Why self assessment stress is all your fault

If you take part in the January busy season, which for some means dealing with low quality work and even lower quality fees, then I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you have no one else to blame but yourself.

“But, it’s the clients’ fault," you might protest. "They didn’t [insert excuse here].”

I’m here to tell you that it's not their fault. If you have rubbish clients who are reluctant to pay you and won’t do what you want, and if you allow the work to come in close to a deadline and put yourself under unnecessary pressure, the only person at fault is you.

Your clients don’t lay awake at night worrying about their business and suddenly think “I need a tax return, that will solve my problem”. But that’s what some are trying to sell them. Clients want more from you and most will be happy to pay you. They want reassurance, more help, support, someone to talk to, and someone to help them, and while you are there, take care of all that compliance so they don’t have to worry.

To do that well, you might want to consider two important factors. First, you need to understand who your ideal client is. What they look like? What do they really need from you? And secondly, how do you deliver your service? Maybe it’s time your clients look upon you as a benefit to them and not a hindrance.

Even if you are employed working for a firm struggling with all these tax returns and the deadline, you know something needs to change.

So, how do you fix this for next year? You need to make a big shift in how you look after your clients. This means you need to do something different.

When I say different, I don’t mean chasing information a little bit earlier or putting your foot down and stating “This won’t happen next year” isn’t a change. You’ll regress to the norm and do it all over again. No, you need to change your thinking. But will you? Will you really step up and get uncomfortable and change things?

The evidence to date is most won’t. Most will carry on making small insignificant changes. They might lower their prices, but then take on more and more work and invariably burn through good staff, damage their own reputation and more importantly, fail to serve the client properly.

No one likes change but unless you take action now, before long it will be spring, the sun will start to shine, the days will get longer and the few good clients on your list will soon be the immediate focus and the pain of January will be long forgotten. Then as quick as a flash, the clocks will be changing, summer will be over and it’ll be too late.

Planning and implementing change takes time and costs money. And although it might be painful, the outcome could mean an end to deadline madness and tax return stress. Instead, you’ll have a better business for you and your staff, more fun, more profits and more importantly, better service and rewards for your clients. 

Now is the time to really look at this in time for next year.