The Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast

163 ⎸ [SPOTLIGHT] Customize your Business with Nic Robb

• Serena Shoup, CPA • Episode 163

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In this Spotlight episode I’m shining the spotlight on one of my BBA students, Nicole Robb. She talks about how BBA played a pivotal role in building confidence, finding the right clients, and getting invaluable support from the BBA community. Tune in to hear what BBA can do for you!

In this episode you’ll hear:

  • Nic's journey
  • the importance of being patient and making connections to gain clients
  • the value of having community support in managing difficult situations
  • specific aspects of BBA & their relevance to building and growing a successful bookkeeping business


Resources mentioned in this episode:


Meet Nic
Nic has over 10 years of experience in bookkeeping, along with admin work as well. She worked for QBO during COVID, and started her business 2019. Her niche used to be in Real Estate, but now she serves a variety of clients including a Hair Salon, Consultant, Property Manager, RE Agents, and some RE.


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

For more information about the Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast or interest in our programs or mentoring visit our resources below:

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Serena:

welcome to the Ambitious Bookkeeper podcast today. I have one of my students on the air with me and we're just going to kind of go through her story and hopefully you'll find some inspiration in this episode. So welcome, Nicole. How are you today? I'm okay.

Nic:

I'm good, thank you, how are you?

Serena:

I'm doing well. So I'm going to have you introduce yourself and how long you've been in business and where you were at when you discovered the Ambitious Bookkeeper.

Nic:

So my name's Nicole. I've been in my business now as bookkeeping, probably for the last five years. Before that, I was doing bookkeeping for some of my admin clients. I've always done virtual assistant work. And then during COVID, I actually started working for QuickBooks. And then, , when I was working for QuickBooks, I came across an education program for bookkeeping., that was around Thanksgiving. There was a big special, so I purchased it and it really dove deeper, like dives deep into what exactly booking is, how you use it, how you use QuickBooks, more than not, not just using the software, but the actual bookkeeping portion. And then I finished up with, them with like a year later, but while I was working for them, I did actually, get clients. And then I was looking at Asana with Alyssa and then I saw her mentioning you. So then I jumped over to BBA and then to Elevate and we've had this relationship for a while now.

Serena:

I know it's been a few years, it feels

Nic:

Yes. Years, Yeah,

Serena:

it's always interesting to hear like how people end up in my world because there's so many different avenues like that. And, , it could be from collaborations I've done or just randomly finding the podcast, but I'm always curious. And then there's so many, you know, like you that have been around for so long that I'm like, when did you jump in? Where was that? How was that? So it's, it's always fun to hear that story. you were, bookkeeping for QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Live, I guess. was it, like, when you started doing that, did you have the desire to be on your own and like at some point and you just needed experience or were you just kind of like walk me through like how you ended up even working for QuickBooks Live and that whole thing? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nic:

Well, it was the same thing. I had one client already and I knew how to use QuickBooks from years past when I was working for someone like 20 years ago doing QuickBooks desktop. but then I think it just came to, I saw ads that they were looking for people and I thought, you know, my confidence wasn't that great on doing it on my own. So doing. QuickBooks Live definitely helped my confidence. I was put in the cleanup department so I learned a ton. It wasn't just onboarding people, I was grateful that I was in the background. And I learned so much about cleanups and how the books actually work and just a lot of stuff. then I just started getting a couple more clients because they encourage you to Um, and then I was only working part time for them and then it kind of just snowballed., I did have to have wrist surgery and that kind of stopped me working for QuickBooks. But then once I recovered from the wrist surgery, It just all fell into place, back then. Just kept going on my own and got a couple more clients and, and I was happy with that.

Serena:

when you discover the Ambitious Bookkeeper, it sounds like you were starting to build out your own workflows using Asana. But what was one of the other big things that you were trying to solve by, you know, joining a community like this in a program?

