78 ⎸ Core Values to Run Your Business on

This week on the podcast I have my right hand & resident leadership coach, Meriah on the podcast and we’re talking all about core values, mission, and vision for your business as a way to build the culture (and business) you want to have.

Even if you don’t plan on having a large team (or a team at all), this work is still imperative.

It took me years to nail down my Vision, Mission, and Values, and truth be told, they’ll likely continue to morph. But Woweeeeee has this helped us build an A-team! ✨

And I’m so freakin grateful for the culture we’ve built.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• how we’re doing it
• a sneak peak of our actual vision & mission of the firm
• and as I’m writing this list I’m not sure we actually shared our core values but you can find them HERE.

Thanks for listening.

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram stories and tag me, @ambitiousbookkeeper

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Serena: I see so many people fall into the trap of like, Oh, I've hired before. It didn't work out. Like I'm not meant to have a team or I'm not a good leader. And it's like some people are definitely like natural born leaders, but a lot of us have had to just learn this skill. It is a skill. 

[00:00:16] Mariah: It is. 

[00:00:16] Serena: And learning the skill of leadership, but also. Just taking responsibility for the part that you played in the bad hiring and when, all you do is blame whoever else was in the situation, you're never going to, you're not gonna have a different result until you start to look back and say, okay, what role did I play in this hiring decision? What could I have done to set this person up for a better success? What could I have done to prepare for this position better? Like, there's so many questions that you could ask like, how could I have done things differently that would've resulted in something different? And then move forward with that in mind

[00:01:23] Serena: All right. Welcome back to the Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast. Today I have a special guest, from our team. Mariah, thank you. Hello, how are you 

[00:01:34] Mariah: today? Doing very well. Thank you. How about you? 

[00:01:38] Serena: Very well. So we've had on our list to, record a podcast episode about, Mission, vision and values because it's something that we've noticed come up again and again with a lot of our students, and people in our community, especially when it comes to the point of hiring. I think for the most part, like you can kind of get away with. Not having mission, vision and values very solidified when you're starting your business. But it becomes crucial component once you start thinking about hiring and making sure that you're hiring the right people and the right fit. So we definitely wanted to tackle this on a podcast with, with everyone, and kind of talk through. why these are so important, how to start kind of fine tuning them, and then some other areas that we see people get stuck in when it comes to, creating your company values or your vision or your mission. So with that, would you like to kind of break down the difference of the three and then we can kind go from there. 

[00:02:51] Mariah: Sure I can do that. So your mission really is your why, why you exist, what's the purpose of your company? So you think about why you started your company and then this, the, the mission really guides your decisions. So new ideas or anything like that gets run through the filter of your mission and it's essential that it's spoken. So you have an internal mission statement, and then you have an external mission statement. And it's really important that the external mission statement is spoken in the language of your clients. So it's not fancy. It's really simple and understandable. 

And then your vision is your strategy. Where are you going? Like, what's your vision for your company? Who do you wanna help? What does your ideal legacy look like? Where do you wanna be 10 years from now? Things like that is what can help you Frame that and then, Also your strategy. It's like, how are you gonna get there too? And that that ties in there as well.

And then your core values are what are the things that are important to you? What do you value? Your values are gonna be how you hire. You're gonna hire, fire, and reward with your values. So that is why. Very key because they also help you define your boundaries and your non-negotiables. They bring clarity to everything you do, really inside your business.

[00:04:26] Serena: Yeah, like how you're gonna treat people, inside your business, outside your clients, your vendors, how you expect everybody to work together, and things like that. So, I know for me, it took me a few years to really fine tune the values that I wanted to have, and I-- every time I thought of something that I was like, oh, this is really important to how we operate, I would jot it down in a notebook and just kind of simmer on it for a while.

And I think allowing, giving you guys the permission to do that as well and not have to like sit down and think of five or six values all in one sitting. And that's gonna be like set in stone. it's a process. 

[00:05:11] Mariah: It is. 

[00:05:12] Serena: And one way that I got a lot of clarity around that process was actually having a not so great hire, right? Like having someone on the team that didn't embody the things that, the values that I wanted our whole team to have. And so there's a lot of clarity that comes from the contrast, like that when you. Something that you don't want it to be, you then now have the clarity of like, what is actually important to you?

