Donna's Story

When I joined this class, I knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. I had mentioned before that I was totally screwed by my CPA. I had a home-based business in the past, but 2023 was my first year as a brick-and-mortar. I closed down the EIN I had and opened an LLC through a law firm. I used the same CPA that I had used in prior years, and I talked to him in February. He was going to set up my books “ASAP” and get back to me, but he turned me over to someone else in the company.

Long story short, they just kept saying, “Send me what you have.” I had no direction on what to do or how to do it. I kept asking, ‘What am I doing wrong? What was I supposed to do, and what was I doing right?’ But I never got a response, just “Send me what you have.”

The assistant told me to file $0 on my quarterly, so I ended up having to pay penalties and interest on all four quarters. I never got my books set up and sent back to me. The next time I actually talked to the CPA was in November. I sent him another email in January but got no response.

I cried for about three days, then found someone else to help me. I realized I would never be that vulnerable again. My lack of knowledge and putting my finances in the hands of someone whom I trusted but who didn’t reciprocate that trust almost shut my doors after one year in business. 

Never again. I will know exactly what I am talking about and what I can spend. It will take me a bit to climb out of this hole, but the lesson was learned. 

I was fearful that I would not figure it out, that it would all be a foreign language to me at the end of the course, that I would still not understand what was going on, and that my business would fail. I was afraid that I would realize that I didn’t know what I was doing and just have to close my doors.  

But that is not the case at all. Yes, I am still not a high roller and not generating a lot of income, but I am generating income this year. I know what I am generating on a monthly basis, which is so different from last year. I am moving the needle forward, and I know what I am looking for, thanks to the knowledge gained from this course. 

The financial statements were the most useful section of the class for me. I finally understand them, although it’s taking a while. I started using YNAB, which is also taking a while to set up because I am finding expenses that I didn’t realize I had. I am looking at ways to cut expenses. I am pretty frugal, but I was just not organized with my spending, using multiple credit cards, etc. I realized you don’t know what you don’t know. Now, I have narrowed it down to my business checking account and one credit card. 

I am thinking of setting YNAB up for Profit First so I can begin to implement it.
I believe that is the only way I will pay myself, so I might as well implement it from the beginning. I still have yet to pay myself, and I have got to start soon.

If you don’t know, you will know after taking this course. It’s a must for any small business or solo entrepreneur out there to have the basic knowledge of what is going on inside their business.

I am so thrilled that I was able to be part of this course. It was absolutely life-changing for me, and I sincerely mean that. I graduated in 2015 and have been taking massive amounts of continuing education classes every year in preparation for opening my business. I still was not prepared, although I thought I was. I have no clue how these new grads open a business right out of school. It makes me scratch my head. 

I am so grateful that I now know what I am doing when it comes to numbers. I still have a long way to go, but oh my goodness, I have come so far in just a month. It is unreal.