Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Banks.
Dana, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hello All thanks for being here and taking the time to learn about our business solutions company. I’ve never been a huge fan of talking about myself, so I will do the best I can to let you know my life path that lead me to creating Bello Business Solutions. I’ve been doing taxes & bookkeeping since I was 16 years old. At that time, my mom paid me with pizza and rental movie promises. Like most young people growing up, it was my goal to not follow in my mothers personal career aspirations, but after trying many other types of industries (such as: teaching at-risk youth, preschool, managing a corporate tax business) and some other along the way. I again found my true passion in the same place my family found theirs (numbers, haha). Through all this, I found that accounting make me truly happy. It fulfills the LOVE for math that I have. By nature, I am a curious person, so what better problem to solve daily than a real-life math problem to help clients like you!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
100% No! Everyday that someone starts their own business you will find many, many struggles. I literallly started my business the year that Covid was ending. There were new IRS tax laws rolling out & having to be implemented each & every day. Finding diligent, caring & dedicated work force has been an going struggle since my first hire just one year in. We started out doing just tax filing, but then we added bookkeeping services, then we expanded again and added payroll services. You can imagine each of these comes with its own system or many systems. Of course all of these systems come with a cost. Then you have to expand staff. Guess what staff has to be paid lol. We work on an invoicing system and sometimes it takes a client a day or two to pay their bill, but guess what all these things including employees have to be paid. So that is an ongoing struggle as I continue to expand and grow. Management of people is hard for me to be honest. I like someone that I can just give a task or job duty, explain the job duty and they accomplish it. I’m not one to be micromanaged, and I don’t like to micro manage. So in a nutshell you have: cost vs profit, staffing & navigation of multiple software programs.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love taxes all day & everyday! Most people would never ever say this lol. But to me taxes are a puzzle. We need to figure out the pieces that helps each of my clients pay the IRS the least amount of taxes possible. Of course we have dedicated staff that work on the other pieces of the puzzle that helps make my job easier, i.e. bookkeeping & payroll. I can’t pinpoint one thing I’m most proud of but if I had to guess I’d say I’ve saved my clients over all within the past 10 years over a million dollars in tax liability. The way that I do that is I ask questions. I tell them when I”m doing their return like okay we are going to play 20 questions and telll them why I want the answers as it can save them $. What sets me apart is I’m not your typical “numbers” person. When you walk into my office you are instantly met with color, energy & as we say good vibes. We have an inviting environment for clients to visit so that at least they can be comfortable, because taxes are no fun for anyone but me.
Any big plans?
I have lots of plans for the future! I’ve thought about a second location probably more towards Maryville & that area. I also have considered launching a mobile tax preparation service. Think Geek Squad, but for tax preparation & strategy. Lastly I will soon be launching a podcast where I will talk about the various tips & tricks to help reduce tax liability, proper strategies to put into place, when to put them into place & more
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bellobusinesssolutions.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BellosBusinessSolutions
