how i quit my job, started a small firm and built a life i love

How IQuit My Job,Started a Small Firm, &Built a Life I Love(you can too!!)

I'm Jason Blumer, and Irun my own firm.

(yep, that'sfire coming out

of my butt)

For every 1thing our firmdoes right...

...I've messedup 2 things

experimenting.

First, let me clear a few things up...

But blowingstuff up...

...doesn't meanyou've blownup your firm.


And all thefirms you'veever seen...

...does not haveto be the wayyou run yourfirm.


You can be anentrepreneur...

...and still run apublic

accounting firm.


I'll give my bio, and tell you more about my firm...• I'm 44, and have been building

companies since May 2003

• I've built 4 companies, two are thriving,1went broke, and 1 becameunnecessary

• The 2 companies still alive are BlumerCPAs, and Thriveal Network

• I startedwearing jeans and t-shirts inmy own firm, and people said you can'tdo that

• I closed my office, and people said youcan't do that either

• We only serve digital design/marketingagencies in the US

• We have 8 'invisible' teammembers, allworking an average of 30 hrs/weekwhenever they want

• We don't accept paper, and all clientsmust operate in browser-basedaccounting applications ( !)

• Every client paysmonthly, and we draftall prices

• We only have 30 clients (one CPA canhandle about 10 to 12 clients)

Let's get to the presentation!

How I Quit My Job,Started a Small Firm,

and Built a Life I Love

Review of Cal Newport'sbook, So Good TheyCan't Ignore You

Copied other firms, andthen finally built what I

wanted to build

My career path for thenext 50 years


How I QuitMy Job, Started a Small Firm, and Built a Life I Love



wanted to build


How I Quit My Job (follow your passion?)

Craftsman Mindset -what can you offer the world?

Build Career Capital -with rare and valuable skills.

creativi

ty

impact

control

Freedom

Passion!

Following your passioncan be dangerous too early

in your career.

Which job shouldyou choose?

Dream job attributes!

Pure autonomy!

How I Quit My Job (did I follow my passion?)Ex

pertise

ElapsedYears in Your Career10 20 30 40 50 60

generalist

specialist

Around age 30, I was able to make specificchanges inmy career that specifically

increased my specialty.

The area between being a specialist and ageneralist represents the necessary risks

taken to narrow your expertise.

So GoodTheyCan't Ignore You!

Here are 5 steps to help you find focus:

HowYou CanQuit Your Job Too!

1. Celebrate who you are! Stop beingwhat other peoplewant you to be, and realize thevalue of who you really are. A personality profile can help(http://www.16personalities.com/)

2. Extend the current expertise you are building out 5 years. Describe yourself in 5 years,and describe what career you will have at that time.

3. Now, take the current expertise you are building, and apply it to a TOTALLYNEWDIFFERENT job than the one you currently have.What new job could you have basedupon the current expertise you are building?

4. Extend this new job/role out 5 years. Describe yourself in 5 years, and describe whatyour new career will look like.

5. What will you have to give up or stop doing in your career to make this happen?


How I Quit My Job,Started a SmallFirm, and Built a Life I Love



wanted to build


My Journey in Starting my Small FirmMy journey in running my own small firm:• 2003 - 2005 - 'Copycat'

• just copied everything the last firm did• 2005 - 2008 - 'Wilderness'

• started trying new things, screwed everything up (but I didn't die)• 2008 - 2010 - 'Strategic'

• gave up timesheets, started pricing, moved to the cloud, and startedThriveal

• 2010 - now - 'Blue Ocean'• closed my office, fully committed to my niche, and implemented a

ROWE for our team

Large Firm Small FirmSmall Firm vs. Large Firm

• selling time

• treated like a 'resource' (managed by aspreadsheet)

• learn one small thing

• wear suits, ties, skirts, heels

• slow technology adoption

• looks like every other firm

• S.A.L.Y.

• less challenges to grow

• bloated, hard to change and pivot

• selling value

• treated like a person (I'm creativewithmany ideas)

• learn everything

• who cares?

• technology adopted quickly

• set apart, branded, niched

• take experimental risks

• takes courage to build new things

• nimble, responsive tomarket changes


How I Quit My Job, Started a Small Firm, and Built a Life I Love

Review of Cal Newport'sbook, So Good They

Can't Ignore You


wanted to build


The Life I Love...• I don't have to do taxes, accounting or payroll• I get to coach business owners, which I love to do• I don't have to work with clients I don't like• I make good money working at home• I can wear what I want• I get to work in coffee shops• My partner lets me focus on strategy, writing and speaking• I work hard, but only on the things I love• I work at home with my wife, kids and dogs• Someone else cuts my grass, cleans my house, and fixes the

broken crap that my teenagers destroyed• I don't have to be anywhere (except my appointments)

Keeping The Life I Love...• Continue raising my prices so we can keep our client list low• Create 2 to 3 new services per year to stay innovative• Delete emails from people I don't know• Don't take phone calls from people I don't know• Don't go to lunch with people "who want to pick my brain."• Focus ONLY onmy specialty to enhancemy skills, and fight

being a generalist• Constantly shed job functions that I should not be doing• Avoid the distraction of bright shiny objects in our profession• Commit weekly time to journaling, writing, reading, exercising

and other creative activities• Work until I'm 95 and try to charge someone $100,000 in one year

to coach them

The Thriveal Network

http://thriveal.com/blog/http://thriveal.com/blog/http://thriveal.com/blog/http://thriveal.com/blog/

https://thriveal.com/deeper-weekend-2015/

Questions?

reach me at

@jasonmblumer

on twitter

The End