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Decision Time - TaxAssist Franchise

28th Feb 2013
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We all face difficult decisions at different stages of our lives. By difficult decision I mean a decision that will have a far reaching effect in years to come.

I am currently facing a difficult decision over a TAA franchise. Should I go for it? I will try and layout benefits and downsides as I see them of going for TAA franchise:

Advantages

Disadvantages

Great support means massively reduce the risk of making major errors

Giving up my own brand/name of practice – little known as it is. I spent so much time thinking of the name. 

Far easier to get bank funding with TAA name

Giving up my website- I spent hours and hours on thinking about the design. I just love my website. So do my clients. 

Shop front risk reduced – location, type, suppliers and help within the network of avoiding pitfalls

Giving up my office that I love so much

Exchange of ideas within the network

Franchisee fee

Lower cost of  product/services through TAA strong bargaining power

On-going management fee

Excellent systems

Have to follow franchisors systems even the ones I do not like

Excellent CPD through TAA Academy

High exit fees. If I decide to leave before my 5 years are up.

Regional meeting mean concerns and ideas can expressed

The territory I want is not available.

Third party suppliers are vetted by TAA

What if my chosen territory does not generate sufficient fee bank?

Most importantly sales and marketing support and training

It will force me to think and draft a business plan. I love their business plan template.

Massive increase in fee bank

Bold text are key advantages/disadvantages as I see them.

I still remain impressed with TAA. I spoke to 8 to 10 TAA franchisees. All of them said their investment was worthwhile and they do not regret their decision. Mind you they are 2 franchisees who have not returned my call. I do not know what that says. I will try and pursue them and see if they will speak to me.

It is now crunch time – yes or no? Any further light you can throw that will aid my decision making? 

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Replies (119)

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Replying to Portia Nina Levin:
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By remhonps
15th Mar 2013 19:52

Why leave?

I was over-promised and undelivered.

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Replying to D V Fields:
By petersaxton
15th Mar 2013 20:03

What a surprise!

remhonps wrote:

I was over-promised and undelivered.

I hope FT reads this and takes note.

Maybe he'll think you have "an agenda" the same as he thought all the other people who tried to dissuade him had "an agenda".

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By taxassist
20th Mar 2013 13:09

Two sides

petersaxton wrote:

remhonps wrote:

I was over-promised and undelivered.

I hope FT reads this and takes note.

Maybe he'll think you have "an agenda" the same as he thought all the other people who tried to dissuade him had "an agenda".

There are always two sides to the story and if 192 franchisees felt the same way then we wouldn't have a business at all.  Investing in a franchise is not for everyone.  We work extremely hard to support our network and the proof is in the size and clients we look after.  We had our best month ever recorded this January http://www.thebfa.org/news/industry-news/taxassist-accountants-shatters-monthly-best-to-start-year and for those who wish to use our business model, support and the community of the network then the opportunity to grow a substantial accountancy practice is there.

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By papalazarou
03rd Mar 2013 08:43

Peter

I'll take the bait. I only wish I had posted yesterday, as this post is now out of sync. However three kids under six does not make for lots of spare time. 

Is it now wrong to be honest? You come up with a silly suggestion and I tell you it is silly. If it's not a good idea then why post?

No of course it is not wrong to be honest. However I do not think the words you used are warranted as it is just an idea and you seem to be trying to influence what I post by suggesting my opinion is 'silly'. I do not think using accounts of other franchisees is a silly idea when considering such a large investment. What I actually meant was that it was not a good idea to post at all if experienced members try to discourage comments unless they go with the majority.  

For what it is worth I downloaded a TAA franchisee reasonably close to you and whilst these accounts alone do not provide me with a glut of information they do provide more information than I had before, which I believe would help when evaluating an investment of circa £100k. 

For example:

I now know that this franchise started out unincorporated and were successful enough to buy another territory and incorporate creating positive goodwill. 