And so I would jot down things that I found important and kind of simmer on them and then sit down and, look at them and be like, oh, these actually kind of be combined. These are pretty much the same thing. And so I was able to kind of narrow it down that way. And then I also got like, this is another thing that you can do is like, you're not expected to figure out what your values are just out of thin air, like you can actually just Google other company values and see which ones resonate with you. 

[00:06:07] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:06:08] Serena: It could be that simple. 

[00:06:08] Mariah: Yes. Yes. And and like you said, you've gotta also give yourself the capacity and the time to think. this is, not busy work where you can just quickly, okay, I did this task, this task, and this task. It's not tasked to check off your list. You have to give yourself the capacity, the time. You've gotta have the brain power, if you will, and the right energy to spend, to create this and design this over a period of time. It's not gonna, you're not gonna just be able to sit down in one setting and go, okay, great.

[00:06:42] Serena: yeah. Got my values.

[00:06:43] Mariah: I got my mission, vision, and values.

[00:06:45] Serena: Check that off the list. 

[00:06:47] Mariah: Right, right. It's, it's a. Over time. 

[00:06:51] Serena: Yeah. And it's also something that like anytime you sit down to kind of think about these things or as you're walking or working out, like you don't have to be at your desk.

But, when you're thinking and, brainstorming on these things, you might kind of have a vision for your company. And so then it's like, okay, well if this is the vision, what kind of people and what kind of values would those people need to have in order to help me reach that vision?

[00:07:16] Mariah: Exactly.

[00:07:16] Serena: Unless I wanna direct every little thing that's gonna happen to get us there, I'm gonna need certain, certain type of personality of people, right? Or people that hold certain values, like problem solving or initiative, things like that. That's important. 

And then to also check in with like, okay, so I want someone with initiative and problem solving capabilities, but am I actually gonna let them run with that? So that's another, right?

[00:07:45] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:07:46] Serena: So sometimes it's like, I definitely want this, but I know I'm gonna have to do some internal work to like get myself to let go of things. 

[00:07:54] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:07:54] Serena: Which is also another process. But to just be kind of like aware of those kinds of things where If that's a very important value for you as you are a problem solver because you're an entrepreneur like we are all entrepreneurs because we are able to do all the things

[00:08:11] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:08:11] Serena: So we have to like also recognize that and be like, okay, I have to set my ego aside and learn to like, I know it's gonna be a process to, letting go and backing away from these things. But it is crucial if, if you have a really big vision or a dream, like it is impossible to do it on your own. So you have to be open to letting certain things go. And not having them done exactly your way. 

[00:08:37] Mariah: Yes. And that's a very hard aspect, but it's very true. You have to keep that end goal in mind. Like you said, you can't do everything by yourself, you know, all the time. As much as we would like to and like to think that we can, there is definitely power in numbers, and there's power in a team.

[00:08:58] Serena: Yeah. Yeah. And that's something like you just mentioned, you have to check in with that vision and that's something I'm constantly like, okay, the end goal is this, so unless I wanna do this all by myself, I have to let go of certain things.

That is gonna help us get there faster, versus what can I delegate and let go of in order to reach that vision faster. 

So values are just like one component and you're going to probably take some time. , it's not gonna be in one sitting or even two, and it's something that you have to be okay with it. Like not being permanent. We were talking about this before we hit record, is, can you speak sort of to that? 

[00:09:47] Mariah: Yes, absolutely. So with my coaching clients, there's, there's a little bit of an element of panic I think that sets in when you're writing your mission, your vision and your values, because the idea is, oh my goodness, this is permanent. This is, you know, this is gonna be forever. And like I tell them, it's okay to pivot. You're gonna grow, you're gonna learn. You're going to level up, if you will. And so it's okay that, those level up with you. So those could change over time. 

The thing you don't want is if they make a 180, that's gonna be a problem because a 180 is a complete, that's a complete difference from from where you started. So you're probably gonna have the wrong team. You're probably gonna be working with the wrong clients if you do a complete 180. But if you make those tiny. Along the way. That's okay. So don't get caught in the trap that this has to be perfect.

This has to be, you know, this is, this is getting tattooed on my forehead or something like that, you know, and it can never change. It can never evolve and. And grow. So give yourself grace that way for the perfectionist. It doesn't have to be perfect. Let's get it started. And you're probably gonna tweak and adapt it a little bit as time goes on. And that's okay. 

But it's, more important to have that framework down than have nothing. And sometimes perfectionists, you know, being the perfectionism part of us that can lead into procrastination, installing and just not doing anything. So it's better to do something and get some things down that you can tweak and adapt as you grow rather than just be frozen

[00:11:38] Serena: Yeah. 

