An Accountant's Hero Story

[YOLANDA LEAMON]

Hi Negeen,  @negeen-dargahi

Here is the Hero story as it came back from the Accelerator:  Can you help me improve on it?

How do I want to change the life of my reader or audience?:	How I Transformed My Business from a CASH-EATING MONSTER into a MONEY MAKING MACHINE and how you can model your own business to scale up like never before (Part 1)
What problem does my theme/product/process solve?:	The numbers swam before me and the reports did not make any sense! I was burdened with the knowledge that I did not really understand the finances in my business. I knew that I did not have all the information in there and it was time to take my stuff to the tax preparer. I knew that I had brought in a lot of money and that I had not saved many of my receipts and that my books were a mess. I knew that I did not know the finances of my business like I should.
What desire does my product or service fulfill?:	I loved my church and wanted to contribute more significantly. l wanted to have more money left over for the family.
What action do I want my audience to take?:	My friend, Mary, decided to do things her way and do her own accounting. Every year she paid more and more to the IRS and the state and she felt poorer and poorer. She refused to get professional help and eventually gave up on her businesses and went broke. My friend, Peter, saw that he needed professional help and brought his business to me. We worked together to give him the daily reports he needed to run his business. His books reflected what was happening right then. He knew where his money was coming and where it was going. He used technology to scale his business to new heights and yet he was working less and enjoying life so much more.
Who is my hero? (Yourself or another character):	I am the hero
Where is my hero just before beginning his/her journey? [Setup]:	I had an exotic childhood really. Born to missionary parents, their work took us to Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. I was loved and cared for in a special way. The violin became my instrument while living in Uruguay and I learned to play it under watchful eye of the skilled 2nd chair violinist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Uruguay, Esteban Cracium. He taught me that nothing beautiful comes easily and that it becomes easy if you practice it every day.
Why will my audience care about my hero? [Empathy]:	My father told me that he would pay for me to become a Registered Nurse and stood in line with me at my Freshman registration to make sure that I did not change my mind. But I loved my father and trusted his judgement and happily let him tell me what to do with my life. I loved college and found the love my life there and married him after we both graduated. It was a good life together. We traveled the world sharing our love for God. Nursing helped me understand how people get sick and why and I developed a passion for helping people live longer and healthier.
What crisis or wish started my hero on this journey? [Opportunity]:	Years passed. We had a son. He grew up and went on to have his own family. One day my father took me aside and said: People ask me how old I am and I see that it worries them when I tell them the truth. If you will come and learn accounting , bookkeeping and taxation, I will give you my practice when I get too old to work in it and decide to retire. I was stunned! I had never thought about being an accountant. But I loved my father and agreed to join him and learn his trade. Life now became a great learning experience with on the job training in the daytime and school at night. Slowly it started to make sense. My father and mother had cultivated the friendship of their clients for over 40 years. People loved them and I learned to love them too. I saw that they struggled to be successful in their businesses and that they made a lot of mistakes. Slowly I learned and introduced technology into our practice.
How did your hero react to that opportunity? [New Situation]:	One day, I received a visit from a policeman. He told me that both of my parents had just been involved in a terrible car accident and had both died. I was stunned. I had just been talking to them a little while earlier. My world changed in that instant. How was I going to do the work of all of us? Tax season was starting and our first clients were scheduled for the next day. As I pondered my new life and tried to deal with the massive grief that poured over my soul, I determined that I would move forward. I would use technology to make it possible to do the work of all of us. The next day, I met our appointments with the sad news of the previous 24 hours. We shared, we wept and did tax returns and we did accounting and bookkeeping. I wanted to carry on their special legacy and improve the lives of our clients. I increased my use of technology and the doors opened for much better reporting. Technology made it possible for me to provide up to date reporting at any time.
What visible goal is my hero desperate to achieve? [Pursuit]:	I determined to take all of our clients to a new level of knowledge about their businesses. Now they were seeing their business in a new light. Now they could see where the problems were and how to solve them. Instead of doing “after-the-fact” accounting, we could do up-to-date accounting. I could provide reports that had never been possible before. I knew if Dad was living, he would be proud. He would be amazed.
How does my hero plan to achieve this goal? [Plan]:	Now our clients can receive the special “5-Minute Books” delivered to their inbox every morning. What is their Profit and Loss for the previous day, for the previous week, for the previous month, for the year-to-date. Who do they owe and how much. Who owes them and how much. What is the cash flow projection:? Tax planning every quarter or even every month is provided. Now we participate in the financial planning and tax planning of our clients. They KNOW their numbers, they KNOW where they stand EVERY DAY!
Who is the hero’s ally [Reflection]:	Mom and Dad lived their life fully, they believed, they loved and they gave me what I needed to continue on this journey called life. Whenever I have a difficult day, I think about them and their cheerful ways and how much they put into life and I know that I will be able to share that same joy of living with my clients to cheer them on their way.
What are the external obstacles does the hero face and how does the hero overcome them? [Outer conflict]:	It has not been easy, this year since Mom and Dad left me. I have worked long hours to make up for their absence. But I have learned to persevere. I have learned that even extreme sorrow can be a stepping stone to a better me.
Who stands in my hero’s way? [Nemesis]:	I learned that all of this happened while technology was experiencing a paradigm shift in the thinking of the younger business owner. Sometimes people like to “do it the old way”, but we have found that the old ways don’t always do us favors. The old ways sometimes give us the wrong information because the old ways take more time and make it impossible to have the information people need to make decisions in this era.
How was my hero hurt in the past? [Wound]:	I was deeply affected by the sudden loss of my mother and father. Their desks stand empty today, but their legacy is real and palpable to those who knew them. I move forward in their memory, determined to make life better for all of their clients and all the new ones that may come my way – just like they did while they were with us.
What fears must my hero now overcome? [Inner conflict]:	The big question is how can I do this? How can I continue the amazing legacy of my parents and provide outstanding A+ service to small business owners who feel overwhelmed by the day to day business operations? How can I show them how to transform their businesses into Money Making Machines?
What is my hero’s moment of greatest courage? [Transformation]:	As I come out of the cloud of the past year since the death of my parents, I see that they gave me their energy, their love for life, their zest for doing the impossible, for learning, for making the most of every day, and for helping others experience their legacy..
What is the exact moment my hero achieves the visible goal? [Climax]:	Now we are using technology to create a synergy between business owner and accountant that brings new life into the businesses we touch.
How does my hero’s life change by completing this journey? [Aftermath]:	The business owner’s that use our services now have the advantage of our journey. They can tap into the amazing energy that will transform their business into the dream they have for it. Every morning, they know where they are in their finances. They KNOW how much money they have in the bank. They KNOW how much money they need to save for taxes. They KNOW who owes them money. They KNOW who they owe money to. This knowledge is power. Power to make more money. Power to keep more of the money they make. Power to control their business operations. Power to have a much better life.

