Mike McDerment didn’t know much about accounting – the nitty-gritty stuff, at least – when he started FreshBooks out of his parents’ basement.
He feels that his “inexperience” was an asset as he grew the business. It also inspired his strong views about how professional service providers should be billing for their work.
Too many, says Mike, take an approach that leaves clients unhappy and the provider losing money. He has come up with a simple – yet controversial – alternative.
We also talk about a resource he leaned on heavily when obstacles popped up as he grew his business, as well as…
- Why billing hours can kill your business
- The unexpected danger of having one big client (especially if they’re really big)
- How to get paid the same for doing less work
- Why expertise can sometimes sabotage your problem solving
- And more…
Episode Timeline:
00:11 Today Steve speaks with Mike McDerment, co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks, the #1 could-based accounting software in the world for self-employed professionals.
01:26 Mike tells us how he went from building websites to marketing, to conversion consulting to FreshBooks.
04:30 Mike tells us about how he faced almost every challenge to be had in business!
06:41 Mike reveals that if he had had an accounting background then FreshBooks would not be the success it would be today.
10:24 A part of Mike’s success is knowing what he didn’t know and then asking for help.
18:58 Mike tells us about value based billing and gives us a short book to read.
24:30 Mike tells us how to move from hourly to value based billing.
27:12 Mike explains how if your losing money having moved to value based billing, you’re probably billing to low.
30:20 Mike explains how you become more selective in your clientele after moving to value based billing.
32:55 Mike tells us why you should use FreshBooks and how best to get in contact with him.
