Let’s take a quick look at just a few bootstrapping strategies for building your client base that you can put into action immediately.

placeholder

1. Networking, Networking, Networking

Referrals are usually the main source of new clients for freelance bookkeepers. Networking is a key method of getting those referrals flowing your way.

There are a gazillion ways to network, both locally and online. The nice thing about networking is, it is a soft way to let others know about your services without coming off salesy or pushy.

Relax. The most effective way to network is to just be yourself. Focus on meeting people and get to know them, and in the process, just let them know the benefits you offer to those who are in need your services. Be sure you always have business cards with you to leave with those who may want to contact you again.

Here are some easy places to find networking opportunities.

Locally:

* Chamber of Commerce

* Community Groups

* Talk to the service providers you use (Pizza shop, dry cleaners, etc.)

* Family and friends (be sure they know what you do and ask if they know anyone who might need your help).

Online:

* Social Networks - a few of my favorites are Women Owned Network; LinkedIn; and my latest discovery, FindVirtual

* Email - reconnect with past friends, acquaintances and clients, and be sure to send it from your business email. Sign your messages using a “signature” that is a one-liner for the benefit you provide, along with your contact information.

* Blog Posts - If you are subscribed to any blogs, you’ll want to post comments regularly and include a “signature” with a one-line blurb about your business and include contact info.

* Forums - same idea as blog posts. If you use QuickBooks, you SHOULD be involved with the QuickBooks Community forums.

INSIDER TIP: If you are well-versed with Quicken software, you have an opportunity that appears to be greatly underserved! There are A LOT of businesses using Quicken to keep their books! Participate in the Quicken forums and you’ll likely find clients who REALLY need your help!

placeholder

2. No-Cost Advertising

Online Directories are still a great no-cost way to pull in inquiries. These listings will show up when people are looking for bookkeeping services on the Web.

Here are a few of the good ones:

http://listings.yellowpages.com/
http://listings.local.yahoo.com/ (must have a Yahoo ID)
http://advertising.superpages.com/spportal/business-listing (SuperPages)
http://www.google.com/local/add (must have a Google acct)

Online Classified Ads are another way to let new clients find you. Craigslist is probably the most lucrative one you’ll ever find. You can run an ad for three weeks at a time for free. You’ll also find classified ad areas on both the QuickBoooks and Quicken Community Sites.

placeholder

3. Proactive Marketing

Search Help Wanted ads for part-time bookkeeper in newspaper listings. Most of these potential clients will want you to work onsite.

Many local newspapers publish their Help Wanted classified ads online too, so get in the regular routine of checking their website listings for a constant supply of fresh leads. And of course, you should check Craigslist for your area.

If you are able to work remotely with your clients (thus removing geographical limitations), you can even search Craigslist nationally.

Here’s how…

Contact local CPA firms. As I’ve suggested in previous articles, it is important to cultivate these relationships, since they are a great source of quality referrals.

From now through the early part of the new year, many of their clients will be scrambling to get their books in order to prepare for year-end tax planning and tax season in general. It’s therefore the perfect time to offer your services to local CPAs. They may hire you themselves, or refer you to clients in need.

Just remember that you will have to win their trust first, so be prepared to offer them references or a “free trial” period so they can see the quality of your work.

Other companies who you can partner with for referrals and complementing services are payroll service firms, office supply stores, and printing shops. You may even want to partner with other bookkeeping firms for subcontracted work or mutual referrals. Just be sure to seek ways to complement their services, not compete with them. Always think win-win.

placeholder

4. Quick-Fix, Short-Term Opportunities

If you’ve tried the above methods, but results are not coming fast enough for your budget, you can always take on some temporary work to fill the gaps until you build up your ongoing client base. AccounTemps is a great place to start, since you will command a higher rate than with a general temp agency. Of course, this will be far lower than your typical billing rate.

Recently, I was contacted by H&R Block who is apparently seeking experienced tax preparers for the upcoming season. If you do taxes, this might be a quick fix if you are cash strapped. If this is an option you want to consider, I suggest inquiring at your local H&R Block office, since I am not sure of the specific requirements for this new arrangement.

Keep in mind that with both of these options, they should be considered a last resort. Working as a temp bookkeeper or tax preparer will not really grow your business because you will be restricted from soliciting new clients from their customer base. But it will add to your experience and promise some guaranteed cash for a short while.

If you’re a bootstrapping freelance bookkeeper, the opportunities to pull in new clients truly abound. So what are you waiting for? Get to it this week! Then tell us about YOUR bootstrapping success!

placeholder

===============================================================

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR OWN BLOG OR E-ZINE? You have permission to re-publish it, as long as you include the following author’s bio and link:

===============================================================

Gabrielle Fontaine, PB is a freelance Professional Bookkeeper and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She also publishes an interactive blog especially for bookkeepers who are ready to break free and run their own home-based bookkeeping service. Get more information at www.TheFreelanceBookkeeper.com

It wasn’t.