[00:11:38] Mariah: And not get anything down. 

[00:11:40] Serena: Yeah. So we've talked about our values and you kind of, you talked about mission and vision. So can we revisit how someone comes up with their vision and their mission? Would you say that? And I'm trying to think through like my own process for this, and it really was like kind of doing all of these at once together and like joujing them all together.

But it was like, the main thing was the vision and then, what I wanted to create, and then I probably backed into a mission based on my like niche. I'm like, how would I even like guide someone through this? And I know I have ways of doing this in my program, but it can feel like a big hill to climb or a big mountain to climb to get these in place.

Yes. and so allowing yourself to think about it and kind of sit and let things simmer is really valuable. But how would you walk someone through kind of figuring out their vision and their mission? 

[00:12:48] Mariah: So what's really helpful, and that's why I created the Leadership Blueprint , is because it walks them through a series of series of questions to ask, to kind of get those creative ideas flowing, to give you some ideas to get the vehicle you kind of think of your mission it's kind of your car. I mean, obviously it's your why and the purpose, but your mission is kind of your car and your vision is the roadmap of how you're, you're gonna get there. So you get to pick, like, I want a, I'm gonna have a minivan. Why am I gonna have a minivan? I'm gonna have a mini band because I need a family.

Right. Or I'm, going through a midlife crisis, so I'm gonna have a Ferrari or something like that, and the Ferrari is gonna fulfill me in these ways. And then I'm gonna get the roadmap of the, the vision and I'm gonna know where I'm going. I mean, that's a little bit off the wall, but it kind of gives a little bit of a visual.

And so your mission, you just wanna think. Like how you uniquely infuse your industry with your brand. Like what are the unique things that you bring to the table and what are the results that you provide for people? And then your vision, you think of your legacy and what the ideal legacy is that you wanna leave, and what are you gonna relentlessly strive for? What's gonna help you? On those days where you're thinking, why in the world did I ever do this? Why? Why did I go into business for myself? Why do I have a team? Why? Well keep your vision in mind and what you're relentlessly striving for, because that's gonna help keep you motivated on the hard days, and it's gonna help you remember why you got, you even got started.

[00:14:46] Serena: Yeah, I was just while you're talking, I was just gonna bring up our notion and look at like what we have for our mission and vision. Just to give people some

[00:14:56] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:14:57] Serena: Some like ideas. but I love that the analogy, I guess, would it be an analogy or a metaphor? I always get confused about those two, but with the car, cause yeah, like your vision is where we're going and our mission is how we're gonna get there, basically.

[00:15:18] Mariah: Yes,

[00:15:18] Serena: and, like who we're serving along the way and how we're doing that. so let me 

[00:15:25] Mariah: And a lot of people have, they kind of have a hard time a little bit with the vision because like, I'm already happy. I'm already kind of doing what I love to do, and great, your vision doesn't have to be this earth shattering all of a sudden change what you're doing. But think of it in something maybe that's quantifiable. Like how many businesses are you gonna bring peace of mind to. that you help, you know, and make it, to where you can measure it. 

[00:15:59] Serena: Yeah. 

[00:15:59] Mariah: And so it doesn't have to be a total change or pivot from what you're already doing and that that helps some people cuz they get stuck. They're like, I dunno where I'm gonna be in 10 years, you know? Okay. Think of how many people you wanna help in in the 10 years. 

[00:16:15] Serena: Yeah, that's basically like how ours is broken down with our, like our brand vision, our people vision, and our revenue vision, right? Like there's, there's always a number in there, a few numbers. So like in the grand, like, and I don't even know if I have like, I wouldn't say necessarily even putting a timeline on a vision, because it may happen faster than you expect it to. It may happen slower, but still having that end goal, quote unquote, that end vision in mind is gonna help you making all of the decisions along the way.

So our brand vision like is for, Of Course Bookkeeping is to create 500 profitable online course businesses, which means we would have to, at some point, touch 500 businesses, which sounds extremely scary, like we're nowhere close to that yet. But if you think about like. That's your vision is supposed to be kind of scary, right?

[00:17:19] Mariah: Yes, it's. 

[00:17:21] Serena: Like I'm looking at this and I'm like, I don't even know if I wanna share this cuz it seems so crazy. But that's the thing is like, I'm gonna be making decisions along the way that with that goal in mind of impacting 500 online businesses. 

