. That last number is the one owners are rarely shown.
Is a business financial advisor worth it?
It depends on what is actually complicated in your situation.
If the company is a single-owner operation with steady income and no plan to sell, a good CPA plus a solo 401(k) may cover most of it. Advice earns its cost when the decisions get expensive to reverse: choosing a retirement plan structure that fits your payroll rather than the template, funding a buy-sell before you need it, sizing key person coverage to what losing that person would truly cost, or preparing for a sale that is still three years out.
I ran small businesses for over twenty years before I became an advisor. The honest version is that most owners do not need continuous advice. They need it at four or five specific moments, and those moments are worth getting right.
How should I separate business and personal finances?
Cleanly, and earlier than feels necessary. This is the question owners ask most and it is more a discipline problem than a product one.
Separate accounts and a defined owner’s compensation are the starting point, so that what the business earns and what you take home are two different figures you can each look at. From there, the planning questions are which retirement plan structure fits your payroll, whether profit sharing makes sense in a good year, and how much cash the business needs to hold before surplus should be invested elsewhere.
Entity structure and what the business can deduct are tax questions, and those belong with your CPA. I coordinate with them rather than guess, and I wrote about where that line falls.
When should a business owner start succession planning?
Earlier than almost everyone does. The work that drives the sale price happens years before the deal, not during it.
A buyer pays more for a business that runs without the owner in it, has clean books, and does not depend on a handful of relationships held in one person’s head. Fixing those takes time. Starting the conversation twelve months out limits you to whatever the business already is.
If you expect to exit within five years, succession planning is worth starting now, alongside your CPA and attorney.
Business Planning FAQs
Do I need a financial advisor if I already have a CPA?
Yes, because they do different jobs. Your CPA handles taxes and the books; as your financial advisor, I coordinate your retirement plan, owner compensation, insurance, and eventual exit so the pieces work together. The best outcomes happen when your advisor, CPA, and attorney are talking to each other, and part of my job is making sure they are.
What is the best retirement plan for a small business?
It depends on your revenue, your team, and how much you want to shelter. Options range from a SIMPLE IRA to a Safe Harbor 401(k) with profit-sharing, which can let an owner defer far more than a SIMPLE allows. Recent tax credits can also offset the cost of starting a plan. We model a couple of scenarios so you can see the tax impact before deciding.
What is a buy-sell agreement and do I need one?
A buy-sell agreement is a funded plan for what happens to your share of the business if an owner dies, becomes disabled, or leaves. Without one, a partner's family can end up as your new business partner. If you have co-owners, it is one of the most important documents you can put in place, and we coordinate the funding side with your attorney.
How do you work with business owners in Tampa Bay?
In person at the Wesley Chapel office or virtually, whichever fits your schedule. We work with owners across Tampa, Wesley Chapel, Lutz, Lakeland, and Ocala, and with clients throughout Florida. The first meeting is a free 30-minute call to understand the business and where the gaps are.
How are you paid?
Transparently, and discussed up front. Depending on the engagement that may be a flat planning fee, an asset-based advisory fee, or commission on certain insurance products. You will always know what you are paying, and why, before anything is signed.
Have questions about business planning?
A 30-minute call to talk through your situation, no pitch, no obligation.