But when I finally got the courage to put on the skis myself and ”Just Do It,” I learned. Sure, I fell down a lot. But I continued to watch those who were skiing much better than I was, watching their techniques, how they handled different challenges. Then I’d try doing them myself. And you know what? I became a decent skier in a relatively short period of time!

It’s really no different when it comes to starting and building your own freelance bookkeeping business. However, when I was starting out, I didn’t really have any role models to learn from. I just read a few books (the few that I could find) and jumped in. Yep, I tumbled more than a few times too. But now, 18 years later, I think I’ve got the hang of it.

But the path I took when starting my business was not typical, and I didn’t face some of the challenges that I know many of you do. So instead of just drawing on my own expeience, I wanted to provide a more well-rounded appraoch for seeing how it can be done. That’s why I’ve decided to interview several freelance bookkeepers who are at diffrent stages of success with their business in the coming months.

The idea is that we can all learn, grow and improve, no matter what level of success we’ve achieved so far. No one knows everything there is to know about everything. There are so many ways to start and run your freelance bookkeeping businesss. By seeing a variety of real life examples–sharing the ideas that paid off, and the ones that bombed–we can all reach our goals quicker and easier.

This month, accomplished freelance bookkeeper Sylvia Jaumann has stepped up to be the first case study and share her experiences of how she was able to get her home-based bookkeeping service off the ground from zero to what it is today, a thriving full-time business.

Thanks Sylvia for letting me interview you for the blog! So let’s get right to the questions, shall we?

What was it that made you decide to start your own bookkeeping service?

I’ve pretty much always wanted my own business because I have a strong independent streak. I also got tired of working for bosses who didn’t value my skills or pay me what I thought I was worth.  Once I found out that I could be making $10 - $15 more per hour working for myself, it seriously motivated me to launch my own bookkeeping business.
 
What were the very first steps you took in getting your business going; how did you get your very first client?

I struggled for the longest time with all the logistics I would need to run a freelance bookkeeping business.  Getting a business license and setting up my office was a no-brainer for me.  But when it came down to how I would keep track of all my clients, track my billing and stay organized, I was immobilized with doubt and fear.  I ended up subcontracting for another bookkeeper for a year and this helped me fill in all the blanks as I learned a ton of organizational skills from her.

I picked up my very first client through word of mouth.  I’ve acquired the majority of my clients this way.  I’ve done newspaper advertising and have received enquiries from potential clients, but I seem to find better quality clients through referrals than from other ways to promote myself.   

How much experience and/or technical training as a bookkeeper did you have before starting your business?

I’d had about five years experience working for others before I felt confident enough in my abilities to venture out on my own.  My formal education consisted of basic bookkeeping courses and an income tax preparation course.  I’ve found that’s all I’ve ever needed and it’s worked well for me.
 
What are the three biggest mistakes you see people make when they try to start their own bookkeeping business?

1. Undercharging for their bookkeeping services, thereby undercutting other local bookkeepers.  Not only is this unfair to other bookkeepers, but it’s a disservice to themselves.  Generally, it’s a lack of confidence that prompts bookkeepers to not charge enough for their services.
   
2. Being so hungry for work that they accept every bookkeeping job that comes along, even those jobs that they should probably be passing on.  Bookkeeping jobs that involve a year’s worth of paperwork stuffed in a box are not for the faint of heart.  It can be very frustrating, as often times critical information is missing.  Then there are the clients who don’t pay their bills.  Many times you only find this out after you’ve begun work on the project.
   
3. Not requesting a retainer for new clients.  This is a huge mistake made by bookkeepers who think that if they request money up front, the client will run.  Most clients will not bat an eye if you request a retainer as long at it’s reasonable.  Lawyers and accountants demand them, so why shouldn’t we?

What’s the best way to avoid those mistakes, or to fix them if someone has already made them?

1. Find out what other bookkeepers are charging and raise your rates accordingly.  You may have to gradually increase your rates with existing clients.
   
2. If you discover that you’ve received a box of unsorted paperwork, request that the client organize it for you (unless you want to do it yourself).  If you explain to the client the amount of money that they will save by sorting it out themselves, oftentimes they will do it.
   
3. Always request a retainer up front for new clients.  If a client is not paying your bill on time and you’ve already taken him on, inform him that no further work will be done until your bill has been paid.  Then get a retainer for all future work.  Once the retainer is used up, request another one.

If a close friend came to you and asked for your advice on getting started with a bookkeeping service, what would you tell her or him?