[00:17:38] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:17:39] Serena: So I'm not going to necessarily make the decisions that hold us back from that, hopefully. Right. If I keep that vision in mind, and also knowing that it could be 20 years before we get to that , like, 

[00:17:53] Mariah: yes. Yes. 

[00:17:54] Serena: And that's okay. 

[00:17:56] Mariah: Absolutely. And I think you bring up a good point. Sometimes it's scary to share those, just like what you shared just now. I don't even know if I wanna share this. You know, , the thing is, is Nobody's judging you and nobody's gonna judge you.

[00:18:11] Serena: Right. 

[00:18:11] Mariah: And well, and if they, well, that's maybe not exactly true because there's plenty of judgy people out there, but usually the people that are judging you are sitting on the sidelines not doing anything. And really you have to have the value in yourself to know their opinion doesn't matter. If you have these dreams and these goals and these visions go after them, share them, and they might be a long ways out, but that's okay, because it's giving you, you're striving at something to strive for.

[00:18:43] Serena: Yeah. Yeah. So we, that was, that's the brand vision. 

Create 500 profitable online course businesses. 

Our people vision is to

create opportunities for 20 employees. 

When you think about serving 500 businesses, 20 employees could maybe not support that all at once. But the 500 number is really over the lifetime of our business. So there's gonna be clients that come and go, or like clients that we've served on a one time basis, like creating a budget for them, right? So if we can impact 500 businesses along the way, like I also want to have a sort of small team at the end of this, right? 20 is still a lot. 

[00:19:27] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:19:27] Serena: But when you like, here's kind of the way that I thought through that and justified that is like 20 employees is still manageable to like not have a whole entire HR department to manage all the people. So like there's those kinds of things that you have to think about of like how big can we get and how many clients can we serve without having to create a whole other department just to take care of the employees in the company type of situation. So that's something to think about too, is like, especially if you are on like a very fast growth track, like those are things that you wanna keep in mind for the future. Like how big do you actually want to get 

[00:20:08] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:20:09] Serena: To where it's still, you know, fulfilling for you and your team? Because companies. I've worked in companies that were very small and companies that grew really large. And the bigger that your company gets, the more of a kind of just a number you become. And one of our values is like treating everyone like humans. 

[00:20:29] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:20:29] Serena: So that's one of the things that you have to also keep in mind is like, I don't know if that's technically like one of our core values, but that's our culture, right?

[00:20:39] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:20:40] Serena: Like we all value, everyone's a human. We don't want anyone to ever feel like a number, so it's like we have to keep that vision in the vision ? 

[00:20:54] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:20:54] Serena: If you will. 

[00:20:55] Mariah: And that's something we talk about regularly as a team. You know, as we grow we say, okay, we wanna grow, but we wanna make sure that we keep this culture cuz we all love the culture that strain is designed and created for us. And we value it very highly and we're protective of it, which is good. 

[00:21:13] Serena: Yeah, and I mean, I'm not the only one that's created it. It takes you guys as well. I can't just be like, here's the culture, live it. Like everyone embodies it and everyone has their like little thing that they bring. You know, there's certain values that some of us are higher on the whatever spectrum of, and so it's, yeah, it's a beautiful thing. 

And then our revenue, 5 million. Which could also be like a lifetime revenue. I would not say that's like a recurring annual revenue, but maybe at the end, who knows?

[00:21:47] Mariah: Yeah, I'll see where we can go, right?

[00:21:50] Serena: Yeah. so, then I have like some other bullet points by the way. Like where this lives is, we use a program called Notion, which we've talked about in previous podcasts, but this lives in notion for everyone to see, like everyone has access to this page. So, you can, anyone can go to it and kind of like recheck in with what the mission is and the, and the vision for the company, at any given moment. And that's something that I would encourage. Like you being very transparent with your teams and everyone, in your company, like of what the vision is. Cuz they need to be bought into it. 

[00:22:27] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:22:28] Serena: Right? In order to help you get there. so the more transparent, the more you can talk about it, the better. I have a note on here that I do have a goal at some point to sell my business. I'm not gonna give you the time-- give you listeners the timeline on that, but that is one of my goals is to get my company to a point where it's sellable. And everyone on the team can benefit from that as well because they help us get there. And then, being the number one accounting firm for course creators in online business is vision of mine. So you may or may not want to have like include something like that, but if, like, if you really. Want to be the best at something, that's also gonna help guide your positioning and who you're hiring and the type of clients you work with. Cuz you wanna work with clients that are gonna be able to help you showcase that you're the best, right?

