DONT WATCH THIS [record month July 2024]

Summary

In this reflective video, the creator documents his record-breaking month, earning $69,000 through his bookkeeping business and other ventures. He emphasizes the importance of hard work, consistency, and organization as key to his success, while candidly discussing the fears and sacrifices inherent in entrepreneurship. The video serves as a personal milestone and an inspiring message for aspiring business owners, highlighting the potential rewards of perseverance and strategic risk-taking.

Takeaways

• 💼 The video is a personal reflection on a record month, earning $69,467 in July 2024.
• 📊 The breakdown of earnings includes $48,000 from bookkeeping, $5,000 from a bookkeeping course, $5,000 from consultations and digital downloads, $8,000 from private money lending, and $1,600 from YouTube.
• 🙏 The speaker attributes their success to hard work and God's blessings.
• 🚀 The speaker started their bookkeeping business four years ago, quit their full-time job three and a half years ago, and has seen their business double annually.
• 🏠 They run a lean business with no employees or subcontractors, focusing on maximizing profit.
• 💡 Consistency in marketing and advertising, particularly on Facebook, has been crucial to their success.
• 📈 They emphasize the importance of taking smart, calculated risks and staying organized in both tasks and communications.
• 🗂️ Their success is also attributed to their ability to complete tasks efficiently and stay organized using simple tools like Excel spreadsheets.
• ⏰ The speaker works hard, often sacrificing personal time, and emphasizes that starting a business is not easy.
• 🌱 They highlight the importance of consistency, hard work, and staying organized for long-term success in entrepreneurship.

Q & A

What was the purpose of the video according to the speaker?

The speaker created the video primarily for personal reflection on his record month, but also acknowledged that others could watch it if they wished.

What was the speaker's income for the month of July 2024?

The speaker reported making $69,000 in July 2024.

How does the speaker describe the process of starting a bookkeeping business?

The speaker describes it as a scary and challenging process that requires a lot of hard work and is not something that will yield immediate results.

What are the main components of the speaker's income in July 2024?

The main components of the speaker's income were bookkeeping ($48,000), a bookkeeping course ($5,000), one-on-one consultations and digital downloads ($5,500), private money lending ($8,000), and YouTube ($1,600).

How does the speaker feel about the amount of money he made in July 2024?

The speaker is not very emotional but admits to feeling a bit emotional about the significant achievement of making $69,000 in a single month.

What does the speaker attribute his success to?

The speaker attributes his success to God's blessings, hard work, consistency, being organized, and making smart and calculated risks.

What was the speaker's initial reaction to losing clients and getting a new job?

The speaker panicked and took a new job as a staff accountant remotely, but later quit that job and saw his business double each year thereafter.

How does the speaker describe the concept of 'more better new' in relation to his business?

The speaker explains that to improve (better), one must first do more, then learn from that to do better, and eventually introduce new strategies or methods.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of consistency in his business approach?

Consistency is emphasized because it helps in building a recognizable brand, engaging with the community, and securing clients through continuous presence and follow-ups.

What is the speaker's view on hiring employees for his business?

The speaker views hiring employees as a significant risk, not only to the business but also to his family's livelihood, and is something he is hesitant to do until absolutely necessary.

How does the speaker approach the task of bookkeeping and staying organized?

The speaker approaches bookkeeping as a series of tasks that need to be completed efficiently. He uses a simple system of trackers and recurring emails to stay organized and ensure customer service.

What is the speaker's strategy for social media marketing?

The speaker's strategy involves focusing on one or two social media platforms, creating a lot of content consistently, and then expanding to new platforms once proficiency is achieved.

How does the speaker manage communication with clients and himself?

The speaker uses a system of recurring emails and a weekly and monthly workflow tracker in an Excel spreadsheet to manage communication effectively and stay organized.

What is the speaker's philosophy on keeping business operations simple?