The level of tangible fixed assets in the business links to the figures in the TAA brochure. Not ground breaking but adds to their brochure credibility.

The % rises in debtors/creditors point to the franchise doing well and the figures allowed me to estimate the gross sales figure which looks in line with the brochure. This would be more accurate with average debtors days but it is just an estimate of one franchise.  

The cash at bank increase point to this franchise doing well. The ratios I also ran show improvement in the periods I reviewed. 

All of the above information means I am confident that by spending a few more hours I would come up with a relevant set of information, based on more franchises. This would assist me if I was thinking of investing in TAA.

Would it make the decision for me? No
Would it assist me? Yes

"I've had information from a TaxAssist franchisee who as mentioned plenty of negative things"

How about giving a bit more detail about these negatives Peter?

Again good luck FT whatever you decide. 

Mr Silly

 

 

 

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 08:45

Mr Silly

What was the name of the Tax Assist franchisee?

I'll see if I can provide the information you ask for.

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By User deleted
03rd Mar 2013 10:31

Turning this round ...

... my concern is rather tha TAA not being right for you, I worry you are not right for them!

It may be this is what you need to find your focus, but, it is an expensive suck it and see.

 

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
03rd Mar 2013 14:15

And perhaps letting it lie

This debate seems to be getting increasingly fractious and petty - to the point that the original poster has given up and gone away.

Any infractions against our rules for avoiding personal insults and professional decorum have been relatively minor to this point - but could anyone thinking about joining in and stirring things up again please think twice and ensure they post in a spirit of constructive debate and not to advance specific pro- or anti- Tax Assist agendas. I think the rest of us have heard enough now after 53 comments.

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 16:15

Enough of all the fractiousness, pettiness and personal insults!

When are you going to sign up?

What is the plan for your annual fees in five years time?

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
03rd Mar 2013 18:33

Makes me wonder

which debate sparks the most passionate posts - franchise or value pricing?

@FT which part of running your own practice do you enjoy and will TA or any other franchise allow you to focus on this element and pass the rest on to someone else?

I can see how a franchise can work and it comes down to an individuals ability to manage a business rather than do the work - read Michael Gerber's E-myth revisited.

A franchise isn't a magical bullet, the business still needs to be built and the work still needs to be done, yes there's a franchisee millionaire and I know who he is (probably the one who posted), but there are plenty struggling as they would have struggled had they not gone the franchise route.

If you really believe that a franchise will be the difference between the (ultimate) success and failure of your business (and I'm not talking purely in financial terms) then go for it.

My view - you need to find a coach/mentor who can help you make a decision on what is best for you. You might hear some home truths you don't like, but its needed.

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 18:45

Agreed

"My view - you need to find a coach/mentor who can help you make a decision on what is best for you. You might hear some home truths you don't like, but its needed."

I recommend MissAccounting! Can I watch?

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FT
By FirstTab
03rd Mar 2013 19:03

Peter
I strongly suggest you look at yourself first.

You really need help. You would do well with who ever miss accounting is.

You complain about not having time for you website. Yet you always reading my blogs and posting.

How about saving a few minutes of your time each day and concentrating on your own business. Frankly I have lost little respect I had for you. You just too small and narrow minded.

How about not reading my blogs and moving on? Concentrate on your own perfect business. You continue to be a minor itch that at times gets bit much beyond that nothing.

As before if you ever call me or come to my office you will be denied access by me or my one member of staff. I just do not like you. I have said that several times to you. I have also not returned you call a few months back. Also when you came to the my office you were informed I was not in. You will now be informed you go away.

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 19:24

FT lets have the whole story

Why didn't you mention the time that you phoned me so you could swear at me over the phone?

What about the time that you arrived at my house in a rage? You stood on the doorstep shouting and screaming!

What is it that I have actually done that you dislike? It's very difficult for somebody to advise you of the sensible course of action without making it obvious that your bizarre ideas are wrong. You seem incapable of accepting you are more wrong than anybody else on AccountingWeb.

