The value of outsourcing to a small business with Laura Kelly
Today I'm talking with Laura Kelly of Tula Books and we are chatting all about outsourcing in your business. So Laura is specifically a bookkeeper, but we are talking beyond bookkeeping to how do you know it's the right time to outsource and how she has done this in her own business in a way that increased her profitability by being very strategic with when she's hiring, who she's hiring, and how she is going about that.
Laura Kelly is the founder and CEO of TulaBooks, a modern bookkeeping firm servicing small business owners and entrepreneurs. Laura has over 15 years of corporate accounting, finance, and HR experience, and brings those years of knowledge to her clients books every. She loves crunching numbers, but what she loves even more is translating those numbers into a meaningful story for her small business clients. She helps you step out of spreadsheet mayhem and into your role as a CEO.
[00:01:24] Hi Laura. Thanks for joining me today.
Get to know Laura and her journey to profitability
[00:01:29] Laura Kelly: Hey, Samantha. I'm so excited to be here.
[00:01:32] Samantha Mabe: I introduced you at the beginning of the show, but I'd love if you could share a little bit more about your business journey and really how you have built a profitable business.
[00:01:41] Laura Kelly: Wow. You're just hitting it right off the top here.
[00:01:45] Um, yeah, so my journey to profitability, which is really the theme of your podcast, um, it's, uh, it's taken some turns. So I guess my background is I worked for about, 15 years in corporate positions. So I was, you know, starting out as an office manager all the way up to a VP of finance at my last job.
[00:02:04] And I worked for small startup software companies so I wore a lot of hats. I learned so much about bookkeeping, accounting, little bit of tax, not a ton of tax, um, , so that's not my area of expertise, but, um, all things finance and then some HR related things too.
[00:02:21] And then when I had my daughter in 2019, I took some time off and I did that for probably about three months, and then I started getting contacted by some of my old corporate contacts about doing some hourly work.
[00:02:34] So when I started TulaBooks, it was as an hourly CFO. Um, so I was doing hourly consulting. I quickly scaled that up to like 40 hours of my time a week. So I was like making bank. It was amazing. So that was clearly profitable because it was just me and I had super minimal expenses.
[00:02:53] But I really quickly learned that that work didn't really light me up, and it felt a lot like still being an employee. And I knew I really wanted to go after more of this entrepreneurial business owner setting boundaries, setting my own schedule, being flexible with my life. And I knew I couldn't really have that just by a being a 40 hour a week, basically a contractor.
[00:03:15] So I pivoted the business, um, probably about a year and a half into that and switched to now we are a modern bookkeeping firm. I have a team of bookkeepers that service our monthly clients. And then the work that I do, I do VIP days kind of when, when requests come in and when I want to do that, but I don't necessarily have to do that.
[00:03:37] But that was a big shift profitability wise, right? To go from like billing hourly, Everything went to me to now wait, I have a team and we've got tons of software platforms to support our clients and all these things. Um, so it's been a journey, and I'll be honest, I'm not making as much money as I was when I first started, but this is so much more exciting to me. I love the work that I'm doing and I see so much more possibility profit wise for this as it starts to scale. So this one, this model really could be infinitely scaled where my hourly rate I was obviously kept unless I wanted to just kill myself.
[00:04:15] So, so anyways, that was not a very short answer, but that is my background. Um, so I went, pivoted. Kind of full time CFO to now running this bookkeeping business and just having a blast serving our.
Create a business that allows you to live the life you desire
[00:04:28] Samantha Mabe: I love that you, you knew you had like this really profitable thing and being an hourly CFO that you could have kept going knowing, okay, I'm make, I'm make a lot of money. I'm gonna be really profitable. But that doesn't serve the lifestyle that I want to live.
[00:04:46] And so sometimes we have to step back from just looking at how much money can I bring in to really do a bigger picture overhaul, to build the type of business we want, to have the type of life that we want. Even if that means we're not making as much money in the bank because there's so much value in that other stuff.
