[00:00:00] Serena: Thank you for joining us today. I have another BBA grad with us, Ashley Lbs. Is that the right last name now, Lindberg. I'm like, why am I saying that? It's,
[00:00:39] Ashly: it's okay. . It's still new to me. I still sign the wrong name. It's fine. .
[00:00:44] Serena: Well, any who would you like to introduce yourself to everyone here?
[00:00:49] Ashly: Sure. So it is Ashley Lindberg. I got married in March, so I'm still learning my new last name as well. I live in rural northwest Kansas. I own Precision Advising and Consulting and I'm pretty excited to be here and tell you my story today.
[00:01:04] Serena: Thank you so much for being here and sharing with us. These are really meant to just continue to inspire everyone who's been through the workshops and kind of give them a chance to see firsthand some results from real life people. So I'm going just ask you a couple questions and then we'll dive in if we want to, and feel free to ask questions in the chat if you're watching us live. And um, we will do the best to answer. But first off, can you let everyone know like where you were at in your business before you joined vba?
[00:01:39] Ashly: Okay. So I actually looked back because I had sent you an Instagram message and asked you, Hey, I wonder if this is for me. And you had asked me kind of where I was at. So I was able to really go back to that. That was in August of 20 21. I started my business in February. So. August last year I had about 10 clients. I'm currently almost finished, but currently an accounting student for my bachelor's in business administration in accounting, and I will set for my cpa. So at that time I was still. Working through all my classes and didn't have a lot of confidence. So I only had 10, 10 clients and they were kind of hit or miss, and I wasn't meeting with any of them really. I was just doing the work.
[00:02:22] And and that's kind of where I was at. And you, I reached out to you and you said, Yeah, I think this'll be great for you. You know, it'll help build your confidence, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, Okay, I'm sold. So I signed up, I went through the course and I was, you know, in the v i p and I really enjoyed. And I got so much out of it. And then I actually got to learn from you in person in October. So that was super fun.
[00:02:45] Serena: That's so fun.
[00:02:46] Ashly: And, and I kind of I was able to, Tell you about my plans and my vision and where I was gonna go and all the things that I had done inside of bba. When we met in person for the first time, you gotta hear about that. And I significantly remember you being like, Let me put this in my calendar.
[00:03:04] I'm gonna ask you.
[00:03:08] Serena: So, and I did follow up with you about cuz you were like, I'm gonna quit my job by this time. And I think you actually ended up quit. Did you quit it sooner?
[00:03:16] Ashly: Yes.
[00:03:16] Serena: Than you had said. Okay. That's what I thought.
[00:03:18] Ashly: Yeah.
[00:03:18] Serena: Because I was like, Man, she'd beat me. Do it. I couldn't even like, come check in on her
[00:03:23] Ashly: Yeah. So yeah, so like fast forward I use. The BBA course all the time still, I go in and look at things just to reassure myself and give myself confidence. And I think that's the biggest thing that I got out of it. So I guess I could just answer your next question, which is gonna be, where are you at now? Probably . So um, Just like what we were chatting earlier, I am I just onboarded my 35th client, so
[00:03:50] Serena: Oh my gosh,
[00:03:51] Ashly: Right. I, I'm still trying to, I have about three different niches or niches, whatever version of that you wanna say. And so I I, I've been, but I've been trying to be narrowed down to those three areas and that's really helped me Designing my packages and like the pricing, all the things in BBA really helped me like hone in on specific how to do stuff. I, you know, I was in some other groups on how to organize stuff and all those things and those are really great cuz I love to be an organized person, but I needed somebody to be like, This is how you do a diagnos. This is who you do this because I knew, but I needed to know that I knew what I knew was correct.
[00:04:34] If that makes any sense. So I primarily serve agriculture clients, so I have quite a few of them. So they all have like grain and cattle, horses goats. I go far in my, one of those . So mostly agriculture in there. I handle the next one third of my clients are transportation. So I have like, Like, I think I have about eight transportation companies now, and then the rest of my clients are all sole pers
[00:05:04] So I, it's kind of a random array, but they're mostly service industries. So they're sole is doing some kind of service for the public you know, personal trainers like. Hair salon. Not, not the full salon, just the person, the lady that, the cosmetologist, that is the word, that kind of stuff. So it's kind of across the board, but I'm trying really hard because I see the benefit of of niching down and I need to figure out which one of those I'm gonna do, but it's fine. .
[00:05:33] Serena: Yeah. And the beauty of that too is that, and I try to keep reminding people of this, is just because you have a niche doesn't mean that you have to turn away other clients, but it helps you focus your marketing.
