[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:03 - (Sam): Hey, guys. Welcome back to another episode of building the Abundant Woman. I have a great guest here with you today. I'm so excited to have her on because I think she's going to provide such valuable information to you. Guys. This is Natalia Zacharin. She is a provider of CFO services as well as has an accounting firm that does like bookkeeping, payroll, all of those good things. And she's here today to share her wonderful knowledge with all of us because I know technology and finances are typically the two biggest things that business owners struggle with. And so we're so glad to have her on today. So, Natalia, tell us all about you.

0:00:38 - (Natalia): Thank you so much, Samantha. I'm really excited to be here and yeah, very excited to chat with you about finance and technology. And now finance and technology are completely intertwined. And you're right, most people are terrified or not interested or don't have the time to take care of either of those.

0:00:54 - (Sam): Exactly. So give us a little insight into who you are. Not just businesswoman, but like, tell us about your family and stuff.

0:01:02 - (Natalia): Sure. So I started this business about five years ago. I was turning 50 that year. I was working for someone. I'm a single mom. I've been single for, since 2012. So that's been twelve years now that I've been a single mom and I was working for somebody else. I was making pretty good money at first. And then in the fourth, fifth, and 6th year of being there, my salary started plummeting and they were pivoting and making changes and we'just like, looking in another direction and didn't see me as a valuable resource in order to keep growing in the company.

0:01:41 - (Natalia): So I did try to, I saw the writing on the wall. I tried to get out of jobs. I was trying to interview, and no one was really interviewing or hiring at the time. And, and especially being a middle aged single mom, it's very complicated to get a job in the corporate world. So I started my own business. That was just an offhand remark by a guy I had started dating. We're still in a relationship. He was my boyfriend at the time. It was a brand new relationship. And he said, why don't you just start a bookkeeping business?

0:02:14 - (Natalia): And I thought, well, maybe I'll just start on the side and it'll help me to make a little bit of extra income, because by the time we hit 2019, they had decreased my salary so much so that I was actually considered to be on poverty levels for a family in my state. And so we were on Medicare. Yeah, it was bad. So I could barely afford anything. And crazy. It is crazy. They wanted me to leave. They were trying to encourage me to leave, but there was nowhere for me to leave, too, so it was stuck.

0:02:46 - (Natalia): And I think that's what happens to a lot of people. We get really stuck for a lot of reasons. And I really didn't think anything about starting my own business except that I was desperate for cash and I didn't want to be poor anymore.

0:02:59 - (Sam): Well, and I think that's such a true thing, is a lot of us don't start these businesses because we're like, ooh, I am so passionate about this. Like, we have a skill. We're really good at that skill, and we know there's a need for it. We know somewhere there's a need for what we do. And I think that's such a true, like, testament to, you know, whether people are in our lives for a lifetime or a season, but they come in just at the right time to tell us, like, hey, this is.

0:03:29 - (Sam): You should do this. And a lot of us are just, I think, getting over that mindset of, like, I got to do something, but I think that feelues a lot of us. And so I think that desire for more is out of our lives is a huge driver. So tell us, like, how that came to be. Like, what is these transformations that you're doing for people? Like, talk about that.

0:03:58 - (Natalia): So it was really interesting. There's no way that I would have been as successful at this without help. So my boyfriend owns his own business. This is his third or fourth business that he owns. So he had a lot of great knowledge of how to run businesses. So I I did use him a little bit as a mentor. I tried not to. Cause I didn't wan. To ruin the relationship.

0:04:23 - (Sam): Understandable.

0:04:24 - (Natalia): Yeah, he was a great resource, but I also. He introduced me to a mastermind, and he actually sent me some sales, like, a little, what is it called? Like, a little sales training that they had together years ago that they weren't even using anymore. And I was like, okay, well, I'll just start this process. I'll go through the training. I'll do what it says. And I actually didn't know any better, which was helpful, because sometimes if you know better, you don't do the things that it says because you're like, no, that wouldn't work, or no, that doesn't feel comfortable.

0:04:59 - (Natalia): Well, I didn't know anybo better, so I just did everything step by step. And I started that training, I guess, sometime in September, and by the time I got to the part of the training that said, well, now send out like an email blast to get all these, to get new business from all these contacts that I got on LinkedIn. And I sent my email blast, and within a couple hours, someone contacted me. And that was my first climient.

