Amanda was a bank teller in the past, which is where she discovered her love of working with money. She started her bookkeeping business in 2017 after going through the Bookkeeper Business Launch program and has since built up a base of 15 clients. [3:30] Amanda gravitates towards artists and creatives; 90% of the people she works with fall into those categories. [5:15] Amanda didn’t want to quit her job, but circumstances forced her hand to consider other options. She started looking for ways to make more money or save more. She ended up on the Pennyhoarder.com website, where she found one of Ben’s articles which lead her to bookkeeping. [7:20] Having a good support network was really important to Amanda when starting her own business. She was definitely scared about taking the leap. Going through the course really helped prepare her for what she needed to do while also giving her a good refresher on bookkeeping fundamentals. [9:20] Employers feel like they are doing you a favor by giving you a job, but clients think you’re the bee’s knees. A great example of this is one of Amanda’s very first clients who was nine years behind on his taxes. It took a month and a half to clean everything up, but the client was relieved of a lot of stress and anxiety. [11:35] A huge part of being confident means getting out there, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your local area. It’s about getting in front of clients and having a conversation about what they need and how you can help. Every conversation gives you something to take away and will give you more confidence for the next one. [14:05] Amanda tried advertising, but it didn’t work out. She tried Facebook and Craigslist, but none of her clients have come from paid ads. [15:20] Alignable was one of the ways she got a few of her clients. Other means include Craigslist, Upwork, and Facebook groups. Marketing is like planting seeds; you never know which message or channel is going to be the one that gets you your next client. [18:45] Being able to pick up her kids has been an excellent part of owning her own business. Being a mom is especially hard when you also have to work at the same time. Having the freedom that comes with not having a boss is one of the best parts of running a business. [21:50] Amanda wants to grow her business with a special emphasis on helping other moms that are dedicated to their work as well as their families. Eventually she would like for the business to not need her on a day to day basis and for her husband to be able to quit his job and stay at home with the kids. [25:00] Journaling your goals can be very helpful in actually achieving them, but as with many things, it can be strangely difficult to do the things that are good for us. Making it fun can help. [27:45] Over the last year, Amanda has tried every single app she could find to organize her business, but none of them have clicked with how she does things and she’s defaulted to paper and pen. She needs something in front of her to let her know what she should be working on and in what order. [31:40] The difficulty is that paper is limiting and prevents Amanda from being able to bring on new team members. Written tasks and instructions don’t scale very well. Recording your tasks and turning them into checklists that cover the key elements are one way of turning a task into a process. [37:40] You don’t want to be too focused on the app or the software. You should think about what you want to accomplish with the software first. Define the process and then look for something that is going to help you facilitate that process. Sometimes the app can actually make your life more complicated. [39:45] Ben uses a large dry erase board to track his major projects, but what works for him may not work for you. The key is to figure out what does work for you and not worry so much about whether or not you’re using the latest technology. As you grow your business, you have to step