Nic:

I think what the, education I did was more about education. It was, it was very, straightforward on how to get a client, like do this, do that, this is how you do the books. But it wasn't, Like giving you an, didn't give me enough confidence to build a business. And then when I saw, I think it was your workshop that I first did. And I think that is what helped me see. All the things you have to offer. And I think for me, it's really important to gel with the person that I'm being taught by. So I had a couple of education programs I was going to go with, and then I ended up going with the one because I liked the way he taught things. And then when I listened to you, it just, you just gravitated to me, similar personality. So I just liked, I have to be with someone that I'm going to listen to and I'm not going to go, Oh God, I can't stand listening to it anymore. So. So that was that. And I think I was just looking for more, the confidence to build the business rather than just how to do it. I think I need that support. And that's what I got. Definitely got that from the workshop. Just made me realize I can do it and give me some of the beginning tools. And then I think doing BBA was mind changing for my business as it's gone up and down,

Serena:

Yeah. And we could talk about that too, since you've been in the community for so long and for anyone listening, when you join BBA, you get to stay in the community. I'm not like, all right, your time here is done. And so when you're deciding to pivot your business like you have, or when, things come up as you grow, you still get to tap into that community. You get to join the calls and get that support. And there's been other programs that I've taken where it's a finite time of When you're allowed to like be a part of the community or you have to pay extra to stay in, or even just the content will go away after a certain period of time. And the only thing that we do that with is the workshops because we offer them twice a year anyway. But, the content, like once you're in BBA, you're in for life. And so you get to refer back to it time and again as you're pivoting your business. So, do you want to talk about some of the ways, um, How you've started your business and where you are now, like, and how you've pivoted and, Mm-Hmm.

Nic:

so when I started out, obviously, I think the education portion was one thing, but I will say that their group, like, I know we have BBA, but then I went to BBA VIP, and I think BBA. It's definitely a growing community, but I do feel like I know that I think you say in your courses when you offer it to us, like you have to already know bookkeeping because you're not teaching bookkeeping. So the other course that I was in was more like teaching bookkeeping and telling you how to get clients, but very minimal, but the community grew so much. from when I started, that it just became, like, before there was maybe a couple hundred of us, and we could do a call, and you might get your question answered, or it would go forever. And there was people of all different levels, and you learnt a lot. But then it just grew so much to thousands and thousands. It just doesn't work for me anymore. I like more of the personal touch, because I think that's one thing you do really well, is when we do have our Q& As, or even You know, typing something to support or writing something, there's always that, personal touch to it, which I like the fact that you still teach everything. You're still there. Sometimes for our work class sessions and whatever, it's different, but actually for BBA, the fact that you are the one that's there and you're talking, I think that made a huge difference. And then I got the confidence, started doing bookkeeping. My niche was real estate. it grew pretty quickly cause my husband's. Part time real estate as well while he was active duty. Now he's full time real estate. I got a lot of clients from that connection. a lot of it was cleanups. of years and lots of flips and investment properties. And I just felt really bogged down with it as far as there's just real estate bookkeeping can be really difficult because it's not just straight expenses and income. There's so many more things you have to To look at with the, with the properties and, you know, flips and whatnot. So I kind of got burnt out from it. And then I kind of had a bit of a, a life like changing, just like change of life that you just feel like, Oh, you know, getting older and all that kind of stuff. And I just lost all my confidence. And then I remember having a private session with you and we talked about where I was at. And then I gave it a break. And then once I started to feel better personally, I started to And start to feel more like myself, then I really had the confidence to go back. So there's nothing wrong with changing how you do your business or who you serve. One thing I've learned from BBA a lot is, saying no to people. And firing clients. And I think that was one of the things you never like to do, or you don't know how to do it well. And I think you really helped with showing us how to do that. so that worked well for me. So I kind of got rid of all the big real estate investors that I had, and I focused more on just the simple clients that are, And it's the easier bookkeeping. And then I kind of just kept going and now all of a sudden it's just blown up again with, you know, cleanups. And I've got four cleanups this month and I've got three new clients and they just came out of nowhere. cause it's tax time,

Serena:

Yeah.

Nic:

they read that text. Um, but yeah, definitely your business can change. Your model can change. You might take a pause. I'm fortunate that it's not my. livelihood. I, you know, I have a husband that supports me, so I don't need to work per se, and I don't have to put everything behind it. So I understand that some people like have to make this work. They don't have the choice to do whatever. So I'm fortunate in that sense. But I think for my mental health and my well being, I don't think I could have kept going the way I was. So I think pivoting, talking to you and changing, and really Getting rid of some of those clients and having a fresh look at things definitely changed and I'm glad I didn't close up in that sense because I was close to doing that when we talked. So I was close to just closing everything down and then, yeah, slightly came back to you. So everything happens for a reason.

Serena:

Yeah. That's one of the things too that I try to. Make sure people understand. And someone asked me a question the other day about, or maybe it was a post in a different group and they're like, I hear all these podcasts about like these huge firms. And it's like, I'm not interested in doing that. I just want a handful of clients, but I want to know how to do it right. And so I was like, Ooh, Ooh, that's my bread and butter.

