Sonja Humpfer has gained not just more income, but more confidence, since working with AVN.
I’m the owner of Strate Accounting and Payroll in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and I’ve been in business now for going on 15 years. I joined AVN around November, and in just four or five months it’s made my life a lot better.
The headline results speak for themselves: my past-due receivables have decreased by over 50%, and my income has increased as well.
Before AVN
Before AVN, I was flying by the seat of my pants, just trying to run my business. I’d worked with other advisors before, but never anyone specifically in the accounting field. After talking with some of the people at AVN, I felt it would be a good choice for me — and it has been.
Back then I was stressed out. I had a lot of receivables that were behind for all sorts of reasons, and there was so much weight on my shoulders that some mornings I didn’t even feel like getting out of bed to come into work.
What’s changed
Being with AVN has really taken the pressure off. I’m not so stressed, I feel more in control of my business, and I’m not afraid to ask my clients for things. It’s my business, after all. It’s given me the confidence to run it, grow it, and be more in charge. Once I started getting control of my finances, I felt a lot less stressed. Life is more enjoyable now, and I actually enjoy coming to the office.
The catalyst has been working with my coach. We talk through everything going on in the business — the good, the bad and the ugly — and then we set goals together. She doesn’t tell me what I have to do; we just set small goals for me to work toward before the next meeting, and that pushes me to get them done. If I don’t quite finish them, we carry them over. Just having someone there to help me focus on what I need to get done has made all the difference. It’s about that strategic focus. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in client work that you stop focusing on your number one client, which is yourself.
What’s next
My next big focus is getting my prices up to where they should be. I hadn’t done a price increase in four or five years. I want to get the programmes set up so billing is automatic: everyone on a flat monthly rate, with billing and collections handled automatically. One less thing to worry about each month.
The biggest thing I’ve learned with AVN is that I’m not just getting paid for my time; I’m getting paid for my value. That’s what I need to charge for, and it’s given me far more confidence to raise my prices to reflect it.
My advice to other accountants
If someone’s on the fence about joining AVN, I’d say do it. When I first started with AVN I wasn’t really in a good financial position to do it, but I knew that if I didn’t do something, I’d probably lose my business. It’s been a terrific turnaround. I’d worked with other advisors before who weren’t in the accounting field, and it didn’t help me much. But having someone who understands exactly what I do makes all the difference. AVN’s been awesome to work with.