Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing Saira Fatah, Founder of River Oaks Business Solutions LLC.
Starting in the banking industry with JP Morgan Chase and Citibank. Saira has been in the Financial Industry for over 12 years, gaining the majority of her experience through CFO roles in private equity backed companies, including Oil and Gas, Healthcare, Energy, Construction, Real Estate, and various other industries. She has worked with clients from 5M to 1.8B in annual revenues. She also has vast legal knowledge on Legal Entity Formation Compliance rules in the State of Texas.
She is most passionate about her work when it comes to philanthropy projects, especially in Houston.
Hi Saira, Great to have you with us today! Please tell us about what it is that you do.
I am one of the leading accountants, financial advisor, and often outsourced CFO to Fortune 500 Companies in the US, UK, and South America. Before turning into the nonprofit industry in the past two years, I was helping with M & A Projects for the Permian Basin up in Midland, Texas.
My final Oil and Gas Project was for BP Capital, helping them forecast and eventually sell the company. It was Thomas Boone Pickens, Texas Oil and Gas Billionaire’s last project. In fact, he even spoke about it in his book, First Billion is the Hardest, which I highly recommend everyone to read.
Please tell us more about your journey.
Being a first-generation immigrant from Pakistan. I never take a single day of having the opportunity of hard work for granted. I remember growing up in Pakistan most of my childhood, and one time I remember seeing an entire family eat out of a trashcan. I looked around and still remember till this day how not a soul paid attention to this event. That image stuck with me forever and has been my fuel to keep going beyond my limit when it comes to my career.
Last year during Covid, I was able to get the Nonprofit I was helping over 2.5M of relief help. This directly served 997 Households in Houston, Texas, during the most unprecedented time in our history.
My journey has just begun. I would love to help as many individuals in not just Greater Houston but other states and countries as well.
Being born in a third-world Country then moving to the US where our resources are infinite makes me forever grateful, and I would love to be able to do more for our communities that are struggling.
Please tell us about your company, River Oaks Business Solutions LLC.
I founded River Oaks Business Solutions LLC in 2017 when I realized that most entrepreneurs do not want to invest in good accounting or bookkeeping at the beginning of their venture. They do not realize that it ends up costing them more long-term to pay for penalties or even fraud, theft due to lack of proper setup of their books.
With our services and packages, we help clients pay less than their monthly insurance to have a more insured peace of mind with their cash flows.
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
I truly listen to all my clients, employers, even vendors. When you truly know what the need is of an entity. It makes solutions a piece of cake.
My biggest 2021 strategy for all employers has been “Automate, Automate, Automate!!! “I cannot stress this enough how many human errors are made when we conduct annual audits.
I have managed to help 60% of my clients go 100% paperless with payroll, bills, and invoicing. Our goal for 2021 will be to automate this to 90%.
Any message for our readers.
Accounting and legal services are two areas that, if you invest from the inception of your entity, will keep you ready for hurdles and pitfalls every business has to overcome.
I want to be a catalyst for positive change in a company. If the client wasn’t making money and distressed in a turnaround situation, we can help them not only restructure the balance sheet and find money but, as importantly, figure out why they are not making money. We guide them through making some of the tough decisions.
Fantastic! So tell us, how can people find out more about you?
You can visit our website and check out our Instagram @riveroaksbusinesssolutions.
Thank you so much, Saira, for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!