How long does it take to get established?

How long does it take to get established?

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Hi there. I started up as a sole practitioner in October 2012. I'm finding it really hard to get off the ground (only about 12 clients so far). I was just looking for some sort of benchmark about how long it takes for a new start up to get a good sized client list (I reckon 50 clients would mean I was on my way??). How do you go about generating more business on a limited start up budget? So far I've been leaflet dropping and talking to business owners but only having limited success. Search Engine Optimisation quotes seem ridiculously expensive and I wondered if it was really necessary to be optimised in an industry where word of mouth seems to be everything? Also as a start up/ sole practitioner  I seem to be attracting poor quality clients (i.e. late payers etc.) Is this all I can hope for if I work by myself? Please help .... I'm very frustrated by it all at the moment :(

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By Ken Howard
28th May 2013 16:27

Keep at it

"as a start up/ sole practitioner I seem to be attracting poor quality clients (i.e. late payers etc.) Is this all I can hope for if I work by myself?"

No, it's far from what you can hope for as a sole practitioner, but it takes time to build a quality client base.

12 clients in just over six months isn't bad in my book - an average of 2 per month, that's 24 per year, so you'll hit your target of 50 in your first 2 years of trading.  Nothing wrong with that.

As to quality, sadly, if you need clients to produce an income, you have to suffer the pain barrier of the poor quality clients at first.  But you can minimise the pain by insisting on upfront payments, standing orders, etc - that will immediately weed out the ones who have no intention of paying.  

You also have to remember to regularly grade and sack your "D" grade clients as soon as you don't need them anymore or you can turn them into A or B grade clients by teaching them how you want things done - many are train-able!

There'll be very few sole practitioners who'd be able to pick and choose their clients from day 1 because they need money to live.  But, after, say, 5 years, you should have your 50 quality clients.  You've just got to make it happen - weeding out your client base doesn't happen by itself so you have to learn to be assertive with the time wasters and resource drainers.

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By query
28th May 2013 16:28

Did you work in a practice immediately before? Do they have any clients they wish to offload?

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By m14s4k
28th May 2013 16:51

Thank you - that's really heartening. I shall hope to stick it out 5 years. I knew it would be tough but Its good to have a benchmark that puts my expectations into perspective. Thanks again!

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By Moonbeam
28th May 2013 17:19

Thank you Ken Howard

I have been feeling very depressed about the difficulty in getting new tax clients and your comprehensive answer has given me the get up and go again!

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By ver1tate
28th May 2013 17:50

Time to get established.

In my first 9 months of trading, I had 4 clients. However, as two of them had been badly serviced by their former accountants, they did most of my advertising for me, and it mushroomed thereafter. As a one man business, I found some difficulty in coping with the clients I had. I hired an accountant to assist me, but found this to be a bad move as, even though he was qualified, he made so many basic errors that I spent a fair proportion of my time correcting these, and in general looking over his shoulder.

Fortunately, I had made it clear from the start that it was on a short term, trial, basis and I was glad to get back to working on my own.

So, to sum it up; your progress so far is on target; 50 clients is a reasonable amount for a one man operation; make sure they are all aware of deadlines, and do not have 50 S/A returns to complete in one month. remember, word of mouth works both ways, it can get you or lose you clients.

Keep your chin up, and don't let clients see or feel you are depressed.

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Mark Lee headshot 2023
By Mark Lee
28th May 2013 18:01

"established" is a good word and a good ambition.

Well done on starting up and sticking with it. And well done on resisting the idea of spending lots of money on SEO. It would indeed be a waste until and unless you have covered a series of other key points.

I suggest that you might find some of the articles in the section for start-up practices on AccountingWeb, quite informative. Your questions imply that you have not yet done this research.

 

Mark

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By BMary83
28th May 2013 20:22

Have you tried Networking?

The first year was extremely hard for me but after 15 months I'm now able to stand on my own 2 feet financially, although money can be tight at times.

