"I NEEDED AN EXTRA $500/MONTH FOR DAYCARE"
Justin lives in Massachusetts with his wife and 3 boys, ages 5, 4, and 1. He had moved into a bigger home (with a bigger mortgage) when he found out his wife was pregnant with their third child.
“We looked at our finances and realized we wouldn’t be able to afford daycare. I needed to do something at night in my spare time to create an extra $300-$500/month.”
Between his full-time job and raising two young boys (with a third on the way), he wasn’t sure how it was possible. It was already tough finding time to spend with his family.
“Everyday was crazy. In the morning we’d rush our kids to school. In the evenings I’d rush them through dinner, bath, and bedtime.”
Then, while scrolling through Facebook one day, he saw one of our videos on bookkeeping.
Justin liked the idea of earning money with a side-job where he could make his own hours.
But he was skeptical it could actually work. He didn’t know if people would hire a virtual bookkeeper. So he doubted he could make any money with it.
Justin shares how he was looking for ways to make extra money.
*Disclaimer: These results are not typical and you may or may not achieve the same results. Success in a bookkeeping business depends on your willingness to put in effort, your attention to detail, and various other factors.
"CAN YOU REALLY GET CLIENTS AS A BOOKKEEPER?"
Justin spent a month going through our free material, debating if he should join Bookkeeper Business Launch (BBL). Finally, he sent an email to see if this was a legitimate service people needed.
“Before purchasing, I emailed Ben and asked, “Can you really get clients from this?” He said “Yes, 100%.” and I went off his word.”
Now that he believed he could get clients, there was only one last obstacle: the price of the program.
Justin almost didn’t buy the program because he didn’t have extra money laying around.
But he looked at his friends who started their own businesses. They bought into franchises and paid tens of thousands of dollars to get started.
He saw this as one of the cheapest ways to create a business. So he joined our program.
*Disclaimer: These results are not typical and you may or may not achieve the same results. Success in a bookkeeping business depends on your willingness to put in effort, your attention to detail, and various other factors.
"WITHIN A MONTH PEOPLE WERE HIRING ME"
Justin went through the training videos at his own pace. He spent 2-3 hours after work sitting in the recliner with headphones on and a basketball game muted in the background.
The videos showed him how to do bookkeeping and get clients. After 8 weeks, he finished the program and was ready to start his business.
Right off the bat, he discovered there was a massive need for bookkeepers. So it was easier to get clients than he expected.
For example, Justin put a post on Facebook saying he started a bookkeeping company. A day later, someone sent him a message asking if he would do their books.
“I asked more friends, and they all wanted to hire me. They said they were sick of doing their books themselves. That’s when I realized there was a huge need for this.”
Justin’s website: watchymygreen.com
At first, he thought the fact he worked in banking would help. But he soon learned that banking and bookkeeping are two very different things.
But the BBL course taught him everything he needed. So within four months, he hit his goal of $500/month. But he didn’t stop there.
“Clients came in steadily in spurts. One month I got 3, one month zero, the next I’d get four.”
How did he get all these clients?
Inside the BBL course, he learned several methods for landing work. The one that worked best for Justin was networking.
“Leveraging relationships has been my biggest driver.”
Here’s what Justin did to get clients:
Using the “yakkity-yak” method inside of BBL, he started talking to people he knew who owned business. Then he asked friends if they knew anyone who owned businesses that he could talk to. This helped him create a solid client base right off the bat.
Then he expanded his network.
He went to live events hosted by Business Networking International (BNI) and Meetup.com. Both of these groups host events all over the world. He made new friends there who introduced him to businesses that needed bookkeepers.
Finally, he reached out online. He contacted payroll reps on LinkedIn who sent him work. And he put a profile on Thumbtack.com so local business owners could find him.
"I QUIT MY JOB WITHIN A YEAR"
His business grew bigger and faster than he initially planned, which came with an unexpected downside.
He was now holding down a full-time job while also doing all of the extra work from his bookkeeping business.
This meant that Justin wasn’t spending as much time with his family as he wanted.
For example, he only had an hour and fifteen minutes a day with his newborn son, which seemed crazy!
At the same time, he was getting frustrated at his full-time job. His employer wasn’t giving him credit for everything he was doing — and it affected his pay.
Fed up with corporate bureaucracy, he toyed with the idea of doing bookkeeping full-time. His wife encouraged him to make the leap. So ten months after joining BBL, he gave his notice and became completely self-employed.
“I quit on October 13 — it was an awesome day.”
Justin’s journey with BBL so far
With no office to rush to in the morning, he had more time to spend with his sons.
“The following Monday I walked my son to the bus stop for the first time. We played catch with a football — It was pure joy.”
Justin can now relax in the morning with his sons
Justin talks about leaving his job to grow his business
"THEY'RE ONLY YOUNG ONCE, AND ONLY I CAN BE THEIR DAD"
After quitting his job, Justin had an extra 50 hours a week free.
He decided to grow his bookkeeping business and started to take on more clients.
By March 2018, fifteen months after joining BBL, Justin had so many clients that he was earning more from bookkeeping than he ever did at his old job.
He now makes more than he did at his old, full-time job. And his income is steady and predictable.
“I just signed two clients at $1,400/month each. I now have 21 clients and am making what I was at my old job plus the $500 extra I set out to make initially.”
Justin’s earnings over ~9 months in 2018
*Disclaimer: These results are not typical and you may or may not achieve the same results. Success in a bookkeeping
business depends on your willingness to put in effort, your attention to detail, and various other factors.
But the real reward has been the time he’s able to spend with his children.
“I still work 50 hours a week, which is the same as my old job, but I work when I want.
When my sons come home, I stop work and help with dinner, wrestle, or go outside, with them. They won’t be young forever, so I’m going to take advantage of it.”
Justin talks about spending mornings with his kids
*Disclaimer: These results are not typical and you may or may not achieve the same results. Success in a bookkeeping
business depends on your willingness to put in effort, your attention to detail, and various other factors.
"I SEE US TAKING 2-3 WEEKS TO TRAVEL ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN AN RV"
Justin’s business was thriving.
But a lesson inside the BBL course showed him he still has plenty of room to grow.
He discovered he can structure his business in a way that lets him earn more while working less. For example, he can hire others to do the actual bookkeeping. Then he can grow his business by focusing on what he does best — networking and landing clients.
“Ben’s talk about systems inspired me. Now I’m creating systems so I can get the same amount of money while putting in way less time.”
Justin talks about scaling his business and leaving his job
*Disclaimer: These results are not typical and you may or may not achieve the same results. Success in a bookkeeping
business depends on your willingness to put in effort, your attention to detail, and various other factors.
But Justin’s #1 focus is STILL spending quality time with his family, and he plans to do that by spending more time traveling with them.
“My wife is a teacher. So in the summer, I see us taking 2-3 weeks to travel across the country in an RV and visit national parks.
This career has given me the freedom to do things like that. I’m so thankful this is my life now. Because my boys are only young once.”
