Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Cragin.
Dana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After working in the corporate and collegiate world for almost 30 years, I knew I wanted out from underneath the corporate thumb and I wanted to be able to help people on a closer level and not have to worry about bureaucratic drama. I loved the work I did, just not where I did it. That’s when it hit me: take the passion for my work and start my own business, Accountable-LLC.
My goal is to help business owners get their accounts in order. It all starts with a heart to serve; watching business owners thrive gives me great pride. Tax prep, bookkeeping and budgeting are tasks that many people loathe, procrastinate over and have anxiety dealing with. I love helping people and relieving those administrative stressors for them. My clients are able to focus on building their businesses while I handle their books.
I’m a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and I like to partner with companies for success by assisting business owners to build a stronger foundation and help them know where their company stands financially. Every business owner should be confident in understanding, managing, and planning their finances. That’s where I come in.
Whether the business is in the weeds, or just needs help managing existing books, I’m very excited to help.
Let me take away your number-crunching stress and bean-counting by managing your books (especially since I love it)!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My road has been a little bumpy because I am creating my own path, but that’s also the exciting part! Some of the things I had to learn were how to price my services, make adjustments in those prices as I grew mentally in my business, what to do if I had a difficult client, how do I find clients, and how do I sustain my business.
My advice for women who are starting their journey:
1. Set a budget for start-up, try to keep your expenses to a minimum until you start making a profit. Start listing those expenses that you might incur, business cards, website, photoshoot, training, networking meetings. Keep a list of what you spent and review this yearly – was it necessary, did it bring clients, can you cut that expense out in the future.
2. Be sure to track your income and expenses.
3. Get in a good networking group. Go meet people, shake hands, and pass out your business cards. These folks are going to be the ones to refer you to the people they run into while networking.
4. Don’t spend too much money on a website. They can be expensive and when you are first starting out, you just need something basic for people to contact you and know what you do. Don’t list your prices on your website. Know what your fees are, but be open to conversations. You could earn more than you thought, or be able to price adjust to help a non-profit organization.
5. Set your limits with clients. Don’t be taken advantage of, know when to end a professional relationship.
6. Join Facebook groups that are in the same field, but not necessarily in your area so they aren’t your competition. You can bounce ideas off each other. A lot of folks create generic documents that can be shared such as engagement letters, disengagement letters (for the relationships that you need to end), and other types of documents. Learn from each other what types of advertising is and isn’t working, or discuss upcoming lectures or conferences.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I am most proud of my brand because I truly believe in being accountable to the client. They are the reason I do what I do.
What sets me apart from other bookkeepers is that I am obsessed with my work. Everything is reconciled, matched, entered, and cleared. If I don’t do it perfectly, then it’s not done.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I belong to a women’s networking group WHW2N – Women Helping Women to Network. The group is incredibly supportive of each other’s business and the group is full of professional women of all ages and business types.
The app MeetUp has been very helpful to me to find different networking groups in different areas I want to visit or grow my business in.
I think the most important thing to do is to get out there and build those relationships, get people to recognize your face and know what it is that you do.
Chambers of Commerce typically have many events each month to encourage business growth. My own Chamber is Pearland Chamber of Commerce.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.accountable-llc.com
- Phone: 832-727-0100
- Email: danacragin@accountable-llc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accountabledana
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/accountabledana
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-cragin-15032956/
Image Credit:
Victoria Garcia Studios, Houston Brand Photographer. For more info visit http://www.victoriagarciastudios.com
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