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Booming Bookkeeping Business course review and interview with course creator Bill Von Fumetti.
Updated January 2023: Once again I am happy to have Bill Von Fumetti, CPA, join me on YouTube to tell us all about the Booming Bookkeeping Business course. I have had the pleasure of interview Bill before, so check out those videos below.
Be sure to watch the most recent interview HERE.
I am very glad to bring the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Community this interview with Bill Von Fumetti, CPA. Watch the full interview here and see if you like what you see. Is Bill going to be your guide to creating that Bookkeeping Business you’ve always dreamed of?
Remember my usual disclaimer. I have an affiliate link to this course and will be pleased if you use it if you plan on purchasing this particular course. The occasional affiliate sale for something you were planning on buying anyway helps keep the lights on here in at Bookkeeping Side Hustle. The underlined hyperlinks in the article are the affiliate links.
Other videos to get to know Bill here 👇
One Day Bootcamp
Google & Facebook Ads
Bonus Content to get to know Bill. I listened to this “Where Accountants Go” podcast episode where Mark Goldman interviewed Bill. You get to hear a lot more of Bill’s history. Is he YOUR GUY to lead you on your journey?
Standard Interview Question List we worked from:
- Tell us about yourself and your background.
- What motivated you to create your course?
- Tell us about your course?
- What would you say makes your course unique in the marketplace?
- What sort of student is most successful in your course? Conversely, are there any potential students that you’ve found are not a good fit for your course?
- What is one of your favorite student success stories?
- How much does your course cost?
- How can people find out more information about your or your course?
Kate's Analysis and Take-aways
- Bill offers ONE product — The Booming Bookkeeping Business Course. Whew! There is a beautiful simplicity in that as a potential student of his. You get EVERYTHING he offers and will offer in the future. Takes so much of the guess work out compared to a menu of “products” to choose from.
- Bill has an active and thriving bookkeeping practice. You’ll be growing your business right along with him, you’ll just fast forward several years worth of business mistakes/hiccups/learning/experience. Yes, please.
- So, after a few minutes into the interview, I noticed on his Zoom name (not visible in the YouTube video) said Bill Von Fumetti, CPA. That’s right. He’s a CPA. Now having a CPA is definitely not necessary to be an excellent instructor and coach, but he DID NOT MENTION THAT when I asked him about his background that got him to this point of being qualified to teach people this industry. He explains that his reason for getting his CPA was that he never does anything in life “half way”, but, come on! What a humble position. He talked about how me majored in math in college 25 years before, but just skips over that little detail of being self -taught to achieve his CPA designation. That humble spirit just blew me away and I kind of blather on about it in the interview.
- I loved his story about the handful of (what’s the appropriate term here) elderly/older people in his course. He mentions three people over 70 YEARS OLD. Younger people, News Flash, you should take advantage of being around people older than yourself. So that is cool that those folks would be in your class. I have no doubt that Bill is learning from them even as he is teaching them. Obviously that is not the core of his student population, but I think it should be encouraging to those of you who are on the older side and not ready to face a traditional “retirement” and also be encouraging to the younger folks considering his course to know that you really are going to be joining a family of students.
- What else? I know I’m missing something, but just listen in to hear for yourself.
Keep scrolling for full transcript.
Are you going to let Bill be your guide to making your bookkeeping business BOOMING?
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TRANSCRIPT
Kate: I recently had an exciting opportunity to interview Bill Von Fumetti about his program, Booming Bookkeeping Business. If you’re interested in learning more about his program, you have come to the right place. Below you will find a revised transcript containing all the must-know information about Bill’s Booming Bookkeeping Business program. If you want to watch the interview for yourself you can find it by subscribing to my YouTube channel or joining my exclusive Facebook group. There you will not only find the companion video to this article, but all of the interviews in my bookkeeping course review series.
Kate: Before we dig into the interview I have a few disclaimers to make. First, I have not personally taken Bill’s bookkeeping course. My main goal here is to provide you with quality, unbiased reviews of the educational opportunities available to you as you begin down your entrepreneurial journey. If you decide to sign up, I do encourage you to support me by clicking through the affiliate link here. I do earn a small commission when you sign up through that link, but it does not change the price you pay. Your support allows me to help you make the best decisions for your bookkeeping business by providing these interviews, articles, networks, and resources completely free of charge.
