Adam Larson: 00:05

Welcome to another episode of Count Me In. Today, we are thrilled to have Jean Pierre Rucabesha, cofounder and CEO of Rucabesha, join us. JP is a seasoned accountant and entrepreneur. He hails from Rwanda and is now based in Canada. He shares his incredible journey of helping small businesses harness the power of technology to make better financial decisions.

Adam Larson: 00:26

During our conversation, JP discusses the challenges small business owners face, his transition from accounting to entrepreneurship, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in the business world. JP's story is a testament of the importance of purpose, financial literacy, and technological adaptation. Whether you're aspiring entrepreneur or a small business owner looking to optimize your operations, this episode is packed with valuable insights. Tune in and get inspired by JP's visionary approach to making a meaningful impact on the global business landscape. JP, I'm really excited to have you on the podcast today as we talk about, you know, small business and, changing that landscape through technology.

Adam Larson: 01:10

And you've done that through different organizations and companies that you started. And maybe you could start off by talking, like, what start sparked that ambition? What caused you to kinda get into this space? And and what helped ignite that passion to helping small businesses make better decisions in through technology?

JP Rukebesha: 01:25

Yeah. Thanks, Adam. Thanks for having me. So I am an accountant by background, and I grew up in developing countries, grew up in Rwanda. And, coming to Canada in 2012, I started working as an accountant with small businesses.

JP Rukebesha: 01:40

And, I realized how different it is from where I come from. And, because small businesses here, the landscape is similar to big businesses, the only difference is the size and the resources. So Mhmm. They still have to do all the re recording or taxation, understanding what they are doing because they might have an audit in the future. So by working with small businesses, I saw that a lot of them, the majority are trying.

JP Rukebesha: 02:12

They they run the business based on what they know to do, like a plumber, a guide to the building, who does the building. And, so they don't have any any financial background knowledge, or what they know is not strong enough to help them really manage properly the their businesses. So you'll see them running around throughout the year and, without anything really to cross check what they're doing, like having regular metrics, understanding if they are hitting their margins. Even if they have a question about their pricing, they have got no idea. Maybe there is an opportunity to to expand their businesses.

JP Rukebesha: 02:52

They don't know when to borrow or when to borrow. And in the end, they are kind of like focused on the reporting at the end of the year, where the government requires them to, to file their taxes. That's when they run to their accountant bookkeepers Mhmm. To get everything sorted out. And, really, you you start so as I was seeing it, they started asking me 2 questions.

JP Rukebesha: 03:14

1, sure, they never got into the business just to know how much taxes will pay. They wanted to do better for themselves, for their families. 2nd, the way they are doing things, it's not like they never have to worry about what is happening. And the fact that they only see their bank balances, how much money they have been in the bank to really know if they are doing good or if they are not doing bad. They have no idea if they have to walk away from something which is not working out.

JP Rukebesha: 03:44

Simple because you see the money in the bank account doesn't necessarily mean that you're making profit. And also the way the financial system is built is it hasn't changed for years. I don't know how many years, but the way financial system is, we have got guys on the other side who, like banks, financial advisers, are wait waiting for the small business to make the money Mhmm. Than to tell them what to do with the money. So I started asking myself questions are, how come there's no system which helps these guys make the money from the beginning?

JP Rukebesha: 04:20

Why do they have to keep on working, not really having any visual about what they are doing? Is it possible to do? So I asked my boss, that was in 2013. I asked my boss, I say, can I try something like a consultants? Because I have a background a a consultant's background, sometimes I worked sometime at KPMG.

JP Rukebesha: 04:43

And he said, yeah. Sure. You can try. So I I took a group of small business owners. I say, would you be able to have your information every quarter so we can sit down and look for your numbers, discuss few things about financing, about your vision, about your operations?

JP Rukebesha: 05:03

Just like being with soundboard for the small business owner. Because we are in a position where we cannot afford to hire a full time adviser or a CFO if you will call. Mhmm. So I did it, and, it was very, very successful. Some of the customers, they were able to triple their revenues by simply having few strong understanding of few concept about if they are pricing their product.

JP Rukebesha: 05:29

What should I look at? If I'm throwing money from the business for personal use, what should I do? Mhmm. How much should I be aiming to save? How can I check it every month and make sure that I stick to my plan?

JP Rukebesha: 05:41

Right? So so it was a very, very good successful period, but when I had the issue with, like, any other consultant, you only work from 9 to 5, or even if you work 15 hours a day, you are not going to survive. And they also, in the wrong run becomes like your relationship with your family daughter if you visit his his clinic or her clinic and he's not around. You usually don't feel good because you are used to it. Mhmm.

