Hello. For all those who have set up a bookkeeping business, can I ask where you advertised and which led to the best leads. Are there any methods you would recommend to someone who is just in the planning stages.
You will find that most of your buisness will be via word of mouth, best sources are family, friends and any business contacts you may have made along the way in your working life so far. These are all excellent, but there does come a time when you have to venture out `cold` and expand your empire !
Advertising / marketing all depends upon how much effort you put in. A few things I have tried since going solo earlier this year are :-
1. Mailing local accounts firms. Introduce yourself, be brief, state experience, qualifications, services you can offer. As yet, all I have had is a few `will keep your details on file` replies. I hope that when I come to the `year end` process with the clients I have, their accountants will see the work I do and fingers crossed, may pass some work my way !! Also, remember to introduce yourself to your clients accountants.
2. Post cards in newsagents and post offices, particularly those around industrial areas and trade suppliers. I have gained one client this way, he saw my flyer in the newsagents when popping in for a paper after collecting an order from a supplier of his.
3. Direct mailing - check out your local newspaper, look at the classified ads for trades, most sole traders such as electricians, plumbers, gardeners will place a small ad so it would be worthwhile either ringing, or better still, finding their address and posting an intro letter and flyer. You can also check out the sections in the phone books, this is a very labour intensive method and something which I am only currently doing. Not sure on what the success rate will be !
It would be worthwhile spending some time and unfortunately a little money on producing a good sales flyer and business cards.
So, there you have it, just a few things to get your started, hope they help.
Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to contact business contacts that I have made so far through my employment, due to a clause in my contract. A few clients have already contacted me asking if I can do it, but I've had to turn them down.
I forgot some companies have that `clause` in employment contracts, sorry !
That clause did not apply to me fortunately. I had requested a contract of employment for many years in my past job, for some reason known only to my boss, he always said I did not need one. Then, when he got wind of me setting up on my own he produced a very lengthy contract after 8 years of waiting !
Amongst the many clauses, a couple had me doubled up laughing, they included, refaining from contacting any of his customers and suppliers for a period of 2 years and also giving him 12 weeks notice. Now, I only worked for a very small engineering company whose main dealings where in favour of `Mr. C.Ash` and Mr. Back Pocket`. I have no idea, even to this day, what exactly he was trying to achieve with his heavy handed tactics, but it backfired on him.
I did not sign his contract, but I did give him the 12 weeks notice. In respect of contacting customers/suppliers, well, I had already signed up two very respectable and honest clients. Despite all that, I think I made the right decision to work for myself.
I found the most successful form of adverising was local networking. I only joined one group at first but as I became more confident I joined two more. I started to see real benefits in the number of referrals I was receiving, and the quality of the clients I was obtaining was much better.
Would certainly recommend you investigate local networking groups.
They're normally held at a local hotel or venue with a meeting room, and consists of local business people meeting up to have a chat. Some are more formal than others, but you normally sit around a table, eat some food, and then take it in turns to spend a couple of minutes talking about your business. Usually someone will be invited to spend a bit longer talking about a specific topic of interest to the group. You're normally encouraged to introduce others which is how the group grows.
I also find it helpful, if you specialise in a particular field to try and network in that areas, eg I do a lot of work with charities/community groups. Because I know a lot of them have newsletters, I contact them and write an article for the newsletter, I attend a lot of conferences and seminars.
As suggested by others, it is a good idead to get to know your local accountants and contact them.
If you are a parent, some of the parent's in your school may be business owners, you can sponsor a school event, or ask if you could do an article in their newsletter.
As a way of generating extra income you could provide one to one tuition in bookkeeping etc,
Having said all that, i do agree that word of mouth is the best.
