![107 ⎸ [NICHE] Unlocking the Secrets to Cannabis Bookkeeping with Sean Coggins - podcast episode cover](https://assets.metacast.app/images/podcast/artwork/EWYKOZAj)
¶ Intro / Opening
I've heard different ways of going about structuring pricing for that monthly accounting or bookkeeping generally. I will offer up a menu or a slate of standard services that I provide. I really don't like to go below 500 a month. And part of that, you know, that may sound expensive to some startups or whatever. But on a smaller scale, you know, I'm 1 person right now. I have minimal overhead, which is great, but I don't want to penalize.
My clients for when I do bring people on and have overhead. So for them to absorb a huge price shock, when that happens would not be fair. So, know, I'm starting at a level where I think I can slowly increase the fees over time. And it's not going to be such a sticker shock to them because you always hear the story of clients changing accountants because one year they just got an astronomical bill out of nowhere. They need to increase their fees significantly. So I think.
At the bare minimum for a small startup, 500 a month, which is six grand a year. That sits about right with me. And I don't really have a scientific answer to that. I mean, I know obviously what my overhead is and sort of the hours that would go into a job like that, but it's sort of a gut feeling too. And also. You know, I think that's working for me right now, because I have not had many rejections on that price, has been good.
¶ Introduction
Welcome back to the ambitious bookkeeper podcast. I'm your host serene Shoup. This is part of our niche series as part of this series, spanning July and August. You'll be listening in on interviews with niche, bookkeepers and accountants. I thought it would be really inspirational and super valuable to bring on bookkeepers and accountants who have built niche firms to take you behind the curtain of what it looks like to get to the point of serving in a specific niche.
My hope is that you'll gain the inspiration and information that will help you hone in on your niche. Or if you already have one. Find different ways to help your clients. I'll be asking some similar questions of each of our guests, like what their minimum fee is, how they got into their niche and what their firm team structure looks like. I'm super excited to bring this to you. And I hope that you enjoy.
If you're ready to hone in on your own niche and build a bookkeeping business that gives you the life that you want, check out the bookkeeping business accelerator by going to ambitiousbookkeeper.com/bba the link is also in the show notes. If finding a perfect fit client is something that you've needed. Check out my mini course, the bookkeeping client closer, go to ambitiousbookkeeper.com/closer. All the links will be in the show notes. Now let's get into today's episode.
Welcome back to the ambitious bookkeeper podcast. As you know, this is one of our niche series or niche series, whatever you want to say it, podcast. And I have a guest named Sean Coggins and he is a, book you do bookkeeping or tax. I didn't ask you that before.
Everything except tax.
Everything except
Yeah. Including audit.
including audit. Oh, this is a fun conversation. Okay. So, since, since I had to involve you in the intro anyway, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself, the industries that you specialize in and we'll go from there.
Sure. Well, thanks for the intro. As you know, you mentioned I'm Sean Coggins. I'm residing on the East Coast in Maryland, close to the Annapolis area. So a bit about my background. I was with RSM Big, you know, top five firm for a number of years, about eight or nine years in the audit department. And then from there, I sort of switched to a smaller local firm in the Annapolis area for a couple of years before I had gotten the entrepreneurial itch to jump out on my own.
So currently I've been out on my own full time since October of 22. So less than a year, which is
Congratulations.
And scary all at the same time. Yeah. But I, like I had just mentioned, I focus on everything except tax. So I have the traditional audit background as well as, you know, the cast or monthly accounting, whatever we want to label it now, because there's a lot of labels out there, which I, you know, had some experience in my smaller firm in Annapolis. As well as, you know, working as that outsource controller slash CFO role, some general business consulting.
So I figured you might as well offer it all while I can and see what's working and what's going to be working for my growth in the future.
¶ Sean's New Niche
Yeah. So, before we hit record, you were talking about, entering into another niche because of some recent legislation changes in your area. So,
certainly. Sorry. I forgot that part of the
yeah.
So, the industries that I have a lot of experience in, you know, traditionally more in the real estate as well as the technology side, and then I also have a lot of experience in manufacturing distribution side, but a unique niche that I'm going to start to enter into is the cannabis industry, and that has got a lot of popularity here in Maryland, because as of five days ago on July one of 23, it became Recreationally legal for the adult use.
Traditionally over the past couple of years, it was just medically available. So you needed a medical cannabis card to purchase it. But it just became a free and open market. And with that, the state of Maryland is going to issue about, I believe it's in the tune of 200 more licenses. So currently there's about 130, I believe current outstanding. And they're essentially going to triple the market. So that's going to lead to a lot.
