Keep Moving Forward: Five Years of Entrepreneurship, The SBS Way

(Karolyn’s Version)

Keep moving forward That's always been my motto

I’ve always known who I am. I’ve always been passionate about service and anchored in my work ethic. When I went to school, it wasn’t because I was lost, it was because I wanted to build something meaningful for my family, and I knew education would sharpen whatever that ended up being.

I enrolled in an associate’s program with a business administration major. Financial accounting was required. And I remember sitting there thinking, wait… this makes sense.

Not just I can do this but I see this.

It wasn’t about numbers for the sake of numbers. It was about patterns. It was about organizing information in a way that told the story of a small business.

There was something deeply satisfying about that. I found myself wanting to understand why the numbers behaved the way they did. Why decisions showed up on financial statements the way they did. I want to become a fluent financial storyteller.

What started as a required class became the compass

I changed my major from business administration to accounting. I earned my QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification.

While finishing my bachelor’s degree in accounting and working inside an accounting firm, another realization settled in.

I wasn’t just good at the technical side. I was good with people.

Clients trusted me. Coworkers relied on me. I could take complicated financial concepts and explain them in a way that felt accessible.

I began to understand that my value wasn’t just in clean books. I had my own story to tell.

I had always known I wanted to build something of my own.

Living in St. Petersburg, Florida at the time made that feel tangible.

It was an epicenter of smaller, creative, trendy businesses, many owned by younger founders who were simply deciding to go for it.

There was this quiet energy of, why not me?

Before accounting, my world was hospitality.

I worked at Disney, Universal, Marriott, environments where service isn’t optional. It’s the standard. You anticipate needs. You stay calm when things go sideways. You solve problems without making the guest feel the tension behind the scenes.

That mindset shaped me more than I realized at the time.

When accounting clicked, I didn’t leave that behind. I carried it with me.

Starting Stillwater Business Solutions wasn’t some dramatic leap. It was more of a steady build. I began taking on clients while still working full-time, finishing my degree, and at the time being a single parent.

Nights.

Weekends.

Learning in real time.

Saying yes to opportunities that stretched me.

Building processes as I went because I didn’t have the luxury of inefficiency.

Not your average entrepreneur Not your 2000-Era accounting firm

As SBS started to grow, I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t want to build an accounting firm that operated the same way firms did twenty years ago.

Business owners were moving faster, why were their financial systems stuck in 2000?

It became clear:

When documents flow through secure portals instead of long email chains…

When bookkeeping platforms integrate instead of requiring duplicate entry…

When workflows are automated and deadlines are tracked systematically…

When I wasn't spending our energy on administrative friction.

I could spend time with the clients.

My goal was never to replace the relationship with software. It was the opposite.

If the repetitive pieces are streamlined, I'd have more time to talk about cash flow.

About margin.

About hiring decisions.

About the real things keeping business owners up at night.

Building it together

For a long time, SBS was mine.

Bryan and I actually met at the accounting firm where I was working while finishing my degree. We were both deep in client work, tax seasons, deadlines, that kind of environment where you really see how someone operates under pressure. Bryan was already an Enrolled Agent, strong in tax, incredibly tech-savvy, and wired to see systems in a way that complemented how I think.

We began dating, and in a way, life fast-tracked from there.

Sometimes growth makes you uncomfortable.

Sometimes it makes other people uncomfortable.

And sometimes the door closes faster, and harder than you expected.

Going out on our own wasn’t simple, and it wasn’t without cost.

But it was necessary.

There are moments in entrepreneurship where you realize you can either shrink to fit the room you’re in… or you can keep building.

That season tested us. It stretched us financially, emotionally, professionally. It forced us to define what integrity meant to us. It forced us to get clear about the kind of firm we wanted to create not just in services, but in culture.

It deepened our tax expertise. It strengthened our systems. It made advisory more layered and integrated. Clients weren’t just getting bookkeeping, they were getting aligned financial oversight and tax strategy under one roof. And on a personal level, building a business with your spouse requires a different kind of trust. Clear communication. Defined lanes. A lot of grace during busy seasons.

But it also means the vision is shared at every level.

That season tested us. It stretched us financially, emotionally, professionally. It forced us to define what integrity meant to us. It forced us to get clear about the kind of firm we wanted to create not just in services, but in culture.

And when you build something after pressure like that, the foundation is undeniable.

Brick by brick

Five years later, SBS looks very different than it did in those early nights and weekends.

The business now supports our family entirely.

What started as something I was building on the side became the thing.

The foundation.

The income.

The structure that holds up our home and our life.

We made the move to Stillwater, Minnesota, back to seasons, back to the kind of pace that feels intentional. I’m writing this from a house that, if I’m honest, feels like a dream.

And there’s a deep sense of gratitude in that.

But there’s also something people don’t talk about enough.

When you own the business, you own all of it.

The flexibility people admire? It’s real. I can adjust my schedule. I can be present for school events. I can build a calendar that works for our family.

But flexibility doesn’t mean less responsibility. It means ultimate responsibility.

There’s no clocking out. There’s no passing it up the ladder. The weight, payroll, client outcomes, strategic decisions, the health of the business lives with us. Bryan and I built something that gives us freedom, and in exchange, we accept that it rests on our shoulders.

And that’s exactly why we’re uniquely positioned to support the businesses we work with.

Because we’re not advising from theory.

We’re living it.

We understand the pressure of growth decisions. The tension between reinvesting in the business and protecting your family. The mental load that doesn’t shut off at 5:00 p.m.

We know what it means to care deeply about the people who depend on you,

Our employees, clients, our kids.

We’re not outside observers of small business ownership. We are it.

A Message to my year-one self

If I could sit across from year one Karolyn, the one juggling a full-time job, school, a kid, and a handful of clients on the side, I wouldn’t give her a five-year plan.

I wouldn’t hand her a roadmap.

I’d just tell her this:

Keep moving forward.

Not because it will be easy. It won’t be.

Not because you’ll always feel confident. You won’t.

There will be seasons that stretch you financially.

Moments that test your integrity.

Decisions that feel heavier than you expected.

There will be days you wonder if you’re building something sustainable or just surviving the week.

You’ll learn how to build systems instead of relying on memory.

You’ll learn that relationships matter more than rapid growth.

You’ll learn that flexibility and responsibility live in the same house.

You’re going to watch businesses take off in ways that inspire you. You’ll see founders grow faster than they thought possible. You’ll watch their financial literacy strengthen, and their confidence expand. But you’ll also watch businesses struggle. Some will close. Some will pivot. Some will realize they grew too fast or borrowed too much or didn’t understand their numbers soon enough. And those clients will shape you just as much. You’ll learn that success isn’t the only story worth showing up for. The ones who who need clarity in the middle of uncertainty, they’ll need you too. And you’ll become someone they can count on.

Eventually, you’ll look around at the life and the business you built, and you’ll realize it didn’t happen by accident. It happened because you didn’t quit when it got uncomfortable.

So just keep moving forward,

Karolyn LaLonde

Found, Stillwater Business Solutions

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Stillwater Business Solutions is run by Karolyn and Bryan, a tech-savvy and community-focused team who believe bookkeeping should feel collaborative and empowering—not confusing. Whether you're looking to simplify your systems or get support you can trust, we're here when you're ready. No pressure. Just people-first accounting that fits your business.