I Love Bookkeeping

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

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     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Randy started her bookkeeping business after the age of 50. She had been working in a dance studio for over ten years until things went awry, and she felt that if there was no security in the traditional job market anymore she might as well do things her own way. [3:25] Freedom means being able to go out for lunch with her son completely unplanned, without having to run it by a boss first. [4:25] Randy is currently working with attorneys and has between 15 and 20 clients, depending on how you count. Trust accounts are the number one reason that attorneys are disbarred so Randy feels like she is doing the most good she could do. [6:10] Randy is a big fan of Bookkeeper Business Launch. It gave her the security to know she wasn’t alone and didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Being an entrepreneur is a rollercoaster and this really helps limit the lows. [7:50] Overwhelm is a very prevalent feeling in Randy’s life with her business. She feels like she has so much to do and never enough time to do it. Her vision for the business has changed from what it started out as, but now she has client work that takes up the majority of her time. [10:30] Productivity is not about doing more in less time, it’s about doing less in less time. [11:10] Randy’s unique abilities have to do with client relationships which gives her business a lot of security. [12:30] If you’re feeling overwhelmed, the first thing to do is to find one hour a week that will allow you to start taking back your time. Overcoming overwhelm is about intentionally setting aside time for the important things. The first thing to do is create your “do not do list” and keep it in front of you all the time. What of those tasks are the easiest that you can hand off? [15:30] To hand off a task to a VA, have the person watch you do it via screen share so they can see the work as it happens. Record the video and then use it as a reference for later on. [18:30] Work expands to fill the allotted time. You have to be aware of how much time you allot to certain tasks and ask yourself what your 80/20 activities are. You want to eventually give yourself fewer activities and less time to do them in so you maximize efficiency. [22:25] The longer you are on your entrepreneurial journey, the more you realize that there are only a couple of things that you are really good at. [23:35] Randy’s business has been life changing for her. She realized that she would have to go out and meet people, and every day she is doing something outside of her comfort zone. The small amount of discomfort is outweighed by all the benefits that come with it. [26:15] Quick recap on the lessons learned today. Do less in less time, take the time to celebrate how far you’ve come, and take things one hour at a time. [28:05] A common objection is that we can’t afford the time to offboard a task to someone new, but the truth is you can’t afford not to. [29:20] The difference between being excellent and your Unique Ability is that your Unique Ability is something that charges you up and could do all day. Everything else is something that you should give to somebody else. [30:30] There is always another challenge to overcome, and there will always be people who want to take your time, but you have to keep pushing and refining. It’s about being effective and not just efficient. Before you do things well, you need to know what things you need to be doing in the first place.   Mentioned in this episode: Ballen Bookkeeping     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Once you’ve documented your processes and created the checklists, you need to put yourself into a different frame of mind and ask “how do I improve on these?” [0:55] One of the biggest traps that people fall into is documenting their processes while trying to improve them at the same time, which is a recipe for disaster. You have to clearly distinguish between documenting your processes and working to make them better. [2:00] Just like advisory services, you need to set aside time when you have the highest level of energy and bandwidth to work on your processes. Go back to your video recording and watch yourself do the task and start looking for the cracks. [3:05] You can’t do this right after you record the process because you need to have as fresh a set of eyes as you can manage. Ask yourself if there is a piece of technology that you can use to make the task more efficient. [3:50] It’s important to remember it’s not all about technology and apps, it’s about the process. Apps and technology will come and go but the process will still remain essentially the same. [4:25] The second place to look at is where the bottlenecks within your process are. If you’re working with other people, this is easy to identify. If you have to continually give review notes to the person you’re working with, you probably have a process problem, not a people problem. [5:20] The main questions you should be asking yourself when improving processes are “how can I do this better?”, “how can I do this quicker?”, and “how can I be more efficient?”. [5:40] The most powerful way to improve is to ask someone who is five steps ahead of you outside of your organization to review your process. [6:50] You need to have a process control document in place because improvement is not a one and done activity. You should look at the critical processes that really turn the dial in your business every 90 days. [7:50] Give your team the responsibility to question how they do things and give them permission to suggest improvements on how things get done.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