[00:05:47] Ashly: Yeah.
[00:05:47] Serena: Right. So pick one of the ones that you work with that you really have a lot of material marketing wise for. Like, these are the same questions I always get from these type of clients. This is, you know the way that we set up their business in QuickBooks because it's specific to their industry.
[00:06:03] Well, now you have that marketing material so you can just. Focus your marketing and that, and then the rest of 'em will still get referred to you .
[00:06:10] Ashly: Yeah. And, and that's what's happening right now. I honestly haven't done a ton of marketing or anything like that. I'm starting like a lot of my stuff was local with the 10 clients that I had, and I'm starting to get referrals from those locals of other people they know in their industry.
[00:06:26] You know, Performance horses. That's one of the big ones. I have cup quite a few of them. It was one person here that talked to the other person at the horse show, and then pretty soon they're handing out your, you know, your card and information and all the things. So that's been like a huge blessing for me. But I was able to do a couple things after I took on I did the like hot seats and the co-working in the BBA course and that really helped me to figure out how I was gonna hire somebody .
[00:06:56] And then when we were at the retreat in when I met you in person in October, I really was able to hone in on on what I wanted to do to hire. And I hired in November of 2021 and she is, She is a gal that I've never met in person and she works for me and she will go full time for me in November. So I can't wait because I'm ready to hand off some more stuff to her. And
[00:07:19] Serena: yeah. So that'll be her, her whole first year with you.
[00:07:23] Ashly: Yeah.
[00:07:23] Serena: Um, So yeah, that was one of the questions Carol had was, is it just you or do you have a team? So right now it's just you and a part-time. Do you have any other contractors or a VA or anything? It's just the two of you.
[00:07:33] Ashly: Just the two of you. I um, I'm kind of a insane person when it comes to that. And I actually worked a full-time job from August until this last August. So I was working 40 hours a week and taking on all of these clients and doing their work. So I'm one of those people who can work 70 hours or more a week and still function. Realized I wasn't sustaining that. So when we talked about like goals, that's one of them is I wanted to quit my corporate full-time job and I was able to do that and I think it just took Confidence. Literally, like I, a lot of this stuff wasn't like, Oh, I didn't know how to do that.
[00:08:10] It was like, Oh, I understand this, but I understand it to a different, in a different realm and I can see like the videos and watch you show us how to do things and, and like, Get the key elements of what needs to happen to, to figure out what it is. The question is, cuz most of the time I get that overwhelm syndrome, like where do you start? And yeah this was like set straightforward for me for where I needed to go. So,
[00:08:36] Serena: Yeah. I love that. In case anyone missed it, like she started out with a client base already, and like that's kind of, that's the biggest issue I think I have with people understanding if like BBA is right for them, because I do market heavily toward people just starting out, but mm-hmm. like the commonality is that everyone who comes in has a foundation of the accounting. You know that you have the education and you have the skills, and a lot of it really is just the confidence piece. And then also kind of like just refining how you're doing things and becoming more efficient and creating, you know, a process to take your clients through, onboarding it, creating a process for your sales calls. And that way you don't feel like every time you sit down to work, you're re reinventing the wheel. Right. That's the biggest issue.
[00:09:27] Ashly: Yeah.
[00:09:27] Serena: Um, So yeah, you. Definitely benefit if you have done clients cuz look at you. Yeah. You just multiply that by three . It's crazy.
[00:09:37] Ashly: So exciting. And I sometimes have to be like, is this really like, okay I'm doing this, It's happening. But it feels really good. And I went. When I was able to quit my full-time job, so I'm not working as much now, you know, cuz I was really between my employee, she was working like 20 to 25 hours a week and I was working about 30. Well, I didn't take on, I took, I didn't take on anymore. I just kind of started making her ass more.
[00:10:04] So I have been able to work like 30, 35 hours a week and. And stay right in that zone of where I need to be. I'm sure it will. And I have to do that because I'm in school as well. Yeah. I have nine credit hours a semester, so it's, I like a ton of everything else, but I think being able to like, Have packages. I, the designing my packages was a huge thing and we just stick to those. They get put in one of the three and this is what we're doing, . So you know, it was just super beneficial.
[00:10:35] Serena: So yeah, all those little areas where you're continuing to make decisions throughout your day or week or month, like a decision when you have a discovery call with someone, right Then after the call is the decision of what services do they need and what do I put them in? Well, if you're having to make that decision every time you have a discovery call, rather than just putting them into a box, I know nobody wants to be put in a box, but this is more beneficial for you and for them that like no one has to really decide what they need because we've already created in the program the packages that we know everybody needs these core services. So then it's a matter of what are the bells and whistles you want to provide?