Nic:

That's what you, what you do do. And even though it's not, the hands on bookkeeping, you still give tons of advice. And if we need, if we're stuck and say, how do I, you know, how do I do this? Or how do I book that? Whatever. You're always there to answer it. And I think having that. It's true that you're, you know, tax preparer, you have all that knowledge, plus you did corporate, all the things you've done, lets me have a good feeling that the answers I get, even in BBA, I've always feel confident with the answers that people give, rather than the other community where it's a mixture of people with levels and everyone's telling you something different, it's like, I don't like to rely on the student group necessarily for the answers, but some of the other inspiration, but the actual answers I'd like to get from the educator, who's taught me. Who knows what the answer is, you know, cause you can come up

Serena:

And I, I try to be very transparent too. When it's like, when it's not something I know about, I'm like, well, this is something I would definitely ask like a CPA or whatever. even though I am a CPA, it's different. Like it depends on like that particular client and the rest of the picture a lot of times, but, but yeah. so now that you are A few years in, well, when did you start your business? How long has it been?

Nic:

officially, like actually made a name, got a self proprietorship. Before that I was just doing bookkeeping. Since 2000 and. three. I did have my own business back in Australia, electrical business, that I was doing the books for and payroll. So I already had an experience with that, but my background is teaching. I'm a teacher. for me, yeah, it kind of changed, but 2090 is when I officially started, the bookkeeping business. Journey.

Serena:

I don't know if I realized you had a teaching background. So how does that play into the way you work with clients?

Nic:

I think, well, I'm, I'm a teacher that's very structured, so I'm like your old school teacher. to me, it's just, I have the organization skills, which you have to have as a teacher, you know, to stay on top of 30 students., so I think that's a huge plus. I think, , I really have been enjoying, Like where I'm at now is switching more to setups and some training. And I think that has helped a lot with how to teach people and everyone is different. So I try to ask them, do you want, you know, paper and some questions, or do you want it like a zoom or, you know, I try to get them to do it hands on instead of me doing it for them when I'm training. So I think just being a teacher and just, yeah, I mean, It's different working with children than it is with adults, but I think you can still apply your teaching to your business. Because I think as a teacher, we are our own little business, you know, we've got our classroom, our students. and so that's definitely has an impact on how I run my business. Oh,

Serena:

I started out as an elementary education major. I don't know if, if we've talked about this before.

Nic:

Oh,

Serena:

Yeah. Um, and then I switched to accounting, but here I am teaching.

Nic:

yes. I started off with accounting at Community College in Australia. I started doing Accounting 101. And then I switched to, , yeah, early childhood education. And then I went to uni and got my degree in early childhood and education. And then I started teaching in the primary school, which is kindergarten to sixth grade. So that's kind of, and then I moved to America and I just couldn't get a job as a teacher in California. It was just so hard to get a teaching position back then. There was just hundreds and hundreds of people at these job fairs trying to get a teaching position. So then I went back to what I knew, which was running my own business back there. It's like, okay, I'll go back to the admin. So I think they both work hand in hand, you know, personally. I mean, there's a lot of teachers out there that are a little bit different and I think it's a different world now to 20 years ago, 25 years ago. But, , I definitely think teaching can have a good, it helps you with organizing your business.

Serena:

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, pretty much any experience that you have doing something somewhere is going to, if you can connect the dots and, make it work, like it's just, there's, it's a win win.

Nic:

yeah, exactly. It's true and, and yeah, you can, you can apply any of your skills to it if you really want to and you want to make it work. You just got to put in the hard work. people say I can't get clients, I can't get clients. Well, sometimes you just, it's hard if you, Don't like to put yourself out there and I really don't. I'm just fortunate that my husband gets me with most of my leads and then one of the CPAs I started working with has sent me several. So it's good to build up that relationship that they have confidence in me to send me clients. So that's been really good. but yeah, you just have to, you have to be patient and you have to really work at it, but I think you also really need to know how to do bookkeeping. You know, I think that's going to be a big part of it. You can help with all of our business and how to be efficient and all those, you know, the stack deck we can use and all that kind of stuff, which is so helpful because it really helps you build your own business to suit you and to be efficient. But I think you still have to know the bookkeeping. Otherwise, you know, you can I just feel like I have to have that confidence to do it.

