Bookkeeping is one of the most lucrative business in todays world as the number of small business, freelancers, startups, entrepreneur have increased tremendously & trust me everyone needs a bookkeeper or an accountant to manage their books & prepare their taxes so that they can focus on the work, passion or business.
Lets discuss about starting a bookkeeping business but lets first see the benefits of a bookkeeping business.
1 Easy to setup – One can start a bookkeeping business with very limited tools, resources & can be setup 5 days with minimal investment.
2: Remote/digital work – One can run this business remotely without physically being present at clients office or without being stuck at one place . Perfect example of globalization.
3: No inventory required – Even in some digital business like ecommerce you have to deal with physical inventory keeping you stuck at one place, but with Bookkeeping as a business model its totally digital. A great way to do business on the move. Perfect example of digitalization.
4: No office required – One can start this business right from home or garage just like Google, Amazon or Microsoft did in the past.
“Good to know information” before starting a bookkeeping business.
Online presence: No matter what business are you doing online presence is a must in todays digital world, Having a account on facebooks, linkedIn, fiverr, freelance etc are not considered as online presence when it comes to Business. If you have a business or planning to start one, you should have a website to showcase their service or product to the entire world.
Manpower: Keep in mind that you may get overloaded with work anytime so be prepared for it & keep some names in mind who you think will be able to assist you or join your business. Also keep a list of vendors ready as a backup option.
Registering a company : A company without any legal paper is not considered as a company & more like a freelancer therefore registering a company is a great way to start. if you are outside US & want to register a Company in US then you can contact us & we can help you to register your company in United States as LLC or C-corp.
Marketing : Marketing is the most crucial job when it comes to selling your service or product because sales is the backbone of every company. Most of the company’s spent 40-50% of their revenue in marketing so understand the importance of marketing. For startups & small business owners there are various tool to market their product themselves so try those tools or hire a freelancer before hiring an employee because that would increase your business expense. Fiverr for Business is a great place to find some really talented freelancers who can help you to get started.
Now that you have the basic understanding lets see how its done step by Step.
Step – 1 – Planning your business.
Think of a good name for your business & create some basic online presence of it like facebook page, twitter handle, Instagram, youtube channel & most important, a business website & email address. To create a website check wix, hostinger, godaddy etc etc however shopify is the most powerful tool to sell online, most people think that shopify is for ecommerce business owners but that’s not true, one can also run a bookkeeping business/website through Shopify & sell service, membership, digital downloads and many more. Once done with website and social media handle you have successfully completed the starting phase of your business. Periodically keep sharing contents on your social media to create an awareness about your brand.
Step – 2 – Getting Prepared.
Register your business if you are really serious about your business & want to run it for a long time in a legitimate way. Get in touch with a registered agent from your city to get the work done & if you are outside united states then contact us & we can help you to form an LLC or C-Corp in USA without being physically present.
Step – 3 – Payment solution.
Running a online or digital business also requires you to have a payment gateway so that the transaction of money can happens smoothly & globally. Now there are various payment gateway you can opt for depending on your country but some of the most common one used worldwide are Paypal, Paymo, Veem, payoneer, 2checkout, Shopify Payments etc etc. Check out the different option & signup for the one which suits you & your business the best.
Step – 4 – A – Tools for your business.
Picking the right tools to run your business can be tedious, confusing and if not chosen correctly it can increase your office expense tremendously creating confusions. The best practice would be to have less tools so that its easier to manage the entire business. Mentioned below are some of the basic tools every bookkeeper or accounting firm would require.
File Sharing tool, E-sign tool, Screen Sharing tool, Marketing tool, Content creating tool, Some business might also require Team/employee management tool, Customer management tool, Sounds simple but can tedious & time consuming job. Every business model is different therefore first identify the resources that you require to run your business and pick one CRM which will fulfills all your business needs. Sticking to one makes your work simple & easy with no confusion. Some of the best CRM are Pipedrive, Hubsopt, Streak for gmail. Keap, Freshdesk. Botkeeper is another great tool specially designed for bookkeepers & accountants. They all have the lability to manage as well as market your business ( let me know if you want a detailed comparison of these CRM the comment section)
B: Tools for your client
Pick the right accounting software through which you want to serve your clients. QB online, Sage, Xero, FreshBooks, are some of most popular accounting software’s widely used. You may use all these tools depending on your clients needs but sticking to one is a great way to find that specific niche for your business.
Tips for Startups.
If you are an individual, startup or sole proprietor we suggest you to outsource the basic work like logo, website, content creation to an expert because that would save you a lot of time. Fiverr, Toptal & Quickly Hire is a great place to find freelancers & once your company grown you can hire inhouse marketing experts .
Executing your plans.
Every business is different therefore execution plans should also differ. Find your own plan to execute the project however you should be creative & focused in doing so. A little market research before executing will take you a long way. If you need consultation for executing your business plan do contact us & if you have already executed then share your success story through our comment section.