JP Rukebesha: 06:11

Now and I said, is it a way I can do what I'm doing with these guys and make it available to many and millions of small businesses all over the world, let alone North America? So I had that idea, then I, obviously, I went into the technology issues because I had no knowledge about technology. Mhmm. And I didn't know where to start. So the idea stayed there till 2,018.

JP Rukebesha: 06:38

I always ask myself, how can I do it? In 2018, I I came across by I stumbled on a a webinar by Peter Diamantes, an American guy. I think he's he's a well known guy. And, he he he was teaching something he called exponential advantage. Paid a lot of money for it.

JP Rukebesha: 06:59

So exponential advantage is what he was saying. You're saying because of the way technology is evolving, anything which we can digitize, we are able to make it available to a lot of people. So that really got into my mind. Then as I was going through, I said, okay, so what do I know about technology? So I started taking some courses on what would it be?

JP Rukebesha: 07:23

Not to be a technology guy, but to understand how these things work together? Then immediately, the AI came along. Now I realized I could take the knowledge which I have, which I know the small business needs, which I have tested into the marketplace, and apply artificial intelligence on it and make it available to everybody. Mhmm. So that's how the whole thing started.

JP Rukebesha: 07:49

Wow. So yeah.

Adam Larson: 07:50

I I mean, that's a great story just kinda showing where you started. You saw a need while you're within an organization, and you're like, how can I do this? And and it's great that you had the opportunity to kinda test out some of your ideas Mhmm. While you were in that confines. But then but then being able to take it the next step to become that kinda entrepreneur, How important was it, your experience as an accountant in switching to being it's a starting an or starting a company and that entrepreneurial journey?

Adam Larson: 08:16

How important was that that experience as an accountant as you were becoming an entrepreneur? Because not everybody who starts a business understands the the accounting side of things.

JP Rukebesha: 08:23

Yeah. So, you know, not everybody is made to be an entrepreneur Mhmm. Because it's a very scary environment. Yeah. And, it takes a lot of guts, a lot of courage, and, out core or certain purpose for your life to see if you can make a difference in people's lives.

JP Rukebesha: 08:42

Mhmm. And, being an accountant, I I have always been like that because I I like I never really felt how I'd call it. I never really felt like accounting was really the defining career for me. It was supposed to I always saw it as an opportunity to open up my vision to see things in a bigger picture. Yeah.

JP Rukebesha: 09:06

And, I studied a lot of different things. A lot of things failed. And, later, I saw that, you know, probably I was going to the wrong things, which I didn't understand very, very well. I studied different things, never worked. And, so one time I met a friend of mine and after we met him, we're just talking about business in general, and they said, they said, I you know, you know, you know, a lot of things.

JP Rukebesha: 09:33

When I talk to you, you have good ideas and why don't you make it available to a lot of people? And, because we we were talking about something as he had an ecommerce business and I was trying to help him. So when I went home and I said, oh, so I had this idea for so long, and now this guy just clicked something in my mind. And, so but the thing is, an entrepreneur, you you you need to make a lot of sacrifices in the life. When you meet people who have been successful, you you have the impression that it was very easy and it's not.

JP Rukebesha: 10:07

And, you, you've got something you have to give to be able to make headway, if I call it, in your, in your entrepreneurship vision. Because you cannot, you cannot be a 9 to 5 and expect also to build a event on-site. It's not going to work. It has to be something which you think about probably 80 to 90 percent of your time every day. You you need to be thinking about.

JP Rukebesha: 10:39

And, when when it's it it what you're trying to do as an entrepreneur is within your actual professional environment. Mhmm. It becomes much easier because you you perceive, you see the solution, the issues, the direction very, very easy. You don't have to make a lot of efforts. The only efforts I had to make was to learn about how tech guys work for it.

JP Rukebesha: 11:03

It. I ran a bit of coding Mhmm. Just to to understand, to be able to talk to them. I ran a bit of, AI technology. You can build an AI company.

JP Rukebesha: 11:12

Just to be able to understand how these things come together. But don't ask me the whole technical thing. So it was a long, long journey, but, which I believe is part of things which I want to do because I, I feel like the world, we are here for a reason and everybody has got a role to play. And, not all of us are going to identify what it is. And, we the majority of us, we do things like the job and everything.

JP Rukebesha: 11:43

We are not happy. Maybe what would make us happy is just to interact people and try how we can help others do better. And also it brings more efficiency into the way we do things. Fingo, the time when we we used to people used to line up to get someone to type a letter for them when we still have the typewriter. Right?

