Heart Behind Hustle® Podcast: Entrepreneurship Marketing Lifestyle for Impact-Driven Coaches and Experts S1E5: LOOKING AT YOUR MONEY NUMBERS with Callie Sitek, The Smart Keep on Stitcher

Give us an example of how you landed one of your first clients. And of course, there is a very active group of students who are there to support you and answer questions along the way.

• She’s smart and has a great personality; two of the best traits for starting a bookkeeping business.
• I had owned my own CPA firm for about 15 years, but it was time for me to get out.
• I spend my days now working on ways to innovate my practice with new offerings, creating new content and training, and marketing to get new clients.
• You see, I had already trained 121 bookkeepers in my firm before I sold it.
• Callie has not only kept everything organized and on track with my business bookkeeping, but also coached me on profitability within my business.
• With the way technology is progressing, and bookkeeping is moving to the cloud, I don’t think this would be a good option for someone who is averse to computers.

In today’s episode we’re talking with Callie Sitek, the owner of the bookkeeping company that I personally use in my business. Callie has not only kept everything organized and on track with my business bookkeeping, but also coached me on profitability within my business. So I’m super excited to share her expertise with you on being profitable, paying yourself, saving for taxes, managing your money and so much more! I had already helped a few friends start their own bookkeeping businesses.

Books

I thought she had decided on someone else, but I followed up twice and hooked her. But to say that I had no understanding is an understatement. You see, I had already trained 121 bookkeepers in my firm before I sold it. I had all the content and it was excellent…. Kelly is a strong person, but she worried. Finding another virtual job was proving difficult.

Get ahead of deadlines, be more organized and efficient so your day-to-day tasks are a snap! My goal is to help you start and manage your online business for maximum success so that you can work smarter, not harder. Holly Reisem Hanna is a former nurse who decided to start a blog to make money from home while caring for her daughter. Since its inception in 2009, The Work at Home Woman has helped millions of readers find legitimate work-at-home jobs and business ideas.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your bookkeeping business.

While I feel that this business model is perfect for an introvert, you do need to be able to communicate with your clients. Of course, there are creative ways to do this, but most people do a phone consultation, so it’s important to have good communication skills. Clean Eating Chicken Chili – this hearty and healthy chili recipe is lightened up with ground chicken and is 21 day fix approved. This makes it easy to serve our clients who are also located all over the US.

So you learn about debits and credits, how to read financial reports – the works. The other track is business and marketing. You learn the steps you need to take to find a niche, create your business, set up a website, and market your business. To find out more about starting your own bookkeeping business, see the Bookkeepers, where they offer a FREE 3-part training series.

How to Start a Remote Bookkeeping Business

I have bookkeeping friends who are maxed out at five clients and make a good living. I also have a friend who had 24 clients but was getting overwhelmed with the workload. I started my journey as a Virtual Assistant. I wanted to stay home with my kids but make an income too. About a year ago, I decided to switch to bookkeeping. I had trained our firm’s bookkeepers, and I could train Kelly too.

She’s smart and has a great personality; two of the best traits for starting a bookkeeping business. Kelly and I were both starting our new businesses and helping each other a lot. It wasn’t too long before I convinced Kelly to come work for me. And, she is now our Chief Operating Officer. The course is split into two-course tracks that are sent simultaneously week by week.

TOP REGIONS (LAST 30 DAYS)

I also recently decided to send my youngest to daycare so I could focus more on my business. I spend my days now working on ways to innovate my practice with new offerings, creating new content and training, and marketing to get new clients. Then, I was busy with client work and marketing anytime my kids went down for naps or were having some independent playtime.

Under Holly’s guidance, The Work at Home Woman was named one of the best websites for your career by Forbes two years in a row. Holly lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and daughter and enjoys reading, traveling, and yoga. Obviously, you are only one person, so you can only take on so many clients by yourself. It’s also important to note that those clients’ books have different levels of complexity that can take more time.

Start before you’re ready

The cost of putting three kids in daycare would consume most of her income. And, let’s not even talk about the horrible Atlanta commute and the time away from her boys. Kelly is a single mom of three young boys. With a virtual job, she was able to put her kids on the bus in the morning. Then, she could be there when the boys came home from school. And, she could take care of a sick boy without having to take a “vacation” day.

I wanted to do something meaningful; like I was helping others live their dream life while doing the same in my own. I had owned my own CPA firm for about 15 years, but it was time for me to get out. Depending on the service, we charge roughly $60-$80 per hour, but of course, we don’t word it that way to the client. We offer extreme value at a price they are willing to pay, making it a win-win for everyone.

That isn’t to say you need a ton of tech know-how, but you do need to know how to use a computer and the debits and credits and not be afraid to Google if you have questions. It seemed to me that there were hundreds or even thousands of “Kellys” out there. Women and men who want or need the freedom that a virtual business provides. I was having a blast teaching Kelly and helping her with her business.

Now I have two bookkeepers helping out, so I rarely do client work, unless they get stumped. The absolute BEST part of my job is seeing the success our students are having. Our entire team is passionate about helping others achieve their dreams and live the 3F Lifestyle.

At this point, my workdays look a lot different than they did when I first started. I figured out where my niche was, and I went there. I found her looking for a bookkeeper, and I offered a free consultation. When we had the consult, we connected immediately, but she waited longer than a month before coming onboard.

And, a “regular” office job didn’t seem like a great option either. Within my CPA firm, I was an oddball…I had always enjoyed the marketing. So, I thought about going into consulting, or sales, or being a pool boy. By the time you finish the course, you will have a basic knowledge of bookkeeping, but a deep understanding won’t come until you get your hands dirty. With the way technology is progressing, and bookkeeping is moving to the cloud, I don’t think this would be a good option for someone who is averse to computers.