What Happens When Community Becomes A Growth Strategy w/ Alison Reed

Your numbers can either cloud your decisions or sharpen them fast. We sit down with Alison Reed, a Mount Pleasant small business owner who runs a local bookkeeping company and practically lives in QuickBooks, helping clients turn day-to-day transactions into clean, usable financials they can actually trust. 

We talk about what her bookkeeping services look like in the real world, from supporting trades like construction, plumbing, and landscaping to helping nonprofits stay organized and accountable. Alison shares why being based at the Harbor Entrepreneur Center matters, how remote work fits into her model, and what she’s learned after nearly three full years in business. If you’ve ever wondered what “good books” should feel like, this conversation breaks it down in plain language: clarity, consistency, and fewer surprises. 

We also dig into small business marketing that doesn’t feel gimmicky. Alison explains why the Mount Pleasant Chamber and local networking drive so much of her growth, what changes when you show up as a vendor at an expo instead of only attending, and how word of mouth spreads when you serve your neighbors well. She also shares her path from middle school math teacher to business owner and why stepping into a treasurer role is a natural extension of doing careful financial work. 

If you’re building a business in Mount Pleasant or anywhere else and want better bookkeeping, stronger QuickBooks systems, and a smarter approach to local referrals, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a fellow owner, and leave a review with your biggest bookkeeping challenge so we can tackle it next.

This is a grounded guide for founders, contractors, agency owners, manufacturers, and service leaders across Charleston and beyond who want a no-nonsense path to an exit. We share red flags that can sink deals, the role of local market knowledge, and how Viking’s success-based model aligns incentives. Join us, get practical next steps, and walk away knowing exactly how to make your future sale smoother.
www.vikingmergers.com

Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce

Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions

Episode Sponsor: Viking Mergers & Acquisitions

Expo Podcast Sponsor: ‪Pollen Social‬

Production Sponsor: RMBO.co

Design Sponsor: DK Design

Interested in Sponsorship? Click here.

Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Podcast Committee | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director 
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | MPCC Marketing & Communications
Benjamin Nesvold | Co-host | MPCC President | Edward Jones

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Welcome to the Building Business Podcast. My name is Mike Confliment.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

This is Hi guys, Bethany Barrow. And we have Alison Reed.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

What do you do, Alison?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

So I own a local bookkeeping company here in Mount Pleasant. And I'm also the new treasurer for the junior box. Awesome. I love your shirt by the way. Thank you. It says with fuel bike coffee and QuickBooks. QuickBooks is not my bad. It's not bad. So I'm very impressed by people who do that for a living. Yeah, for sure. It definitely is our jam. So we're in QuickBooks all day, every day. That's all we and is your business located here in Mount Plaza? It is, yeah. So we work out of the Harbor Entrepreneurs Center. Great.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Nice, nice. It was just there this morning. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Our French trio is there.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Yeah, yeah, it was great, great turnout. Founders meeting, you know, other founders and investors there too. Absolutely. Grady does a fantastic job.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

He's amazing, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

And there's a whole new corridor opening up.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah. Yeah, so good things.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yeah, I like the energy there too.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

It is, yeah.

Meet Alison And Her Bookkeeping Firm

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Too I'm talking about the energy here as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

There's a lot of happening today. For sure. Do you have a booth here today? We do, yeah. We're right over there. There's lots of new friends. We have, yeah, we've talked to a lot of great business owners, a lot of good connections, so it's been wonderful. Yeah. That's all. Lots of good energy, like you said. So what typical clients do you work with? So the majority of our clients are small businesses local here in Mount Pleasant. We do work remotely with clients all around the country, but I would say 80% of our business is here in Mount Pleasant, which is wonderful. That's huge. Um yeah, we have a lot of trades, construction, plumbing, um, landscaping, and then nonprofits would be our other work with nonprofits. We do. Okay. Absolutely. That's huge. Okay. Wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

And here you are at the expo.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

Yeah.

unknown 2:52

Yeah. Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Would you recommend uh other small businesses to come to the expo?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Absolutely. This has been wonderful for us. So I came um as a small business owner last year and I really enjoyed that, meeting some of the other small business owners in the area. And then this year as a vendor, it's been wonderful for making those connections, reconnecting with people that I know from the small business space and officials. It's just it's a busy, busy day. Busy, it is. I feel like yeah, we've had a great turnout.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Do you feel the benefit of being a vendor versus a participant?

Who She Helps And Where

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Cindy? Absolutely, yes. So I knew when I came last year that I wanted to be a vendor, and it was a hundred percent the right decision. So we've just talked to a lot more people, still sort of get the benefits of circulating. Um, I have one of my team members here, so I've been able to go out and also talk with the other uh folks at the booth, but then just being able to connect with people who are coming to our booth too has been great. Right, right. That's amazing. So are you getting

Why The Chamber Expo Matters

SPEAKER_01 3:55

most of your business through the chamber or word of mouth, or how are you getting the most of your business? I would say those are probably our two biggest sources of business, the two that you just mentioned, soda chamber and then word of mouth from our. That's one of my favorite things about living in Mount Pleasant. I feel like you want to gravitate to the people that are your neighbors. For sure. So yeah, we love serving the small business community here. That's the whole thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

So, um, have you you guys just opened your doors how long ago?

SPEAKER_01 4:21

So we are coming up on our third full year in business. So I've been bookkeeping um for quite a while before that. I was actually a math teacher with CCSD here in Mount Pleasant. Yeah, uh at East Cooper Montessor. Okay, good school. I taught middle school math there. Um and then left there and opened the business to focus strictly on bookkeeping. Well, congratulations. It's been a great, great journey.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

That's there a dot com and that we go to for social radio.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Yeah, it's AllisonReedbooks.com. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Nice, nice.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Lovely to meet you. Yeah, thank you so much. It's your first podcast, right? It is. How did we do? Did we

Referrals, Chamber Leads, And Local Trust

SPEAKER_01 4:58

rip the bandy off, okay? Uh y'all did great. How did I do? I love you. You were such a natural. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

A little nervous, but thanks for your time and your support with a uh the the Mount Buzz and uh chamber as treasure. That's a hard role to fill, and so we're lucky to have you.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Yeah, I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

That's a big job.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Yeah, I've been working with them for um about a year now, so it's sort of a natural progression, but I'm really looking forward to being the treasure.

From Math Teacher To Business Owner

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yeah, I'm excited for you. It was so lovely. Thank you. Thank you, you too. Great to meet you, Stephanie Ba. Thank you, mate. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Of course. Hey, hold on a second. We're gonna thank our sponsors.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yes, great.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Fallen Social. Thank you to Fallen Social, thank you to Larry. Yes, the Mount Pleasant Chamber, and Cospels. And yeah, we'll all uh talk to you folks later.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Bye.