Kate: Now let’s learn all about Booming Bookkeeping Business!
Kate: So, Bill, tell us about yourself!
Bill: Well, if you’ve been on Facebook maybe you’ve seen me around a bit. But if you haven’t, my name is Bill Von Fumetti and I am a bookkeeper. I own a bookkeeping practice here in Redondo Beach, California. I’ve been bookkeeping now for about five years. Prior to bookkeeping I bounced around between a lot of different careers. In a way, accounting and bookkeeping is like a fifth career for me. I’ve done a lot of different things. Some have even referred to me as, “The Highlander,” if you’re familiar with him.
Kate: No, not really. Doesn’t he have long hair?
Bill: Yes! Well, I don’t have the hair. But in terms of having lots of different lifetimes, I’ve kind of done it all, so I’m very comfortable working with people in the midst of a career change. I did get my degree in mathematics from USC, so accounting and bookkeeping is something I was probably always going to try my hand at. I really love working with small businesses and helping them grow.
I know in the past you’ve talked about whether we should refer to ourselves as bookkeepers or something else, and I think that’s a really important question to ask. For me, I have no problem calling myself a bookkeeper. I do offer other high-level services to my clients, but when somebody is looking for a bookkeeper they’re usually searching for “bookkeeper” in Google. That’s why I like to use that title because it makes it easier for clients to find me.
Kate: Okay. So you got your degree in mathematics, but then how did you acquire the basic accounting skills and familiarity with bookkeeping software in order to start a successful bookkeeping business?
Bill: Well, in one of my prior lifetimes I was a general manager of a thriving gym in Santa Monica. There, I was going crazy doing everything from top to bottom. One day I was talking to the bookkeeper that we outsourced at the time, and she let slip that she was charging the gym $3,000 a month for bookkeeping services. Being a math major, my gears started turning and I started realizing how much she was able to charge for her value. I’ll be honest, at the time, I didn’t even realize that was possible. I didn’t know much of anything about accounting or bookkeeping, but after that conversation I decided to look more into it. The more I researched, the more I realized that bookkeeping was an excellent way for me to build my own business and help people at the same time.
I started out by getting QuickBooks certified on my own and then looking for bookkeeping jobs without any real bookkeeping experience. I was lucky enough to get hired, and I moved ahead learning through trial by fire. Of course, when you don’t know what you’re doing, that environment can be very stressful. However, it’s an amazing way to learn on the fly and gain tons of experience in a short amount of time. Once I had the experience under my belt and I felt more confident as a bookkeeper, it was really my entrepreneurial spirit that pushed me to strike out on my own.
Kate: Wow. And that feeling is so universal for anyone starting out as a bookkeeper. When you’re first getting started everyone has that almost imposter feeling where they don’t want anyone looking at their computer screen while they work. The great thing is though, by signing up for your course students can learn from your experience going through that and get through those growing pains even quicker than they would on their own. I bet you wish you had a course like yours to lean on for support when you were first getting started.
Bill: Absolutely!
Kate: What motivated you to build a course?
Bill: Thankfully, my business grew very, very quickly. After it started getting off the ground I had a few close friends who were getting started as bookkeepers also, and they were looking for some help growing their business. I offered them a hand and I was able to help grow their businesses. That was a wonderful feeling and I really enjoyed seeing them succeed.
I talk about one of those friends in my free training video that anyone can watch whether they sign up for the course or not. She was a single mom with no bookkeeping experience, but with a huge desire to learn and put in the work. That’s absolutely imperative to success in this field. You have to have a genuine desire to want to do the work. This isn’t just another internet work-from-home hustle. I strongly encourage anyone to examine whether they have a genuine desire to do this kind of work and a genuine desire to help small businesses.
Kate: Of course, I mean, this is people’s livelihoods!
Bill: It is!
Kate: I always try to drive that point home. People should figure out whether they’re looking for a mindless side hustle, like mowing lawns or driving for Uber, or, if they are looking for something more that they grow into a business.
