Raj Thakkar is the author, Founder & CEO of Charter School Business Management (CSBM) as well as FOREsight Financial Services for Good. He is an expert on nonprofit and charter school finance and has presented countless financial best practices workshops across the country. He poured all his knowledge into the book Fiscally Secure: Prepare, Protect & Propel Your CHARTER SCHOOL with Responsible Financial Management to help people learn all the steps in handling finances properly.
Raj is sharing his story from a helper in a family convenience store to a finance pro and how he transformed his career as an Indian immigrant into something he is passionate about. He is passionate about responsible financial management, both personal and professional, and Raj highlights the importance of surviving audits in the charter school finance landscape. His book is a detailed guide to fixing all the βsymptoms,β and he shares some of those in the episode.
Like every entrepreneur with experience through hardships, Raj realized that having your circle of champions, surrounding yourself with smart people, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance is the key. He loves yoga, Orangetheory, running, and being active. The power of great people and his community groups helped him during the most difficult times. Raj says that responsible financial management is possible for everyone and is eager to teach these principles to children from an early age.
Show notes:
π¨π½βπΌ Raj runs the finance and operations for many charter schools across the country: realizing he is a money guy and he landed in finance.
04:11π¦π½ He got interested in finance as a kid by helping his father run a convenience store.
05:58ππ½ In his journey, he did a lot of listening: his first contract was with the New York City Charter School Center.
08:41πΈ Finances in charter schools: you have to survive your audit.
14:44π Raj wrote a book called "Fiscally Secure: Prepare, Protect, and Propel Your Charter School with Responsible Financial Management."
17:28β οΈ Merging OPS and Finance departments in charter schools is the #1 symptom of a bad finance organization: Rajβs book is the solution for all symptoms in simple terms.
18:27β Vision is nothing without execution; Raj has a fantastic leadership team and groups that are helping him.
27:39πͺπ½ Advice Raj would give to young Raj: just keep learning and have huge dreams.
33:41ππ½ββοΈ Entrepreneurs have to take care of their bodies: Raj ran the NYC marathon four times and goes to Orangetheory regularly.
37:43π Raj's RONdering: responsible financial management is possible in your life if you know the components.
42:39Links
Episode 51