I’d tell them about the organizational systems I’ve developed in keeping my clients on track.  Setting up a system so that you always know at a glance what remittances need to be paid as well as being able to find important information at a moment’s notice. These are crucial skills for freelance bookkeepers.  Also, I’d tell them to always get a retainer up front before beginning any new bookkeeping jobs!
 
If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently?

I would have taken the leap a lot sooner than I did. I wouldn’t have let fear and doubt hold me back from living my dream. I wasted too many years working for other people and missed out financially because of this. 

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do the same way?

I’d talk to people and not be afraid to mention that I have a bookkeeping business.  I’ve obtained so many clients by just doing that one thing alone!  Also, I’m not afraid to ask for referrals.
 
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing freelance bookkeepers today?

The biggest challenge I’ve come across are the mom and pop businesses where the mom (with no bookkeeping experience) ends up doing the bookkeeping herself in order to save money.  These small business owners think that as long as they can learn an accounting program that they can easily do the bookkeeping.  We all know this isn’t the case.  Then, at year end, the messes that have been created by the lack of experience ends up costing them more with their accountants than if they’d let a competent bookkeeper handle it in the first place.  It’s frustrating when people aren’t willing to invest in the essential expertise needed to run their business.
 
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your business so far?  How did you overcome it?

My biggest challenge was finding the self-confidence to actually make the leap into starting my own business.  I knew how to do bookkeeping but had no idea how to manage clients.  I was worried about finding the right systems to keep track of all the work and possibly missing important remittances and deadlines.  To overcome this, I ended up subcontracting for a bookkeeper for a year and learned many tricks and tips from her.  It was a good educational experience for me and gave me a huge shot of confidence.
 
How long did it take you to get enough clients so that you were working full time?

This is tricky because I’d had clients off and on for years before I finally decided to venture out on my own full time.  I’d say from the time I finally decided that I wanted to do this full time to when I actually did, was about eight months.  During this time I gradually reduced my hours at my job.

Do you have any “secret” tips, tricks or techniques that you can share with us that very few people know about that will give us an edge?

I don’t know if this is much of a “secret”, but a trick I use consistently is to setup as many recurring transactions as possible in each client’s accounting data.  I do this for bank charges, monthly debit charges that appear monthly on bank statements, vendor invoices and even for deposits.  Once I’ve figured out where something should be posted to, I don’t want to have to look up the account number every time I post.  This saves a ton of time and keeps me posting consistently to the same accounts.
 
Thanks Sylvia! You shared some really great information and insights with us!

Sylvia told me that she loves to help others get started in this business because she knows how rewarding it can be. In fact, I found out that that is the very reason she has actually written her own ebook on how to start your own bookkeeping business. It’s called, appropriately, “Secrets to Starting & Running Your Own Bookkeeping Business”

I’ve read her book and I can recommend it to anyone who is looking for a systematized way to handle the business. As you can tell from the interview, that’s a key point to what has made Sylvia’s business so successful. She’s developed and proven her techniques. I’m glad to have her ebook in my virtual library because I’m always looking to improve by watching others who are doing well (just like I did when skiing!). Would you benefit by doing that too?

Check out Sylvia’s book here———> Click Here!

So, what did you like best about the interview? What insights did you pick up from Sylvia’s experience? Did she say anything that raised questions for you? Let’s hear about it from you!

Share your comments right here on the blog!

~Gabrielle

In May I shared some strategies for positioning yourself as an expert so that clients will find you. (See “How to Attract New Clients Like a Magnet.”) But you may also want to take a more direct, proactive approach to finding new clients.

One way is to send out personalized letters by good old fashioned postal mail. This was one of the most effective tactics I used when I got my business started back in 1990. Yes, it still works.

Build Your List

The most responsive recipients will be those who already know you. So the first people you write to should be family, friends, and those who currently provide services to you, such as your doctors, insurance agent, accountant, etc.

The next best list of people to write to are those who are part of a specific industry in which you would like to specialize.

What types of businesses are you already familiar with? Are there any clubs or associations for that industry? If so, you may be able to purchase a list of their members in your area to whom you could announce your services.

If your specialty is not very narrow, you may also be able to do a mailing to a list of members for your local chamber of commerce or other business organization. If you are a member, you can position yourself as reaching out to fellow members, and even offer them a special one-time deal.

The purpose of your letter is to get the attention of business owners who may need your services. The trick is to get their attention. The challenge is, you have competition. Small business owners are constantly bombarded with sales messages.

So how can you rise above the “noise” and get your audience’s attention long enough for them to reocognize the benefits you offer?

Write a Compelling Letter

When composing your letter of introduction, be aware that the receipient is looking for what matters most to him or her. The question they are asking themselves is, “What’s In It For Me?” (also known as WIIFM).

