The Why Behind the Who: Part Two
In my last blog, I started taking you through my journey to becoming a freelance bookkeeper and bookkeeping trainer extraordinaire. If you haven’t seen that one yet, read it here .
This blog is a continuation of the last one, where I started to tell you about my “why”, the things that drive me to get out of bed every morning and work on my business.
We covered my family and the joy I get from spending time with my beautiful grandchildren.
Part two is a wild ride, so grab a cocktail, tell the kids to leave you alone for a bit and hold on tight.
Let’s get into it.
WHY #2- Dream, Dream, Dream
When I was a little girl, someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I wanted to be an air hostess, traveling and seeing the world. It was something I’d always wanted since we’d had no money when I was growing up.
It was a beautiful childhood dream, but apart from that, I just wanted to work for myself.
While working for the not-for-profits, I was happy, but I didn’t love being an employee.
I’d always wanted to be my own boss but was never brave enough to take such a big step.
But my world whole changed when I was diagnosed with cancer.
I was first diagnosed in 2011 and then again in 2013 and 2016, but after surviving my second battle with cancer, I decided to take the steps to realise my long-held dream of owning my own business.
It sounds like a cliché (cliches are cliches because they’re true!), but when you’re staring your mortality in the face, you want more from life than what you had before.
You want to truly live your life.
I may have battled cancer, but it’s far more important that I survived cancer.
In 2015, I proudly started Sudoku Bookkeeping, glowing at the sense of accomplishment.
Cancer hasn’t defined who I am but having been through the battle not one, but three times has made me more resilient and determined than ever before.
It’s influenced many aspects of my life but ensuring I’m doing everything I can to live life to the fullest, be with the people I love most, and empower others drives me every day.
Within five years of starting my business, I was working full time, outsourcing work to freelancers, and even hiring a part-time assistant to help take the load off me.
I shared some of my experiences in a series about freelancing, which you can read here.
WHY #3- You Can Count On Me
While building and growing my business, I attended an MYOB training session.
The trainer’s presentation and delivery were so impressive and inspiring, and I had a lightbulb moment.
“That’s what I want to be”, I thought to myself.
My husband was supportive but perturbed.
He knew that when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I promptly answered that I didn’t want to be a teacher before saying I wanted to be an air hostess.
He didn’t fully get it, but he didn’t have to get it.
I loved the idea of igniting excitement in my clients, so I excitedly signed up for a CIV in Teaching and Assessment.
I completed the course and gained experience at The Parramatta College, delivering accredited courses to small business owners and job seekers.
During this time, I also started one-on-one training with some of my bookkeeping clients.
My main business passion is to empower other small business owners to achieve their financial goals and save them money.
My goals, creed, and values are outlined in more detail in this blog post, but on a professional level, I wanted to stand out from the crowd and not just keep the books but teach small business owners to keep their own books to give them financial freedom.
Knowledge is power, and the amount of business owners that know nothing about their own financials is, frankly, terrifying.
Guiding my clients through their own numbers empowers them to be savvier, prevent theft and fraud, and save them money.
I wanted to create workshops that covered specific areas of bookkeeping.
I wanted to cover areas like payables, receivables, doing your own BAS, new file set up, understanding financial reports, and new file set up with a view for them to eventually do most of it themselves- essentially, DIY bookkeeping.
In 2021, I spent months designing one-on-one workshops, booked venues and clients, and spending money on advertising- then went into lockdown.
It was disappointing, but I chose to use that time to start writing an eBook about DIY bookkeeping, which will be ready for release soon (shameless plug- click here to sign up for our newsletter, and you’ll be the first time know when the eBook drops!).
I still hope to run my workshops in 2022, so watch this space for announcements!
In the meantime, I will continue to serve my clients to the best of my ability, spend as much quality time as possible with my family, and empower and inspire other small business owners so they, too, can follow their dreams.
If you’d like to book a free consultation, contact me here.