The Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast

211 ⎸ Now is Always the Best Time to Start

• Serena Shoup, CPA • Episode 211

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Hey ambitious bookkeepers! In this episode, I'm getting real about my "accidental" start in accounting and why NOW is always the best time to start your bookkeeping business. I'm sharing my journey from elementary education major to single mom working at a health food co-op, all the way to building my own virtual bookkeeping firm while raising kids. Spoiler alert: success doesn't require a perfect plan!

In this episode you’ll hear:

  • How I got into accounting
  • The exact steps I took to transition from corporate controller to freelance bookkeeper
  • Lessons I learned the hard way so you don’t have to
  • and much more!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

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All right. Welcome to episode. Two 11 of the Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast. I'm your host, Serena Shup. I'm A-C-P-A-A mom of three, and I am still building a bookkeeping business from my home. I am eight years in at this point, but I still feel like I am building. And in today's episode, I am going to talk about creating a plan for taking the leap. And I wanna start by talking about my. I guess my accident will start in accounting. So this is a story that if you've been around for a while, you've probably heard, but if there's any new listeners, welcome. This is the story of how I ended up in accounting. And I do think it's important for you to hear because it's proof that success doesn't require a perfect plan or even a traditional path. So maybe you'll hear. Things in my story that remind you of you, and maybe you won't, but that doesn't mean you're in the wrong place. So grab your coffee or tea, or in my case, I drink electrolytes during the day, then on like a health journey. And let's get started. So, I wanna rewind basically to the beginning of my career because honestly, accounting really wasn't part of my plan. I actually started as an elementary education major in college. I'd always wanted to teach and I was a young mom at that point. I had a brand new baby and I thought being a teacher would align well with my daughter's school schedule once she started, you know, going to school. But life had other plans and as a young mother, I ended up as a young single mother and suddenly I needed a job to support us, not only through college, but just probably through life as well. And so that's when I landed. A small health food co-op in my hometown. I was not picky about the role. I just needed to make ends meet. And so I had a friend that was working there in the produce department and he said, I'm pretty sure we're hiring. You should just come into the office and, and talk to them. I don't know what positions they're actually gonna be hiring for, but you should come talk to the managers. And so that's what I did. I submitted an application and they brought me in for an interview and I was very straightforward with them and I said, I just need a job. I will mop floors, I will stock shelves, I will do whatever you need. But I also do have a background in customer service. At that point, I had waited tables, and I also had some experience in bookkeeping. For my dad back in the day when he had his HVAC business and he was invoicing through Peachtree, so I talked about that and it so happened that the accounting software that they were using, for the grocery store was Peachtree. And so they were like, oh, you could totally work in the office. So that's what I did, but I also filled lots of other roles in the grocery store. I learned how to cashier and so I would give the cashiers breaks and I would unload the produce truck. I would stock shelves. Basically whatever needed to be done. I was there and I was available, and I was eager to do my job. So, fast forward a little bit. I end up in the back office of the store, mostly handling things like answering the phones, taking special orders, and doing the cash deposits. And my role evolved very quickly because. the finance manager noticed how accurate and thorough and fast I was at my job. I was always asking for more stuff and very organized and, eager to learn a lot about the store and the way it operated. And so she started having me do the accounts payable and then handed over. Month end close. And I learned how to do financial reports. You name it. she took me under her wing and mentored me, and I am forever grateful for her. Her name is Katrina. I doubt she listens to this podcast, but in the event that she does, I think about you often. So one of the things I like to talk about here is. Katrina didn't actually have a degree in accounting. She was entirely self-taught and she became my first and most powerful and most impactful mentor early on in my career. And by her taking me under her wing and teaching me what she knew, it showed me that like your success is really just about commitment and not credentials. So the message I wanna share with you today is if you have the drive to learn, you can achieve your goals whether you have a degree or not. now let's talk about how I shifted into then getting my degree in all of that. So after working there for a while and quickly learning all the ropes when it came to their finances, mentor, Katrina, she had asked me like, Hey, you're gonna college, right? Yeah, I'm gonna college. She's like, what are you going for? And I'm going for education. And she was like, have you ever thought about going for accounting because this really clicks for you and you're a good fit. And so I was like, not really, but I don't mind, taking a couple courses in accounting this next semester to see if it's something I'd be interested in. And so I did that. I. I convinced my advisor to allow me to enroll in not just accounting 1 0 1, but 1 0 2 at the same time, which is something they don't normally allow. And I was like, I promise, like I'm a good student. I can do this. I wanna take both so that I can, next semester I can hit the ground running. If I do go into the accounting program, I won't have to wait again. Wait for. The following semester for that 1 0 2 class to be offered because it was a small university and the timing and everything. So she was like, okay, I don't normally allow this, but I will let you this one time, but if it looks like you're not gonna like be able to hack it, like we'll drop you from the class. And I was like, that's not gonna be a problem for me. And it wasn't. And so I continued to work pretty much full-time. I worked about 25 to 30 hours