Bookkeeping And Financial Coaching Business Empowers Clients

For many years, Heather Taylor knew she wanted her own business, but she says she was a great procrastinator and took several years thinking about options and researching business ideas.

One day her boss and friend told her he was shutting down his bookkeeping company and moving on to a new business venture. It took her less than an hour to decide she wanted to take over his business.

“I have spent more than 20 years in various aspects of accounting and finance, and I have always wanted to run a business that teaches clients how to set financial goals, helps them understand their financial position, and coaches them on their finances, empowering them to be all they can be,” she says. “This was my opportunity!”

Taylor went from the dream of owning her own business to full speed ahead in the blink of an eye, but without business-owning experience behind her.

“With the word out that I was accepting new clients, I was bombarded with requests for clean-up work for peoples’ businesses,” she says. “And the takeover of a seasoned business without the structures and policies and experience behind me made me feel like I was drowning during those first months! I feel it has taken most of the year to get my head above water.”

Taylor says had it not been for the programs and resources available through the SBDC, she doesn’t think she would have survived her first quarter.

“I needed their resources to help me get up and running and someone to guide me with things I hadn’t even thought about,” she says. “I was able to have tools at my fingertips to register my business as an entity, understand my business plan, and have the confidence to take that scary first step of being an official business.”

Taylor says she has pushed along and never given up on what has been one of the greatest opportunities of her life. She not only got her feet wet in the business world, but had the experience of struggling and then finding her way.

“I now take every opportunity I can to introduce my clients to the SBDC resources available to them,” she says. “You don’t have to be a lone ranger. What greater opportunity is there than to have an entire team focused on your business to help you along your journey? All the drowning is worth it when you get the opportunity to see your dreams come true!”

Taylor says Christine Hanks at the Richfield SBDC center is her counselor, but she is also much more.

“Christine is my mentor, my cheerleader, my support, and my friend,” she says. “Anytime I am faced with a new decision or opportunity, or have a new idea, she is there to help me see a greater perspective. She has helped me gain the self-confidence to do what I only dreamed of. When I was so overwhelmed in the beginning months of my business, Christine was there to help me through the chaos. I will forever be grateful that the SBDC is there to offer resources to small businesses, but of greater worth is Christine and the team in Richfield that are on this journey with us.”