Re: generating new clients, my number one way had been through networking, but it does take time (and can be expensive).  Don't just stick to one networking group, I commit to 2 core groups then pop along to any free meetings where I can.  For the price of a couple of cups of coffee at the free events I've picked up about £800 worth of work.

Twitter  has also worked for me as well.  I've picked up 3 clients from Twitter who I never met before and another 2 who I developed an online rapport with after meeting them at networking events.  In total I've picked up around £3k worth of work from Twitter.  Not bad for a free resource. 

I've tried using LinkedIn to generate lease but unfortunately it hasn't worked so far.  I wrote a couple of articles for some of the groups I'm a member of which got some leads but no conversion yet.  I'll stick at it though.

Finally, the obvious way is referrals from current clients and don't be afraid to ask for them.  I sent out an email to all current clients advising that I offer a 10% discount on their agreed fees for any referrals who go on to become clients.  Straight away it got me 2 new clients and I haven't had to advertise this again, the referrals are coming in on their own now.

Re: SEO, my website isn't the best, which is why I don't any SEO.  It's there just to give me a presence should anyone decide to look me up.  On it I have links to my FB, Twitter and LinkedIn as well.  I will develope it further at some point, adding blogs etc but for the moment I don't feel comfortable spending a not insignificant amount of money when I know that, when someone is looking for an accountant, they would sooner ask friends/family do they know  one rather than pick one out of a google search. 

Best of luck, you will get there in the end if you keep at it.

 

 

 

 

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By Rachael White
29th May 2013 10:30

While you have already started up, our 2013 Start Up In Practice Guide may be of interest to you.

To back up Mark's point, here's a selection of a few articles on starting up in practice you may find useful: 

AccountingWEB practice tag pageMake your new firm a successDo you need a social media strategy?Top tips for a quality firm websiteHow accountants can sell more effectively What personal qualities do accountants need? 

​Best of luck with everything and I hope some of the above articles are of some help.

Let us know how you get on! 

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Tim Emmony
By timmne
29th May 2013 10:41

Networking may be a good idea

...I've never done any of those breakfast meetings (not really my sort of thing) but it really is who you know, not what in these circles.  

My firm took off about a year ago and has grown brilliantly.  We don't really get involved in small businesses ("John the painter" or Mike who wants his tax return doing) so it's really handy to have a good address book of people who you can rely on.  In your case, you could in your early years be the person in the book!

I've found that supporting other accountants is really good for both parties - the firm you're helping gets a bit of a grip on their workload and you keep on with the practicing.  As they grow, they will bear you in mind so that'll look after your income (but not your client base unfortunately!).  The new clients will come later - but as least in the meantime you're earning and being that useful person for a growing number of people!

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Rachel Davies
By Rachel Davies
29th May 2013 10:59

I started on my own a year ago and know exactly how you feel, it's really frustrating. I have found that Linkedin and the opportunities section on accounting web have been the most productive tools so far, much more so than networking events. Although my website hasn't generated anything concrete by itself I have had a couple of virtual walk-ins via yell.com and it does work well once the initial introduction is made as it tellls people about me and what I do so it's worth the effort I put into putting it together. Agree with Timmne about supporting other accountants, as a specialist tax advisor most of my work comes from other accountants and as well as the work itself it gives me a support network even if it's just having a quick chat about the weather before we talk work, it can be lonely sitting at home on your own trying to get a business off the ground!

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By Steve Holloway
29th May 2013 12:00

It's all about getting to a critical mass ....

once there the referrals (should) take care of you from there on in. You have to pay to get to critical mass and that is either by buying fees or going a bit hungry while you get there naturally. Nothing wrong with either and tons of advice on here whichever route you go.

Having a nice friendly website is critical as 90% of clients will check you out regardless of whether they come from leaflets, networks, referral or other advertising. Having a nice website is not the same as spending a fortune on SEO, however as I think you understand. I would also add ... don't be scared of asking existing clients for referrals ... sometimes we are too shy at promoting ourselves!

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