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 [6:05] The urgency of tax day has been replaced by the urgency of getting your books in order to secure a loan.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.

I Love Bookkeeping

What Corona Means to Bookkeepers and How to Profit From It with Paul Colligan

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 overdeliver.   Mentioned in this Episode: Home Time Bookkeeping

Your Vision for the Future with Kim Erick - Encore Presentation

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 that you love to work with, then reverse engineer what it is about them that you like working with. Write them down and use those traits to figure out who your ideal client is. When you look at new clients ask yourself how alike they are. [47:05] Try to niche from day one if you can. If you’ve established your business, you will have to go a bit slower and more methodically. [49:05] The bookkeeping world has changed over the past ten years. It’s no longer about the individual transactions as much as it is about the results you can bring to your clients. [52:15] The biggest takeaway for Melissa is to find the shared traits that her best clients have and use them to find more clients just like them. She’s also going to use that info to either change how she deals with her existing clients or filter through new ones. [53:20] For years the bookkeeping industry has been a replacement offer, but those days are gone. Now it’s a new offer, somebody who can interpret the numbers and advise their clients. Adding more value to the clients we serve will insulate us to the changing technological landscape.   Mentioned in this Episode: Busy Bee Advisors

How to Differentiate Yourself from the Competition with Melissa Broughton - Encore Presentation

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

Team and Execution with Jaime Rodriguez - Encore Presentation

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, How and Who to Hire with Tracy Thomas - Encore Presentation

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

Processes for Sanity with Justin Boynton - Encore Presentation

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

How to Get Away from the Day-to-Day with Amy McLaughry - Encore Presentation

Relay Financial offers a number of creative solutions to bookkeeping professionals. Yoseph previously worked at a company called Top Dog 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

Relay Financial with Yoseph West

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

Balancing Life with Work with Alyssa Lang

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

Focus on What's Important with Tracy Rosenberry - Encore Presentation

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

How to Pick Your Niche with Kirstin Reeder - Encore Presentation

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/

Prospecting for Quality Clients with Ben Day - Encore Presentation

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

How to Build a Team Culture with Shelby Pitzel

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 team members.     Mentioned in this episode: Tidy Books

Your Biggest Payday Ever: Selling Your Bookkeeping Biz with Tanya Hirschy

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.

Reflection: Beach Series 3

I Love Bookkeeping is a global community of Bookkeeping Professionals. We all bleed bookkeeping and want to grow and prosper our businesses. This podcast is for Bookkeeping Professionals who serve clients, and it's for the woman or man who aspires to join our great industry. Join Ben Robinson every Tuesday to geek out on Bookkeeping.

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