[00:11:15] Ashly: Right. And the, and I've been able to up, I guess I call it up sale, I, it's called something else, maybe. But be able to add, do those, add arms and, and be like, Oh, but we can do this. Um, One of the things in BBA that I hadn't really thought about that I was providing, I wasn't meeting with clients regularly, but when I did, I was providing like advisory services that I didn't realize I was providing. And in the cohort that I was in, I, there's actually part of like the elevate advisory stuff, and that was huge for me. And now I'm like, It'll be moments before I'm in Elevate, your actual Elevate , so I gotta get through this semester and,
[00:11:57] Serena: and your cPA exams and all the things, but Yeah.
[00:12:00] Ashly: Yeah. But yeah, but like, the confidence that's, I would say that was the biggest thing for me because, I'm a pretty confident person anyways, but I just was like, who can I talk to that does this, that I know that is, you know, to having that network, I guess.
[00:12:14] Serena: Yeah. And the reassurance that, like you said, you are on the right path. And that's why I created this, because that's where I was. I was like, Okay, I, I have my cpa, I was a controller. Like I obviously, like, I kind of know my shit, but I don't feel like it when I'm speaking to a client. So it was like a lot of. Me just reassuring myself and then kind of like, you know, having other bookkeepers to chat with that were like, Oh yeah, I'm doing that the same way. And I'm like, Okay, good. Then I'm not like totally off here in the woods. Like, there's a way to do this and if I'm, you know, I'm on the right track. So hopefully that helps others as well. So you were able to quit your corporate job. Does that mean you completely replaced your salary?
[00:13:01] Ashly: Yeah, I actually did , so I know I know when we, when we had talked about it initially, I was like, Oh, well I have a year's worth of savings, but I just can't make the jump. And you're like, You should just do this. And I'm like, Oh, I don't think I can. And then I was able to like, There was about two months that it was insane because I was taking on clients so that I could make it re, you know, replace my salary. And I was like, What am I doing? I can't live, I can't do this anymore.
[00:13:32] But it was so worth it because I went without missing a beat from August or from July to August and making the same amount that I was which is six figures in my corporate job. So it's. Pretty, pretty awesome. I mean, obviously it's taken some hustle and some dedication to working crazy hours, but now I'm like almost insane sometimes when I'm like, Oh, I what?
[00:13:58] I need to do something I don't have enough to do. I only worked a real only 30 to 40 hours of this week. I'm pretty excited to be able to take for my employee, She worked a full-time job as well and then was working 25 hours a week for me, and she's super excited to go full-time for me and I'm able to do that for her. Yeah. And it's just, I grow, go grow . So of course we have next steps already and we
[00:14:24] Serena: Good. Good. What are your next steps? I'd love to hear them if you want to share.
[00:14:28] Ashly: Yeah. So I actually am going to do taxes. Like, so, so I'm gonna do personal taxes and schedule C, like, you know Tax returns. So we're gonna add all of that in in the next tax season.
[00:14:42] So I'm gonna go through tax school and do that. We'll be adding an admin to our team at the beginning of the year, and then I would, I hope to have another like tax prepare probably put now this tax season, but for the next one. So my end goal is like two tax preparers. I work 20 hours a. I got him that full-time admin.
[00:15:01] I have two full-time bookkeepers and it just runs itself. And, and I hope that that's what will end up happening. So we'll see. I just got a baby. Step it and make sure I plan it and careful flow it and all the things .
[00:15:13] Serena: I'm sure you will. So I have like a, maybe, I don't know what kind of question this is, but people might be wondering like, well, how was it so easy to just leave the corporate job. start bringing on all these clients, like one where did all, the clients come from? Which you kind of already talked about. Mm-hmm. , a lot of referrals. But what is, like, what did you do from the point when you started your business to when you quit your job?
[00:15:44] Like what did you do to lay the groundwork so that you had that inflow of clients?
[00:15:48] Ashly: So a lot of it had to do with. Being prepared to take on the clients, I guess. And, and making sure we had all the systems set up. And, and so like, I'm a super over organizer. I would, I would say I'm an over organizer sometimes.
[00:16:03] And so we, we set up those systems and then we just started we started with like social media and we started in February. I didn't actually do any social media until February of this year. And we really. Targeted in on like family farming and agriculture and all the things that we can put out there.
[00:16:24] I've attended a few like women in agriculture meetings and things cuz a lot of family farms, the wife or the mom are doing the bookkeeping and they don't really have time cuz they're out helping in the fields or are Yeah. You know, taking care of the kids or doing whatever. So I've been able to really focus in on that.
