As i have recently started on the road to starting up my own bookkeeping service and doing lots of research on searching the various forums for inspiration and idea's one thing i have found is that getting qualified is only half the battle. Just like anything else setting up a busiess and making some money is the really hard part and i see quite a few posts from people who struggle or even give up because they can't get any customers. Obvisoulsy there are some success stories but it would be nice to hear from those who have started a bookkeeping / accountancy service business in the last few years, epesically since the recession has started and here of their experiences and success and any tips you would care to share.
Well, I've got clients and I'm doing something that I love doing. But would I consider this a success?
Not really..
The markets too small, there is too much competition, the government and HMRC are forever tinkering, clients regard you as a overhead rather than a benefit to their business. You work excessive hours, and weekends often for not even a thankyou. You don't get paid if you are sick and holidays are those things that clients have when you need documentation from them.
This doesn't seem so much work as a lifestyle choice.
We pay expensive memberships, licenses and insurances.
RTI is just the icing on the cake and I for one will not offer payroll services to clients until that has settled down. (Talking to local accountants in my area it seems that nobody is offering it from April basically making clients responsible for their own payroll processing).
Would I do anything else.
No.
And that's the key.
For those who go into this business looking to make a lot of money, invariably they are disappointed when they realise the true cost both in terms of their time and monetary outlay.
For those who go into it because they love the business then they will make money but not because they are chasing it.
I came from working in industry to practice primarily because I hate the slow nature of decisions by consensus. I find that many in practice look enviously at the sort of money people in industry make and spend their time trying to cross over into industry in a grass is always greener sort of manner.
Which really leads to the question as to whether success is measured in financial terms or in terms of job satisfaction?
The next few years will be hard but if you really love this career path you're acquired knowledge will make you successful. You just need to define what success means to you as it's different for every person who considers that question.
Sorry about that. Not really a success story or motivational post but rather just a sit back and consider what lies ahead response.
kind 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.
I only started up abut 6 months ago. I dont have a full list of clients yet but there does seem to be work out there and my turnover increases every month so I'm hoping it will pay enough within a year. I have the flexibility to go to my son's school assemblies, I work from home most of the time, I don't have to sit in an office full of idiots that thrive on office politics, my travel costs have decreased by £250 a month since I stopped travelling to a job, my childcare costs are now zero. I am more relaxed, loving what I do, still learning loads (love this website), have happy clients, meeting lots of new people locally which I didn't do when I worked 25 miles away in a city. I like my life. My son likes having more than one hour a day with his mum. I think that's a success. It will be even more of a success when I pay the mortgage off one day!
Shaun I think you have summed it up quite well in that it is not a get rich quick scheme, its a more of a life style choice and for me at least that is what i am after. O.K i will need to make a living in due course but i'm not looking to be the next Richard Branson. In one sense i am lucky in that I am already self-employed but with time left over so i am hoping to build a practice up over a couple of years, maybe longer so I will not be reliant on bookkeeping solely for my income and will only sell my existing business if and when i am ready to go full-time bookkeeping.
Like quite a few others, i suspect, i hate working for others and office politics and over the last 25 years have worked 20 of those years for myself so regard myself as un-employable.
Good to hear that you have had a good start in your first 6 months Princess, it can't be easy with young children, certainly not if they are anything like my 5 year old daughter or two year old son who can be very demanding at times.
You would think that those who have worked for themselves would be the one's that businesses are crying out for but it seems completely the opposite.
Its not just in this field either. I've seen IT roles where it is stated in the ad "ex contractors need not apply" even though those are the one's that the business should be crying out for.
Do you think that such is because they feel threatened by those with more varied experience or that they feel that taking employment would only be a temporary measure?
Not unlike yourself I've been working for myself for quite a while (since 1990). In my case I think that I should come with a little warning sticker "does not play well with others".
It was the eternal meetings rather than office politics that really got me in industry.
Don't know if you ever saw the TV program life on mars but in the last episode when Sam Tyler had been brought back from 1972 to present day and everything was now about having meetings and decisions by consensus that's exactly what it is like behind the scenes in banking and it drove me up the wall.
One that really stood out for me was where we had a meeting to discuss the meeting schedule for the following quarter... You just couldn't make this stuff up.
I worked with one institution in Edinburgh where at the meetings you were not allowed to talk unless you were holding the rubber dinosaur... And that one was about the final straw for me (I never held the dinosaur to speak but I did use it as a projectile after which they had a meeting about it and decided to change the dinosaur to a white board marker... Even though I did point out that the white board marker would hurt more if it hit anyone).
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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.
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.
Ah, I get it. they're making them out of unemployed people. Doh.
Sorry, the loss of 700 jobs doesn't even seem make the news here as it just seems so common.
Bit like murders in Wolverhampton don't even warrant column inches anymore.
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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.
Ah, it's all coming together. Alternate accountants, Sheep, Dolly the sheep... Its all connected. Oh god, I'm having a Kevin Bacon moment, lol.
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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.
Yes, apparently travel agents in Bierut are now doing package tours to Sunny Wolverhampton.
Seems a bit like a busmans holiday to me!
Also the Chinese like to come across and laugh at all the empty building that used to make the things that they now do.
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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.
I am pretty happy with the way things are going having moved from practice to work for myself full time 3 months ago.
Currently have over 60 client (adding between 5 - 10 new clients per month) with GRF of circa £50k. So probably by the end of the year will be up at my target of between 100-120 clients and hopefully just under the VAT threshold (whatever it is increased to tomorrow).
Dont have any cashflow issues as nearly all my clients now pay monthly by standing order so that they have fully paid up their fixed annual fee by their year end.
Also now doing a lot of training courses at the enterprise company where I am based and currently deliver; SAGE beginners courses, SAGE intermediate courses, start up finance workshops, bookkeeping courses, credit control courses and profit growth courses. All in probably deliver about 15-20 courses over the year to my target market of new business start ups. Actually did a finance course today and potentially got two new clients from todays course.
Enjoy the freedom of working when I want and for how long I want which can be worked round family life when needed.
Best decision made to go full time for myself and something should have done years ago. Though if did it 10 years ago would only have have had 5 years practice experience as opposed to the 15 I currently have.
And not just any accountant, Mark trained as a Chartered Richard so he's a top of the food chain accountant.
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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.