0:05:25 - (Natalia): So I was completely unprepared. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was very committed to make things right, to learn things, and to be better at it than anybody else. And so I think that really helped me is just to have the resource of a mastermind and mentorship right from the onset. And if someone doesn't have that, that's really very valuable to have because it will help you to springboard from where you are now to where you want to be a lot faster.

0:05:57 - (Sam): That's what was like, hands down, after doing my first mastermind, I went for the mastermind and hired that, the woman who ran that mastermind. I hired her privately as soon as that mastermind ended because I was like, I know that if I want to take this anywhere is like, I have to have some kind of mentorship and, but also at the same time as, like, taking that and, like, maxing it out, like you said, you were like, I just went in blind.

0:06:27 - (Sam): I did exactly what it said. And that's, like, one of the best things is, like, really taking that action is such a huge, I think that's where a lot of people get stuck. They're, like, scared to take that action as well.

0:06:40 - (Natalia): Yes.

0:06:41 - (Sam): And that's, I mean, look, look what it turned into. You just taking action. Even when it felt, like, really scary, it felt really messy. And that's just, that seems like it just launched your business.

0:06:53 - (Natalia): It did. It was taking action, I noticed. And they had even had, like, sales scripts and everything, and I would literally pull up the sales script and practically read from it in order to make sure that I didn't veer away from it because sales is very psychological, and as soon as I'd ve away from it, I wouldn't close the deal. Now I don't have a script. It's been five years, you know, it's completely different.

0:07:16 - (Natalia): But I was very nervous and very scared. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't want to have to do this. I was, there was a lot of misalignment in the beginning where every week I'd just be exhausted and feel sorry for myself a little bit, you know, it was like, this is terrible. But it was, the first year was super hard, so if anybody feels discouraged, it is not easy. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Like, it is gonna be harder than anything you've ever done. You're gonna get kicked in the teeth daily, and that's just the way it is.

0:07:51 - (Natalia): And so if you know that, you don't even have to know what going in, but if you know that. That other people are telling you, it'just, it's hard. It kind of helps to keep going, because if you don't give up, you do figure things out, and you do eventually start building momentum. And that's what it's about, is to really build momentum with consistent action. And doing action that feels messhy, and you might not feel that you're ready for it and you're nervous about it, and maybe it even stinks.

0:08:21 - (Natalia): It's terrible. But it doesn't matter, because you can action every action step that you take, you can learn from it and get better and better, but you won't learn if you just don't take the action.

0:08:32 - (Sam): Girl, you're preaching to the. You're preaching all of us today. Like, this is so huge. Like, this is such a cool thing because, like, even for myself is. I started building websites again a year ago, and I've been building, or, like, I've known how to build websites since 2017, but I finished my last website when my daughter was six days old, and she just turned five. No, I took a little bit of a hiatus to, you know, to be mom in that time. I had a second child as well.

0:09:06 - (Sam): So, you know, like, that's where I've come back into this space. And, yeah, you're like, it is going to kick your butt. Because I, like, went off the bat, close two people, and then it was like, nothing. It was, like, dead for months, and then I'd have a really good month. It'd be dead for months, and I'd have a really good month. And I think that's the honest truth of it, is, like, the months that we do really well is like, okay, what did I do? Where can I improve? And I think that's what a lot of mine has been, even when you're talking about, is, like, still can take.

0:09:44 - (Sam): Taking consistent action is because success loves speed. And so if you sit there and you spend a week pouting about having a bad month, you're slowing down everything. But if you just keep working on it and it's like, okay, what did I learn from that? What can I improve? And getting yourself back out there every day? Yes. It feels like crap. I have 22 things on my to do list before Sunday. And you know what?

0:10:12 - (Sam): All of them are gonna get done.

0:10:13 - (Natalia): Yes.

0:10:15 - (Sam): Even if nothing else works out. Like, this is where I want to be, and it's, like, so cool to watch you five years down the road. Like, what a transformation.

0:10:25 - (Natalia): Yeah. And like you were mentioning, like, it. Consistent action. You cannot stop sales or lead generation even if you're doing well. I see so much in the clients that we work with. It s, it's a constant discussion of, hey, I'm worried about my business. Hey, my numbers went down, my revenues is plummeting, and I'm like, well, have you been, you know, working on your sales and your lead generation? No, I've been busy doing something else or, no, you know, like, things are really good. I've had, like, great clients.