The speaker believes in keeping things simple to work efficiently, avoiding over-complication, and not relying on fancy tools or processes that many entrepreneurs promote.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Reflecting on a Record Month

The speaker shares a personal milestone, achieving a record income of $69,000 in July 2024. They emphasize that the video is meant for personal reflection to document progress over time. The breakdown of income sources includes $48,000 from bookkeeping, $5,000 from a bookkeeping course, $5,000 from consultations and digital downloads, $8,000 from interest as a private money lender, and $1,600 from YouTube. The speaker stresses that this achievement required significant hard work and is not an immediate expectation for new bookkeeping businesses.

05:00

🏆 Sacrifices and Entrepreneurship

The speaker discusses the sacrifices made for their success, such as investing heavily in 401ks and IRAs and saving $20,000 monthly. They highlight the insecurity of entrepreneurship compared to a high-paying W2 job, explaining that losing their business would make it difficult to find equivalent income. The speaker emphasizes the importance of calculated risks in business decisions, like not hiring employees due to the associated risks and moving their office home to save costs.

10:01

🚀 Consistency in Marketing and Sales

The speaker highlights the importance of consistency in marketing, drawing from their own experience on social media. They learned that creating a lot of content helped improve quality over time. The 'more better new' concept is explained: starting with creating more content, then improving quality, and finally trying new platforms. The speaker's success is attributed to consistent daily engagement on Facebook, which brought in numerous clients. They also stress the importance of following up with old leads consistently to secure clients.

15:02

💼 Hard Work and Organization

The speaker attributes their success to hard work and organization. They detail their routine of early mornings, weekend work, and prioritizing family time while sacrificing activities like watching football. Their task-oriented approach helps manage client work efficiently. The importance of organized communication with clients through various channels is emphasized. The speaker mentions using recurring emails and an Excel tracker for staying organized, and believes keeping things simple has contributed significantly to their growth.

Keywords

💡Record Month

The term 'Record Month' refers to a period that has achieved the highest level of success or performance in a particular metric, such as revenue or sales. In the video, the speaker mentions having a 'record month' in July 2024, where they made $69,000, which is the highest amount they have ever earned in a single month. This concept is central to the video's theme, as it sets the stage for the speaker to reflect on their achievements and the work that led to this success.

💡Bookkeeping Business

A 'Bookkeeping Business' involves providing financial record-keeping services to clients, which may include tracking income and expenses, preparing financial statements, and ensuring compliance with financial regulations. The speaker discusses their journey in building and growing their bookkeeping business from its inception to achieving a record month, emphasizing the hard work and strategic decisions that contributed to this growth.

💡Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching, and running a new business, which typically involves risk-taking and innovation. The video's speaker reflects on the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship, highlighting the fear and uncertainty that come with starting a business, as well as the personal drive and sacrifices necessary to achieve success.

💡Consistency

Consistency in this context refers to the regular and persistent application of effort towards a goal or task. The speaker emphasizes the importance of consistency in their marketing and advertising efforts, as well as in following up with potential clients. It is a key factor in building a reputation and trust among clients, which ultimately leads to a successful bookkeeping business.

💡Hard Work

Hard work is characterized by putting in significant effort and dedication to achieve a goal or complete a task. The video's theme revolves around the speaker's personal journey, where they attribute their success to hard work, including waking up early, working late, and making sacrifices in other areas of life to focus on their business.

💡Organization

Organization is the act of arranging and managing tasks, resources, or information in a systematic and efficient way. The speaker credits their ability to stay organized with their success, as it allows them to manage multiple clients and tasks effectively, ensuring high-quality service and customer satisfaction.

💡Private Money Lending

Private money lending involves lending money to individuals or businesses, typically at a higher interest rate than traditional loans, and often without the strict requirements of conventional lenders. In the video, the speaker mentions making $8,000 last month from private money lending to real estate investors, which is part of their diversified income streams.

💡Sacrifice

Sacrifice refers to giving up something valuable or desirable for the sake of a goal or objective. The speaker talks about the sacrifices they made over the years, such as reducing leisure time and investing in their business, which contributed to their financial success and growth of their bookkeeping business.

