Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Desiree Parker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Desiree , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

My journey actually began over 20 years ago. I did not know it at the time. I just realized it about 3 years ago. Back in 1998, my father and his friend came to me with a business venture. At that time, I was attending Canisius College full-time, and my daughter, NaTania B Parker, was two years old. At the age of 21, I became the youngest, African-American, Female Franchise Owner in North America for Subway Sandwich Shops. I never really boast about this title because that was all it was, a title. It took my father and his friend and their resources that they use to push me forward; as well as a lot of hard work. I learned many things through trial and error. As I look back, I would have loved to have had some of the services offered to me at the level of affordability as I offer to small businesses now. The development of where I started is how I got to where I am today. My father has encouraged me for over 10 years to look into doing the bookkeeping aspect of what I do now. Many that knew me back in my college days, know that I was not one who favored the accounting industry. I honestly did not want to have anything to do with it. While I had my own business, I felt it important to at least take the accounting courses and understand those numbers. Fast forward till about five years ago, I began working more with numbers and found a passion and fascination with them. I have worked in different accounting, offices and tax offices to bring my love to know what that bottom line number is. As a world, we went through the pandemic together. Many things had occurred in my life that put me in a frame of mind of “what’s next”. Once you your own business, and have done so much at such a young age, and you get older, that’s the first question that I had, for myself, “what’s next”. At that point, I had raised my beautiful talented daughter and she had moved on to NYC to develop her dream career. My daughter had also encouraged me to start this new business venture. She actually named my business. My original studies in school was around hospitality management, from which I was furloughed through the pandemic. My goal changed during that time which was to help small businesses and offer my knowledge and experience. While we are all home trying to figure out “what’s next”, I decided to develop DLP Consulting WNY. I decided it was as best time as any to go ahead and start my own business while stuck inside anyway. I started out with offering bookkeeping services and business consultation to assist businesses in getting started. I had actually owned my own business, managed multiple store locations and businesses. I currently work in accounting office as well. I use my education and past experience as well as continuous education and life experiences to advise others to push forward on their next step. When I began DLP Consulting, I started with four services. Business consultation. & coaching, Bookkeeping, Notary Services, and Employee Relations. As I worked with more clients in consultations, my clients were asking was I able to do additional services because of the information we discussed in their one on one consultation sessions. That then grew my services to include Tax Preparation, LLC formations, Human Resources, Budgeting (business and personal) and Payroll services. The combination of already having my own business, and having many positions of management throughout the years of my career, I was confident in my knowledge to work with others. Again, as I said, if I had this kind of assistance when I own my subway restaurant I probably would’ve saved myself quite a bit of money.

Desiree , 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?

My name is Desiree L Parker. I am honest, open, patient, understanding, and encouraging When I have a consultation, it is set up so that the client reviews their goals and options as they see it. I give my thoughts and information learned. Then it opens the 2 way conversation and develop next steps. Many times when start ups are developing, they are seeking the way to start and encouragement. I like to think that there is no bad ideas. When you have a dream, it is your dream and you should go after it. Often times, I use the example of my daughter, in her junior year of high school, she came to me and asked me what did I want her to do for her career choice. I told her that she needs to do what would make her happy. I firmly believe that if you are doing what makes you happy, the money will come later. If you are miserable in your choice career, it is not going to be enough money they could pay you to sustain it long-term. I like to coach my clients and give them the advice to move forward on their dreams and goals. I have heard many different types of start ups that I would never have thought of, but makes sense. In today’s society, the consumer will pay for almost anything if they don’t have to do it themselves. So while many clients come with different ideas that seem like it’s off the wall to the average person, I encourage them to narrow down and get the core of what they want to move forward with. I also pride myself in letting the start up know that it will not be easy. I give the pros and cons and not to sugarcoat things. I want the client understanding to be that running your own business is a lot of hard work, but it is well worth it. This is where that client makes up their mind if that is something they want to move forward with. Some just want to run ideas through someone who has been there before and receive feedback. There are many companies out there that does the same thing I do. However, I do not feel that I am in competition with anyone or company. I feel, I exist in a world where there is plenty of business for everyone to go around. I give my clients the option to work with me after their consultation service or they are free to work with whoever they feel more comfortable with. This honesty and transparency brings them back to me to start their LLC formation or continue with business coaching or any of my other offered services. This industry is important to businesses, especially small businesses because you need someone in your corner to give you that extra encouragement. I have been in business for over two years and my brand recognition and logo is starting to become known. It brings me joy when I see my clients doing well, whether they started with a consultation and still work with me or even if they just needed a consultation to get them started or refreshed and no longer work with me. I am happy for all clients the same. I have had my time of owning my business in a restaurant and running around working countless hours . Now I feel more of a help to teach people what I have learned in the past. I like to think that my services help others to become their own greatness.

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

I had to pivot my career during the pandemic of 2020. My passion was in the hospitality management industry. Unfortunately, when the pandemic hit that pretty much killed the travel and tourism industry. Unfortunately, my passion for the industry dissolved very quickly. In the industry of hospitality, I also worked within the accounting office, so it gave me another thing to look at moving forward. Looking back, I actually change my career a few times going through restaurants and banking and finance. But this was a big unexpected one. Switching to accounting and moving into bookkeeping made the most sense to me. The change and pivot in my career was almost mandatory once everybody was shut in and looking for next steps. Although I moved into my business office, I did many appointments via zoom starting out. The world have been through so many things in the past three years that I have never experienced in my lifetime but was very eye opening. I decided I needed to create my own happiness. My daughter reminded me that I taught her to do what makes you happy. We generally raise our children and teach them while preparing them for their future. When they use it back on us, it makes us take that step back and think about it. Yes my daughter made me think about the words and the teaching that I raised her with. That actually warmed my heart that she was paying attention growing up as well as current to new ventures.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

For the past two years, I have grown my clientele through word of mouth. I started out using word of mouth, because that is something that can make her break your business. I work with my clients on a personal level to gain their trust in what I do, and to help move them along. This gives me many loyal clients that will refer me to whoever they can that is looking for my services. My honesty, integrity and confidentiality is what drives my business to bring in new clients. I use print media in community newspapers and participate in small business events and ads. I also use my Website, Facebook and Instagram platforms to advertise. This has all helped to grow my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dlpconsultingwny.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dlp_consultingwny/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dlpconsultingwny/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-parker-a1856123/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DLPConsultingNY

Image Credits
Photos: Mayfield Media