1186 - Making Finance Management and Tax Credits Easier for Small Businesses with MainStreet's Doug Ludlow

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the founder and CEO of MainStreet, Doug Ludlow. 

MainStreet works with small businesses to help them use their time more efficiently to build their business. Between managing administrative tasks and finances, business owners have no time left to actually grow their company. MainStreet makes it easier than ever and puts your fintech stack in one place. 

MainStreet started with wedge products that provided unique value to their customers. The first product they launched was a tax credit offering – less than 2% of small startups and businesses collect the tax credits they’re eligible for. MainStreet made it easier than ever to sign up for their engine so that you could be informed on how to take advantage of those tax credits. 

You first have to consider what advantages the larger, more successful companies have in order to determine what products to design for small businesses. Doug shares that MainStreet takes these concepts and advantages and shrinks them down into democratized product offerings that are more accessible to a small business owner. Doug explains that their products are meant to replace teams – their goal is to replace banking services for small business owners, who act a lot more like consumers than enterprises. You have to make financial tools easy and seamless in order to appeal to a SMB owner. 

Josh and Doug discuss the need for a product that makes getting tax credits easy for entrepreneurs. According to MainStreet’s website, “The Federal R&D Credit is designed to incentivize companies who bring new products to market. Think of this program as the IRS’s way of rewarding businesses that prioritize innovation. Startups and Fortune 500 companies alike claim billions of dollars a year in R&D tax credits — but the process to access this money is complex and time-consuming. That's where MainStreet comes in. They take the guesswork (and the legwork) out of tax credits and pass the savings onto you.”

There’s a scientific method when it comes to experimenting with tax credits. The government wants to incentivize innovation, but it takes trial and error to figure out what your business is eligible for. Their website states that, “MainStreet takes a holistic approach to small business management so you can grow your business smarter, not harder. From government tax credits to treasury management to exclusive savings on the tools you use every day, they save you thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours, and countless headaches.”

Want to learn more? Check out MainStreet’s website at https://www.mainstreet.com/. 

Check out MainStreet on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/workonmainstreet/. 

Check out Doug Ludlow on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougludlow/. 

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