Advice on building up a client base

Advice on building up a client base in my spare...

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Following 7 years in practice (4 of them post qualifying), I have for the past couple of years been employed in industry as a company accountant.

I am, however, giving serious consideration to a return to practice. Rather than seeking employment with an established firm though, I am thinking about obtaining a practising certificate and trying to gain a few clients in my spare time. If I were successful at finding my first few clients, I would then look at doing it full time.

Has anybody any experience of doing this, and would you recommend it as a strategy?

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By sparkler
27th Jan 2013 13:04

Good idea if your employer allows it.

You would need to check the terms of your employment contract with your current employer as to whether they would allow you to do accountancy work outside of your employment with them.

I did something similar, but rather than building up my practice alongside a full-time job, I did it whilst bringing up my young children (a full time job in itself, but unpaid of course!).  I've been self employed for 4 years now, and still have 2 of 4 children under school age.  I work about 2 days each week in total (more at this time of year...), and have gradually built up my client base each year.  

My client base is growing pretty quickly at the moment, and I can reasonably see that in about 3 years time, when all of my children are at school, I will have enough clients to make this into a full-time job.

I was in practice with a Big 4 firm until I left to have my children, and have found company accounts / tax returns quite a steep learning curve - it's pretty different to audit, which was where I trained. You would have the advantage of being a company accountant already, but some of the personal tax may be new to you I would imagine.  There are some good training options available though (online if you wish) and AccountingWeb is also a useful source of helpful advice and "virtual colleagues". I find the ICAEW technical helpline to be useful too if I am really stuck on an accounting treatment, and most accountancy bodies offer a similar service.

I love working for myself and would not want to return to an employed position. For me it works perfectly - I can fit my accountancy business around my family commitments and my other "jobs" of running our own holiday cottage and being a director of my husband's limited company.  It all depends how it fits with your lifestyle though and whether working for yourself is what you want to do - but if you do, and your employer is happy with the idea, I cannot see many pitfalls to your proposal.

 

 

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By Jakarmi
27th Jan 2013 14:18

Did it too

Hi

I did the same, although I worked in practice at the time.

I obtained about a dozen clients to start me off and then left my job to start on my own. It may not seem like a lot but to really go for it you have to leave your job. New clients aren't going to understand realistically that you are unavailable between 9 and 5. Having gone for it I now work five days a week (seven in January) and probably need an assistant to help next year.

To obtain the first few, I went around the local shops introducing myself and asking could I leave business cards in their shop as I was expanding my accountancy practice and was from the local area. This would lead to questions by some business owners with some about you/charges etc but you wouldn't be seen as a cold caller by the owner. Others of course probably binned them but so what.

I then did a mailshot of the local area with a covering letter/business card of who I was and the services I provided. Offer them a free meeting to discuss their financial affairs and ensure their tax liability is as low as possible which helps get one or two in. Having a website on your letter helps with credibility I feel and will bring in business in itself.

There are also new business lists that you can purchase online to market yourself to people who should be seeking an accountant. Again, maybe something that free book-keeping advice through the year may act as a catch to people to use you. You, of course could provide this to ensure you don't get a shoebox at the end of the year and perhaps can recover some of this time with an easier set of accounts (Year 2 onwards the advice isn't usually needed anyway). New businesses aren't always that great as it can be 20 months or so before the first accounts are needed but perhaps this won't be a bad thing for you as you are building at the moment rather than needing work.

Finally, use social networking to introduce yourself to some businesses in the local area and attend a few evening networking events to get your face out there so to speak.

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

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By the_drookit_dug
27th Jan 2013 22:45

Thanks for the informative and encouraging answers!! Much appreciated!!

I think over the next few weeks I'll firm up my thoughts in a formal business plan and look to get the ball rolling. I'm not realistically expecting to gain a huge number of clients in the first 6-12 months, however hopefully thereafter things will steadily grow as the networking, mailshots etc as suggested above begin to pay off.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

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By Steve Holloway
28th Jan 2013 11:45

I had a vey similar backgrond as yours ...

i.e. part practice and part industry. One thing I would say is don't see that as any kind of negative. You will have much more empathy with your potential clients than someone who has only worked in practice and you should use it as selling point.

I considered the hybrid employee/sole practitioner start-up but to be honest that scared me more than then 'plunge' approach. I didn't know how to explain to serious clients that I was doing it part-time and I thought they would expect me to be contactable at all times. Also, really 'going for it' with a only six months money in my bank was a terrific incentive to win new business quickly. You also have plenty of time at the start to think about how you want to approach your business.

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By Ken Howard
28th Jan 2013 12:04

Working outside 9-5 isn't really feasible

I started my practice whilst still in full time employment and it was really hard work.  Clients simply don't like being unable to contact/meet you during the normal working day.  Relatively few will be happy with evening/weekend meetings etc.  The number of prospects who ring during the day and don't leave a message on your answerphone is very high.  No point in advertising etc and then not being there to take their calls.  I also found it hard to spend most of my spare time working, after having already spent all day working.  It soon burns you out.  