You seem to get upset because the vast majority of people think your decision making is wrong. Instead of taking on board their views you accuse people of having "an agenda".

If you just forgot all the "ladder up the right wall", "5 year plans", AVNs and TaxAssists of this world and did what Kent Accountant does (leave out the networking bit!) you'd have a better chance.

 

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FT
By FirstTab
03rd Mar 2013 19:30

Yes
It's all your postings I dislike. As I said you just narrow minded. It is not others I am talking about its you.

Even with my rage and swearing you still don't get it. I do not want advice from you.

It takes a lot for me to be angry and swear. You are just too fixed in your opinions. Your view is not the right way.

Just leave me alone and we will both be happy. Well I will be.

That is something in you. You just want the last word. You go on hours to get this. I wonder how do you find the time, it is you who needs more help than I do.

Get together with miss accounting since you admire her so much,

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By ShirleyM
03rd Mar 2013 19:42

Simple solution

FT,  you can't stop people reading your blog and commenting, but you can ignore them, so why don't you use the ignore function and put Peter on it, and anyone else whose views you don't want to hear?

PS. Peter only called round to your office because some of us AWebbers asked him to. It was when you went quiet and everyone was worried. Peter suspected you didn't want to see him, so we used an alternative method to contact you and check you were ok, and you confirmed you were. So Peters visit was out of concern, not malice.

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FT
By FirstTab
03rd Mar 2013 19:40

No
It's is only Peter's. I would like to know what is being said about me so I cannot put him on my ignore list.

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 19:46

The solutions are simple

As Shirley says, put me on ignore.

Another solution is to ignore my advice and do what practically everybody else suggests - oh ... you'd end up doing the same as I have suggested!? If that's not good enough you can always take your own advice and that of TaxAssist. You'll have a three branch network in no time at all - your present two branches in Wimbledon and Mitcham and the TaxAssist branch in a different area. Look on the bright side, you'll do plenty of cycling going from branch to branch!

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FT
By FirstTab
03rd Mar 2013 20:04

Nothing changes
You will always think you are right and you will remain narrow minded.

Well I will continue to live with the minor itch.

Stop giving my identity away. I have asked you several times. Stop doing this.

Okay I must get ready for tomorrow before wasting even more time on my minor itch who is obsessed with the having last word. This is so sad. I would not mind if it was something good. In the main it is slating people and showing how good he is. Anything that does not confirm to his way is rubbish he thinks.

I am sorry moderators. The itch just get too much for me today.

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By User deleted
03rd Mar 2013 20:08

Just a small point

It's actually easy to find out who you are FT because you've used your AWeb identity elsewhere on the web. Even I worked that out a long time ago and I always seem to be the last one in the know!

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 20:18

Plenty of accountants

There's plenty of accountants in W******** and M******.

 

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FT
By FirstTab
03rd Mar 2013 20:28

Flash
Not anymore. If so, please PM me the link.

I think I will ignore Peters last comment. Does not deserve a response.

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 20:45

Here it is

http://www.firsttab.org/

 

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By petersaxton
03rd Mar 2013 20:54

I received a message from FirstTab

It was on the rude side but I don't hold any grudges.

Good luck with TaxAssist!

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Replying to Portia Nina Levin:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th Mar 2013 10:45

out of the mists .....

Problem: not expanding the business sufficiently quickly to meet the owner's objectives.

Answer: (it seems to me) would be telemarketing but strangely TM firms don't seem to want to deal with FT. That puzzles me. So TM is out. As far as I can see, the accountants on here who have built up their businesses quickly are LancsBoy2 and Kent Accountant.

LB2 specialised in a particular area and publicised himself to his target market through specialist mags and seminars.

KA focused on contributing to discussions on new media where his target audience (specified by area and business size) would be reading.