One of the most common questions that Ben gets is around documenting processes because they are often all over the place. [0:35] The first thing to do is to distinguish between process documentation and process improvement. Whether or not you have your processes written down, you will have processes in place on how you do things. [1:00] The reason you want to document your processes is to do more with less time and improve the quality of the services that you offer your clients. It also opens up the opportunity to offer additional services because of the increased efficiency. [1:35] Even if it’s just you in your business, it’s still important to document your processes, but once you bring on other people, it becomes crucial. [2:10] The first step to documentation is to list out all your processes in your business. For every deliverable in your business, there is a process. Once you’ve listed out the meta-processes, you can break them down further into tasks. [3:05] The next step is to take one of those tasks and actually do it. Go through the physical steps of the task while using a screen capture software to record exactly what you’re doing. [4:30] While working through the task and recording it, you should be narrating what you’re doing at the same time, preferably in a way that a sixteen year old could come into your business and do the task the same way that you are. [5:20] Once you complete the recording, you get a video file that you can use to create your process. Take the audio and get it transcribed by a service like Rev.com and then edit the transcription down to the key elements. [6:30] Once you’ve done that, you have a video that shows you how to do the process as well as a Word document that allows you to read how to do it. Once you have those, you can turn the document into a checklist. [7:05] The checklist has to pass the Cessna 172 test and fit entirely on one side of a folded piece of paper. The checklist should only address the big things involved in a task, the stuff that absolutely has to be done in a process. There should be no more than 5 items on any given checklist. [8:10] Improving your processes is a different process altogether. Start with the simpler tasks on your list and then work your way up. Just by working your way through the documentation process, you will reap tremendous benefits in your business. [9:10] List your processes and start documenting one. Don’t worry about the quality of the recording or how you sound. The point is to get started.     Mentioned in this episode: Rev.comSnagit     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Jessie has a background in education and actually worked as a history teacher. One day in her third year, she wanted to teach some new classes and was given a flat refusal from her boss. At that point, she realized her days as a teacher were numbered. She stumbled upon Bookkeeper Business Launch on the Penny Hoarder and it seemed like a good fit. She enrolled in the course in August, launched her business in October and got her first client in November. [5:25] Before jumping into bookkeeping, Jessie was considering other jobs including different teaching positions. Once she learned what bookkeeping really is, it checked all her boxes. Going through the modules in the course was challenging initially but she benefited a lot by discussing the contents in the modules with her husband. [8:00] Jessie’s first client was a startup that just needed some help with their setup. She was close enough to actually meet in person so she drove to her place to do some training with her before landing her as a client. She now has 15 monthly clients with a few others who require different services. [10:00] The first client and the majority of the subsequent clients were mainly found through LinkedIn. Building relationships with a couple local CPAs has also been helpful by referring clients and offering help. You never really know where the most valuable relationships will come from. [12:45] The business of bookkeeping can become a monster if you let it, so Jessie books time every day to make sure that she has time to herself. Even with that challenge, Jessie considers herself completely unemployable at this point. [14:20] There were three major struggles that could have ended Jessie’s business. One of her lowest points involved getting fired by her second client. There are many reasons to quit a business but you have to remember why you started it in the first place. [16:25] In terms of vision, Jessie would like to move into more of a manager role. She would like to be able to work more with the clients and help them grow. [19:00] Jessie loves working with startups but it can be difficult because they have so much on their plate. It’s a challenge to know what to charge and get their attention because they tend to be overwhelmed. It’s a lot easier to help a business grow in the beginning than it is to jump into a big business that has never done their books at all. [20:50] It’s very important to work with the right kind of startups. The ones with no money and no direction can be a major headache. The best kind of startup with whom to work are the ones with funding. If they don’t have money because they’re bootstrapping, it's probably going to be an issue. Vet and qualify your potential clients on the front end based on their capital structure and business model. [25:25] Most of Jessie’s clients reach out to her within their first two years of business and the majority of them don’t really do much beyond a box of receipts in terms of bookkeeping. The optimal time is probably around the one-year point. That’s when it will be obvious if the business model is sustainable. [28:00] Jessie’s niche is health and fitness but it really comes down to the personality of the entrepreneur that she’s looking. It’s important to write down the specific attributes of your ideal client and what motivates them. Start with your favorite clients and what they have in common. [31:20] Based on your avatar of your ideal