Bill: Right. I like to say it’s not get rich quick, but it can help you get rich. It’s a legitimate business. We’re not drop shipping Amazon products or anything crazy like that. This is a legitimate business that you can grow as large as you want. For me, I have grown my business to the point where I need a couple employees. But I’ve also worked with some people who just want a couple clients on the side. Maybe they’re retired so they’re not looking for a full-time career, but they’re also not ready to give up completely yet either.
This friend of mine had that drive. She worked on her business like her life depended on it. And in some ways, it kind of did. She was able to grow her business to six figures in a relatively short amount of time. She worked very hard. She spent every waking moment on her business. But it was so fulfilling helping someone achieve something monumental like that, something they didn’t even think possible. After working with her I realized that this was something I could do to help others, and that’s how I got the idea to start a course.
Kate: How long ago did you launch your course?
Bill: Late 2017 is when I started dabbling. I created a little training, brought on a couple people, and worked with them one-on-one. Since then I’ve tried crafting a program that can help more people, but not so many that I can’t give students proper individualized attention. I really genuinely feel that the big benefit of a program like this is it takes out all the guesswork and shortens the learning curve. You can absolutely find all of this information online for free if you’re willing to spend the time researching it and piecemeal it all together. But I’ve already done all of that for you. I spent years learning all of these things, making mistakes, fine tuning my processes and with a course like this you can benefit from all of that experience and save yourself a lot of time. But I want the ability to deliver all of that information to people on a personal and individual level. I answer emails. I do live coaching calls. I do screenshares. I walk through any issues people have. I like taking the time to really walk people through all 130 videos in the course.
Kate: I noticed in your name it says Bill Von Fumetti, CPA. Are you also a CPA?
Bill: Yes, I am a CPA.
Kate: I noticed you didn’t mention that when you were describing yourself. How come?
Bill: Well, I’m a bookkeeper!
Kate: I like that! I like your entire approach. You’ve got your degree in mathematics. You’re a CPA. But you’re not approaching this in a flashy sort of way. You’re very down to Earth, just looking to help people, willing to hold their hands when they need it. I bet you have some amazing Zoom calls and celebrating each other’s victories.
Bill: Yes, we do. Especially lately, people are getting a lot of clients. I don’t know about you, but my phone has been ringing off the hook. A bunch of people in my group have been seeing a lot of clients. It was even happening during quarantine, but now that things are lifting, there’s an additional rush.
Kate: I’ve had more inquiries lately than I’ve ever had, so I would say you’re right.
Bill: Okay. Well, to address the CPA thing. I got a CPA because I’m the type of person that doesn’t do anything halfway. So when this bookkeeper for the gym told me you could earn $3,000 a month doing bookkeeping I decided to investigate bookkeeping and accounting. I found out the highest you could go was CPA, so I decided to get my CPA. I thought maybe I’d want to do taxes. I tried taxes and realized I wasn’t that interested in it. I am a CPA, and I suffered to earn that title, so I still put that at the end of my name.
Kate: Rightfully so! That’s not an easy thing to just go out and get.
Bill: For sure, ask my wife. There were some additional long nights as well.
Kate: So talk a little bit more about the course. Give us the highlights of how it’s structured, what people start with and where they end. Tell us all about it.
Bill: Okay. There are two foundations of a successful bookkeeping business. The first is that you have to be a great bookkeeper. You just have to be good at what you do. The second is you’ve got to be good at getting clients. Without both of those, you really don’t have a business. Sure, there are other things like setting up systems and processes, but those are the two biggest ones. And that’s essentially what my course covers.
The first thing that happens after you sign up is you receive login credentials to access all of the online training videos. These videos walk you through the entire process. There are 130 videos. They begin with setting up and structuring your business. Then we talk about bookkeeping fundamentals. Then we cover QuickBooks mastery. And then in module four we do monthly service delivery. Knowing QuickBooks is one thing, but knowing what you’re going to be doing for a client on a monthly basis is another matter. That handles the getting great at bookkeeping part of the equation.
The rest of the course focuses on getting clients. Marketing is one of the biggest parts of the course. I like to say, if you’re doing your marketing properly then you’re getting lots of prospects which then allows you to pick and choose who you work with. You really don’t want to be in a position where you have to work with everyone. Business owners can be strong-willed people with particular ways of doing things. Some are easy to work with, but some aren’t. You can narrow down to specific industries that you enjoy working in. You can narrow down to working only with clients where the margins are really high. I always say, provide big value, charge big fees. We price our services based on the value we provide as opposed to an hourly rate.