Don’t make the same mistake 95% of the bookkeepers I’ve seen make when attempting to market their services. Don’t talk just about yourself! Your prospect doesn’t really care about you. Sorry. What they care about most are the benefits you have to offer them and their business.

Here are some important points to keep in mind when figuring out what to write in your letter of introduction:

Point #1 - Your letter must focus on the big benefits your prospect gets for working with you. This is made more powerful if you offer something of value that isn’t available with just any bookkeeper. (This is one reason specializing can give you an edge with a targeted audience.)

Point #2 - Let them know that you feel their pain. Usually the reason your prospects know they need your help is because they are experiencing some type of problem that’s hurting their business. Maybe they are getting slapped with a big, unexpected tax bill because they haven’t done their books until their tax returns are due. (For corporations who filed an extension, that’s September 15th, and for most others, it’s October 15th.)

You can use this common situation to demonstrate how your services will save them from the need to ever feel that pain again.

Point #3 - Keep the letter to one page with a clear call to action. Most business owners are short on time, so they will want to get through your message quickly. Use bullets and short sentences, and bold the most important points. Make it clear what they need to do next. Tell them to call you or email you to get the benefits they want.

The Fortune Is in the Follow Up

Sending out just one mailing will not fill your business with new clients. To get the most reward for your marketing efforts, you must follow up.

Repeat your mailing at least three times, a month or two apart. You can use the same letter, or write a few different versions. In either case, your name and what you have to offer will start to become more familiar to your prospects. This alone, over time, will yield results.

For the fastest response, pick up the phone. If you follow up your letter with a friendly phone call a week later, you will immediately distinguish yourself as a serious professional. More often than not, these calls will turn out to be surprisingly positive.

And there’s no need to worry. When calling prospects, no hard selling is necessary. Just a brief call to confirm that they received your letter, to answer any questions they may have, and to see if they, or someone they know, are in need of your services. Quick, friendly and to the point.

When it comes to getting new clients quickly, being proactive pays off.

The fact is, there is a huge number of small businesses truly in desperate need of help with their bookkeeping. When you focus on the very real value you have to offer your prospective clients, you will not only get their attention but, very likely, their business too.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR OWN BLOG OR E-ZINE? You have permission to re-publish it, as long as you include the following author’s bio and link:

Gabrielle Fontaine, PB is a freelance Professional Bookkeeper and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She also publishes an interactive blog especially for bookkeepers who are ready to break free and run their own home-based bookkeeping service. Get more information at http://TheFreelanceBookkeeper.com

If you succeed and prosper with your business, you are part of a very exclusive club indeed. That’s because far and away the majority of all small businesses fail. We’ve all heard the bleak statistics.

But why do so many fail so miserably?

Often it’s because when success isn’t realized as quickly and as easily as expected, most would-be entrepreneurs just throw in the towel and give up. They conclude that they just can’t do it.

But is there a secret key to running a successful small business that most everyone is missing? And do you need that key to start a profitable freelance bookkeeping business as well? Yes, there is, and yes, you do.

Since I started writing articles like this one, more than a few people have approached me for advice on going freelance. In fact, just this week I was chatting with a CPA who has been working closely with many small businesses for over 10 years. He’s seen firsthand those that have succeeded and those that have failed. A few weeks ago he resigned from his job. He’s decided to start his own accounting practice.

But there’s a problem.

He confided that now he is quite worried about his plan. In fact, he told me that if a high-paying offer from another employer should happen to fall into his lap, he’ll immediately abandon his entrepreneurial aspirations.

I have serious doubts about whether he’s got what it takes to make it in his own business.

And then there’s the case of a young woman who has a good business sense who used to call me periodically for advice on setting up her freelance bookkeeping service. Not long ago, she missed our telephone appointment. I haven’t heard from her since. On that call she was supposed to have come up with her own version of a client contract that she would use in her new business, based on some guidance I had given her.

It seems that she may be missing the key as well.

I could go on with many more real life examples, but I bet you’d rather know exactly what this key is, and more importantly, figure out whether you’ve got it or not!

The key is positive, proactive persistence.

Back in 2005, an article in Psychology Today stated, “Psychologists have found that the ability to persist in the face of obstacles is at least as important a factor in success as is talent.” 

Chew on that for a minute.

Habit #1 in Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is, “Be Proactive.”

And the power of positive expectations has been studied and documented in medicine as well as education, time and time again. They are known as the Pygmalion effect and the Placebo effect.

Is it any wonder that the combination of a positive, proactive persistence in the building of your business just might make a significant difference when it comes to your success?

Persistence is extremely important when you work for yourself. You must take the initiative to keep the billable work coming in to pay the expenses. The ability to persist with positive expectations in the face of obstacles when the going suddenly gets bumpy will serve you far better than an alphabet of academic designations strung after your name ever will.

