mentorship week 5

Hey, Stephanie.

Go, Linda.

Artist Zani here, Artist Zani Bookkeeping, and we're talking Community Live group in the mentoring program. And I've got Stephanie Teddio here who's being mentored. And tell us a little bit about yourself, your business, and so we can catch everybody up if they're just catching this week 5 that we're in right now. And I'm going to go to your Trello board because you've been like a rock star with it. So just go for it.

That Trello board thinks like my brain works. It's, it's cool. So I've had many years experience in accounting and regular working for somebody else jobs, mostly accounts receivable and collections. And for a couple of years I've been working for The Right Return doing bookkeeping with QuickBooks Online exclusively. And as of March 1st, I took over the business because the owner was going in a different direction. So I just completed my first month owning the business.

Oh, has it already been a month?

Yeah.

Holy moly. Okay. Well, I'm going to share the Trello board because this week is all about measuring your success, right? So it's time to check in, see your goals. And you took the Trello board and made all these wonderful lists of every single step that's in here in Facebook. I'm going to actually take you to the Trello board instead of reading it here. We'll go through your Trello board because I went through it last night. I'm like, man, she's on fire. I'm so impressed. Let me just take you to the Trello board, which is pretty cool. I think the first step was this one, right? What have you learned?

Yes.

Okay, we'll start with that one.

Okay. I did have a client. My personal financial advisor referred someone to me and I was really excited because this would have been my first client. That I didn't previously know, that wasn't already a friend, but it just wasn't appropriate. It's above my skill experience and that kind of thing, so I turned her down, which actually felt good because I didn't want to take a client that I was struggling with and I couldn't provide good service to her, so I felt good about that.

Every client's not going to be a good fit either. I mean, did you refer her back to the CPA, or did you— do you know anybody that could have taken her on as a client maybe?

I did give her some referrals. It was related to income tax, so it's this late date and she was gonna be out of town for a few days, so I have no idea. You know, really, no point. Wasn't gonna be good for her or me.

So yeah.

The other thing is I've been sending— I have a document, like a terms of engagement document and sort of an introductory thing, and I've just been sending PDFs to people, but I put them all in one PDF with a little cover kind of thing, so it just makes it nice. presentation. It's not super slick or anything, but it's better than it was, so I'm happy about that.

And don't you feel organized when you do that, when you get that all together? Yes, perfect.

And non-apologetic. That feels good to not be apologizing. And I decided I'm going to change the name of my business. I'm super excited about this. The Right Return is the name that it has been for a few years, and the owner did do tax returns. I do not. So I'm gonna call it The Art of Bookkeeping. I love it. I've looked into it, there is one in Arizona, so I'm gonna have to have the URL slightly different. But that's what I'm gonna work on this week, getting all that set in place and have a new logo designed and just, I'm gonna be totally pro.

Where are you getting the logo designed?

A woman that worked on a website of one of my clients. I like her work, so I'm gonna approach her and see if she can take a look at it.

Wonderful. And then telling that you're, you're sticking to the IRS guidelines does feel good.

Yes, it does. That's right. I had a— I had relied on Linda for this one. I had a client that was kind of trying to fudge things and it was not making me comfortable. And so I talked to Linda about it and she used the phrase, she's not— I'm not comfortable going outside the IRS guidelines, which I thought was perfect. And he agreed and said, I'll do as you say.

Yeah, that's perfect because sometimes clients will push you and you just stand your ground and then, and then they may become that client that's not a good fit. So then you have to let them go. I mean, that can happen. Part of business, right? Our clients are cyclical. As much as I'd like to say, and I did, you know, I do hang on to a lot of them for a really long time. Sometimes they just come and go for whatever reason. And that's a good reason not to have them as a client if you can't abide by that.

Right.

I'm gonna go to your next one. Where can you improve?

Yes. So I've I just, I think that people— I was going to ask this in the group, actually. Do people have a separate price for onboarding? Because there's, for a current QuickBooks client or one who's never— it's a lot of work. And I've just kind of been folding it into my— I should also say, I'm rambling now. I charge hourly and I'm going to go to a flat rate next year, but I wanted to spend the rest of this year Figuring out, just figuring things out, how much time typically things take. And I think I have a much better feel for it. But so I've just been billing hourly for the onboarding, but I feel like I should have one set price based on knowledge so I set the expectation for the client and for me. I don't know, what do people do?

I, well, let me tell you, I've always, I was hourly way back in the day, and then I started to hear about all the value pricing or the fixed rate billing, and it was hard. I've been an article that I wrote actually for Intuit that I'll share with you that just kind of steps you through my journey of it. One of the things I learned, because I studied with— I've had Ron Baker's book, which I highly recommend reading.

Oh, okay.

