Discussion:My update and a question

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Newarcher (talk|edits) said:

10 February 2008
Hi all and happy tax season to all!


In the way of an update, I signed my first official client a couple weeks back and just finished setting them up on QuickBooks and helping to train the client to use QuickBooks. They are--of course--deleriously happy. They took many of my cards and have been referring friends who operate the same types of businesses. So I have one confirmed newby account coming on line this week and possibly more. I will be doing this same client's taxes this year as well as their payroll return next Jan. I did, however, take a bath on the billing on the Quickbooks service...way too many hours of work for my price. But they will net more clients so it was probably worth it to over satisfy them.


Also, a couple friends at work found out I was starting a new business and asked me to help set up those businesses and their Accounting/tax work. I will probably do some tax work for them personally this year as well.


Lastly, my advertising campaigns have netted zero calls from any paid advertising so I quit that. Yesterday, I created some small ads, stapled a card to them, and taped them to the mailboxes in a couple wealthy subdivisions around my area to see if that might be effective. We put out 100 ads yesterday so I will see. If that is effective, I will spread out to other subdivisions in the area. That's all I can think of on the marketing side. I just don't have the customer base to bring in the big numbers of referrals just yet.


Business seems to be trickling in, possibly ahead of a deluges as tax season gets nearer.


Now for my question....


My client mentioned to me that they have a friend whose relative is in the Accounting business and is looking to retire. He wants someone to come in and take over his business and that is about all that I know. My interest was peaked but I have no idea how to value such a thing because there is no way to guarantee that his 50 customers won't scatter to the wind the day he leaves the shop. Any ideas or have any of you successfully taken over a business like this?


Thanks, Michael

Bottom Line (talk|edits) said:

10 February 2008
Suggestion on the QB training: I talk to the prospective client for at least 10 minutes before quoting a rate. Some people are trainable; some aren't. Do they want to learn or is it the wife/mom/sister/girlfriend/... of the business owner and they have been told that they will do the bookwork? What is their background? Do they know where the "on" button on the computer is? Do they balance their personal checkbook? This will help you judge how much time to budget for this project and where you'll need to start. I've trained everything from where the "on" button is to CPA's. I bill by the hour at double my bookkeeping rate with a one hour minimum pro-rated to the nearest quarter hour. I try to limit the sessions to no more than 3 hours and leave them with a homework project. People have a hard time retaining when the sessions go beyond 3 hours and the homework sessions give them lots of practice. Make sure they take notes. I've found that if they don't take notes, they won't learn anything. Some people simply aren't trainable either because they don't have the aptitude or don't care. Use that as an opportunity to get the bookkeeping work. I never quote training at a fixed price; there's simply too many variables.

DZCPA (talk|edits) said:

11 February 2008
I have purchased 5 firms. Do you really want to know more? Go to your USER PAGE for the link. Its the first one.

Newarcher (talk|edits) said:

11 February 2008
Bottomline, I told the owner's wife and I really meant it....if all the working women in my working life (at my 'real' job and in my client roster) were as smart and on the ball as the business owner's wife is, my life would be a dream. She is an extremely quick study and has worked with QuickBooks before on a limited basis. She is a good project manager and is very organized.


I will be the first to admit that I under billed and over performed for this client but I actually meant to. In our first meeting, I actually LISTENED to the client when he mentioned all the other guys he works with in his profession and how few of them could even get an Accountant to call back. So I knew that if I threw in some extra TLC at no cost, I would gain the referrals. It was a calculated risk and I knew that there was quite a lot that I had to re-learn. So I figured that if I averaged the extra freebies with the client being my quinea pig, it would work out. Plus, the client is in the ministry so I consider my extra time to be an added investment. Going forward, I will have a much better idea of what is involved and how to charge.


DZCPA, I haven't gone to my page just yet but thank you in advance!


Michael

Newarcher (talk|edits) said:

11 February 2008
Has anyone tried the card/information sheet on mailboxes routine? I am just curious to see if it was a waste of time.


I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained thing. It took me 10 minutes to create the ad, my wife 20 minutes to cut out 100, and about 20 minutes to put them on the mailboxes. Real cost...$5 or so? All it takes is one personal return to make about 40 times my advertising costs. You can't beat that, if it works.


Michael

Bottom Line (talk|edits) said:

12 February 2008
I understand your "lossleader". I do this occasionally too and it's worked well. Example, I do sub-work for a CPA. I get a call from he or his staff every couple of weeks with a QB question. The entire phone call is only 2-3 minutes and I don't charge him anything for this. Last year he paid me over $20,000 for the sub-work I do. I give him a bill and he immediately writes me a check. Sounds like a good trade to me.

Newarcher (talk|edits) said:

14 February 2008
I too think it is worth the time....plus, you will look like a total chubb and probably lose your client if you micro bill them. It gets to be 'are you serious?'. I am learning a LOT through these processes and that can't be quantified. In fact, I learned more in the past 6 months than I did during my initial Accounting program.


It appears that my genius idea for the mailbox campaign didn't produce the effect I wanted. No calls yet.


I am dying to get some customers because I can crank out returns all evening and night but I just don't have the clients. I am at break even right now with the work I have...if I made no more revenue, I would have exactly the amount I need to run the business for the rest of the year. My fear is that I am going to end up with only a few clients. I tried everything I could think of and everything suggested here by other members. I called all the new business listings for my county (how so many people with so few interpersonal skills ever plan to start a business and attract customers, I will NEVER know). I did the mailbox campaign. My couple of clients can only do so much regarding referrals--I offer a $50 discount per signed referral.


My goal is to do 5 or more buisiness/personal (soles, LLCs, S corps) and about 20 personal returns. So far, I have only 1 business and 1 personal (paying clients anyway). I believe the business returns might fall in line soon via my musician client referring his band members, etc. What are your best techniques for attracting new personal clients? What advertising works best for your practices?


Thanks,

Michael

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