client, think about who already has their attention. For Jessie that means CPAs and people in the banking industry. That can also mean attorneys, podcasters and authors as well. Those are the people with whom you want to establish relationships. It doesn’t take too many of those to start getting clients. Keep in mind that the best way to get a referral is to give a referral. [35:30] You should try to get in the frame of mind of the referral partner and what they need from the relationship. [36:40] Jessie could also get a list of recently established business owners and create a piece of content to serve their needs then put that in front of them. [38:10] Jessie should strive to be known as the Startup Bookkeeper. It won’t be a rapid process. but by creating content that actually helps her avatar achieve what they are trying to accomplish, she can become a trusted authority. Most of the people with whom you get connected will never pan out, but the ones that do work with you will pay off. [40:20] Startups have a particular set of challenges. By creating a lot of content and doing the work upfront, Jessie can create a tribe that will be much more inclined to become her clients when the time comes.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Brooke started off in the industry as an account manager with a construction company, until one day she got fired which was a first for her. Brooke was a day trader for a few years after that but once that became stale, she started looking for other opportunities. She had always wanted to start a business and after doing some searching, she found Bookkeeper Business Launch and decided it was the right fit. [4:10] Brooke’s business is now one year in and she serves a number of clients, some of them are other Bookkeeper Business Launch members. [5:50] Brooke really enjoys bookkeeping so she’d be happy to just do it all for a while, but she knows that eventually if the business keeps growing, she’ll hit a wall. Training a team to take some of the work off her hands is probably going to be in her future. [7:00] In terms of income, Brooke is still trying to boost revenue but she’s specifically focused on increasing her average client billings first. [8:10] Higher-end, service-based businesses are the niche in which Brooke focuses. Working with motivated business owners is one of the best parts of working with her clients. [10:00] Freedom is definitely Brooke’s favorite thing about the bookkeeping business and being able to shape her work around her lifestyle. At this point, she can’t imagine working for someone else, which is a very different perspective from what she had when she was younger. [11:55] Not knowing what you don’t know has been one of Brooke’s biggest challenges with growing the business. Being able to reach out to the Bookkeeper Business Launch group has been extremely helpful in understanding what to do next. [14:00] Brooke really likes cleanups while at the same time kind of hates them because of how crazy they can be, but once the books are reconciled and everything balances, it’s very satisfying. [15:30] In terms of activities that Brooke avoids, it’s more the business-owner stuff that gets pushed off, partly due to uncertainty and partly due to a general dislike. [17:10] By this time next year, Brooke is hoping to double her clients and hire two other bookkeepers and outsource the work to them. She wants to have the right pieces in the right places before she starts to scale. [20:15] Brooke’s struggle is whether or not to hire someone to run her business for her or should she hire bookkeepers so that she can step into the business owner’s shoes. In every business, there are only three parts: marketing, administration and operations. Whenever you bring someone on, they should complement your weaknesses. [21:50] One of the things that distinguishes business owners is our ability to market and get clients. When you’re getting started, you shouldn’t outsource your marketing because no one will have the same vested interest in your business as you do. [23:10] Finding the time to work on her business has always been difficult due to Brooke’s workload. Ben recommends booking four, one-hour sessions into your calendar next week where all you do is plan your business; preferably at a time when you are at your sharpest. [27:30] You may have to retrain your brain into being able to work on the high-level activities that move the needle. Sometimes the easy things we love to do are the ones that get in our way. [28:25] Do a task audit and list every single activity you do in your business and then assign a dollar amount to each one. The point is to not get bogged down doing the low-dollar work and focus on the activities at the top of the list. Once you’ve got your list, look through all the tasks and try to identify your unique abilities; the things that you love to do and could do all day. Everything else are tasks that you should be looking to eventually get off your plate. [30:55] Acknowledge what you have done to get to where you are. This helps build your confidence and to be grateful for what you have. [34:40] Make your business building work environment a special place that is physically separate from where you do your usual work. Take your vision for your business and then figure out how to connect where you are to where you want to go. [37:00] Brooke is the one running the show in her business. If she wants to do the bookkeeping, then that’s what she can do. She gets to decide what her business looks like. [38:15] The lowest-level activity on your task audit is a prime candidate for outsourcing to a VA. The best time to document your procedures is right before you hand it off to someone else. [40:30] One of the biggest mistakes that new business owners make is to hire someone and then throw some clients in their lap. Always start with a task and then once they have that down, you can start giving them more work. [41:20] Brooke’s action items include booking the business building hours into her calendar and to complete her task audit. One of Ben’s tips with regards to to-do lists is to put an “I” or an “O” next to each item: “I” for “in the business” and “O” for “on the business.” This will give you some perspective on where you are actually spending your time.   