I have thought on and off about starting my own tax business but I worry I won't be able to get clients. I'd love to be completely remote and to communicate with clients strictly through email but I can't see people finding a stranger online and trusting them with their tax info without ever meeting or having a office or anything. I think to make it work completely remotely I would have to know people and be good at networking which is not the case. Otherwise I feel like I would need an office and phone number so that people could come in and meet me and talk to me so they know I'm for real and not just an internet scam.
Am I right about this or is it possible to start a tax business and be successful just finding clients online? How do most people get their clients?
Is having a successful tax business more about social skills and networking or being good at taxes?
byu/Working_On_Tax_Stuff intax
Posted by Working_On_Tax_Stuff
14 Comments
Most of my success has been from personality and not my ability. Most clients don’t know anything so they will trust you. I’m 10000% sure I don’t know tax law like many on this forum, but I have enough work coming in my door I can’t keep up.
Almost every successful business is more about social skills.
When I first opened my practice in 2009, I advertised in small professional publications. I didn’t receive many inquiries from the ads, and the ones that I did receive weren’t good. Nearly every one of my clients came from word-of-mouth, or people who saw me being interviewed on YouTube. So my experience has been that traditional advertising didn’t work for me.
It’s hard to determine who is “good”, “great”, or “best” at taxes, especially to the normal everyday person who knows basically nothing about taxes. So someone who is good at doing taxes and is very good socially is going to have a lot more success than someone who is amazing at taxes but only mediocre social skills. The clients don’t know the difference, they just know that one guy is more likeable and connected
All business is social skills.
Client service is a big part of it. I’ve picked up a bunch of clients that leave their former CPA because “they never answer the phone and take 2 weeks to reply to emails”
That said, you should have a very strong technical skillset if you’re going to prepare taxes and offer tax advice for a living
I am completely remote and don’t have issues getting clients. The first few clients are the hardest but then referrals will pick up
I’m virtual. I have a small online presence with a website and a google business profile with a handful of 5 star reviews. I use a local shared office space where I maintain a virtual office so my google profile shows a commercial building and not my residence. I can rent an office by the hour and meet clients at this location if needed, however I basically refuse anyone who will not work virtually with me. It helps to bring me the right kind of clients and not some paper dinosaurs or technology challenged individuals.
Social skills, being good at getting 80% of your business through 20% of your clients, and being very good at convincing them that your tax skills are top notch.
Do you golf? Just get high end clients and do a good job.
if you want to seperate yourself learn tax law and strategy offer services to really help people. word of mouth will always be the best advertising.
Good at taxes. Helping others get the most back at an affordable rate. Well to me that’s what I look for lol. Both I’m sure helps.
It depends
Someone like you does my taxes for me. Works for a local CPA. I don’t know how remote the job is. They’re open 48 hours a week and when you walk in a bell dings an either of the two employees is in and comes to the counter and puts my paperwork in a file or passes me my paperwork and has me sign an e file form. My taxes usually aren’t technical so I doubt the CPA does them. Maybe they split those office hours.
When it comes to business, definitely the social skills and networking or in other words, marketing and sales. There are all different marketing strategies you can have:
* post on social media about educational content on tax and your business to build an audience base of potential clients (X, tiktok, linkedin, facebook, depending on your target client)
* Run ads (google, facebook, reddit, local radio program)
* Go to events where your potential clients will join