[n d]

Hi @yolanda-leamon, nice job taking action!

I’d like you to take all of that information that you inserted in the accelorator and make it into ONE whole story.

Please refer to Kent and Anthony’s hero stories on their LinkenIn page for reference on how it should look and flow:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/heres-exact-model-i-used-rocket-my-startup-from-zero-1mm-littlejohn/?trk=pulse_spock-articles

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-getting-my-million-business-stolen-best-thing-thats-simonie/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_post_details%3B5OlP0UsdQIaiFiWIGGuntA%3D%3D

And once you’ve written your hero story, proof read and are ready for feedback, please make a new post in the Hero Story forum, upload a file of your story and tag Halle for feedback.

Thank you!

 

[YOLANDA LEAMON]

@negeen-dargahi

 

And no feedback is available at this stage?

[n d]

@yolanda-leamon, we provide feedback on the completed hero story, so yes, you are correct.

 

[Halle Eavelyn]

@yolanda-leamon, there’s a LOT of training at the stage you were at, so it’s way too early for feedback.  You didn’t have a Hero Story developed yet.

I’m checking to see where you are now with your first draft.  Can you check in and let me know your status?

Thanks!!

[Halle Eavelyn]

@yolanda-leamon, how’s it going on crafting your Hero Story? Have you reviewed the Hero Story OVERVIEW in this forum for guidance?

[Author]

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