Mentioned in this episode: Clarity Bookkeeping     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Dave and his wife have been working together for a long time. She took on the bookkeeping side of things, while Dave had been running his pharmacy. After selling off the business and traveling for a while, they got into real estate investing and eventually started looking at bookkeeping itself as a business. [4:30] Dave knew what his niche was going to be even before signing up for Bookkeeper Business Launch. As real estate investors themselves, they understand their needs and pain points, and currently work with 22 real estate investing clients. [6:15] There was no secret to Dave’s success. They found their first client on LinkedIn and after working with them for a few months, that client referred another one. Since then, they have referred at least seven other clients as well. [7:20] Dave eventually migrated away from LinkedIn to Facebook and is a member of a number of real estate investing groups where they post semi-regularly. Dave also managed to get onto his real estate mentor’s podcast and that has resulted in a number of other investors reaching out to them. [9:40] Dave doesn’t pay for any marketing or advertising. They simply make themselves available on Facebook groups and respond to inbound inquiries. Dave has a one page website that is focused on one thing, to get someone to book a call. [13:15] In terms of work hours between Dave and his wife, they probably work an average of 50 hours a week. Their goal is to maximize their income over the next 8 or 10 years, and they want to keep most of the business in-house. [15:50] It’s important to manage your clients’ expectations. Rarely is anything in the business truly urgent, so it’s not necessary to be taking phone calls at 9 pm. [17:10] As Dave and his wife started figuring things out and writing their processes down, they realized that they did things differently depending on the client. They have started documenting everything, and are in the process of turning processes into concrete procedures. [19:20] Processes allow them to get the most amount of work done in the least amount of time. It also allows their service to be uniform across their clients. Another big tip is realizing that niching down allows you to become much more efficient. [23:30] The struggle is mainly taking time out of the day to actually create the document itself while doing the tasks. At the same time, how they do things is still evolving and you can’t document a procedure until you’ve figured out what the procedure is. Dave has started recording some smaller tasks to begin the process. [26:30] Start with the low hanging fruit, and document the simplest and easiest processes that can be outsourced to a virtual assistant. Each task may only take you a couple of minutes to do, but they add up to hours over the course of the month. [28:45] Dave has a checklist for his onboarding that he follows every single time. Since Dave only onboards a couple of clients a month, he still uses the checklist even though that’s one of his main focuses in the business. [30:20] Mundane and repetitive tasks are the first ones you should hand over to a virtual assistant. Just by documenting your procedures and systematizing your business, you will reduce the amount of time you need to complete tasks by 20%. [31:30] Document your processes as they are, not as they should be. Once you’ve done that, then you can start to improve them. It’s important to have a separate space to work from when you are working on your business. [34:10] Once a client gets into maintenance mode, the amount of time it takes each month to service them gets really low. The majority of the time spent in the business is on cleaning up new client’s books and getting things in line. Getting the documentation from a new client is one of the best examples of a task that can be turned into a process and outsourced. Break down each major activity into smaller, more discrete tasks. [39:50] Don’t let perfection be the enemy of getting started and getting things done. Document collection is the area of Dave’s business that he’s going to focus on first. [41:10] Sometimes it only takes a single nugget of wisdom from something to change everything about your business. Always take notes and write down action items when learning new things, and then actually execute on them as soon as you have the chance. [43:30] The business model of bookkeeping is spectacular. Dave’s first rule of business is to get paid before you do any work, and once that’s done, overdeliver on the results.   Mentioned in this episode: REI Bookkeepers     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Kevin has been hustling his entire life. Multiple streams of revenue have always been a focus for him and that has manifested into multiple businesses during his adult life. [6:00] Math had always been a favorite subject for Kevin, and he worked with his father in an accounting role during high school and college, but eventually wanted to do something different. He decided on teaching as a profession and did that for a few years while growing his side businesses at the same time. Bookkeeping was a natural fit as an additional source of revenue, so Kevin started looking for clients and now it’s his full-time gig. [10:40] Kevin discovered Bookkeeper Business Launch through a simple Google search and enrolled while still working full time. In the interim time since starting the course, Kevin has picked up 26 clients, some of which have