We recently connected with Cidnii Woods and have shared our conversation below.

Cidnii, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

One of my top service offerings is tax preparation and the biggest compliment I get is that I don’t treat my clients as a number. I take the time to get to know my clients as individuals, families, and businesses. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that people are looking to be heard. They work with me not only because they don’t want to do the work themselves but sometimes don’t feel confident in doing the work. I make sure that I ask the necessary questions and give the client the guidance they were looking for. As I’m doing the work, I will touch base with them periodically to discuss the nuances that can make tax work complex. I pride myself in making a difference in a family’s life by simply asking questions they may not have considered over the course of our time together. I find that is the biggest frustration that client’s bring. The company they are working with will gather their information, produces a product, but never has a conversation or is available for questions when there is a lack of understanding. This is what sets me apart. I am here long after tax season is done.

Cidnii, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Cidnii Woods, the owner of Woods Financial Services. I have been in the accounting industry for over 20 years and have gained a wealth of knowledge along the way. I got my start in accounting as a teenager helping in the family business as it moved from manual tax preparation to computerized preparation. It was my job to figure out how to get the information on the paper into the computer creating the same results. From there, I was allowed to do smaller returns and soon asked how I could learn more. After taking accounting in high school, I decided to pursue a degree in the field. Once I graduated, I started out in corporate tax and eventually navigated over to the accounting side with my first job at a CPA firm. What’s interesting is during this interview I was asked where I saw myself in the next 10 years. My answer was helping small businesses to run successful businesses.

Working in the entertainment space made accounting a bit more fun and allowed me to learn how it impacted real people. It gave me a lot of experience in the day to day business operations from the financial perspective. I enjoyed this so much and would consider this one of my greatest learning opportunities. As I transitioned out of the CPA environment, many in the accounting industry considered me a Jane of all trades but I feel my experience allows me to help businesses in any capacity in which they need support.

So today, I help small to mid-size businesses to run successful businesses. I guess you can say I’ve come full circle. With transparency being one of my core values, business owners can guarantee that we will navigate the tough conversations with grace to get to the source of the problem. I also help them with the education necessary to make sure all of their processes are aligned to gain maximum results. I want to help you to overcome your financial challenges. It won’t be easy but we can do it together.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I know this is a common response but 2020 was the biggest pivot for me. So much so that I made that my word of the year. I knew for years that I was called to do something different and refused to take the leap. The belief that I needed employment was engrained in my belief system. I was building my business and hadn’t yet found that thing to propel it forward. At the same time, I was comfortable knowing that I had a guaranteed pay check. Even though I was slowly getting pushed out of the field with constant layoffs, downsizes, and just the frustration of always starting over, I wasn’t sold that doing my own thing was a better way. Well, the pandemic changed that! After being laid off one more time with nothing available for months, I decided that this was it! I was not going down this road again. I put my big girl pants on, invested in a program with Grant Cardone to help me learn those things in business that I felt was holding me back, and put my head down to figure things out. It definitely wasn’t a bed of roses and still isn’t but I’ve learned so much and it’s helping me to build the business that I was destined to build. Things are looking up but there is still so much to be done.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Referrals still are the best source of clients for me. As much as I nurture the pipeline to fill it with new leads, my referral source is where I continue to get most of my business. With both of my businesses, I give it my all to make sure that my clients are taken care of. I do everything I can to make sure they have what they need from me. I’m just grateful that they trust me enough to send their friends, family, and colleagues to me so I can be of service. I started to tear up as I was saying this. Without my clients, I would have no business so I value every one of them and appreciate them as much as they do me.

Contact Info:

• Website: cidnii.com
• Instagram: instragram.com/mscwoods
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cidnii/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/woodsfinancialservices/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/misscidnii
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXDeWpDFkho5slvJAvqdSQ
• Other: linktree.com/cidnii