💡Risk Management

Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks to minimize or mitigate their impact. The speaker discusses their approach to risk management in the context of entrepreneurship, such as deciding against hiring employees due to the associated risks and choosing to close a less profitable trucking company.

💡Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing involves promoting products or services through social media platforms to increase brand awareness and customer engagement. The speaker credits much of their success to their consistent presence and activity on social media, particularly Facebook, where they actively engage with potential clients and build their brand.

💡Task Completion

Task completion refers to the successful finishing of a task or set of tasks. The speaker describes themselves as a 'task-completion machine,' highlighting their ability to efficiently complete the recurring tasks associated with bookkeeping and customer service, which has enabled them to handle a larger workload and increase their income.

Highlights

The speaker reflects on achieving a personal record month in July 2024, earning $69,000.

The income was generated through bookkeeping services, a bookkeeping course, one-on-one consultations, digital downloads, and private money lending.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of hard work and not expecting immediate success in a bookkeeping business.

A breakdown of the speaker's income sources, including bookkeeping, courses, consultations, digital sales, and YouTube earnings.

The speaker operates without employees or subcontractors, minimizing expenses and maximizing profit.

A personal acknowledgment of the role of faith and blessings in achieving success.

The journey from starting a bookkeeping business to quitting a full-time job and facing challenges.

The exponential growth of the business each year, with profits increasing from $50,000 to a projected $400,000+.

The minimal expenses involved in running a bookkeeping business, such as no need for an office, employees, or inventory.

The speaker's approach to entrepreneurship as a calculated risk, including the decision to close a non-profitable trucking company.

The concept of 'more, better, new' in marketing and advertising, emphasizing the importance of consistency and quantity in content creation.

The speaker's strategy for social media marketing, focusing on being active and consistent to attract clients.

The practice of following up with leads consistently, leading to client acquisition even months after initial contact.

The value of hard work, organization, and efficiency in task completion for business success.

The importance of staying organized in communication with clients and the use of a tracking system for leads.

The speaker's preference for simplicity in business operations, avoiding overcomplication and unnecessary processes.

The use of a simple Excel spreadsheet for weekly and monthly workflow tracking as a key organizational tool.