[00:05:10] Laura Kelly: Totally. And I also realized that I'm in the stage of life and I, I know you are too, Samantha. You've got a, you've got a little one. I've got two littles at home that, you know, at a certain point I could pivot more to being more focused on the business later on. And like, I have a lot of years ahead of me to really build that wealth, um, over time that it's a season, you know, and this works so well, to be able to support my family unit. I, I take every Friday off, I take other days off when I need to and want to because I, because I have this team, like it's so great. All I need to do is just answer Slack messages most days and the team is just off and running, doing their thing. Like, how beautiful is that?
[00:05:50] So now I just worry about, Hey, can I bring on more clients? Can I grow this? Can I scale this? Um, but the structures are in place. Like I, I'm ready to rock and roll. Let's bring on the clients. Samantha, let's do this .
Starting a team for TulaBooks
[00:06:03] Samantha Mabe: So when you started or made that switch over to bookkeeping, did you know you wanted to have a team of people helping you serve your clients in that way.
[00:06:13] Laura Kelly: Yeah, great question. Um, cuz obviously this didn't all happen overnight, right? I didn't go from like 40 hours a week billing CFO to then, you know, full like team and all that.
[00:06:23] But as I started making the shift, like basically I started getting requests from small businesses for bookkeeping and I thought, Well, they can't afford my CFO rate, so I, um, it just so happened that a gal that I used to work with, she worked with me at my last full-time gig, um, She was kind of available so it was kind of perfect. And I was like, you know what, what if I hired her to be part of my team?
[00:06:49] Then the hourly billing really made sense because then I could just bring on team. I could, you know, charge my clients what was appropriate and not have to charge them sky high rates for me. Um, so then I started to see the potential of that and, and basically I grew it from that point, from the beginning.
[00:07:09] Like I really haven't had my hands on a monthly client project from the beginning, uh, because I put the structures in place. I trained the team, of course, like I'm very knowledgeable about what's in my client's books and all of that. And I have oversight, but I've never managed those clients start to finish. I really did build it with scaling in mind. And like I said, that was a very intentional decision and it, I was able to afford to take that pay cut.
[00:07:36] I do know a lot of people in this business who they start and that they, they have all the clients and then they're completely overworked and then they have to think about bringing on a team. And it's, it's hard to make that jump. So I really just committed all in from the beginning to bring on a team.
[00:07:51] I don't regret doing that because cuz now we are set up, we have all the structures and the systems feel to support that.
How Laura views outsourcing and has used it in her business
[00:07:58] Samantha Mabe: So we're talking about outsourcing today, and that's kind of one way that you're outsourcing is that you are not in the service delivery all the time, but what else have you outsourced in your business?
[00:08:13] Laura Kelly: Yeah, so I'm the outsource queen . I should put, I should plaster that on my website. Um, I, So from the very beginning, yeah, I guess I've always had an outsourced mindset, cuz even, like I said, building a team from the get go. But even beyond that, even beyond the service delivery. I have outsourced so many things in my business.
[00:08:31] I knew right away I didn't want, want to waste my time trying to create a logo or anything with graphic design, didn't wanna do a website design. I even outsourced originally all my copy, all my website copy has been written by other people. Um, so I have really outsourced almost every single aspect of my business.
[00:08:52] And I've learned a ton along the way. But, um, you know, I was lucky, like I said early on, that I was kind of making bank , so it was easy for me to make those investments.
[00:09:02] Now that I've scaled back, I love that I've had both aspects where like I was really flush with cash and now I'm not so much. So I, I have, I see both sides and where my clients are coming from, that I have to be really smart now about the things that I do decide to outsource. And unfortunately I've had to get scrappy and like do some writing myself and do some things myself. But it's really taught me both sides of the coin.
[00:09:25] Because not everybody is gonna be in a financial situation to just be able to pay a copywriter to write your entire website. Like most people have to do that themselves when they start out. Um, so I love that I'm getting both experiences now so I can really kind of sympathize and empathize with my clients who have had to be really scrappy in the beginning where my journey was kind of flipped. It's like now I'm couple years in and now I have to be scrappy. Um, but yeah, I've learned a lot along the.
[00:09:53] Samantha Mabe: Yeah, it's so interesting because you did have the cash to invest up front, but what I think is important, you know, we recognize that, but you also knew what you wanted to do in your business.
