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In June of 2017, the Krajniak’s purchased the former Sand Bay Marina (Sand Bay Marina Sales Service and Storage LLC) knowing that Grand Lake was in need of a marina offering great service (the previous owners’ service had waned in recent years). The Grand Lake community, current and seasonal residents, have been very welcoming and continuously told the Krajniak’s that their business and service model has been needed in the area for awhile (they not only offer repair service on boats and motors, but also provide new sales and service to residents docks, hoists and other water related issues). The new Sand Bay Marina started out with three employees and has now grown to seven full-time staff. Business has been good, but they were using an outdated version of QuickBooks on older computers and needed to upgrade. Unfortunately, Brandie Krajniak was a self-taught accounting person, so the upgrade presented a challenge. With help from Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium, Sand Bay Marina was able to receive a $1,600 Going PRO Talent Fund award to train Brandie in QuickBooks.

Brandi stated that being self-taught in QuickBooks was fine in the beginning, but as their business had grown more than 150%, true QuickBooks training was needed. The training has helped their accounting process, invoicing, accounts payable and receivable. Brandie reports that the company can now run more efficiently and keep better track of cash flow, keeping track of margins for future expansions. In addition, Brandie has been able to pass on some of her new QuickBooks knowledge to a new employee as well.

Brandie states, “The training was AMAZING! Better than expected!”