The One About Appreciation
Don't ever settle.
TL;DR
In the early days of my business, I treated myself to a membership at a co-working space. I was only on the lowest membership level which allowed me to go 2x a month and get a business address. Even that tiny bit of access made me feel like pretty big cheese, y’all.
Two days isn’t a lot, but it was all I could afford. But being the efficient girl that I am and always liking to stack my activities, I would always pick the days when something extra was happening there. One of the extra events that they would do was called “Lightning Lunch and Learn” where they would set up chairs in the common area and three different members had 5 minutes + 10 slides to talk about their business.
So I eventually stuck my neck out and offered to do a presentation. The best ones I’d heard from other members were always somewhat clever. So, I did my best to be clever, too.
My title was “Why Hiring a Bookkeeper is a lot like Dating”.
There were a lot of different cute angles I presented on my 10 slides, but one point I made was how occasionally bookkeepers and business owners have to break up (a.k.a. the “disengagement”).
There are a variety of reasons why we might need to break up with a client. And we might find that a client initiates that break up. But, just like in dating, we should always break up with clients that don’t appreciate us.
Folks regularly post in the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Facebook group asking for advice about crappy situations they are dealing with in a relationship with a client. Folks describe rotten treatment from a client and ask the group if this is normal behavior or if you are being unreasonable or how you can set boundaries.
But I don’t think the advice is all too different than what you would tell your best friend or any teenage boy or girl in your life. You’d tell those folks you loved to have some self-respect and kick those losers to the curb if their behavior doesn’t change. You’d say “He/She doesn’t deserve you!” You’d tell them to make a plan to break up.
We should have the same standards for ourselves in our business relationships. And so I’m telling this to those of you who need to hear it.
If a client doesn’t appreciate and value our hard work, we should leave. We should not settle. There are more fish in the sea.
Will you please tell me when/if I come to the community and solicit advice about how to deal with some mean, disrespectful, mouth-breathing troglodyte of a client?
Pinky promise? K!
Speaking of appreciating the hardworking bookkeepers out there, BILL is hosting a special week called Bookkeeper Appreciation Week from April 14-18. They have asked me to partner with them to highlight the heroic work that bookkeepers do. And there will be prizes! The very first step is to help them gather some data regarding our profession as a whole. We need a large sample size, so we need YOU to click the graphic to take the survey. And start thinking of your “how you were a hero to your client” story to share in the coming months.
Deals Deals Deals
💰 I asked for a discount code for Scaling New Heights for this group. And I received one! Since I’m going to be there, I’d love to meet as many of y’all as possible. Use code BKSideHustle50 for $50 off (not a paid referral link).
💰 Use this link to save $1,400 off the The Bookkeeping Accelerator by Akadian Accounting Education.
💰 Once upon a time I took a cohort-based program called the Theater of Public Speaking by Misty Megia. Though you won't read the word “accounting” or “bookkeeping” on any of the marketing material for the program, just know that this program is largely comprised of people from our industry who want to increase their confidence in delivering presentations and taking stage. When you take the course, you also get access to the “alumni network” which places you in the company of movers & shakers that you have probably heard of. If you want to speak and be in the company of other speakers, this program is built for that. I asked Misty for a code that will give you 10% off the program instead of me getting a 10% affiliate commission. I want you to join the program more than I want money. Use code KJToPS.
Please always send me any news of deals that you hear of that others might benefit from.
Be There or Be Square
Items with a “+” are hosted by me. All these events can be viewed and registered for in the DESCRIPTIONS of each event on the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Calendar.
📅 February 17-21 - Power to Breakthrough Bootcamp. This FREE bootcamp is designed for bookkeepers & accountants who are ready to scale their business. Sign up HERE!
📅 February 18 - Introduction to Accounting and Bookkeeping for Small Business Owners. This class is a terrific introduction into the business behind business. QBO Rock Star Alicia Katz Pollock teaches you what you need to know about bookkeeping in order to succeed! Sign up HERE*
📅 February 19 - Free Keeper Q&A with Hughes and Strong. This month they will focus on some workarounds if you don't have 20 connected clients and have their usual Q&A.
📅 +February 27 - Should A Bookkeeper Become an Enrolled Agent? Tom Norton CPA, EA is joining me to tell us about what it means to be an IRS Enrolled Agent. If you curious about adding taxes to your practice, come learn about becoming an Enrolled Agent, the IRS's highest designation for tax prep. RSVP on Facebook.
Featured Posts
🌶️ This one is a tough one. And one that is not talked enough about. Sarah B. shared her ongoing experience about how to manage an employee that is having a life crisis (had to take in 18-month old twins in this particular case). Entrepreneurship is soooo hard. Sarah needs to make money, too. She needs to keep her business viable. Ugh. There is no training for this sort of thing. No clear, right answers. But at least don’t do the hard stuff like this in a vacuum, y’all. Get support from a community.
🌶️ I put out a cry for help related to having a template for an SOP, or “An SOP for creating an SOP.” Y’all delivered! Especially Alyssa Lang, a.k.a The Workflow Queen! Y’all, she even did a loom to talk it through in the comments on that post. I put a link to my “SOP Template” in those comments, too.
