I Love Bookkeeping

What should you think about and do to strive toward work-life balance? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their challenges and advice for effectively working from home while also having free time for yourself. [0:38] The topic of today's episode, work-life balance, is something Hannah and Melissa often discuss, and one that Hannah struggles with from time to time. [1:37] As Hannah points out, one of the big challenges of working from home is the fact that you never leave your office. As a remote worker, the line between your work and free time gets blurred. [2:26] Melissa shares her struggle with finding work-life balance and talks about her decision to "aggressively" defend her personal time, as well as creating a schedule and really sticking to it. [4:13] Hannah and Melissa go over how the concept of work-life balance differs between the U.S. and the rest of the world. [5:17] Hannah warns against the consequences of not making time to rest – and what could happen if you don't carve out enough time to do so. [6:03] Hannah and Melissa talk about industries, generational differences and how work-life balance fits into the picture. [7:28] Melissa shares a key work-balance question you should ask yourself as a business owner. [9:08] Melissa explains how studies show that 4-day work weeks are significantly more productive than traditional 5-day work weeks, and that she's working toward having a 3-day work week. [11:16] Hannah touches upon her current struggle with work-life balance. [13:13] Melissa shares some advice for Hannah, as well as with everyone else who's struggling with work-life balance. [16:45] For Melissa, the hardest part is sticking to the plan you have created, even when things pop up. The second hardest is actually sitting down and making a schedule, [17:40] And when it comes to children, she sees one of two options. The first one is to delegate, have someone clean your house, do your laundry, etc. Otherwise, you can have your children help you with some of the things you have to do, as long as they make sense for your children's age. [20:51] Melissa shares some tips on what to do to actually unplug from work, even when working from home. Mentioned in this episode: Tips for Newbies: The Art of Delegating in Your Business [email protected]

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan are curious to know whether you listen to music or podcasts when working. They discuss what most bookkeepers listen to and their musical preferences, depending on the type of work that's being carried out. [0:13] Hannah and Melissa want to know whether you listen to music while working and, if so, what music genre you listen to. [0:42] Melissa shares that many of the bookkeepers she knows only listen to instrumental music while carrying out their work. [1:03] Since she now focuses more on administrative work, Melissa does listen to music with lyrics – unlike when she was still doing bookkeeping work and it was instrumental music only. [1:50] Being the oldest of six children, Hannah is used to working while there may be music or TV on blasting different music shows. When working, she usually keeps the TV on in a different room to keep her company and, when it comes to music, she typically goes for either mediation or focus music. She switches it up and changes genre when she's on a break and wants to get pumped up. [3:48] To share your experience and answers with Melissa and Hannah, email them at [email protected]. Mentioned in this episode: [email protected]

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan have a question for you: what was your first hire? Or if you're thinking about a new hire, what role is that going to be for? [0:19] Melissa and Hannah have a question for you: what was your first hire? Or if you're planning your first hire, what's it going to be? [1:03] Hannah and Melissa share the way you can send them your answers and stories. Mentioned in this episode: [email protected]

What should you think about and do to overcome your anxiety when talking to prospects? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan go over their experience with first client anxiety and share their top tips for dealing with it and still close sales. [0:53] Melissa shares the story of how she experienced her first client anxiety. [1:36] Hannah and Melissa discuss how the need of closing a sale to make money to pay your bills can hijack your sale – and what you should consider and do instead. [4:39] To overcome her fears when meeting new clients, Melissa focused on practicing her conversations. When she feels the conversation is stuck and she doesn't know what to do, she uses "deflecting questions". The idea is to ask people questions so that they talk about themselves. [6:56] Melissa explains how, in her opinion, in sales, the 80/20 rule is more of a 90/10 rule where the prospect does 90% of the talking and you do the remaining 10%. [8:51] Hannah and Melissa go over what prospects want to hear and want to see you do when you're having a conversation. [10:57] Hannah talks about one of the most important things you can do when meeting with a prospect, and what business owners can do to overcome anxiety. [13:58] Hannah and Melissa share the way they go about dealing with anxiety. [19:17] Hannah discusses her "turn the camera off" approach and what it helps her with. [21:54] When starting out, Melissa wanted to get pretty much any type of client since the focus was on being able to pay bills. Her husband wouldn't agree and said they should keep focusing on clients from their specific niche. [23:28] For Melissa, a lot of beginning businesses need to educate themselves about their niche. Mentioned in this episode: [email protected]

There's no denying: social media is here to stay. But with so many different platforms to choose from, how does one start today? Should one go for a personal or a company page, and how can one reach potential clients on social media? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss social media marketing for bookkeepers in their Tips for Newbies series. [0:42] Hannah, who has been the social media manager at Bookkeeping.com for almost five years, kicks off the episode series on social media marketing for bookkeepers. [1:53] As it was mentioned in the previous episode, social media is actually one of the first things Melissa outsourced in her business. [2:39] What social media needs to be on a business' radar? For Hannah, the top 5 social media platforms at the moment are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. Your business may not need all five. What you need to do is 1) determine how important social media is to your business, and 2) determine where your audience resides and go there [4:46] What's Hannah's best advice for taking care of social media marketing the DIY way? The first step is to take a moment to decide whether you'd actually like to do it yourself or should delegate it to someone. After that, it's about determining where your audience is, and then doing some market research – who do your target customers follow on social media? What are they looking for? And ask yourself this key question: Am I answering what potential clients are looking for on Instagram, TikTok or other platforms they hang out on? [8:50] What do people do when they log on to any social media platform? They look for something: information, inspiration, something aesthetically pleasing, to decompress, to laugh. It's important to try to be the question to what your target clients are seeking out on social media. [10:08] With so many social media to choose from, how should a business owner go about getting started? Hannah recommends creating a game plan and being laser-focused – if you're feeling overwhelmed, then pick only two platforms and focus on them first. [10:58] When starting out with social media, what overwhelmed Melissa the most? She didn't focus on a couple of platforms, rather followed a "the more, the merrier" approach. [11:40] What are some additional reasons that lead people to feel overwhelmed when it comes to leveraging social media for their business? Hannah believes that one of the main causes of this is focusing too much on content without actually doing much brainstorming. [12:42] What should one do if she feels she's too old for something like TikTok? The answer is simple: if you don't feel comfortable doing it, just don't do it. [15:08] Feel as if your target clients are on a specific social media platform but you aren't on there much? You should act now, says Hannah. In Melissa's case, for instance, many painters are on TikTok. And another thing they do is leave a lot of reviews. And which platform gets plenty of reviews published on it? Facebook… [15:32] 'Do I go personal or business?' is one of the questions many business owners ask themselves. And are there particular boundaries to set with clients who would like to connect with me on my personal profiles? Hannah recommends making your social media profiles not personal pages but business pages. As far as boundaries are concerned, she suggests not becoming Facebook friends with your clients, as they're likely to talk business on your personal profile. You may have working hours with your business but that's harder to do because social media has blurred the line of your 9-to-5. That's why it's important to create boundaries and "aggressively" protect your personal life. [20:26] Once the audience has been defined and found on social media, how does one go about creating content? When starting out, Melissa really struggled with this because she had a ton of ideas and she wasn't sure which one to create content around. Hannah suggests looking at other pages for inspiration for content you may want to create. As for the actual creation, Canva – especially the Pro plan – is the platform both Hannah and Melissa rave about. Create content that adds value, then mix it up. [24:06] Wondering how you can engage others on social media? Using a giveaway can be a great way to engage others. The incentive can be as small as a $5 or $10 gift card to a place like Starbucks, for instance. [26:56] Are there some strategies for inviting people to follow me on social media? Yes, there are. Hannah shared how some people and companies actually create ad-hoc discounts that are available only to those who start following them on social media, because most people enjoy getting free stuff. [29:21] What's something that shouldn't be done on social media? Copying other people's content is a big no-no, and keeping your visuals high-quality matters. [33:31] How do you go about finding someone to help you with social media? If you have content ideas in your head but yo

What role does delegating play into your business growth? Why should you consider delegating, how do you choose what to delegate, and who to assign a specific task? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss the art of delegating for your bookkeeping business. [0:28] The topic of today's episode, delegating in your business, is something Hannah believes many business owners could benefit from learning more about. [1:19] Hannah asks Melissa at what stage of her journey she said to herself 'Alright, it's time to delegate'. Melissa started delegating right from the very beginning. She explains why people don't delegate and the message you're sending others if you aren't delegating. [6:01] 'What are some good reasons people should delegate?' Hannah asks Melissa. Melissa makes it clear: 'If you get to the point where you are overwhelmed and can't do everything yourself, you've gone too far. You should have delegated sooner.' And this doesn't only apply to your professional life, but to your personal life too – as a working mom, you can't do it all by yourself. [10:29] For Hannah, learning how to delegate isn't just something that can help you grow your business, but it's something that improves your overall quality of [12:49] What should people do to make their life easier? According to Melissa, an audit of your personal life, since it's so intertwined with your business life. [13:58] Do we work better when we're under supervision? Melissa shares a statistic that illustrates the fact that people working from home are 47% more productive. They work and perform better when they're given trust. Both Melissa and Hannah agree, and share their experiences. [20:24] Which areas should you focus on delegating? It comes down to a few "categories": tiny, tedious, time-consuming, terrible, and time-sensitive. [24:31] What are the traits of a great leader, according to Hannah? It definitely is about understanding the importance of delegating – and actually delegating – but also about being able to take constructive criticism. [27:03] How do you decide who to delegate a task to? It starts with doing a task audit, as career and business strategist Jenny Blake recommends. Melissa starts by looking at the order in which to delegate – she begins with prioritizing time-sensitive tasks, but also looks at tasks that, if delegated, would free up the most time. Then, she asks herself, 'Is the right person to deal with this task already on my team?' [29:37] For Melissa, asking herself 'How do I know whether a team member is the right person to assign a task to?' has been the hardest question. When asking herself this question years ago, she realized that her team wasn't made of the right people. [32:33] Has outsourcing been helpful for Melissa's business? Yes it has, particularly in regards to outsourcing social media, since it didn't come naturally to any of Melissa's team members. [33:26] What are some important questions to ask yourself if you're considering outsourcing? For Melissa, the list includes questions such as: 'Is this a task for one person or a team?' 'Am I hiring for one task or a full role?' 'Are my processes for this task documented?' 'Do I have the time to train the new employee on the items I'd like to delegate?' 'Do I even have an idea of what it is I'd like them to do, and is it documented?' [35:47] Hannah asks Melissa how she has gone about keeping her task delegation process going effectively. According to Melissa, achieving buy-in is key. And clarifying what success means will help with that. [42:24] Melissa touches upon a struggle she has when it comes to her role as leader. Mentioned in this episode: Jenny Blake's 3rd book Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business BKX Conference 2022 [email protected]

In this episode of the Tips for Newbies series, co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan go over the habits of remote workers – including the challenges and lessons learned from having been remote workers for a few years. [0:55] Melissa has been working remotely since 2016, before it was "cool." Hannah, on the other hand, has been a remote worker since mid-2017. [1:19] Transitioning to working remotely was challenging for both Melissa and Hannah. Melissa, in particular, almost felt as if she was having a midlife crisis. [3:16] Melissa shares her 3 core habits: not signing on the minute you wake up, keeping your personal and professional spaces separate (if possible), and leaving your workspace when you "leave" your office. [8:08] Hannah shares why remote workers should (try to) meditate every day. [10:33] Melissa suggests people find the right morning ritual to follow. [12:12] Melissa touches upon the importance of taking care of your body, and what happens when you don't. [13:17] According to Melissa, the key to their success has been their focus and being consistent. There have been plenty of opportunities she has been presented with, but the main focus has been the business. [14:01] Melissa shares her experience with moving into a company that, despite it being her own, was a new company. [16:14] For Hannah, the hardest part about working remotely has been transitioning from 12 hours working on her feet to sitting down in front of a computer, trying to figure out her own schedule. [18:24] Hannah managed to overcome the obstacles she was facing thanks to practicing gratitude. [18:56] Hannah recommends getting a mentor that doesn't have skin in the game because they're going to be straight with you – tell you where you're doing things wrong and what could be done better. Mentioned in this episode: Witchcraft for Daily Self-Care by Michael Herkes [email protected]

Are you a new business owner? You're probably asking yourself how to manage yourself, your time, and others as you also carry out work. In this first episode of the Tips for Newbies series, co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan kick off a new content series with the focus on self- and time-management for bookkeepers. [1:12] Melissa discusses what she did to jumpstart self-management when her bookkeeping business was brand new. [2:33] Melissa explains how things changed when she had toddlers. [4:21] Hannah talks about the three core values every new business owner should focus on. [5:06] Melissa shares how she went about her business' core values. [9:58] For Hannah, once you kind of have your service offerings in place, then you can think about who your ideal client is and whether or not you should be niching. [10:17] Melissa talks about a funny anecdote of a community member having a business with 5 Jeffs in it. [11:40] Melissa shares one of her favorite sayings – and how it can impact your business. [12:39] Hannah touches upon a common theme both Hannah and Melissa have seen. [14:26] Hannah discusses how something she thinks everyone is going to run to. [15:19] Melissa shares the beginnings of her business. [17:50] Melissa talks about the hardest transitions you can make. [19:30] Hannah illustrates what she sees as the most important thing of time management. [25:03] Melissa talks about why running your business shouldn't be your #1 way of spending time. [26:40] How do you go about coming back from being sick for a week and find over 180 unread emails in your inbox? Melissa shares her thoughts. [27:08] Melissa discusses what the Pomodoro Technique is all about – why it actually doesn't work for her, and what she prefers doing instead. [30:44] Hannah opens up in regards to her approach to time management. [34:55] Melissa recently asked Alysssa Lang – aka the Workflow Queen – about her approach to time management. Mentioned in this episode: bookkeepers.com [email protected]