Calvin Coolidge really hit the nail on the head when he said…

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

So what does all this mean for you and your freelance bookkeeping service?

It doesn’t take any special genius or talent to succeed. You might want to learn the technical skills involved in doing the bookkeeping work. But then again, that’s not absolutely necessary. You could instead, hire someone else who’s far more skilled than you are at doing the billable work, if you want. It’s really not the technical skills of bookkeeping that will make your business prosper.

It’s your determination to use the true key to success: Positive, proactive persistence. If you do, sooner or later you will reach your goals.

It’s “sooner or later” because you will also make mistakes along the way. There’s no doubt about that. You’ll face many problems too. You may even need to work much longer and harder than you ever imagined necessary. But if you refuse to give up, if you proactively keep paying attention to what’s working and expect success, you WILL make it.

Be determined to do it and don’t give up!

A line from the song that has become the theme for my own business success is from ”Icarus Ascending” by Dan Fogelberg. The line is…

“There is a gamble in each proud act of flight,
but the losses pale before the winnings.”

I truly believe this, when it comes to taking your business to the next level. If you do too, then be determined to always use the key to success to reach your goals–positive, proactive persistence–and it will unlock the door to winnings for you as a freelance bookkeeper.

Now you know the secret.  So the next question is, what are you going to DO about it?

***Special Resource***

This neat little video (created by my favorite business mentor, Jim Edwards) reminds me why I went into business in the first place. It’s truly inspiring. You will also see the tool I now use to put positive, proactive persistence into action in my business every day. Enjoy!—->Watch Video Now

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR OWN BLOG OR E-ZINE? You have permission to re-publish it, as long as you include the following author’s bio and link:

Gabrielle Fontaine, PB is a freelance Professional Bookkeeper and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She also publishes an interactive blog especially for bookkeepers who are ready to break free and run their own home-based bookkeeping service. Get more information at http://TheFreelanceBookkeeper.com

Your website serves as your virtual business card. Without one, prospective clients may wonder how serious you are about your business. Even if you only plan to serve clients within your local area, I highly recommend that you consider putting up a website as soon as possible.

If I had it to do all over again, knowing what I know now, this is exactly what I would do, immediately upon opening the doors to my bookkeeping business. I’d do it by using a WordPress blog as my main website.

WordPress is the best kept secret for a fast, easy, and cheap online presence that can give you a great looking site in less than an hour. No kidding!

For the price of a Web hosting account (at the moment, less than $5 a month!), you can have a do-it-yourself website. And you don’t need the technical abilities of a programmer to do it either.

In fact, this site that you’re reading right now is a WordPress blog. And believe me, I really didn’t know what I was doing when I created it. I’m using The Freelance Bookkeeper site as a traditional blog (online newsletter/interactive web log), but the WordPress software has since been improved so much that you can now use blogs very effectively as your complete business website.

Some of the advantages of using a WordPress blog over static HTML pages are:

1. It’s like an entire website in a box, using pre-made designs called themes, and there are zillions of them available for free. You can also change the colors and design of your website instantly, whenever you want, with just a few clicks.
2. You can add and update existing pages without the need for special technical skills or software, and the navigation and organization of the information on your website is updated automatically for you.
3. It’s an all-in-one solution. You can do everything a traditional Web page does AND have your own online newsletter to help your prospective clients get to know, like, and trust you, as well as highlight the services you offer, all on the same site.
4. They pull more traffic. If you update your website regularly, the search engines will send you traffic faster than a regular website. They just LOVE WordPress blogs.
5. They are easy to customize. If you want special features added to your site, you’ll find many, many mini-programs that can enhance and add functionality to your site, most of which are free or inexpensive. These are known as plug-ins and widgets.

Are you convinced yet that a WordPress blog is a great idea for creating your business website?

If so, I’ll bet you’re wondering how to do it, huh?

Here’s everything you need to put up your WordPress blog as your business website quickly:

A domain name and a hosting account. That’s it!

You can buy them separately if you like. Or, if you use the hosting company I use, you can get your (first) domain name registered free when you open a new account. I use and highly recommend Lunar Pages because they have great customer service, they’re reliable, and they offer a lot of what I need for the price. I’ve used them for several years now and have been very pleased with the results.

But if you’d rather shop around, be sure the hosting company you choose uses a C-Panel interface with Fantastico (which is where the WordPress software is available for free, along with many other free programs).

You can also get WordPress software free by downloading it from WordPress.org. However, unless you are somewhat of a techie, I suggest you use Fantastico, because it is the simplest way to set-up and install the blog on your hosting account. It takes only a few clicks. Fantastico will also notify you and help you install software upgrades when they become available.