[00:10:08] I think the mistake people can make when they out try to outsource right away, and I get requests like this from people for websites. They say, I need a website for this business idea that I have, and I tell them, This is not the right time. You need to like get into the business. You need to make sure that it's gonna work, that you're even gonna want to do it. And you had at least been doing your own business. You've been doing this work so you knew it was kind of a proven product, even though it wasn't, you know, years into your business that you were hiring people to help you.
[00:10:44] Laura Kelly: Yeah, I, I agree with you. And, and sometimes I've had to, even with people that approach me for services, sometimes I have to tell them, Look, you're not ready for monthly bookkeeping. You know, you, you might need to get scrappy, You might need to DIY your books for a period. Which we do have service offerings to kind of help them through that process too. Um, but yeah, you have to really look at, like you said, where you are in the history of your business. How much are you bringing in? How much are you profiting? Can you afford it?
[00:11:16] I knew early on that I really wanted to have that presence nailed down and to be able to share that. Um, but, but I know plenty of people fly by the seat of their pants, even without a logo. You know, there's so many more important things that they can be doing up front, like networking and just getting in front of their audience and all of that, um, that the, the fancy branding and all that stuff can definitely come later.
Deciding when it’s the right time to invest in outsourcing
[00:11:39] Samantha Mabe: So how did you decide, especially as you were, like outsourcing some of the other tasks in your business- the logo, the copywriting- what you needed help with, and kind of when was the right time to, to look for those people?
[00:11:57] Laura Kelly: Yeah. Well the thing was like, let's say copywriting, for example. I feel like I am a decent writer. Like I, I, I can do it. And I, I was actually, I was a Spanish major in college, so I actually ended up writing a lot in Spanish.
[00:12:15] So even though it wasn't my favorite thing, I. I was decent at it, right? So I for sure could have written my website or written, you know, a couple like starter blog posts and stuff like that.
[00:12:26] But the other thing I know about myself is, although I can do it and I'm decent at it, I know it takes me way longer than somebody who does that all day, every day. So I was trying to weigh my time and especially early on in my business now, I kind of out of the gate just said, Oh yeah, I scaled to 40 hours a week of CFO work. Well that actually took some time, right? That wasn't like an overnight thing.
[00:12:49] Um, cuz I was also dealing with, Oh, I'm home with my daughter, like how I need childcare. Like I need sitters. Like, so that kind of scaled up over time. So my time was super finite and I really had to get smart about, and especially back then, because I was trading my time for dollars, like I needed time to actually build the clients.
[00:13:11] Um, so my time for other activities was so minimal that I was like, Well, this is worth me trading my dollars to get my time back so that I could bill my clients. So that was really, back then, it was an easy decision because I knew that I could get my copywriter, you know, unleash them on doing this project, and then at the end of it I'd have my website done and I didn't have to, you know, kill myself working late nights and stuff like that. Because again, raising a little one, you have very little time. You know this.
[00:13:46] Samantha Mabe: Yes, I do know this, and. I have actually, I'm working with a copywriter to launch my new sales page service for exactly that reason. It was more valuable for me to pay her and get my time back than to sit around and try to write this. That's gonna take me way longer and it's not gonna be as good.
[00:14:09] Laura Kelly: Exactly.
[00:14:09] Samantha Mabe: And it's kind of a balance of profitability of I'm gonna put out this investment in order to make it back. And that's kind of where you're balancing those two things. And sometimes it's just, I don't have the time to do this. So you know, people who have house cleaners or something, which I'm so jealous of. I could do it. And maybe, you know, it's not, I get income directly because I'm not, but there is still that balance of like, there are other things I wanna be doing with my time.
[00:14:43] Laura Kelly: Yeah, absolutely. I agree with you there.
How to decide if outsourcing is worth the investment
[00:14:47] Samantha Mabe: When you started outsourcing and you kind of picked something you knew you needed help with, say, copywriting, how did you go about finding the right person and deciding that it really was going to be worth that investment of your time to do the search, your time to kind of give them the information you need and your investment of money?
[00:15:09] Laura Kelly: Ooh, yeah. Now when I started out, Um, you know, I didn't realize that this whole online business world was a thing. Okay. I was just like, here I am, you know, I'm doing like financial spreadsheets for people that I knew in my direct circle, locally here in Pittsburgh. And, and then once I started kind of, expanding my horizon a little bit and realizing, Oh, shoot, there's a whole world out there of these service providers. It really opened my eyes.