JP Rukebesha: 12:04

Then the computer came along and everybody can write his own letter if you want to write something. So there's efficiency, there's cost savings, and also the humanity advances. As as we share more knowledge, the world becomes a better place. And I believe it's the same thing with the small businesses because these guys, they have got good attention for their own lives, for the the community where they live. Because they create jobs by the way small business creates, like, 70% of the jobs we see in the country.

JP Rukebesha: 12:35

They they don't get much time on TV or the media, but they are, they are, they are the driving force behind the most of the economies in the world. So but because it's a individual is 1 guy, 1 lady, they they they their forces is very strong, but it never come together as one unit because everybody's hiding fires on its own. So and I believe giving them tools, which helps them even to do better. That, 1,000 they can save or or, for example, the accounting cost or whatever they pay the service they need, it can be good to put to good use. Mhmm.

JP Rukebesha: 13:16

Yeah.

Adam Larson: 13:16

You're right. Entrepreneurship is not for everybody. You have to be curious. You have to be willing to make sacrifices. And, you know, I appreciate you sharing your your journey because, you know, obviously, not every venture you try is gonna be a success.

Adam Larson: 13:28

There's gonna be some failures, but you learn from those failures and you grow. And that that helps build upon to become more successful in the future. And I'm sure that there's so many stories you can tell about your failures

JP Rukebesha: 13:39

Oh, yeah.

Adam Larson: 13:39

More than your successes because you learn so much more when you fail.

JP Rukebesha: 13:43

Yeah. There are a lot of stories. Mhmm. There are a lot of stories I can talk for the whole day about.

Adam Larson: 13:51

I'm sure. But, like, when we're talking about technology, you know, you started a technology company that's helping small businesses, but it's evolving. Technology is evolving in the breakneck speed with these large learning language models, the learning language model, AI, generative AI things. You know, how do you stay ahead of the curve? You know, you said you learned a little bit of everything, but how do you stay ahead of the curve to make sure that your company is is doing what it needs to for your customers?

JP Rukebesha: 14:13

Alright. So the way technology evolves, actually, in the grand scheme of failures, it's a at a certain stage, it becomes incremental. Mhmm. Is it it's not really a revolution like groundbreaking tuning things. Right now we have got the AI, which is starting being applied at a very limited level up to now.

JP Rukebesha: 14:34

Now so think of, like, what how long did it take the Internet to be available to everybody?

Adam Larson: 14:41

It took a it took a while.

JP Rukebesha: 14:43

Yeah. Everybody knows about the dotcom2000. Right? Mhmm. So Internet came and a lot of money was lost.

JP Rukebesha: 14:51

Some made money. Then took another 10 to 15 years to be really available to everybody. I remember the time where we used to line up, for example, to spend 30 minutes at the Internet cafe. Right? No.

JP Rukebesha: 15:05

No. Yeah. So the way I see technology, I see it if you have got the foundation, right, you just have to be aware of new changes coming, new application coming, or even new different ways. Yeah. I think what you're doing.

JP Rukebesha: 15:19

So and you do it through reading, listening. These days there is information. Actually, the the biggest challenge for the world now is the amount of information there because we don't know how to see that through intent and really keep what really matters to what we want to do. There's a lot of destruction, at the same time, good things. Right?

JP Rukebesha: 15:40

It's like a child going into a shop full of toys and he loves so many. And you say, okay, there are a 1,000 here. I just want you to come out with 5 only. It's going to be a very big challenge for the chat. So it's the same thing we're facing today.

JP Rukebesha: 15:56

You listen, you see new things happening, but at the same time, if your foundation, your your foundational infrastructure is right, you're just going to grab the built incremental Mhmm. Piece, which is adding something to what we are doing, then just apply to what we are doing.

Adam Larson: 16:13

I like that. I like that. It lay a good foundation, and it's just incremental changes. Because from a perspective, if you're not if you're not in that world directly from the outside looking in, you're like, oh my gosh. There's this big change, but somebody who's already been building upon that.

Adam Larson: 16:25

That's just like, no. It's just a small little thing, a new improvement that I'm adding as opposed to a big change. And that's a that's a that's a whole different perspective than Yeah. Than most people have on the way technology is moving.

JP Rukebesha: 16:36

Yeah. It's like, for for example, we know or one thing I learned from Peter when he was talking is what digitalization is going to do to the world. And, we are seeing it. And, a lot of people, when they see the digitalization happening now in the AI, they think AI was created yesterday. But through my courses, I learned that a lot of, most of the formulas we use for AI were created back in the 1940s, 1950s.

