There’s no doubt about it that being successful in life, but it requires a lot of expertise in a lot of different areas. Arguably one of the most important aspects to becoming successful is having your finances in order; after all, with no money, you’ve got nothing. Which is why we are featuring Dalaine Waller, a financial consultancy business owner.
Dalaine Waller, 29 years old, a mother of 3 children accomplished to open her first business, Vraiment Financial. Dalaine Waller realized college was not in her path but with several years of experience in sales management and finance, Dalaine realized this industry is where she belongs.
Vraiment Financial was established in November 2018, providing a genuine transition in credit and financial lifestyle that includes credit restoration, professional tax preparation, student loan rehabilitation business credit development. Dalaine Waller’s business has helped transition the knowledge she has obtained to implement in speaking at different events on financial literacy across the country.
Vraiment Financial Inspiration
Vraiment Financial was something I never imagined or expected to happen. I was used to hopping from job to job that I didn’t even envision myself as an entrepreneur or even owning a business. After countless set backs due to my own credit, I decided to take the time and do something about it and it ultimately changed my life. I wasn’t able to receive a promotion because my credit stopped me from being able to be approved for an apartment in another city. The news broke me tremendously and I said I am going to change it.
I researched, read several books, watched videos and talked to different people in my industry for months to find a way to make this change. I didn’t want to live that lifestyle again. I no longer wanted to be judged based on my credit report and lack of knowledge. After 8 months, things turned around for me and I realized there are many people who don’t even know the knowledge and I could help other people change their life. My mind was telling me that I could do this and that’s when I paid my invoice to learn how to start my business legally.
There are many KPI to measure success
The formula I use to measure the success in my business is to find out the goal, see if the goal is realistic, add some education, planning and faith and attack it. I look for people that have goals that they believe are unachievable so we can prove them wrong. I believe with the discipline, education and skill set behind my company, their goals can be accomplished in a year or so, because it’s realistically a journey and not a race. I always use myself as a example when discussing different factors with my clients because I’ve been through it all. Success will not come without consistency, patience and communication. You have to work your plan and if that plan didn’t work then you revise the plan and work on it again but we don’t give up.
Fulfillment as a business owner
The fulfillment of being a business owner is that I cannot give up on any of my goals because I refuse to go back to my 9-5, no offense to anyone. I get to set my own schedule and if even when it gets hectic sometimes, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am a mother and my children see my face more and their little minds are always curious as to what I’m doing. I’m always honest with them and I show them the behind the scenes of mommy’s career. It excites them knowing I am helping other people and changing their lives for the better as well. It’s something I believe they will want to get into as they get older hopefully.
Vision and mission
My current goals for the company 300 current clients and turn 50 or more of them into homeowners by the end of 2019 from credit restoration. Homeownership is the ultimate goals for 90% of our clients and we are working together to make it happen. The vision is to change their mindset on the importance of restoring bad credit and maintaining good credit so they won’t have to come back into our program. We are also helping small business owners and entrepreneurs take advantage of the benefits of business credit development for their company.
The best way to do that is continuing education because a bad habit to break, but the benefits are rewarding. The problem I am trying to solve to show our clients and future client is to stay accountable for the choices they make with their credit and financial lifestyle. Student loans are also a huge impact on our clients and we provide the tools they need they will help them on paying it off. Every choice you make whether it’s good or bad has a consequence to it. Don’t let the choice you make affect your future. If you do make a bad choice, how are we going to fix it so we don’t make that same mistake
5 steps to start a business
The 5 steps I would advise ladies who are starting their own business is first to make sure that this is something you really to do because entrepreneurship is not for the weak at all. My 2nd step is you definitely want to make sure you do a lot of research on the legal side of your business. Your business isn’t a side hustle so legally you want to make you are in compliance with your state and federal laws so you can continue business with the peace of mind of knowing you did things the right way.
Best part of being an entrepreneur
My favorite part of being an entrepreneur is the collaborations and the connections I get to build with other women entrepreneurs. I was able to collaborate with a brand called She Can’t Settle in New Jersey on a speaking engagement on financial literacy and credit for a women empowerment and a group on Facebook named Black on the Job with sharing credit and financial knowledge that I speak about every week. Speaking at events and to others has become one of the best things I could do. Those collaborations has been awarding to be able to share ideas and talk about the struggles of entrepreneurship that people don’t want to talk about. It also created friendships that last a lifetime!
Advice with the most impact
The one advice that has impacted me the most was to stay out of feelings when it comes to business, because it isn’t personal. As a female entrepreneur, not being able to control your emotions can be detrimental and risky. I have learned that my emotions doesn’t control my drive and the goals I will accomplish.
Vraiment Financial clients
Our clients are men and women between the ages of 18 and up, ready to learn and improve their credit and financial situation but also accomplish major financial goals they may have such as becoming a homeowner. We also service everyday families on their taxes during tax season, a business owner or entrepreneur on taking advantages of the benefits of good credit to start building and obtain business credit, and clients will student loan issues . Our company is here as a coach to walk them through the steps of how to accomplish those goals, and learn from past, careless mistakes they weren’t aware of due to not having the knowledge before. We educate our clients and we are like a family.
Improving financial knowledge
I improve my financial knowledge at least every 1-3 months. Between webinars, a personal coach, reading a new book every week and conferences for my industry, I believe it is my best and most important investments. Knowledge is constantly improving and as an entrepreneur it is your job to keep up. My team and I just attend a credit conference in Las Vegas, NV acknowledging almost everything important about the credit industry. We also have a marketing conference to attend in August for tax season in 2020 and an informational conferences on new changes in the tax industry for 2020 in September. I always leave these conferences learning something new that I can implement in Vraiment Financial. I believe it is important to show our clients that we are doing our part to keep with the information that will help them achieve their goals in a precise way.
Improving yourself in the next year
I personally want to improve my growth in the next year. I would love to travel to different cities I haven’t been to, share my knowledge with others about taking the advantage and learning the benefits of credit. Change is not always a bad thing, but change is needed to grow. I have a team that is growing as well and improvement in our knowledge and systems will be awarding for our current clients and future clients to come.