Annajean, Owner of Bookkeeping Unboxed ep. 5

Annajean ep. 5
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DJSkoob: [00:00:00] 

Hello, and welcome to another addition of the untitled entrepreneur. This is me, DJskoob . coming to you live from whatever device you're listening to today. We are talking to Anna. Hello, Anna. 

So, Anna Jean, I got a major question for you. Are you aSkoob believer?

Sure. All right. Thank you so much. We have another the Skoobeleiver, very verybody. All right. So Jean, tell me a little bit about what you do and how long you've been doing for, and a little bit about yourself. 

AnnaJean: Okay. Well, um, I started my current company bookkeeping unboxed in 2020 after COVID train wreck the economy.

Yeah. And I provide bookkeeping, payroll, QuickBooks, cleanup, and QuickBook support to small business. 

DJSkoob: All right. All those things are really super important, especially when you're running a business. 

AnnaJean: Yes. 

DJSkoob: All right. And, uh, what actually got you started in all this? 

AnnaJean: Well, I've been doing [00:01:00] bookkeeping and accounting since 2006, and I've been handling, uh, the family money since I was 19.

So accounting is what I do. Um, I've done it both as a self-employed contractor and as an employee. And I much prefer self-employed 

DJSkoob: okay. That's cool. That's probably why I don't get a paycheck. I just handed over to my wife and she gives me a. Allowance there probably kind of the same idea. 

AnnaJean: your job to make it, her job to make it, do everything it's supposed 

to do.

DJSkoob: Exactly. Exactly. Now. Um, I know you're just getting started here. So what are, um, actually some of the pitfalls or problems you've had about getting started in and finding clients and things of that nature? 

AnnaJean: Well, my initial, um, problem was that I wasn't confident in my message and I wasn't sure how to go about reaching people.

Um, I did attend a five day, um, [00:02:00] challenge on Facebook. And after that, or during that, I wrote my first blog and then published it to the group of people that it was aimed at, um, notary loan, signing agents. And I had really enthusiastic responses to the blogs that I've produced and, and shared with them.

DJSkoob: Oh, that's great.

And they wanted the, they wanted the spreadsheet and calculators that I had offered to them. I'm like, well, awesome. So this is, this is gonna work. They actually need what I'm doing here. And so then I, um, met a gentleman named Bryce tubs and he is my current business coach. And what I really just needed was somebody to hold my hand and say, okay, here's, here's what you do first.

And here's what you do next. And here's. Bite size goals you can deal with and kind of get me outta my comfort zone. And so, um, I've been working with him since March [00:03:00] and, um, since I started actually doing the work, I've gotten three new bookkeeping clients in the last 60 days. 

Oh, right. Well, congratulations on that.

AnnaJean: So, um, that . There's a lot of cleanup work to do and, and stuff like that, to get them ready to actually be live and, and have better information.

DJSkoob: Well, it's definitely sounds like a, a step in the right direction for you for what you want to do and what you want to accomplish. You know, uh, one of the main things, especially when you're first doing our, if you can find a mentor or find somebody to point you in that direct direction, give you those goals to meet that way, you know, you're heading the right direction.

It's really important for you to be able to make your goals that way. 

AnnaJean: Yeah. 

DJSkoob: So it, this mentor you have, who was he your biggest influence in starting this business? Or did you have somebody else that actually influenced you or, 

AnnaJean: um, I've been, like I said, I've been doing this since [00:04:00] 2006 and marketing has changed a lot in that amount of time.

Um, and so , um, and so things that I used to do to get clients don't work anymore. Mm yeah. And so. I've come across some other programs that made sense and looked like they would work. But when I went to go through the program and then try to implement it, it just didn't click, you know, how you're looking at something and you're reading it and reading it and it is just not going in.

And that's kind of how the other programs worked. Um, and the ones that I did find that I really liked and thought could help me were outta my price range at the time. So, um, Now I'm in a position to, to, uh, work with Bryce and to be able to, um, accomplish my goals. And, and like I said, I've had three new clients.

And $27,000 in cleanup work. 

DJSkoob: Wow. Okay. So you got a little work ahead of you [00:05:00] 

AnnaJean: yeah, quite a bit. Well, one has one has five, four and a half years and the other one has four years worth of cleanup work to do 

DJSkoob: so. Oh boy. Okay. Well I'm, I'm gonna do something here. Let's go back to 2006. I wanted you to tell me exactly when you had that aha moment to say, this is what I want to do.

I mean, how did, how did that happen? 