How do you dress when working from home? Do you focus on being well put together or do you just go for a more relaxed style with sweatpants or yoga pants? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan have a conversation about one of the key questions every new business owner should ask themselves: 'What type of business owner am I going to be?' [0:34] For Melissa, asking yourself the question 'What type of business owner am I going to be?' is a key question you should ask yourself when starting your business. [0:53] The way Melissa dresses really depends on the day and mood. On some days, like today, she wears real clothes and shoes, while on other days she may just wear sweatpants and no shoes (typically, she doesn't wear shoes indoors). Hannah, on the other hand, is a leggings kind of gal. [2:00] Hannah and Melissa joke about how great it would be to have Lululemon sponsor an episode of the I Love Bookkeeping Podcast. [2:58] If you'd like to share how you dress when you work from home, Hannah and Melissa invite you to send an email to [email protected] and share your work from home outfit with them. [3:53] Melissa thinks that considering slippers as shoes is a very personal question for a lot of people, but she has no doubt what the answer to the question 'Do you consider leggings pants?' is – a big, fat, YES. [4:17] For Hannah, slippers are shoes, there's no question about it. She wears them everywhere in her building. And she's all about sweatpants and yoga pants. [5:18] Hannah is adamant about not exercising while working from home. She shares how she tried in the past and felt nauseous trying to read while walking. Melissa couldn't do it either. [6:15] Melissa and Hannah are about to roll out the series Tips for Newbies – you can expect the next few podcast episodes to cover different types of topics for beginners. Mentioned in this episode: [email protected]

Why should you consider going beyond just thinking about and analyzing the numbers of your bookkeeping business and actually sharing those numbers with others? This episode of iLoveBookkeeping touches upon the reasons why bookkeepers should share numbers related to their income and income potential with others in their industry. [0:42] When it comes to earning potential, there isn't a lot of benchmark data for what students at Bookkeepers.com are doing, for the fact that they aren't in just a bookkeeping business. [1:08] Because there isn't much data they can use to benchmark what students at Bookkeepers.com are doing, Melissa and Hannah would like listeners to contribute by answering a series of questions, including what the income, gross and net profits of their bookkeeping business are, how much they pay for paper, and what they have been able to do with the money they have made. [1:45] Since transparency in the finances of people who operate in the financial industry is so important for the growth of every bookkeeper, it's important for podcast listeners to contribute with their answers to the questions. [2:06] Hannah and Melissa will lead by example – in fact, Melissa mentioned that she will be sharing her financial reports. [2:14] Sharing your numbers wouldn't be useful only to the establishment of the data set that could eventually be used for benchmarking, but it would also be useful to you when you circle back to it in the future. Melissa, for example, feels that having shared that she has a $1.4 million bookkeeping business, and having done so out loud, was an amazing feeling. Lastly, sharing is also going to be a great opportunity to everyone else to be inspired to get where you are as they set their goals for the year. [2:55] The easiest way to contribute is by sending the answers to [email protected].

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss networking as introverts, how to approach events as an introvert, and something you're currently doing that's costing you sales opportunities. [1:29] Hannah explains what an introvert is all about. Shy people are often labeled as introverts but that isn't always the case. Introvert people may enjoy being around people but recharge their batteries when they're by themselves. [2:27] As Melissa points out, extroverts, on the other hand, are fueled by human interaction. [3:29] Hannah shares a networking for introverts anecdote that dates back to her time as a makeup artist, which is an extroverted industry – and how she has gone about networking as an introvert. [8:20] For Hannah, not being afraid to be new in a particular space and let others know about it can actually be a smart move. [10:34] Melissa discusses an experience that has shaped how she goes about networking today. [17:32] 92% of salespeople will give up after hearing 'no' 4 times but 80% of prospects say 'no' 4 times before they say 'yes'. [20:12] Hannah believes that going to a networking event with a mindset that focuses on building connections, instead of looking at people as numbers, takes the pressure off of your shoulders. [23:44] Melissa explains why, when done right, networking has nothing to do with sales. [25:58] Melissa goes over what she does to recharge her batteries when attending an event and networking as an introvert. Mentioned in this episode: Jen Brown (Melissa's business coach) book: Think on Your Feet: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Impromptu Communication Skills on the Job by Jen Oleniczak Brown [email protected]

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan talk about what to consider when it comes to raising your prices as a bookkeeper – and how to actually be successful at it. [1:34] Melissa invites bookkeepers to raise their prices of 10 to 20% because she believes that they're probably not charging enough. [2:49] Despite this, she's nervous about raising her prices – and she's nervous every single time she does it. [3:40] Melissa started sending out emails about her price increase to clients she knew were going to say they weren't ok with it. An important mistake she points out, and one she wants to make sure you avoid making, is to reply to every single email that comes in related to this matter. [4:48] This is how Melissa went about informing clients about the price increase: she informed them of what the new price would be, she informed them of why she believed they should pay and the value they would get from it. She added that if a client didn't think she was worth that value, then it was time for them to part ways. [5:52] Hannah believes that people have a lot of fear about asking for a price increase for two reasons: they're afraid of losing their clients, and they're afraid of the backlash and criticism that could come their way as a result. [6:15] Melissa discusses a NPR article she recently read on why women don't ask for more money. According to the article, women worry that pushing for more money will damage their image. [7:31] Hannah shares what she went through when it was time to raise her prices. She believes that half the battle is you believing that your value is increasing. [8:59] Hannah doesn't think you should worry about clients leaving you because you're too expensive and that you should put your value first. [9:34] Melissa talks about a recent experience she had with a client who didn't agree with her raising her prices. [15:33] Melissa brings up a recommendation that stood out from the NPR article Why Women Don't Ask for More Money? – and that is: when you're negotiating a price increase, think of other people your salary is supporting, so that the negotiation doesn't seem all about you. [18:18] Melissa goes over how she addressed and overcame the fear of raising her prices. [19:35] Another recommendation from the NPR article was to stop looking at negotiation as adversarial, but rather as solving a problem: your gross profit is low, your costs are high, etc. [21:47] Hannah shares one of the biggest things she had to do for herself – practicing confidence. [24:23] Melissa talks about a girl she has found on social media who recorded herself, every day, telling herself that she loved herself. [26:35] There have been times when Melissa felt as if she couldn't support herself. She reached out to her friends who were able to uplift her when she wasn't able to. Mentioned in this episode: article: Why Women Don't Ask for More Money? [email protected]

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan look at whether it makes sense to niche as a bookkeeper and discuss some of the aspects that will affect your business if you decide to niche or if you don't. [0:45] Hannah and Melissa discuss and joke about the pronunciation of the word 'niche'. [2:10] Melissa talks about how the niche for her business was picked. [3:10] When it comes to her business, Melissa is passionate about meeting her clients face-to-face and supporting her team members. [3:23] Hannah touches upon what she considers a pro of having and focusing on a niche. [4:39] How Melissa feels and acts when she attends in-person events. [5:29] For Melissa, when you niche, you're able to understand your clients better and can offer solutions tailored to their needs. She considers having a niche and really connecting with it as the most important thing. [7:20] Something Melissa experienced at an event she recently attended. [9:03] Melissa shares her thoughts on the whole 'To niche or not to niche?' conversation. [10:41] Hannah and Melissa talk about the pros of actually not niching down in your business. [13:43] According to Hannah, when switching industries, by having some expertise in the subject, you can get your foot in the door. [14:28] Melissa touches upon the analysis paralysis trap some business owners fall into and shares what you should do if you don't know what niche to choose. [16:04] What most of the members of Hannah's and Melissa's community think when it comes to niching down. [16:59] An advantage Hannah sees when looking at people who don't settle for a specific niche. [18:00] Melissa shares her thoughts on the idea that business owners who don't niche down can tap into a larger pool of leads and clients. Mentioned in this episode: [email protected]

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan talk about whether bookkeeping has a future, why small business owners should look at hiring a bookkeeper, and what being a good accountant is actually all about. [0:58] Melissa thinks that bookkeeping has a future. For years, she has heard that the space would be obsolete in the next couple of years – but that hasn't happened, bookkeeping is still going strong. In fact, it has never been better. [1:36] 'Is bookkeeping going to be obsolete?' and 'Is Artificial Intelligence going to take over?' are some of the biggest questions Hannah and the marketing team get asked. [1:51] People need to understand an important thing: bookkeeping is a relationship-focused industry. And that's something a computer can't do. [3:34] There are a couple of reasons why small business owners look for bookkeepers; because they either don't like bookkeeping or don't have the time to do it themselves. [5:27] Melissa often has conversations with clients to help them realize that trying to do bookkeeping by themselves would be very time consuming as it's something they probably would be learning from scratch. [6:33] For small business owners, bookkeeping is having someone in your corner, who takes care of certain things for you, no matter what. [7:41] The fact that bookkeeping is always going to evolve and have something new – and that people are always going to need it – is one of the biggest points about the future of the industry. [9:03] For Melissa, learning the technology of the niche you work in as a bookkeeper can be very valuable to your clients. [10:37] There are a couple of reasons why Melissa believes that small business owners should look at hiring a bookkeeper. Take the time a business owner would spend doing bookkeeping alone and think about how much they would earn if they spent that time focusing on activities that generate business. Plus, bookkeepers can also help business owners make more money by helping them save on taxes and other fees. [15:24] Melissa sees the lack of customer service as the major pain-point people have when it comes to their accountants. [17:27] One of the things a good bookkeeper does is to help clients understand bookkeeping and their business better. [18:47] Melissa shares her predictions on what bookkeeping is going to look like 5 years from today. Mentioned in this episode: Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan talk about the benefits of starting your own bookkeeping business, and discuss networking and what the bookkeeping community is all about. [0:56] There's the misconception that a degree is required to be a bookkeeper, but that isn't the case. [1:26] Melissa is a huge advocate for alternatives to college degrees. [1:52] Unlike other industries, you can get your bookkeeping business up and running in just a matter of weeks. [2:37] Nowadays, people seem to be more interested in having a work-life balance and in making their own schedule. [3:45] Being your own boss means that you can network in the way that best suits your personality, whether you're an introvert or an extrovert. [4:43] The pandemic has made things like Zoom calls more acceptable. [5:42] Melissa is less about in-person networking as she is face-to-face. She always makes a point to have her webcam on whenever she has a call with somebody. [7:41] There are several benefits to being your own boss, like working with clients you want, doing taxes or payroll, advising, as well as picking and using the tools you prefer and ditching those you don't like. [10:08] One of Hannah's favorite things about the bookkeeping community is the fact that there aren't real gate-keepers nor industry secrets that are kept. Everyone is supportive and generous with sharing their knowledge. [13:05] Becoming a bookkeeper can lead to other opportunities too – like in the case of Alyssa Lang, for instance, who is now known as the Workflow Queen. [14:54] According to Hannah, starting and owning a business really adds to your personal development as a person. It creates a new layer to people.

The first episode of the relaunch of I Love Bookkeeping sees new co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their stories and how they have gotten to where they are today, and they discuss what they'll bring to the show. [1:10] New podcast co-host Melissa Honan is a mom of two children, a dog, and a cat [2:17] Melisa discusses how she began working with her husband Daniel [4:46] Online Bookkeep, the company Melissa is the CEO of, has some impressive numbers: 115 monthly clients, approximately $107,000 in monthly recurring fees, three departments (Bookkeeping, Account Management, and Tax), and it's a team of 17. Today, the business has about $1.4 million in annual revenue. [6:12] Melissa and her family are currently in Mexico for a few weeks and are considering which place they want to call "home" next [8:03] Melissa, who is a former workaholic, is deliberate about defending her personal life, and she doesn't shy away from putting her children first [9:23] Even though she isn't a bookkeeper anymore, Melissa is clear on how she'd like to provide value to the I Love Bookkeeping podcast listeners [10:19] Hannah Robinson, who is Atlanta born and bred, was a hair and makeup artist working long hours before she entered the bookkeeping space. And, like Melissa, she wasn't prioritizing having a life outside her career. [12:13] Hannah talks about the impact of organizing the first in-person meeting during the summer. She got to meet people whose stories she could listen to carefully and get inspired by.

