As an accountant, you understand much better than most the costs of doing business—you’ve literally made it your business to understand those costs. You have a skill set that can benefit anyone, which means you provide services that will always be in demand.
If you’re considering opening your own accounting firm, then there is no time like the present. If you’re clocking out of someone else’s firm at the end of the business day, then it might be time for you to make the transition into entrepreneurship. Continue reading to get some tips to help you launch your own accounting firm.
Write a business plan.
One of the mistakes that many new entrepreneurs make is that they don’t write out a business plan before starting their business. Without an elaborate plan to make your venture a success, how can you expect your company to thrive?
Before you begin the process of starting your accounting firm, you need to write a thorough business plan to make sure that you have an idea that can actually work. Regardless of your ambitious goals, without a strategy to achieve them, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
When you write out your business plan, keep in mind that you’re not putting together a presentation for prospective investors. Your top priority should be to map out a strategy that will detail your startup costs and how you plan to recoup them. Once you’ve completed your business plan, you will have a much better grasp of whether or not your business idea is one that has the potential to thrive.
Make marketing a top priority.
One way to make your firm a success is to focus on marketing. As an entrepreneur, you need to pounce on every opportunity to increase your brand’s recognition. You need to hand out business cards as well as utilize social media to get the word out about your firm.
It’s also important that you present an image of professionalism and competence to prospective customers. When you submit proposals and presentations in custom printed folders bearing the name of your firm, it gives your practice an added air of legitimacy to potential clients. When you own your own accounting firm, you must always be marketing.
Hire people who take your business as seriously as you do.
One of the most difficult aspects of being an entrepreneur is hiring people who you can trust with your business. During the hiring process, it’s important that you seek out people who will be as serious about your business as you are.
Even when you have your staff in place, it’s imperative to track their productivity and keep them informed about company goals and directives. With the OKR software that Workboard offers, you can micromanage your team and see who is or isn’t helping your company to grow. This technology gives you the ability to track objectives and key results to give you a full picture of how each employee is affecting your bottom line. You can also use OKR software to keep your team in-sync if they’re working remotely.
Decide on a location.
Picking a location is one of the most crucial decisions that you have to make for your accounting firm. Many people choose to run their accounting business from home when starting out because it’s a great way to save money.
If you don’t want to run your business from home, then you should consider leasing office space rather than an entire building or building an office from scratch. You’re acutely aware of how minimizing overhead costs can bolster your bottom line, so it’s important to put that knowledge to use when choosing a location. It’s best to start your business from home or lease some office space, and then procure your own building once you have the finances to do so.
Keep your day job until you no longer need it.
It takes most startups a while before they actually become profitable. When you first start your business, you should maintain your current employment until you’re sure that your business can pay for itself as well as your living expenses. As long as you don’t have a non-compete agreement with the firm you work for, then you can pick up clients for your business on the side and work your way up until you have a profile full of clients.