Yeah. More businesses and when more businesses come into the landscape, there's a lot more an accounting need. And as you can imagine, it's a highly regulated industry.
¶ Preparing to serve the industry
Yeah. have you already been developing a marketing plan or relationships in that industry preparing for this?
Yeah, no, I have. And that was part of my go to market strategy since I've been out on my own. So, I've met with a lot of different people in a lot of different areas. So I've met with some, retail dispensary owners, had lunch with them, got my name out there. I've met with a lot of people in the legal landscape to some of the top minds, top lawyers in the state, regarding cannabis. And I've actually partnered up with another accounting firm too, to help me get more experience.
In this field on in their audit department. I don't, I don't know if you want me name dropping anyone, but, been partnering up with the cone Resnick public accounting firm. So helping them, their audit department with their cannabis audits.
that is so smart. so glad you gave like some amazing bullet points that I'm like, okay, the here's the value that people are going to get from this. Like, no matter what the industry is, like, you're meeting with people in that industry that are opening businesses. And it could go with any business that, you know, is already open or whatever. You're meeting with people in that industry and you're not there pitching them, right? You're just there having conversation, like, let's just have lunch.
that's exactly it.
to build relationships.
And honestly, it's great for me too, because I'm absorbing so much knowledge from so many different avenues, you know, from the legal aspect, from the business owner aspect, from the large public accounting firm aspect, because with my contract with that. Kun Reznick firm.
They service a lot of multi state operators, a lot of the big players in the game they service, but I'm also talking with people who are owning the small business type model retail dispensaries and figuring out what their pain points are, how are they tracking their inventory? How are they managing their books currently?
¶ The Banking Challenges of the Industry
Yeah. But this is super exciting. And like, you're in a, you're in a really good position because like, it just went legal. So you've already been building these relationships, right?
Yeah, no, certainly. I mean, I've, I guess it got, yeah. The vote passed for turning this legal July one. It passed back in November of 22. So people have been planning for this. There's been a lot of lead up time. And, you know, I've just been talking with a lot of people over the last year of what That landscape looks like what the needs are, who the major players are, how these businesses are structured. There's a lot of complexity that goes into it.
Especially from the banking aspect to, you know, a lot of the major banks don't touch it because it's not federally legal. So you're really centralized on your state owned or local banks to be servicing these companies.
Yeah, that was going to be my other question because I know that you're like, I, I always recommend people make connections with other, other service providers that service the same type of clients. So like lawyers, your bankers, things like that. Have you made relationships with local bankers as well? Mm hmm.
Yeah, I have. So one of them, I would say is probably one of the major players in the state of Maryland too, which has been good. So yeah, just trying to reach out to everyone, attending virtual like webinars and stuff with other accountants in the industry. And then actually next week here, I'm going to be attending a conference in Baltimore just to sort of get my name out there.
And, you know, See what different, you know, I don't want to say it's, it's like a vendor show for that specific industry, but there's a lot of other types of businesses that will be supporting that industry from a technology side, you know, from a logistical side, like a packaging side, and a lot of different businesses are going to help support and pump up that industry. So I'm sure they're going to need some help too.
¶ Inventory Challenges and Supporting Industries
Yeah, that's, that's so true. And that's, that's something that, because you have the experience in manufacturing and distribution, like that's really smart of you to also like look at the other, I guess, the verticals within, an industry. So it's like that you could help them to, and also build those connections, for potential referrals, but also like. For your services.
And that's something that I think I talked about on one of the other, podcast interviews I did where, she, you know, she has her main niche that she markets toward, but ends up getting people that are kind of like, ancillary type services that are connected in the same industry, but might not be exactly the same business model, if that makes sense.
Oh yeah, no, that that's great. And honestly, technology plays into it too, because, for instance, In the state of Maryland, well, with all states, they have to, comply with a track and trace accounting system, or not accounting system, but a track and trace IT system. So the state will track every single plant from the time that it reaches a certain stage, so as soon as it sprouts out of the ground, all the way to the time it gets to the consumer's hands. They call it seed to sale.
What that means is they put an RFID tag on each plant and then that feeds into an inventory management system, which then gets uploaded into the state's plant management system. So with that, there's a lot of. technologies around that to help some of these growers. You know, you have an indoor warehouse with 10, 000 plants in it. How are you going to find plant number 123456 when the state comes to look for it? So there are some technologies out there which use it's almost like a radar gun.
You know, you type in which which tag you're looking for, and you just start walking down the aisles and it'll start beeping as you get close and I'll go when you're right it. It's pretty neat to think about. So, you know, supporting other types of businesses who want to support the cannabis industry is going to be big too.
