Editor’s Note: As the nominations for the "2022 Top ProAdvisors of the Year" begin rolling in, we wanted to shine the spotlight on last year's winners. This is the first in a series of profiles of our esteemed candidates.
Earlier in 2021, Dan DeLong and his wife sold their home and just about everything in it, bought an RV and set out to travel the country living remotely. Their journey is documented on the website whatthehellRVdoing.com. The site, DeLong says, speaks to the people who think they are crazy, as well as those who want to keep up with us.
Learning how to do work and live in a smaller space, from anywhere, has been filled with its share of
lessons, challenges and excitement. The journey is not surprising for those who know DeLong, our “2021 Top Social Media ProAdvisor”—a fearless troubleshooter and problem-solver who has always taken his own path.
“We look forward to creating our own path and being nimble enough to be able to pivot when the need arises.”
Take 2018, when DeLong left Intuit to set out on his own. While he initially wanted to specialize in business to business services—primarily websites to create digital marketing—the deep connections he built in the accounting community kept calling out to him. Before long, he realized that the clean break from helping accountants help their clients within the QuickBooks ecosystems wouldn't be easy.
"Everyone has something to offer. Build bridges, don’t burn them. You never know when other connections might come in handy.”
DeLong also discovered that having a website presence integrated into QuickBooks could expand his scope. Through Danwidth, the company he founded, DeLong is pursuing the mission statement he initially set out to create: transforming businesses through technology.
He and his team are building an online presence that integrates with accounting and does the bookkeeping by accident. The firm searches for technology solutions so that while business owners can take an action familiar to their business, through their integrations and connections, the bookkeeping is handled automatically.
“I’m always on the lookout for two-way integrations, so it doesn’t matter where the action is taken, all connected systems are synchronized. By setting up these systems to work together, my clients can sleep a little easier and run their businesses, rather than the other way around.”
Calling himself the “most fortunate non accountant in the accounting community,” DeLong is grateful to many industry colleagues—schoolofbookkeeping.com, the “QB Power Hour” and the Complete Business Group, etc.—that have offered helped him transform from employee to entrepreneur.
“I feel so rewarded to be able to learn from such generous people with their time. I hope someday to be able to return the favor. It astounds me how I have been so fortunate to be thought of in a way to be asked to work on projects. Everyone has something to offer. Build bridges, don’t burn them. You never know when other connections might come in handy.”