These two successful approaches seem worthy of note and pursuing further. If FT can't make these approaches work, then perhaps it has to be franchising.

But .... this post is really for the benefit of other readers because I just don't think FT is going to cut it in the self employed world. Sorry FT. You may want to consider employment.

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By Hope_Valley
04th Mar 2013 11:05

Left handed tea pots

An interesting (if occasionally heated) discussion.

I will declare from the outset that I’m not a fan of franchising. It seems to me that you are working to make someone else rich. However, that’s a personal view.

What I would suggest the OP should do is take his time, Tax Assist will still take his cheque as quickly next month  as this.   Step back, and assess this as if he was advising a client.

If a client came along planning to spend £35k on a franchise to manufacture and supply left handed tea pots in a specific area, how would you go about advising him?  Go through all the steps, cash flow forecast, feasibility study, etcetera – and see if you would advise yourself to invest in it.

 

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By petersaxton
04th Mar 2013 11:10

Marketing

I used to have adverts in Thomson Directories and Yell both the paper versions and online until I realised they were only generating sales calls to me!

Now I have a website and rely on recommendations.

Any marketing efforts I make in the future would involve improving my website - not difficult - and letting people know I am out there in various forms. I wouldn't try to phone up people asking them to change accountants.

I would think that FTs problems with telemarketing can't be much different to most other accountant's problems.

Kent Accountant has don't very well using social media but whatever his skills in that field I would think the main reasons for his success so far is hard work, ability and not trying to grow too fast.

I don't think the franchise route leads to the quick fix that some people are looking for.

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Replying to johngroganjga:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th Mar 2013 12:16

@Peter - telemarketing

That's my point -  my experience (good) of telemarketing in the London area was different to FT. The trouble is those seem to be the only data points - mine and his. Hence my puzzlement. We won't really get to a valid answer unless we hear from other London accountants who have had experience of TM.

I agree about the value of ensuring one's website produces leads. However, the website and referrals aren't usually sufficient to build a practice quickly.

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By petersaxton
04th Mar 2013 16:21

Telemarketing

The only experience of accountancy telemarketing I have is when clients tell me they have had a phone call. Unless they are actually looking for an accountant or dissatisfied then they don't want to know.

I would have thought the best way to be in potential clients thoughts is to send them useful short emails.

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By remhonps
15th Mar 2013 16:05

... as a past TAA franchisee

it cost me nearly as much to buy myself out as it did to get in.

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Replying to Portia Nina Levin:
By petersaxton
15th Mar 2013 16:24

Why leave?

remhonps wrote:

it cost me nearly as much to buy myself out as it did to get in.

Why leave?

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By petersaxton
15th Mar 2013 16:19

Wise words from Flash

remhonps said: "it cost me nearly as much to buy myself out as it did to get in."

FT seems to be putting the "prestige" of being a TaxAssist francisee over the money it will cost him.

As Flash said:

 

"4, It's only money. Money can't buy happiness so having it is pointless."

"again its only money"

"it's just more money that you won't miss."

"9, Then you'll have wasted a big heap of money that you could have put to better use but as its still only money it doesn't matter."

"you could lose a fortune and several years of your life but what the hell. If you can afford for it to go wrong then you've nothing to lose"

Who are we to try to persuade him that it will cost him a lot of money? He must know what he's doing!

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By User deleted
20th Mar 2013 13:40

Maybe you can tell us then

if FT is going to be joining you, since he's refusing to tell us....

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Replying to Ruddles:
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By taxassist
20th Mar 2013 13:51

Confidential

Flash Gordon wrote:

if FT is going to be joining you, since he's refusing to tell us....

We are talking to a number of AW members but we wouldn't release any information about them joining/talking to us or not joining us. 

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By petersaxton
20th Mar 2013 13:54

You seem pleased, but

your sales are not exactly exceptional for a shop front business.

If you divide the sales by franchisees I have achieved more than that for a January and I work from home.