0:10:55 - (Natalia): You actually can never stop because you'either lose clients through natural attrition that's gonna happen. And if you stop the momentum, it just, it takes time to build that backup, no matter how good you are. So you actually can never stop, at least not for a long time. And sales, especially in the beginning of a business, that's something. Sales and lead generation, that's something you need to work on every day.

0:11:19 - (Natalia): Like, you just have to make that time. It doesn't feel comfortable. People don't want to do it. You'll find other things that you want toa do more, but that's most important.

0:11:29 - (Sam): Yeah, well, and you take all that, that's like, you're not just a business owner, but you're seeing that yourself, of, like, you're seeing that in your clients that you're working with on their financials. And it's like, hey, I know in order for these numbers to happen the way they should, you need sales and lead generation. And I think that's one thing that a lot of people don't see is, like, your lead generation in the beginning may look a little different than it will five years from now.

0:12:01 - (Sam): It was like, maybe you have more systems in place, you may have more automation in place, you may have different ways of getting clients, and it's gonna look a lot different from year one to year five. And so I think that's such a huge thing, because, like, I mean, obviously, you know, the financials, you're telling them straight from the data, this is what you got toa do.

0:12:21 - (Natalia): Yeah, it definitely does change. And I really recommend that people don't just jump in right away and hire sales. They have to know, a business owner has to know how to sell themselves. They have to be the best salesperson on the team.

0:12:34 - (Sam): Oh, there you go. That's mine. All day long, it'like, you can hire everything else out but closing the deal. No one will ever have the, like, passion for your business to close that sale the way you will. So, no, I'm in total agreement with you there.

0:12:53 - (Natalia): There's a lot you can outsource, but I think sales, especially in the beginning, you have to know how to sell your own product or service. And then once you know, like, probably, like, if you're at half a million in gross revenue or something, that's a good time to start looking at hiring a salesperson or a sales team, like, especially if you're getting close to a million in gross revenue. But before that, it's all you.

0:13:16 - (Natalia): It really needs to be all you. You can outsource a lot of other things, but that's something that really can't outsource that well unless they're 100% commission. But then how do you know how to hire someone if you aren't good at your own sales? How do you know to train them? How do you know if they're doing well?

0:13:34 - (Sam): Oh, girl, I love this. I could talk about this all day. Cause this is my favorite thing. It's like, that is always one thing. Especially, like, I'm like, if you can't do it, like, and I think that's the best thing, is when you go to hire someone and you go to try to train them or think about, like, oh, if I was to hire somebody, could I explain this to them well enough to do it the way that I do it?

0:13:59 - (Sam): And I think that's where we missed the mark. I mean, a lot of people are quick to hire vas to, like, offload little things, and then they wonder why they're frustrated, but they don't even know how to do the tasks that they're asking that va to doe, and even down to that little, you know, even down to that smaller portion, up to, like, hiring full time employees, because I've been on both spectrums of it between having a va to help me with some things and then obviously, in our chiropractic office setting, hiring full time employees.

0:14:33 - (Sam): And you notice when, like, if you. I mean, if, like, we offload our training to another team member, and it's maybe not the, like, the thing they're the absolute best at. They, like, the people following them will be like, you'll end up just so much more frustrated if you walk in that room and you're like, hey, I'm gonna teach you how to close, because I'm the best closer in the room. Then that's like, oh, yeah, it's so different.

0:15:00 - (Natalia): Yeah, yeah, let's. There was something else that I wanted to talk about. Yeah, for sure there was numbers. So, yeah, when you're starting your own business or you're in business, one thing I find is that people really underrate where they need to be, where they want to be. They're like, oh, I just want to make, you know, like, six figures, or I just want to make $80,000 and survive, or I just want to get to, you know, like, half a million or whatever.

0:15:28 - (Natalia): Those goals should be a lot bigger. I feel like we don't dream big enough, especially as women, and I feel like we don't dream big enough or we don't. We're afraid of the work. Honestly, to get to hundred thousand dollars, it's not that much more difficult. And you keep learning. If you get to a million, the first 100,000, I think, is probably harder to hon because you're figuring things out. But when I started, I just wanted to make ends meet, and then my first year, just wanted to make my first six figures, and then I just wanted to get to a quarter of a million at one point. And then I was like, I got to a quarter million. I was like, well, that wasn't so bad. I want to get the business to half a million.

0:16:09 - (Natalia): And at this point, between a quarter and a half years, you're starting to hire people. And then at half a million, I'm like, I don't see why I can't make it to a million. And, and so the goal keeps growing. And now my goal, my dream is to get us to 40 millioneah.