Transcripts

I warned you I said don't watch this

video this is a record month this video

is for me honestly I make a lot of

videos for you guys I make these videos

teaching you how to start and grow your

own bookkeeping business but genuinely

seriously this video is for me I know

I'm posting

it kind of a contradiction posting a

public video that's only for me you guys

can obviously watch it if you want but

honestly seriously this video is for me

I want to talk about my record month

last month I'm making this video I'm

posting it on YouTube so that in one

year 5 years 10 years I can look back on

this video from July 2024 I can look

back on the progress that I made then

and hopefully the progress that I

continue to make I had a record month in

July of

2024 I made

$69,000 last month and honestly I I make

a lot of videos talking about how much

money I make and I teach people how to

start a bookkeeping business so I did

not even want to advertise this how much

money I made because it's unrealistic

for anybody trying to start a

bookkeeping business I am certainly not

telling you that if you start a

bookkeeping business you'll make $69,000

next month it has taken me so much hard

work to get to where I am right now I

don't want you to think that this is

going to happen to you in the next

couple months it could happen to you in

the next few years but it's not going to

happen to you right away without a ton

of hard work and I'm going to talk about

in this video a lot of things upon my

reflection that I realized helped me get

to where I am today let me just break

down the numbers for you aka me my

future self bookkeeping alone

$48,000 last month I've got a

bookkeeping course $5,000 I do

one-on-one consultations and I sell

digital downloads another $5,000 give or

take it's like 5,500 so if anybody is

adding up these numbers interest income

$88,000 I am a private money lender to

Real Estate Investors for Real Estate

Acquisitions I made

$8,000 last month just lending and then

on YouTube I made

$1,600 so all that added up give or take

a couple hundred it ends up being $

69,4 67 that I made last month I don't

have any employees I don't have any

subcontractors I barely have any

expenses that's pretty much all

profit crazy it's the craziest month

I've ever had I this is probably not

going to be a surprise to you but I'm

not a very emotional person but I can't

help but kind of get a little bit

emotional just thinking about the fact

that I made

$69,000 last year and first and foremost

I have to give all glory to God I would

not be where I am today if God had not

blessed me with all of my abilities my

skills my resources good timing

everything else so first and foremost

all glory to God I would not be here

without his Blessing four years ago I

decided to start a bookkeeping business

three and a half years ago I quit my

full-time job that was a very scary

decision and then two years ago while I

was in the middle of running my

bookkeeping business I started to panic

I lost a couple clients and I actually

got a new job I got a job working

remotely as a staff accountant and then

6 months later I quit that job and then

my business has pretty much doubled

every year so I made $50,000 my first

year $100,000 my second year $200,000 my

third year I'm on Pace to make way more

than $400,000 this year profit I'm

talking profit like straight up profit

as a bookkeeping business owner we have

so few expenses we have we don't need an

office we don't need employees we don't

need inventory we don't need buildings

or

Vehicles very few expenses you just need

a computer and an internet connection

and if anybody is actually watching this

video I will just say check out all the

links in the description of this video

I've got a ton of resources that I made

just for you okay let me talk about a

few things that have got me to where I

am today entrepreneurship first of all

is so incredibly scary it's terrifying

quitting my full-time job three and a

half years ago so so scary I have a

family I have a morgage I have bills to

pay I've got kids I so scary I went to

college I was an army officer I I had

some self-respect that like I had a good

job working at Amazon that I didn't

necessarily want to quit my good job and

be a bookkeeper are you kidding me like

that's that's a scary transition but

that is what drives me to work so hard

every single day being an entrepreneur

one of the hardest jobs I've ever had

and that's also why I save a lot of

money and I invest my money we my family

and I we would not be where we are today

if we did not make sacrifices over the

past s or eight years we have really

made a ton of sacrifices I made a video

a couple weeks ago showing my net worth

as a 30-year-old and almost all of that

is contributed to the sacrifices that we

have made we invested a lot of our money

in 401ks Ira now I'm investing and

saving $20,000 a month into private

money lending to hopefully set myself

and my family up for success in the

future but I do all that because

entrepreneurship is so scary if I had a

if I had a W2 job making half a million

dollars a year that would be 20 times

more secure than my entrepreneur

business making $500,000 a year because

if something God forbid something

happened in my business I would not be

able to go out to the job market and get

a job making $500,000 a year as a

bookkeeper or even as an accountant or

even as a CPA like I would have to be

either a very successful salesperson or

maybe a partner at an accounting firm I

don't know what I would do but it's

scary because if I if something goes

wrong with my business I cannot just get

a new job and make up my income and

that's why I try to take smart and

calculated risk with my business all

