You're Doing Too Much in Your Bookkeeping Business with Randy Ballen

Randy started her bookkeeping business after the age of 50. She had been working in a dance studio for over ten years until things went awry, and she felt that if there was no security in the traditional job market anymore she might as well do things her own way.

[3:25] Freedom means being able to go out for lunch with her son completely unplanned, without having to run it by a boss first.

[4:25] Randy is currently working with attorneys and has between 15 and 20 clients, depending on how you count. Trust accounts are the number one reason that attorneys are disbarred so Randy feels like she is doing the most good she could do.

[6:10] Randy is a big fan of Bookkeeper Business Launch. It gave her the security to know she wasn’t alone and didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Being an entrepreneur is a rollercoaster and this really helps limit the lows.

[7:50] Overwhelm is a very prevalent feeling in Randy’s life with her business. She feels like she has so much to do and never enough time to do it. Her vision for the business has changed from what it started out as, but now she has client work that takes up the majority of her time.

[10:30] Productivity is not about doing more in less time, it’s about doing less in less time.

[11:10] Randy’s unique abilities have to do with client relationships which gives her business a lot of security.

[12:30] If you’re feeling overwhelmed, the first thing to do is to find one hour a week that will allow you to start taking back your time. Overcoming overwhelm is about intentionally setting aside time for the important things. The first thing to do is create your “do not do list” and keep it in front of you all the time. What of those tasks are the easiest that you can hand off?

[15:30] To hand off a task to a VA, have the person watch you do it via screen share so they can see the work as it happens. Record the video and then use it as a reference for later on.

[18:30] Work expands to fill the allotted time. You have to be aware of how much time you allot to certain tasks and ask yourself what your 80/20 activities are. You want to eventually give yourself fewer activities and less time to do them in so you maximize efficiency.

[22:25] The longer you are on your entrepreneurial journey, the more you realize that there are only a couple of things that you are really good at.

[23:35] Randy’s business has been life changing for her. She realized that she would have to go out and meet people, and every day she is doing something outside of her comfort zone. The small amount of discomfort is outweighed by all the benefits that come with it.

[26:15] Quick recap on the lessons learned today. Do less in less time, take the time to celebrate how far you’ve come, and take things one hour at a time.

[28:05] A common objection is that we can’t afford the time to offboard a task to someone new, but the truth is you can’t afford not to.

[29:20] The difference between being excellent and your Unique Ability is that your Unique Ability is something that charges you up and could do all day. Everything else is something that you should give to somebody else.

[30:30] There is always another challenge to overcome, and there will always be people who want to take your time, but you have to keep pushing and refining. It’s about being effective and not just efficient. Before you do things well, you need to know what things you need to be doing in the first place.

Mentioned in this episode: Ballen Bookkeeping