Just thought I would 'drop' in as I have recently joined BKN. Enjoying many of the postings here and found some of the advice really useful!
I am really in a strange place at the moment. I have been a self-employed bookkeeper for over 17 years prior to that I was an employed bookkeeper.
Up until a couple of weeks ago I was working all hours to keep on top of my work but now is quite the opposite and I am not really liking it!!! I used to have lots of small clients but over the time they retired or went out of business but as that happened one of my other customers was growing at an alarming rate until what used to be 7 hours a week became 37 hours a week. I was not just a bookkeeper but everything admin - correspondence, telephonist, receptionist etc. Consequently I ended up having one main client with a couple of others for quarterly VAT.
To cut a long story short after 12 years I decided enough was enough with the main company so made the decision to leave.
Of course now what has happened is that I have so much time I do not know what to do with it. I need to get some more customers. A couple of local accountants have put some small bits of work my way but I need more. I have been offerred full time work by a couple of companies but I definately do not want the eggs in one basket situation again.
So advice please - what are the best methods for getting new customers. Any help would be welcome.
I don't think that there is any magic one size fits all formulae for finding clients although many (including myself) find that their best sales force is their existing client base.
Just because yours are retired or hit hard times do not stop sending them Christmas cards to keep yourself at the foreront of their minds as even retired business people tend to hang around with other buusiness people.
I'm sure that your current shortfall glitch will be short lived as you have the experience that businesses need.
Personally I think that you did the right thing calling day on the role that became full time. We mentioned this on the site a week or so back when Bill (Wella) changed approach from multiple micro businesses to a couple of almost full time gigs.
My approach follows the ACCA rules that no client should account for more than 15% of annual income which like yourself keeps me away from any form of dependance on a client that might affect my objectivity.
Nice to have you on board Carol and loook forwards to chatting in the coming months.
kindest regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
As Shaun has said I recently took on two major roles, and there are pros and cons for both.
With the small micro businesses, I really enjoy this type of work, as you do not have all your eggs in one basket but it does involve a lot of running around, especially if, like me you collect and deliver paperwork. It also means a lot of client mangement for deadlines etc. More often than not theses arrive at the same time for all clients each month/ quarter/ year
Having two major clients does make me feel like an employee but I have manged to temper that with some ground rules. The biggest problem so far that I have found (much like you did yourself) is that both the clients I have, blurred the edges, and have already started asking me to do things outside my normal remit. I have presented them both with letters of engagement clearly laying down what I will do, and what i wont be doing. I already had one bit of friction with an employee of my latest client, when their general manager asked me to fill in a DD mandate. I, in no uncertain terms asked her why I was expected to do it? (Apart from the fact that by the time she had come to me, she could have done it herself). It was because their last bookkeeper (employee) got put upon to do admin as well. This led to her not keeping on top of the bookkeeping, getting stressed, being made redundant.
My intention is to carry on as I am and make changes as necessary. The beauty of being self employed is that if I dont want to work for someone I dont have to.