things Financial when it comes to hiring

employees everybody you guys I know I'm

sorry but all of you guys always ask me

like hey can I please work with you can

I please work with you and that

terrifies me I will get to a point at

sometime whenever I need to hire

employees but hiring employees that's a

big risk on not only my business but

like my family my livelihood like I will

have to give up some of my income to

somebody else and now you as my employee

you are dependent on me to pay your

bills and to support your family so

that's a huge risk I understand I need

to get there at some point if I want to

grow a big bookkeeping business but

hiring employees just scares the crap

out of me I decided to get rid of my

office in January because we moved to a

new house and so that was a calculated

risk that I had to make a decision get

rid of my office save 650 bucks and just

work out of my home office I'm trying to

run a lean business so that I can keep

as much profit as possible it might not

be super smart for long-term growth I

get that if I was a business Guru I

would probably be doing things a little

bit differently but like I said

entrepreneurship is so scary so I'm

trying to take smart calculated risk if

you guys have been following my journey

for a long time you know that I had a

trucking company in 2021 and

2022 I decided to close my Trucking

Company because it was not working as

much of a hit that was to my ego I had

to make a calculated decision and close

my Trucking Company because it was not

profitable I was losing a ton of money

entrepreneurship is so scary don't ever

let anybody tell you that starting a

business a bookkeeping business or any

business is easy or fun it can be easy

it can be fun like in five or 10 years

but getting started trust me not fun not

easy super stressful super scary but

with all that being said still the

greatest career decision I've ever made

okay Point number two first point

entrepreneurship super scary Point

number two consistency is everything I

know it's almost ironic I talk about how

important consistency is so frequently

so consistently but seriously it is

everything especially whenever it comes

to my advertising and marketing there's

a really interesting idea that Alex rosi

I learned from Alex Heros it's this

concept of more better new and I didn't

really understand that at first but

looking back on my advertising and

marketing Journey it really clicks it

makes so much sense more you got to

start with more I did not know what to

do on social media I did not know how to

create content how to sell my services

how to Market to prospective clients

clients so I just created a ton of

content more more more it's not going to

get better until you do more and that's

what I learned I got better because I

just did more more more more and and I

learned what worked and what didn't work

and then I did more of the good stuff

and less of the bad stuff so you got to

start with more and then you can move on

to better so many people don't start and

they don't create a lot of content

because they want it to be good in the

beginning but it's this vicious cycle

you can't be good until you do more it's

almost like if you're trying to learn

how to play basketball and you're scared

you're intimidated you go to pick up

basketball at LA Fitness and you want to

start playing but you're scared and you

don't want to start playing with these

guys who are already really good if you

never start then you're never going to

get better so you need to do more you

need to practice more you need to create

content more more more and then you

figure out what gets better and then you

can start doing new stuff so I recommend

if you are trying to create content on

social media specifically trying to grow

your bookkeeping business pick one or

two social media platforms get really do

a lot of content on Facebook more more

more get better at creating content on

Facebook and then you can go to

Instagram or LinkedIn or Twitter or Tik

Tok like pick one or two social media

platforms do a lot get better and then

you can go to new social media platforms

that's just a very specific example of

how that more better New Concept applies

to marketing and sales for your

bookkeeping business now a lot of My

Success honestly comes from social media

people know who I am on social media and

that only happened through consistency

like when I got started I had had 300

Facebook friends and now I have maybe 7

8 9,000 followers on Facebook I'm not

sure how many but people know who I am

on Facebook because I show up every

single day last month a lot of my

bookkeeping Revenue came from new

clients I got like five six seven maybe

is new clients last month and almost all

of them came from Facebook or following

up with old leads first of all Facebook

I'm really active on Facebook and I get

the majority of my clients from Facebook

that's like 100% contributed to my

consistency on Facebook every single day

for four years if you want to grow your

bookkeeping business I promise if you

just show up every day on social media

and create a post and connect with

prospective clients and engage with your

community I promise you you will at if

you're going to get clients no matter

what if you do it for 4 years guaranteed

or your money back following up with old

leads this is another thing that applies

to consistency it's more related to

maybe sales but if somebody reaches out

to me and they express interest in my

services I immediately add them to a

Tracker I didn't do this at first I

didn't do this for like the first 6 or

12 months of my bookkeeping business I

probably missed out on a lot of

potential clients but I can think

specifically back last month one of my