We are in the middle of some strange times right now but even with the challenges we've seen so far, we've also seen several people connect better with their audiences. [1:55] There have been several unique opportunities that have emerged since the advent of COVID-19, and Ben happens to be right in the middle of a number of rapidly changing environments. [3:30] With all the changes to the regulatory environment, bookkeepers have been extremely busy helping business owners figure it all out. Everybody who has been waiting to do their books suddenly has an urgent need to get it all done as quickly as possible. [5:00] For bookkeeping professionals that are established, there has never in the history of time been a better time to be a bookkeeping professional. The word of the day in the industry is survive and just do what you can one day at a time. [5:30] We saw a similar cycle 12 years ago with businesses that weren't prepared, or that weren't really businesses. They were the ones that didn't make it through. The most important thing you can focus on right now is how you can help your clients and do whatever you can to help them survive. [6:05] The urgency of tax day has been replaced by the urgency of getting your books in order to secure a loan. What we've seen so far hasn't been as much of a stimulus as it was just enough to allow small businesses to survive. The only way that many businesses have been able to do that is by getting the benefits, and that means bookkeepers are instrumental. [7:40] There is no COVID-19 version of your books, they are either done or not done. Not having the information on hand means your business is leaving free money on the table. [8:05] Paul tells the story of trying to make Mother's Day special and how different restaurants handled the lockdown. We hear a lot about the economic downturn but plenty of businesses are seeing a flood of customers that they may or may not be able to handle. [10:35] When it comes to economic turbulence, some types of businesses will thrive and some will suffer, but any business that isn't prepared is going to run into major problems. [11:00] Ben always tries to have at least six months of operating expenses in his business's savings account. If you have a team right now, they are nervous and there is no such thing as over-communicating and no such thing as giving away too much information. If you are secure, your people need to know that. [12:15] You should work with your clients in the same way. People can typically deal with bad news, what they can't deal with is unknowns. Having a fight you know about is way better than not having any idea about what is going to happen. [13:15] Take care of the things that you can control. You may not know what is going to happen with schools in the fall, but you can get your books done and find out what your finances look like. [14:05] Everybody is worried, but being in a position to give someone answers can be very valuable. The bookkeeping industry is a recession-resistant industry and bookkeepers are in a position to really help business owners get through the current situation. When we do come through to the other side, those businesses are going to remember who was there for them. [16:40] Right now is a great time to start a bookkeeping business. There are no guarantees, but this may be the absolute best time to be marketing bookkeeping to businesses that desperately need the service. [18:30] It's also a great time to be advertising since ad costs are low. The one caveat is that hard tactics are out and building relationships is in. It's the perfect time for bookkeepers to focus on the top of the funnel. [20:00] Bookkeeper Business Launch will give you the fundamentals you need to start your bookkeeping business, but if you want to go far, it's important to surround yourself with people on the same journey as you. The mastermind and community are huge assets to bookkeepers just getting started. [23:05] Bookkeeper Business Launch experienced its highest period of enrollment ever because more people are coming to the realization that being in control of their income puts them in control of their destiny. [24:00] Some bookkeepers have lost clients or have had to reduce their service fees, but that's been offset by picking up new clients all over the place. Bookkeepers have to be flexible and creative enough to adjust to what's happening in the world. [26:20] Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers. Are you a giver or a taker? Your clients need you more than ever so it's a great time to start giving.

Kim started in late August of 2017 after purchasing Bookkeeper Business Launch. Four days later she registered her business name and closed her first client, who later on became her husband. [3:00] Kim had been in the banking industry for 16 years and knew that there was definitely a need for bookkeepers in business. When Kim's husband decided to start his trucking business, Kim made the choice to start her own bookkeeping business at the same time. [4:15] Kim currently has 8 active clients. There are always ups and downs in the business, and clients come and go. She mainly focuses on transportation due to her insider view of the industry. [6:05] Kim always had the desire to open her own business, but she never really knew what she wanted to do. The high costs of most business models made them prohibitive. When she discovered the idea of bookkeeping, it made a lot of sense given her background and experience. Time-freedom is the word Kim would use to describe the idea of running her own business. [9:30] Retail banking is extremely time intensive, and Kim felt like she wouldn't be able to go much further in the industry without sacrificing more of her time. Instead of just working more, she wanted to find a way to make more money while working less. [11:20] Sticking to her niche was one of Kim's first challenges. Many of the clients she initially took on were not the right fit because they were either too small or not appropriate. It can be hard to say no to a client that wants to work with you, but sometimes it's necessary. [14:50] Kim's husband has been a very valuable insider who has helped shape her marketing and how she finds clients for her business. [16:05] Take your time as you go through the learning process. While you're working your way through it, try to put processes in play that will make your life easier. In a lot of ways, time-freedom is a double-edged sword. It's all too easy to do work that doesn't actually build your business. Busy work is the work we do to avoid the work we really need to do. [19:00] The biggest challenge today for Kim is that if her business continues to grow, it's going to take up more of her time unless she hires someone. The trouble is she isn't sure if she wants to manage people again. [20:35] For Kim, success means the ability to do what she wants to do and having the means to do it. Reaching true financial security is when she would define success. Given that definition of success, Kim doesn't really need to take on more clients. [22:50] One of the best aspects of the business for Kim has been the option of working as many hours as she wants. In terms of capacity, Kim could probably take on another 3-4 clients without eliminating the time-freedom that she values so much. At this point, she should focus on finding quality clients and upgrading her existing client base. [26:40] When Kim hits a milestone, she takes a moment to enjoy her achievement but also look towards the next goal. She has to realize the pressure is off her. She can shape her business so that it fits her goals instead of doing things to generate an income. [30:50] Paying off her mortgage and becoming debt free is one of Kim's major goals. The other question is how does she want to spend her time when she's retired. When Kim thinks about her goals, she always sees herself with other people and how she can help and serve them. To serve others, we have to serve ourselves. [36:30] Whether or not you have team members, your business is a system. Systems are even more important than a list of clients. Once you define your processes and efficiencies, it pays off continuously over time. Start out where you are and map out your processes, and then think about how you can improve them. Processes revolve around your client; if they don't, then why would you do it? [42:15] You can gain a tonne of momentum and leverage in your business by hiring a virtual assistant. We think we need a big team that comes with a lot of commitment but it's not necessary. You can take on a VA for only a few hours a week, and it can completely change your business. Before you hire a VA, you need to have your processes designed first. [47:10] Since Kim works in the transportation niche, she has an opportunity to create a course that could help teach her potential clients how to grow their business. When they develop and grow, they could become Kim's ideal clients. [48:30] Before working on a new business idea, it's good to vet the idea and make sure it's worth your time and effort. If someone else is already doing something similar, that's a good sign. Don't just take someone's word that they will buy your idea. It doesn't mean anything until someone is willing to open their wallet and give you their money. Before taking the leap on a new idea, make sure that the resulting business fits into your vision for your life. [51:50] For new ideas, always start with the market side of things. Once that's in place, always undersell and overd

Melissa was working 70 to 80 hours a week at her job and was starting to get really burned out. She decided that she needed to make a change and that was when she was injured during a run. This gave her plenty of time to look for opportunities to work from home. She found her first client online and that gave her three months to find more. Word of mouth and BNI has been how she's found the majority of the clients she has now, with the process being largely organic. [4:45] Melissa serves 62 clients that they work with every month and she has a goal to get to 100 clients by the end of the year. [5:25] We rarely stop to smell the roses and appreciate everything we accomplish. Remember to write down how far you've come and keep that in mind. [6:20] Melissa has made plenty of mistakes over the past 18 months. One of the biggest things she's learned is to stick to her pricing and not negotiate. If the client wants to negotiate, that may be an indicator that they don't value your service. [8:15] Melissa works solely from home and most of her clients are local to Sacramento. One of the motivations for her in starting her business has been to spend time with her kids and this led to her finding a team member that likes serving clients face-to-face. [10:30] Working at home can be very isolating, so Melissa really appreciates the chance to go to BNI meetings and meet people on the same journey as her. [11:40] The best piece of advice for someone considering starting their own bookkeeping business is you have to be a self starter. There will always be things out of your control and you just have to push through it and get things done. There is also a major difference between dealing with multiple clients instead of one boss. You need to develop a thick skin. [13:30] You have to be very self reliant as a business owner because the buck stops with you. [14:25] There is a lot of room for growth in the bookkeeping industry. Melissa hasn't run into any real competition in her area. If you're thinking about getting into the business, now is a great time to jump in. [16:00] In three years, Melissa would like to be in a commercial space with 10 bookkeepers working for her. The key piece of the puzzle will be a solid office manager to bring it all together so that she doesn't need to touch client accounts anymore. If you can pay somebody to do something better than you, you should do it. [18:15] Strategy is marketing, and marketing is the core of your business. It's hard to outsource the marketing because they don't have the same incentive as you as the owner of the business. [19:15] In some ways the desire for an office space is about ego but a commercial space does come with some other advantages. Melissa estimates that she's lost approximately one client a month that didn't decide to work with her because of the lack of physical space. [21:40] A physical space also comes with a lot of baggage. It can become your golden handcuffs or an anchor. [22:40] Managing people is difficult, every person you bring on increases the complexity of your business. It's important to think of things from the standpoint of the result instead of the function. Melissa doesn't want to have 10 people work for her, she wants the result that 10 people can bring. [26:50] Melissa's challenge is setting her business apart from the competition. Answering the question of "how are you different from other bookkeepers out there?" is hard. [28:45] Bookkeeping is first and foremost a relationship business. If we try to compete on the tasks, we'll lose. You should think about how to deepen and build upon the relationships with prospective clients and existing clients. [30:45] You have to know how to communicate with your client in a way that they will understand, and then go above that by advising them. Take a vested interest in their success from the deliverable standpoint. [32:30] Bookkeeping used to be about abdication, now it's about collaboration. Take two clients a month and think about what you would want to know if you were the owner of those businesses. Give them true advice, practical things they can do to improve their business and save money. Over time you will be able to charge more for your services, not because you are just raising your rates but because you are adding more value. [36:30] Start with the clients that are already receptive to feedback. Melissa may find that what she really wants is to work with a smaller number of clients in a more personal and involved way. [38:10] Melissa's typical client is a small business with less than five employees that are at the point where they are not able to take care of their own bookkeeping. [40:30] Having a specific niche limits you, but it also allows you to become very well known in that niche. You also get the perception of the industry expert and become a specialist. [43:30] The transition takes time. Changing a niche happens one client at a time. Take your client list and think of the ones tha

Jaime has been running his bookkeeping business for the past two years and has acquired 13 clients in that time. He's hoping to get more clients and continue growing, but it's a scary thing to think about. [3:10] When Jaime first started, he was going to partner with a friend of his that had a degree in Bookkeeping. He discovered that a lot of random tasks end up on your plate as a bookkeeper and felt that he just didn't want to work for someone else anymore. His friend wasn't ready to make the leap at the same time though, and Jaime decided to go out on his own. He discovered that he was in over his head and looked for help; when he found Bookkeeper Business Launch, it changed his business. [7:10] After signing up for the course in April, Jaime got his first client in June. He reached out to his former colleagues who had ventured out to create their own firms and one of them said yes. [9:00] One of his clients has been very influential in helping Jaime find new clients. He has referred Jaime to a number of individuals and created new connections for him. It's important to have as many referral sources as you can. [11:10] Jaime had to overcome his fear and negative mindset before starting his business. We are all limited by fear but we have to bust through it. [12:20] One of Jaime's biggest challenges was something that many people might find easy, putting a photo of himself online. When Jaime got started, he didn't know that he would be serving attorneys but it ultimately worked out really well. [16:00] Jaime enjoys putting the puzzle of a client's messy books together. It's one of the few tasks in bookkeeping that has a definitive end point. One of Jaime's least favorite activities is receipt management. [19:10] Jaime has been really challenged with his systems recently. He recently lost a contractor and has found that the systems he has in place may not be sufficient. In many ways, this is actually a good problem to have and should be celebrated. [23:00] Jaime started documenting things via screen sharing. He would record himself doing the task and then upload the video to Dropbox. Processes before people, the processes that Jaime has developed have been largely the same for all of his clients. It's important to limit the procedures that you have that are unique to one particular client, which is one of the advantages of operating in a specific niche. [27:25] When handing off the receipt management task to a contractor, Jaime realized that he didn't really explain what he wanted accurately enough so he found the contractor was making a lot of the same mistakes. In the beginning, it's important to spend more time holding their hands and walking them through the way you want something to be done. [31:00] We often try to bite off more than we can chew. You should offload one task at a time, not look for the perfect person for every task. When you bring someone on board, they will not care about your business as much as you do. Give them a small puzzle to work on and get rid of the tasks with the lowest hourly value first. Handing off too much at one time is recipe for disaster. Don't hire by client, hire by task. [37:30] Overloading a new hire is a big mistake. Give them one task to master, then once they've got that down, give them more to work on. [39:20] Jaime's first contractor was a virtual assistant that did some simple tasks like managing email that he found in a Facebook group. One of his favorite ways of getting to know a potential hire is asking them, "What Star Wars character would you be and why?" Ben recommends asking the unique questions because one thing he has discovered is that the people with prior bookkeeping experience usually come with bad habits that you have to work to fix. [44:45] People want to work in fun places with people they like. Bookkeeping is a relationship business. Going after trained bookkeepers isn't the best approach. You may train someone and they leave, but that is just the nature of the game. Set the relationship up right before you hire, put them into real world situations that they will actually experience and see how they work. [48:15] Never stop hiring, and never stop marketing. You never want your pipeline to run dry. [48:45] Give your team a say in how the work gets done. You want your team to take ownership of their work and to treat your clients with respect. If it doesn't work with one person, you've learned something that you can take to the next person. Once you master this concept, you can scale up your business. [51:52] Jaime's homework assignments are to celebrate his wins and start putting potential hires through the real world tasks they are going to be taking on. Mentioned in this Episode: Paralledger

