How To Start A Bookkeeping Business

We received an email from Dana taking us up on our offer to help her expand her bookkeeping business.

A great way to start is have a look at what most other bookkeepers are doing, and don’t copy them! If you want to know what not to do when designing flyers to attract new business for your expanding bookkeeping business, then go and look in your mail box.

The flyers were 100% successfull!

Most business owners are bombarded with “junk mail”, flyers wanting you to have your dog washed, your carpet cleaned, roof retiled. Or restaurants wanting you to dine out or have home deliveries. Real estate agents wanting you to list your property with them, or take up the offer of a “free” property valuation.

Often the price you pay for a service reflects the value of that service. So if you pay nothing for a valuation, that’s probably pretty close to what it’s worth.

Businesses are doing well if they get a response of upto 2% on flyers, so how would you feel if you got more than a 5% response? Look in your local newspaper and you’ll see bookkeepers that have paid money to “advertise” their business. Most times they seem to be little more than a “flag waving” exercise.

One businesses owner told us that he’s very happy with his little advert in the local freebie newspaper. He then added that he has been advertising in it for every week for the last two years.

Then there’s a small business down the road that spent about $1500 on designing, printing, and distributing flyers. For absolutely no response. We asked :”What did you ask people to do on your flyer?”

“What do you mean?”
- “Well, I’ve read the flyer. Now I know that you exist. But you’ve not asked me to do anything!”
“Like what?”
- “Like the fact that you’ve invested some time, effort and money into this project. I presume you want a response?”
“Yes, of course!”
-”So what response have you asked for?”
“Nothing”
-”And what response did you get?”
“None”
- “Fantastic! Your flyers were 100% successful! You got exactly the response you wanted!”
“No they weren’t! I didn’t get one response!”
-”That’s because you didn’t ask for one!”

So, Dana, if you are reading this, wondering why we asked the questions we asked following your request for guidance in producing your flyers, perhaps now you might understand.

If a bookkeeper who wants to expand a Bookkeeping Business, then take a little time to put together a strategy and you’ll find that you can have a better response to your flyers! Contact us for more details about how we can help you expand your bookkeeping business