cleanup projects hired me because he

reached out in January and he expressed

interest we had a phone call we talked

he said yeah I want to do this this

let's do it and it kind of fizzled out

but I added him to my tracker and then

every month I followed up with him and

this is how I landed this client he's

paying me now 750 bucks a month he paid

me

$33,750 is I think to do like a catchup

for 2024 and I made all that money

simply because I never gave up I

consistently followed up with this guy

every single month from January through

July and he ended up hiring me he

probably would not have hired me or he

would not have hired me as early as he

did if I was not consistently following

up with him every single month and it's

so super simple I add him to my Excel

spreadsheet my tracker and then every

month I send him an email hey are you

still interested in bookkeeping if not

no worries let me know I'll remove you

from my list not a big deal not super

invasive not annoying not pushy just hey

are you still interested in bookkeeping

let me know so consistency on Marketing

sales it's everything

okay so Point number three work hard and

be organized point one entrepreneurship

super scary point two consistency is

everything point three work hard and be

organized this is such a contributor to

my success I made it like I said in the

beginning I made a ton of sacrifices I

wake up early I work on the weekends I

work late nights and I have a family I

try to spend I try to prioritize my

family I spend a lot of time with my

family I try to sacrifice other things

not necessarily time I'll be honest with

you I don't really watch football

anymore I used to watch a lot of

football when I was in the Army working

at chewy working at Amazon even in the

beginning of my bookkeeping business

days I watched a lot of football on the

weekends I don't do that anymore I used

to sleep in I used to wake up at like

6:30 or 700 a.m. but I don't do that

anymore I wake up at 5:00 a.m. every day

I work for a couple hours on the

weekends when my kids take a nap I stay

up late on the weekends when my kids go

to bed and I do bookkeeping work like I

work really really hard to get to where

I am today and I always say this but

starting any business is not easy it

could potentially pay off and be easy in

the future like after you have systems

in place and employees in place but I

promise you the first 5 years are not

going to be easy ton of early mornings

ton of

sacrifices just to wrap up this video I

want to attribute without like tooting

my own horn like I said I'm making this

video for myself I'm just kind of

documenting what I think has led to my

success up until this point my ability

to complete tasks I have here written in

my notes boom boom boom like I am a task

completing machine because bookkeeping

is pretty much doing tasks I have weekly

monthly recurring tasks that need to get

done related to bookkeeping and customer

service and my ability to stay organized

and to get those tasks done without too

much thought without stressing out

without spending too much time doing

them and just working really efficiently

that has enabled me to handle a lot more

work which means I can have a lot more

clients which means TAA I can make a lot

more

money couple more points here and then

I'm going to wrap up this video My

Little journal to myself recording my

record month last month organizing

Communications so communicating

effectively with current clients

prospective clients super important but

you got to stay or organized because I

have so many different channels where

people can communicate with me like it's

not like I have just one landline

business phone where people call me I

pick up the phone answer it or people

leave me a voicemail and I call them

back it's so much more complicated than

that and it's probably like this for

every other business owner but we have

social media DMS text messages phone

calls actual meetings like in-person

meetings or phone meetings and then we

have emails we have so much

communication coming at us constantly

every single day even on the weekends I

have to stay organized and a lot of My

Success has come from my ability to stay

organized specifically when it comes to

communication because customer service

is all about communication and then

finally I have some recurring emails

that get sent to myself and that has

been a GameChanger with communicating

and communicating with clients and also

communicating with myself to stay

organized and then last point I have my

weekly and my monthly tracker that has

been a godsend I'll be curious to see in

a couple years if I watch this video

back I'll be curious to see if I'm still

using the same Microsoft Excel

spreadsheet as my weekly and monthly

tracker but I live and die by my emails

and my weekly and monthly workflow

tracker on Excel spreadsheet the moral

of no not the moral of the story but

another key point I want to bring up is

that I try to keep things simple I try

to keep things simple I don't over

complicate things this enables me to

work efficiently just keeping things

simple I don't have fancy CRM software I

don't have a virtual assistant or an

admin assistant I don't have like a

bunch of these crazy processes that a

lot of entrepreneurs talk about and

preach and try to sell like I try to

keep things super super simple and I

really think that has contributed to my

fast big growth over the past four years

okay if anybody's watching this video

hopefully you didn't make it until this

point this is a video for myself but

hopefully it did help you if you watched

until the end that's it for this video

guys last month record month

$69,000 I'll see you guys in the next

video