I've spent years in the classroom, helping people get started with an accounting and bookkeeping service, and it never ceases to amaze me how easy it can be to acquire clients. Once you've read the examples below, from people just like you, you too will be amazed.
A student of mine decided to take a shot at newspaper advertising. Normally the newspaper isn't the best place to start, but she had an idea. Instead of simply advertising her services she wrote: "If you're having trouble with QuickBooks, give me a call at 555-5555." Being well-experienced in QuickBooks, she decided to use her expertise to help others.
Did it work? You bet it did. She was receiving two to three calls per day. Many just wanted free advice. She didn't mind, because there were enough that asked her to come in and help (which she charged $45 per hour to do). It more than made up for the ads. Plus, many of those to whom she gave free advice, kept her name and number and later called her up for more extensive help.
But, it didn't stop with one visit. Quite often, those who wanted one-time help became regular clients. They would ask her to come back each month, just to make sure that they were doing it right, since they were good at data entry, but didn't understand accounting. So, she would set them up on a small retainer that would vary from $75 to $300 per month, and each month drop by their office. Many of the visits were less than one hour long, so you can see that she was pretty excited by her results.
Last time I talked with her, she told me she has over 50 regular clients. Most of those came directly, or indirectly, from her QuickBooks work.
Let's do the math. Assume that the average fee was $125/month (which she told me was pretty close).
50 clients X $125.00 = $6,250 per month. That's $75,000 per year. Not bad for a part-time job.
By the way, this was one of the topics in my FREE weekly newsletter. You can see why they can give you some great ideas. To sign up, just click here.
You may ask, "why would she share this idea when she knew I was going to tell everybody about it?" Because she's happy where she's at. She doesn't want any more clients, so she quit advertising in the newspaper a while ago. Now, she's going to settle back and enjoy life, while making enough money to keep herself and her husband happy. That's what it's all about anyway, isn't it?
You don't need a degree to make it in this business
A bewildered university student once approached me. She had heard the most "off-the-wall" comment from one of my graduates. This student had told her that you didn't have to have a university degree to start a bookkeeping service.
That piqued her interest. She explained that she was a single mother that had been going to the university, in the accounting program, for over two years. Her whole purpose for getting the degree was so that she could do books for small businesses from her home. The cost of going to school wasn't only financially draining, but the time away from her kids was starting to show in their actions. Isn't it interesting that she was getting the degree for her family, but getting there was damaging to the family.
Furthermore, she was getting nervous. She explained that she was now a junior in the accounting program at the University, and realized that she didn't have the foggiest idea how to set up, or maintain a set of books for a small business. And the further she went into college, the further she was getting from small business issues.
I explained to her that anyone that understands accounting can do books for small businesses on a contract basis. Probably, all she would need was a business license, and for a few dollars, she could pick that up. To say she got excited is an understatement!
A few weeks later I got a letter from her, wherein she commented that she was well underway to reaching her dreams.
By the way, if you're a college student and feel the same way as the student above, you owe it to yourself to learn about a terrific training series called "Accounting Made Easy"
Click on the icon above to hear more success stories from Universal Accounting Center students.
I've spent years in the classroom, helping people get started with an accounting and bookkeeping service, and it never ceases to amaze me how easy it can be to acquire clients. Once you've read the examples below, from people just like you, you too will be amazed.