FT seems to be impressed by your systems. What systems do you use? Can you give an indication what they are like on here?

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Replying to Duggimon:
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By taxassist
22nd Mar 2013 10:13

Claims

petersaxton wrote:

your sales are not exactly exceptional for a shop front business.

If you divide the sales by franchisees I have achieved more than that for a January and I work from home.

FT seems to be impressed by your systems. What systems do you use? Can you give an indication what they are like on here?

Peter, nobody knows how many clients you signed in January other than you.  You can lay any claim you like on here and make it sound good.  Yes 7 clients per practice is an average but we know there are practices out there who are very new and are establishing themselves.  Everyone is losing clients in this economic climate but we have achieved double digit growth and our client numbers are up to 44,000 as of this month. 

We use CCH Practice Management software which our accountants get a large discount.  There is other software for payroll and online bookkeeping but it's all explained on our Discovery Day held in Norwich.  

Happy to respond to your comments but we aren't always available every day to do this so please do not lay claim we are avoiding your comments.  

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Replying to User deleted:
Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
22nd Mar 2013 13:30

Wrong and is that all?

taxassist wrote:

Everyone is losing clients in this economic climate but we have achieved double digit growth... 

I didn't, my client base increased by over 100% last year

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Replying to Marion Hayes:
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By taxassist
22nd Mar 2013 14:19

No clients went out of business?

Kent accountant wrote:

taxassist wrote:

Everyone is losing clients in this economic climate but we have achieved double digit growth... 

I didn't, my client base increased by over 100% last year

Can anyone else match this? No clients of their went out of business in the whole of 2012? 

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Replying to Portia Nina Levin:
By petersaxton
22nd Mar 2013 15:19

Now that is unbelievable

taxassist wrote:

Kent accountant wrote:

taxassist wrote:

Everyone is losing clients in this economic climate but we have achieved double digit growth... 

I didn't, my client base increased by over 100% last year

Can anyone else match this? No clients of their went out of business in the whole of 2012? 

Are you saying that out of 44,000 clients not one went out of business in 2012?

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Replying to mrme89:
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By taxassist
22nd Mar 2013 15:44

The thread

petersaxton wrote:

taxassist wrote:

Kent accountant wrote:

taxassist wrote:

Everyone is losing clients in this economic climate but we have achieved double digit growth... 

I didn't, my client base increased by over 100% last year

Can anyone else match this? No clients of their went out of business in the whole of 2012? 

Are you saying that out of 44,000 clients not one went out of business in 2012?

No we look after 44,000 clients currently but as I stated above we've lost clients like everyone else.  I just wondered if any other accountants had the same results as Kent Accountant where they have not lost any clients at all.

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Replying to Portia Nina Levin:
Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
22nd Mar 2013 21:59

What? Is it a competition?

You made one comment which was clearly incorrect. A huge generalisation.

You made a second statement which was supposed to make readers go "WOW! where do I sign..." but wasn't really that impressive.

A 14% increase (your link), yep you're right double digit growth but only just.

 

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Replying to Marion Hayes:
By petersaxton
22nd Mar 2013 14:53

Words of wisdom from TaxAssist?

Kent accountant wrote:

taxassist wrote:

Everyone is losing clients in this economic climate but we have achieved double digit growth... 

I didn't, my client base increased by over 100% last year

But remember the words of TaxAssist: "You can lay any claim you like on here and make it sound good."

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Replying to Marion Hayes:
By petersaxton
22nd Mar 2013 15:16

Double digit growth?

Kent accountant wrote:

taxassist wrote:

Everyone is losing clients in this economic climate but we have achieved double digit growth... 

I didn't, my client base increased by over 100% last year

Most good accountants are still getting plenty of new clients.

I wonder if TaxAssist meant they got 10 new clients!

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By ShirleyM
20th Mar 2013 14:34

Who cares about sales/turnover?

It's profits that matter.