Serena:

absolutely. I wholeheartedly agree. And I want to kind of back up to what you kind of, you kind of brushed over how you get clients and, but I want to, I want to bring that up again because I think it's really important and illuminating that you know yourself and you know you have a hard time putting yourself out there. So what you've done probably accidentally is made connections with a couple of people that have the reach. And you've proven that you know what you're doing. So those people have confidence in your work and they have no problem selling you.

Nic:

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. and, and that's the, the good part is once you build that relationship with just that one person and it can, it took me a long time. I mean, I, The CPI, I met at a baby shower and he wanted to open a portion of his business as bookkeeping, and he wanted me to come on and do all the bookkeeping and overseal the bookkeepers. Well, that wasn't really what I wanted to do. And that was at the time in my life where I was really not confident. So it never really worked out, but then they sent me somebody and then they sent me someone again, and now they've sent me two other people. And it's just, you working out that they're telling their clients, if you don't get someone to do your books, we can't do your taxes anymore. And these are big clients too. yeah, exactly. You have to, it just takes time. You just have to be patient. You can put yourself out everywhere and then get nothing and then get really discouraged, but don't give up. Like just try to maybe focus on one or two things and really give that a try. Whether you go into Facebook groups or talk to people, I think sometimes if you put yourself out there everywhere, it gets a little bit discouraging when you don't get a bite.

Serena:

because it feels like you're doing so much, but in reality, if you're putting yourself out there everywhere and you're only tapping into one of those places once a week or once every couple weeks for you, it feels like a lot of work because you're spreading yourself thin, but the people that are in those areas aren't seeing your name pop up enough for it to make a difference. So it's kind of counterintuitive. So yeah, like what you said is focus on one or two areas. be consistent, continue to show up. That's the thing with marketing is sometimes it takes a few months of consistently showing up in a place for it to work. but then when it does, it kind of like all happens at once.

Nic:

Well, yeah, exactly. And I think sometimes the education programs can make it seem very, oh, you know, you know everything now and put yourself out there and go on LinkedIn and go on Facebook and they just make it like they say it and they wash their hands like you're done now you'll you'll find someone but it's not that easy and I see people in that group all the time saying I still haven't found anyone it's been months but it takes time it really takes time to to build.

Serena:

yeah, absolutely. But I, I do still think the best way to, If you can just get that one client and serve them really, really well, eventually they are going to send you someone else.

Nic:

Yeah, it's word of mouth. And that's where I think, I mean, all the marketing is wonderful. I don't do a lot of it to be honest. I'm just being fortunate. It's been all word of mouth and referrals. And I prefer that because you know me, like I like to know who I'm working with. And I used to struggle with like one of my clients sent me like six referrals and I met with all of them. And not one of them was a good fit for me. And through you helping us say, you know, how to put it to say to them, I don't think we're a good fit, whatever, I was able to turn them all down. Because first of all, a lot of them didn't want to pay what a bookkeeper should be paid. They're on the East Coast. So in the smaller states, everything was cheaper. So, you know, they think it's too expensive, but they all had such, I can just tell, I just have a gut feeling when I talk to people and I get that sense. So for me, it's like, if I get that sense that I talked to you and I think we gel, I'll definitely try to win your business. But if it's someone that I really don't think I get that vibe, I just politely would say, then, you know, I don't think I'm a good fit for what you need.

Serena:

Yeah. It's really important to, to listen to that. And I talk a lot about this in my programs is like honoring your intuition, because if you do have like that weird gut feeling initially, when you meet someone, Chances are that's going to come back to haunt you. And I, I do still want to recognize, like you said, there's, there are people that do need that business. And sometimes you have to weigh the risk of that red flag of like, okay, well, I know this is probably going to end badly eventually, but right now it's a client and it's experience. And sometimes you make that sacrifice and I've made that

Nic:

Yeah.

Serena:

too. So,

Nic:

done it. I've done it from the beginning. It's after time that you learn that who you want to work with and that's where you just have to be. I'm just fortunate in my situation. I know not everybody's in that position and people want clients and they'll take whoever but I just feel with BBA the support is there that you can Not only learn how to run your business, but I think it's, you touch a lot on how to work with your clients, not the hands on bookkeeping, but how to mold them to what you need, how to communicate with them, how to handle those difficult discussions. Like, I think there's a lot more. I think BBA is more of the personal touch as well. It's definitely showing you how to run your business and all the things you can do and to be efficient but I think for me, the biggest takeaway has been how to deal with those difficult situations and having the support of the BBA Facebook group. Cause everyone's had experiences one way or the other. And when everyone shares in the group, especially in the VIP group, it just, you just know, you know, we all kind of have been there. So I think that's the biggest thing is like, once you have the business, well, how am I going to move forward in it? How am I going to be successful? How am I going to make this work and not feel like I'm working now more than 40 hours a week? Like, how do you, how do you do that?