Tracy had been in the accounting world for 20 years and decided to leave the corporate world to spend more time with her kids. She ended up driving a school bus for a little while and decided that she needed to find a way to combine her love of numbers and spending time with her family. Tracy ran into Ben's videos online, and that led her to buy his course and begin her bookkeeping journey. [4:30] Tracy officially opened her doors in June of 2017 and got started by subcontracting for her fiance's accountant a little after tax season. This was a good way to jump-start Tracy's career and shift her mindset from employee to business owner. There were plenty of times when Tracy felt like she was overwhelmed, but she was able to persevere and push through. [8:35] She didn't start getting clients of her own right away. Tracy wanted to make sure she could do the job before getting in too deep, and working as a subcontractor gave her some people she could ask for help if she needed it. [9:55] Tracy currently serves 13 clients through the accounting company. She works mainly in Sage but is transferring them over to Quickbooks. She also has 13 clients of her own. [13:15] Tracy's second goal was to allow her fiance to get out of driving a truck for a living and bring him into the business she was building. She created the goal in November 2017, and as of January 2019, he finished his last day of work and has come on board. [15:30] The business started off a little slow but it has grown quite a bit in the last half of the year. Now Tracy and her fiance are available to spend time with her kids and manage their own time. [20:20] Thinking like a business owner is about knowing that you have control of your time. It's the flexibility of not just trading hours for dollars. One of the biggest challenges Tracy has encountered has been pricing her services. She usually starts them off at an hourly rate and switches them to monthly after a few months of service. [24:50] The thing that we want as a business owner is flexibility but it's a double edged sword. You're not accountable to anyone but yourself, and for entrepreneurs, it can be really difficult. [26:40] Tracy has experienced a lot of growth in the past few months, so marketing has slipped by the wayside. [27:40] Don't stop and halt your marketing. It takes momentum to get the marketing machine back up; so you should keep it going. The best time to market is when you don't need clients, that way you can be selective. [31:10] Helping people understand what is happening in their business is what Tracy loves to do when working with her clients. Doing her client's bookkeeping allows Tracy to get insights into their business and helps her deliver value to them by solving their problems. [34:40] Before we start hiring, we should understand what our Unique Ability is and where we provide the most value. List out all the tasks you do, and figure out what you are the best at and where you provide the most value. Then, list the tasks you don't like doing. [37:00] What are the things that you need to get other people to do? It's not who do you need to hire, but what tasks do you need to delegate? Finding a freelancer on Upwork and outsourcing just one task is the first step. Build out your team from a task perspective instead of a person perspective. >[41:45] Find the simplest task you don't want to do and give it to a freelancer or virtual assistant. Don't look for bookkeeping experience, hire for attitude and resourcefulness. Training someone else will force you to think of and write down the exact process for that task which is how you start to create systems. [47:50] Getting your processes down gives you a resource that you can use to bring on additional team members. This gives you a huge advantage when hiring in the future. Having great people is a luxury; having great processes is a necessity. [51:45] Tracy's next steps are to continue with her marketing and networking efforts and break down her tasks. Then, find out what she's best at and what she should hand off to someone else. [53:15] Find someone that will take ownership over the process. It's common to find people that can find better ways to do things, and there is always more you can learn. Mentioned in This Episode: Between the Lines Bookkeeping Services

When Justin was 19 years old, he was introduced to the idea of owning a business but he felt like he wasn't ready to go it on his own. He decided on a career in banking which worked out well enough for the first few years until his wife told him they were going to have another child. This led him to looking at how to make money on the side and eventually Ben's course. [6:00] In early 2017, Justin was still working his full-time job while serving 11 clients, which was starting to burn him out. When he had the opportunity to take on a bigger client, Justin's wife gave him the push to go for it and make his business his full time occupation. [9:20] Justin developed a good network while he was working and spent his time getting to know who he wanted to work with and asking for specific referrals. [11:50] When looking at new potential clients, Justin wants to see that the client is coachable and open to suggestions. He's made mistakes taking on clients that weren't a fit. It's less about the niche or industry and more about the way the client works with him. [13:45] The greatest challenge is to systematize processes. Once you get them done, it's great, but for Justin, he finds it difficult to get through. [16:00] The favorite part of Justin's day is the ability to enjoy his time with his family and his wife. [18:40] Justin's first homework assignment is to take stock of all the challenges he has overcome so far and appreciating how far he's come. [20:20] Justin is in the process of onboarding three new clients so he's focused on systematizing their processes from the start. Now that he has a team member to help him with the workload, Justin needs to optimize the way work gets done. [25:00] The goal at the moment to spend 20 to 30 hours a week in his business so that he can focus attracting and meeting new clients as well as more personal things. [26:50] The vision for your business is a framework that you can use to evaluate everything you do. Is your action going to move you closer or further away from your vision? [27:40] One is none, two is one. You should always duplicate your efforts and build in some redundancy into your business processes so you aren't in big trouble if somebody leaves. Finding team members using a service like Upwork can make the process simple. [32:40] There lots of people who aren't interested in building a big business but still want to do bookkeeping for a decent rate. Justin found his first team member by posting that he was looking for some help in the Bookkeeper Business Launch Facebook group. [33:50] Calling yourself a bookkeeping professional is key. [35:50] Take the traits of your best team member and write them down. Those are the traits you should look for in potential hires. The 'whatever it takes' attitude is the biggest thing that Justin looks for in his team members. [39:30] Be slow to hire and quick to fire. This goes for your clients as well. [41:45] It's better to have two team members working 5 hours a week than one person working 10. Anything that the team member is going to be doing with your clients should be simulated during the interview. You should see exactly how they are going to do the job and interact with people before you bring them onboard. [44:20] Add a little easter egg to your job posting that asks the person to include something in particular in their application so you know they pay attention to detail. [46:15] Justin needs to find people that have the capacity to grow and are in the business for the long haul. [48:50] If you want to scale your business, never stop marketing and never stop looking for good people. [50:00] Finding a process to develop better processes can be tricky. Take your current bookkeeping professional and just document everything they do in the course of their work. Recording your screen while your working and narrating what you're doing is a simple way to document what you do. Every time you add a piece of technology or software you add complexity but it's the fundamentals that will lead to success. Mentioned in the episode: Watch My Green

Amy worked at a bank for 14 years and eventually it became not worth the hours she had to put in anymore, so she decided to retire. This led her to thinking about what else she could do for work, ideally from home. Since she was good with numbers already, bookkeeping seemed like a solid choice. She signed up for Bookkeeper Business Launch and went from there. [6:00] Nonprofits were the niche that Amy chose to work with because working around or in them has been a part of her history and experience. She felt like she was in a unique position to help nonprofits specifically. [7:50] In the beginning, Amy felt like everything had to be ready to go before she officially launched her business and she ended up pushing her launch back until the last week of August. She got her first three clients in the same week right before Thanksgiving. [9:25] The first client was a Facebook referral, the other two were found on Indeed by applying for remote bookkeeper positions. There is always a price to getting clients, it's either your effort, your time, your money, or some combination of all of them. [11:30] The best way Amy has found to get clients has been to spend time in Facebook groups where she knows her ideal clients hang out. Giving value first is the basic strategy. Niching down is one of the keys to Amy's success. [14:10] Now that Amy is running her own business she can turn down the work that doesn't fit the lifestyle she wants to live. [15:25] Confidence in her ability to execute was one of the biggest challenges she's had to face in starting her business. She learned a lot in the first 60 days. Each new client brings its own set of challenges. Knowledge has to be combined to gain confidence. [19:00] All of Amy's clients are across the country and she can essentially operate her business from everywhere. [20:05] Running her own bookkeeping business has drastically improved Amy's family life. [22:10] In the beginning, Amy just wanted to bring in something for her family but at this point she's looking at breaking past six figures and bringing additional staff to handle the workload. She's focused on building a real business complete with brand identity. [25:10] Get specific on your goals and what your business is going to do for you. You're going to be much more motivated by internal goals rather than external goals. [27:20] What do you want to be when you grow up? Now that Amy is becoming established she has to put some thought into her branding and how she wants to be viewed in her market. As you scale your business your brand becomes more important. [30:45] A brand is a perception of who you are as an organization and perception is reality. Your brand needs to attract and repel. When someone is looking at your business, what do you want them to feel? [34:35] Write down the words you want people to use to describe your business. Ask your clients how they would describe you already. A brand is something that is crafted, it's not created overnight. Don't be a copycat brand, your brand should be unique to you and your company. [38:20] Amy may not need to market her business very hard at this point, her current methods have worked pretty well. You shouldn't start to look for new growth strategies until the one you are using effectively stops working. [41:10] Amy has walked in an Executive Director shoes so she knows what they need in terms of a bookkeeper. The feelings and perceptions of her ideal client will inform the brand she is trying to create. Additional perceptions can come from the auditors and board members that Amy can tap into. [46:10] These words and descriptions will become the core beliefs, the manifesto that determines your steps going forward. Some core values are better than others but there is no wrong or right set. Establishing your core values is key to keeping people on your team long term. There is no proven methodology to creating your brand other than what comes from within. [50:35] Amy always thinks back to her future obituary and what she hopes people will eventually say about her. She hopes her business will allow her to spend more time with her family and live the life she wants. Once you understand your brand and core values, it makes your business decisions much easier. [54:30] Amy's action items include figuring out what she provides to her clients and what her company stands for. Building a brand is intentional and done over time. Mentioned in this episode: ADEM Bookkeeping

Relay Financial offers a number of creative solutions to bookkeeping professionals. Yoseph previously worked at a company called Hubdoc where he learned about the pain points of small business owners and bookkeepers around financial statements. [2:35] Access to data and statements is crucial for proper accounting, so Yoseph built Relay Financial in order to attack the problem from a fundamental point of view. Relay gives you the ability to issue MasterCard debit cards and manage payments all from inside your own business bank account. [3:25] The three primary reasons businesses are switching over to Relay from the usual financial behemoths are the user permission model, the ability to manage their payables inside their bank account, and they can manage business spending by issuing cards directly to employees. [5:40] For accountants and bookkeepers, Relay integrates directly with both Xero and QuickBooks online and delivers enriched standardized data into the accounting system which makes it easier to do the books overall. [6:10] Inside of your financial portal, you can have multiple clients within Relay Financial and have easy access to each client's banking information. This can save you an hour per client each month in back and forth communication. Relay Financial is a bank account that connects into your key systems and increases financial visibility for small business owners. [7:55] Bookkeepers universally struggle with getting information from clients and Relay Financial is a potential solution to those common challenges. [9:30] This kind of service can be revolutionary for bookkeepers and small business owners. [10:05] Yoseph founded the company in October of 2018 and brought the first customers on board in the first half of 2019. The response to the product has been tremendously positive with the service reframing what's possible from a bank. [10:35] Relay is best suited for a wide range of small businesses since they all have very similar financial needs. Businesses that are typically cash-heavy like restaurants or bars are not necessarily the best fit, same with businesses that have to batch deposit a large number of checks at the same time. [12:00] The long term vision for the company is to automate financial management for small business owners. Yoseph is looking to build useful software on top of customer's bank accounts to make it even more valuable for business owners. [13:10] Most people have an existing bank account, but Yoseph is seeing a lot of customers trying out Relay as a complimentary service and once they test it out they organically switch over to make Relay their primary financial institution. [15:05] If you're trying to convince your clients to make the switch to Relay Financial, talk to them about how they can sign up online within 10 minutes so it's incredibly easy to get started, how it solves a specific pain point for the business, and the benefit of being able to issue cards for their employees. [16:55] Relay Financial is currently only servicing US-based companies at the moment but expanding beyond the US is part of the plan for the business later this year. Mentioned in this episode: Relay Financial