JP Rukebesha: 17:08

And those guys who created those mathematical formulas, they used to be called crazy. Mhmm. Because we would spend weeks trying to solve any mathematical equation. And, the reason they couldn't crack it and make it available because most of the information was still analog into the box. Yeah.

JP Rukebesha: 17:25

So they didn't have any digital information to fit to the machine. Even if they had it, their computers were the size of a big room. Right? The computing power wasn't. So the digitalization really, we we are seeing the the incremental changes is the the devices we use, they get smaller and smaller.

JP Rukebesha: 17:46

Mhmm. We coming from a computer, desktop, to a laptop, to the iPad. Now we are going to a watch. Mhmm. That wouldn't be surprising.

JP Rukebesha: 17:55

Maybe 5, 10 years, we we wouldn't even need a laptop. Yeah. Probably we just we just have everything. We know we know what we actually press a button, you create a hologram and you do whatever you have to do, then you are done. So it's a challenge, but you just need to be aware of it.

JP Rukebesha: 18:11

And, also, it changes our habits, the way we do things in life. I remember a bit the time when it was very difficult. When you called, like, the bank and you you hear there is a virtual assistant on the other side. When you were used to listening to a human being, you didn't feel good. But these days, nobody really cares much about it.

JP Rukebesha: 18:31

We know there is a virtual assistant on the other side, especially when it says, yeah, I can't answer that question. Now I'm I'm gonna get you someone to talk to. Yeah. Yeah. I think we just need to stay alert.

JP Rukebesha: 18:47

It's part of our lives. We there's now, you have to adapt and understand what impact the technology is having on our, on your life. But at the same time, avoid being wasteful, having a lot of gadgets which has got nothing to do with the house or things which you don't need data. I think that's the program because as it evolves, people build different small text Yeah. And gadgets.

JP Rukebesha: 19:14

So it comes to you as a human being and asking yourself, is this really making any adding any value in what I do in my household, in my workplace, or I'm just spending the money because I heard on TV or an ad popped up on my phone saying that this this has been the next big thing. This is the next thing that you need to have. So we we we we we we we got to be careful as human beings and, not be wasteful, technologies piece of devices which you don't really need. Mhmm. Just use what you feel is adding to you, allowing you to grow as a human beings, giving more knowledge.

Adam Larson: 19:54

Mhmm. Yeah. No. I think that's great advice. So as we're you know, as we've been talking about your story and your journey through your entrepreneurial career and your career as an accountant before that, what advice would you offer to people who are aspiring to do that?

Adam Larson: 20:07

Maybe they wanna get out of the mundane 9 to 5. Obviously, when you're an entrepreneur, there is no 9 to 5. You're always on. But who want to who want to use technology to kinda tackle challenges and ideas that they have. What advice would you give them?

Adam Larson: 20:19

What are the first steps they should start taking as they move forward?

JP Rukebesha: 20:22

Right. So the first one is trying to do either searching and understand your purpose and what you really want to do. Because it's a big, big churn for us. We I read one time a study which was done by Harvard. They were talking about what they called deep embedded interest, which is something which you were created to do in your life.

JP Rukebesha: 20:46

Yeah. And, unfortunately, we only figured out in our forties upwards. So when we're young, we can't figure it out. And, I even even the Bible says the same thing. We we we have a purpose in life which aligns with our interest and, and things which makes us be happy.

JP Rukebesha: 21:03

Mhmm. Things which makes us be happy when we do it. Because sometimes you can see someone doing something and you think this person is miserable. Probably he's not. He loves that job.

JP Rukebesha: 21:13

Yeah. Maybe he's sweeping the street or filling up the shelves in the store. You see him, you say, yeah, man. That that that that is not. It must be very painful.

JP Rukebesha: 21:24

No. It may not be painful because that's what he loves doing. So the first the first advice is doing a inner searching and figuring out what do you want to do? Why you want to do it? Because it's not enough to leave your job for the sake of just leaving because you are not happy with your boss, or you think if you go to work for yourself, you make more money.

JP Rukebesha: 21:46

You need to have a purpose behind it. Otherwise, once you leave and, you, your 9 to 5 job and you only did it because you didn't like the boss, you didn't you're not able to pay, you think you can make more money. As soon as you get challenged by, the entrepreneur, leadership landscape Mhmm. You're probably going to regret it or walk away. Move, move away and go and get a job again.

JP Rukebesha: 22:15

Just do a deep searching and see why do I want to do it? Mhmm. And also second, you you need to have a bigger vision. Mhmm. I I have I think you have heard this where people say, if you you're sure you're aiming shoot to for the star to the moon.

