Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Jorgensen.
Leslie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I founded Supporting Strategies in 2004 with the vision of becoming the go-to resource for outsourced bookkeeping and operational support services. Over time, I began to add employees to serve the company’s expanding client roster. By offering bookkeeping and accounting professionals the chance to work on a part-time basis from home, I was able to build a strong, experienced, professional team — one that could meet the same exceptionally high standards for customer service that I had met on my own.
With our Boston-based office flourishing, we decided to pursue a franchising model for our bookkeeping services. Being a part of the local business community has always been an important part of my business and so I felt franchising was the best way to continue this model. Each franchise owner is an active member of their local business community. We sold our first franchise in 2013. Since then, we’ve added more franchisees who share our entrepreneurial spirit and passion for helping small and medium-sized businesses to succeed. Today, we have over 60 franchises throughout the United States.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There are always challenges when you are growing a business. The technology available for bookkeeping has changed dramatically since we started in 2004. We’ve made a strong commitment to stay on top of the best available technology solutions to use for our clients which are now largely cloud-based. While this can be challenging, it’s an important part of the value we provide.
As we grew into a franchise organization there were other challenges we encountered in scaling the business. Locking in on our key differentiators, people, process and technology, has helped our growth become scalable.
Supporting Strategies – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Supporting Strategies offers outsourced bookkeeping services and other back-office support to small, growing businesses. Our locally owned and operated offices provide a seamless integration of people, process and technology that sets us apart from other bookkeeping solutions — and gives our clients peace of mind.
People
Our team members have an average of 10 years of accounting/bookkeeping experience and a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related discipline. Many hold advanced degrees and CPA designations. Since each is an experienced, trained expert, you can rest assured that your finances are in the hands of professionals who know how to solve your specific needs.
Every Supporting Strategies client is assigned a dedicated team consisting of a Financial Operations Manager and at least one Financial Operations Associate. Financial Operations Associates are part of an Operations Team, allowing for cross-training and distributed workload coverage. This team approach gives us the capacity to scale to keep up with the demands of growing businesses.
Process
We start with efficient, standardized processes that we can customize to fit your company’s unique needs. In addition, our team-based workflow model means checks and balances are always in place, minimizing the likelihood of errors.
Technology
We collaborate with your team using highly secure, best-of-breed cloud accounting tools. WorkPlace™, our proprietary workflow management system, standardizes and automates our processes to maximize efficiency of service delivery. Meanwhile, we continuously vet and implement the latest third-party solutions for managing the general ledger, payables and receivables transaction processing, document management, financial reporting and more.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Essential Qualities
Our company core values really guide our work and everything we do:
• Make Excellence Happen: In our commitment to excellence, we consistently deliver a high-value service to growing businesses. We carefully select bookkeeping and operational support professionals who have deep practical experience and are highly qualified. We adhere to processes that ensure accurate deliverables provided in a timely manner. And we customize our tools and services to meet the unique needs of clients.
• Take Ownership: We work with each client like we’re a member of their team. We care about our role within their organization as much as we care about our own roles at Supporting Strategies. From solving operational challenges to responding to ad hoc requests, we’re dedicated to doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
• Help Our Communities Succeed: We collaborate internally to help each other solve the needs of all Supporting Strategies clients and to help everyone in the Supporting Strategies community to thrive. And we foster the success of our local business communities by building relationships and developing local partnerships through events such as our Business Fundamentals Bootcamps.
Contact Info:
- Address: Our Massachusetts locations include Rt. 128, Boston, Merrimack Valley, Metrowest, North Shore, South Shore, and Southeastern Mass Cape & Islands.
- Website: www.supportingstrategies.com
- Phone: 888-631-8922
- Email: info@supportingstrategies.com
Image Credit:
Supporting Strategies
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