What do you think of my new business idea - all feedback welcome

dharm999

We, myself and OH, are both qualified accountants, with nearly 40 yrs experience between us. We are looking at setting up a day to day accounting and management accounting service for companies of a certain size- those too small to be able to afford to employ someone full time, but too large so they need to produce accounts regulalrly (to manage the business, for the bank, etc..). We were thinking that in the current economic climate companies may be looking to cut back on thier costs, but also in need of quality financial information to enable them to manage their business better. We would do the day to day accounting, and produce management accounts each month, or less frequently but as required. These would include the key financial reports; profit & loss, cash flow, balance sheet, and also any other reports the client needs, e.g. product profitability.

Any thoughts on this idea are welcome.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

YEOVILGOM

I can only speak from experience and say - go for it!

It sounds like we would be targeting the same businesses albeit offering a different service. I offer a professional credit control service for businesses which are too small to employ their own but too big to ignore this important role.

There is definite demand for quality management financial information for this sort of size business - good luck with it!

ukbill69

Yer sounds good, go for it. If you can afford to do it then give it ago.

flossy_splodge

dharm999 wrote: »

We, myself and OH, are both qualified accountants, with nearly 40 yrs experience between us. We are looking at setting up a day to day accounting and management accounting service for companies of a certain size- those too small to be able to afford to employ someone full time, but too large so they need to produce accounts regulalrly (to manage the business, for the bank, etc..). We were thinking that in the current economic climate companies may be looking to cut back on thier costs, but also in need of quality financial information to enable them to manage their business better. We would do the day to day accounting, and produce management accounts each month, or less frequently but as required. These would include the key financial reports; profit & loss, cash flow, balance sheet, and also any other reports the client needs, e.g. product profitability.

Any thoughts on this idea are welcome.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

I think all initiative is to be encouraged so forgive me if I ask, isn't this already the service that bookeepers offer?
Have you got a 'usp' that will make companies want to come to you rather than a bookeeper?
And presumably you will want to charge more as qualified accountants than a qualified bookeeper would?
Good luck anyway.:T

chickmug

flossy_splodge wrote: »

And presumably you will want to charge more as qualified accountants than a qualified bookeeper would?

As far as I am concerned a significant proportion of book keepers DO NOT know what they are doing. I speak from experience of having dealt with accounts for many years on behalf of clients selling businesses. The times an accountant has urgently been sought to get the accounts into a presentable state for selling the business after the mess left by a bad book keeper.

Not all book keepers and I have dealt with the odd dodgy accountant to balance my view.

GoToGal

Sounds interesting and it's a service I would be interested in myself.

chickmug

To the OP I say go for it.

I have used (and dealt with loads of) accountants over the years and am not keen on the bigger ones as they have a knack of making me feel my business/es are not that big or exciting.

So I use the smaller ones but try and avoid one man bands as they are a nightmare if they are off sick or on holiday. The size you are talking about would of suited me just fine.

lisa76

Presumably you will be based at home so overheads are minimal, and you will not need stock etc, so as someone else said, if you can afford it - GO FOR IT!!! Good luck and if you need advice people on here are so helpful - don't be afraid to ask!

dharm999

Thank you to all that have replied. We are surprised by the positive response, and encouraged to give it a go.

Flossy_splodge - in my experience, book keepers are good at the day to day accounting, but not so good at the translation of that data into meaningful management information. Some are good at that but the majority aren't. In terms of a usp, I guess it comes down to offering a value for money service that, we believe, isnt widely available at the moment. We would be more expensive than a book keeper but we would, hopefully, be able to provide more value for that extra cost.

Chickmug - as you say being small will allow us to offer a much more personal service than the larger companies are able to. The idea would be to help them grow, and as they grow, the service they need from us would also grow. Of course there will come a point where they are big enough to have someone full time, and at that point in time the service we would offer would become far less hands on. I see us still helping but in an advisory capacity, e.g. looking over proposals if they want a second opinion, maybe even sitting in on their management/board meetings to challenge the business - I guess acting as a non executive director, of sorts.

GoToGal - you could be our first client! If you are Ok with it, may I PM you, to understand exactly what kind of services it is you need?

Thanks again to all of you who have responded. It looks as if we will go for it. Next question is how to market our service? We are looking at joining the local chamber of commerce, as well as sending a mailshot to local smallish accountancy firms, who may have clients that need our service. Any other ideas?

Ballymackeonan

I set up my business offering similar services 15 years ago, and it's still going strong! My initial (and only) marketing was a mailshot to local accountants who knew my work. Everything since has been by referral.

But, like any business, I've had the opportunity to develop it in different areas. The first big contract I had (as a result of that first mailshot) was covering a maternity leave for the financial accountant at head office of a major local DIY chain - I was able to do this part-time, while developing the business, and has led to a continuing business relationship. And I got a lot of work sorting out messes caused by bad book-keepers (those who had possibly had Sage training but no knowledge of book-keeping principles...)

Networking is vital to this type of business, so definitely the Chamber of Commerce. How about your local Business Link? And coonsider becoming a Princes Trust mentor - they're always looking for people with your level of expertise!

inmypocketnottheirs

Have a look at https://www.crunch.co.uk.