034 - The Art of Changing Your Business with Julia Kelly

What does changing your business actually look like? As in starting a new business in a completely different industry and having a totally new offering?

Can you make such a big leap and be successful? What does it take to make not only the shift but the mindset shift?

On this episode of Untapped, I got to hear all about what it takes from Julia Kelly, co-Founder of Rigits, a remote bookkeeping services company.

Yet just a few years ago Julia had started gone from being a successful caricature artist to building a whole business and team around doing this for corporates and at events.

In fact I interviewed her about it on my Suitcase Entrepreneur podcast on Debunking the Starving Artist Myth, as I thought her story was really cool.

It's a perfect example of how Julia took her skills she learned in a job she applied for, and turned it into a side hustle and then a full blown business that almost runs without her.

Now she has a completely different business and a new team, and is well aware that she needs to remain relevant in an industry being very much affected by the future of work - in that accountants are being replaced with systems and automation.

If you tuned into my podcast Embracing the Future of the Future with Frances Valintine then you'll learn just how quickly the world is changing and adapting to the way in which we are working and who's doing the work.

Julia is well aware of that and we discussed how they're adapting to stay relevant and thrive in this new era, and in many ways she's always been adapting and following her heart.

Julia's journey began in college where she started her solopreneur career of being a caricature artist. She was able to grow her skills into a six-figure business and hired other artists as well.

However, after a year, Julia realized that she wasn't being challenged anymore and that her successful business (which she's still running today) was not going to be able to grow anymore.

So what did she do next?

She went back to her roots as a graduate with a B.A. in Accounting and teamed up with a friend and started a company that does bookkeeping and accounting for small businesses and startups.

It was a completely different realm of work from the caricature business, but Julia found it to be exciting plus it tapped into her sweetspot of her accounting knowledge and what she knew would be profitable to her AND beneficial to her clients.

By taking a risk and changing her business, Julia was able to have a business that had a recurring revenue model - something that her caricature business lacked. She also found that she thrived in having a team and didn't enjoy being a lone wolf after all.

If you're also in a rut and feel like you're not progressing or enjoying your work anymore, definitely check out the full interview to learn more about the art of changing your business and how to tap into your potential!

In this episode you'll learn:
What it's like to go from a solo operation to being in a partnership and having employeesWhy Julia started another business in a completely different industry and what she learned by doing itHow to juggle two businesses by having one on autopilotThe most common mistakes business owners make with money and how to avoid them

Resources

Check out Rigits to see Julia's bookkeeping and accounting business.
Book a live digital caricature experience for your next event at jkexpressions.com