[00:15:37] So I would actually say the, the way I picked my person back in the day was way easier because I actually picked from somebody that I knew locally, um, who turned out she, she's in this online business world now too. Now I would say it's a little harder because now I am following so many people on Instagram and I know, you know, a ton of people, Samantha, that even do what you do, or like, I know a ton of copywriters.
[00:16:01] So back then I'll say like initially it was, it was the connection. She was somebody that actually I had worked with in the corporate world, which was really cool and she pivoted to start her own business. So I thought, oh my gosh, she's perfect. She knows me. Like she knows me in the real world. So I was like, She's gonna be able to write for me because she knows me and my tone and my jokes and all that kind of stuff. And she's made this leap from corporate to this online world. So I was like, thi, this is a match made in heaven. So that was like a no brainer for me.
[00:16:31] Now I would say a couple years in making the decision, because like I said, there's so many different options out there. I think most of these decisions end up coming down to the relationship, like, how do you jive with this person? Do they get you? Like, and even when it comes to, Well actually I'll say especially when it comes to people that invest in my services, in bookkeeping, relationships are so huge.
[00:16:54] When it comes to things like your numbers, like people really wanna know that they trust you. They're not just gonna pick some Joe Schmo off the street. So usually most of my clients end up being word of mouth referrals because they had a really great experience with Susie Smith down the street and now they're like, Oh, you trust Laura with your books. Okay, great. I'm gonna book a sales call with her.
Building relationships that lead to growth in your business
[00:17:13] And I feel like that's kind of the same with the things that I've invested into. It's, you know, maybe I did get a referral from a friend of mine who used them. Or you know, maybe they're in a cool group, like there were just little pockets of community where you just feel like you comfortable with them and like, oh, they're a known entity. I do think it really comes down to the relationships, do they really jive with you?
[00:17:36] And of course like you wanna make sure there's a good product out there and there's so many ways to be able to really prove that nowadays. Like, like with you Samantha, I can go look at your portfolio online, you know. So I'm gonna know really well, I already know really quickly that like, you know, you do a fantastic job cuz I see that proof out there.
[00:17:56] Maybe some other service providers might be a little harder to really get that proof, maybe especially in my industry, because how are they gonna know if I'm gonna screw up their numbers or not, you know? Um, but that's where, again, that's where the relationship piece, I think, comes in.
[00:18:10] Samantha Mabe: That is so important, and even for people who haven't been necessarily referred to you, it for people who are bringing in leads on social media, it's still more about seeing your story, seeing your videos, getting to know your personality than just, here's an image and a caption, an image and a caption.
[00:18:31] It's all about that relationship because all of this stuff that we're doing, websites and bookkeeping and copywriting, there's such an element of trust to that.
[00:18:42] And when you're hiring an employee for your like brick and mortar business, you sit down and you interview them. And in some ways we're doing the same thing. We're just doing it online through coffee chats and Instagram stalking and you know, asking people if they know somebody who does this.
[00:19:01] Laura Kelly: I know it's such a funny world, isn't it? Like we have these networks of people that, you know, we ha like, when have we met these people?
[00:19:09] It's crazy that most of our like bis besties now, they're out in the ether. We've only met them on Zoom. And um, so that's where, like you said, it's really important to get a good feel for them. Um, so hopefully they are sharing, you know, some video online. Like that's where I feel like I really connect with somebody.
[00:19:28] So when I actually have the energy, I do go on stories because I don't mind talking to the camera. I like people hearing from me. I really like recording like Loom videos for clients and um, and for other people because I just feel like. That's how they're gonna get comfortable with me when they hear me talking. They hear how passionate I am about numbers and spreadsheets. They're gonna be like, Uh, yeah, I need her on my side because I couldn't care less about spreadsheets. That's where I feel like I really shine is like through these, you know, one-on-one connections and just, I guess over video.
Why hiring a bookkeeper is so valuable for a small business
[00:20:04] Samantha Mabe: If somebody's looking specifically to outsource bookkeeping, cause that's what you do. And I think that can be one of the first things, especially like as an ongoing task, that we want to get off our plates. That we just don't wanna look at the numbers, we don't wanna think about them. How do people know when it's a good time to look at outsourcing something like bookkeeping where somebody's really gotta get in the weeds and they don't wanna do it themselves.
