Day 2 DAY Books

Marloes Van Lent is CEO of full-service accounting services for small businesses Day2Day Books. She reached out to Story Power Media to do a business portrait shoot. She then drove 8 hours from Golden, a small town where she lives, to the Vancouver area to do the photo session. I loved getting to know Marloes and asked her questions about her business and the photo shoot experience.

Anya: Tell me about yourself. 

Marloes: My name is Marloes van Lent, I am 39, and I am CEO of Day2Day Books, a Professional Bookkeeper company.

Anya: When did you establish your business, and what inspired you to do it?

Marloes: I started Day2Day Books in 2014 because I saw a need for professional financial services in my small mountain town. Cloud Accounting was fairly new at that time, and I saw an opportunity to help people transition to it. 

Anya: Who is your business for?

Marloes: It's for small business owners who don't have the time or skills to do their own bookkeeping. For business owners who know the importance of keeping their books in order. And for business owners who like to move to cloud-based systems and don't know where to start. I think professional bookkeeping should be available for all business owners, big or small. 

Anya: What were your first attempts at growing your client base, and what mistakes did you make? What were the first successes?

Marloes: First, I would apply for all local bookkeeping jobs I saw posted and would show up and convince them that hiring an independent contractor will work for them versus an in-house employee. These were often part-time jobs, so I combined a bunch of these and went from there. I made quite a few mistakes, as most business owners, and probably the most common ones too. Like growing too fast, saying yes to all clients, and hiring the wrong people. The first success, I think, was that I hit my 3-year revenue goal in year 1! That was pretty cool :-). Plus, we have grown consistently 30+% per year, which is quite impressive. 

Anya: What would be your advice to new companies who are trying to grow?

Marloes: Slow is actually fast. Set goals, know your key metrics, and keep an eye on them. Outsource or hire for the jobs/tasks you're not good at. Even though it's scary, and you might think you can't afford it, you can, and it will free up other resources to make more money. 

Last but not least, know the flow of your business. For example, my business has a monthly, quarterly, yearly, and 4-5 year cycle. Every 4-5 years, I have a "down" year, on purpose to breathe and reflect on everything achieved and learned so that we can march forward again for the next couple of years, a bit smarter 🙂

Anya: How do you market yourself now?

Marloes: I didn't invest in Marketing much for the first five years - everything happened via word of mouth, and my website had a great impact. It was done really well right from the start, and that helped. Another thing that helped me was doing lots of networking. I am working with a marketing company, making my marketing more consistent. I trust them fully, and they are doing a great job! I am also creating new products to meet my clients' needs better. It's pretty exciting! 

Anya: What made you turn to Anya Chibis for your business photography needs?

Marloes: Her sales line: "I don't do headshots." Everyone knows it's weird to have your picture taken, but when you're in business, you need to show your face. Most photographers offer a 15 min headshot where Anya takes the time to get to know you and understand what you want from the pictures. She really takes the time, which you can see in the end results. 

Anya: What was your photo/video shoot experience like? 

Marloes: As I mentioned, Anya takes the time to get to know you. We met twice online before we met in person. Once for an introduction and the second time to discuss the clothes I wanted to wear. It all felt very well organized and easy. Anya knows what she's doing and makes you feel comfortable and confident. And it shows in the photos. With my hair and makeup done the way we discussed and the clothes, I felt good in, having the photos done was a piece of cake! Seriously, I had a lot of fun doing it. I truly felt like a model for a day!  

Anya: How will you use visual assets produced by Anya Chibis in your business marketing? 

Marloes: I will use them in many ways. For my website, profile pictures, social media posts, etc. My marketing team was so excited when I showed them. And I am planning to work more with Anya, as it was such a pleasant experience! 

Anya: How do you balance work and life? What do you do to recharge and rest?

Marloes: Oh, I do so many things. I have two dogs that I walk a lot every day. That is my daily break away from screens. My husband and I like to bike, ski, hike, camp, and travel as much as possible. We are so fortunate to have all this at our fingertips living in Golden, BC, but we also love traveling overseas. We have family in the Netherlands and Australia, so we frequently visit these places but also try to sneak in some new places now and then.  

Anya: What drives you to keep going and growing? 

Marloes: I love growing and learning new things. I am a very curious person, and I love getting to know new people and helping them. Bookkeepers are usually quite introverted, but I'm a bit of an oddball as I like meeting people and learning the story behind the numbers. That is really the fun part!