[00:23:19] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:23:19] Serena: So you wanna work with clients that are gonna be successful clients, right? not in terms of like their business is successful, but like they are the right type of client. Helps the machine work. You know what I mean? Like if you're bringing in clients that aren't in the niche that you want to be the best in, well that's not helping your end goal vision, right? So yeah. That's my little spiel on that. That's our vision . 

So what's next mission, I guess? So you talked about there's like an internal mission statement and an external mission statement. Do you want to, talk through that and all that good stuff? 

[00:24:01] Mariah: Sure, I can. So your internal mission statement that is really for, it's internally, it's not the one that you're gonna put on your website and things like that and share with your clients. That's gonna be your external, so your internal is just like Serena said, we have all of those in notion, our mission, our vision, our values in notion, our team knows about them.

We reference them. We, as far as the internal mission, we've actually been working on, say, various aspects of the business and we've been trying to make decisions and it's like split hairs. Either one could be a really good decision and we've gone back to our mission, read our mission internally, and went, okay, this, you know, option A is clearly the best option because it aligns with our mission.

And so it's not something-- as difficult as all of these are to come up with, they're gonna be used. It's not gonna be, well, I write 'em down, I stick 'em in a notebook or a drawer and I never look at them again. Cuz Wow, that was a fun exercise. Yeah, no, they're gonna be an active part of your business and your team is going to, It's gonna be an active part of your culture, of your team. So the internal is really for your team and internally the decision that you, any new idea, you're really gonna run it through that filter. For your mission statement and then your external, is it? It can be. It doesn't have to be that they're just totally vastly different, but it's gonna be that that one's gonna be for your clients, your external one. It's gonna be, like I mentioned earlier, you wanna make sure it's spoken in the language of your clients, and that's what you're gonna have on your website. And when you think of bringing clients on, you're going to. Run them through, like, do these, you know, does this client, does it go along with my mission statement?

And for example, like Serena mentioned, you know, if you're thinking of bringing on a client that does not align at all with your mission and or your values You know, then you might wanna rethink bringing them on. It's not all about. Dollar signs. 

[00:26:38] Serena: Yeah. 

[00:26:38] Mariah: And that's what I think too is really beneficial about the mission, the vision, and the values is because it helps you really look at the bigger picture and take that into consideration.

[00:26:51] Serena: Yeah, absolutely. And like as you're talking about it not being all about dollar signs, I can just hear someone in the audience being like, but it is like I need, you know, this is my livelihood. I need to make money. And it, there is absolutely going to be an element of trust in God or the universe, whatever you believe in, but like, Once you have these things defined, defined, defined, defined, you now have like guardrails to help guide you in your marketing decisions in like where you're spending your time marketing to bring in the right type of clients. You now have guardrails on bringing in the right type of employees because you've now defined these things that is just going to make the journey more pleasant for you. 

Absolutely you can just not do the mission, vision, and values and take any old client that's, you know, maybe doesn't match up with your values that's not gonna treat you well, but is gonna pay you and you have to decide if it's worth it for you or not. Like, yes that's a decision only you can make, but just know that yes, there's gonna be an element of trust of like the right people will come to you if you take the right actions. 

[00:28:08] Mariah: Yes.

[00:28:09] Serena: and if you want to, Enjoy the journey more instead of hating your business than 

[00:28:15] Mariah: exactly 

[00:28:15] Serena: this, the work that has to be done. 

[00:28:18] Mariah: Exactly. 

[00:28:18] Serena: So mission statement, when I look at our, as an example, even in notion, I have like a little note under our mission statement that says, this is our North star. The mission statement, is here to help us guide decisions inside of our business and refocus on what's important. And this is why we're here. When we have new ideas, we run it through this filter. Like, it's also okay to like give yourself notes like that , like, you know what I mean?

[00:28:45] Mariah: Absolutely. 

[00:28:45] Serena: It doesn't have to be this like crazy formalized document. But like, just to remind you like, this is why we have our mission statement and this is why it's important, and this is how we're gonna use it. So our internal mission statement. Is that 

we help online course creators make data driven decisions that will increase profitability through accurate bookkeeping and business strategy.