a week each week at the co-op. Took my classes started, changed my major after that first semester taking accounting because I like passed those classes with flying colors. And I continued working through, at the co-op throughout the rest of college. Also during this time, little did I know my finance manager had been quietly preparing. Me to take over her role. So she was mentoring me, but she also saw the potential and saw that she could hand things over and feel comfortable with it. And so one day I came into work to find a manila envelope on my desk with the store keys, her credit cards, and her resignation letter. So I was officially the finance manager at 21 years old, and that role, taught me so much, not just about accounting, but about leadership, problem solving. And explaining financial statements in simple terms, because I was also responsible for presenting the financials to a volunteer board of directors. So I wanna emphasize the fact that. The board of directors at a food co-op was not a board of directors that was selected and had like all this background in running businesses. The board of directors at the Food Co-op were all, most people, they had some, some of them had backgrounds in business, but most of 'em were just really passionate about having healthy food in the community. And so they were not experts at reading financial statements. And that was one thing that they relied on the finance manager for. Was to be able to explain everything and, guide them in creating the budget and approving it and all that kind of stuff. So, this. Skill that I learned really early on has shaped how I now teach business owners to understand their numbers. So after graduating, I moved, this was in New Mexico. I moved to Tucson, Arizona and worked at a small CPA firm where I got experience in tax and bookkeeping for small businesses. And what was really cool about this firm is they were actually ahead of their time. They were already moving to a paperless environment, and this was like in 20 10, 20 11. And, from there, that piece really allowed me to understand how to organize a virtual firm in a digital way. And so I was able to bring that experience with me as well, which is something that I teach my students here. So, from there I moved into corporate roles in manufacturing and biotech. Eventually becoming a corporate controller and building out an entire accounting team. So while I gained a lot of experience in corporate, I'm so grateful for, I knew deep down all along that it wasn't where I wanted to stay. I have entrepreneurship in my blood, and I knew eventually I wanted to start a business. I just never really. Expected to to be here, obviously, but for some reason I thought I would start some other kind of business. But I did also see the potential of being able to do this on my own when I worked in corporate because. Things were already moving to the cloud. Like I said, in that small CPA firm, they were doing things digitally. We were starting to attend, seminars and things about accounting on the cloud and the security and all of that. And then once I moved into, corporate. We were owned by a parent company in New York City, and we were all the way in San Diego, and of everything that we did, we had to upload and it was all like remote and digital servers and all of that. So I knew that this was possible that this could be done from home. I just didn't feel ready in the sense that. For the most part, I knew, I knew, I knew what I was doing skill wise. Where I knew I didn't feel ready was talking to clients, doing sales calls and all of the stuff that I teach now, because I know that there's so many people out there in that same position because we don't learn those skills in college. We are taught. The skill of accounting so that we can go out and work for another business and run their accounting. But we're not responsible for bringing business in. Funnily enough, like we're not even taught real communication skills, even though that's a very important piece when you start to work in accounting, whether you're in audit or you're in corporate and you're having to talk to other leaders within the company, those are all very important. Relationships to maintain, and that should be a component of our degrees, but it's not. So after I end up as the corporate controller, I end up pregnant again. And so I have a second child on the way. My first child at this point is 10 years old, and so I'm basically starting over, but I had the gift of. Knowing how quickly that time passes, because I, I've, at this point, I have a 10-year-old, and I, I know how fast that time moves, and when they say in the blink of an eye, they grow up. It's a, it's true. And so having that gift of, I guess 2020 hindsight, I don't know if you wanna call that hindsight. I knew that. For my second child, I did not want to be working 40 plus hours a week, and in the role that I was currently in, I was working more like 50 hours a week and sometimes taking things home and working even more. So I knew that that was not something that I wanted to have happen again. And so as soon as I left corporate, I started devising a plan in my mind. I knew I had time to be a stay at home mom. I was fortunate enough to have a partner who earning enough that I didn't need to work, but I knew that by the time my kids, you know, my babies were in school, I would want to be working again. And so I was kind of laying the groundwork for that. But I wanted to also be earning in the meantime, so I had this bright idea to just freelance virtually doing some bookkeeping. Just really easy bookkeeping, nothing extreme like I was doing in corporate. No long hours, but earning a little bit of money, on the side. So that's what I did. I figured out a way to, through some Google searches. I was like, how do I get clients online virtually? And I came across Upwork. I think at that time it was actually called Freelancer. And so I did a little bit of Googling about freelance bookkeeping and found Upwork, and I started just applying for jobs on Upwork. And that's where I got all of my initial clients who then became, my like cheerleaders and started referring me to other people. I was very upfront about, being a mom and working from home because I wanted to help small businesses and I wanted to share in that value. And to my surprise, most of the clients I came across really appreciated that honesty, and they were very flexible with me on that. The other reason I bring this up is because. I felt really weird about leaving my corporate job to quote unquote be a stay-at-home mom and then all of a sudden, like starting a business. And I didn't