[00:16:42] The rest of it has literally been my clients being like, Oh, she's great. We love her. You need to talk to her, to other people that they do business with. And I think a lot of that has to do with like how I talk to my clients, how they feel like they get a high touch person and, and they want to They want to know what you have to say because the way that you say it to them is simple and they can understand it.
[00:17:06] And I learned that from you. So .
[00:17:08] Serena: Oh, thank you. I'm sure you already have that. You just needed drawing it out. I don't know. So, as far as. The other part that I can tell, like I, the, I'm just kind of thinking of what people might be wondering and afraid to ask is, you seem so confident in hiring these people and just kind of like, Oh, I'm letting this other bookkeeper work on all these clients that I've built this relationship with and created this high touch environment.
[00:17:41] So how did you go about. Laying the groundwork for that because it's a big mindset shift for a lot of us to let go of the control.
[00:17:50] Ashly: Yeah. Oh yeah. That was like insane for me cuz I'm a control freak. Like I have to control everything. So I learned a long time ago, if I didn't, I would go insane because I would work myself to death and I needed to know that I make mistakes and so does everyone else.
[00:18:06] So I had to be ready for there to be mistakes. But I think the biggest benefit to me was or benefit. To my employee probably is for me to be able to paint a picture of what I want and how I want it to be and how I want our clients to see us. Like in the interview, like I went through my whole company culture, all of my vision, all of the things in the interview, and she, I could see the spark in her eye and that she was, had bought in and was like, Yeah, this is what I wanna do.
[00:18:37] And, and you know, you just never know. I did have one contractor for just a little bit that it didn't work out, and I hadn't approached her that way. I just was like, Hey, I need you to do this, this, and this. Yeah. And like, it just didn't happen. So I hope, I mean, I, I obviously got super blessed with Grace that worked for me, but I hope to find that next person too.
[00:18:57] But I really think that having vision and being able to explain it to somebody else is what makes them buy in on your dream, you know? And it becomes their dream. Like her and I are building this together. Literally, she's gonna run my company someday. And that's what we talk about. Cuz I'm gonna stay and play with my granddaughter
[00:19:15] Yeah. That's how that works.
[00:19:17] Serena: That's so exciting. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. And that's a process in and of itself, and you might not know if you are just starting out your business right now, you may have no idea what your end vision or goal is. Right now you're just thinking about leaving here nine to five, right?
[00:19:33] But still try and make time to think about that because it takes a while to nail that down and it can also change right?
[00:19:43] Ashly: And you have to pivot, like things like at, when I first started in February of 2021, I was like, I am absolutely not doing taxes. I don't want to, I don't Now I'm like, Okay, yeah. I think this is, this is my, this is my next thing to challenge me. So here we go, .
[00:19:59] Serena: Yeah, because you've created this space to be able to do so by hiring, right. Otherwise you would be your nose in the 30 clients that you have . Yeah. And you wouldn't have time to think about anything else, so. Right. For sure. I'm so excited for you. So. You started out with 10, you now have 30, you have five. Your vision and your what?
[00:20:23] Ashly: I said I have 35.
[00:20:25] Serena: 35. Oh gosh. .
[00:20:29] Ashly: I had to put that in there. Sorry. .
[00:20:30] Serena: That's okay. That's a difference. It's a big difference. So, wow. Is, are there any like words of wisdom that you could give someone just starting out their business that you think will catapult them faster? If you had had a piece of knowledge before you started
[00:20:50] Ashly: Yeah. Getting organized in some type of automation like I did the Alyssa's course and I think that was giant for me because when you are keeping it all here and it's not on paper, No one else knows what's going on. And things get stressful and life happens and then you miss something and then you're not building that client up to be a referral for you.
[00:21:12] And so you just have to make sure that you're organized and that you have systems in place and they don't have to be perfect cuz I'm a perfectionist and I waited a long time to like launch things cuz I didn't think they were perfect and you just gotta do it, just do it .
[00:21:29] Serena: So, Yeah. Absolutely. That's such a good piece of advice, especially because a lot of people, they think, Well, I'm the only one doing stuff. I only have like three or four clients. I don't, I don't need a system to keep track of it. Until you do Right. until something happens. Mm-hmm. , And then you, you needed that system yesterday. So definitely easier to implement it when you're, you know, two, two or three clients in versus. How many clients in were you when you implemented Alyssa's program?
[00:21:57] Ashly: So it was about so I started with. Probably around the same time that I did b b I was doing both. And so I was 10 to 15 I think. And it was half-heartedly done until I Grace came on.
