Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Aleisha Beckum, Founder of uProfyt, located in Sacramento, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

uProfyt is a consulting firm that provides profitable accounting, grants management, and employee retention credit services by managing over $27.7B of our taxpayer dollars for various state/local government entities, nonprofits, tribes, universities, hospitals, and for-profit companies across the US. We also go into these organizations and recover hundreds of millions of dollars left on the table every year and bring those funds back into the organization so that they can further make the critical impacts needed for their communities.

Tell us about yourself

My background was a previous Auditor for the State of California, where I audited cities and counties throughout the state for compliance with federal regulations. Through my efforts, I realized that there was a significant need for organizations to be proactive so that they can successfully pass audits that represent our taxpayer dollars which led me to create my consulting firm where we provide the services that I previously audited. This experience allows me to have a full lifecycle scope of what is really needed for our state/local government, nonprofits, tribes, etc., to really prosper and truly help our communities the way it is intended. This is what truly motivates me is the idea that with each entity I work with, I can help shape the communities they serve with the intent that our taxpayer dollars are being leveraged more appropriately and are not being wasted. My goal is to reshape our entire country for the better so that we can prosper for generations to come.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment would be working with one of the largest counties in California and finding over $120M in grant funding left on the table for just one department and bringing that back into the organization. We also built out an entire compliance program for the CA Governor's Office to manage over $180M in State Fiscal Recovery Funds.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

One of the hardest things when it comes to being a business owner is realizing that your ideas may not come to fruition as quickly as you'd like. As a visionary and someone who sees things so easily and how we can fix our country as a whole from a financial perspective, it will take a significant amount of time for it actually to happen. This includes gathering enough believers and advocates for the cause for there to be significant change and impact on our country.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Test your idea/concept in the market first to ensure there is a need and a want - you can enter the market too soon when people are not ready for your product or service.
  2. To accomplish #1 above, market market market your product or services - marketing is the #1 priority - money flows to attention, and the more attention you get, the more people who know of you and the more money that can flow to you - which will attract potential investors, partners, collaborators, etc.
  3. Always be selling - you are selling yourself every single day; whether it be selling your partner to go to dinner at a place you want rather than the place they want to go or convincing your child to brush their teeth, you are always selling yourself so understanding the tactics and techniques to sell yourself effectively, your product/service is critical to being successful as a business owner.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.uprofyt.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckumaleisha
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleishabeckum/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AleishaBeckum
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleishabeckum/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.