AnnaJean: Well, I had, um, graduated from an accounting program at a local college and went out and applied for jobs. But without any experience, you can't get a job and without any a job, you can't get any experience. Right. And I'm like, so how does that work? And then I came across the company called universal accounting out of

and their program not only teaches you basic bookkeeping, but also teaches you how to start your own business. Oh, okay. And so I followed their program step by step. I joined the local chamber and then next thing I knew I was covered up in 20 clients. Oh [00:06:00] wow. and was running six days a week. So, um, then it looked like my husband's job was gonna have to go outta state and.

So I shuffled those people off to other people and went to doing the employee thing. Well, by then I had enough experience. So they were like, yeah, come on. 

DJSkoob: Right.

AnnaJean: And I've been an employee and I've done, I've had a couple of bookkeeping clients along the way since then. But, um, life happens

DJSkoob: mm-hmm

AnnaJean: and I ended up leaving Oregon and moving to Missouri.

And, uh, well, I lived in Topeka and then I moved to Kansas city and then I moved down to Springfield. And so, um, because of the conditions I was in, um, with personal issues, uh, being an employee seemed to work better, cuz it's a lot easier to walk away from a job in clients.

DJSkoob: Yeah. And so I can see that,

AnnaJean: um, Then [00:07:00] things happened.

And I knew I had to come back here to take care of my grandkids. And so a year and a half, it'll be two years in August since I moved back out here to Oregon.

DJSkoob: Okay

AnnaJean: . And then COVID happened and because of some issues with my grandchildren, um, I need to be in the house full time. There's no leaving for work.

DJSkoob: Gotcha

AnnaJean: . Um, so being self-employed and being able to do it remotely, uh, works the best for me. Cause then I can still, you know, manage the kids and manage the household and still be able to do what I do and take care of myself financially. 

DJSkoob: All right. And that's all really important stuff. So I commend you for that for, for taking that sacrifice to, to be with, with those kids.

And, and there are times of need. So we all thank you for that. So I know you probably have some goals for yourself. [00:08:00] You sounds like you've already achieved a couple of them having a couple clients for you, but I'd like to know when, you know, you've made it when you actually said, you know, this is where exactly I want to be.

Where is that? Can you tell us about it? Um, 

AnnaJean: Well, I would like to have my business business big enough that I can pay myself a salary of about $70,000

DJSkoob: . Okay

AnnaJean: um, I don't currently have any huge financial issues other than, oh my God, my student loans . Um, but I would like to eventually be completely debt free, including my student loans.

So, um, in order to do that, I need my business to be making about a hundred thousand a year. And, um, Annual revenue, not just a monthly bookkeeping, but cleanup jobs and that sort of thing. So it'll be a combination of things, um, with the cleanup work I have now and the clients I have now I'm about halfway there.

DJSkoob: Okay. So you're on your way. 

AnnaJean: So, so I [00:09:00] figure in about two years, I will be where I need to be in monthly, um, bookkeeping clients. And then. um, I'd eventually like to move outta my daughter's house. I love my grandchildren to death, but I need my own space, so, oh 

DJSkoob: yeah. Oh yeah. All right. So let me ask you a different question here.

I, if you came across somebody that wants to do exactly what you were doing, the bookkeeping and that kind of thing, and they asked you for advice or, you know, a point and direction kind of like what your, uh, mentor is doing for you. Uh, what would you tell them? Uh, 

AnnaJean: I would tell them to, um, first know your trade.

You have to know bookkeeping. You have to be good at it. And if numbers make your head hurt, this isn't the place for you. Um, and then to have all of the pieces in place, you know, know how to do bookkeeping, know how to use QuickBooks, know how to. , you know, [00:10:00] have all the pieces in place like the contracts and the spreadsheets and stuff that you're gonna need to be able to use to do your business.

DJSkoob: Mm-hmm mm-hmm

AnnaJean: and then, um, you know, get your website and your Facebook and you know, all of the pieces in place so people can find you. And so that you can come across as a legitimate business and then find somebody to mentor you or find a, a marketing method that works for you. For me right now, that's LinkedIn.

That's working pretty well for me and it can be automated, so it's not stepping up all of my time. 

DJSkoob: Mm-hmm right.

AnnaJean: And, um, so. Then to just step off the curb and do it. You can't, I mean, you can plan all you want to, but until you actually step out of that little bubble and do it, you're not gonna get anywhere.

DJSkoob: You 

know, it's funny. You'd mention that because, uh, you're actually my fourth interview that I've done, like ever. So thank you. But in all four episodes that I have done so [00:11:00] far, That's the one thing that they've all said, just do it, just get started, take that step and I'm gonna tell you exactly. And I know if I have somebody that's been listening, like from beginning to end at all my episodes, they're probably tired of hearing it, but I'm gonna say the same thing.

