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’...
Apr 28, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 62
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. Wh...
Apr 21, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 61
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 experien...
Apr 14, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Relay Financial offers a number of creative solutions to bookkeeping professionals. Yoseph previously worked at a company called Hubdoc where he learned about the pain points of small business owners and bookkeepers around financial statements. [2:35] Access to data and statements is crucial for proper accounting, so Yoseph built Relay Financial in order to attack the problem from a fundamental point of view. Relay gives you the ability to issue MasterCard debit cards and manage payments all fro...
Apr 07, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 59
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, ma...
Mar 31, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 58
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 busines...
Mar 24, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 57
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 tim...
Mar 17, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 56
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 professio...
Mar 10, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 55
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 ...
Mar 03, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 54
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 st...
Feb 25, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 53
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...
Feb 18, 2020•6 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Innovation in the bookkeeping industry is coming down the pipe. What bots can do is going to revolutionize the industry in the next six months. [1:20] If you’re prepared, that can be a good thing for your business. If you took away everything you did day to day right now, how would you still serve your clients? [1:50] We have to start thinking about the differences between what our clients need and want. People need to have their tax returns prepared, but they want to save as much money on their...
Feb 11, 2020•8 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Ben is part of a mastermind called the War Room put on by Digital Marketer and the information shared in the group is game changing. If you’re going to look for a mastermind for yourself (and you should), make sure you find one that gets together in a physical location away from your office. A digital-only mastermind is just not going to have the same impact. The power of a mastermind is the physical connection and being face to face with the right people. [2:30] When searching for your mastermi...
Feb 04, 2020•8 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Times have changed and we now live in the digital age. Just like how televisions have been completely transformed over the past 20 years, bookkeeping has changed as well. [2:10] We hear a lot of talk about bots and automated bookkeeping and frankly that’s a good thing. Apps and bots taking over the repetitive and rote tasks of data entry is great because that will allow us as bookkeepers to elevate our game. [2:45] Everything starts with the transactions, but built upon those is the three financ...
Jan 28, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Busy season doesn’t have to be busy. We should always be looking at the way things have been done “traditionally” and questioning why they are that way. [1:05] Things aren’t set in stone, we just get stuck in a rut doing the work the way that everyone else does it. You don’t have to have a busy season, you can spread your work out over the year, but it can’t be done overnight. [1:30] Being a digital bookkeeper means going to a higher level with your clients and becoming a trusted advisor. When w...
Jan 21, 2020•6 min•Season 1Ep. 48
There are a lot of poor practices when it comes to presenting financial statements. When you present financial statements to your clients, you should always present three documents: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows. [2:35] All three are crucial. If you are only presenting the balance sheet and the income statement, you are leaving out a critical element. Analyzing the cash flow is the lifeblood of the business. If you’re not currently presenting the statem...
Jan 14, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 47
You have a true business once you have a marketing system that delivers quality clients in a predictable and consistent manner. [1:25] Marketing comes down to three fundamental elements: your market, your message, and your medium. Most people focus on the medium first which is a major mistake, the first thing you must do when it comes to marketing is to focus on your market. Understand the things they want to experience, the jobs they do, and the pains they are trying to avoid. [2:50] The number...
Jan 07, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Mindset is one of the most important things you can learn about. It basically boils down to how to get the things that you want and avoid the things you don’t want. [0:40] When you work for yourself, everything comes down to you and staying motivated is important. Motivation is a form of energy and we have to watch our energy levels and do things that energize us to recharge our batteries. [1:35] As you go throughout your week, are you doing things that recharge your battery or are you just depl...
Dec 31, 2019•7 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Most people get marketing wrong because they don’t understand the fundamentals. The three essential components of marketing are your market, your message, and your medium. [1:30] The very first thing you need to get solid on is your market. 40% of your success in marketing is about the market, another 40% is your message, and only 20% comes from your medium. [1:55] It’s important that you focus on a niche and really drill down on one specific market. When you niche down you become a specialist a...
Dec 24, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 44
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...
Dec 17, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 43
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 ...
Dec 10, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 42
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 so...
Dec 03, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 41
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 ...
Nov 26, 2019•14 min•Season 1Ep. 40
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 ch...
Nov 19, 2019•32 min•Season 1Ep. 39
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 thing...
Nov 12, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 38
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 initi...
Nov 05, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 37
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 includ...
Oct 29, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 36
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...
Oct 22, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 35
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 th...
Oct 15, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 34
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 ...
Oct 08, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 33