want, like, I was very concerned about what people might think of me now. I don't care. But back then I was very concerned about it. So I didn't talk about it on LinkedIn. I didn't really talk about it in, my close family circles or even friend circles, to be honest, which was. It is honestly sad because I think I probably would've, I missed out on opportunities by not talking about it. I think if you have people around you that know what you're doing, they're gonna want you to succeed and they're gonna be your cheerleader and refer you. So I, believe I missed out on referral opportunities through that, but. Because of that, that's why I went to Upwork. I went to the place where people are actually looking for the service, and I didn't have to do the heavy lifting of pitching myself to someone who may or may not need my service. At least I knew everyone who was there that posted a job for a bookkeeper. They already know they need a bookkeeper. It's just a matter of can I, , showcase my talents and my values and my personality enough for them to choose me. So if you're in a position where you're not ready to share publicly that you're building a business, maybe you're currently in corporate, and maybe you have an agreement with your employer that you're not to have a side hustle or something like that. There are other avenues. And so, I just want you to note, you don't have to do social media. I never did social media until like three years in, to be honest. So as I grew my firm, I realized that there wasn't much support for bookkeepers transitioning from corporate roles like myself or starting out on their own. as I was part of like different bookkeeping business groups or bookkeeper groups on Facebook and things like that, I kept seeing the same questions asked over and over again in communities, especially around onboarding clients. Managing processes, finding work-life balance. And so I started sharing my own processes and tips, which led to creating, a blog, which is what this podcast started out as. And then further on down the line, the Bookkeeping Business Accelerator, which is my signature program. So I know I said at the top of this episode. I want to help you, like basically create a plan for taking the leap. And so I've already given you a lot of nuggets along the way with sharing my own story of how I did it. But here are some lessons that I learned along the way as well. Number one, start before you feel ready. I honestly waited. Way longer than I should have to start my business because I thought I needed more experience. And yes, while the additional experience I received in corporate was very valuable, looking back, I realized that I could have learned as I went along. And, I probably could have started five years before I did because the technology was already there. But everything for, for a reason, right? But if you're here listening to this today and you've already thought, is it too late for me to start? No, it's not too late for you to start, but today is the best day to start. So just take one step that it's gonna push you closer to that goal, and you're already listening to this podcast. So that's a great first step. Number two, I would say dream big, but you can still start small. So like I said, I built my business alongside raising my kids, which meant growing a lot slower than some might prefer, and others that surpassed me as we started. At the same time, there's other people that I remember seeing in Facebook groups that are now like. You know, quarter million, half a million to a million dollar firms at this point, because they hustled, they, put in the grind, but everybody has like their own seasons of life and abilities to do those things. So start small. And then number three, be intentional from the very beginning. So that's one of the things that I did is I hired a part-time bookkeeper. Very early on, I think I had maybe five clients because I knew I didn't wanna do everything myself. And that decision helped me avoid. Creating just another job for myself as well as pricing in a way that, was conducive to building a team. Because pretty early on I was already sharing in the profits. And then number four, lean into your community, whether, that's this community, the ambitious bookkeeper, we have a Facebook group, whether that is, maybe you have a local, business community that you can network with, but. Make sure you have a community around you and supporting you as you start. If I had had more of a community of support when I started, I think I probably would've gotten further faster, if that makes sense. So surround yourself with like-minded people and make sure you have that support system. So if you're listening and you're dreaming of starting or even scaling the bookkeeping business, you already have. Like I said, my advice is to take the first step. You don't have to know all the answers or have everything figured out just to start and then create a plan. Look at your next one to two steps and focus on those, but also like lay out a plan of where you want to be in the next maybe 90 days or year so that you have that to build upon. And. Progress happens step by step, not all at once. And then lastly, just find support. Like I said, whether it's a mentor, a community, a program like the Accelerator, having people in your corner will help you stay motivated and confident and,. One last little note, if you are looking for that community and you haven't found it yet, like I said, we do have the Ambitious Bookkeeper Facebook group. I'll link that below, podcast if you're listening, or below this video if you're watching on YouTube. And, we are also in, a open registration period for back to school. Just kidding. But it feels like back to school because I'm running the Bookkeeping Biz Workshops on August 18th through the 20th. It's just three days.

It's, at 4:

00 PM Pacific every evening of those three days, it'll be about 90 minutes long, virtually online. And I'm gonna talk about what it takes to start a bookkeeping business and be virtual. We're gonna talk about the tools necessary and we're gonna talk about how to set things up intentionally, like I just talked about, so that you're attracting the right clients and working. Towards your specific goals, not somebody else's. And we're also gonna do a little bit of sales, 1 0 1. Um, And that way you have a foundation of some selling skills in case you are like me and you had zero when you started your, bookkeeping business. So yeah. Thank you so much for tuning in each and every week. I look forward to being in your headphones next week. Bye.

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