You could also get a blog without the need for a hosting account by using WordPress.com, where they will host your blog for you. But I don’t recommend that. It makes you look less professional and gives you less control over your website. They have also been known to deactivate blogs without warning.

If you want specific guidance in the nuts-and-bolts of putting together your blog site, you can also find free video tutorials by simply typing “WordPress tutorial” in Google. WordPress is extremely popular, and tons of free support is available so that you can be up and running with your blog very quickly.

So what are you waiting for? Get your website up this week and hang out your virtual shingle for your freelance bookkeeping business.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR OWN BLOG OR E-ZINE? You have permission to re-publish it, as long as you include the following author’s bio and link:

Gabrielle Fontaine, PB is a freelance Professional Bookkeeper and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She also publishes an interactive blog especially for bookkeepers who are ready to break free and run their own home-based bookkeeping service. Get more information at http://TheFreelanceBookkeeper.com

“Start your own business and be your own boss!”

“Why work for someone else when the sky’s the limit for your income in your own business?”

“Roll out of bed whenever you want to, and commute to your home office in your pajamas.”

Sounds tempting. But can you really believe these promises?

The truth? Yes and no.

You can have these things, but there’s a little more to it than meets the eye.

Certainly you ARE your own boss when you go freelance. But that also means that nothing gets done unless you do it yourself or hire someone else to do it. Not a bad thing, since you don’t have to answer to anyone and you get to design everything about your business just the way you want it. However, you are also responsible to do far more than just the billable work for your clients!

You get to do the marketing to pull in the clients. You get to take care of all the administrative work to set up and run your business. And you get to do all the strategic planning and decision making to guide your business to success.

Bottom line: You take on a lot more responsibility when you start your own business. So you really should get paid more! But guess who decides how much you’ll get paid?

As far as your income potential, yes, the sky is the limit in that you are not locked into a pay scale dictated by someone else. But how much you actually earn will really depend on how you set up your business.

Will you be charging by the hour? Will you be the only one working in your company? Will you hire subcontractors or even employees? The reality in a service business is, when you’re trading time for money and that is your only source of revenue, there are very real capacity limits. That, in turn, limits how much you can make. After all, there are just so many hours in a day.

This is where planning will make a BIG difference. You must be clear on your expectations of how many hours you will be working, what the market will bear, and how you will generate your revenue.

What about working in your pajamas? You can if you want to. You’re the boss, remember? But will you? Again, that will depend on how you set up your business and the ways you will work with your clients.

If you will be working on a virtual basis - meaning only through the Internet - then sure, you can work in your pajamas and your clients will never be the wiser. But if you plan on meeting your clients face to face or working at their offices to do their bookkeeping, you will likely need to keep normal business hours and wear business casual attire.

So can you believe the big benefits of working in your own freelance business? Absolutely. But it comes down to being very clear on what you want your business to be like and what you’re willing to DO to make it happen.

Here’s my short list of the skills I think are absolutely necessary if you’re serious about starting a successful freelance bookkeeping business, based on my own experience over the past 18 years. (Oh my, has it really been that long?)
 

1. You must be proactive and willing to take the initiative to get the results you want in your business. No one will do it for you.
    
2. You must expect that a steady, paycheck-like income is not guaranteed, and plan accordingly. Especially in the beginning. 
    
3. You must be willing to learn new skills on a regular basis. In QuickBooks software alone, there are new features to learn each year, as well as other technology that you must be willing to keep up with on an ongoing basis. 
    
4. You must be willing to do what it takes to get results. It’s not about the hours you put in, like it was when you were an employee. You must stay focused on results and priorities all the time. That’s what it means to work smarter, not harder. 
    
5. You must be tenacious! Stick with it long enough to get results, and don’t give up easily. Accept that you will make mistakes. Learn from them and do what works. That’s how you build a solid business. 
    
6. You must be able to keep your business and your personal life separate. Working all the time will cause you to burn out. But playing when you should be working will put you out of business. Find a schedule that works for both parts of your life, and stick to it.
    

So is it really worth it to work freelance? Personally, I wouldn’t do it any other way. For me, it’s all about freedom. I get to call the shots AND do all the work to have that privilege.

If you’re willing to do what it really takes to be your own boss, then maybe becoming a freelance bookkeeper is the right choice for you too. It all depends on what you want your business (and your life) to be like, and what you’re willing to do to get it.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR OWN BLOG OR E-ZINE? You have permission to re-publish it, as long as you include the following author’s bio and link:

Gabrielle Fontaine, PB is a freelance Professional Bookkeeper and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She also publishes an interactive blog especially for bookkeepers who are ready to break free and run their own home-based bookkeeping service. Get more information at http://www.TheFreelanceBookkeeper.com

You can position yourself as an invaluable resource to assist these businesses to not only save money, but maximize their profits - for free.

