Notes from Chris

Episode 1149

When Andi Smiles entered the workforce in her early twenties, she never dreamed she'd become a business owner—far from it. In fact, she figured she'd stay in that workforce for decades, so she dutifully began her first job as an administrative assistant.

One day, her boss asked, “Can you learn QuickBooks to do our bookkeeping?” (QuickBooks is a common bookkeeping software for small businesses. They’ve also been a sponsor of our show in the past.)

Andi, never being one to back down from a challenge, said “Sure!” … and then totally freaked out because she had no idea what she was getting into.

Luckily, she was tech-savvy, and good at learning. She went about studying up on QuickBooks and all things balance sheet. At first it was difficult, but her tenacity and willingness to learn paid dividends.

A while later, she left that job and was hired as an assistant elsewhere. The main reason for landing the gig? She now knew QuickBooks inside and out. And she must have been doing something right! When it came to tax time, her new boss’s tax advisor raved about Andi’s bookkeeping prowess.

In fact, the advisor loved Andi’s work so much that she recommended her to her son, another tax preparation expert. He, in turn, recommended her to a customer of his. Soon, Andi had her very first freelance bookkeeping client in what became a truly word-of-mouth driven side hustle.

In fact, Andi had such an influx over the next few years that by the time she entered her mid-twenties she was able to quit her job and go all-in with her unexpected hustle. Interestingly, she did it all without any marketing or even a website.

And then she kept working smarter, not just harder. After quitting her day job, Andi realized that service based bookkeeping work had a ceiling. There are only so many hours in a week and therefore only so many clients she could serve at a time.

Therefore, rather than provide ongoing bookkeeping services for an hourly or monthly fee, she put together short-term training packages, offering financial tune-ups to educate clients on how to better handle their business finances.

In 2016, she registered the first domain name for her business, AndiSmiles.com. She blogged about the types of things she knew her clients struggled with, and marketed the posts using SEO and Pinterest. Slowly she gained a small following. A year later, she successfully launched her first online course.

So, how much money can a finance expert make? Andi’s business now brings in a comfortable six figure income. A sum large enough that she has recently been able to purchase a home with her partner.

What started as an accidental side hustle built by word of mouth is now a lucrative website and consulting service. One that has Andi needing to do more bookkeeping, but this time for herself.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Andi and her business from at her website, AndiSmiles.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Accountant Starts Net-Zero Personal Finance Hustle: An accountant finds a way to bridge the gap between financial advisers and tax professionals by transferring some of the skills from his day job to his own self-employed income.
• JP Morgan Employee Starts “Money Therapy” for Millennials: She leaves her job to join a startup, then starts a business of her own—and then starts a side hustle to fund the business. Did you get all that? If not, just listen to hear how she earns $250/hour on the side.
• CPA Earns Six-Figures Selling Spreadsheets to Etsy Sellers: This CPA was burned out on office work, so she turned her efforts to an Etsy business—but it wasn’t long before she was hitting the books again, just in a more creative way. Her new spreadsheets help Etsy sellers and earn a six-figure income for her.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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