I have decided that I want to change business direction from a normal accountancy practice into one which offers Part-Time/Interim FD services to SMEs.
Has anyone else done this? Any advice for someone looking to do this would be much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance
Replies (5)
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Interested in this too.....
No help to you but will be watching this thread as this is something I am also interested in
A path well trod ....
I have come across a few people trying to make this happen but it is a tough nut to crack. The client needs to be big enough to (a) Realise that they need such help and (b) Be able to pay for it but small enough that they haven't already got a finance person on board already. I think the 'official' accountant often perforns this role too and even if they do so badly they might see you as someone trying to steal a slice of their pie. Certainly, having had a background in industry as well as practice, I would be looking to do this for my clients where there was a need and desire.
I wish you luck but do be prepared for a slog to get clients on board ... it is certainly not an easier option that picking up regular practice clients
My take
@Richard - from a marketing perspective this is a smart move; business owners tend to be much more interested in improving cashflow, higher profits and enhancing the value of their business than compliance services.
I am approaching this from a different direction to you but doing something similar. We set up a bookkeeping franchise a couple of years ago with some firms of accountants. The idea was to have alliances with accountants, however, what we found was that working with accountants didn’t work that well.
Most firms are very protective with client relationships and they know a good bookkeeper sidelines them. We also discovered clients really want an all-in service where the year-end compliance is as part of the proposition.
We do not want to be seen as normal accountants so we are repositioning ourselves as management accountants.
We actually think normal accounting is a good business model (recurring income and a solid base to sell-in other services) and significant downsides with having all FD services.
With FD services the revenue stream is very you dependant. Not only does this reduce your choices but you may not be able to sell the business. And, if you lose a client it could significantly impact.
What I would say is that you need to focus on your positioning strategy. And, this could mean a rebrand along with new marketing collateral.
Bob Harper
FinanceHeads are part time FDs
Richard
To build on one of the other answers you have received, this is definitely not the easy option. Whilst a commercially focussed accountant can add HUGE benefits in a variety of ways to SMEs it can be challenging to get this recognised and build a client base.
Having been in business on my own for a while I joined with some others to create FinanceHeads - we aim to support part time FDs (including those just starting on this route) to improve the support to SMEs. If you check out our website (www.financeheads.co.uk) you can find out more about us and some of the benefits that we offer. In particular we have a steady flow of business passing between members as we all hit our peaks and troughs at different times as well as needing to fill our skills gaps.
Good luck - if you can make it work it is great fun and very rewarding.
Caroline