For me, it was OK for the first 3-6 months, during which I got about 10 clients and could just about service them.  When it got to over 10, I was really struggling and had no choice but to give up the day job far too soon (in monetary terms) just to run the business - luckily my OH was working and we had savings to tide us over for the following year or so until I built up enough clients to make up the wage I gave up.

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By redman7
28th Jan 2013 12:08

I'm in a similar boat

I'm in a somewhat similar position. I've worked in industry for 13 years and am a CIMA MIP. I started doing my own client work about 6 months ago with just one client and have picked up one or two clients a month since then. I have been doing this with a full time job. Come 31 March I will be dropping down to two days per week in my job so I can concentrate on building my practice. I imagine I will drop those two days after a few months as long as my client pickup rate continues.

I have actually not come across a single client who hasn't understood that I can only meet at weekends and evenings and can only do phone calls at lunch times as well. They have all understood my position and I have been upfront with them about it. That might be helped by the kind of client I am working with which is largely media / creative freelancers and small businesses.

 

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By ChrisScullard
28th Jan 2013 13:46

I can echo most of the above.  I set up my practice when I was working as a contractor, but knew the contract was ending so started the ball rolling on the practice a few months before it did end.

There is a lot you'll need in place before opening the doors for business.  A PC, PI insurance (quote at least), logo design, website, letterhead (which ICAEW will want to check over if you're with them), business cards, etc.  It might be worth getting marketing materials written/produced.

All of that I did whilst still having a full time job and will take longer than you expect!

Prior to the contracting work I was a finance manager in a couple of PLCs and (notionally) FD of two SMEs.  This is a massive selling point to small business owners, especially if you intend to  more than just compliance work.  Of my fee income only around 30-40% comes from bare compliance work.  Budgeting, forecasting, planning and producing PLC standard MI packs (tailored for the small business) are all things that small business owners need (and many can be persuaded to want as well!).  When you've been doing it for real for a few years it's a much easier sell.

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By User deleted
28th Jan 2013 13:58

Knowledge refreshment

If you think you're going to need to update your knowledge in any areas I'd recommend doing that before looking to take on any clients as you won't have time afterwards! And get systems in place and all the admin side. It'll be time well spent and will save you more time once you're up and running.

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
28th Jan 2013 15:19

Good advice...

...ask this question next week, you'll get more detailed replies (including one from me)

Short answer - go for it and be prepared to work another 30 hours a week on top of your day job, I did and it worked. 

Bye for now - lots of tax returns to do :)

 

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By Sloane Walker
30th Jan 2013 12:00

Get your practising certificate sorted

Some good advice above.  One thing that proved much harder than I expected was getting my practising certificate with ACCA.

You will need to prepare a decent amount of training records and then get them signed off to show your institute that you are capable.  Different bodies can be easier or harder to get that all important piece of paper.  I found if alot of hassle as I had moved jobs and needed an old boss to sign off a 6 month period.

I made the plunge in a very close your eyes and jump style and looking back it was actuallty reckless! But somehow I survived and it has turned out brilliantly.

If I did it all again I would.....

a) Plan PLan and PLan before actually doing it, do lot's of reading.

b) Read lots of books on starting, running and growing a business.  Just because we are trained to do the technical side of tax and business, you do not actually 'get' what it's all about until you actually do it, building a successful practice is about becoming an entrepreneur.  Just because you are a good accountant does not make you a good business person.  I have read 15 different books on subjects including 'branding and positioning' $100 start up, various dragons den's books etc

c) Although working full time and then working in the evenings and weekends is a very safe way, I would recommend if at all possible trying to reduce your working week down to 4 or even 3 days a week, then new clients can contact you in the week.  You can give some proper time to the new business growth

Just my opinion, I started in 2008 and my 'braveness' was bigger than my skills at starting and running a new business.  

Finally, if you did decide to completely take the plunge like I did, try to find enough money to live off for the first 12 months, if you don't have this money (from savings, loans, remortgage or whatever) then you will be very stressed!

Kind regards

Dave. (Finished all my tax returns after a stressful month, and now flaffing around a bit!)

 

 

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By Moonbeam
30th Jan 2013 12:14

Reading lots of Books

Depending on who you are, this may be excellent advice.

However for someone like me, that's just an excuse for procrastinating. I've found the best way of finding out what's what in practice is to actually do it (with many sleepless nights). Having done whatever it was, much of it wasn't half as daunting as it seemed before-hand.

Don't forget the stunning array of talent on Aweb who can answer any questions you pose (sometimes day and night). It's the Aweb people that have kept me sane and made me realise I am not alone. No matter what complicated technical challenge you come across one of our superheroes on this site will almost certainly know the answer.

I also think (in my more confident moments) that there are so many "competitors" out there who don't impress their clients, are actually doing quite simple things wrong and are quite unbusinesslike. Those of us who are good at our jobs should be able to attract better quality clients as a result.

Now then, when are you going to start?

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