My son, when he was six, he came up with a mantra for himself and I live by this day and it's called, I am. I can say I can. I am. I will. And I'm doing it today. He's actually carried that all throughout his life so far since he was six. And he's used that to push himself to know that he has, if he wants to do anything or accomplish anything, he's got to do it today.

So. That's, uh, that's what I'm gonna give you as well as just about everybody else I've talked to today. So just, you know, do it that's it's it sounds like a Nike shoe, but you know, just do it . Yeah. 

AnnaJean: So, all right. Well, the mantra I've lived by my whole life. Um, my [00:12:00] third grade teacher used to tell the whiny boys in my class can't die in the poor house.

Cause I can't write, I can't do this. I can't do that. And she's like, no, no, no. Can't die in the poor house. And I'm. Oh, can't can't can't oh, no, no, no, I'm not. Can't

DJSkoob: mm-hmm 

AnnaJean: I am close, kin to wonder woman and I can do anything that comes along so nice. I'm 

not a can't.

DJSkoob: All right. So you're a can, right? You're not a can't, but you're a, can 

AnnaJean: I am absolutely a can and about anything that comes along, that needs to be done, I can do so.

DJSkoob: Excellent. Well, I commend you for that. That's amazing. all right. You have clients and you have people that, you know, want you to work for them, but you're not obviously not the only bookkeeper out there. So I'm gonna ask you this question. If I had needed bookkeeping or bookkeeping services that I would hire you for, but I have two other people that I'm looking at at the same time [00:13:00] that are asking for the same amount of money and have the same experience as you, what would actually set you apart from these other two?

AnnaJean: A lot of bookkeepers don't want to tackle the, um, cleanup work. Um, one, because they're scared to charge enough for it. And two, because wow, that's a lot of work. Um, my, my business name is bookkeeping unboxed, and what I mean by that is they hand me a box of stuff in no shape or form. Papers bills, receipts, you name it.

It's in the box. I take it out of that box that they've been throwing it in because they don't wanna deal with it and turn it into useful information that you can use to manage and grow your business. And I'm not afraid of the box. 

DJSkoob: That's oh, that's awesome. So you don't just think out of the box, but you work out of the box too.

AnnaJean: I work out of the box. In fact, [00:14:00] my. The client, I just signed up and onboarded the other day, literally handed me a grocery bag with four years worth of receipts. Wow. Not sorted, not, not in any kind of order. So there's like grocery receipts and all kinds of miscellaneous stuff in this bag.

DJSkoob: Oh my.

AnnaJean: But I'm going to have to sort through and then put what is, um, viable information into her QuickBooks.

and get her caught up in current so that she can do her taxes, because what happens with a lot of these small businesses is it gets away from 'em and then it gets to being overwhelming and they're like, I don't even wanna look. 

DJSkoob: Oh yeah

AnnaJean: . And so they need somebody like me to tackle that pile and make it into something that they can, that they can relate to and that they can make work for.

DJSkoob: You know, what's funny is I can actually imagine you being, you know, in an [00:15:00] office, you know, and then the guy turns around and has this huge paper bag and just hands it to you and says here, do something with this . Cause that's what it sounds like. 

AnnaJean: That was my very first. That was my very first bookkeeping glance.

They brought me a big blue tub, like a storage tub. 

DJSkoob: Yeah.

AnnaJean: And it had, it was full of the broom with paper and there was three months worth of bookkeeping for one business and four months worth of bookkeeping for their other. They didn't have a thing in QuickBooks. It wasn't organized by month or anything.

It was just a pile of paper. And I sorted through it and got it put into QuickBooks and into usable information.

DJSkoob: Know what you gotta do is you gotta charge per receipt, like a, penny a receipt or something like that. That way . 

AnnaJean: Well, the one that handed me the paper bag, her cleanup is like $17,000. So there we go.

DJSkoob: Oh, wow. Well, that's awesome. It sounds like you really kind of know what you're doing when it comes to clean up. So I would definitely hire you cuz you know, you don't wanna take a look at my junk drawer here. I have [00:16:00] here at home. So 

AnnaJean: why I had a client. When I was in Topeka. He literally brought me all these boxes full of papers and receipts and bills and credit card statements and yeah, for like three years worth of accounting that needed to be done.

So he could do his taxes. 

DJSkoob: I think, I think I can hear a bunch of bookkeepers crying right now, going over my gosh, you goes through all that. Are you kidding me? That's amazing. 

AnnaJean: It, it needs to be done. I mean, you can't just make it up as you go along. So that, that's what I do. I take it out of that box and turn it into information.

DJSkoob: I almost wanna turn that into like a saying, take it out of the box, take everything out of the box and sort it out. So you know what you're doing with yourself? That's actually, I like that. 

