Hera Hub is excited to share Startup Stories from our members. We periodically interview incredible business women from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to share our members’ wonderful stories with the public.
Carla Murillo is the founder of DeMur Consulting, offering bookkeeping and accounting services as well as business consulting to business owners. She offers her services remotely making them easily accessible to everyone. She works primarily with self-employed individuals and has worked on single projects either setting up QuickBooks or cleaning up past data. In the future, she plans on offering income tax preparation services.
Carla Murillo has been a member of Hera Hub Mission Valley location for three months.
What was the inspiration behind your business?
I have always loved accounting and although I loved my previous job, I always missed working with numbers. I took a year off and when it was time for me to go back to work and considered my options, doing what I love and doing it on my own was the best one! I have a three-year-old son and I love spending time with him. Working on my own allows me the flexibility to pick him up from school and attend everything related to him without feeling guilty about leaving work.
Who are your clients and what do you do for them?
My clients are business owners who want to have an accountant but not necessarily in their office. I offer bookkeeping and accounting services and also business consulting. My mission is to bring order to chaos from our first interaction. I offer them peace of mind knowing I am balancing their bank accounts and keeping an eye on their financial statements. I also provide them with suggestions on how to streamline their processes and help them find areas of opportunity for growth and/or more profit.
What are your business’ values? How do they align with your personal values?
My business values are the same as my personal values. I provide the best customer service, so it feels like I am part of their family. I am honest and I know they can trust I will have their best interest at heart. I can have a difficult conversation when it comes to financials but I will do it with all the respect and love a person deserves. I am always looking for ways to improve and learn; this allows me to provide a lot more value to my clients and to my family.
How/Why did you choose your business name?
Murillo is my maiden name and I wanted to use a variation of it. “De” means “of”, so it means “Consulting of Murillo”
What do you love most about your work?
What I love most about my work is the feeling I get when a client sees the value of keeping good accounting records. It might sound silly but to me, knowing the financial health of your business is one of the most important aspects of it. I love that we have advanced so far that I can offer my services remotely. I love the flexibility I have to work on my own terms. And, I love the feeling every night that I cannot wait until the next morning to continue investing in my own business!
What is the biggest challenge in running your own business?
My biggest challenge has been pacing myself and understanding that I cannot do it all at the same time. I need to balance my personal and professional life and the day doesn’t have enough hours to do everything I want to do. Another challenge has been putting myself out there. I was not used to talking about myself or to ask for business; after a couple of months doing it, I find it fun; still uncomfortable, but fun!
What are your/your business’ goals for the future?
One of my goals is to find the right clients, not just any clients. I also want to grow, in the near future, enough to have to hire an employee. In the long run, I want to operate mostly by referrals from happy clients.
What advice would you give to a new entrepreneur?
When I decided to start my own business I thought I needed to have everything in place before I could actually start working. Looking back I think it was my own fear that kept me from launching sooner. So, my advice to you is don’t over plan, jump into it, find someone to mentor and guide you, we have a lot of resources at our disposal and you will always find people to cheer you on; especially at Hera Hub!