Overworked and Understaffed

[Black Bart]

Yeah, well,

that line was kind of a subdued gag -- anything below triple digits really isn't so hot, especially in our racket.

[Harvey Lucas]

You guys/gals are great!

This thread was hilarious
You guys are great!
Best laugh I've had all year..

HarveyLucas

[Black Bart]

Hi Harvey,

Nice to have you back. I have noted your past contributions and am very appreciative of your insights.

Any thoughts on what Jig maybe should do about those clients that are "coming in the windows"?

[Harvey Lucas]

Thank You Black Bart

Well thank you Black Bart, that was a kind and neighborly thing to say.
And by the way, congrats on your EA.

Funny thing about Jig is that as I was reading his post I thought...hey, wait a minute, thats me?

It is as John of PA said.."your problem is your success"...but I agree with Armando Beaujolais.."You picked the best problem to have"

There is no simple solution to Jigs problem...but it is great to be in Jigs position.

I have been in the Tax Business for 25 years and have built an extremely succesfull practice..so much so that all I do is work.

I am a sole practicioner also, I have tried various solutions regarding "help" buy they all have shortcomings.

I like the fact that "the buck stops here", both in terms of the $, and also in terms of being responsible for my own work and not someone elses...I concluded years ago that I woud have to hire 3 "helpers" to duplicate the work that I could do myself....based on my observations of many practicioner friends and peers who do it "the other way", I have convinced myself that my way is better. I make and keep more $...and I do not have the stress of being responsible for someone elses mistakes.

The way I handle the overload is to simply say "no"...ie, 90% of the time, when someone calls for tax service I simply say "I am really sorry but I am not taking any new clients at the moment...you might try back in a couple of months, but right now I am completely overloaded"

At the same time, my sign is still up outside, and my small ad is still in the yellow pages...."crazy", some of you might say..."what a waste".....for awhile I thought the same thing myself....but actually, I was quite surprised about the effect that playing "hard to get" had on potential new clients.

The old clients love it....they feel special that you are in such demand that it is practically impossible for new clients to get in....and the new clients, well...they seem to respect you more if they have to beg for your help. They don't seem to whine as much about the fee, etc, etc...they are gratefull for your help.

But still, even after years of mostly saying no, my workload continues to grow, profitable yes, but still lotsa work for an ever aging cranky Tax Man.

My new solution is to simply "leave"

Well sort of.

What I plan to do is to move to a new office and only take with me the "good clients" that I want to keep and who can't live without me.

I will sell what's left of the practice that I left behind.....possibly I will advertise and hire someone for the transition period to work the old office untill it sells...quite possibly they will end up being the buyer...but at any rate, that is my plan.

So then, that is my insight for today, Sunday June 11, 2006...2 scorps, 1 ugly 1040, a run around the lake and the longest post I've ever posted.....see what happens when you tell an old tax guy that you value his opinion...enough already

HarveyLucas

[Jiggers]

Jiggers Reply

Finally reached the conclusion that if I want to cut back to reasonable hours and eliminate some of this stress is to get rid of several of my monthly clients. Will do that soon, along with one staff person and the related overhead.

And, I haven't backed down from clients that want me to make an exception to keep them.

I will keep a handful of monthly clients where I can devote more reasonable time and lots of tax returns that I normally enjoy doing.

In November I plan on "firing" some of those troublesome tax return clients that are P*I*T*A's and not worth the hastle.

Great to be in that position, financially. Will be a great reduction in income, but coupled with the reduction in overhead, and watching my expenses, things should be alright.