AnnaJean: That's exactly what bookkeeping is for is to get it out of that box of stuff in the closet that you're like, oh, I don't even wanna look at it.

DJSkoob: all right. So I'm gonna move on a little bit here. Now. I know I've asked you a lot of [00:17:00] questions here, but what is the one question that you wish I would've asked you? Cuz I always miss at least one really good one. 

AnnaJean: Well, a really good one is do you like what you do? 

DJSkoob: Okay. So. Uh, Anna Jean, do you like what you do?

AnnaJean: yes, actually I love what I do. It's very satisfying to know that I can take this pile of stuff that this lady's pulling her hair out over and has been avoiding for four years. and make it so that she can function in her business and function better in her life and not have it keep her up at night.

DJSkoob: Yeah, I could, I could see how that would be so stressful to know that you have all this work that needs to be done. That just keeps staring at you from night after night. Now it's like a, like a monster

AnnaJean: . And if, like, if you tell a two year old go clean your room and they're. Huh[00:18:00] 

you want me to pick up? What? So you, you never tell a two year old go clean your room like that. You're okay. Now pick up all the socks, bring me all the socks. So they go and find them from every little Heidi hole. Now go bring me all of this. And so they go bring whatever it is from all the little hidey holes.

And pretty soon the room is done. 

DJSkoob: I might just do that to my 14 year old 

AnnaJean: and clean head. That's for. All right. I really good at wrangling teenagers. Oh, good. 

DJSkoob: see. There is a positive thing to all this bookkeeping. You can get the kids to do what they need to do. 

AnnaJean: oh, shoot man. My kids were, my kids were snap trained.

And even as grown adults, if I start making this noise, they start looking around for what mom wants. 

DJSkoob: Oh boy. You know, uh, my dad whistle trained me. He did the same thing. If I was out somewhere or something, I heard that whistle. I came run it. So , 

AnnaJean: well, my, their dad worked nights and so he can't be loud. And they can hear this even in a crowded loud room [00:19:00] and they start looking around for what mom wants and if I have to come explain what I'm snapping about, you are in big trouble.

DJSkoob: Oh boy. well, let's keep, let's keep on your good side then. I don't want you to have to snap at me. Okay. So I know we talked a little bit about goals and a couple goals are, do you have any goals set, say like, like six months from now, if you can. Tell me what you have next 

AnnaJean: by the end of the year, I would like to have $5,000 a month in recurring revenue.

Um, I need to start stating for a house and getting my student loans paid down and, and, you know, have some money set aside for if and when I have to buy another car, that kind of thing. So, um, all of that takes money and you have to have a plan. And you have to have a way to implement that plan. So that's my plan.

DJSkoob: Awesome. Awesome. It's good to have a plan, especially in instances, when you wanna set those goals for yourself, you need to know how to, how to get there, you [00:20:00] know, to those plan. 

AnnaJean: Yeah, exactly .

DJSkoob: So, um, how does, I'm gonna give you a little, how does anybody get a hold of you and your services? Now? This is your time to shine here.

Jean let's let's let's hear 

AnnaJean: it. Okay. Well, my website is called, uh, bookkeeping dash unboxed. So www.bookkeeping-unboxed.com. And then, uh, the email to reach out to me to get started or ask questions is get started@bookkeeping-unboxed.com and then my Calendarly, uh, link. www.calendarly.com/bookkeeping.

Unboxed. No dash. 

DJSkoob: All right. All right. You know, thank you very much. Uh, Anna Jean, for all that great information, I'm sure a lot of people have learned a lot about [00:21:00] bookkeeping and what they need to do if they, they themselves wanna start bookkeeping and hopefully being, uh, on this podcast slash YouTube channel, somebody will reach out to you and say, Hey, if she can take this big.

Bag of receipts and turn it into something. I need that. So yeah. 

AnnaJean: Yeah. Well the, the lady that handed me the bag was like, oh, thank God. I've been dreading it for months and years. And uh, so glad you can do this. So, so we're, we're gonna, yeah, that's 

what I get outta it. 

DJSkoob: We're gonna try to get you some more bags of receipts then.

AnnaJean: Perfect.

DJSkoob: All right. Great. All right. Well, you have a nice day and stay safe out there and stay out of the heat. I'll do my best and everybody, if you wanna get ahold of me, uh, you can email me@pianotieentertainmentatgmail.com. Uh, this podcast and YouTube channel is specifically for people that are brands spanking new in the business.

I need people that are, uh, less than a year in their business. And if you are, I am looking for more people to interview. [00:22:00] So. Please, please, please email me. Let me know how long you've been in your business. Let me know what you do, and I will answer you as soon as I get a chance. So thank you very much and you all have a great evening.

Thank you so much. Have a great day.