Accounting & Bookkeeping & Small Business Forum

[Guest]

I will be purchasing the UA bookkeeping course in a couple of months, once I've recovered from tax season. My wife and I would like to move to SoCal around the Lake Forest area, and I was wondering, how do potential clients react when they find out that you do bookkeeping out of your home office? I have heard from some folks up here in Oregon that some potential clients are reluctant to hire a bookkeeper who doesn't have a "real" office in a commercial building somewhere. Are there any success stories, either in California or elsewhere, where someone got started and was successful doing bookkeeping from their home?

Thanks for your time!

John McMillan

[Guest]

John: Why do you feel it is necessary to bring up the fact to prospective clients that you work out of your home? There is nothing wrong with having an office in home in fact there are many tax advantages for you. as far as the client his cost will be lower because you can pass on some of your savings on to him. WArning; having a separate phone line is a must. THE CLIENT WANTS TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU AND NOT YOUR TEENAGER OR YOUR CUTE LILLE 5 YR OLD WHO INSISTS THAT YOU TELL HER WHY YOU WANT TO TALK TO HER DADDY.

[Guest]

John,

Remember that you are not going to be competing with all those unemployed accountants (Newspaper ads) because you will be marketing yourself differently. Your competitive advantage is who you are, what you know and where you live. Not only are there tax advantages for you to work out of your home but it is an easy selling point to let them know that because your costs are less, their bill is less. They will not be coming to you, you will be going to them. What you want to do is to talk NOT about what you do for them, but what they will get from you. When you purchase the Professional Bookkeeper course, contact me and I will asisit you in your marketing personally. Good luck during taxes.

[Guest]

First, thank you for your responses. I appreciate your taking the time to reply to my questions. Now, on the matter at hand.

Actually, I DON'T think it's NECESSARY to mention that I would be working out of my home. However, it is likely that this information would come out at some point during the early phase of developing a relationship with a client. I just wanted to find out if anyone else has had that challenge, how they dealt with it, and if there were any folks on this forum who have made a success of their home-based bookkeeping business (especially in SoCal).

Thanks again for your consideration.

John McMillan

[Guest]

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Sure, there may be a *few* prospective clients who, for some reason or another, feel better about hiring somebody in a "real" office, but they are certainly in the minority. Most people just want to know that you can do a good job. If you can convey *that*, you've got yourself a client. In my 7+ years as a home-based bookkeeper it's never been an issue for me.