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Interview With Sylvia Jaumann
Here's an interview done by Gabrielle Fontaine, of TheFreelanceBookkeeper.com. Gabrielle interviewed Sylvia Jaumann, author of Secrets to Starting & Running Your Own Bookkeeping Business on how Sylvia started her own successful bookkeeping business.
1. What was it that made you decide to start your own bookkeeping service?
I’ve pretty much always wanted my own business because I have a strong independent streak. I also got tired of working for bosses who didn’t value my skills or pay me what I thought I was worth. Once I found out that I could be making $10 - $15 more per hour working for myself, it seriously motivated me to launch my own bookkeeping business.
2. What were the very first steps you took in getting your business going; how did you get your very first client?
I struggled for the longest time with all the logistics I would need to run a freelance bookkeeping business. Getting a business license and setting up my office was a no-brainer for me. But when it came down to how I would keep track of all my clients, track my billing and stay organized, I was immobilized with doubt and fear. I ended up subcontracting for another bookkeeper for a year and this helped me fill in all the blanks as I learned a ton of organizational skills from her.
I picked up my very first client through word of mouth. I’ve acquired the majority of my clients this way. I’ve done newspaper advertising and have received enquiries from potential clients, but I seem to find better quality clients through referrals from others.
3. How much experience and/or technical training as a bookkeeper did you have before starting your business?
I’d had about 5 years experience working for others before I felt confident enough in my abilities to venture out on my own. My formal education consisted of basic bookkeeping courses and an income tax preparation course. I’ve found that’s all I’ve ever needed and it’s worked well for me.
4. What are the 3 biggest mistakes you see people make when they try to start their own bookkeeping business? 1) Undercharging for their bookkeeping services, thereby undercutting other local bookkeepers. Not only is this unfair to other bookkeepers, but it’s a disservice to themselves. Generally, it’s a lack of confidence that prompts bookkeepers to not charge enough for their services. 2) Being so hungry for work that they accept every bookkeeping job that comes along, even those jobs that they should probably be taking a pass on. Bookkeeping jobs that involve a year’s worth of paperwork stuffed in a box are not for the faint of heart. It can be very frustrating as many times critical information is missing. Then there are the clients who don’t pay their bills. Many times you can’t avoid this and only find this out after you’ve begun work on the project. 3) Not requesting a retainer for new clients. This is a huge mistake made by bookkeepers who think that if they request money up front, the client will run. Most clients will not bat an eye if you request a retainer as long at it’s reasonable. Lawyers and accountants demand them, so why shouldn’t we?
5. What's the best way to avoid those mistakes, or to fix them if someone has already made them? 1) Find out what other bookkeepers are charging and raise your rates accordingly. You may have to gradually increase your rates with existing clients. 2) If you discover that you’ve received a box of unsorted paperwork, request that the client organize it for you (unless you want to do it yourself). If you explain to the client the amount of money that they will save by sorting it out themselves, oftentimes they will do it. 3) Always request a retainer up front for new clients. If a client is not paying your bill on time and you’ve already taken him on, inform him that no further work will be done until your bill has been paid. Then get a retainer for all future work. Once the retainer is used up, request another one.
6. If a close friend came to you and asked for your advice on getting started with a bookkeeping service, what would you tell her or him?
I’d tell them about the organizational systems I’ve learned in keeping my clients on track. Setting up a system so that you always know at a glance what remittances need to be paid as well as being able to find important information at a moment’s notice, are crucial skills for freelance bookkeepers. Also, I’d tell them to always get a retainer up front before beginning any new bookkeeping jobs!
7. If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently?
I would have taken the leap a lot sooner than I did. I wouldn’t have let fear and doubt hold me back from living my dream. I wasted too many years working for other people and missed out financially because of this.
8. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do the same way?
I’d talk to people and not be afraid to mention that I have a bookkeeping business. I’ve obtained so many clients by just doing that one thing alone! Also, I’m not afraid to ask for referrals either.
9. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing our type of business today?
The biggest challenge I’ve come across are the mom and pop businesses where the mom (with no bookkeeping experience) ends up doing the bookkeeping herself in order to save money.
These small business owners think that as long as they can learn an accounting program that they can easily do the bookkeeping. We all know this isn’t the case. Then, at year end, the messes that have been created by the lack of experience ends up costing them more money by their accountants than if they’d let a competent bookkeeper handle it in the first place. It’s frustrating when people aren’t willing to invest in the essential expertise needed to run their business.
10. What's the biggest challenge you've faced in your business so far? How did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge was finding the self-confidence to actually make the leap into starting my own business. I knew how to do bookkeeping but had no idea how to manage many clients. I was worried about finding the right systems to keep track of all the work and possibly missing important remittances and deadlines. To overcome this, I ended up subcontracting for a bookkeeper for a year and learned many tricks and tips from her. It was a good educational experience for me and gave me a huge shot of confidence.
11. How long did it take you to get enough clients so that you were working full time (or as many hours as you want)?
This is a tricky question because I’d had clients off and on for years before I finally decided to finally venture out on my own full time. I’d say from the time I finally decided that I wanted to do this full time to when I actually did, was about eight months. During this time I gradually reduced my hours at my job.
12. What specific tools, websites, software or services do you personally recommend for people who are trying to build their freelance business?
My favorite accounting program by far is Simply Accounting. I’ve used many other accounting programs but this one has been consistently the most user-friendly software I’ve ever used. I’ve used it since the beginning when it was called Bedford Accounting and was only available in DOS (I might be aging myself here). I also use Excel for all my spreadsheets (and I have a lot!). Then, of course, I use Word for all my documents like memos and letters.
I don’t have a website in particular that I recommend for freelance bookkeepers other than creating your own bookkeeping service website. It took me a long time to justify the need for my own bookkeeping website. When it actually came time to set it up though, it only took me a few hours to make one. (I do have some experience in setting up websites though.) By adding my website link to local directories it allows me free advertising exposure of my business name to other local businesses.
13. Do you have any "secret" tips, tricks or techniques that you can share with us that very few people know about that will give us an edge in our field?
I don’t know if this is much of a “secret”, but a trick I use consistently is to setup as many recurring transactions as possible in each client’s accounting data. I do this for bank charges, monthly debit charges that appear monthly on bank statements, vendor invoices and even for deposits. Once I’ve figured out where something should be posted to, I don’t want to have to look up the account number every time I post. This saves a ton of time and keeps me posting consistently to the same accounts.
14. If there was something you could have that you don't have right now that would make your freelancing business exactly the way you want it, what would it be?
My dream is to one day have a really beautiful office. Don’t get me wrong, I have a decent office and working space right now. But it seems to me that since I spend so much time in my office that it really should be exactly the way I want it. I’d love to have an office with a sofa, maybe a small meeting area and really nice, new furniture. Also, my office is in my basement so I’d love to have an office that’s brighter with more natural light.
If you haven't had a chance to check out Secrets to Starting & Running Your Own Bookkeeping Business, I urge you to do so now. It's the most complete system (and easiest to follow) on how to start a bookkeeping business. |