🌶️ The bodies are buried in the Balance Sheet. True True! Joana L. gives such a great explanation about why/how to include reconciling balance sheet accounts. And how if you start there, your P&L is probably right.
🌶️ If you are trying to build a large firm, is it better to aim for fewer $5,000 clients? Or more $1,000 clients? This post took up a LOT of space in my mind lately.
Help You Hustle
💪 We learned about how to get clients with in-person networking from Erin Pohan who has put all her efforts into building a local clientele (though she serves them virtually, of course). I truly believe that if you look 100 people in the eye and shake their hand and say you are a bookkeeper taking on new clients, you will get a client. And whatever personal limitation you have that you think means you can't meet people, I promise you someone has it harder and is not letting their circumstances stop them.
There were at least 6 different free ideas of local groups you can visit today.
Her story of a “fail” is pretty cringe (like really???). Chances are you will not be that embarrassing.
💪 There is a new community being formed called Ask A Bookkeeper. It is managed by a bookkeeping whiz named Corey Jankowski. Very affordable coaching group intended to answer technical questions. If you want to see her technical chops in action, you can see her in this sample problem from her QBO Clean Up course that she partnered with Akadian Accounting Education to create.
For Fun
😹 Financial Cents is doing a weekly “step challenge” to encourage people to walk 6,000 steps a day. Details here. I think I was the only one who played the game the first week and so I the prize last week. The odds are in your favor for this game.
Jobs
💼 7 jobs were added to the Job Guide including one in real estate and one in construction. Check out the posts for more info on the jobs. Check it out HERE.
Don’t forget the standing opps on my Find A Freelance Job article. 1099 and W-2 opps.
My Family Circus (43F, 40M, 13M, 11F, 10M)
🎪 The Rule of 3:
I'm no nutritionist, and I'm no chef. But I have a simple rule related to food that I think has provided a lot of benefits. This might come in handy when you find yourself in a “busy season”.
What's the Rule of 3? For at least one meal a day (ours is dinner) we've got to have three things on the plate.
Benefits of Kate’s Rule of 3 for food:
Fights feelings of depression and self pity
Promotes general healthiness because likely one of the three things will be healthy.
Avoids that thing I dreaded as a young mom which was having a picky eater who only eats chicken nuggets.
This rule came about a few years into our marriage when I found myself outnumbered by extremely tiny, helpless humans and an absent husband. We were also a single income, military family so the food budget was pretty tight.
I knew that I did not want my kids seeing me eat just a bowl of cereal for dinner.
And I knew that was a pretty sure ticket to start feeling really sorry for myself and my life circumstances really quickly.
So I made up the Rule of 3. But again, I’m no chef and no nutritionist. But I can count.
Grilled cheese, canned tomato soup, potato chips? Three things.
Bowl of cereal, bowl of grapes, and bowl of applesauce. That almost sounds like you planned it.
Fried egg, smoothie, and a pickle? Un, Deux, Trois!
There were plenty of nights during some tough seasons where I literally counted half a banana as a side. A piece of toast counted, too.
But more often than not, this rule helped our plates look something like grilled chicken, rice, and roasted broccoli. Or a casserole, bread rolls, and simple salad. Basically, plates that aren’t depressing. Plates that weren’t just chicken nuggets.
And when all I could muster was frozen chicken nuggets, well, some sliced apples and steamed frozen green beans made me feel a lot better about my lot in life.
These guardrails continue to help me through seasons of life when it is easy to have really pathetic interactions with food. The Rule of 3 helps me look like a TRIED when my whole being feels like not trying.
And, if you ask my kids “what do you call a dinner that has FOUR things on the plate?”, they will all answer, “Momma calls that a Feast!”.
Kate Builds In Public
🎢 I have befriended a local accounting professor and am doing a presentation for her students next month. I wanted to have an easy way to connect with the students. And the idea that I came up with was that I wanted a QR code that went to my LinkedIn profile. I went down a rabbit hole about the best way to get a free QR code and what I found is that we all already have a QR code that LinkedIn gives us! Holla! I followed the instructions on this help article and now have a way to connect with these college students.
🎢 I have engaged two different subconractors for clean up projects that I have gotten. They are more skilled than I am at that kind of work. And I still keep some of the money myself.
I find that I don’t ever regret bringing in someone for big projects like that because I know that it is not the kind of work that I have a competitive advantage in. If you feel the same, check the classified ad below to connect with a QBO clean up specialist.
🎢 Here is a view of that “Why Hiring a Bookkeeper is a lot like Dating” powerpoint presentation. Don’t judge my 2019 design work! If you want to riff on it, can you just please ask me first?
From The Vault
⚡ As we enter tax season, it is a good time to share a replay of a video I made called “Should You Tithe on Your Tax Refund”. Feel free to disagree in the comments below.
Related: “How I Tithe as a Business Owner”.
Classifieds (Clickable)
Keep hustling!
Kate
-Chief Hustler-
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I am down right rabid about transparency and full disclosure. If a link has a * beside it, it means it is either an affiliate link where I might receive compensation if you make a purchase, at no additional charge to you. Or it could be a tracking link that another business provided me to see how many readers click on that link.