JP Rukebesha: 22:34

If you can't get to the moon, you can land into the star. It should be the bigger vision. Am I doing it to make a difference in people's lives? Am I contributing to the humanity to the way our society operates evolves? If you're if the reasons are bigger than you Mhmm.

JP Rukebesha: 22:52

That you feel like you can contribute to creating a legacy or changing people's lives in a meaningful way, then go for it. Otherwise, just stick to your job and do what you have already done. Don't just jump into it for the sake of any extra money or running away from that that the annoying boss.

Adam Larson: 23:12

I like that advice. You know, it it's, to know, to use the Simon Sinek's adage, you know, find your why.

JP Rukebesha: 23:18

Yeah. Exactly.

Adam Larson: 23:19

Find your why. What is the why? Like, you you were saying your purpose, and and I think a lot of people are familiar with that. Find your why. Because if you don't have your why like you said, when things get hard, when the challenges come, like, why am I doing this?

Adam Larson: 23:30

And you might leave it and go do something else, but you need to find that bigger picture so that you can understand the reason for doing this. So when things get hard, you have something to hold on to. Otherwise, it's gonna be very difficult because it's not an easy road to walk.

JP Rukebesha: 23:43

Yeah. It's very, very hard. Yeah.

Adam Larson: 23:45

So as, you know, as we wrap up the conversation, JP, it's been, you know, it's been great chatting with you. You know, maybe you can what are what are, like, the three top things you've learned in your entrepreneurial journey that you wanna share with our audience? The the top three things that you wanna share with them that if you want them to walk away with something, what would you like to know walk away with this as we finish the conversation?

JP Rukebesha: 24:05

One is I think it's the the main one. It's you know, I in my journey doing what I'm doing about helping small businesses, it reminds me the what the world had to go through to teach people, making sure that the majority of people can read and write. The basic literacy. The basic literacy has changed the world because now you don't depend on people reading and telling you things. You can go and figure out yourself.

JP Rukebesha: 24:36

And, so you become, you become the center of decisions, not being the person who just being a euphemist, proving the wrong way or the right way. But people, when they tell you things, they can put a spin on it. But if you can read it yourself and understand it, then you, you are the driving force behind all decisions. So one thing is, I would like the financial literacy become like the way the writing and reading basic literacy has been. And, I believe it's time Anybody should be able to read and understand the basic finances.

JP Rukebesha: 25:17

Mhmm. Not from from just the fact that they tell you this product ABCD can do this for you. You can get so much return. That that's for me, that's the end result because you have to earn the money first to be able to understand where to put your money, where to invest. So basic financial literacy is one thing, and everybody in the business from our kids at school, by the way, they our kids at school don't learn about high nurses.

JP Rukebesha: 25:46

Mhmm. All of us will learn when we get our 1st credit card when we are 18. And when you get the 1st call saying you can get a credit card. I have a son. He turned 18 in November.

JP Rukebesha: 25:57

And he it was very, very fun because the same day he got the first email from the bank telling him that he can have a credit card. Right? So for me, the first the first thing is a financial literacy, which would make the world more efficient. Second thing is, you know, knowing that the the road ahead as an entrepreneur is is hard. Mhmm.

JP Rukebesha: 26:21

And by the way, life itself is not easy. Right? You know, you you fight to make income, you think it's hard, but when you make the money, it even becomes harder. Right? Because we have different type of challenges.

JP Rukebesha: 26:38

Yeah. So the third, the third thing is, is, living, knowing to live in the moment at the same time, having a projected future. Mhmm. Living in the moment mean that whatever is happening around you is gonna shape the things which you're gonna face or which you're gonna see in the future. Mhmm.

JP Rukebesha: 26:58

But it's important to be in the moment all the time and, solve a problem. But as you are solving the problem, like we call it fighting trials, you are at the same time saying, hey, this is just a matter to setting the foundation right, which will allow me to to to jump to the next step. So it's a you shouldn't see the problem we are facing is, yes, it can be it is a limiting pattern. It's a hindrance. It's a challenge.

JP Rukebesha: 27:27

But actually, the challenge should, really give you the give you the fire to say, hey. Yeah. This is just different. Let me solve it, then what the hell did that cookie? Mhmm.

JP Rukebesha: 27:41

Yeah. Those are what I can share.

Adam Larson: 27:43

Well, I really appreciate you sharing your story with us, your knowledge, and, I just, really thank you for coming on today with us, JP.

JP Rukebesha: 27:51

Thanks, Adam. It was a pleasure talking to you.

Announcer: 27:56

This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast providing you with the latest perspectives of thought leaders from the accounting and finance profession. If you like what you heard and you'd like to be counted in for more relevant accounting and finance education, visit IMA's website at www.ima net.org.