Libsyn Directory

Sales Tax Mistakes That Could Cost You When Selling Your Business With Jessica Rhoads [Ep.181]

Release Date: 06/24/2025

Optimizing Your Amazon Listings for Rufus and AI Search With Jon Tilley [Ep.206]

Empire Flippers Podcast

For Amazon sellers, discovery determines everything. If customers can’t find your products, nothing else matters. What many sellers haven’t realized is how quickly Amazon's discovery engine is changing. Amazon is moving beyond traditional keyword-driven search toward AI-powered, intent-based answers through Rufus. This impacts how products are surfaced, compared, and ultimately purchased. In this episode of The Opportunity Podcast, we’re joined by Jon Tilley, CEO and co-founder of ZonGuru, to unpack what this change means for sellers. For years, growth on Amazon centered around search...

Using Business Credit to Fund Growth and Acquisitions With Ty Crandall [Ep.205]

Empire Flippers Podcast

Many entrepreneurs leave huge sums of money on the table because they don’t understand business credit. In this episode, Ty Crandall, CEO of Credit Suite, breaks down how business credit really works and how online business owners can use it as a serious growth and acquisition tool. We start by unpacking the key differences between business credit and personal credit, and why separating the two is critical if you want to scale responsibly. Ty explains the types of business credit you can access without personal guarantees and what actually goes into a business credit score. From there, Ty...

Why Founder-Led Sales Kill Growth and How to Scale With Kai Law [Ep.204]

Empire Flippers Podcast

No one works harder than a founder, but at what point does being the main salesperson for your business stop being a strength and start becoming a liability? In this episode, remote sales expert Kai Law breaks down why founder-led sales often become a bottleneck and what to do before it hurts your revenue and eventually your valuation.Drawing on his experience building and leading remote sales teams across multiple industries, Kai explains why you need to improve your own sales skills and processes first before expanding your team. Kai then explains which roles founders should hire first to...

SEO in the Age of AI: What Still Works and What Doesn’t With Tim Soulo [Ep.203]

Empire Flippers Podcast

Everyone is rushing to “optimize for AI.” Most are doing it wrong. In this episode, Tim Soulo, the Chief Marketing Officer at Ahrefs, cuts through the noise around AEO and GEO and explains why business owners are massively overcomplicating what visibility really means today. While AI-powered search feels new and unpredictable, Tim argues that the same core SEO principles still apply. Create genuinely useful content for your audience, and the algorithms tend to follow. We dive into how traditional SEO compares to AEO and GEO, and where AI actually changes the game. Tim breaks down how large...

Sell Your Business at a Premium by Understanding Buyer Financing [Ep.202]

Empire Flippers Podcast

When many entrepreneurs go to sell their business, they’re more focused on their business than on the buyer. Understanding how buyers approach an acquisition, particularly when it comes to funding and deal structure, can help you position your business for the most profitable exit. In this episode of The Opportunity podcast, Greg breaks down how buyers actually think when evaluating an acquisition and why financing plays such a critical role in deal outcomes. While sellers often fixate on valuation, buyers are just as focused on how they will pay for the business and how much risk they are...

Acquisition Entrepreneurship for Digital Businesses With Alexander Kelm [Ep.201]

Empire Flippers Podcast

In this episode, we’re joined by Alexander Kelm, an acquisition entrepreneur and founder of a micro private equity firm focused on buying, growing, and scaling digital businesses across Europe. Alexander shares his unconventional path into acquisitions, including how he sold a business before he had even fully started it. He explains why acquisition entrepreneurship can be such a powerful strategy for digital business owners and how focusing on your strengths, rather than chasing every opportunity, dramatically improves your odds of success. For first-time buyers, Alexander offers practical,...

Are Conferences Worth Your Time as a Business Owner? [Ep.200]

Empire Flippers Podcast

Most online business owners have a complicated relationship with conferences. Some leave feeling energized and full of new ideas. Others leave wondering if they just paid a lot of money for bad coffee and small talk.In this episode of the Opportunity Podcast, Greg breaks down when conferences are actually worth your time and when they’re not. He starts by outlining the difference between attending as a practitioner versus a vendor. Practitioners tend to gain the most from learning new strategies, seeing how others operate, and uncovering ideas that can indirectly unlock new revenue. Vendors...

How To Win Visibility in AI Search With Sergey Lucktinov [Ep.199]

Empire Flippers Podcast

AI tools are already answering your customers’ questions. The real question is, how do you ensure your business is part of those answers?In this episode, we sit down with Sergey Lucktinov, an AI search visibility expert who has spent more than a decade navigating algorithm shifts and rethinking how businesses get discovered online. Sergey breaks down how visibility works in the age of AI and what business owners need to do to make sure their brand is actually being mentioned, not silently skipped. We explore how AI has fundamentally changed SEO. The focus is no longer on keywords and...

Can You Buy a Business Without Spending Any Money? [Ep.198]

Empire Flippers Podcast

You don’t need to drain your bank account to buy a business. In fact, many of the best deals are done with very little personal capital. In this episode, Greg breaks down how buyers structure acquisitions using financing instead of their own money. There are two buckets of money you can draw from when buying a business: your own personal funds and external financing. One of the most powerful external financing tools Greg highlights is seller financing. This approach allows you to structure deals where the seller essentially lends you the money, often interest-free, and can be combined with...

A Practical Guide to Business Acquisitions for First-Time Buyers With Matt Raad [Ep.197]

Empire Flippers Podcast

Buying an online business can feel overwhelming, especially if you are new to acquisitions. In this week’s podcast episode, we sit down with Matt Raad, a seasoned digital business buyer and coach who has helped countless first-time buyers navigate the acquisition process with confidence. Due diligence takes center stage as Matt explains what really matters when evaluating an online business and how skipping this step can turn a promising deal into an expensive mistake. For beginners, he breaks down the types of businesses that are best suited for first-time buyers and why simpler models...

More Episodes

As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” But for online business owners, taxes aren’t always so certain, especially when it comes to sales tax.

In this episode, we’re joined by Jessica Rhoads. Jessica is an internationally experienced CPA and self-confessed “dumpster fire accountant” who specializes in helping business owners untangle messy tax situations.

We cover the key types of taxes every entrepreneur should understand, and zoom in on the one that’s most commonly misunderstood, and most likely to derail a future exit: sales tax.

Jessica breaks down how sales tax applies to non-tangible goods like SaaS products and apps, what triggers a sales tax nexus, and why ignoring it can lead to massive headaches during due diligence. She also shares insight on the best and worst states to set up your business from a tax standpoint, when to file a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA), and how to stay compliant if you’re selling across borders.

If you're building a business with the goal of selling one day, this episode is a must-listen. It could save you from tax troubles that scare off buyers, or cost you more than you bargained for.

Topics Discussed in this episode:

The different types of taxes businesses should be aware of (03:45)
Why sales tax is so important when selling your business (06:49)
How sales tax is applied to software and apps (11:43)
An overview of sales tax nexus (17:30)
The different tax softwares that can help you figure out your taxes (19:50)
The best and worst states to set up your business in (23:07)
How to stay compliant if you have sales tax nexus (28:16)
How tax works if you’re selling in foreign countries (30:37)
When to file a VDA (33:56)
A major misconception founders have about sales tax that hurts them later (39:39)

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Sit back, grab a coffee, and learn how to get your business taxes in order - before it’s too late.

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