Franchisee Testimonials
"Karl, Sarah & Phil,
I thought I would drop you a line to please pass on my sincere thanks to each and every member of the support centre.
Having just completed my 7th month of trading I have spoken with & received assistance from just about everyone, their helpful attitude & professional guidance has been superb.. To say the assistance & support received has been beyond my expectations would be a total understatement.
Myself & my staff look forward to forming stronger relationships with the team in Norwich in the future.
Every aspect of the business model is working well for me which combined with my comments above make the following results after month 7 no coincidence whatsoever:
June- Sales T/o £10800
Clients signed to date - 98
The contribution from Norwich is both highly valued & much appreciated.
Many Thanks"
Darren Tomlinson - E-mail sent to Directors
Hull
July 2011
I am a qualified Chartered Management Accountant and prior to joining TaxAssist Accountants I worked in financial and general management in various industries in Northern Ireland. These included manufacturing (cigarettes, soft drinks, and insulation), housing association and even a charity. Most of the roles were finance related but I also completed five years as Managing Director of a company with five factories in UK and Ireland with over 300 employees.
Most accountants that I know have a notion of sometime opening their own business/practice. So, after considering the best method of getting set up and finding clients, I joined TaxAssist Accountants in March 2008 and opened my shop front on the Cregagh Road in Belfast in October 2008.
I was initially attracted to TaxAssist Accountants because of their very clear focus on a specific market sector – Small Businesses. I liked the approach to the market particularly the use of shop fronts to reach out and make accountancy services more accessible and welcoming to the public. This approach certainly works as over half of my new business actually comes from “walk-ins”. Offering clients an excellent service at a fixed price with payment by monthly direct debits is very well received.
Even in a recession, growth has been steady. I now employ one fully qualified accountant / tax advisor and a part-qualified accountant. I am currently looking to recruit one further accountant, perhaps on a part-time basis initially. Having good staff is critical to any business. It is also important to have sufficient staff to give good service to existing clients while offering some capacity for new clients.
At the moment, I am the only TaxAssist franchisee in Belfast. However, the success of my business, and the rapid uptake of franchises in the Republic of Ireland, illustrates that the system established on the GB mainland does transfer to other locations. There is certainly scope for more TaxAssist franchisees in Belfast and Northern Ireland generally. I am even considering opening a second shop front.
As a Management Accountant with a strong Industry background, I found the training and support of the TaxAssist staff at Norwich to be invaluable. TaxAssist Accountants provide all their new franchisees with an incredibly comprehensive training package that includes a five-week course that focuses on all aspects of running a business. The training taught me new approaches to accounting while reinforcing what I already knew. It gave me the confidence that I would be able to bring success to the business - refocusing my existing skills to ensure I had a full understanding of the TaxAssist Accountants model.
After three years, I have a total client base of over 120 with a turnover of around £100k. Net growth in fee bank continues at a steady pace.
Jim Andrew
Belfast
May 2011
I am a qualified Chartered Management Accountant and prior to joining TaxAssist Accountants worked as a Group Financial Controller for a large motor dealership group based in Colchester. Prior to that I had many years experience within the small company sector including several years as a director of the family motor dealership business. I also spent a year working in the Stock Exchange following qualification.
I joined TaxAssist Accountants in November 2002 opening my first shop in October 2005. I opened my second in 2007, based purely on the success of my first shop. I opened my third shop in 2010 and I am now planning to open my fourth shop in the autumn. I’ve found that the shop front produces pretty much all the volume of new business that we can handle, putting the business in its best position yet.
In response to the increase of business I now employ five full-time accountants and an administrator between the three shop fronts. I was initially wary of taking on people unless absolutely necessary but I found that it’s clearly the way to go if you want to grow your business. The last thing I want is to have to turn business away so to cope with demand and to maintain good client service the team is absolutely essential.
With three shop fronts, it’s important to put some thought into how to manage both at the same time. I have now appointed a manager to run the Bishop’s Stortford shop front and I am based in Colchester. The third and fourth shop fronts will run on a leaner basis as satellites of the two main business, with one person dealing with clients’ accounts day to day, letting me come in two days a week. I expect the new shop front to grow steadily and when the time’s right I expect I’ll take on a couple more employees in relation to the amount of business. The rate of development with TaxAssist Accountants is very fast – there’s a great deal of potential there for franchisees.