Alyssa originally started her business four years ago focused on doing her client's taxes after falling in love with accounting in school. It wasn't until a client asked Alyssa to help repair their books that she got into bookkeeping, but at this point, she would never go back. [3:25] Alyssa doesn't prepare the taxes for clients that she does the books for. There is a lot of value in having a second pair of eyes so the client gets the right information. [4:05] Alyssa currently has 12 clients, many of which are monthly. She gets the work done with her team of three virtual assistants and one full-time bookkeeper. [5:00] Alyssa also has another business that came from the result of working with another client who fell in love with her systems. Now she also builds the systems that other bookkeepers use to run their businesses. [6:45] We often get stuck in our heads and tell ourselves that we are the only ones who can do things, but the only reason that is is because you haven't documented it. You should have your systems and workflows set up so that if you're hit by a bus tomorrow, someone can come in and pick up where you left off. [8:20] Alyssa works from home and enjoys the benefits that come with that as well as the downsides. Being stuck in the same place all the time can be a blessing and a curse. [9:50] Being able to decide how hard you are going to work is great but if you don't work hard it can cause problems a couple of months down the road. Sometimes it would be nice for someone to tell you what to do rather than making all the decisions. [11:20] Long term goals for Alyssa are to pick up some more clients but not so many that she isn't able to work one on one with them and give them the highest service possible. She's at the point where she can say no to some clients so she's in a good place right now. [13:20] Work/life balance is the biggest challenge that Alyssa struggles with every single day. Ben has issues with that as well, it comes with loving the work, but if you want to spend more quality time outside of work you have to be intentional about it. Writing down your perfect day is a good exercise to get clarity on what you actually want. Put more than just work on your calendar. [17:55] Taking yourself away from your work allows you to clear your mind and refocus. Working all the time doesn't mean you are accomplishing more, taking breaks will lead to more work being done overall. [20:20] The advantage of creating courses is that you gain the ability to generate revenue without having to actually sell or get clients all the time, while still allowing you to stay in the bookkeeping world. [21:50] The most important thing about a workflow is writing it down. Take the time to write every little task so you can identify exactly where the results are coming from. Entrepreneurs always encounter the struggle of managing the workflow as the business grows. [24:35] Set yourself guidelines for your future vision. Keeping why you want to do this will keep everything in perspective. [25:30] As you build the business the way you want, not only do you get to benefit from it personally, you also create a business that is much more sellable. Most "businesses" that are sold are just jobs. [27:00] Works expands to fill the time allotted to it. If you set yourself a schedule and less time to do something, you will be surprised what you are capable of when you are down to the wire. [28:30] Don't forget to take care of yourself, if you don't you won't be able to serve your clients properly and your life and business will suffer. You're pouring yourself into your clients and team every day, and the only way you can continue to do that is to pour energy back into yourself. [30:45] Balance is a constant struggle, it's easy to say and incredibly difficult to do but your long term success hinges on that. Mentioned in this episode: Workflow Queen Top Notch Bookkeeping Solutions

Tracy's 35th birthday really changed things for her. She was working as a substitute teacher and wasn't really enjoying it when her husband suggested that taxes may be a way to go. She stumbled upon some videos put together by Ben Robinson, and she decided to jump in with both feet. [4:20] Tracy learned most of her bookkeeping skills by going through Ben's course, in addition to some minor experience in high school and college accounting. [5:40] If you don't have clients you don't have a business - you have a hobby. Once Tracy completed the course she dove in to trying to secure her first client, and she actually connected with her first client through a Facebook post. [8:45] You can't give away too much for free. Giving value always seems to come back to you. [10:00] Tracy is currently serving 18 or so bookkeeping clients plus another handful of tax clients. [11:00] The first year was the hardest. Tracy was studying for her EA and some other exams at the time and combined with some personal issues she faced a few challenges. Around May of 2018, things really took off, largely due to a mindset shift and a snowball of referrals. [15:40] Tracy's vision is to start hiring some help and growing her business while still maintaining her family time. Our business needs to fit into our life, not our life into our business. [17:30] Entrepreneurs never arrive, but it is important to stop and take stock of what you accomplished. Overcoming challenges builds confidence. [19:50] Time management is crucial. Keeping up with the momentum Tracy has built is a challenge. [23:20] The STEP Framework is key to getting stuff done. Time management happens across the whole Framework, but Execution is what needs to happen right now. What do you naturally gravitate towards that you're happy to do? For Tracy, it's the client interaction. [25:50] Where do you add the most value to your business? The goal of hiring someone should be about optimizing that work. Even the thing you love can wear you down though, if that's all you do. [28:20] Tracy also enjoys putting together the processes of the business as well as blogging and video creation. As bookkeepers, there aren't many ways to be creative. What you want to do is maximize the things you like to do while at the same time providing value to your clients and helping you feel fulfilled. [32:10] You have to schedule time to be creative and dream. Be intentional about putting the things that are important into your life. Start off with just 15 minutes and you'll find you have much more energy when you're done. [34:50] Time management isn't the thing you need, it's what time management can bring into your life. [35:15] Bookkeeping is first and foremost a relationship business. If you build your business on relationships and not the transactions, you will be job secure forever. [37:50] The repetitive tasks are starting to get tedious for Tracy. That doesn't mean it's trivial, but they are not important and not the best use of Tracy's time. List the tasks you do in your business and then ask if they fall under your Unique Ability. [41:50] What is the hourly rate for your Unique Abilities? What about your competencies? If you can less than the dollar equivalent for those tasks you're making money. Look at your business tasks and ask is this something to continue doing, stop doing, outsource, or delegate? The point is to free up your time so you can focus on what you do best. [43:40] You shouldn't be looking to hire a specific person, you should be looking to outsource a specific task. Don't throw people at a process problem. The tasks you're competent at but don't really enjoy doing, are the first to outsource. Time efficiency is all about saving 15 minutes at a time, those 15 minutes add up fast. [48:30] You can do the work and set up the process by recording those tasks. Videos are a powerful way to offload the tasks you don't want to do anymore. Dissect the task and show the logic behind it. Upwork is a great place to find freelancers that you can offload your tasks to. [54:15] It's going to cost you time at the beginning. The first task you should offload is something that is not going to directly affect a customer. Start with the admin or support work, the lowest hanging fruit. [57:50] Processes before people. You build the processes then you bring in the people to run them. Mentioned in this episode: Ledger Harmony

Kirsten took an accounting class in high school many years ago and she really enjoyed it. She eventually dropped out of college where she was studying accounting and became a mother. She was a stay-at-home mom for 18 years and tried a number of business ideas but none of them really resonated. She eventually got an email from Ben about becoming a bookkeeper, ended up on one of his webinars and ultimately took the course. [7:40] Kirsten currently has four clients but has had up to nine at one time. Some of them Kirsten decided to fire and some have gone in other directions. [9:00] Time management was Kirsten's first major challenge; homeschooling nine kids can make working from home fairly difficult. Being intentional with her time has been very important. [11:30] When it came to getting clients, putting out content that would get someone interested in what Kirsten was offering without being too sales-y was tough for her. Her first client was a friend that she had known for nearly 20 years who owned a business. Three years later, just talking to people and word of mouth is still Kirsten's primary means of getting new clients. [15:30] Kirsten wants to ultimately live someplace warm and run her business remotely. She wants to be able to travel and enjoy her family and that means she will need additional help taking on tasks within her business. [18:35] One of the keys to serving clients is making sure you are serving a particular niche. When Kirsten first started her business, her niche was sustainable agriculture. She marketed to them for nearly a year without getting any clients so she switched her focus. Her first client was in the tourism niche so she started trying to target them instead and later pivoted to cannabis businesses. The cannabis industry is currently like the wild, wild west and bookkeepers need to know so much in order to do the job correctly so that proved a little too difficult to break into. Now, Kirsten is sort of nicheless and isn't sure which direction to go. [25:15] Marketing is about three elements: knowing your market, knowing your message to that market, and the media. We get hung up on "industry" being the same as "niche," but that isn't necessarily the case. [28:00] Figuring out which niche to target should be a priority, but it's something that will happen once Kirsten starts picking up clients and understanding which ones align with her vision for her business. Focus on the relationships first. [30:40] It's important to go after people that we truly enjoy serving. When you're just getting started, it's natural to work with nearly anyone that is willing to give you money, but eventually you want to hone in and map out who your ideal customer is. Start writing down characteristics that describe them. When you understand your avatar it will make your marketing easier because you can speak directly to them. [36:10] Slow down the process of bringing on a client. You should try to get a feel for what it's going to be like working with them before you bring them on board. You are going to be emotionally invested in this relationship so take your time. [41:15] Start to find the pattern. Think of the relationships you do have and the qualities that you like in other people. You are not about serving the masses, you are becoming a trusted advisor to a relatively small number of clients that you should have deep relationships with. If you build your relationships on a human level, the bookkeeping becomes a natural extension. [46:00] You are probably not doing any marketing because you feel stuck. Remember, it's about building a rapport with the people you want to serve. Find the groups you want to serve and become a contributor, give them value and use every medium at your disposal. [49:00] A halfway decent message to the right market will do well, a great message to the wrong market will fall on its face every single time. Go to where your people hang out. [52:25] The Irresistible Selling Statement is important, but that will come from understanding what clients Kirsten resonates with. She needs to sit down and figure out the characteristics of the people she wants to work with, find out where they spend their time, and start listening and contributing. Mentioned in this episode: The Customer Avatar Worksheet Purple Sapphire Business Solutions

Ben had graduated with his degree in 2017 and worked part-time for a local music guy, which was great until music turned out to be not very lucrative. After getting hooked by a Facebook ad, Ben decided to check out a great course that helped him launch his bookkeeping business. [3:00] 99% of what Ben focuses on is real estate. Oklahoma has a growing real estate market so it made a lot of sense to niche down. [5:20] Ben spent around 6 hours per day networking and connecting with various professionals in the market, specifically meetup.com, and that time evolved into those people asking Ben to help them with their books. [7:00] Take it slow, ask questions, engage and offer value before you ask for money. [8:05] Ben formed his business in a way that facilitated a freedom lifestyle. He found that building a virtual business is more of a challenge but is totally worth it. [10:20] Fear setting is one of the major challenges that Ben has overcome in growing his business. Every day he finds new fears around talking to people and seeing what he can do to conquer them. [11:45] Understanding when to upgrade the conversation after offering value is a particularly tricky subject. [12:10] Fear is the number one impediment in not getting the life that you want. [12:50] Ben considers himself an introvert but has learned how to turn it on when necessary. There is nothing easy or attractive to the process, you walk up to someone, shake their hand and say something. Then you rinse and repeat that process. [14:50] Nothing makes you feel quite like a rockstar than providing value to someone and them saying "this is the best thing I've ever had, I'm going to tell everyone about you." Knowing you're doing a good job does wonders for your business. [16:20] Ben's business is a one-man show other than his marketing and web design. He also has coaches and mentors that help him out as well. Entrepreneurship is incredibly lonely and having good people around you is vital. [18:10] Entrepreneurs wear too many hats and are afraid of taking time off, and that feeling becomes very real when they begin to scale. [20:30] Ben's challenge is in pre-qualifying leads. There is a huge difference between telling someone how to do something and being paid to do it for them. [21:50] Conversations and communication is where most things fall apart. Real estate is especially tricky for this because of differing definitions of the term "transaction". [23:50] When you don't have to take on more clients to cover your costs, you can be more selective about the clients you work with. [24:40] There are four components to scale, there is Strategy, Team, Execution, and Profitability. [27:00] Make your prospects work to see you. Once you have clients, you want new clients to vet themselves for you. Marketing is more about repelling the people you don't want than it is attracting the people you do want. [29:30] List out all of the things you want to know before talking with someone. What does your perfect client look like? Most of us are people pleasers, you need to make your clients work for it so you don't waste their time or yours. [32:25] Creating a qualifying funnel is a great way to establish authority in your niche as well as filter your prospects down to the right people. [36:30] Bookkeeping is a relationship business, it's not about numbers. During the interview process, you should emulate as much as possible what the workflow will be like. Never give someone a proposal after speaking with them only once, there should be a few conversations before that point. [41:45] One of the keys to financial statements is getting them in a timely manner. Any homework you give to a prospective client should be completed quickly. [43:15] You have to think about who your ideal client is. Most of the time we think we know who we want to serve but you have to get very detailed about that. Be slow to take on new clients. Do you have one or two clients that you like a lot? What traits about those clients make them a pleasure to work with? [46:30] Without being explicit about your price, you can list a minimum amount on your qualifying page that will filter out the wrong kinds of clients. [47:45] You have to deliver value in advance. Take the information a potential client has given you and tell them how to run their business more effectively. If you put enough value into the marketplace, you will get value in return. Take the pressure off and deliver the value before you give them the proposal. [50:15] Know what you're going to charge them once that's done and put it on the table then be silent. Let them decide. The more decision points you give your client, the more friction they encounter. [52:40] Stick with your pricing and never budge. If you're working with friends and family, double it. Mentioned in this episode: Lionshare Bookkeeping https://lionsharebookkeeping.com/

Shelby started her bookkeeping business in 2017. Prior to starting the business, Shelby was the CEO/CFO of a manufacturing company, but once she got pregnant she realized that what she really wanted was the freedom to be at home with her new family. [2:55] The freedom to create her own schedule and have the flexibility to be there for her family and friends is Shelby's favorite part of the bookkeeping business. [4:20] The biggest challenge with the transition from the manufacturing company to a bookkeeping business has been creating a culture and a team digitally. Shelby currently serves seven clients with a goal to serve eleven by the end of the year. The reasoning behind that is increasing revenue, but it also aligns with her main motivation of being able to help people. [6:50] Shelby has one employee at the moment that comes into her home office once a week. Future employees will be virtual only. [8:00] There are pros and cons to having a virtual team. If you want to create a positive culture you have to be intentional about it. Shelby does enjoy being able to see her team face-to-face, but the benefits of a virtual team is that it opens up your business to the world. [10:00] When hiring and developing your team, hire slow. Have your processes down before you start to bring on people. People will not solve a workload issue without processes in place; they will only make the problem worse. [11:15] Never stop looking for great people, always be planting the seeds when talking to people, and when you discover someone who might make a good fit, keep them in mind for the future. Upwork is a great platform for finding a virtual team member and you can bring them on slowly with a commitment of only a few hours a week to start. [13:55] You will pay a little more by using Upwork in the short term, but you will be saving money in the long term. One of the most expensive mistakes you can make is hiring wrong. This arrangement allows you to build the relationship before you bring them onto the team officially. [15:00] The employee can have the best skill set in the world, but if they don't believe in what you believe about your business, it's going to be very difficult. [15:30] Your vision doesn't have to be formally created, just writing it down on a sheet of paper is sufficient. When people come to interview with you, share your vision for the business so they can understand what you're trying to achieve and what you believe is important to the business. [18:00] All your vision is for naught if you aren't working with likeminded people. If they don't share the core belief system that you do and aren't looking for the same things, they aren't your people. [18:45] Since Shelby does like working with people in a physical space, it's totally possible for her to hire locally. Being able to get together face to face and sharing a meal is an excellent way to build that connection and relationship with your team. She can also reap the benefits of working virtually even if she does hire locally. [22:15] Shelby's current focus for her business is nailing down a niche. Three of her clients share similar characteristics and personalities and they may become the model she uses to find more clients and define her business. [23:40] Another important point is to keep in mind the tasks that you enjoy doing. Knowing that will help you figure out exactly what tasks you want to delegate to a team member first. [25:15] There is no such thing as overcommunication. Email is okay, phone is better, in person is the best. Don't swamp your team with meetings, but always stay in touch, especially when you are working virtually. Mentioned in the episode: EntreScore Bookkeeping Solutions, LLC

