Hi, I’m Veronica Wasek with another episode of BK Biz. How to Find Bookkeeping Clients: Will adding more services get you more bookkeeping clients?
If you’re new to bookkeeping and have just started a bookkeeping business, you’re probably thinking that adding more services will get you more bookkeeping clients. But, in my personal experience, I have seen the opposite. And, the opposite has actually worked for me.
Focus on a specific software
One of the things that I see accountants and bookkeepers do is say that they are willing work with any accounting software. But then, they only have an average level of knowledge about a multitude of accounting software programs. What I did was exactly the opposite. I decided to work specifically with QuickBooks, and in fact at one point, I was only working with QuickBooks Desktop. But, even QuickBooks has different versions (like Pro, Premier, Enterprise and QuickBooks Online). Going back and forth between QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, and QuickBooks Enterprise was hard for me. Each of these software products have different capabilities, different functionality, and so it was very hard to develop a very deep knowledge of each of these products.
A couple of years ago, I decided that I would focus only on QuickBooks Online. Then, I was able to develop a deeper knowledge of just one product, rather than trying to work with all the different versions of QuickBooks. This has allowed me to become a “sought-after” expert throughout the United States, because I know QuickBooks Online so well. I encourage you to pick one or two accounting software platforms, rather than trying to work as many as possible.
Focus on a specific industry
Next, I encourage you to focus on a few industries rather than all industries. Every industry is very different. You have services, professional services, product-based companies, Ecommerce, restaurants, medical, retail, construction, and trades. All these industries require very specific knowledge, which is different from one industry to another.
One of the things that I said was, “We’re going to focus on service-based companies rather than product-based companies or Ecommerce.” And even in service-based industries, there’s a broad set of companies. But, at least I’ve narrowed down my list to where I’m not taking on clients that don’t really fit my business model.
The issue of working with so many different industries if you’re trying to scale your bookkeeping business, is that you must have different workflows for each type of business, as well as develop a deep knowledge of each one of these industries. It can get very challenging, especially when you’re hiring employees and training employees because you must train them to work with all sorts of different types of companies and industries. Managing all that work can be very challenging because you’re customizing workflows and working with all the different apps that you would need to work on.
Don’t add more services
Another thing that accountants and bookkeepers tend to do, is to add more services. I’m a bookkeeper, but I’m not going to add tax services because my clients are asking for tax services. One of the things that I did for a time was big data migrations, where I moved data from other accounting systems into QuickBooks. Those projects were very, very challenging. Ultimately, it just got to the point where I wanted to run my business and grow it. I really can’t be taking on labor-intensive projects because they don’t fit our workflow model anymore.
Closing
Now, here’s what I would encourage you to do: Rather than thinking that you need to add more services to get more clients, just focus on a specific software. Focus on a few industries, and then focus on a few services that fit your model of doing business so that you can increase your skills. Once you get your workflows, you’ll to be able to hire and train employees, and ultimately to grow and scale your business. Finally, you’ll be able to establish yourself as the “sought-after” expert in your given area of expertise.
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