Now, this is our internal mission statement because this is very much accounting speak. Like if we gave that to a, business owner, they would've been cross-eyed halfway through like reading that. Like, what the heck does all of that mean? And that's why it's our internal one, but everyone on our team understands those words. So we're able to like, this is how we are achieving our mission, and this is who we help basically. 

And our brand statement, our brand, our client facing mission statement. Our little note here is, this is our client facing brand statement is essentially the same as our mission statement, but spoken in the language of our clients. And I have actually like two little bullets here cuz one of the things that I say a lot, like I have it on our website as kind of our tagline, and I talk about this in my social media posts on our, business account, is 

we believe that when our clients know their numbers, they can grow their numbers and have massive impact.

So for a client, To read something like that. I can visually see a client reading that or an ideal client and being like, yes, yes. I wanna know my numbers because I wanna grow my numbers, I wanna grow my revenue, I wanna grow my profit, and I wanna have massive impact. Like, oh, most course creators that we work with that like a good heart also want to really impact the students that they're teaching or their, their customers. And so throwing that in there, like you can have more impact when you are able to make more money, is really important. 

And so like, When I was writing that and kind of like figuring that whole thing out, I was like, what is gonna make like a potential client? Like do a head nod, like, yes, yes. I want that. 

[00:30:49] Mariah: I think you nailed it. 

[00:30:52] Serena: Yeah. So like, In terms of a mission statement, our mission is to 

educate and empower our clients to make sound business decisions in order to achieve their personal and business goals. 

So it's kind of the same thing, but said in a different way as more of like a mission statement. So we educate and empower our clients to make good business decisions, that will help them reach their personal and business goals. 

So that's our, those are our two like internal and external mission statements for the accounting firm. I hope that anyone listening has gotten some ideas and is like, okay, it's starting to make sense now. 

I know that like, when I was starting to like work through all this stuff, I read multiple books on figuring out mission, vision, values, and that was also around the time I was going through like a difficult employee situation, so I was getting major clarity on like what type of team members we needed, and I was kind of hashing out my own vision for the company, which when I hired that person, I didn't even have, like, I wasn't viewing my business really as a business. I was just like, I just need some help . And so that, like, I take responsibility for that, you know what I mean? She didn't know what her role was really supposed to be contributing toward, because I didn't even have that vision laid out. So those are like kind of the ripple effects, the negative ripple effects that can happen when you don't have a vision and a mission really defined, on your own. And so I would say it's never too early to figure that out. And also it can change.

[00:32:30] Mariah: Yes. Because that's the beauty of being an entrepreneur and a CEO, is you get to decide, you know, that's probably one of the reasons why you went into business is so you would have the freedom and the flexibility to change things up and make 'em the best fit for you. 

[00:32:49] Serena: Yeah. So when you are working, on leadership coaching with coaching clients, do you ever have someone that's like, this all seems like too much and I don't wanna have to like, think about all this, and it's like, really scary to have all these employees, or think about even having employees if they don't have 'em yet and they just kind of like, get stalled in their tracks. Like, how would you, you're nodding your head yes, this is happening. I know this is happening because like it happens with my coaching clients too. But how do you like, walk someone through that? because I'm sure someone's listening and they're like, oh, it sounds all great and everything to have a team, but like, the reality of it is like, it's hard, or like, I have bad luck hiring people. Like what do you say to that person? 

[00:33:38] Mariah: So it is hard. It's not-- No part of business ownership, entrepreneurship is easy. It's not for the faint of heart. It is hard. And so think of it in like little bite size pieces. 

Step one, set time on your calendar. You know, whether you set aside maybe a 10 minute brainstorming session, you know, in a day, whatever. Don't make it another thing that you're gonna stress about or that you have to find time before to stress about. But if you can set 10 or 15 minutes, 20 would be even more ideal. Set some time on your calendar. Just first step, grab your calendar, set the time aside. 

If you are really good at forgetting things on your calendar, then set alarms on your phone, and be intentional about it. The other thing is you really have to be intentional about where you wanna go. Going back to the analogy or the metaphor with the car. Great. If you are gonna just hop in a car and drive. How often, I think sometimes, every once in a while we all hop in a car and just take a drive somewhere. But that's not something you do every day. And when you do that, yeah, the journey's a little bit fun, but it's not long lasting. It's good to have a plan and an idea of where you're gonna go. Plus you have to make sure you've got fuel in the tank and you have some snacks, and you have some water. There's things that you wanna bring along with your journey, so make it a fun experience. Think of it as an adventure rather than homework, like you're a kid in school and you've got this homework that you have to do.