Tanya grew up in Pennsylvania and moved to Chicago for school. It was there that she met her husband and decided to settle down. Dealing with the chaos of having six children and a thriving business has been a challenge, but Tanya manages every day. [3:00] When looking for an online source of income Tanya didn't look at too many opportunities before learning about Bookkeeper Business Launch and deciding to jump in. She had no prior bookkeeping experience and it was quite a learning curve, but staying consistent every single day was the key. [5:20] Perseverance is crucial to success in business. If you need to know for sure whether or not something will work, you shouldn't consider going into business for yourself. There is always an inherent risk which you must have the determination to push through. [6:05] The flexibility of the bookkeeping business is Tanya's favorite part. Being able to set her own schedule around her family makes being a bookkeeper her dream job. [7:15] The flipside of being an entrepreneur is the stress that comes with bearing the weight of the business on your shoulders. Being able to recover from the bad days and preventing the stress of being a business owner from creeping into other areas of her life is Tanya's biggest challenge. [8:35] Tanya currently serves 18 clients, a bunch of which came from an interview she had with a major vendor that generated 20 consultations all at once. The clients themselves are from all over the US, not just the local area. [10:50] When Tanya started the business, there was just a short-term vision for what it could be, but now that she's surpassed that she's thinking about potentially selling her business in the future or turning it into a more passive endeavor. [12:35] There are a lot of benefits to building a business to sell, even if you don't intend to sell it. Most people never think about the value of their bookkeeping business, but if you build the business right, selling it will be the biggest payday you ever see. The good thing about building a business to sell is that it can come with you throughout the different seasons of your life. [14:45] At this point, Tanya no longer handles the day-to-day work. She focuses mainly on supervising and management, while bringing on new clients. The less your business requires you or your time, the more valuable and sellable your business is. As a rule of thumb, a bookkeeping business sells for 0.5x to 1.5x the gross revenue. The less work that you put into the business each month, the more valuable it becomes. [18:30] The main question that Tanya should be thinking about is, "How can I remove myself from this business? The day to day and the month to month." Take the task in increments. If you are currently spending eight hours onboarding a client, how can you reduce that to five hours? [20:35] Break the work down by doing a task audit. Reduce all your work to the tasks that you believe are only inside your head. As you delegate to other team members, they will become better and more capable of taking on more complex work. Even work that you believe only you can do can be delegated, you just have to groom the team member correctly. [23:35] When you streamline who your clients are, you reduce the amount of variance in the work and that simplifies everything about your business. Since Tanya is at the point in her business where she can be more choosey with who she works with, she can really hone in on her ideal client. [25:45] Make it a habit to go through your daily todo list and ask yourself about each task whether or not you are the only one who can handle that. [26:30] There is no formula that will let you know that it's the right time to bring someone on to start replacing yourself. It's a gradual process of finding the right person and helping them along the path while also building in redundancies. [28:30] The last thing on your todo list that should be there every single day is brainstorming ways to work on your business. Sometimes nothing makes sense but sometimes you discover a gold nugget that can completely change things. [29:45] A good exercise is to consider what you would need to change about your business for you to take 90 days off without the wheels falling off. The best way to test your plan is to put through a trial run. Take 30 days off and commit to it, see what breaks, and then fix it for the next time. [33:10] Most people who start a service-based business don't own a business, they own a job. There are a number of things we can learn that will change our mindset and allow us to become owners. [35:00] For Tanya, one of the mental obstacles is giving up the control of the business and the relationships that she's built with her clients. One tip is for her to keep the plan in mind with new clients and setting the tone from the very beginning of that relationship. [38:05] Tanya's first action item is to break down her onboarding process and look for parts that can be offloaded to other

This is the final episode of the beach series, the first covering the power of masterminds. If you haven't started looking into getting into your own mastermind, you are missing a huge opportunity for your business. The second covered innovation in the bookkeeping industry and making sure we are prepared and ready for the developments coming in the next six months. [1:00] Reflection is crucial. Take the time to get away from the daily grind, turn off your electronic devices, and escape. The only tools that Ben takes with him when going into reflection time are a pad of paper and a pen. [1:40] Go into your time of reflection with a single thing you want to think about. For Ben, his focus has been on how he can better serve bookkeeping professionals. Ben believes that if he focuses on that aspect of the business first, the profitability will fall into place. [2:30] What is your vision for your business? Articulate it in several ways and then just sit back and think. Don't worry about your thoughts wandering, just be aware of your focus and be disciplined in bringing it back to the thought exercise at hand. [3:05] Taking a day away to reflect is very powerful and it will move the needle on your business, but the same exercise can also be used in other areas of your life. No matter when you choose to reflect, make sure you are in a distraction-free environment away from where you have your routine. [3:50] Even taking just five minutes to reflect on the heavy stuff is very important. It leads to clarity and allows you to grow personally and professionally. [4:05] Masterminds, innovation, and reflection are powerful tools that will put you ahead of the curve and reveal opportunities that you didn't know existed.

Innovation in the bookkeeping industry is coming down the pipe. What bots can do is going to revolutionize the industry in the next six months. [1:20] If you're prepared, that can be a good thing for your business. If you took away everything you did day to day right now, how would you still serve your clients? [1:50] We have to start thinking about the differences between what our clients need and want. People need to have their tax returns prepared, but they want to save as much money on their taxes as possible. Bookkeeping clients need to have clean books, but they want to have more profitability in their business. [2:55] As you start to innovate, ask yourself, "If everything I did today went away except for the human interaction I have with my clients and my team, what would I do?" Then ask yourself what your clients want, not just what they need. [3:20] You will not be laughing when bots are able to provide perfect financial statements, but instead of working against the bots and technology, we can work with them instead. They should complement the human interactions in your business. [4:10] Artificial intelligence will take a lot of the mundane tasks off your hands, which will free up your time to develop new skills. That could include budgeting, forecasting, or financial ratios, anything that your clients truly want and not just things that they need. [5:10] Go to Google Trends and type in bookkeeping. Set up an alert to stay in touch with what is happening in our industry and be proactive. [6:05] Another benefit of getting away to a mastermind is that you get away from your routine and your environment. Just make sure that you prepare your team and your clients and that you're actually unplugged. There is no such thing as a bookkeeping emergency.

Ben is part of a mastermind called the War Room put on by Digital Marketer and the information shared in the group is game changing. If you're going to look for a mastermind for yourself (and you should), make sure you find one that gets together in a physical location away from your office. A digital-only mastermind is just not going to have the same impact. The power of a mastermind is the physical connection and being face to face with the right people. [2:30] When searching for your mastermind, look for one that is not all bookkeepers or accountants. It's important to have people from all different industries in the group because the problems you have in your business are shared with all industries and every person can provide very different perspectives. [3:20] You can borrow and adopt what people in other industries are doing in their business and implement it in your own. [4:00] The physical location is the secret sauce in the power of a mastermind group. In many ways, Ben's business would not be where it is today if he had not joined his mastermind group. [5:30] Masterminds will cost you money and time and energy, but they are an investment that will generate an incredible ROI for your business and your life. [6:15] If you're just getting started or don't own a bookkeeping business yet, don't worry about the mastermind right now. Focus on getting the foundation of your business established first and set a mastermind as a long term goal.

Times have changed and we now live in the digital age. Just like how televisions have been completely transformed over the past 20 years, bookkeeping has changed as well. [2:10] We hear a lot of talk about bots and automated bookkeeping and frankly that's a good thing. Apps and bots taking over the repetitive and rote tasks of data entry is great because that will allow us as bookkeepers to elevate our game. [2:45] Everything starts with the transactions, but built upon those is the three financial statements that you need to be able to present to your clients in a way they can understand. Being able to interpret these statements for your clients is the first level of a 21st century bookkeeper. [3:20] Being able to extrapolate for your client and helping them understand the meaning behind the numbers is crucial. Business owners can be overwhelmed by the raw data and this is where having a niche can give you an edge. You learn the language of the business and can start to leverage economies of scale. [4:10] We all need to be improving our communications skills because that's not something that a bot can easily replace. [4:20] Built upon interpretation is advice. Being able to look forward and affect positive change in your client's business by giving advice is very important. You have a perspective that can unlock your client's ability to make more money and free up their time. [5:25] Do you know your client's goals and understand what they truly want? Understanding their goals will give you the foundation for providing good advice. [5:50] The digital bookkeeping professional is getting away from the preparation and data entry tasks and moving towards becoming a trusted advisor. The difference between just giving advice and becoming a trusted advisor is your client will come to you. [6:30] Interpreting, advising, and becoming a trusted advisor is how you distinguish yourself as a 21st century digital bookkeeper.

Busy season doesn't have to be busy. We should always be looking at the way things have been done "traditionally" and questioning why they are that way. [1:05] Things aren't set in stone, we just get stuck in a rut doing the work the way that everyone else does it. You don't have to have a busy season, you can spread your work out over the year, but it can't be done overnight. [1:30] Being a digital bookkeeper means going to a higher level with your clients and becoming a trusted advisor. When we add value to our relationships, the more we get paid. [1:55] We want to go deep with a few clients and help them to look forward instead of just looking backwards. Working with fewer clients that pay you more allows you to avoid the highs and lows of busy season. [2:40] Question the way things are. Do you really have to suffer through the chaos of busy season? There is a way out and you don't have to sacrifice the income. [3:30] Everything starts with the type of client you serve. Your marketing, sales, and delivery all stems from the kinds of clients you serve. Keep in mind that marketing is not just for new clients, you have to continually resell yourself to your clients in every interaction with them. [4:10] Set aside 20 minutes this week to think outside the box proactively. Ask yourself the big questions like, "How could I forget about busy season?," "How can I make more money?" and "How can I serve my clients at a deeper level?" Doing this every single week will have a tremendous impact on your business.

There are a lot of poor practices when it comes to presenting financial statements. When you present financial statements to your clients, you should always present three documents: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows. [2:35] All three are crucial. If you are only presenting the balance sheet and the income statement, you are leaving out a critical element. Analyzing the cash flow is the lifeblood of the business. If you're not currently presenting the statement of cash flows, your first step is to learn how to create it and start presenting it to your clients. [3:55] The second thing is to present the statements using the accrual basis even if the business uses the cash basis for tax. Timing is the difference in the accrual basis because it gives you an accurate picture of the financial health of the business that can't be manipulated. [5:40] One challenge that bookkeepers encounter is when Quickbooks presents the balance sheet one way, they assume that's the right way. It's up to you to customize them so they are accurate. [6:25] You should also use a multistep income statement that includes all the business' relevant numbers. It's important to separate out direct and indirect costs once you start doing financial analysis. Putting everything into one expense category is a common mistake. [8:30] The statement of cash flows goes through the business from operating, investment, and financial perspectives. The key metric for any business is the cash flow from operating activities. [9:40] The most important thing is to present the financial statements and interpret them for your client, don't just give them to them. Help the client see what the numbers mean in a way that they can understand.

You have a true business once you have a marketing system that delivers quality clients in a predictable and consistent manner. [1:25] Marketing comes down to three fundamental elements: your market, your message, and your medium. Most people focus on the medium first which is a major mistake, the first thing you must do when it comes to marketing is to focus on your market. Understand the things they want to experience, the jobs they do, and the pains they are trying to avoid. [2:50] The number one mistake people make with referral marketing is going into it saying "what's in it for me?" Instead of leading by being selfish, we should flip that around and think more about what we can offer your referral partner. [4:00] Ask them about how you can help them and listen to the conversation to identify the same jobs, pains, and gains as you look for in your market. You need to see referral partners like you do your clients because in many ways they are. [5:05] One of the struggles of commercial bankers is having a business with a loan that has incomplete or nonexistent financial statements. This is a problem that you as a professional bookkeeper can solve for them. [6:20] You can use the same framework to identify good referral partners in all sorts of industries. The key action item is to change your mindset around referral partners and lead by bringing value to the relationship first. [7:15] Make a list of the roles that have the eyeballs of the niche that your business serves. Ask your clients who they work with and pay attention to, those are great candidates for referral partners. [8:30] Like all marketing, referral partners won't yield results immediately but will pay off long term and lead to greater success in your bookkeeping business.

