I Do My Own Books and I Hate it

I do my own books. 🤯

And I hate it. So, so very much.

But I do it for a reason.

To stay close to the pain.

To keep myself grounded in the reality my potential clients face every day with DIY or poorly done books. To stay empathetic when my team struggles with complex reconciliations. To remind myself why cleanup jobs deserve to be priced accordingly—because untangling financial messes is no funsies.

If you want to stay truly relevant to your customers and team, here are four ways to do it:

1. Do the Hard Work Ourself (At Least Sometimes)

If we provide a service, we need to put ourselves in the client’s shoes. Feel their frustration. Struggle through the same processes they do from time to time. It’s easy to forget what it’s like when we’re not in the trenches—so step back in once in a while.

2. Listen, Don’t Assume

As leaders (especially the CEO) our perspective gets stretched as we manage the vision and various functional parts of the business. No matter how experienced you are, our customers and team members are on the front lines of their own challenges. Ask them about their pain points. Listen. Let them tell you what actually matters to them.

3. Experience the Bottlenecks Firsthand

It’s easy to get impatient when things take longer than expected. But when we live through the slow software, the broken spreadsheet formula, and the jacked-up (technical term) balance sheet, we develop a deeper understanding. And that understanding makes us a better leader, service provider, and problem-solver.

*Even if we aren't going to do the work from time to time... this one is the 🔑 to staying relevant and remembering.

4. Charge Based on Reality

Some jobs are deceptively simple—until you’re knee-deep in them. When you’ve done the work yourself, you know exactly why cleanup projects cost what they do. Pricing based on real effort, not guesswork, ensures the company is compensated fairly which helps when you're on the verge of losing your cool with how long that complicated onboard is taking. 🐒

Final Thought

Pain keeps us sharp.
Constraint keeps us sharp.

They keep us connected.
They keeps us real.

Staying close to the struggles of our customers and team makes us a better leader and service provider.

So, what’s one task in your business you hate doing—but know you should still experience every now and then? Let me know in the comments.