Lisa Carsrud
Grand Rapids, Minnesota
OCT 01, 2021
Entrepreneurs are gifted at diversifying their portfolio to achieve success and most take this very seriously. It is one of the many alluring factors about becoming an entrepreneur, solo-preneur, or multi-preneur. Lisa Carsrud of Grand Rapids, Minnesota is one of the exceptional business-minded women that has entered into the Payroll Vault culture and here is her unique journey.
Lisa, a Registered Nurse for 22 years, and her husband own a successful homecare agency. Lisa also enjoys real estate investing, and more recently, they purchased their current office building where their Payroll Vault firm and home care agency reside. Within the past year, they also invested in a home on Lake Superior’s north shore, which was a dream come true.
The Carsruds honeymooned on the north shore in 1998 and have dreamt of purchasing a home there ever since. This purchase was not solely intended to fulfill a long-time dream; it’s also a business investment for them to VRBO the property and add another revenue stream to their professional portfolio.
Within their home care agency, they had transitioned through three different payroll companies in a relatively short amount of time, and Lisa was growing more and more frustrated. She decided it was time to make serious changes and set out to find a solution. After an analysis of her expenses and time management, she realized how much she was paying for payroll processing and came to the stark conclusion that it would be better to start her own payroll service company and just pay herself to do it. Customer service would be guaranteed to be a white glove experience in this scenario! Plus, it would add yet another business to the growing legacy that she and her husband are working toward creating.
Lisa researched launching her payroll service company at ground floor and realized that was going to be more difficult than originally thought and really expensive – time, processes, software, marketing; it all began to add up, quickly. She began doing more investigating and happened upon Payroll Vault – a payroll and workforce franchise opportunity. She instantly knew this was the way she needed to go that would be most beneficial to her long-term goals. By investing in a franchise concept, they would offer support, training, and most importantly, would have all the systems and processes in place that she needed. After a few conversations with Sean and Marilyn Manning, it was time to move to the next stage – Discovery Day.
What an enlightening discovery it truly turned out to be. Almost a year and half later, Lisa is in the process of hiring a salesperson that will increase client onboarding to a minimum of five per month. With the onset of COVID and all the changes it has brought with it, she has uncovered a passion for helping her local businesses file and receive much needed financial resources to keep their doors open and help them run as efficiently as possible. She’s been down that path before and realizes the significance of the opportunity to help with small businesses’ bottom line and cash flow.
Don’t be fooled by this charismatic entrepreneur, payroll is not her only passion! Lisa serves on the board of directors for a local non-profit tutoring agency that tutors people with dyslexia. She is currently aiding them in obtaining grant funding for their scholarship fund which allows low-income children to get the tutoring they need and deserve.
Alongside this heartfelt cause, Lisa is also launching a program for children in foster care that will give them free tutoring as well as coaching geared toward building confidence and self-esteem. She is equipped with two life coaching certifications and uses those skills across all her business ventures. As if this wasn’t impressive enough, she is a published author. Her latest book was a children’s book that teaches how to develop a healthy self-esteem and love for yourself.
Lisa is also a writer and has authored three books and built a website where she continues to write various articles and shares media that she has written for newspapers. Among her accomplishments, she has been published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Duluth News, and her local newspaper, the Herald Review.
There’s some commonality between the Carsruds and other Payroll Vault family members. They all believe in pushing forward, working on your family as much as your business, and NEVER STOP building and growing.
I bet you are thinking to yourself, I bet they have a difficult time enjoying the simple pleasures in life… it’s deliberately built into their success story. Together, the Carsruds love traveling, golfing, and attending sporting events. They especially love watching their daughters play hockey, volleyball, and throw in track. Since they live on a lake, they appreciate boating on a regular basis.