So set aside the time and take it a little bit, bit by bit. And don't get yourself overwhelmed with the whole big picture yet, if when you think of the big picture and your long vision and, and it gets overwhelming, just take it a little bit at a time. Take it one step at a time, because each step you take is gonna grow you and you're gonna be a new version of yourself and a better version of yourself as you take that journey and you're gonna get the experience. And when you think of hiring and it being overwhelming and hard. Yes, there is a lot that goes into hiring, but you want a lot to go into hiring because if you just, if you're hiring out desperation or if you just randomly hire somebody and you don't put in the work or the steps, It could, I mean, maybe it'll work out very nicely in your favor, but more often than not, it doesn't, and you probably would've been better off not hiring anybody to begin with. 

But get somebody in your corner. Listen to podcast episodes. Get a coach. Get the information so that you are knowledgeable. Knowledge is power and so become knowledgeable about the process of hiring. Go through the steps, you know, have the interview questions, the whole vetting steps and also remember that skills are trainable, but someone that aligns with your core values and your mission and your vision, that's really key too. 

And so I think a lot of times you've heard us talk on the podcast before about the mission, vision, and values. You probably think it's like a broken record, but that's how important it is, and that's why we keep talking about it because it's very key to your success and to your-- You're just enjoying the journey. Like Serena mentioned earlier about the journey and how much you wanna enjoy it, so, that's a lot of steps in there, but step one is plan time on your calendar. Step two. Take incremental steps, and I would say step three is have a goal in mind of, okay, I'm gonna give myself, you know, several weeks or a month, whatever's reasonable for you. But give yourself a deadline too. Don't just think, okay, well I'm gonna work on my mission, vision, values for the next five years, you know. set an end goal of when you'd like to have, it completed. 

And then step four, I would say, as I already mentioned, like really make it fun. Figure out some ways to make it an enjoyable time, make it kind of a game, and enjoy dreaming and enjoy the journey of coming up with, with your mission, your vision, and your values.

And. A fifth component, I would say is put in the work, grow your knowledge. If hiring is something you know nothing about, then do what you need to do to get the experience and the knowledge to hire well. 

[00:38:48] Serena: Yeah. I see so many people fall into the trap of like, Oh, I've hired before. It didn't work out. Like I'm not meant to have a team or I'm not a good leader. And it's like some people are definitely like natural born leaders, but a lot of us have had to just learn this skill. It is a skill. 

[00:39:05] Mariah: It is. 

[00:39:06] Serena: And learning the skill of leadership, but also. Just taking responsibility for the part that you played in the bad hiring and when, all you do is blame whoever else was in the situation, you're never going to, you're not gonna have a different result until you start to look back and say, okay, what role did I play in this hiring decision? What could I have done to set this person up for a better success? What could I have done to prepare for this position better? Like, there's so many questions that you could ask like, how could I have done things differently that would've resulted in something different? And then move forward with that in mind because yeah, you will have the same results if you continue to do things the same way as you did before. and. It breaks my heart to hear people say those things of like, oh, I just like, I'm just not a good manager. I'm not a leader. Like, it's just not for me. I'd just rather do things on my own, and that's okay if you truly want to do things on your own, but there's, you have a certain capacity, like you will never get past a certain point if you have dreams to grow your business further than what it's at. And you're at capacity, you have really no choice but to hire. 

And the other thing is like, well, what about like adding online courses? And it's like, that's actually arguably more work than just hiring someone to do some bookkeeping. But yeah, like even with that, you're still gonna need people to support you. So eventually you're going to end up back where you are right now of hitting capacity, needing people to support you. 

And the other thing that really helps me, like maintain the vision of growing a team, because yeah, there are days where it is overwhelming and you're like, oh my gosh, these people are relying on me and like I, you know, we've got payroll and all the things and like, Some days it's for, for sure would be easier to just not have to do all that, but we wouldn't be able to have the impact that we're having without a team. 

So one of the things that helps me like maintain that vision of growing a team is desire to create a different environment for people to work in than most companies have. And so, You mentioned earlier that like we're very protective of the culture we have and that's like because we all want to create something where people matter. Like everyone here matters. We are allowed to live our lives and also do the work and we all have mutual respect for each other and we live up to our. What we say we're gonna do , like our commitments. There we go. 