Then we cover how to price your services. We have a proprietary pricing calculator that helps you develop your monthly value-based service fee.
Kate: Everyone is always asking for a calculator.
Bill: I know! The truth is the calculator is just a jumping off point. When you’re pricing your services for a monthly bookkeeping engagement it’s mostly science, but there is a little art to it as well. There are all kinds of intangible factors that you need to take into account. You can plug in the information that you get from the phone consultation and it develops that jumping off point for you.
Then we cover how to close the deal. How to handle phone conversations and those kind of touch points. We emphasize that they really are conversations more than consultations. A lot of people think it’s like a job interview, but it’s not.
Kate: Right, right. It’s not. If it starts to become one, that’s probably not an ideal client.
Bill: Exactly. So that’s component one. The second component are those weekly live video calls. Every Wednesday at 11 Pacific we all log on and cover any problems people are having. I will share my screen and answer any questions people may have. Whether it’s on QuickBooks, marketing, or even entrepreneurial therapy.
Kate: I try to let people know that, sometimes, the entrepreneurial side is harder than the bookkeeping side. It really is. If you study enough, you will learn everything QuickBooks can do and you will learn everything there is to know about accounting. But the business side can just get you down. At least that’s what gives me the butterflies and really stretches me. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
Bill: Right, a lot of people face those insecurities. Talking to a client for the first time is hard. When I did it I was dressed in a suit and taking notes and everything. The funny thing is that I was so nervous that I wasn’t even able to take notes on anything the person was saying. I was just scribbling so that I would look like I was absorbing information, but on the inside I was just shaking. Thankfully, I ended up getting the job. But there is so much that goes into talking to clients, overcoming emotions, things like that. So that’s something else we definitely cover in the course.
We do record the calls and post them in the course library so that people who can’t attend live can still watch them on demand.
Lastly, we do have a private Facebook group for students. That is the best first place to ask your questions, that way everyone can learn from the answers.
And we do have email support as well. That way if you don’t feel comfortable posting on Facebook or bringing it up on the call, you can email me directly.
I want people to spend time on their business, not googling answers. So I try to provide a lot of on-demand resources so that they can quickly find the answers they need and get back to business. If you can’t find the answer within a reasonable amount of time, you can just reach out to me and I will help keep you moving.
Kate: Okay. That sounds very thorough. What would you say makes your course unique in the bookkeeping education marketplace right now?
Bill: I’m familiar with most of the other courses out there and, honestly, they’re really great. I wouldn’t ever say anything bad about them. But I try to differentiate myself by doing everything I can to help people be as successful as possible in as little time as possible. Of course, we are all running our own races so there’s no need to compare ourselves to others. We just need to make sure that we’re making progress in our own goals.
One of the things I provide that maybe some others aren’t is the knowledge that comes from running a very busy and successful bookkeeping business right now. Sure, I have the course. But day-to-day, my schedule is overflowing with bookkeeping work. That is one of the reasons I keep my class sizes so small. And the benefit is that I’m in touch with what’s working right now, what clients are looking for, and what the most recent market trends look like. I think there’s value in learning from someone who is currently successful at the thing they’re teaching.
Kate: That’s a great point. Some people say that those who can’t do, teach. But that’s not you. In fact, you happen to be teaching while you’re doing.
Bill: That’s right. I’m out there fighting to grow my business and fighting to be the success I want to be, and I think that’s really important to look for in a mentor.
Another thing, I think it’s really important to have those weekly coaching calls. Videos and Facebook groups are a great place to start, but they’re not enough. You are going to get stuck. You are going to have questions. You are going to need encouragement. Without that personal touchpoint, you are going to get overwhelmed, frustrated, and stagnate. I don’t want that for anyone I work with in this course. I want everyone in my course to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. So I make myself incredibly available on a regular basis. I am there to answer questions, be a cheerleader, hold hands, and just add that human component that pre-recorded videos and online groups just can’t provide.
I think those are things people should look for when evaluating a course. Are you going to get personal attention? Is the person teaching you currently successful at what they’re teaching?