Mindset is one of the most important things you can learn about. It basically boils down to how to get the things that you want and avoid the things you don't want. [0:40] When you work for yourself, everything comes down to you and staying motivated is important. Motivation is a form of energy and we have to watch our energy levels and do things that energize us to recharge our batteries. [1:35] As you go throughout your week, are you doing things that recharge your battery or are you just depleting it? This is where understanding your Unique Ability comes into play. You need to become intentional about scheduling in activities that replenish your motivational energy. [2:55] Thoughts are crucial to how your life plays out. The genesis of how you go about getting the things you want is to think about them first. One way of accomplishing that is through affirmations. [3:45] We can't lie to ourselves with affirmations. Think about the attributes of the things you want in your life instead of trying to pretend your life is something that it's not. Think about the future and what you want it to look like. [4:20] Plenty of people believe they will never get out of debt, and that belief will create their reality. [5:15] Most of us haven't actually thought about what we really want. We need to be more intentional with our desires and how we will go about achieving them. Your mindset is the most important thing you can work on in your business. It's going to drive all your other successes or failures.

Most people get marketing wrong because they don't understand the fundamentals. The three essential components of marketing are your market, your message, and your medium. [1:30] The very first thing you need to get solid on is your market. 40% of your success in marketing is about the market, another 40% is your message, and only 20% comes from your medium. [1:55] It's important that you focus on a niche and really drill down on one specific market. When you niche down you become a specialist and can speak that market's language. [3:00] Value building boils down to helping your market to achieve and define their goals. Most people go wrong by trying to serve too large a market. Small business owners are not a niche because of all the different variations that can occur between businesses. [3:30] Jobs, Pains, and Gains is a formula that you can use to understand what your niche really needs. What jobs do they do, what are the pain points that you can help alleviate, what are the things they want from their business that you can help them achieve? [5:05] This isn't a set-it-and-forget-it thing. You will be constantly refining your idea of who your market is. It's vital that you get clear on your market before you do any sort of marketing. [6:45] If you're going to advertise or network it's important that you understand what your market wants and that you convey that message to them. This is your value proposition statement. [7:30] Your value proposition statement is not something that stays static, it's something that evolves and gets better and better over the course of your career. Refine the message by listening to your clients. [8:20] The medium is where many bookkeeping professionals go wrong. The first thing you have to think about is where your market spends its time. They are going to be in a number of places and you want to intercept them wherever they are. Get in there with a value-first mentality. [10:25] Don't throw away your existing clients once you identify your niche if they don't fit. Start to market to new clients in the niche you've chosen and allow your business to evolve over time. [11:00] Get focused and learn the ABC's of marketing because it's going to save you a lot of time, it's going to save you a lot of money and stress, and most importantly, it's going to attract those quality clients.

We've all had shady clients. The question is what you should do when encounter one? For Ben, he gets rid of them as quickly as possible. [1:15] There isn't an easy solution if a shady client makes up a good portion of your business's revenue, but working with an unscrupulous person can put your business in jeopardy. [1:45] The first signs of a shady client will come up when you're marketing. When you connect with a potential client, you should try and get a sense of how they feel about taxes. [2:10] Everybody should avoid taxes as much as possible, but there's a big difference between avoidance and evasion. If the person insinuates an interest in evading taxes, walk away. [3:10] If your potential client is hiding something, that means they are lying, and if they are lying to the IRS, do you think they are going to have a problem lying to you? [3:30] When you're consulting with these clients, look for things that are off. But if they are already a client and things start to feel wrong, there are some steps you can take. [4:00] If you start to see warning signs, the first thing to do is to document it and bring it to their attention. First, assume they don't know and get them on the phone. It may be an innocent mistake, but if it's not, you're going to want to call out your client immediately. [6:15] Ben's general rule of thumb is one mistake can slide, but if they make a second "mistake", that's a pattern and that's the end of the relationship. Even if the shady things seem small, if you're seeing them more than once, you should end your relationship with that client. [7:00] It's okay to get rid of shady clients. You don't need to serve them. Most people are fine, but for people that want to pull something over, it's okay to turn them down. Handle them with care when severing the relationship, and consult an attorney if you need to. [8:20] You want to work with quality clients that respect you, that respect the laws, and obey everything that they are supposed to.

Getting online reviews is the lifeblood of a virtual bookkeeping business. Reviews are one of the first things people look at when considering whether to buy a product or service, without them a certain element of trust is missing. [1:35] Where are you already? We want to make sure you're being reviewed where your clients can see them easily. Your Facebook page is one avenue, the Better Business Bureau is another. The BBB is a very commonplace that potential clients go to find reviews. Claiming your Google Business page is another important channel. Trust Pilot is another option that's becoming more popular. [4:15] When you ask for a review is key. Being consistent and asking for reviews every month from your clients is the best practice. The best time to ask someone for a review is when they are already excited to be working with you. The key way to phrase the question is "would you mind sharing your opinion with everyone else about my service?" [6:10] Five stars is great, anything else is not good. Ask them beforehand is there any reason that they wouldn't rate you with a five star. A one-star review will definitely hurt your business. [6:55] Avoid giving the client a script, just focus on the five-star rating and let them phrase the review how they feel. [7:10] Reviews are one of the biggest trust elements that will allow you to serve clients online. Ask for reviews from all your clients and make it part of your monthly service. [8:15] When someone does leave a review, make sure to always reply. This lets other people know that you are involved and care about your clients.

Everybody needs to be marketing, but that doesn't mean you have to take on clients. One of the cardinal sins in this business is to stop marketing. [1:10] Your message needs to be going out into the marketplace all the time. It takes time for the marketing engine to warm up, so you want it running once things start to slow down. [1:45] We don't want one way to get ten clients, we want ten ways to get one client. If you're relying entirely on one channel to get clients, you are vulnerable when something changes. You should add additional channels to whatever is already working. [2:30] Most bookkeepers are transitioning over to a virtual business model since that allows them to get clients anywhere and serve them no matter where they are. [2:50] The first thing you have to do is have a niche and be able to define your market. Marketing has three important elements: your market, your message, and your medium. Your market will dictate where you go to find your clients. [3:50] Define your market's jobs, pains, and gains. You need to have a deep understanding of your market and what they are trying to avoid, what they want, and what they do. Find out where the industry is hanging out. Facebook groups and pages on that subject with a lot of activity is a good sign. Join those groups and start contributing value to them. [6:30] Marketing is how you put out your message into the market. Sales is where you're one-on-one with someone to sell to them directly. Don't confuse the two. [7:00] Figure out who the associations are that deal with your chosen industry. Determine who has a presence online with a large membership. Another thing that very few bookkeepers take advantage of is trade shows. They are a great place to network and build your business. [8:55] Is there a local association of the big industry, one that you can join and get in front of? Being able to present information to these groups is a powerful way to add value and attract people to your business. [10:15] Don't spend a lot of money on advertising initially until you clearly define your market. You have to come up with a true value proposition of how you help them to achieve gains, how you can help them avoid the pains, and how you take away those jobs that they really don't like doing. Then refine your message by speaking with your clients one on one. [11:50] When you have your market clearly defined, and know your message and your value proposition, that's when you can go to the medium and start running ads. Until you've nailed those things down, don't spend money on advertising. [12:45] Your website should be focused on one thing: getting the visitor to contact you. As you are creating your site, think about what actions you want the visitor to take and give them an easy to follow path towards connecting with you.

Niche marketing is one of the keys to success for 21st century bookkeepers because you have to go deeper with your clients. If you're working with a number of different niches, you won't be able to fully understand your client's businesses or offer them your best service. [1:00] Marketing is about three important elements: your market, your message, and your medium. Most people start with the least important which is the medium. The very first thing you have to do in all of your marketing is to clearly define your market, and that's what your niche is. [1:50] If you already have clients, list them from favorite to least favorite. Take the top 3 clients that you love working with and look for commonalities between them. What attracts you to those clients? Picking a niche doesn't necessarily mean an industry, it can also mean choosing the type of person you want to serve. [4:00] Bookkeeping is first and foremost a relationship business, there is a good chance your relationship with those clients is what puts them at the top of the list. [4:25] Once you find the commonalities and the character attributes that you love, list out the industry your clients are in. Which industry do you have the most clients in? Consider the top industry you serve and see if there is any overlap between that and your top three clients. Ask yourself a few questions: Do you like serving that industry? Do you know a lot about it? Are you passionate about the industry? [7:25] You may also find that the industry that most of your clients are in is something you don't enjoy working with. You need to be passionate about serving an industry for you to make it your niche. 80% of bookkeeping and accounting is the same for every single business. But when it comes to the last 20%, it's all about the niche. [8:20] Most people think they have to find a niche but sometimes the niche finds them. We don't usually find something we are passionate about, we typically find something that we are good at and become a talented craftsperson at it. [9:30] Your medium term goal should be to focus on a niche. If you have clients in other industries already, you can continue to serve them as you bring on new clients from your chosen niche and just let them go gradually until you are only serving your niche clients. [10:25] The more you can systematize your business, the easier your life is going to be. Imagine having one chart of accounts for your clients or being able to get a profitability study that gives you insights into your industry. You'll be able to take the best practices from your niche industry and apply them to your client's businesses. [11:40] If you pick the wrong niche, you can always change it. Hopefully you put in the effort now to figure out the right one, so you can avoid doing that. Revisit this exercise frequently until you find the niche that fits your business best.

Heather has always had a desire to help people and that's reflected in the jobs she's had in her life. Once her daughter was born, Heather decided she wanted to stay home with her. After a few years, she wanted to explore working again. She looked into becoming a financial advisor before finding Bookkeeper Business Launch but once she found Ben she didn't look back. [3:05] Heather currently has four of her own clients plus several others that she subcontracts for. The freedom of being able to choose her own schedule is very important to her as well as genuinely being able to help her clients in their businesses. [3:55] Heather's daughter will be going off to Kindergarten soon which will increase the amount of time she can dedicate to working on her business instead of just in her business. [4:30] The biggest challenge, in the beginning, is just getting clients, and that's what Heather experienced and pushed through but that often leads to getting multiple types of clients and stretching your ability to become an authority. Heather wants to be able to drill down into the specific niche of real estate investors and narrow down the kinds of clients she works for. [6:45] Heather has had other real estate clients that's she's enjoyed working with, plus she also has a desire to learn more about real estate investing with the goal of doing it herself in the future. [8:45] Heather's main challenge is learning where real estate investors congregate, what language they use to describe their work, and how to price her services correctly for their industry. Before getting into a niche it's important to find out more about it, one of the best resources to use is the Bookkeeper Business Launch community and connect with people who already know. [11:30] There is no substitute for experience and getting face to face with people that you want to serve. Networking events are a great place to start, especially in the real estate space. Be clear with your intentions and be honest with them, but don't think you're going to get clients at the event. The focus should be on research and relationships first. [14:25] Industry associations are another good resource to explore. Find their websites and see what they are talking about. Read their content and social media. If the niche has conventions, look at the topics they discuss. If the topic is something that they talk about every year and it's something you can add value to, it may be a good area to explore. Look for authority figures in the space and see what they are putting into the market. [17:30] Investing in a risk management association study for the industry will give you a good idea on financials for the niche as a whole and could be a good starting place to think about pricing. [19:00] What are the books and thought leaders that people in that niche are reading and listening to? Who already has the attention of the people you want to serve? Getting to know them will give you different perspectives on the industry but will also help you plant the seeds for referral marketing. [24:05] The most effective thing you can do is to get in front of potential clients and ask them the right questions. What are the challenges they face? What would they change about their business? What you want to get from the answers is a value proposition, also known as your offer. [25:15] Nobody wants our bookkeeping, they want the result. They don't care what you do or what tools you use, they want a solution to their problem. Everything we do in life is based upon feeling better about ourselves or feeling important. Everything you do for your clients should come back to those basic desires. [27:50] It's a journey, expertise in a niche takes time. When you get your first client, don't worry about the fee. Use them to learn everything you can about that industry. When you're in the books of a client you learn much faster than from the outside. Mentioned in this episode: Triangle Business Solutions

We all face difficult things in our lives, but on the other side of difficulty is usually some victory. For example, getting through the Air Force's basic training and passing the CPA exam. [1:20] It wasn't what I expected, but I persevered, followed the system, did what I was told and pushed through it. When I graduated I was very proud. It was a similar story to passing the CPA exam. [2:15] It doesn't matter where you are in the evolution of your bookkeeping business, there are difficult things that you do not want to do. Usually, on the other side of the struggle that we have to go through is the very thing that we want. [2:45] List out the difficult things in your life as they relate to your business right now. What are the things that you are putting off and avoiding? Then ask yourself what would happen if you did those things. What are the best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios? [4:20] Sometimes we have to trick our minds into looking at the benefit that is going to get us there. We've got to get over our initial reluctance and just go do that thing. [5:05] Some difficult things are things that can't be avoided, but we're talking about the difficult things that we know will move us closer to our goals, if only we could get over our fears. [5:30] Busy work is often stuff we do in order to avoid doing the things that we know we need to do to turn the dial in our business. Two of the most common difficult things that bookkeeping professionals avoid are networking and marketing. [6:35] Feel the fear and do it anyway. Verbalize what you're afraid of and then go do it. Whenever we are trying to do something new, our subconscious is going to try to dissuade us and convince us of the easier and more comfortable path. [7:30] Once you identify the difficult things you are avoiding and list them out, figure out the things that you should be doing. Set yourself up for success by putting them into your schedule and giving someone the responsibility to keep you accountable. [9:00] Take your list of difficult things and start taking action on them. That may mean getting rid of bad clients or letting go of a team member, but you have to keep in mind the benefit on the other side.