[00:22:12] And I know she was starting so like the month before that I hammered out a bunch of it because I needed to be able to just hand it off to her cuz she worked when she worked and I couldn't babysit, you know, I couldn't sit there and send her things to do every day. I needed it to be on a list and be done and go on from there.
[00:22:29] Serena: So, yeah. Incredible. are you a zero or a QBO user?
[00:22:33] Ashly: So I do QBO and I've used QuickBooks Desktop for like 20 plus years. So we also handle about five clients that we remote in to do their stuff on desktop.
[00:22:44] Serena: Okay. And then in Asana, you literally put all the steps for each client.
[00:22:50] Ashly: Yep. Basically. We actually used one of the templates out of bba, I believe, for the monthly bookkeeping. And it has all the onboarding and everything. We just revised it to be what we needed and it, it's all continually being tweaked. Yeah. But we go in and assign it and, and then, you know, Grace has things she does and I have things I do and it, it's pretty fabulous.
[00:23:11] So,
[00:23:11] Serena: yeah. Are you on the paid version of Asana or are you still using.
[00:23:16] Ashly: Uh, we are still using free, We are on the fence to move to not free . Yeah.
[00:23:22] Serena: Well, if you need a little push, I would say, because I know you. Automations.
[00:23:28] Ashly: Yeah.
[00:23:28] Serena: So in the paid version you can convert that to a template and then you can create a Zap to create the project from the template. And you can, within the template, you can already have things pre-assigned and due date set from the start of the project. Okay. So that will also, it could make things more efficient. How do you onboard clients? Are you using Dubsado?
[00:23:49] Ashly: Yes.
[00:23:49] Serena: So I have a trigger when someone pays their invoice in Dubs Auto, it creates. That project.
[00:23:55] Ashly: Oh yeah. So I did that
[00:23:59] Serena: that, and there's something else, which was the main reason why we switched to the paid version. Now, I can't remember, but it is absolutely, obviously possible to use the free version of Asana for a. 35 clients.
[00:24:12] Ashly: Yeah, it work around and we have a template and we just duplicate it, you know, but it's all manual and and but there is like Grace has a zap set up from our Questionnaire, pre preco questionnaire so that it it makes the lead as Asana task, but it only does a task. We haven't ever been able to get it to do like a full project and that's probably cuz we're not on the paid version.
[00:24:34] Serena: Yeah. Also that Project Zap is a new one that Zapier just created.
[00:24:38] Ashly: Oh, okay.
[00:24:39] Serena: So it was like in the last month or something when we were able to set that.
[00:24:43] Ashly: Cool. I'm excited, but guess what I'm gonna do tomorrow?
[00:24:46] Serena: Play in Zapier.
[00:24:47] Ashly: Yep.
[00:24:48] Serena: Yeah. Yeah. So if someone here watching or anyone in the future listening to this if they were on the fence about bba, what would you tell them?
[00:24:57] Ashly: I would absolutely just do it. If you're worried about the cost, you'll recoup it easily. If you are concerned that maybe you already know what it's gonna provide, that it's more about the confidence that I gained out of it. And also like the co-working. And there are several times that we did a breakout room and you helped me with specific things in the co-working or the hot seat calls where I learned things from other people and how they're doing them and just the wealth of information. That you get from the people that are involved. So
[00:25:27] Serena: yeah, we have an incredible group in, in there. I don't know how I manage to, to curate that, but we have some amazing genius people. Tanya's one of 'em
[00:25:38] Ashly: she is, she is insanely smart. It's just unbelievable.
[00:25:44] Serena: Just so giving with her, yeah. And she's just so willing to give whatever information she has. And that's, I think, how we all kind of approach it. It's like there's no one's gatekeeping, right? Like no one's gate keeping a PDF or a process or whatever. If what I created can help you, it's gonna help more clients. Not one of us can possibly serve all these clients on our own. Right. Yeah. We need each other.
[00:26:09] Ashly: Yeah. And it feels like a bunch of people who are cheerleading for each other and, you know, and, and that's how it should be.
[00:26:15] Serena: Yeah. Well thank you so much again for coming on here and spending part of your evening, afternoon, wherever, whatever time zone you're in with us and sharing your experience, and I can't wait to see how things continue to unfold for you and we have to meet up again in person, .
[00:26:34] Ashly: Oh, yes, yes, yes. I can't wait. . So,
[00:26:37] Serena: Awesome.
[00:26:37] Ashly: Thanks for having me. Thank you.
[00:26:39] Thank you everyone for tuning in. Yes, so inspiring Carol. Thank you guys for watching and we will talk to you soon. Bye.
[00:26:50]