Because so many small businesses do not keep good financial records, you can demonstrate to them how cleaning up their books can actually help them to save money. One way to demonstrate this is by giving them a free article or tips sheet.

For example, you could explain how to review financial records to find ways to save on overhead. Your goal is to educate them on how they can use up-to-date reports to manage their business more profitably. If their records are not in good shape, your free information may prompt them to turn to you as the expert for help to get their financial records in order.

You can also offer to give a free one-hour consultation so you can demonstrate the value of hiring a freelance bookkeeper so that they can spend their valuable time on doing revenue-producing activities. So many small business owners need to learn that it is just not a good use of their time to be keeping their own books. They save money in the long run by hiring you to do it for them on a regular basis.

If you are a member of your local Chamber of Commerce, consider putting on a mini-class about good record keeping practices for small business owners. This too will position you as an expert and attract new clients. Visibility in your business community will go a long way towards building your credibility and your client base.

The basic idea here is to give your market - small business owners - a reason to look to you as the expert by taking the initiative to start a relationship with them. A great way to build trust is by offering something of value for free. If they like what you have to offer, they will be more inclined to come to you for help when they need it most.

The old saying is definitely true: People do business with people they know, like and trust. Start building relationships with new client prospects by giving them something of value for free.

So what will you give away that will work as your new client magnet?

~Gabrielle

Your answer will likely depend on your budget and the ultimate goals you have for your business.

There are actually more than three choices, when you are talking the working space of a freelance bookkeeper. You could set up your business in your home (a spare bedroom or finished basement can be ideal). You could rent commercial office space. Or you could even work at your clients’ locations.

What’s most important in making the decision about where you will work (at the risk of sounding like a broken record), is that you should be very clear on how it will affect your ultimate business goals. What will your business be like when it is running exactly the way you want it to be?

• Will you want to be home for the kids?
• Will clients be meeting you in your office?
• Will you hire employees?
• Are you self-disciplined with your time?

Questions like these will help you to determine where your working space should untimately be located. Even if you want to, but can’t afford moving into a commercial office right now, it is important to stay focused on where your final business destination will be (whether commercial space or not) so you can keep your operations progressing forward consistently toward your goals.

In my own business history, I’ve worked from a home office. I’ve also worked at my clients’ offices. And yes, I’ve even had a rented Main Street commercial office space complete with employees. Reality is, nothing is perfect. Each situation has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

For my current business goals, I prefer to work in a home office. But to help you make the best decision for your own freelance bookkeeping business, I’ve outlined some of the most obvious advantages and disadvantages of each working situation below.

Home-based Office

• Advantages:
  • No commute
  • Flexible hours / available for family
  • Low overhead
• Disadvantages: 
  • Clients may not perceive you as professional / expect lower rates
  • Clients will call and/or show up at your home 24/7
  • Family may not respect your work space, privacy or hours
  • You must be self-disciplined to use your time effectively
  • You may feel lonely working isolated from others
  • Laws may prevent you from hiring employees to work in your home
             

Commercial Office

• Advantages:
  • Clients immediately perceive you as a “real” business / professional
  • You work normal business hours
  • You can hire employees
  • Better visibility and credibility in the business community
• Disadvantages:
  • Substantial overhead
  • Walk-in clients, salesmen, and/or people looking for a job
              

Working On-Site in Your Clients’ Offices

• Advantages:
  • Very low overhead
  • Keeps you on a schedule
• Disadvantages:
  • Clients may expect to pay you the same hourly rate as an employee
    (without the benefits)
  • Always working on others’ computers not your own
  • Client may ask you to do extra work on the spot, free of charge
  • Travel may reduce your productive / billable time
             

Visualize each working environment ”package deal” of pros and cons, as it relates to your business situation, and then make your choice. Your wants and needs are unique to you. Advantages to one person may turn out to be disadvantages to another person. Go with what will fit best with your specific goals and ultimately manifest the “ideal business situation” for your bookkeeping service. Remember, you’re the boss!

As Stephen Covey recommends in his classic book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind” and you will be well on your way to moving your business in the direction of your dreams.

After you’ve made your decision, I’d love to hear about it! 

What advantages and disadvantages can you see that will affect whether you work in a home based, office based or clients’ office working situation? 

By comparing notes we can all benefit from the experience and resulting synergy! Add your comments below.

Happy freelancing!

~Gabrielle

Yep, it’s tax season! Many small businesses are still scrambling to get their 2007 books in order so they can have their tax returns prepared on time. Those who have not been keeping up with their bookkeeping records know time is quickly running out.

Most corporate tax returns are due on March 17th, and sole proprietorships (Schedule C filers) are due with the personal tax returns on April 15th.

