August 2022 marked the seventh birthday of BC Accounting Services, so to honour this, I have put together seven lessons, to mark one business lesson learned for each year.
Business Lesson One: Just start.
I had no idea what I was going to do when I was retrenched. I knew I was going to start my own accounting firm. Further to that, There was no particular plan.
Start with what you have and go for it. Don’t wait till you have it all planned out. Just start but don’t fake it till you make it either. Having a perfect plan and all the documents in a nice folder – does not help if you don’t start. If you don’t start, they don’t get used and they are wasted time and (probably) money.
Business Lesson Two: Don’t listen to the “experts”.
When I first started, I read that I should start a newsletter that went out every week. I asked an “expert” and she categorically said, don’t waste your time, it will not be worth your time.
Well, I have had at least four clients come from that newsletter and rave reviews about the content from many, any sources, clients and not. Experts have their place but don’t take the opinion of one as the golden rule. Read and then read some more, pick up tips and tricks that may work for you.
DON’T try them all! at least not all at once!
Business Lesson Three: Establish yourself as an expert
You know you are an expert, that’s why you have a business doing what you do. How does the world know you are the expert though? I am no expert in this for all industries but I know one way to become an expert in “their” eyes, is to create informative content. This, for me, is this website and the many articles on it. This may be great posts on social media or industry magazines etc.
Becoming an expert may not get you clients right away though. This is a long game and the more an expert you become, the search engines will push you further up and social will show your content more. This may get you clients but more importantly, provided that your content is set up well, people will start contacting you for advice or tips.
I receive these fairly often. They ask a few questions here and there from my website contact form. What happens next is that they contact me directly and this is where it has, in the past, led to them becoming clients.
Again, this is a long game. don’t expect to become an expert quickly and expect to keep that level for very long.
Business Lesson Four: Charge more
I cannot stress this more! I have had to learn this very hard over the years. You think you know what you are worth in terms of what you charge. Let me tell you, you don’t.
The question, “What do I charge for XYZ service?” comes up too often and the answers, although said with great intentions, are also often off target. Why? Because not many people actually the calculation it involves.
The equation is this, (time it will take) times (your hourly rate) = amount charged.
Does your hourly rate equate to a profitable service offered? Are you sure? IF so, how do you know?
Contact me to attend a webinar to learn exactly how to calculate what you should charge. Trust me, you will be shocked how much you are under charging.
Business Lesson Five: Business plans don’t work
All the “experts” say that you have to have a business plan before starting your business but that is nonsense because 1. They are often expensive and never used again. And 2. They are based on numbers that are made of hopes and dreams. They are an inaccurate reflection of your perfect world imagination of what your business will be and how it will perform.
But, you know what? I will tell you a secret, life is never perfect and things don’t go to plan and certainly does not take your plan and go with it! Not many business plans include the fact that a business makes a loss for at least the first year, maybe even two or three. I’ll tell, they don’t.
Business Lesson Six: Get online
If you have not got your business online yet, you are missing out on business. Having said that, you are never too late to start.
Let’s blame Covid-19 for the fact that everything is online but realistically, the world was heading that way anyway. The Pandemic just fast tracked the process. Many businesses have profited hugely from this by getting in early but the long term benefit will be there if they don’t get a proper strategy in place quickly.
Being online is not a short game. It’s a long term game with strategy and consistency. There are always going to be people
Business Lesson Seven: Choose your lifestyle you WANT!
This might be an obvious one but so many people believe that when you work for yourself, you have to work seventeen hours a day to get the “equivalent” lifestyle to your corporate job.
Complete nonsense!
I chose from Day One that my family comes first and that I was going to be a dad who goes to school events. I also chose to get a business only telephone so no one could interrupt my family time. I have never regretted that I chose this lifestyle. It may have limited the income I could have earned but honestly I don’t care.
Business Lesson eight: Read and know (kind of) the trends.
This is linked to lesson Two above about not listening to the experts. Read about trends and happenings in your industry, that should be obvious but also learn what is going on that could be used in your business.
Get to know what marketing strategies are working best currently.