Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Rimmer.
Hi Claire, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have always wanted to own my own business, but I wasn’t sure what kind of business I could open. The idea of working for myself seemed awesome, but scary to the point of not considering it. When I was young and considered my career path, I wanted something where my income was steady. I was great at math and science and I loved to see how things worked. Problem-solving was one of my strengths, and I have always been very detail-oriented…so, I decided to go into engineering. I got my Bachelor’s degree and went to work!
Once my kids came along, I wanted to be more available on their schedule. I had done some volunteer work in schools, and I loved working with kids….so, back to school. I got my Master’s degree and went to work! As a math teacher, problem-solving and attending to details were still very important skills, but it afforded me the opportunity to develop better people skills and to see things from different perspectives. I learned how to make numbers and data more accessible to people of all different skill-levels and backgrounds.
Then, with a new phase of life came new opportunities. My colleague, who was moving away from teaching, invited me to come work with her as a bookkeeper. So, I studied up and went to work! I came across a course, outside of my job, that would teach me how to be a better bookkeeper and gave me the idea of starting my own business. Owning my own bookkeeping business really combines everything my career had been about so far… problem solving, attending to details, people skills, and making data accessible to others. Plus, I could work for myself from home and set my own hours. With life more settled and secure than just after my college years, I felt more confident about making the leap.
My husband (and number one cheerleader) listened and said, “I hear you saying your heart wants to do this, and I think you should follow your heart.” So, I took a deep breath and went for it! The name “Ox Boox” stems from my maiden name. I am one of two sisters. Neither of us kept our maiden name when we married, so the business is a way to keep that family name going. That is how Ox Boox was born!
From there, I leaned into the “ox” theme, designed a logo, got a website, and registered my business. That part made it feel very official! Then, I started questioning everyone I knew who was a small business owner. “Is this crazy?” “How did you start?” My friends pointed me to a few resources. I figured out what a business plan was and ran the numbers to see if this was do-able. Before long, one of those friends took a chance with me by hiring Ox Boox for their bookkeeping. My first client! Ox Boox was up and running!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Owning my own business has been a fairly smooth road, I’m happy to report! That’s not to say that there have not been challenges along the way, but that’s the life of a business owner. You solve each problem, but none of them will ever be the last. SCORE is a great organization that offers support and mentors, so check them out. Two big challenges come to mind. First, I am very introverted. Boisterous bookkeepers are few and far between! The idea of making sales pitches to strangers is something akin to getting called into the principal’s office. My stomach drops at the idea. But along the way, I’ve learned to be brave and to find my own style. I will never be a smooth-talker, so I don’t try to be. I’ll never be the one to sell a ketchup popsicle to someone in white gloves. I’d be like, “Nope, you don’t need one. That’s a terrible idea.” Instead, I talk about what I know, try to offer value to people, and promise only what I can deliver. The second struggle has been regulating my growth. That has gone well, but it’s a challenge. I didn’t want to grow too fast, because that goes back to promising only what I can deliver. There is a tipping point where I want to keep growing, but I need help in order to support my clients. That’s intimidating, but it’s also just the next problem to solve.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Ox Boox is a small bookkeeping firm specializing in services for breweries. That’s not to say we don’t take on clients outside the brewing industry. We also have clients in retail, restaurants, marketing, construction, and real estate, When I started, people told me I should find a niche. So, I thought, well I want to work with people that are interesting and passionate. I want to find clients who are big enough to need help with bookkeeping but I want to help small businesses. Also, having meetings at breweries would be dope! So, I chose to niche in breweries. I got involved with the NC Craft Brewer’s Guild where I have learned a ton about the industry while meeting a lot of cool people. Brewing is an art and a science and the owners are passionate about their craft. Breweries are part manufacturing, part hospitality, part retail, so it keeps it interesting! Ox Boox offers bookkeeping, payroll, sales and excise tax services, but I think what clients value most about our services is personal attention, detail and timeliness. We are like a financial side-kick for business owners, because we’re focused on giving clients data that they can use to make business decisions. We listen to our clients’ wishes and help them wherever we can. Sometimes that means gathering extra data, developing key performance indicators (KPIs), or letting them know when certain expenses have been trending upward. It makes my day when a client says something like, “that’s just what I was looking for!” I love our clients. They are creative, driven, and just all-around fun people to be around.
What does success mean to you?
I suppose success is when you do something right, so who decides what’s right? The times I’ve felt most successful are the times when I’ve set my own goals and met them, especially when those goals mean overcoming really tough challenges. It feels good to work hard at something and see progress. For me, successes have included learning to cook in such a way that people eat the food and come back again, navigating a cross-country road trip and back, and finding bravery to do tough things. Starting this business was brave and has been challenging. At the beginning, I did a vision exercise where I wrote a letter to myself one year ahead of time. One year later, I was proud to see that I had met those goals and exceeded some. This business didn’t exist before, and now it is providing people with a service they value. That makes me smile. It feels like success. So, now we set new goals and keep going!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oxboox.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oxboox23
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oxboox23