[00:20:35] Laura Kelly: Ooh. Yeah, So I hate to give this answer, but it depends. I don't have a really good, like, yardstick formula for you of, like, when is the perfect time for you to outsource?
[00:20:46] Now there certainly are markers of, you know, your revenues should be in a certain place, or your profit should be in a certain place. Even that, I hate throwing out numbers because I've had some gals invest in me that probably shouldn't have because their numbers weren't really in the right place, but for them it was so hugely valuable to get a handle on their numbers, and they truly, truly valued what we did. So I'm not gonna turn 'em away.
[00:21:11] You need your profits to be in a place where they're predictable, right? You need to know that. Maybe you have a set of like retainer clients, or you have a really steady lead flow for like your VIP day, and you know, consistently you're gonna sell two to three VIP days a month. You just need to be in a place where you know that the recurring money is there because you're gonna have to, on a monthly basis, pay us. Right?
[00:21:33] But beyond that, I think it's like how much can you stomach handling your own numbers? Some people, like you said, it's the very first thing they wanna get off their plate, hate it and make some stress , so they, it's like the first thing that they wanna outsource. Other folks, um, they actually take a lot of pride in knowing that they can do it themselves. They wanna understand their QuickBooks. And, you know, I, I love folks like that because that's where my education comes in and that's where our VIP day offering is a great fit because basically we're helping folks get up and running so they can DIY their books with confidence.
[00:22:08] It depends on kind of where you are in the scale. If you're, like, allergic to numbers, then I think it's something you wanna outsource sooner rather than later. Once your profits and numbers are kind of in that right spot and you feel like you could afford it, then you know, get it off your plate sooner rather than later. Because the longer you let that go, and especially if you're in that category of people, that it really scares the crap out of you, the longer you kind of like ignore something or put it off, the bigger problem it becomes where if you deal with it when it's still kind of small and manageable and you get someone on your side looking at it with you, it is so not scary, and you can have that person walk you through it and make you feel comfortable.
[00:22:48] But yeah, get it off your plate because there's also so much additional value that a bookkeeper can give you beyond just knowing that your taxes are being taken care of. They can provide so much value in translating your numbers. That's what I, I say, that's really where our value is. We're numbers translator like, yes, we plug things into QuickBooks, we balance your checkbook, all that stuff. But really the value is pulling out the story that is hiding in your spreadsheets and you don't even know it's there, we can help translate it for you so that you can make better decisions in your business going forward. That's really our sweet spot.
[00:23:24] Samantha Mabe: Yeah, and that was actually leads into my next question is like, what types of insights should somebody be able to give us?
[00:23:34] When we're looking at somebody to do bookkeeping, most of us think, okay, they're just gonna go in. They're gonna make sure all the transactions are in there, that they're categorized correctly. But you're saying it's really more than that. Your bookkeeper should be doing more than just listing out things in a spreadsheet. They should be able to help you get some data to make decisions. So what are kind of those big things you help your clients look?
[00:24:01] Laura Kelly: Yeah, yeah, great question because you can absolutely hire an intern for $10 an hour to do that categorization work that you mentioned, um, to, to balance your checkbook and do your reconciliations.
[00:24:12] But where an experienced bookkeeper or an experienced finance professional can really help you see is, let's say for example, you know, you're in, in a certain industry, let's say you're a photographer, there are certain industry standards of how profitable a photographer should be. What are your costs of goods sold? Like, what are the things you're spending money on to deliver your services? Like there are certain kind of ratios and industry standards that what if you're way over inflated in that? Well, that's where I'd probably turn back to you photographer X, Y, Z, and say, Hm. You know, maybe we could scale back our expenses a little bit, or maybe you don't need to be investing just yet in so and so contractor or whatever it is.
[00:24:55] Um, so we can help you to see those types of things. We can look at industry trends. Um, we can just look at generally how are you doing over time? Are your expenses growing and your income is shrinking? Well, obviously that's not a good formula, it's not very sustainable. So there are things like that too, just trends like how are you trending?