multiple entities. [15:30] Kevin attributes his success to his hustler mentality, but he also believes that anyone that is looking for an additional source of income or a new career could be a good fit for Bookkeeper Business Launch. [17:05] Kevin’s goal is to find someone to work for him that can take some of the tasks off his hands so that he can focus on growing the business. The trouble is that each client seems to do things a little bit differently which can make it difficult to establish a process that someone else can take care of. [20:15] Kevin currently does not have a niche, which is one of the reasons he’s experiencing challenges. Niching down streamlines things when trying to establish processes since the clients are somewhat the same, but Kevin doesn’t plan on niching down at this time. [22:25] We always think people are our answer to feeling overwhelmed with work, but it really starts with processes. Start with the tasks that are pretty much always the same no matter the client and begin documenting those. They are the low hanging fruit for creating processes. [25:20] There will always be unique aspects to every client, but ideally that should only comprise a maximum of 20% of the total work. You have to identify the processes that are common among all clients and start with the easiest. They may only take a few minutes to do but over the course of a month and multiple clients it can add up to hours. [27:20] Once you complete the task audit, rank them in order of easiest to most difficult. Once you identify the activity that’s common to all clients ask yourself whether you can stop doing it, whether it can be improved, whether it can be automated, or if it can be outsourced. [29:30] Virtual assistants are the next step. Take one of those tasks and send them to your VA first, then once they’ve mastered that, go down the list and keep giving them more tasks to do. [31:20] To document your tasks, get a screen recording software and record and narrate yourself doing the task. Send the video file to Rev.com to get it transcribed. Now, you have multiple formats for someone to understand exactly what they need to do for a given task. [34:50] Don’t record your tasks as you want them to be, record them as they are. As you become more familiar with the tasks and get in the groove of someone else doing them, you can start to look at ways of improving those processes. [36:30] For unique clients, just refer to a client-specific process in the task. Unless those clients are large, the extra processes should be very small. The bulk of the training should be in the common processes among all clients. [40:00] Kevin’s first goal is to go through his clients’ common tasks and start making the recordings for them after figuring out the tasks that are the easiest to outsource. He’s also going to go through Outstanding Processes and Procedures to get a head start.   Mentioned in this episode: Books by Schmidt     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Kevin started off in the IT world and he quickly got pretty tired of getting yelled at all the time. One of his friends started a business, and Kevin started doing the IT stuff for it, which eventually developed into business management. After that Kevin went back and got his MBA, graduated in 2016, and along the way, dabbled in real estate. The real estate led him in a roundabout way to doing a few bookkeeping jobs via Upwork, and finding Ben’s Bookkeeper Business Launch course. [8:20] In addition to bookkeeping, Kevin’s business offers clients office set up and business analysis, and process development services. Bookkeeping can be a great entry point to offer additional services. [9:25] Even if a business owner has someone doing their books they are often a mess, even CPA’s can drop the ball when it comes to bookkeeping. [11:20] Kevin’s favorite part of the business is the freedom and autonomy involved. He can basically work from anywhere as long as he has a wifi connection. The most frustrating part about having a business is that there are so many things to do, and it feels like there is not enough time to do it all. [13:40] Kevin tries to focus on things that yield an instant result, and things that will grow the business instead of just getting tasks checked off the list. [15:15] Kevin currently has 21 official clients, with two more onboarding in the near future, plus nine of his own with his other business. [16:10] If you’re considering bookkeeping as a lifestyle for you, you have to ask yourself if you are self sufficient enough to put in the hours to make it work. [17:40] In terms of vision, Kevin wants to have a sellable business in the next five to seven years. When you build a business to be sold, you create a lot of sanity for yourself by necessity and conscious design. The desired outcome is essentially a profitability goal, which Kevin can then work back from to figure out what the business needs to be to reach that goal. [21:50] When thinking about your vision, imagine what you want your day to day life to look like. You want your business to support the lifestyle you want to lead, and the reason you should start with your vision is that cold numbers are not going to motivate you and get you through the tough times. It’s also important to make sure your spouse understands your vision for your business, and is on board with what it will take to get there. [28:45] Start with your why, write it down, and keep it in front of you. It will keep everything in focus and reinforce why you are working towards your goals. Coming up with a vivid vision gives you and your team guidelines and helps them to buy in. It also helps you figure out if something or someone is a fit for your business. Share it with everyone you work with. [32:15] Get granular with your vision in a way that resonates with your life directly. Our brain has a hard time latching onto abstract concepts, but it can