The crunch is here and many small businesses owners realize they are in desperate need of help, and they need it fast.

Small CPA firms are also feeling the pain. They are loaded down with clients who show up at their doorsteps with shopping bags full of a year’s worth of receipts. These need to be tediously sorted out and assembled into some kind of decipherable records. There’s just no other way to get the taxes done. They hate the pressure of doing that kind of time-consuming work, especially now. That’s why CPAs generally charge their clients through the nose for the aggravation.

Enter freelance bookkeeper.

Even bookkeepers with only basic skills can suddenly seem like a god-send to both small business owners and CPA firms this time of year. You simply need to let them know you are available to help.

So how do you find these hungry clients who need your services? Two ways. First, be where they can easily find you, and second, use the direct approach to get their attention.

Let’s take the second approach first. One of the most effective ways to quickly get all the work you can handle with minimum effort is to contact all the small and solo CPA firms in your area.

Because of the season, do not attempt to make your first contact with a phone call. They are so busy that if you are out of sight, you will be out of mind as soon as the phone call ends. Better to go by their office in person, preferably first thing in the morning when it is the quietest, and drop off your business card.

If one of the CPAs is available to speak with you, get right to the point and focus on how you can help him or her with their overload bookkeeping work. Do not take more than 10 minutes of their time! You will know very quickly if they want your help or not.

A word of caution here. If you also have tax experience, do not mention it unless that would be helpful to the situation. You do not want the CPA to feel vulnerable, worried that you will steal his/her tax clients away. Instead, let them know you are on their side, ready to support them and make this crazy time of year easier on them.

On the other hand, if no one is available to speak with you when you arrive, simply leave your business card, along with a pre-written, professional letter explaining the reason why you dropped by - what you would have said in person. You can then follow that up with a phone call the next day. Again, try to call at a time when it is most likely quiet, either first thing in the morning or shortly after normal business hours.

Building alliances with CPAs will be one of the best ways you can grow your business quickly and get top-rate experience. And of course, if they are pleased with your work, you will likely continue getting work from them after the primary tax season has ended. Remember, many, many businesses go on extension and won’t actually file their tax returns until September or October. CPAs are also a great source of referrals, once a relationship has been established.

Additionally, if you want to work with your own clients individually, they are also very easy to find this time of year. Some no-cost ways to get them to contact you is to post your services at the public bulletin board at the supermarket, coffee shop or library.

If you are a member of your local Chamber of Commerce or other business organization, give the executive director a call and let her know you are available to help the members of the organization to get their books in order. Offer to drop off a short stack of your business cards that she can use to make referrals.

And of course, be sure to post a free add for your services online at Craig’s List. You’ll also want to keep an eye on the ads for those who are seeking a part-time bookkeeper. It’s amazing the amount of local business you can get immediately from this well-known, free resource.

The clock is ticking! There’s really no better time to jump in and get your feet wet with your first few clients than right now. Take at least one of the above suggested actions this week. Because as they say, timing is everything!

~Gabrielle

One of the biggest problems I see many new bookkeepers and consultants make (yes, I made this mistake myself too!) is to set their rates too low. Do not undervalue the benefits you provide others! If you don’t value what you do, neither will your clients. You will also damage your credibility in your clients’ eyes.

The first step in learning how much you SHOULD be charging for your expertise is to see what others are doing. You DO NOT want to set your rates below your colleagues. If you feel you need more experience, go ahead and set your rates closer to the lowest rates they are charging, but not at the bottom. As your confidence builds, you should raise your rates. So that means your rates should be going up at least once per year.

As a guide to follow and get your bearing on what other successful freelance bookkeepers and QuickBooks consultants are charging for their services, here are two recent national surveys that you should take some time studying.

Intuit 2007 Rate Survey

NACPB National Survey

By reviewing these real world results, you will not only get a good idea about how much you can charge for your services, but also zero in on the profit centers you would like to develop and specialize in as you grow your business.

I’ll look forward to hearing your comments about how you are doing in setting your own rates, or raising them as the need may be.

When it comes to your fees, the best way I’ve found to know if you’re charging enough is to just go ahead and raise your rates, and then see if anyone complains. If no one is complaining, your fees are not yet high enough!!

And the best part is that when you charge just a little bit more than you really feel like you “should,” the clients you attract will be the kind who highly value what you do and are the easiest to work with. I’ve done this many times in my own business, and despite the fear of losing clients that is always there, it just doesn’t happen. The only clients you ever lose are the price shoppers who are the hardest clients to work with and don’t pay on time or value your services anyway.

So again, think long and hard about how you want your business to succeed, the kind of clients you want to serve, then set your rates (fearlessly) in line with your intended outcome.