As my business has grown, I’ve continued to make use of the training and support on offer from the Norwich based Support Centre. TaxAssist Accountants have provided me with an incredibly comprehensive training package that included a five-week course that focused on all aspects of running a business. The training taught me new approaches to accounting while reinforcing what I already knew. It gave me the confidence that I would be able to bring success to the business - refocusing my existing skills to ensure I had a full understanding of the TaxAssist Accountants model.
I was initially attracted to TaxAssist Accountants because of the significant support – the whole package is incredibly solid and I found it very reassuring. In fact, since I launched the business in 2002, in many ways the support has kept on getting better. TaxAssist Accountants are dedicated to their franchisees and their advice and guidance is very clear, to the point and incredibly helpful.
I can now report that at Winter 2010 I have a total client base of over 800 with a turnover of around £500k. Net growth in fee bank continues at a steady pace.
David Dixon
Colchester, Bishop’s Stortford & Ipswich
February 2011
I had spent 15 years working as an accountant in multi nationals and was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the ever increasing workloads and the headcount slashing mentality.
I had seen TaxAssist on the internet but hadn’t considered starting my own business due to being a single mum with no real assets. I made enquiries and found the government offered support in the way of the EFG loan scheme, and Tax Credits. After several meetings with Head office and the bank, I quit my well paid cushy job and jumped into the unknown!
I joined the TaxAssist training course in Oct 2005. I opted to go straight into a shop front and I opened for business in Torquay on the 2nd Jan 2006.
My first month was absolutely phenomenal and wouldn’t have been possible without the support I received from the accountants and tax specialists that run the helpline. They are dedicated solely to helping out the franchise network, and with their help I invoiced over £6k in my first four weeks and submitted around 20 self assessments, not bad for a beginner!
What initially was my biggest fear, sales & marketing has become what I enjoy the most ….you can never be too pushy; If you don’t ask you don’t get and don’t forget your business cards if you’re going down the pub…..
Year 1 saw phenomenal growth, year 2 was the year of managing the existing clients, and year 3 was making the work more profitable, thank you kindly Mr Mack (Franchise Development Manager)! Marketing was put to one side at the end of Year 1, sadly, as I needed to cope with what we had and getting clients is the easy bit!
Year 3 saw the start of the credit crunch, and during the year we lost a fair number of clients as a result of the economy. Fortunately my sign up rates of new clients remained constant, and the net effect was that we grew by 40 clients. Even during a recession I was pleased to see growth albeit much slower than previous years....
Here I am updating my testimonial having celebrated my 5th year in the franchise in October 2010. Since I last wrote my update I have expanded massively, I opened my 2nd shop front in Paignton, Devon in August 2009 and then purchased an exiting franchisees business in July 2010, giving me a total of 3 shops, 11 staff, 700 clients (excluding directors and partners) and turnover is circa £450k. Busy two years all in all! Rapid expansion does bring its headaches and is definitely not for the feint hearted! The last 6 months has been especially hard, merging two practices and hitting year end was tough, however I survived, learned a great deal, and once again a big thanks to the support centre!
What will the next 12 months bring? Well we are back to profitability of the acquired client base, there is little point in having all these clients if we are not making money! Plus I think if I mentioned expansion right now to my long suffering bank manager he may turn grey and retire! So the next 12 months will be natural growth and consolidation. I say this tongue in cheek as the diary is full over the next few weeks, we have seen an increase in walk-ins referrals and internet enquiries, so maybe the recession is well and truly over and my period of natural growth may in fact not be that calm!
With the merger I have been able to employ a tax manager and a full time sales and marketing manager, so I can now pull away from the “doing” and look more to the “managing” of the business. My aim of turning into work at 11am drinking coffee and chatting to clients may soon become a reality!Generally I am pretty exhausted having just overcome the worst of the merger and year end, however I’m not complaining we invoiced £105k in 7 weeks and I have rewarded myself with a 55” 3d TV.
I smile each time I am asked to update my testimonial as I can see how far I have come in a very short space of time, there is nothing quite like seeing your business grow! If I do have a down day, and we all do, its not long before I am smiling again and I have no doubt the next opportunity wont be too far away!
I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever…I can honestly say leaving corporate life was the best thing I ever did…. my only wish is that I’d done it sooner!"
Jackie Bligh
Torquay, Paignton and Exeter
February 2011
My background is in banking, internal audit and lecturing at degree level. Realising that my whole career had been with big corporations, I decided that I wanted to work for myself and build up my own business close to where I live in St Albans. In October 2003 I took the plunge and joined TaxAssist Accountants.
