plus a dozen tips for once you get there.
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: i am working for a cpa firm, but would like to start my own practice. can you give me some suggestions?
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response: essentially, you have three options (four if you count my pet project, but i won’t belabor it).
1. buy a practice
- any practice you buy should provide about half of your necessary current income.
- the remainder of your needed income should be financed by your savings or loans.
- you need to set up a plan to meet with people who can either become clients or refer clients to you. from what i’ve seen, most people will build their practice to a point where they are making a living no later than the end of the second year of being in business.
- an alternative to personal door-knocking is to advertise. however, that needs a skill few have. i have not seen too many cpa ads that have generated revenue, but i’ve seen enough to know that the right advertising program works and produces new clients. most of the cpa firm ads are announcements of their being there, goodwill ads, internet site ads or branding ads. advertisements should be designed to get business leads. my experiences in advertising have included complete failures with some methods, and tremendous successes with others. some of my ads have not produced immediate success, but have yielded profits because of the longevity of the clients obtained through the advertising. also, be aware that advertising is not marketing – it is one part of an overall marketing program.
- to support yourself, you can try to get some per diem work, however, this will take you away from the marketing that i feel is necessary to get your practice up to your break-even living level. the per diem will add time to any growth target.
- consider the shortfall in your “salary” your investment in the practice. and keep my two-year target in sight, and work at it.
2. buy a tax preparation franchise
- there are many available and these can provide reasonable income and entre into business. however, this method is a single path to a segment of the cpa business.
- there is a difficulty in buying a practice if you have no experience running a business. a sizable side practice will provide the confidence the seller will need to trust you for the balance of the purchase price.
3. buy a cpa practice franchise (if they exist)
- i think this can be very effective, if they exist.
- accounting store (my idea of a retail location that will perform full-service accounting work)
- this idea is to start a storefront full-service cpa practice. i’ve had the idea for many years and have suggested it to quite a few young accountants, but no one ever tried it.
4. start from scratch with clients you moonlighted with (and if none, then what makes you think you can get clients to develop your practice?) and work per diem maximum three days a week – you’ll need the other days to do work, network and get business.
- use your moonlighted clients as a base to merge into an established practice.
a few more thoughts: when i first shared these ideas, i received many calls from staff people wanting to get into their own practice. some of the additional ideas of how they can do it and get business are listed here.
- no one seemed to like my idea about starting an accounting store, which surprised me because i think it is a great idea – however no one has bit on this in the 30 years i’ve had it, so won’t belabor this point.
- call or speak to everyone you know to let them know you just started your practice and would appreciate any referrals. and give them either two or three business cards, or simple flyer with your contact information and qualifications and/or services performed.
- if some of the people you know are in business, instead of calling, stop in at their office; tell them you were passing by or saw someone in the area; and tell them the “good news.” don’t spend more than 10 minutes with them – you dropped in unexpectedly and shouldn’t take them away from what they were doing for more than 10 minutes.
- for attorneys, call and tell them you would like to stop by for 10 minutes, and ask when and then tell them the “good news.” also, contact everyone you ever met.
- don’t overlook bankers. contact everyone you ever met. mostly they won’t be able to help you, but out of 25 bankers you should get at least one referral for something.
- other types of people who can refer business are insurance agents, financial planners, business brokers, other accountants particularly from larger firms and from firms you worked for, owners of restaurants you are known at (yes, i’ve gotten clients this way), and copier and scanner salespeople. do you get the idea …? everybody you have ever had contact with.
- join chambers of commerce and networking groups and attend every meeting. your frequent attendance will make people depend on seeing you. when someone knows they will see you, they could casually bring up a matter without incurring an obligation. when people call with a question, they could feel there is some sort of “obligation” even if it is to explain why they need the answer or why they are not going forward with you, but at a networking meeting it is a no-obligation exploratory conversation.
- use your contacts as currency. when you make referrals of your clients to someone, make sure they appreciate why you selected them and ask them to keep you in mind if they can refer something to you.
- i don’t think it is necessary to see people for breakfast or lunch, unless you know them well and they’ve already referred business to you.
- set up an email message to send to your referrers. you can establish a blog (with wordpress such as i have) but to reach your list directly, you should email them the posting. make your blogs short – not longer than the gettysburg address – and send them as bcc (blind copies). this way you know they get it – for blogs they need to sign up and many won’t do that. i’ve had people contacting me with referrals who i believe only thought of me at that moment because of the email from me.
- find something to postal-mail your contacts and always write a personal note. you can send reprints of articles you wrote, articles you wrote that were not published but presented in a similar format, newspaper and magazine articles, books, a newsletter, or something related to their hobby or individual interests. try to do this at least once every six weeks. fyi, many times i buy multiple copies of a magazine or newspaper and rip out the article i want to send. doing this makes it look like i personally sent them my copy from my newspaper or magazine and that it is not a “mass-produced” mailing.
- i try to call people or send an email on their birthday. this has lost some effect since facebook now reminds people of their friends’ birthdays. however, i still like to do this and in some cases gives me an opportunity to speak with someone i’ve been out of touch with.