I am still employed with my prior firm, so this is my side hustle.
I have another thread on here about my "sweat equity" and promises for partnership turning into a don't let the door hit you on the way out. Employer is 75 years old, no buy/sell, no non-compete. My growth over the next 3-5 years looks VERY promising.
Breakdown details.
Charging $300/hour, no deadbeat clients(haven't been stiffed yet), all tax and consulting work, no payroll, no bookkeeping.
38% personal, 56% business, 5% consulting, 1% other.
I had a decent number of basket cases this year needing multiple years of personal filings, and in one case multiple years of late business returns.
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No advertising, referrals only.
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A couple things helped me this year. 1. The aging baby boomer non-responsive CPA firms in the area.
So many clients I picked up this year were just tired of never getting a call back.
2. There was also a partner in a firm that left the area, leaving the non-responsive partner to run the business, so I ended up picking up some of those clients through good referrals. They were all a friend circle that used the same accountant, and once they realized their person had left, they wanted away from the firm.
3. The tax director from a local firm that was being acquired by a national firm left and bought out a retiring practice. They bought a big book, plus more clients followed than anticipated so they could not take on any more clients. We had a nice friendly relationship so my card was passed along to any new people that came in. This is where 2/3rds of my basket cases came from.
There are 2 firms in my area for sale currently, and another about 30 minutes away.
These people have no exit strategy, and the most common complaint I hear in the area is you can't find young people that want to work anymore. No one wants to do the tax season hours, especially for someone else to reap all the rewards.
Last edited by
ReckedCPAEA on 22-Oct-2020 11:19am, edited 1 time in total.