Kate: Sure. When someone pays for your course do they receive lifetime access as the course grows?
Bill: Yes, absolutely. For example, I’m currently updating some of the marketing modules to stay current with the COVID-era marketplace. And the people who have already signed up and moved through the course will still have access to those updated videos. So, yes, if you sign up you will get lifetime access to all future updates.
Kate: I took Bookkeeper Business Launch, and now they have multiple courses that you can buy. But you’re saying that your course is all-in-one?
Bill: Exactly. It’s the whole enchilada. You buy it once and you get everything. And that’s really because I work with people who are just starting out with no experience, as well as people who are already running a bookkeeping business who are looking to get more clients. So I keep everything all-inclusive so that there’s something to serve every type of student. It doesn’t matter how much experience you have, I meet you where you are and help get you to the place you want to go with your business.
Kate: Fantastic! What sort of student is most successful in your course? And do you think there’s a kind of student who wouldn’t be successful?
Bill: That’s an excellent question. The kind of student who will really succeed in my course is the kind of student who does two things. First, do what I tell you to do. It’s not like I’m telling you how to run your business or exactly what your business should look like. But, if you follow all of the steps in the program, you will get to where you want to be. In other words, somebody who wants to sign up and wants to learn different things that aren’t part of my course may not get as much benefit from my course. But I know the steps that work to grow a successful bookkeeping business, because I currently have one of my own, and if you’re willing to just follow the steps you will succeed.
Number two, the student needs to be willing to ask questions or reach out when they need help. If you don’t ask for help, I can’t help you.
Any student who is willing to put in the work, follow my steps, and ask for help when they need it is definitely going to succeed in this course.
I feel this is as good a time as any to point out I don’t have a whole team of people helping me. I know some of the other courses have whole teams of people to help support the students. As I alluded to before, I’m not a huge fan of that approach. I like helping people directly, so you will never talk to anyone other than me.
Kate: Okay. I notice you keep mentioning QuickBooks, do you mean QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop?
Bill: QuickBooks Online.
Kate: And you exclusively teach QBO?
Bill: Yes.
Kate: Okay, fair enough. For any of you course creators listening out there, I’m still waiting for someone to create a bookkeeping course founded on Xero. It doesn’t exist yet, and I really think someone should do it!
Bill: It wouldn’t be hard to plug that into my course, but I really feel like you have to be efficient. And for us, that means focusing on our core competencies like QuickBooks.
Kate: I agree. Especially for someone like me whose business is intentionally small, if you want to have a fairly streamlined business you should focus on just one. I’m of the opinion that there’s not a huge difference between any of the bookkeeping software applications. Bookkeeping is bookkeeping. You just have to study the insurance and outs of your one particular software to know how to use it. But the reports will end up the same. The addition and subtraction will be the same no matter what system you use.
I like what you said about your most successful students being the ones willing to just do as you say. I feel like I’m the unintentional expert in bookkeeping business teaching space. I kind of fell into this position, but I’ve talked to almost every bookkeeping business course creator out there. I’ve even written a guidebook on choosing the bookkeeping business course that’s best for you. It’s a quick 45-minute read and it can really help you figure out who you want to be your leader and mentor as you begin your entrepreneurial bookkeeping journey. In that book I suggest that once you decide on a course you should leave every single other Facebook group and give that one course creator your undivided attention for at least six months. The only exception might be a Facebook group that’s more geared towards an accounting software. But other than that, once you decide who you want to be your leader you should leave all of your other Facebook groups and just focus on doing what that one person says to do. You gave them your hard-earned money. They have a formula to success. You would be wasting your money if you didn’t just focus on doing as they say, because that’s what you’re paying for. It’s essential to minimize decision fatigue. Building a business is hard enough without the additional stress of constantly wondering what you should do next. It should be just as simple as logging on to the course you’ve purchased, clicking on the next video, and then just do what they say. That way you’re not making decision after decision. You’re simply executing and making progress. Scrolling through Facebook groups never made anyone money. But doing what you said has made people money and changed their lives.