[00:25:15] Um, and then also like looking at, especially for folks that have multiple streams of income, which we know a lot of people that are like that. Some even for us, we have our retainers. We have our monthly recurring folks, and ideally, you know, that should be growing. And then we also have our one off intensive. So these are like one time things and we've got certain costs associated with each of those. So we can look at to see how profitable each of those income streams is to say, you know what, this intensive VIP day model that's super profitable, let's double down on that. Maybe we can afford to, you know, invest in some marketing to bring in more of those leads to generate even more profit.
[00:25:58] So those are just a couple examples right there, but I think it really all leads down to how can we maximize your profit and just help you grow. We also talk about, you know, what are your personal goals? How much money do you wanna be bringing home into your family unit? Um, so we can help you kind of create a goal and a plan of how to get there as well.
[00:26:17] So not only are we helping you translate your actual results, but we can also help you project into the future and again, help you make those better business decisions to grow and to really meet the, the goals of your family and for your life
[00:26:35] Samantha Mabe: I know you were talking about, we were talking about like costs of good sold and all of these things, and I mean, I've been doing this for years and those aren't terms that I could like tell you what that is off the top of my head.
[00:26:48] But because you are in this and you work with small businesses, you really can tell them this is what your number is, but also this is what is standard for people who do what you do. So let's look at why it might be different, and maybe we want it to be different, maybe we don't. But you make decisions knowing not just your numbers, but kind of what other people are doing.
[00:27:16] Laura Kelly: Totally. I mean, and I'm actually, um, I'm also in a, a group coaching program specific for bookkeepers. So we talk all the time about what our certain profit margins should be if we have a team of bookkeepers. So I'm in the same boat as you guys, , like I'm also learning this stuff too. Um, so, you know, we talk about what are those benchmarks.
[00:27:39] Let's say my cost of my team is maybe higher than the typical industry standard. Well, like you said, let's dig into that more. Do I have too many team members? Are they underworked, um, overworked, what, you know, whatever it is. And that's where we could start to, you know, dial some things in to make sure that it, again, it makes sense and that we can bring home the money that we want.
[00:28:02] Because let's face it. I feel like I see so many people that they start their own business and they just pour their time and energy and money into it and they're not even like, so many times I hear from people, I'm not even paying myself, and I'm like, My heart just aches for them because I feel like. Yes, I know they're getting a lot of value and they love what they do, but gosh, you really should be getting paid for that
[00:28:27] so I feel like we really just help you get it to a point where you can still be passionate about what you do. You can still love it, but maybe there's a, just a couple small tweaks that we can make, um, to help you bring yourself home a paycheck so that you can really turn that into hard cash.
The benefit of hiring a small business instead of a corporation
[00:28:45] Samantha Mabe: Yeah. And that's really like a benefit of going with somebody who's a small firm or a solo service provider for you with bookkeeping. Cause you know all those trends and you are ready and willing to like dig into that with your clients. As opposed to one of those places where it's just like you're just another number in the wheel, like when it comes to tax time and you send it to H&R Block and you're just another number for somebody that they've trained and they're just running it through.
[00:29:15] And for anybody who's outsourcing, I think it's, when you're going with somebody who's a small business, not only are you impacting their life cuz like they get to put food on their table, but you are really getting personalized service from somebody who really cares and really gets it and is gonna go the extra mile because it's so much more to them than just another, you know, cha-ching on the cash register.
[00:29:43] Laura Kelly: Could not agree with you more. I mean, we talk about this in, um, in the group coaching program I'm in for bookkeepers. Um, because cuz all, all of us in the group, you know, we are that kind of white glove service and we go above and beyond for all of our clients and we, we kind of all serve clients in different niches.
[00:30:01] Um, but we talk a lot about some of those really low cost options that are out there. If you're using QuickBooks, quick, QuickBooks does have bookkeeper. Okay, you can pay them. It's cheap, but you get what you pay for. They have super crazy turnover. You're not getting somebody who is, like you said, Samantha, invested in their business, wants to learn about it, actually asks you once a month, you know, Hey, how are you doing beyond the numbers? What is going on? They don't do that kind of stuff, but you don't get that personalized service where they're really invested in you and your industry and they, they want to learn so that they can turn that into providing you so much more.
