Meet Elizabeth Ortiz | Co-Founder & President

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Ortiz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

My co-founder and I worked together at the same organization for seven years before starting our business. We worked well together creating systems, workflows and managing the financials & identifying areas that could be improved. After reaching not feeling fulfilled and looking to try something new, we started discussing about ways we could put our skills to good use.

Our immediate focus was the impact we could make with small to mid-size business owners looking to build efficiencies and improve profitability and unable to afford full time accounting team or CFO and so KEM Business Solutions, Inc. was born. The focus was and continues to be ensuring the data is accurate & consistent, interpreting the financials and then making intentional changes, specific to your business, that impact the bottom line. It is incredibly rewarding to see our clients thrive.

What should our readers know about your business?

The idea of starting something out of nothing is both exciting & scary. When KEM was launched I didn’t have a “back up” plan in case it didn’t work out. For six months, I worked my “real” job and worked behind the scenes to get a logo, get business cards, set-up a bank account, set-up Office 365 etc. We started the business with $1,000 and knew a lot about what we the solution we were providing (accounting, interpreting financials and workflows) but also discovered very fast our weaknesses. For example, I wish I had known then that a logo was not a brand. We worked with an agency and had to use 50% of our initial investment for a logo. It sounds funny now to make a big deal over $500 but back then it was painful to have to use such a huge chunk of our capital.

Nine years later and a lot of fumbling and paying way more than $500 I met some people (at a SOWBO event) that instantly became my people. They helped me understand what made up a brand, why all the elements were important, why copy was important and worked with me to revamp all of it. I’m not lying when I tell you how intense it is to rebrand, review copy, launch a new website, and launch the subsequent email marketing strategy. I had an original timeline of 3 months and in reality it took me 8 months! There were so many details I hadn’t thought of. I developed a new appreciation for those in the creative space because it was hard for me to articulate my thoughts and the team was so patient and brought to live a brand that was more vibrant than I imagined. So don’t sleep on a comprehensive brand & marketing strategy, I would have to say that was easily one of our biggest challenges.

For us, we understood that we were experts in our line of business and that we would need to surround ourselves with a team of experts in all the areas we weren’t as strong. Advice: Hire the expert and trust their expertise!
I also learned that when you network, you are exposed to so many ideas/opinions and ways of doing things and it’s easy to shift gears and do something simply because it worked well for someone else; however, staying true to yourself is the absolute best thing you can do. Many times we said yes to a client that was not a good fit or collaborated with a partner that didn’t really align because we didn’t want to be the bad guys, or we wanted to really help them, or the money was good (insert whatever reason here). None of those are good reason. Learning to set boundaries for yourself and prioritizing the work culture you want to foster is so much more important and fruitful for you, your team & those you serve.

We had a motto “Live & Learn” which usually meant well that was an expensive lesson (in dollars or time and energy). We used to laugh at how often we used that phrase and joked that we were the most stubborn because of how many lessons we had to “live & learn” from. As our business grew & evolved there are going to be new opportunities for us to learn and sometimes we aren’t going to get right immediately and that doesn’t make us a failure. We had no problem giving our clients grace but we sure struggled with giving ourselves some.

One of the highlights the last couple of years for me has been connecting with business owners that are at levels I haven’t yet achieved. It has allowed me to dream & experiment more. It has also helped me look to those that are currently starting and sharing my experience with them. If I can save one business owner from the errors I have made I want to make the effort!

At KEM, I share the lessons I’ve learned with my team and my clients. I want to create as much transparency as possible to help my team understand the challenges of a business ownership and so our clients understand I’m in the same journey. I’m going through some of the same challenges and sometimes a different perspective may be the key to shifting the results. We like to touch base with our clients. We encourage monthly and quarterly check-in calls. We want to know what their goals & intentions are for the year so we can advise & support them accordingly. We don’t want to romanticize entrepreneurship but we don’t want to scare them away either. With the right support team, you can know where you are, get a roadmap to where you are going and measure your progress-that’s what we are passionate about doing in the small to mid-size business space.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m an absolutely boring beach person and I love that Florida is surrounded by them. So I would have no problem staying at a place on the beach to enjoy the sun, the water and local restaurants in the area. We have a local farm that sometimes has great events, Souther Hill Farms, so I would definitely take them there. And then we have the attractions in the Orlando area so Universal & Epcot would probably be on the list along with Blizzard Beach (the Disney water park).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My co-founder was instrumental in the success of KEM, obviously. We worked really well and took a chance on building something together that required a big shift in our personal lives & personal budget. Our families were so supportive and encouraging about us pursuing this dream.

We reached out to a CPA we worked with, Diane Homrich-she’s most personable CPA you will ever meet! We ran through our initial concept with her and she motivated us to move forward because there was a need for our services.  Initially, we checked in with her regularly to provide updates and receive her feedback. It was great having access to her especially because she’d had so much insight about the solutions we provided and the industry as a whole.

After working through the idea of KEM Business Solutions in December 2012, we made it official (on paper at least) on 1/02/2013 and every Tuesday my church group met and prayed for the business (team members, clients, success, opportunities-you name it they prayed for it). It’s always been comforting to know that we can do what’s possible and then God steps in and does the impossible or the crazy opportunities.

Eleven years later, the list of who we are thankful for is so much greater. I have an incredible team that comes in ready to work together, share ideas and help me live my dream. Becoming a member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce helped me get comfortable with networking and refining my elevator speech. I met Amanda Lairsey, who is the founder of Society of Women Business Owners and hit it off immediately. In September 2021, she hosted a business event that was exceptional and I had the opportunity of meeting 30 female entrepreneurs some of which have become integral parts of my team now and dear friends. Competition is often the name of the game in business and I’m so grateful Amanda chose to build a community that fosters collaboration over competition because it has been amazing to grow as an individual and business owner along side these entrepreneurs.

The clients that took a leap of faith on us. Virtual services are a lot more common now then they were back in 2013 and we are so grateful we’ve been able to retain our clients since the inception of our business and provide solutions that help them excel!

Website: https://kembizsolutions.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kembizaccounting/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kembizsolutions/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KEMBizsolutions/

Image Credits
Shannon LeBlanc of Lifestyle by Leblanc Amanda Walz of Mandy Liz Photography