The reasons why I chose to consider franchising are the lower risks, and support in areas I had little or no experience of, such as sales and marketing. As part of my due diligence I visited the franchise exhibition at Wembley, looked at websites and magazines, spoke to franchisees and attended discovery days. I also attended a BFA workshop. The reasons I chose TaxAssist Accountants were the positive feedback I received from the franchisees and the success to date of the franchise, the set up of the Support Centre and the trust I had in them running the franchise. Added to this, I felt that accountancy and tax was an area I could succeed in.
The training and support I received have been fantastic. I attended a five week initial training course which covered accounts, taxation, software, sales and marketing. The training was provided by BPP Professional Education and the Support Centre in Norwich. Both have continued whilst I’ve been out in the field in the form of technical and marketing helplines, on site visits from technical personnel and Directors, update training days, and of course the support and advice of other franchisees.
Have I faced challenges along the way? Of course. I work harder now than I ever have and I was slow to take on staff and have perhaps been guilty at times of working in the business, not on the business as I should have done.
If someone asked me what advice I would give to someone buying a franchise, I would say to do your research thoroughly. Think about what you will need from the franchisor and consider if they will provide this. Talk to existing franchisees and get a feel for how they are doing.
Since joining TaxAssist Accountants my business has gone from strength to strength. It has been hard work and great fun to take the business from a blank sheet of paper to over 700 clients in a short space of time. The support from TaxAssist Accountants has been first class. Everything they said they would do has been done and more. I estimate that my business is at least 2 years ahead of where it would have been had I started on my own as a result of joining the franchise. I am looking forward to continuing to grow a successful business.
Mark Fordham
St Albans
February 2011
Having been in business for myself for many years I knew the challenges faced by small business owners - having faced and dealt with just about all of them myself. As a result, although I am not a chartered accountant, I felt well placed to provide a service to the small business community in West Edinburgh.It was also fair to say that I was looking for a change in the way I went about business, too. My previous business meant that I was running up and down the country, often leaving on a Sunday evening and coming home on a Friday night. I enjoyed every minute of it, but wanted a change, to travel less. I also wanted to build something for the future, an asset I could sell when I'm ready. And it was with this clearly thought through exit strategy I joined TaxAssist Accountants.
I didn't really have to do much looking around because I already knew TaxAssist, the model and the people really well and so it seemed a logical step to me to join the network, which I did at the beginning of 2010.
I already knew the model worked and so I was determined to stick to it rigidly... and that's just what I did.
The initial training was vital for me as a non-accountant and I took every last ounce I possibly could from the course, often asking the trainers to stay late to give me extra support... which they were happy to do.
I went straight into a shop front, which opened in May 2010. I recruited my first member of staff straight away and so I needed to get clients on board quickly. I set myself stretching but realistic targets for client acquisition and set about marketing the business like crazy. My two mainstays are the shop itself and networking, which between them bring in the majority of new clients, with the national website (and TaxAssist Support Centre) and my social media presence also adding new clients for me.
I've just finished my 10th trading month and recruited my 100th client this week. My fee bank is climbing steadily and this is balanced nicely with clients who need immediate work - good for my cash flow - and I have two members of staff.
The past year has been the most enjoyable of my professional life. I didn't know I could work so hard, but I've enjoyed every minute. Each day is a huge learning curve and sometimes I wonder how much more I can absorb... the next day I get the answer: a lot more!
If I had to summarise my first year as part of the TaxAssist network in three words, they would be: Exhausting, Exciting, Rewarding.
I'd recommend it to anyone with the drive and determination to build something special.
Renee Mackay
West Edinburgh
February 2011
I joined TaxAssist Accountants in July 2009 and opened my shop in February 2010. My initial business plan consisted of me working from a serviced office for approx 2 years prior to moving into the shop front location. I wanted to get a hold of the business from quieter surroundings prior to launching into employing staff and having business walk-ins. All this changed after being in the business for 6 months.Through my regular contact with the teams at Norwich, I quickly realised that 50% of my potential clients did not even know that I was there, as there was no clear visibility. This made me realise that it was time to start the search for the “right” shop. It didn’t take me long and within a space of 3 months I had moved into one.
Business growth was amazing for the 12 months after the shop launch in February 2010. I now have a client base of 149 with a turnover of approx £74,000. 30% of my business comes from shop walk-ins and 16% from client referrals. I employ 3 staff members including 1 administrator and 2 book-keeping / payroll.
