Episode #112 Bookkeepers – Stop Trying to Be So Perfect

• Bookkeepers Business Stress Test

• Blog: Bookkeeping with a Positive Mindset

• Blog: How to Stay Sane While Working at Home as a Bookkeeper

• Blog: Business Mentoring Insights: Why You Need Self-Awareness

Summary Keywords: too much pressure at work, self-care, future of bookkeeping industry, bookkeepers

The future of Bookkeeping and why you need to stop being so perfect

Angie Martin  0:01 

Hello, everyone, hope you're having a fantastic start to your day so far. My name is Angie and I am here from the Savvy team for another episode of The bookkeepers voice. Thank you so much for joining me again. today. I want to get a bit real with you in this episode. So much so that I have written such intense notes. Most of it is going to be completely read out because I was watching a Nether webinar today and got really inspired by one main statement. And it just really spoke to me on the kind of environment. The bookkeeping industry is in right now in the kind of conversations I had a lot in 2020 with you guys and still in the new year as well.

And I actually titled This episode. In that statement, the statement was stop trying to be so perfect. So let's just kind of get started with this episode, shall we? basically put this past year has been a hard one. Let's just all take a minute. And remember that and admit it to ourselves. It's been hard. When you look back, we've actually had, again, I'm going to say the big word, disaster after disaster. And honestly, nothing has been fixed yet. those affected by last year's Australian wildfires are still struggling. those affected by Australian flooding, which is just ridiculous. We had flooding and fires in the same year. They're still struggling. Those affected internationally by COVID-19. are still struggling.

The persona created of bookkeepers

As bookkeepers, our industry has worked so hard to create a professional, refined and almost perfect persona. And we've done that for a few reasons. We felt that that's what our clients were expecting. We felt that that's what our industry was expecting. And we thought that we wanted to present a professional front for our clients sake. That's all great. And I completely understand those reasons. How, however, this last year has been a hard one. And a lot of people have lost more than just their jobs. It's been extremely humbling. And it's not over. Right now when I'm recording this podcast, they're still lockdowns in Australia and internationally, people are still struggling. And to be fair, it's okay to say that it is okay to say that it's not over our neighbours, our family members, our communities are still struggling. Now that we have refreshingly come into 2021 I know we're a little bit into it now. But now that we have finally come into 2021, with a new outlook, we also need to look at our businesses in a new light and the bookkeeping industry as a whole. It's time for us as an industry to stop trying to be so perfect. Why? Well, let's face it, guys, no one's perfect. No business is perfect. And right now, we need to connect and support with our clients more than we ever have. And we can't do that when we aren't being true to ourselves and true to our clients.

The future of the bookkeeping industry

We as an industry need to get more comfortable pulling back the curtain and showing the amazing business owners behind them. The bookkeeping industry is made up of some of the most beautiful individuals I have ever met. And that is just being completely honest. I'm not trying to make you guys feel good. bookkeepers are generally just such caring individuals that a lot of you say you fell into the industry. No, every time I dig a little deeper, it always comes up that you wanted to help people. And that's how you were able To do it was through bookkeeping. Because of this, let them pull, like pull back the curtain and let your clients get to know that you. Of course, in a professional way, I'm not saying go out and have a 3d Daydream drinking adventure with them. But let them get to know you take the time to ask your clients how they're doing. And if they ask you back, answer them, honestly. Because it's okay to have a bad day. We all have them. It makes us human, what your clients in on how you have managed to survive this last year, as a business owner, they will love to learn what works for you. And together, you guys can support each other. That is what has made such an amazing difference in our savvy community this past year, we were open and honest in through the open and honest environment, each one of our clients have been able to support each other, as well as us, you guys have supported us right back. And it's created this environment of trust, understanding and overall support. Create that for your own clients, it's really not that hard.

The effects of too much pressure at work

Remember, you're a business owner just like them. And this trust is that you have they have to start opening up about having them it will help you relate to them, and improve your client retention, loyalty, and most important your relationship with your clients. So many of our clients, our savvy clients, ask how the savvy team does it all? How do we do at all? How are we always so amazing at what we do? The honest answer is we aren't. We aren't that amazing. And we don't do it all. We have a team, we have a team of people who support one another. It's not just one team member doing everything. It's a team. It's a team that actually will stop and say, how are you going with this? What can I help you with? To be honest, we burned out. This last year alone, I personally burnt out so many times that I don't remember how many it was actually anymore. And so much so that our team has now implemented a checking system to check in on everyone's weekly stress levels to support one another. We also have breakdowns. Oh, breakdowns? Hi, I've had so many breakdowns as last year, I think just like all of us. And to be honest, my furbabies are so used to me going up to them for snuggles, that they can almost feel a breakdown coming on to me and they have started to come up to me now. breakdowns are natural expecially for what we've all been going through this last year. Why am I telling you all this really personal things about our team and myself? Well, because we're all human. And that's okay. It's okay to be human. It's okay to get support. It's okay to need to take some time off. If you're feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and let's just say completely stressed out. I always say this to our clients. If you don't take care of yourself, you are going to be useless to your clients. So you may as well take the day off, instead of needing to take a month off to get yourself back together. It's also okay to have a breakdown once in a while. Once again, it's normal, it's natural. And it's completely understandable.

Practice self-care and stop trying to be so perfect

So let yourself every once in a while. It's humbling and you can grow a lot from it and so can your business. Overall, I just wanted to do this simple short podcast to tell you to stop trying to be so perfect. Once you've realised it's okay to be you, and to show that to you clients, believe me, you will experience an entirely new relationship with them, and one that will help you grow your business more than you will ever dream of. Today, I want to actually take the moment. And thank you guys, our listeners and our clients. This last year wasn't easy for the savvy team either. There was a lot of months where we didn't know what we were going to do both personally and professionally. And it was you guys who actually helped us through it a lot. We couldn't have done any of this without you. And we truly appreciate our relationships that we have with you guys. If it wasn't for you guys, we would have never created the savvy membership. And as a whole, it's completely changed our business for the better. And it's made our team more accessible to everyone. And we couldn't be more thrilled about that.

From our first week back in January, we experienced such overwhelmingly welcoming and powerful feedback from our savvy members, that it helped us set the tone for these last few months. And it has been inspiring to say the least. And I truly believe savvy wouldn't be what savvy what is now, if we weren't honest with you guys for who we are as business and who we are as people. From the very first episode of this podcast, Amy Hooke took the time to really give you a breakdown of who she was, and how she became a bookkeeper. That was not done by mistake. She wanted to make sure that she could connect with you guys to let you know that she's just like you. No one is perfect. No one has a perfect background. It's okay to have stumbles and falls in your career. That's human. Once we can start getting over ourselves and start showing that to our clients as bookkeepers, we will be able to completely change this industry into one that people will stop thinking of us as people with beige sweaters on they will start understanding that you guys are business owners just like them and you have amazing personalities, goal sets and skills, just like them. Open up to your clients and experience the true passion that you can get from them for your own business. Thank you guys. I hope you've enjoyed this shorter episode today. And until next time, stay safe, sane and savvy.