11 Things I Did Right While Building My Bookkeeping Business

11 Things I Did Right

1. I Had the Skill

This seems like a no-brainer, but I knew I had solid bookkeeping skills BEFORE I tried to start my business. I didn’t take a “fake it til you make it” approach.

2. I Had a Clear Vision

I was clear on what I was building this business for. This also seems more obvious than it is, but so many people are focusing on money first that they're not focusing on the outcome that they need in their life.

When I thought about what I wanted my business to do, I wanted it to solidify what I already had, but to make it feel safe.

I wanted to wake up without an alarm clock. I wanted to be there with my kids. I wanted to go to parks and school events and all the things without having to miss for work. And that understanding that the business was supposed to support my motherhood made me very intentional about getting structures, systems, and boundaries put in place to make that possible.

3. Systems, Systems, Systems

Speaking of systems, it was huge that I set up systems early, early on. Systems were necessary for me to make sure I wasn't spinning my wheels and wasting time on a lot of things that could be automated.

Systems will truly save you. Not just in the beginning, but doubly so as your business grows.

4. Setting Specific Goals

The fourth thing I did right? I set a very specific goal.

When I first decided that I was going to grow this bookkeeping business, I broke down the money that I wanted per month. I broke it down into what I thought I could charge a client. I figured out how many clients I would need, and then I brainstormed ways of getting that many clients. How many did I need to sign per month? How do I get myself in front of that many people?

All of that made it easier to narrow down the steps to achieving my goals. Otherwise, I would have been throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck. I wouldn’t have had any idea of what I needed to do, because I would’ve had no idea what I was pursuing in the first place.

5. I Considered My Desired Clientele

Fifthly, I considered who I wanted to work with—not just how many clients I needed, but what kind of clients I wanted them to be. Not just what kind of people, but what kind of businesses or industries I wanted to serve.

Personally, I tend to like a solo owner. I tend to like someone who feels like this is messy, somebody that feels very overwhelmed by this, because I love being able to take it and simplify it and help them. It’s so rewarding to know you’re making a difference that way.

6. I Lead With Education

I think that this is good across the board, but it especially works well with my desire to help people who are overwhelmed and haven't tackled it yet: I led my marketing efforts with educational content.

I actually just put out a call to gardening businesses this past week to educate them on some bookkeeping things they should know.

These are not accountants. A lot of them have no bookkeeping software or even a system in place. They're just making money and spending money, which so many businesses do.

I went in and was able to talk to them about the things that they should know, how to make it simple, and why it's important, and I'm still getting feedback about how life-changing that was for them.

That educational content immediately turned into template sales. And I know I'm going to get a client from that, either from the group itself or from them referring, because that's what happens when you take a complicated thing and you boil it down for someone.

It feels so good to actually help effect change. But it’s also a really, really, really good marketing strategy.

7. I Extrapolated My Reach

I knew if I wanted to convert five clients, I wasn’t just going to talk to five people and turn them all into clients. I had to talk to more.

I learned somewhere along the way that a normal conversion rate is 3%. So in my head I knew, “Well, if I need to convert five clients, I need to talk to 150 people. So how do I get in front of 150 people?”

And while I was at it, I thought, “Well, if I need to talk to 150 people, why not figure out how to reach even more? Let’s take this message as far as it can go.”

Having a healthy understanding that you're not going to convert 100% of the people you talk to allows you to accept that and detach from the outcome so much better. And you’ll be a much calmer salesperson if you’re not feeling that kind of pressure.

8. Plan in Pessimism, Act in Optimism

While I always planned somewhat pessimistically in terms of expecting not to convert most people into clients, I always acted in delusional optimism.

If you can tap into the idea of, “How can this go right?” instead of “How can this go wrong?” you’ll be better off for it.

If you’re struggling with negative thoughts and fears, I want you to pause. Ask yourself how long you’ve been spiraling in negativity. Once you have that number, picture a timer (or literally set one, if it helps) and spend that much time thinking about all the ways things could go right instead.

Act in optimism. Because when you start thinking what you’re doing is going to work, it makes doing all of this so much more fun.

9. Maximize Effort

I constantly asked myself how I could maximize my efforts.

That sounds a little like extrapolating, but it's not. It's more like, “If I'm going to do this thing, how can I take what I just did and make it work in another area?”

For example, if I just did a training, how can I take the concepts of that training and put it on a blog? How can I take the concepts of that training and work it into an email nurture sequence? How can I take what I just created and maximize it to its full potential?

10. I Focused on Excellence

Tenth, I focused on doing excellent work.

Once I get the clients in the door, I am by no means done with them. My clients are still top priority. They come before anything else. When it comes to stabilizing and securing my bookkeeping business, doing the right thing by our clients is my number one priority.

I don't coach until my bookkeeping clients are taken care of. I take breaks from the podcast if I need to, because coaching only works if the bookkeeping business works. And if I had to choose between the two, which would be super hard because I love them both, I always focus on the bookkeeping business, which means I focus on my clients.

We never get too big for the clients. We will always make sure that they're served and that we do a good job. Because when you focus on that, the clients multiply themselves like bunnies. Your current clients become your next greatest source of clients, so it's important to focus on doing a good job.

11. I Had Help

Lastly, I sought and accepted help.

I got help in so many creative ways. Even before I had anyone on my team, the first thing I got help with was getting a cleaning lady to clean my home twice a week. Because if I had these tasks done in my home, then I had more capacity to show up for my business.

I do believe having a team is huge. But it’s not the only way you can get help that will change the way you show up in your business.

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So, those are the things that I did right and would do again if starting over.

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