Kelly wears a number of different hats. She's a mom of three little boys, a wife to a husband who travels a lot for business, a landlady and real estate investor, on top of her bookkeeping business. [3:30] The real estate side of things were happening before the bookkeeping business came into the picture. Kelly and her husband were both working full time and had a couple of rental properties but having kids really changed things. They made some big moves, sold their properties and that was initially how Kelly found bookkeeping as a viable option. [7:15] Kelly now works from home as a bookkeeper. Her former career was in financial services helping clients invest their money. She enjoyed the numbers aspects of the job and helping people with their money. She stumbled on the idea of bookkeeping after having a chance conversation with her godfather. [8:40] She started out doing everything wrong (in her words) but she figured it out day by day. Kelly thought that there must be other businesses out there that need bookkeeping services, and that's when she found Ben's videos online and joined the course. [9:40] The best part of the bookkeeping business is the flexibility to make her own schedule. Kelly also enjoys working with people and hearing how they built their business, it also helps that she genuinely enjoys doing their books. [11:00] There were challenges at every turn but right now Kelly's biggest challenge is in bringing people into her business and leveraging them to create more time for herself. [12:10] Always start with the vision of where you want to go. Your vision gives you context to make better decisions. It needs to be specific and well defined in order to be useful. [13:00] Kelly has a three-year vision where she wants to grow slowly and bring in some contractors to help her. She has a pretty aggressive income goal of quadrupling her current income, and one of her goals is for her bookkeeping business to help fund her real estate activities. [15:20] One of the things that Kelly always puts off is the manual data entry tasks. This is one task that she be added to Kelly's not-to-do list right away and is a good candidate for a virtual assistant to take on. Make your to-do list every single day and mark the tasks that you just don't want to do, those are your first targets for delegation. [18:15] As you scale your business, the benefit you get is exponential but the downside is also exponential if you don't get it right at the beginning. [19:30] Always ask yourself this question, 'What are my clients paying me for?' Are they paying you to do manual entries? No, that's part of what you do to get what they are paying you for but they aren't paying you for that. They are paying for your smile, for your information, for your reports, and for your interpretation. [20:10] Only do what you can do. Find someone who can follow instructions, document your task, and then give it to them to take care of. [21:00] Start with the smallest and least technical tasks and then increase the workload a bit at a time. Starting small keeps the costs down and reduces the learning curve. When someone does make a mistake, make sure you show them what the error was instead of just fixing it yourself. [24:00] Bookkeeper Elite is a great place to find someone you can add to your team. [25:45] Temper the expectations at the beginning of the relationship. With VA's the time commitment is very flexible, unlike a traditional employee. [27:00] Kelly currently spends around 80 to 100 hours a month working on her business, not counting the random nightly phone calls from clients. [28:45] Work expands to fill the time allotted. Look at your schedule, chances are you can drop 20% of your time just by giving yourself a cap on the time you allow yourself to spend on it. When you are on you are your off time, be careful about letting your work intrude on your personal life. [32:40] Once you've been more efficient with your time, that will lead you to start thinking about who can help you make your time more useful. Mentioned in this episode: Precision Bookkeeping

All the things we do in bookkeeping are generally historical, but where we want to take it is in interpreting the data so that you can actually give your clients advice. [1:55] Before starting with advisory services, you need to be able to produce financial statements in a consistent, timely, and accurate manner. If your client isn't getting you the info you need, that's going to be a problem. A good rule of thumb is to not work with people who drag their feet. [2:50] Financial statements include a balance sheet, an income statement, and a statement of cash flows. [3:30] The second thing you need to have before you start with financial services is an eager client, someone who is interested in improving their business, making more money, and who is willing to pay for the advice. [4:05] If you're making your client money that is true value building, which is something you should be paid for. Getting paid $1200 a month to prepare financial statements is not value-building, that's a fixed price. Make sure you know what you're providing your client. [4:45] You need to have a receptive client that is willing to pay and can provide you the financial statements on time, but you also need to work with businesses that have the ability to pay you. That means 7-figure-plus businesses. Your marketing should be targeting those clients because they are the ones that need your help the most. [5:50] You can price these services in many ways but whatever way you choose, you should not think in terms of how much money you can make. We want to think in terms of how much help or value can we provide to the client. [6:40] You have to separate the preparation of the financial statements from the provision of advisory services. We have our minds in one mode when we are preparing statements and another when we are advising. Don't go straight from preparing the statements into the analysis, do them at separate times. [7:55] Advisory services can take a little bit of brain power to get right. Think about when you are at your best during the day, that's the time you should be setting aside to do those advisory services. This also applies to everything else in your business. [9:35] Advisory services are the key to our future. We are 21st-century bookkeeping professionals and advisory services are going to be crucial to our long term success. This is one of the critical things you can do to differentiate yourself from artificial intelligence and automation.

Erin has had her bookkeeping business for just over a year. She was a stay-at-home mom facing a divorce and needed to figure out something flexible and lucrative. In many ways, bookkeeping seemed too good to be true. [3:00] Erin was formerly a school teacher, so she never had any experience with bookkeeping before getting into the business. After getting into Ben's program, she had an aha moment where it all came together. Bookkeeping is like learning a language; it takes some time and has a bit of a learning curve, but it can be done. [5:45] Erin is currently serving seven clients, with word-of-mouth being the main way she landed each of them. One of the major things she did early on was to get in touch with a local Vermont bookkeeper to vet the course, and that relationship has yielded three clients so far. [6:50] There is a lot of job security for bookkeepers who know what they're doing. [7:15] Erin would love to build a team. She wants to grow her business and build her empire, but she isn't 100% positive on what that ultimate vision looks like yet. Her main question today is knowing how much work to take on at any given time. [9:40] Erin has almost been burned by taking on too much, especially as a single mom. You can only stretch yourself so thin before it becomes a problem. [10:40] Never ever stop marketing. That doesn't have to mean spending money or that you have to take on the clients though. Be selective with the clients you choose continually marketing will take you off the roller coaster. [12:05] Taking on a new client will always involve a learning curve, but that can be minimized by implementing processes and systems. [13:45] Another option to reduce your potential workload is to raise your fees. For Ben, he has a rule of thumb where approximately 25% of prospective clients don't want to work with him because of his fees. If everybody is accepting your price, you can probably raise your fees. [15:45] Erin doesn't even have a website yet. If you are landing clients already, don't worry too much about not having a website until a prospective client turns you down because of it. There are a number of simple options that will get your business online in the course of an afternoon. [17:55] If you're not having people complain about the lifestyle you're leading, you're not growing too fast. If you can't meet deadlines, that means you're probably growing too fast. Unless you have those problems, keep growing. [19:25] Stagger your potential clients and start them at different times. Temper their expectations right at the beginning so that you aren't wasting their time or yours. You can make clients wait if you have to. It lets them know that you are in demand and are upfront with everything. [22:30] Client compliance is a common issue that Erin is facing, especially with onboarding. Start with a specific checklist for the client verifying what you need. You can also schedule a future one-hour call with the client where you can get everything you need all at once. If you don't have everything, you can't start the work. If you make that clear, you will put a fire under them to get what you asked for. [27:00] One of the biggest things that people don't like is the pain involved in switching bookkeepers. If you can make that painless by helping them through the process, you'll have much more success. [27:30] When Ben's doing the marketing, he likes to put them in situations that he's going to be experiencing with them when they are his clients. It's like dating and marriage; the client is probably going to be a bit better during the courting phase so it's good to know what you're getting yourself into. [28:50] You can have the best processes and efficiencies, but if your client is the bottleneck, everything suffers. [29:30] Don't shy from charging a setup fee. Make that part of your engagement letter. If people continue to drag their feet, you can call the whole thing off. This is something about which they have to be serious. [31:15] Don't think in terms of people; think in terms of tasks. Do the task audit and hire a VA who can take those tasks off your plate. Don't go out and hire a bookkeeper right off the bat. [33:10] In many ways, the business is like a puzzle where you are putting the money-making pieces together to make everything easier.

Scope creep is not a good thing and it tends to run rampant in most client relationships. The question is what do we do when a client asks us to do something that we didn't agree to do? [0:45] If you're working with exceptional clients, this shouldn't happen that often, but when it does it's actually a compliment. The client trusts you because you are their trusted advisor. [1:20] Once it gets to the point where they are asking you consistently to do extra work, you have to bring awareness to the out-of-scope nature of the work. We want to let them know because 90% of the time, as long as you are working with quality people, they just don't realize the issue. [2:05] At a certain point you will get frustrated with the extra requests so before that happens, make the client aware that you are happy to include the work but you need to revisit your agreement. [3:05] You should also send them an invoice for the task that you completed with the price for what it would have cost, but you should also give them a courtesy discount. You're putting the fact into context that the requested work is outside the scope of the original engagement. [4:00] It's about open communication between you and your client, and so you're not a doormat that's being taken advantage of. If they are trying to pull one over on you and don't want to pay for the work, then that's a clown, not a client. [4:25] Scope creep comes full circle with marketing in that the right marketing will filter out the clowns that you don't want to work with. [4:40] These are awkward conversations to have with a client but when you don't communicate, that's when you start to struggle. Not getting it out in the open will only lead to resentment. [5:15] Don't work with people that do not respect you. Bookkeeping is first and foremost a relationship business and in a healthy relationship there is respect. You need to be excited to serve them and they need to be excited about having you work with them. [6:00] We want to help our clients, but we also want to make sure we're being paid for our work.

David started out like most entrepreneurs, looking for painful problems to solve. He worked as a freelance marketer and saw a lot of accounting firms struggle with various aspects of their business including project management. [3:45] He realized there was a gap in the market because if you're a firm owner with a number of clients to manage, the average project management tool is not client centric at all. Sales tools are built for handling a pipeline, not for dealing with tasks. A conversation with one of his first customers lead to the genesis of Jet Pack. [5:40] Creating a solution and then searching for a problem is a recipe for bankruptcy. David is trying to instill that idea culturally into his business and is always trying to identify the pain that they are working to solve first. [6:25] By interviewing people in a specific niche and trying to solve their problems, you begin to learn the language of the industry and really understand the challenges they face. If you're in the world of business, do more interviews and listen to them. [8:45] The bad news is that there are many challenges, the good news is they are common challenges to the business. The big shift happens when you go from an owner that does everything to being able to articulate the right process for your team to follow. The most successful firm owners begin to think of their business as a product and understand that the quality of their product is determined by their workflow. [12:10] When something goes wrong, always go back to the workflow that lead to that result. The SAT framework (Standardize, Automate, Track) comes into play when you're hiring and scaling clients. If you don't know where to start, begin with the tasks that have the biggest revenue impact or take up the most time. If you can't get the process out of your head, have an assistant interview you. [14:50] None of us want to be micromanagers. If you can't step away from your business without having a panic attack, it probably means you don't have the right set of tools to give you the visibility to feel comfortable about the progress of the firm. [16:50] Every business has three systems: the deliverable, the marketing, and operations. Within each system there are processes that instrumental to the successful function. Simplicity is key in your checklists. [19:20] Whatever muscles you build today are going to be the muscles that you're using when you hire somebody. If you start building up the discipline of documenting your processes today, you will have those muscles in place when you need them. Anything you ignore in your business accrues, at some point you will have to deal with it. When you start learning you will discover patterns that will make it easier. [25:00] If you are already using a task management tool and it's working well, keep using it until the cracks start to show. [26:30] The more you can systematize your business, the more valuable it is. Nobody wants to buy a business that is basically buying a job. The more days of vacation the owner can take the higher the potential value of the firm, it indicates that there are processes and systems in place, and those are key to living a lifestyle you enjoy. [30:30] Planning your month in advance is one of the most freeing things you can do because you can see where you are each week and if you're reaching your goals. We're always a work in progress, you always have to reevaluate the structure of your workflow and integrate what you've learned. If you're not seeing the information in front of you it's impossible to improve it. [34:15] You don't have to bring all the business improvements to the table, you should rely on your team to bring ideas on how to make things better. Don't be afraid to ask your clients how you can serve them better. There are innovations in the minds of your clients as much as there are in your team. [37:50] More often than not, the insights are sitting outside of you in the connections and people you know and work with. [38:40] The Net Promoter Score is a simple system for pulling insights out of your clients. You will get a lot of feedback from your clients using that tool that you may never hear otherwise. It's amazing when you listen to your people and what they will tell you. Insights from the Net Promoter Score will uncover the client experience so you can deliver a great workflow. [43:20] Create a guarantee that will hold you to being able to deliver on the goods. The industry is moving incredibly fast so if you don't stand out from the pack you will fade into obscurity. A guarantee will highlight your marketing and force you to sharpen your workflow. Mentioned in this episode: Growing Your Firm podcastDouble Your Accounting Firm by David CristelloJetpack Workflow