Serena:

yeah. It is really important to have that community aspect and that is one thing I love about our community. Like you said, it still feels small. We've had maybe a couple hundred people go through the program, but at a certain point people kind of drop off and stop participating. So it's been able to stay a tight knit group.

Nic:

That's what I love. Exactly. It grows but I think like you said people drop off and, and you can always come back. Like it can be sometimes like I just don't make the call or whatever and then I'll come back, oh I have a question and then I come back and I ask my question and then I'm sucked back in and then I come back every week, you know. So it just happens that way but it's a good thing because you guys are always there and that's what I think is important for people to know. It's not just one and done. The support is, yeah, amazing.

Serena:

Thank you. I appreciate that. And the personal touch thing in the program. this is one of those areas. That's always a question mark for people is like, well, I'm not brand new in business. So like this business, this program kind of shows you how to start and whatever your business, but like, I try to, Make sure people understand that it's also if you've been in business for a few years and there's some things that aren't working or you want to start to like set yourself apart from other bookkeepers because, because of that communication aspect and like the reports that we provide and things like that. So I just wanted to kind of touch on that a little bit too.

Nic:

And we can always learn something new, and you'll always learn something new on some of the calls, and things come up that you're like, well, I've never experienced this, like, how would I handle this? And, yeah, you guys in the community has always been there, which, you know, I've always appreciated. I just feel more confident having that support. from both the education portion and from the business portion. But after a while the education portion kind of drops off because then you kind of know what you're doing. So you do need someone like BBA or like that platform where you can keep going with it to keep growing or changing your business.

Serena:

Yeah, Well, I super appreciate you participating in the community as much as you do., I love, I love answering questions and I've said this before, like on the live Q and A's, it's like when people, I need people to come ask questions because that's what I, like, I've got to have, that, I'm a generator. So it's like, you ask me a question, I'll give you an answer and it'll start a discussion. But yeah, I really appreciate you always bringing stuff to the group and providing experience and learning opportunity for other people too who may not know that they have that question. and yes, thank you so much for coming and sharing on the podcast as well. If, if someone is on the fence about maybe joining the workshops or BBA, what would you, what advice would you give them to help them make that decision?

Nic:

I think I would have them look at where they're at at their business and what are they looking for? Because every course can be different and the workshops, I'm trying to remember all the workshops from back then, because I think it's like a, is it a five part or four

Serena:

Yeah, it's like three workshops and a bonus.

Nic:

Yeah. And there was one with the stack deck, wasn't there? Like you do the stack. Yeah. remind me what the different ones are, the different workshops.

Serena:

Yeah. So the first of what it takes to to run a virtual bookkeeping business. Then we go through the, the tech stack and then how to build a business, not a job. And then the final day is selling without the sleaze.

Nic:

That's right. Yeah. And I, well, I think, I think if anyone is looking, if they have their business, but they want to really. Make it their personal business and have the confidence to change as your business changes. as the economy changes, as the world changes, as the environment changes, things always change differently. You know, everyone says, Oh, you know, I think from COVID so many small businesses came about. So all these people need bookkeepers. That's great. But if you don't really know how to bookkeep, you shouldn't be taking on booking clients. That's just my opinion. You have to learn that. But I think once you get to there, BBA is just that extra step of showing you how to do it efficiently. And how to be true to yourself. Cause I feel like you guys do tap into us, like asking us, well, what do you want to do for your business? And how do you want your clients? And which clients do you want? And I think it's more about us finding that good fit. And I think the workshop just goes through all of the, the efficiencies of having a business, but also focus on us as the business owner. And how we can sell ourselves without being sleazy because none of us like selling. So that's a huge, that was a huge part of it. yeah, I think if you're ready to take that next step and really make your business your own and make that a reflection of you, not just, it's a business and, you know, turning and whatever business out. I think that's what BBA is great for. Well, that's what it's been grateful for me too.

Serena:

Good. Thank you so much. and if you want to connect with Nick, Nicole, join the program. She's in the group. She participates. She comes on the calls and

Nic:

You

Serena:

to hang out with her.

Nic:

can hear my accent the whole time.

Serena:

I know. I love it. Awesome. Well, thank you so much

Nic:

You're welcome. Okay, thank you.

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