0:16:27 - (Sam): Everyone'renn do it, girl. I like, she'snna post that one day. It's gonn be like, we hit the goal, and I'm gonna be like, all over. Like, ye.

0:16:36 - (Natalia): It's like, it, it seems obscene, right? It sounds ridiculous, but it's getting yourself in the room with other people who have those same dreams or have made it, and not being the biggest fish in the room, being actually the smallest fish in the room and normalizing those goals and normalizing what that looks like. It's very normal for me now to think about having a business in the tens of millions rather than just having a business in the hundreds of thousands.

0:17:02 - (Natalia): And you, that's been a journey for me to get used to, and I feel like we really need to get used to those numbers.

0:17:11 - (Sam): And I think that's such a great point, because one thing you talked about was like, then t you get in a room with better people. And when I went in, flew to California to do a podcast with my business coach, one of the things I mentioned, she said, she was like, you're coming off your best month. What do you feel like you're going toa do now that you've had that best month? And I said, I'm go goingna get in better rooms.

0:17:39 - (Sam): And she was like, girl, everybody would have said, I'm buying a purse. I'm getting a new. And I'm like, but those things don't get me in better rooms. Those things don't get me results. And that's. And look at you, like, look at the growth you've had. Like, I think we underestimate or we overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in five. And you're totally right's, like, we can't. Most women can't see that, like, five year mark.

0:18:05 - (Sam): And, you know, it's like, if we don't dream big. And I told somebody one day, I was like, inna hit a million dollars, like, my first year, or, you know, like this next year in business. And they were like, you're like, having, like, $10,000 months here and there? And I was like, yes, but if I don't sit there and focus on that, if I sit here and say, oh, I'm gonna do six figures, well, then I'll probably do $80,000, right? If I don't go big, it's like, then you'll stop wherever you limit yourself to.

0:18:37 - (Natalia): Yeah. Yeah. I think a good goal, especially for service based businesses, a good goal is to double every year.

0:18:43 - (Sam): O yeah, that's really good.

0:18:45 - (Natalia): You have to really know your numbers. You have to understand, you have to have a good accounting software. I recommend quickbooks. For most businesses. That's really the best accounting software. And I think in the United States, there are others that. That are pretty good, but that's our favorite specifically. And you, you really need to have, your accounting has to be clean, has to be accurate. That's a great thing to outsource.

0:19:11 - (Natalia): You have to look at your numbers. You have to learn how to read your profit and loss in your balance sheet. And if you don't want to ask your accountant to help you understand it, look at it every single month. Make sure you're getting your financials done every single month. I hate that some people say, oh, yeah, I get my financials once a year, once a quarter, or they're still like, I talk to people right now.

0:19:34 - (Natalia): So we're in April. I'm still talking to people and prospecting because I still do my own sales, and they're saying, oh, yeah, 2023 isn't done yet. I'm like, it's April, right? What that means, they don't know. They have no idea what's going on. So just be really mindful that even though it's unpleasant or it's scary or it's something that you're not familiar with. First of all, there's a ton of information out there. YouTube is your friend.

0:20:02 - (Natalia): And hire someone. It's a really great thing to outsource and have them explain to you and look at the trend, see how you're doing, see, like, your revenue, see what your profit looks like, how much cash in the bank. And just look at that as a trend so that you can make your own milestones and you can make your own decisions and you can have better clarity in those decisions as you move forward.

0:20:24 - (Sam): Yeah, well, I think all that was amazing. And I had one more question, but you actually answered it. Cause I just gave you, like, a little bit instead of interrupting you, but you actually answered it. It was like, the things that we need to see, you know, like, that profit and loss statement is huge. I think that's even just being able to understand that really is a huge driver of your business. So, Natalia, where can we find you? Where do you hang out?

0:20:51 - (Natalia): Sure. So you can find me on LinkedIn under Nania Zacharin. We do have a webpage, zacharinconulting.com dot. I'm also on Instagram at growyourbottom line and Facebook under Zach and consulting.

0:21:05 - (Sam): Awesome. And we'll have everything linked up in the show notes. Guys, this is a great resource. Make sure and give her a follow. Reach out to her. If she's your gal for all that information, just hit her up and talk to her soon, and we will see you guys next time. Don'there. We go. Oh, not. Oops. I just want to stop recording. There we go.