Hello Megan! Please share a brief introduction about yourself.
Hello! My name is Megan Foster. I am a wife to my best friend, a mother to two future female powerhouses, and founder of Balancing Budgets bookkeeping firm. We help business owners save money on taxes by organizing their bookkeeping, so they feel confident in their finances without having to sacrifice their time.
So Megan, what excites you about being an Entreprenista League member?
I’m excited about the connections and wisdom that can be shared in a group of motivated women business owners.
What made you take the leap to start Balancing Budgets?
I was tired of the corporate burnout. I’m not afraid of hard work, as long as the work excites me and the pay off is worth it. Both of which I wasn’t finding in my field. Opening a business gave me back my freedom. I have autonomy over my time, my earnings, and who I choose to work with. I also get to use my skills to help other businesses achieve their own objectives which is a shared win!
What was your background prior to starting your own business?
I spent almost a decade in social work in a variety of roles. I decided to obtain my Masters in Business which led me to the decision to leave my career and place all bets on myself.
Did you always know you wanted to be an entreprenista?
Deep down, and I mean DEEP down… absolutely. But I could never admit that before because I was overrun with the idea that I had nothing to offer or that I would fail.
When you first start a business, initial marketing strategies are so important to spread the word about your business. What was your initial marketing strategy?
My marketing strategy was all social media. It worked enough that it got a few other entrepreneurs attention who mentioned my name when someone needed a bookkeeper. Word of mouth and referrals has been my top marketing success with social media being the second.
So Megan, what is the biggest challenge you have encountered along the way and what did you learn from it?
I went all in on coaching programs this year and spent thousands on all the different mastermind programs. Not only did it cost me my money but it cost me my sanity. I got burnt out quickly by the commitments and the zoom calls. I also got swindled by a certain coach. The biggest lesson was to be more selective moving forward with finding a coaching program that aligns with my own personal style. And to slow it down!
What is the accomplishment you are the most proud of to date?
Doubling my corporate salary in my first year of business.
Do you believe in work/life balance? What are some of your best tips?
Absolutely and I’m still learning this one every day. My tip is to allow for days of rest. When you transition from corporate, there’s a serious rewiring of mindset that occurs over time. Part of this is allowing for lazy days and not making it mean that you yourself are lazy. We were not meant to work ourselves to death. Giving ourselves grace, especially as women and even more so as mothers, is vital to our success as business owners.
What's a piece of advice you can share that you wish you'd known when you first started your Entreprenista journey?
Focus more on the small wins and the progress - than you you do on the big wins and the goals. Goals are important, but we tend to get so focused on hitting them that we can feel discouraged and depressed if it doesn’t happen on our timeline. This takes away from our success! It’s a huge leap to become a business owner and we need to be our biggest cheerleader, not our harshest critic. It may take more time than it took for others and that is OK. Plus - when we step back and refocus on gratitude and the progress, opportunities start knocking.
What have you achieved recently that you'd like to celebrate with our community?
I helped one of my clients save almost 75K on their 2021 taxes by cleaning up their books and finding errors from the last bookkeeper.
What's next for Balancing Budgets?
Next year our team will expand and over the next year or two we will be adding on tax services as well as financial planning.
Learn more about the Entreprenista League and join today!
About the Author
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