I’m the child of two entrepreneurs. Not only is business in my blood, but I feel like starting my own business was something that, subconsciously, I always knew I would do.
But what sealed the deal for me was watching moms Facetime their kids before bed during the busy tax season when I worked at a public accounting job. I knew that was not what I wanted when I envisioned having a family down the road.
I also knew I wanted to be able to work one-on-one with clients… and I wasn’t getting to do that in my public accounting job (now, this is a part of my job that I’m so passionate about!).
So, even though the timing was a little crazy (we were moving from Atlanta to New Orleans AND we found out we were pregnant with Hunter), I decided to start my own business. It was a little stressful, but everything has a way of working out!
Boundaries
In the beginning of my business, I said yes to EVERYONE. I was so scared of not having enough money after leaving my W-2 job.
Looking back, I actually had no problem getting clients. I was making 6 figures in the first year… but I was also burnt out within 12 months. I was really proud of myself for what I had accomplished (I’m a 3 for all you Enneagram lovers out there!), but I was also completely exhausted. I had NO boundaries.
Growing a Business AND a Family
So over the last 6 years, to fix this, I did two things with my business:
- I let clients go who were not a good fit for my business and my core values
- I raised my prices because I realized I was severely undercharging for the quality of services I was providing
Since I have been growing a family and a business at the same time, my focus over the last 4 years has been reducing my work hours WITHOUT reducing my revenue (jump to the end of the post to see how I did it!).
While my revenue has stayed somewhat stagnant since 2018, my business has supported us financially and, more importantly, supported my mom life in this season of babies.
What’s In Store for 2023
I LOVE our kids and I LOVE being a mom. It’s the most amazing job ever, and I’d stop working in a heartbeat for my kids if I needed to.
But working and helping my clients is something I really love to do. It’s a different sense of accomplishment than that of having children, and lights me up in a different way.
So now, I’m really ready to tackle 2023 and stop waiting. I have some big goals… but it’s very important to me to provide my clients with a premium experience while I grow in a way that’s aligned with my personal values.
And most importantly, I don’t ever want to be burnt out by my business. I want to be smart about how I loop my business into my family… but I don’t want to keep putting my business growth last, because working really is part of my identity.
Do You Know Your Numbers?
The main thing I want to leave you with? Business ownership is a journey.
We are constantly growing and evolving as people… and so is our business! It’s really hard for me personally to change – but change can be good and productive.
I love where my business has been, where it is now, and where it’s going. If I could go back to the beginning of my business, there are certainly things I would change (be on the lookout for an episode on that coming soon!). But truly, it’s all part of the journey.
One of the biggest factors in being able to grow my business while decreasing my hours was knowing my business numbers. I know you’re probably thinking, “Kimberly, you’re a CPA… of COURSE you know your numbers!”
Yes, true. But as a business owner, if YOU don’t clearly know your business numbers, then you won’t be able to take your business journey to the next level.
So I’ve created the Know Your Biz Numbers template to walk you through everything you need to calculate your profit margins. This is the ONLY plug-n-play template you need to calculate your business profits, losses, and margins, and leverage those numbers to make smart, profitable business decisions!
And finally, once you know your numbers, you need to know what your quarterly estimated income tax payment should be. I’ve created a template calculator for you to figure out this, too! This calculator takes into account EVERYTHING that needs to be included to ensure you’re making accurate tax payments.