During the first 18 months I have benefited from the input and support which the Norwich based team have given me. I definitely could not have done this without them. TaxAssist Accountants gave a good base to my business with the comprehensive training package which continued over the first 6 months of the Franchise. Even coming from an accounting background there is so much to learn. Selling and marketing was not anything I had ever had to do before so took me out of my comfort zone, but it is all covered in the initial 5 weeks training and gives you that confidence to go out there and achieve.
I still feel that I learn something new every week and to have the knowledge base and experience from the Support Centre and also the Network as a whole is great. A big benefit of joining TaxAssist Accountants.
Cheryl Hopkins
Nuneaton
February 2011
I was 46 and had been made redundant from my job as a manager for a finance company which was a bit of a shock! I knew a bit about franchising but had not considered it until I came across a copy of The Franchise Magazine. After reading it from cover to cover I contacted three franchises, choosing TaxAssist Accountants as they were the most professional and have a track record that offered stability - I wanted to feel confident that I was using my money wisely and it wouldn't go to waste.
The five weeks of training provided were superb. As I'm not an accountant by background I found it very intensive, but it was excellent. Even after the training you are not left on your own. You get a lot of support and there is a helpline that is manned by very knowledgeable people. Everyone at head office is willing to help and they are all really nice. Even other franchisees are willing to help, all you have to do is call them.
Nick Brook
Huddersfield
I started with TaxAssist Accountants in February 2001 having previously worked for 30 years within the public sector. Although I had no previous accountancy experience this was not a deterrent as the training and ongoing support received from TaxAssist enabled me to learn and grow more confident in all matters relating to Tax & Accountancy and the particular needs of the small business.
My business soon grew to the stage that after 18 months I realised, bigger and better premises were required and since January 2004 I have been successfully operating from shop front premises, from where my business continues to grow and I employ 3 staff on a full time basis.
Getting to where I am now has not been easy. It has required a lot of hard work and perseverance and most of all it has required the patience and support of my family. The fact that I am still in business and operating successfully is testament to the proven business model provided by TaxAssist and without which I know I would have struggled to achieve what I have.
If you follow the proven business model – yes challenge what it is and help to improve on it – then with hard work and dedication to make the business what you want it to be thereby providing you with the lifestyle you have always dreamt of – then franchising does work.
Being a Franchisee is not a license to print money, it is however a way of running your own business without the risk factors normally associated with new self-start businesses. It also makes what you achieve more satisfying in that you have done it yourself albeit with the support and guidance of the Franchisor.
My experience has been and continues to be a positive one. TaxAssist through their on-going training and support truly “walked the talk”
Even today, after 10 years in business, one of the most comforting factors is that with a telephone call or E-mail my questions/concerns can be discussed and solutions achieved.
Barry McGougan
Kilmarnock
February 2011
"Moving into shop-front premises has been a very positive move for both of us. Our increased visibility has already helped secure a considerable amount of new business in the first couple of months. Being in a shop-front office enhances our professionalism and gives credibility to the business.
Being a TaxAssist Accountants franchisee basically offers the chance to run your own business but with the reassurance of advice and back-up from head office."
William Swift and George Mason
Leeds
"I started my Franchise in June 2000. Before deciding to go ahead, I investigated a number of franchises, pursuing several to an advanced stage. TaxAssist Accountants stood out from the beginning for their openness and straightforward approach.
The initial information was the most comprehensive and, at all stages, questions were answered fully and quickly. The whole process was friendly but very professional, something that could not be said of some other franchises.
Having joined the network, the standards have been maintained. Training is thorough, and ongoing support is excellent on a day to day basis - very important with the complexity of some tax situations. Franchisees are encouraged to interact, both at formal meetings and at other times - the network are very supportive of each other. Franchisees views are also held in high regard by the Directors, and many developments can be traced back to franchisee feedback.
Anyone looking for a franchise of this type is unlikely to find a better prospect. If you have the will to succeed, TaxAssist Accountants will help you achieve it."
Clive Marshall
Wirral
I would like to express my congratulations to the TaxAssist team on a significant achievement, which I believe is well deserved.
I am personally thrilled that I made the decision to join the TaxAssist family and look forward to being a part of its continued success in the future.
With best wishes to all the hard working team in Norwich.
David Lushington on learning that TaxAssist Accountants had won silver at the BFA Franchisor of the Year awards.
Oxford
May 2008
