The easiest three ways for start-up Accountants to win new business

No start-up has a long and enviable client list, and only the lucky few have a list of loyal clients who will come with them and provide enough business to see them through their first year.

But everyone has to start somewhere, and if you haven’t been around for 50+ years you simply won’t be able to leverage that client list or experience.

So how do you get going?

Here are the three easiest methods that bring the most and quickest results.

1. Identify the industries where you want to do business, then set yourselves up as specialists in those areas. Obviously you’ll need to do some research and have some experience of them, but if you confidently tell everyone that you’re specialists, you will be perceived as specialists.
2. ‘Position’ your business carefully. Think of your logo as a sales tool, rather than just a basic description. Why not position yourself for the business sector you are approaching? That way prospects can see more clearly what you are doing and why they should hire you, eg ‘Smith and Jones – specialist aviation accountants’, or ‘Accountants to the aviation industry’, or ‘Accountants and Tax Consultants to the Aviation Industry’.
3. Build landing pages which are part of your website, customised to the appropriate Search terms – eg create and promote a page on ‘accountants to the aviation industry’. Then promote it hard to the aviation industry, with blogs, social media, networking, advertising etc. Everyone wants an accountant who has ‘some understanding of our business/industry/issues’, so you’ll find it much easier to get interest.

These are just three top tips to make it easier for you. I see so many start-ups whose brand is simply ‘Smith and Jones, Accountants’: they are just victims of the market, and their success will depend upon the skill and dynamism of the business development person – not an enviable position!