The 'January' sign ups are generally the pits. A few are decent, but most of the people trying to find a new accountant in January are the PITA's.

I do hope this isn't the case with your new clients, Peter!

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Replying to NomDePlume:
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By taxassist
22nd Mar 2013 10:02

Profit support and training

ShirleyM wrote:

It's profits that matter.

The 'January' sign ups are generally the pits. A few are decent, but most of the people trying to find a new accountant in January are the PITA's.

I do hope this isn't the case with your new clients, Peter!

Of course profits matter and with a good turnover (in our business) there is plenty of profit available.  We run various training courses within the network to help our accountants turn a good profit because we know that a profitable network is a happy network.  We have many profitable franchisees but that is the information we are not able to promote sadly as it's personal to each practice.

We don't look at clients as PITA.  Clients pay the money and we work to educate clients to bring their books in on time.  Most of our network have become very good at this, allowing more available time in January to help new business.  January is a fantastic month for winning new clients.  

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By petersaxton
21st Mar 2013 20:05

January clients

The vast majority of the clients I signed up in January didn't want tax returns done. I got them through recommendations and they were mainly limited companies.

I see Tax Assist are happy to say things like "We have an entire marketing team devoted to finding new clients for our accountants and delivered over £1.7m in new GRF in 2012" but when they are asked a specific question about their systems they are more reticent. The new GRF in 2012 is less than £9k per franchise. That certainly won't make much difference to most accountants. I wonder how many GRF they lost? If somebody was bragging about that to me I would think they were deluded.

Tax Assist say: "We are talking to a number of AW members but we wouldn't release any information about them joining/talking to us or not joining us." yet they also say: "anyone can search on Google for all of our offices." They are not mutually exclusive but the reality is that anybody can find out if FT has a Tax Assist franchise. My view is that he won't buy a franchise. In February FT said it was "decision time" but three weeks later he is keeping his counsel. I'm happy to be quite open with my situation: I have never been a franchisee and I never will be.

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By ShirleyM
22nd Mar 2013 09:11

Yes, there are always two sides

Exiting a franchise isn't always easy, as it takes a lot of money.

If you haven't done very well as a franchisee then you may not have the funds to buy your exit and have no choice but to stick with it, or hand the whole practice over to the franchisor and walk away with virtually nothing.

If you have done very well under the franchise (ie. have a high turnover which may, or may not be reflected in high profits) then the exit fee will be even higher and this may deter people from leaving, so they may choose to sell the franchise instead.

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Replying to spidersong:
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By taxassist
22nd Mar 2013 11:38

Re-sales

ShirleyM wrote:

Exiting a franchise isn't always easy, as it takes a lot of money.

If you haven't done very well as a franchisee then you may not have the funds to buy your exit and have no choice but to stick with it, or hand the whole practice over to the franchisor and walk away with virtually nothing.

If you have done very well under the franchise (ie. have a high turnover which may, or may not be reflected in high profits) then the exit fee will be even higher and this may deter people from leaving, so they may choose to sell the franchise instead.

We talk about exiting the franchise on the Discovery Day, we are very clear about people joining and what exit plans they will have.  We know that people will exit whether it's five years, ten years or twenty years but although odd to think about before even joining the franchise, it's something that should be aimed for. 

We are looking for accountants to start, run and grow a practice and then ultimately sell it.  We have a great re-sale program and many of these practices are sold within the network and many from people who wish to join our franchise with a client base and who feel they can progress it even further.  We help our accountants find buyers also. 

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By petersaxton
22nd Mar 2013 10:52

Cheeky monkey - or is it desperation?

"Peter, nobody knows how many clients you signed in January other than you.  You can lay any claim you like on here and make it sound good."

You are now getting into the realm of practically accusing me of lying because you know that you have been rumbled.

You then feel the need to say: "we have achieved double digit growth and our client numbers are up to 44,000 as of this month."