Bill: I will never say the word guarantee. You just can’t say that. There are just no guarantees in life and I won’t insult anyone’s intelligence by pretending there are. There are so many variables to making it where you want to be. You have to put in the work. You have to dedicate the time. You have to have opportunities. But, I will say this much, if you do the work you will get the clients. Just do what I tell you to do – take liberties here and there to make your business your own – but do as I say and you will get clients. I get asked if there’s a moneyback guarantee or not, and there is no moneyback guarantee because there are no guarantees. You don’t have to look very hard to find people who are opening bookkeeping businesses and being successful. If you go to my website you will see lots of testimonials. I have people who were nice enough to leave video testimonials about how well they’ve done in my course and that means a lot to me. So while there are no guarantees, there is proof that the course works for a lot of people. There are no refunds, so you should take the time to look through my website, watch my free training materials, and really decide if this is right for you. And while there isn’t a moneyback guarantee, I do guarantee that if you sign up with me, I will do everything I need to do to get you where you want to be. That’s the guarantee I make to you if you decide it’s right for you.
Kate: That goes for any course you choose, really. You have to be willing to do the work.
Bill: Be all in. Don’t go into it with an escape plan in the form of a moneyback guarantee. Don’t leave yourself a chance to quit. If you’re going to do it, then do it. I believe I can speak for other bookkeeping business course creators out there when I say, they would rather you not sign up than to sign up and either not do the work, or your credit card bounces the next month, or you drop out. Make sure it’s right for you before you get started. Make sure that bookkeeping is a good professional fit for you before you get started. That way, when you do get started, you can go all in. Whether it’s with my program or not. There are a lot of quality programs out there and there’s one that’s right for you. When you find it, you will succeed if you put in that work.
Kate: All right. Laura wants to know, do you teach how to build referral networks or other systems for marketing in your course?
Bill: When it comes to marketing there are numerous things we can be doing to market our business. For example, I think in your group, somebody said they had success taking their business cards and shoving them into a little nook or cranny on a gas pump. Was it efficient? Not really, but it worked for them. That just goes to show that there are so many options out there when it comes to marketing. But, we focus on the most effective marketing strategies in our course to help you get the most bang for your marketing buck. And referrals is one of the biggest ones that we cover. I like to talk about, what I call, the Superior 7 Marketing Strategies. Those are the QuickBooks Advisor directory and leveraging that properly. LinkedIn, Google My Business, your website, and then Facebook and Google Ads. NO matter what we do in terms of marketing we have to spend something. You can do the free things like organic networking, referrals, pro advisor, and things like that. It’s free but we still have to spend time to set it up. When it comes to Facebook and Google ads you spend more money than time, and it can be highly effective for attracting clients. And we guide people through setting up that entire structure, A to Z. I even help people write their About Me section on their Pro Advisor profile, which is the same bio they use on their LinkedIn or website. We really help people set up that marketing machine to run on autopilot.
Kate: Awesome. Can you describe the syllabus and timeline of your course? Is it self-paced or do you have a suggested time for completion? And what percentage of your course is accounting versus marketing versus software?
Bill: In terms of syllabus, we have seven modules which cover setting up your business, bookkeeping principles and accounting fundamentals, QuickBooks mastery, monthly service delivery, marketing, service pricing, and closing the deal. As far as timeline goes, everybody moves at their own pace. But what I like to see happen is people maintaining momentum. If you’re able to devote 5 to 10 hours to the program each week I typically see people get their first clients in about 6 to 8 weeks.
Kate: Is that someone who doesn’t know what a T-account is or the basic accounting equation?
Bill: That’s where this gets into some of the variables like where somebody is in their experience level and also how much time they have to spend. So that’s about the average. If someone has no experience, doesn’t even know the difference between debits and credits, then it’s going to take them a bit longer. But if somebody has that experience or even has a business set up, they will get a client a lot sooner. If they have a lot of time to spend on the program, they will see clients sooner. But 6 to 8 weeks is the general timeline.
Kate: And what is the spread between accounting, marketing, and software?
Bill: It’s pretty evenly divided between the three. I did lump the software in with the accounting modules so that you can learn the software as you practice the accounting fundamentals. It’s contextually interrelated. I would say the act of bookkeeping is 50% and getting clients is 50%.
Kate: Okay. Do you have a favorite student success story that you want to share?