latch onto the desire to take a trip across the country. [33:10] Kevin has nailed his niche, but he’s got a second one in his back pocket, in case he needs to find some new clients. He’s also refocused the business into primarily a bookkeeping and accounting style company that offers a few additional services. [34:25] Everybody needs help with bookkeeping, they just have to get to the point in their business where they realize it. Our challenge as bookkeepers is to change that mindset and help people move closer to that realization. [34:55] Ben encourages people to acknowledge what they have achieved, and recognize their accomplishments. [36:05] Your vision has to be as specific as it needs to be for it to get you there. Keep describing until it hooks you. [37:05] The biggest win for Kevin in finding the group is joining a network of bookkeepers. Having the ability to chat with like minded individuals has been a game changer.   Mentioned in this episode: Centrosome Inc.     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com

Prior to bookkeeping, Annette was a dental hygienist for 35 years. Her life was very structured, and every minute of her time was accounted for. Her journey into bookkeeping was pretty tumultuous. After her husband suddenly died, at the age of 56, she took over his business and realized that the books were a mess. In the process of trying to figure everything out, she saw Ben’s ad for bookkeeping, and it seemed like a way to kill two birds with one stone. [5:35] Eventually, the chemicals in the office took their toll on Annette, and her doctor basically told her that she couldn’t work anymore. At that point, Annette was working with two bookkeeping clients. She decided to make it her full-time business and to dive right in. She now has 11 clients and serves dentists, exclusively. [8:00] Don’t compare your daily life to someone’s highlight reel. Everyone on the podcast has their own problems to deal with. [9:40] When you first start your bookkeeping journey, it’s like going into a foreign country without knowing the language. It takes some time to learn and be able to talk intelligently about what you do, but you can get there. [11:50] Realize that the power is in your hands, once finances are not the main drive to grow your business. It will come through in your marketing and messaging, when you aren’t driven by fear and scarcity. [13:20] Annette’s goal is to have 20 to 30 clients and, eventually, to get rid of the more tedious tasks involved in the business. Ben recommends flipping the thought process. She doesn’t want 30 clients. Annette wants what 30 clients will do for her and her business. Get crystal clear about the lifestyle you want, and then figure out what your business has to look like to facilitate that vision. [17:30] Going through programs is the easiest way to hack the learning process. You can spend a lot of time figuring things out on your own, or you can pay someone a comparatively small amount of money and learn it now. [21:20] Annette’s main challenge, right now, is a lack of self-confidence. Conveying her value in her marketing is difficult because she feels like she’s still missing something. She spent a good amount of money trying things that you really shouldn’t do. [24:30] Putting out blog posts on LinkedIn has been one way of generating leads, but the response has been erratic. Also, it really depends on the subject. She’s currently having four to six conversations a month with potential clients. [27:15] There are two cardinal rules in business. You should never stop marketing, and you should always be looking for good people. [28:15] Realizing that you don’t need to land a client will really minimize the desperation that can come across when talking with a lead. Starting out with questions about their business and how they do things is a good way to convey what you can do for a client. Lead with the reasons they started their business and what they are trying to achieve because no one has ever asked them these questions. Getting them to talk openly about the business will set you up as the authority. [33:10] Don’t start with bookkeeping questions because if they don’t know the answer, they will just feel stupid, and that will derail the conversation. Lead them to the discovery of how they can achieve their vision by getting in charge of the finances. [35:10] Your clients have to be able to make good decisions. How can they make good decisions about their finances, when their financial picture isn’t accurate and they are getting the numbers three months late? You want them to have the realization, on their own, about what they need, instead of you pushing something on them. [37:20] The consultative close is where you prove what you can do by helping the client in advance. Show them what they need to do to achieve their vision, and then offer to help them, if they want. Don’t be afraid of revealing your “secrets.” They don’t have the time or inclination to do this themselves, and it shows that you can actually help them. [42:20] Give your clients the plan in a variety of mediums. If the client is worth the effort, demonstrate your value, and leave them in a better place. [43:35] Bonus tips: Record your consultation (after getting the client’s approval), and then listen to the recording afterwards. Listen to yourself, and assess how confident you were and what you can improve on. Name your plan that you’re providing them, and make it something proprietary. Also, talk about minimums, in terms of price, so you can at least eliminate the people that are doing price comparisons. [45:45] For action items, Annette is going to rework her presentation and incorporate the ideas talked about in this podcast. She is also going to focus on building her confidence around what she can deliver to clients.   Mentioned in this episode: Bookkeeping Aesthetics     Contact us about the show: hello@ilovebookkeeping.com