And also, I followed Mark Wickersham. I was in his group. And one of the things I learned was part of being like a Type A is I don't want to make a mistake. You're going to make mistakes.

Oh, yeah. You're going to have to live with it for a year.

And sometimes you make a mistake in a good way. Sometimes you make it in a bad way. Onboarding is kind of part of the job. I have to tell you that when I onboard a new customer, especially if it goes to one of the bookkeepers that I have, I onboard them and I work with them generally for the first couple of months so I can figure out what the client wants. And then I have the little conversation with— have the conversation with the bookkeeper to kind of have them understand where I'm going with it and what I sold to the client. So, and then I kind of do the third month together with them to follow, make sure everything's being done properly.

Okay.

But it's just part of the job. And it is more work in the beginning. And you can automate a lot of that. You know, there's lots of ways to automate, lots of apps out there to automate it. And I can probably go through some of that stuff with you. That'd be cool. Off top, off here, because we want to keep these short. But yeah, I could, I can definitely probably help you with that as far as trying to make it. But it is, it's more time in the beginning. First 2 months are usually a little bit clunky. And I actually let the client know that. And when the first email goes out to them, I say, You know, here's, here's what's going to happen. And you just so you know, the first couple of months is going to be a lot of communication between us. I need to know what you're expecting. And you need to know what you're going to be getting. And sometimes you got to let the, you know, the guidelines know because I think clients sometimes forget that you're not there 24/7 for them. And you need to know that maybe I do your work on Wednesday. So that opening up their books on Monday going, what is all this stuff in here? Because you've got many clients. That's how you're going to give them the good pricing.

Yeah.

Sometimes need a little education on that. But, uh, let's see.

I will say that I do say that to, you know, new clients. I think it's me that's stressing over this.

Well, you get better at it too, and you're in—

and it evolves.

So that's the other thing is it will evolve. And mine's changed certainly enough times, and I'm still working on trying to automate it. So if that makes you feel any better, I still try to make it a little bit easier. I haven't really found that perfect because not every client's the same. So it's hard to make a set product, you know, set set path for that, but yeah, for sure. And then you've got here, okay, so what was easier than expected? I love this. Talking on the phone.

Oh, I know, it's— I know, I used to be on the phone like constantly, and I always wore a headset and just went with it. And with texting, I know I'm not the only one, a lot of people don't like to talk on the phone anymore, so I've sort of had to, you know, get used to that again. And now I'm back in that groove, so it's fine. I don't shy away from it. I just do what I got to do.

I can tell you honestly, I have had more people when I get a lead in and I don't email them, I pick up the phone, especially if I get it and I got the time to call the person right back. Yeah, I can't tell you how many people are like, wow, I didn't expect a phone call. And that opens a big door because a lot of people don't do it for whatever reason. So that might make you be set above anybody else because you've— it's so much easier to talk to a person and get the information out of them than to go back and forth with email. Yes.

Yeah.

And it's that personal touch, which is part of why we made this community, is to get everybody together and be one and help one another. And also the same thing, it's just to have that— maybe someday we'll all meet each other in person. And I think that with all the automation stuff, it's not the same as actually physically standing in front of somebody and meeting them or picking up a phone and having that human conversation, which sadly is not around as much as it was with all the bot stuff. So I think that will be one of your best selling points.

Oh, good point. Thank you.

So yeah, I think you're really doing— I'm telling you, you are doing so wonderfully that you should be very proud that you're— of how far you've come. I mean, I know you have a goal of 10 new customers. Where are you at? Are you still at the— you're at 3, right?

3.

Yeah. So yeah, I mean, it's like I said, and they come in spurts. They don't just come like— you'd like them to come like one a week so you could kind of do all the work and get them in there, but they don't come that way. I wish. It's kind of like anything else, right, in life. But I think you're doing awesome.

And I'm having fun. I'm really— I love a new challenge and this is just right up my alley.

I love your Trello board. I mean, I think I may have to have you teach me some of the Trello tricks. She's like— it's so— I mean, you like the prettiness of it too, right?

Exactly. Yeah, it's very visual.

I think that's what draws us females to it is just like, I could change the pictures and keep it kind of fresh and new. So with what you do, hey, that makes sense. So thank you again, Stephanie, for having the time and doing all this work. I mean, I'm, I'm flabbergasted. I think you're just doing so well. I am. I'm so impressed. Keep going. I love The Art of Bookkeeping. I hope to see your logo next time we get together. And they gave us 2 weeks this time, so I don't know how long it's going to be to the next one, but we'll see what the next step is and we'll get back together. So thank you so much. And onward and upward, my friend. Thank you, Linda.

I appreciate you so much.

Thanks. OK, we'll see you next time. All right. Bye.