Bill: I do. The person I talked about earlier was in a really tough situation and they pulled themselves out of it, so I’m super proud of them. But the other one I’m really proud of is someone who got to the six-figure rate. They hadn’t made six figures, but they got to the point where monthly billings on an annualized basis were six figures in just about 93 days. But again, I tell everyone that is not typical. This is somebody who spent all day every day doing this. Heck, if you want to grow a million-dollar bookkeeping business, anything is possible. But it’s important to keep your expectations reasonable. Realistically, most people get their first client within 6 to 8 weeks and then grow at different rates from there depending on their unique circumstances. But that one I’m so proud of because they came in willing and ready to work, listened to what I had to say, and implemented until they were successful.
Kate: This makes me wonder, what would you say is the percentage of people who have full-time jobs versus people who don’t? When I started I was a stay-at-home mom doing this in the morning and during breaks in my day. I was not an all-day person when I was getting started. Do most people in your course have full-time jobs or not?
Bill: It’s a good mix and it’s hard to put a percentage on it. It’s about 50/50, but a lot of people do have jobs and want to start on the side. So I get a lot of questions about how to do LinkedIn without everybody at work finding out and things like that. I can really help those people because I started my business on the side as well. I was answering emails at 2:00 in the morning. Nobody complained about it. The only time someone mentioned it, they loved it. But I also work with stay-at-home parents, retired professionals. The oldest person I work with is 76 years old and he’s starting his own business. Now he’s finding that when you open your own business as opposed to applying for a job, experience is at a premium.
Kate: That’s a great twist!
Bill: I have two 73 year old students who are getting clients.
Kate: I should interview them! I have always thought this was a great post-retirement job. I can envision a scenario where a retiree isn’t quite ready to stop working altogether. Because it’s virtual you can still travel, take cruises, visit the grandkids. It’s perfect. And you can always pass your clients off, too. If you find a subcontractor who can start working under you and take over your clients when you are ready to quit completely. You can grow your business as much or as little as you want.
Bill: That’s exactly right. And one thing that people overlook too often is that, while the income is great, a bookkeeping business is an asset. You can sell your book of business when you are ready to move on to something new. Generally you can sell your book of business for 1.5x annualized sales. So if you have a business where you’re doing $100,000 in annual revenue, that’s an asset worth about $150,000. People overlook that too often. That’s something a 9 to 5 job can’t do.
Kate: Okay, Bill, we’re just about done. How much does your course cost?
Bill: If you want to pay in full, the course costs $1,997. You can also leverage a payment plan for $197 a month for 12 months. While the pay-in-full makes more sense financially, the payment plan allows people to get involved quicker and start seeing clients within two to three months. At that point the program can start paying for itself. But I don’t want people to spend their last dime on a bookkeeping program hoping on a miracle. This is not a miracle. It takes time, not much, but it does take time. And it takes lots of work.
Kate: I definitely agree that people shouldn’t put themselves in debt or spend their last dime. But I want to share a quick story. I ended up earning the money to buy the course I took. We could have purchased the course outright, but since I wasn’t sure I didn’t want to put us back financially. So by having to go do odd jobs and slowly save up the money I was able to see how dedicated I really was to the program, and it helped me commit more fully to the course once I did purchase.
Bill: I totally agree with making sure this is something you want to do before investing in a course. But, in terms of the payment plan, it is a 12-month commitment. It’s not a subscription. Some people get confused on that and think they can cancel whenever they want. It’s just a financing option.
Kate: I see. Ideally you’re financing it with future clients.
Bill: Exactly!
Kate: Okay. One last question, Bill, how can people find out more about you?
Bill: If you haven’t watched my free training, it’s about 50-minutes long, and I cover the whole backstory and also give you some actionable information and checklists on how to get started and get clients. You can get that at www.boomingbookkeeping.com. If you are interested in working with me, I look forward to that, and I encourage you to sign up for my course through this link. I know Kate spends a lot of time doing great work for this group for free when she doesn’t have to. I appreciate whether she does. So if you do want to sign up, click on this link.
Kate: Awesome! It was so nice talking to you. You seem like such a genuine guy, and I bet you have such a strong community. Even if you don’t subscribe to this course, visit bookkeepingsidehustle.com/support.