[00:30:47] Samantha Mabe: And just having that relationship some with someone is valuable. I just got an email from a client whose website I did years ago that something isn't working anymore and asking me to take a look at it, and it's like they are still able to come back to me because I, I know their business. I can go in there and look at it for like two seconds and I understand what's happening because I was so in it with them.
[00:31:12] And I'm still doing that for my clients now. You're not. You're not just handing it off to somebody. It really is a relationship that is also giving you a service.
[00:31:23] Laura Kelly: Totally. Um, and I think you said this earlier, I just love that pun, you're not a number , you're not just a number on a roster. Like each of our clients mean so much to us. Um, and we, we just have a great relationship with them.
[00:31:36] And, and the other thing about me is, Because these financial, you know, numbers, meetings, certainly they can be dry, right? Um, but we, we just love having fun. So we're always like trying to tell like, stupid jokes and like make it more lighthearted. While of course we're providing you to value and digging into your numbers, but, um, I feel like most of the time it's not even like talking about the numbers, it's just like making you feel like it's all okay, we're figuring this out together.
The most impactful decision Laura has made in here business
[00:32:08] Samantha Mabe: So I like to wrap up with the question, what has been the most impactful decision that you've made in your business and why?
[00:32:17] Laura Kelly: Ooh. Well, I mean, I think it comes back to the team aspect of things like really deciding and full blown committing to having that team even knowing that, again, in the short term it was less profitable. It still is less profitable.
[00:32:35] But investing in my own team members, because outsourcing to other service providers, that's something different, still totally love and jam out on that all day long. But my own team members who, and I actually, I'll say this too, I decided to make them employees instead of contractors. That I think also has been a huge decision that has benefited me so positively because, They're all super invested and they love it, and we just have so much fun. You know, we've got tons of like Slack channels and we're always like sending GIFs back and forth
[00:33:07] I'm really working towards that point where I can be that removable CEO because again, the team is servicing the clients, We're putting structures in place. So just, just really doubling down on getting that team in, knowing that it will be infinitely scalable if and when I want to take it to that next level. Um, but for now, you know, it's, it really, it fill, it fills my cup. It's, it's paying our family the paycheck we need for now and it's gonna grow and it's gonna be awesome. So yeah, deciding to move forward with a team, I think that was really the biggest thing, uh, that's gonna help me in this business. And I love it.
Connect with Laura and TulaBooks
[00:33:49] Samantha Mabe: So if people want to connect with you and maybe learn more about your services or just get some tips and tricks about bookkeeping, where is the best place for them to do that?
[00:33:59] Laura Kelly: Yeah, so I we're most active, in terms of social media platforms, on Instagram. Um, we do have a steady feed of like static posts, so there's lots of like tips and tricks and things not to do in your bookkeeping. Um, all that kind of stuff. So you can definitely go and, and binge all of that content. Occasionally you will see me on stories. I'm not as consistent as I like, uh, but I'm getting there. Um, so definitely check out Instagram. We're at TulaBooks dot Co.
[00:34:26] And then of course, check out our website, www.tulabooks.co. We've got lots of information on there about how we work with clients.
[00:34:34] I'm all about the connection, I'm all about the call. So book a call. That is the call to action. Book a call with me because even if it doesn't end up that we work together, I just like being able to hear like, what are your financial woes? What are the things keeping you up at night? And even if I'm not the service provider for you, I might be able to point you in contact with maybe, maybe you actually need a CPA so I can make referrals for that. Or maybe you're not quite at the point to hire a bookkeeper and I'll tell you that. Let's book a call. Let's chat it out. .
[00:35:05] Samantha Mabe: Awesome. I will link to that in the show notes so people can check it out. But thank you so much for coming on the show today. This was such a conversation.
[00:35:14] Laura Kelly: Hey, thank you Samantha. I loved it, and I will see you soon.
[00:35:17] Samantha Mabe: Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. As you have listened to Laura talk about outsourcing and bookkeeping. I hope you keep in mind that this is something that may take you a while up front, but over time it's going to save you time and money and help you be more profitable overall in your business. And that's not just if you're doing bookkeeping, it's also in your outsourcing journey. So I want to encourage you to think about one thing that you could outsource in your own business and make a plan for when that should happen.
