How to start a bookkeeping business and travel by RV

If you’re wondering how to start a bookkeeping business and live and travel where you want, look no further than Glen Mutchler.

Glen did something not many people do: switched careers and confronted a steep learning curve. He worked as a manager at a tire shop in Northern British Columbia, servicing commercial trucks.

Glen craved a different, more adventurous life of living full-time in an RV with his wife and young daughter. He was sick of spending so many hours apart.

Glen and his wife decided to take the plunge and live in a 5th wheel trailer – but how on earth would they make money?

They considered Amazon FBA or dropshipping, but Glen wanted something more stable. That’s when he decided to learn how to become a bookkeeper and start his own bookkeeping business from his RV.

“I wanted something that was an actual career, something that was a real world skill,” said Glen. “We didn’t feel any of those other avenues was a good long-term plan for a growing family.”

COVID turned out to be an exit strategy for Glen. “My employer was cutting back and laying people off and I said, sign me up! And I didn’t go back.”

How Glen learned how to start a bookkeeping business

Glen knew he had to take a class to make the change from managing a tire shop to learning how to start a bookkeeping business.

His wife found Bookkeeper Launch, an online course that teaches you both how to become a bookkeeper and how to run your own business.

“So, I jumped in with both feet,” said Glen. “The course had incredible reviews and I was ready to get started.”

The course is split up into four different sections:

• Section 1: How to become a high quality bookkeeper
• Section 2: Learn to get your first handful of clients to get your new bookkeeping business off the ground
• Section 3: You’ll learn to develop systems to succeed and run the day-to-day operations for your business
• Section 4: Grow your bookkeeping business and get even more clients

Click here to download a free syllabus of Bookkeeper Launch.

Bookkeeper Launch is jam-packed with information about how to start a bookkeeping business. It’s meant to be done in 90-days but took Glen 120.

“It took me a little longer than expected but I didn’t want to move on until I completely understood the last step,” he said. “I learned at my own pace. The lessons were great – they were put as simply as possible.”

He admits bookkeeping was a complicated skill to learn from someone who came from a completely different industry, but Glen was motivated. He wanted to make the RVing lifestyle work.

“The course has a lot to do with how to start a bookkeeping business, as much as the actual bookkeeping,” said Glen. “Like how to find clients, how to network appropriately. It was really helpful to learn how to run an actual bookkeeping business.”

Interested in learning how to start your own bookkeeping business? Bookkeeper’s Launch offers a FREE intro course to bookkeeping. Sign up for the free course here! Or click the image below to sign up!

Finding clients to start a bookkeeping business

As soon as he finished Bookkeeper Launch, Glen put up his brand new website, Equalized Bookkeeping, and jumped into the next step: Drumming up business.

(BTW, if you need a bookkeeper, Glen is looking for clients!)

The challenge of starting a bookkeeping business is learning how to find clients.

“I emailed people and looked at Facebook groups which were flooded with people trying to do the same thing,” he said. “Everyone wants a client and it’s dirt cheap. I found it quite difficult to find clients online.”

So Glen started knocking on doors in his neighborhood to offer his bookkeeping services.

“I found a client that way and it got my spirits up. I feel like I spent 100 hours trying to get a nibble, so signing that first client was a huge confidence booster,” said Glen.

He said it’s not as much about the bookkeeping services offered but about the people you are working with. “The clients I signed liked what I had to stay and stood for,” he said. “Price or the work itself was secondary.”

Glen offered the personal touch of going to his clients’ homes to help them set up bookkeeping software and apps on their phone. “I”m trying to get them set up so I can then work virtually.”

You may also like: 40+ ways to make money from an RV or campervan

How starting a bookkeeping business changed Glen’s life

Glen wasn’t totally sure how much he would like bookkeeping when he first signed up for Bookkeeper Launch, but he’s found he really enjoys his new work.

“I feel lucky to have fallen into something that makes money and feels like a puzzle every day,” Glen said. “I enjoy the day-to-day data entry and bookkeeping and reconciliation.”

He said signing up for the course was risky because it was a couple thousand bucks – and what if he hated it? “I couldn’t be happier with the results,” he said.

Glen loves the ability to create his own schedule. He can play with his 15-month-old daughter while his wife works as a VA, and vice versa.

“Since having both parents around most of the time my daughter seems happier,” he said. “She has more fun and smiles more. My wife and I used to get stressed out about parenting when I felt like I wasn’t home enough.”

He also loves that he has the flexibility to go on adventures – to go hiking and backpacking when he wants.

In the future, Glen and his family hope to explore both the United States and Canada in their fifth wheel, hiking, being together and working remotely.

If you need a bookkeeper for your business, be sure to reach out to Glen at Equalized Bookkeeping.

Want to see if starting a bookkeeping business is for you?

If you crave freedom and flexibility, you may want to start a bookkeeping business.

But what if you’re just not sure it’s the right career path?

There is an incredibly high demand for bookkeepers, and the best part is that you don’t need to be in any specific location to do the job. You are able to work virtually from your computer. 

So long as you have a reliable internet connection to work with, your bookkeeping business goes where you go! 

This business is obviously for a very specific type of person. In order to find out if you fit the criteria, I invite you to watch this FREE video webinar, presented by the Founder of Bookkeeper Launch, Ben Robinson. 

During this FREE class about starting a virtual bookkeeping business, you will discover:

1. Exactly what the business is (and is NOT),
2. What you need to know (and have) before you start…are YOU a good fit, and
3. The 3 step system to launch your own business.

Click here to sign up for the class!

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• 40+ ways to make money while on the road
• 3 steps to starting an Amazon FBA business from anywhere
• How to become a transcriptionist