Discussion:Hiring Employees/contracting out
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Discussion Forum Index --> Business Growth Community --> Hiring Employees/contracting out
| 24 April 2006 | |
| I decided since my question got buried to start a new discussion on this. To recap, when I was contemplating starting my business I asked some friends who used to be high end folk in one of the tax firms. They suggested that I consider hiring someone to do the work and that I get the business. Is it worth it for me to do that now or should I wait until I am unable to keep up with the workload?
Let me know what you all think of this. Thanks! | |
Www.cpa1.biz (talk|edits) said: | 24 April 2006 |
| I think if you hustle and know that you personally can get clients, then teach a college student how to do the inputting and you get the clients. The student will be greatful because of your tax knowledge and you can pay him/her a small amount. Just remember how to set up correct payroll which is pretty simple each quarter and can be done all ectronically these days.
Later, www.cpa1.biz | |
| 25 April 2006 | |
| A much better arrangement would be to find an accountant without a personality who's struggling, obviously, in his lackluster business. Partner up. Share ownership. Be the front end of the business and let him or her be the back end. For the creative thinkers, you could extend this to anyone who for whatever reason, can't work with the public or get out...match made in Heaven. | |
| 25 April 2006 | |
| Just like JR says, I say work with your strengths within a business model that works for you. I personally don't like working for/with anyone on a permanent basis. I have a cooperative understanding with others (Attorney's, Accountants and Brokers). We throw stuff back and forth to each other to best meet the needs of the client. | |
| 26 April 2006 | |
| I might start with what CPA1 suggested - mainly because I have not found any other accountants who are struggling to get business (at least not yet). There is a Junior College nearby. Do you think that would be a good starting place or do I want to hit a full fledge University?
So, here is the next piece of this puzzle. Is it reasonable for me to offer a lower rate? What would be a reasonable amount? What percentage is reasonable to cut into my profit margin in the beginning? (these are all your opinions and I will not hold any of you accountable for any decisions that I make:) ) Thanks! Shaunna | |
| 27 April 2006 | |
| I would like to contract out for a few tax seasons to gain more experience but what I've found is that other firms won't hire me since I already have a small client base. How have others handled this? Maybe I went to firms that were too big and should seek out a sole proprietor who might be overloaded. Any suggestions? | |
| 27 April 2006 | |
| In my opinion, the best is not to hire anybody locally. Sooner or later, they will leave you (maybe taking your/their client with them) and you need to start from scratch and retrain a new junior. Have you thought about outsourcing in remote locations? It is not that expensive, and you just need to review their work; no prep. The best thing is client loyalty, and the chance you have to grow your business by having more time to get clients. Educate your client to write you e-mails instead of calling (unless urgent situations arise.) Remember that for clients is always: "what have you done for me lately?"
Concerning experience, I suggest you try to join a big 4 if you can; there is nothing like a small biz accountant going big! | |
| 27 April 2006 | |
| Karen,
Your client base should be less of a problem with a CPA firm than a tax practice. You probably wouldn't get much tax preparation experience but what you can learn in the right mentoring situation will be worth it. | |
| 27 April 2006 | |
| Thanks Dennis. My situation doesn't warrant me going to work full time for a CPA firm. I am a single mom, 3 kids, own a window & siding company and have been doing part time small biz accounting & some tax for the last 12 years. I would love to gain more experience in tax but don't know how to go about it. I've been thinking about getting more into consulting. It seems to help with my clients that I am also a business owner. | |
| 4 May 2008 | |
| Shaunna,
I am in a similar situation except that I am halfway there but have trouble finding the right employees so that I can go all the way. I want to do the front-end 100% but am still stuck doing back-end stuff because I have not been able to find a "key employee" who can take care of all the back-end stuff. Seems like someone who is that capable of taking charge of things will open their own shop. I like JR1's idea of finding someone who hates to do the front-end sales. I hope I will be lucky enough to find one. | |
| 5 May 2008 | |
| Everybody seems to be afraid that someone will take currently non-existent clients with them. Consider this: Try doing what the big firms do. Find someone who is the very best you can find, pay them well, train them. Yes, they may leave and take some business with them, but during that time period you will have high quality work with a sterling reputation. The clients that remain will be loyal to you and will pay you well. Repeat as often as necessary.
It is always best to build on your strengths. If you are a rainmaker, by all means find someone to do the backend work. If things go very well, you will have a partner for a long time and you both will thrive. If you are 100% tranparent, and they leave, you will have trained a good competitor, and there aren't enough of them out there. | |
| 5 May 2008 | |
| You can always work for H&R Block or another national firm for a season or two to gain a lot of experience in a short time. Read the contracts well, though. You'll want to work for an office in another district from where you expect to have your own office or you'll have to wait a couple of years after you leave them. Pick a very busy office and work their heaviest times. | |
