I have been searching on here for a while now and thought i would bite the bullet and ask a few questions...
I'm considering setting up my own bookkeeping business. I have been working in accounts for the past 10 years and am AAT Qualified to level 4. Would this cover me to set up on my own??
What other conditions do i need to meet to be able to set up?
Any advice on where i could start looking for clients would be much appreciated as well.
I'm new on here and up until now have only asked for advice and not contributed (very busy few weeks).
I think you are ideally qualified in that you have your AAT and more importantly the experience you have. Myself and 2 of my former work colleagues were made redundant last May and we decided to set up as a virtual office offering bookkeeping, payroll, admin, live call answering and any other office service clients requested. We are doing relatively well considering the current climate and have a good list of clients. The hardest thing for me as a bookkeeper rather than an accounts assistant (previous jobs) was the complete mess clients present to you and expect miracles. My advice to you is go for it if you have nothing to lose and some points below.
Network - go to as many networking events as possible and get noticed, most of these events are free for you to try just bring plenty of business cards. Get noticed (again) - we put up posters anywhere in our local town we could, it doesnt cost much and people recognise us eg Wilkinsons, local newsagents etc. Register with HMRC for money laundering to cover yourself and get insurance. Get on twitter, linkedin etc. Find yourself a good local accountant. We have an accountancy firm we use where we have an agreement so I can ask advice and they do anything I can't so it is mutually beneficial. Local paper adverts haven't been that good for getting in business but cold calling, networking and word of mouth has been great. We have also hosted a charity event for cancer research which was reported in our local paper and we have done the race for life so all helps to getting our name out there.
If I can think of anything else I will let you know.
Where are you based Gemma? Many towns/citys have local networking groups, the biggest being BNI, but they command hefty registration fees and weekly meetings you MUST attend so it can be rather restrictive and expensive for first timers. My home town Norwich, have somthing called Norwich Kitty, where they introduce you (to save embarrassment) and it only costs £90 for the year... Its doing so well they may be taking it to other towns/citys across the country so keep your eyes pealed! :D
Advertising, go for cheap to start with... if you have a local community newsletter, use that, cost me £30 for my first advert and i picked up my first client and made 10x that back! Certainly use Facebook/twitter, get all your friends to like you and spread the word, i have picked up several clients more this way...
My marketing expert said to me your either time rich or cash rich... cash rich = spend the money to get yourself seen, including website, or time = YOU spend your TIME posting on socail media spreading the word gaining followers, yes your playing the long game but it pays off trust me!
I would certainly reccomend networking though, it really works!!!
As for registering yourself etc, I'm sure AAT have a process for this, get yourself some PII (offered by arlington on this site for around £80) get your practicing certifcate (which SHOULD cover you for MLR, if not use HMRC as Sam said) The get yourself aigned up with HMRC as an 'Agent' so you can start to file returns on peoples behalf, the process is simple but VERY longwinded. Once this is setup you can start the get yourself setup for VAT, PAYE, CIS etc etc... (sumbmission NOT for yourself) Takes about a month and a half to get all these through but will make things a lot easier when you start to get clients.
I have put some car magnets on my car and also a few other family cars. That has been one of the most successful ways of getting clients so far. I always park the car somewhere visible when I go out and I've gained quite a few clients from it.
I like the sound of that method Princess, but i wouldn't do it... I would be petrified that someone one call me and have a go at my appling driving...! lol (i dont drive it like I stole it, but i get very angry quickly with some drivers out there and can get quite agressive on the road...lol) so based on that i wouldn't have stickers/magnets on my car! lol
I have one on my dad's car. He is 75 and drives like a real old fogie at 20 miles an hour. I had wondered if this was actually a bad move! but I did get a call from my mother leaving her car outside her hairdresser's house. I'm relying on the fact that people see the sign when the car is parked more than when it's driving.
I like the sound of that method Princess, but i wouldn't do it... I would be petrified that someone one call me and have a go at my appling driving...! lol (i dont drive it like I stole it, but i get very angry quickly with some drivers out there and can get quite agressive on the road...lol) so based on that i wouldn't have stickers/magnets on my car! lol
