Problems

It is hard to admit when you are wrong, when you have gone off-course, or you have failed. It is hard to accept the realization that part of the script you have been living your life according to, or running your business on is no longer, or perhaps never was viable.

Developing Ulcerative Colitis was one experience where I had to face that type of realization. I re-evaluated, made some adjustments to my scripts for life and work, and moved forward.  When I lost my largest client of over a decade this year I had another unwelcome, but necessary opportunity to face the fact that things were not really working the way I did them. My bookkeeping business provided me with an adequate income, not because I ran it effectively, but because I was not being faced with any significant challenges that are typical of the business world. I was working in a sheltered environment.

I am still in the process of getting back on track. I have begun fill in the void that my largest client left, but I have a long ways to go before I am even close to what I would consider a full client load or full employment. My journey over the last few months has included seeking out new clients and job searches, as well as brushing up on my skills. I have landed several interviews, and I have started to rebuild my business with smaller clients and expanding the amount of work I do for companies I currently work with.

Solutions

My current vision for change is:

1. Reduce Risk
2. Start Marketing
3. Continue Education
4. Institute a process of regular personal and business evaluation and upgrading

Reduce Risk

To reduce my risk, unless I land an offer for a dream job within a company, I plan to rebuild with a higher volume of smaller clients.  I am also exploring a shift towards the value based pricing model of accounting rather than my current hourly billing. These are structural changes that should help reduce my dependency on any one client and smooth out my cash flows which could vary dramatically depending on my clients’ business cycles.

Start Marketing

To start marketing, I literally need to just start. With the exception of this website, some word of mouth, and submitting the occasional application or resume, I have never engaged in marketing for my accounting services. I didn’t even have a business card. I do now, but it may go through a few revisions before I am satisfied. I will be making some improvements to the bookkeeping page of this website, and I will be reopening my QuickBooks Pro-Advisor page. I may also engage in some paid advertising for the first time. At any rate I am considering a marketing plan for the first time since starting my business. Better late than never.

Continue Education

Continuing education is critical in the accounting industry. I have a bad habit of putting my personal growth and development on hold in order to help clients. The worst example of this is that have my Associate’s in Accounting and I am about a semester into my Bachelor’s in Accounting and Finance, but I put my classes on pause to help fill in for one of my client’s full-time employees that took 9 months maternity leave. That effectively kept me out of classes for a full year. Before I got back into it I was already experiencing the symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis. I now have that under control, but I have increased medical expenses and reduced income so my college career is still on hold. In the short term though, I am working online to learn and increase my QuickBooks certifications, as well as taking advantage of other free and lower-cost education opportunities. Some of these aren’t even directly related to my field, such as a Microsoft Learning Course I am taking on Azure Essentials, but at this point I am exploring and all options are on the table. Once I can afford it I will be finishing my degree, whether it is in Accounting and Finance or some other field.

Evaluation and Improvement

All of the challenges I have faced with my business could have been either avoided or adapted to more quickly if I had adopted a practice of routine evaluation and improvement. Improvement via disaster or failure is the most painful way to grow. Fortunately it isn’t the only way to grow. This post is an outgrowth of my first annual year end evaluation and it includes the 4 main points I found lacking in my business and how I plan to improve on them. I have to perform an annual or monthly close-out for my accounting clients. Now at the same time I will run a business evaluation for myself, to see if I am making improvement in these four areas. In the process I should see noticeable growth in my business and professional development. I will also see early warning for possible dangers.

Conclusion

I have learned over the past few years that it isn’t enough to just provide good accounting and bookkeeping services. As long as any of my income is from self-employment, I also need to be a good businessman. With my new script laid out for 2019, I have hope that it will be a good year and I will rise to the opportunities that I encounter.