Building a Bookkeeping Business to Live the Life of Her Dreams: A Conversation with Lourdes
Jun 13, 2022
Today I’m joined by a special guest - a student of BABs and Libby. Lourdes Auquilla is a highly motivated college student who’s already started her own bookkeeping business. She brought her unique perspective to the latest episode of the podcast, and I’m recapping our conversation here.
What Drew Lourdes to Bookkeeping?
Lourdes and I started our conversation by discussing what drew her into bookkeeping in the first place. She was just starting college with the intention of starting a business. She wanted to attend college to ensure she could always understand the numbers behind her business.
She’s always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and she knew that she wanted to find a sustainable business she could run from home. So, she decided to start a social media management company.
Before long, she hooked up with a coach for this, but soon realized she didn’t want to be tethered to her phone at all times. Her coach redirected her to bookkeeping. This was something she already knew the basics of, and she always enjoyed analyzing numbers, so it felt like a great fit.
She was in my Facebook group and was interested in BABs. As soon as a payment plan became available, she hopped on the opportunity and learned so much from the program.
How Are My Programs Different from College?
Lourdes and I discussed how my programs differ from college. It’s interesting to hear since she’s doing both concurrently. She shared that she learned more from BABs than she did in a whole semester of college.
Lourdes attributes that fact to the hands-on experience that BABs provides, as it reinforced what she learned about accounting. BABs allowed her to concentrate on her business and what she’d be doing for clients.
Aspects like shadowing, validation, learning what it’s actually like to interact with a client, walking through real-life scenarios, and gaining more applicable experience enhanced her learning. She also explained that it gave her an increased sense of confidence in her bookkeeping skills, which allowed her to land more clients with ease.
The quizzes to reinforce key concepts and learning how to categorize items and manage deductions were things she never learned in college, making this program invaluable for those real-life bookkeeping skills.
What’s Lourdes’ Next Step After College?
According to Lourdes’ college, her next step is finding a job. But for her, she doesn’t want to work for someone else - she wants to work for herself! This is the incredible thing about her generation - Gen Z.
I’m a millennial that tends to follow the “path” that was set out for me. I did as I was told, but I found that led me to a place I didn’t even want to be. Then, when I was starting a family, I found myself trying to unearth myself from my corporate job. In essence, I was reprogramming what I was taught and challenging that narrative.
But for Gen Z, they reject what we did in the best of ways. Lourdes is a great example of that - when answering the question, “what job do you want?” Instead, she answered the questions, “what life do I want?” and “what can I create that will give me that life?”
Lourdes’ Thoughts on BABs and Libby Being Separate
Lourdes shared that she likes that BABs and Libby are separate programs. She noted that she wouldn’t have taken the time to really master BABs if they were combined, because she would have found herself jumping right to the business part of things in Libby.
She also shared that BABs was the most important program for her, because without it, she wouldn’t have the skills she needs to run her business.
At the end of the day, the best marketing strategy is being good at what you do. That’s because the thing you’re selling in your business is your service. You have to have a strong base to approach the change and be ready - which is what BABs provides.
Why Lourdes Wanted to Start Her Business in College
Lourdes got a head start by starting in college, and she always knew she wanted to be a business owner. Now that she has a solid foundation for her business, she won’t need to start from scratch when she graduates.
She is going to focus on expanding when she graduates and build her own team. Her goal is to work four to five hours a week - she wants her money to work for her instead of the other way around. Smart girl!
She also aims to open another business with her dad, further utilizing her strong entrepreneurial spirit.
The Value of BABs: The Bottom Line
Lourdes shares that she’s gotten so much value out of BABs and she doesn’t think she’d be able to run her business the way she does without it. Her biggest advice is to invest in yourself because you’re worth it. I totally agree with that sentiment.
She learned that the sky's the limit and gained a great amount of confidence in herself through my programs, and she describes that as completely life-changing.
What she has now is the freedom and liberty to run her own business the way that works for her, and that’s a beautiful thing!
Ready to take action? Apply for the program that's right for you:
If you're looking for more insight on how to become a bookkeeper, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).
Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).
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