I am more than happy to let people decide for themselves whether they think I am being honest or you are being honest - I'm not accusing you of dishonesty regarding the 44,000 amount. Partly because it's not exactly earth shattering. You are actively trying to get people to pay you large sums of money largely on the basis of your "promises". I just provide a service without cash up front or any "penalties" if clients want to leave.

By all means keep digging.

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Replying to rstevenson:
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By taxassist
22nd Mar 2013 14:17

Support

petersaxton wrote:

"Peter, nobody knows how many clients you signed in January other than you.  You can lay any claim you like on here and make it sound good."

You are now getting into the realm of practically accusing me of lying because you know that you have been rumbled.

You then feel the need to say: "we have achieved double digit growth and our client numbers are up to 44,000 as of this month."

I am more than happy to let people decide for themselves whether they think I am being honest or you are being honest - I'm not accusing you of dishonesty regarding the 44,000 amount. Partly because it's not exactly earth shattering. You are actively trying to get people to pay you large sums of money largely on the basis of your "promises". I just provide a service without cash up front or any "penalties" if clients want to leave.

By all means keep digging.

Why is 44,000 clients not earth shattering?  Compared to what?  Please do list all of the other accountancy networks that have more clients than this on here.  I would love to know who they are.  How have we been rumbled exactly? 

It isn't relevant compare a 'franchisee to franchisor' relationship to an 'accountant to client' relationship as they are two very different arrangments. 

You seem to have us down as this evil company that takes money from people but we are an award winning franchise who have helped make people a great deal of money and we recently had our first millionaire.  Our support centre has no other business than supporting our franchisees and we recently won 'Best Large Franchisor' - http://www.bestfranchiseawards.co.uk/ - beating McDonalds and Action Coach (two very well run franchises).  The results of these awards came from the responses surveyed directly from our franchisees via the awards provider.  This survey went directly to our franchisees and we were happy for them to provide honest responses about the support they receive.    We also won Best Training and Support. 

We have an over 90% attendance rate of our Annual Conference (this year held at Celtic Manor) and franchisees have to pay to attend this conference.  We work with sponsors to subsidise this cost but would the network pay to attend if they were unhappy or felt they had not received something they were promised?

 

 

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By User deleted
22nd Mar 2013 12:08

Odd?

I'd say that it's common sense to think about the leaving a franchise question before signing up given the costs of both entering and exiting! Yes so some might leave because they're selling a success practice (and therefore the profits from sale should cover the costs) but there's got to be a large number who either find that it's not the success story they were sold (in which case they're forking out money they can't afford) or work out that they can do a lot better on their own (because they can get what TAA offers for a lot less AND get to keep the profits all for themselves) in which case again it's a heap of cash in your pockets and not theirs.

If you want to do anything in life well you have to plan for all the eventualities that are likely to occur. You wouldn't go up Everest without a plan on how to get down... (although I can imagine someone who'd be short-roped to the top and would then ask to borrow someone else's guide and oxygen to get down because they'd found that hiring a guide of their own and buying oxygen for the return leg was too expensive!)

I'm sure TAA is a good move for some people who are starting up but for anyone else it all sounds a bit like those emails I get from people in Africa telling me they've inherited a fortune but need my help to get it. I'll get back to them in due course but I'm currently waiting for that nice Russian girl who professed undying love for me by email (okay maybe not love but....!) to come back from picking up my Euromillions jackpot. I hadn't realised I'd even gone it for it but the letter from Spain assured me I'd won! Olga is taking her time but I'm sure there's a lot of paperwork involved and she sounded trustworthy enough. After all, people don't misrepresent themselves to get other peoples' money do they?!

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By ShirleyM
22nd Mar 2013 12:45

It's all academic, Flash

I am not a gambler, but I would put my money on FT not joining TaxAssist.

I guess FT will never be so considerate as to tell us his decision (when he makes it), but we will know if he is continuing to trade under his current practice name.

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