[00:41:42] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:41:42] Serena: Like what is, what is that word? because we're all adults and we want to make sure that more people that come on the team are that type of person. But yeah, like that's one of my big things is I want there to be a different work environment Where everyone is valued, everyone contributes, everyone can drive things forward and do special projects and shine and stuff. And that is probably like one of the biggest factors of me like growing the team. It's obviously to grow the business as well, but I would say they are equally as important to me. Like for me, that's my why of like growing a team. 

So I would say that's probably also an important aspect to want to create a certain type of work environment for your team in addition to growing your business. That way you don't fall into that trap of it would just be easier to do it all on my own, you know? 

[00:42:38] Mariah: Yes. Easier, sometimes isn't always better. Right, 

[00:42:42] Serena: right, right. And a couple weeks ago on the podcast, we had Natalie Akdahl on and she talked a lot about creating an enduring business. And that it goes along with that really well. Like if you want your business to endure beyond yourself. It's going to require a team. So it's like if you have a vision to sell it in the future, obviously you're gonna have to grow a team and have yourself removed from the day to day. If that's not part of your plan, but you do want to perhaps impact your community and create jobs, or you know, like you truly want to serve more clients, there's going to be a point where you are going to have to hire support.

[00:43:25] Mariah: Yeah. And I think that's a key question to ask yourself is what impact? What impact do you wanna have? What impact do you wanna make? Because that's really gonna guide if you have a team, if you , you know how many clients you bring on. 

[00:43:40] Serena: Yeah. 

[00:43:41] Mariah: And all those things. 

[00:43:42] Serena: Yeah. And kind of what you're promising to your clients as well. Like, I know for us, a big thing is that all of our clients have multiple people that are available to support them and, that way. It's less risky for them as a business owner to be utilizing our services versus a solo bookkeeper who has no one to back her up. Whereas like on our team, there's multiple people that could step in at any given moment, and communicate with the client and make sure things are taken care of, and all that kind of stuff. So they have like a built in, we have a built in backup system. 

[00:44:21] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:44:22] Serena: For our clients. 

[00:44:23] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:44:23] Serena: Which is also more value. So, we didn't really get into it. I think we've talked about it before on other podcasts, but one of the things is like once you start hiring, you also have to make sure your pricing is going to support a team. And so you're providing more value for a client by offering them like the guaranteed coverage. 

[00:44:42] Mariah: Yes. 

[00:44:42] Serena: If something, you know, if something happens to me, my team can step in and still take care of the client. And so they're paying for that. Also, that peace of mind. 

[00:44:52] Mariah: Absolutely, and I think that's, I mean, I think peace of mind, I guess it depends on who you are, but that's invaluable really.

[00:45:03] Serena: Absolutely. Well, this was awesome. I'm glad we finally did this.

[00:45:08] Mariah: Yay, thank you. 

[00:45:10] Serena: For anyone who's listening, I encourage you to take, the rest of the end of this year to. sit with what you want, your values, your vision and your mission to be. And it does not have to involve growing a team, but these things are still valuable in helping you guide your own decisions within your business, even if you don't hire a team. So encourage you to take the time for the rest of this year and kind of get those nailed down before we get into busy season. Otherwise it'll get put off until summer. So any other closing remarks that you have for our listeners? 

[00:45:47] Mariah: I would just think, I know I mentioned this to you before we recorded, but think of your mission, your vision, and your values. Think of 'em as this beautiful cake. So you've got the ingredients, you've got the eggs, the sugar, and the flour, and. You can totally customize it to you because some people might be gluten free, so you can have the gluten free flour. Some people might have to have certain sugar, so you can add whatever sugar in there that you'd like, and you might have egg replacer instead of eggs.

So it can look however you want it to look, but you still need those ingredients because you're not gonna have a cake unless you have those key ingredients. So that's why it's so important, because you wanna have a successful, thriving business, whatever success looks like to you. And that's gonna look very different for everyone, I believe. But you still have those key components. And so just think of the amazing cake that you wanna bake. 

[00:46:53] Serena: I love it. All right, well thank you so much and again, Mariah, you can connect with her on our website as well Thank you everyone for tuning in each week. We really appreciate it. And, if you have any takeaways from this podcast, take a screenshot, share your takeaways and tag us at Ambitious Bookkeeper on Instagram. And we'd love to hear your feedback and your ahas from this podcast. All right, we'll talk to you soon.