Yeah. That's so smart.
¶ Going from Solo to Building a Team
So right now you said you've been out on your own for 10 months. Are you still solo? Have you hired help yet? What's your team structure look like? Or your, I guess your org
So funny. We're kind of having this conversation at a perfect time. So I'm currently solo. But I am, I'm at the point where I need help. I'm, I'm starting to fill up my book and honestly, like. You know, I don't want to be doing the spreadsheets for the rest of my career.
¶ Picking Serena's Brain for Building a Team
I want to build a team. I want to build big firm. I don't want it to just be me. You know, something that I can pass on to someone later down the road or sell at an appropriate time. But, you know, I'm Currently looking for a part time contractor to come help out.
And, you know, I put a ad out there on LinkedIn saying that this person would really be flexible to helping with accounting projects, as well as helping with internal process improvements, you know, updating the CRM system, keeping track of who we're talking to and meetings and stuff like that. I, I guess I could kind of pick your brain a little bit.
I know like offshore versus onshore is a very hot topic in the industry that I hear on a lot of different podcasts, but what has been your experience in taking that leap and finding that first person?
Yeah, so my 1st, the 1st person I found, I actually had her on the podcast. A few episodes back. I think it was our hundredth. It was our hundredth episode. Actually. She's been with me almost since the beginning. So about where you're at right now, I don't know how many clients you have. Maybe that's if you want to share that you can. but I hired her when I only had five clients,
Oh my gosh. Wow.
Because I've always wanted to make sure that I'm only working part time in the business. Because I had little ones at home. And so I more built this as a, flexibility to continue my career. And so I got to this point where I had enough clients where I was meeting, you know, I was meeting with every client and doing the bookkeeping and, and doing all of, like the, the analysis and the presenting financials and stuff like that. That's always been like, I've always, yeah. Had that in my services.
And it got to the point where I was like, I don't really have enough time to be meeting with the clients doing the, you know, the analysis and doing all the bookkeeping. So I either need to hire a babysitter or I need to hire someone in the business. And at that time, it was actually easier to find someone in the business. Plus I'm not giving up more time with my kids. So, that's what I did.
And. I, I didn't know her personally, but we were connected in like a Facebook group and someone else had posted something about like work at home jobs and things like that. And I, you know, I answered like, I, you know, I'm a book, I do bookkeeping, I have an accounting degree and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. So it just depends on what your experience is. And she answered to that thread, because she owned a farm and did the bookkeeping for the farm, but didn't really have any formal training.
And so we started talking and, and she was like, yeah, I would, I would be interested because I was at that point I was like, I'm kind of looking for help, so if you have experience.
Yeah.
I'm willing to mentor and I don't believe that you have to have an accounting background to learn bookkeeping as long as you have like a certain level of attention to detail and desire to learn more. And so that's how I connected with my first team member. And, she's been a contractor ever since, but she's very much part of the team. So,
Nice.
I, I like to,
Sorry.
Oh no, it's okay. Go ahead.
I was gonna say I can certainly resonate with a lot of what you say, especially having trying to build the practice around little ones. So we have a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn and all 3 of them are. Busy season babies. So they're all born in February and March. So it's been certainly chaotic. But no, I mean, that's and you kind of said something, you know, reaching out to people virtually or part of groups online.
You know, I think that the online community now has grown tremendously in the last year or two years and There's tons of people out there that you don't realize that are out there and it's all about putting something online, looking for someone to respond to a post or help or something like that. And I'm sure you can find amazing people. But the other thing that you mentioned was people without traditional accounting degrees.
I mean, the resources in the accounting world right now are so scarce that people need to get creative hiring and. I am certainly not opposed to having someone who doesn't have an accounting degree as my biggest thing is someone who can work with the technology systems that we use because the accounting can be taught. I mean, you can take the quick book certification course or even a course or your local community college to get the accounting one on one.
But. No, having that, understanding of how tech systems work, being able to efficient, efficiently use a computer, I think is more beneficial than, you know, understanding the technical guidance or something like that on, on the bookkeeping level.
yeah, I agree. The having finding someone that's willing to problem solve and troubleshoot systems is going to be probably more valuable than with technical accounting knowledge, because for now, anyways, all of that stuff is going to come up to you anyway, like you're to want the final, approval on that type of stuff anyway, but you need people that are willing to roll up their sleeves
Yeah, certainly. And I mean, something that happens all too often in QuickBooks is the bank feed breaks. All right. So how do you fix it?
You, you talk with QuickBooks support, or you talk with the banking support, you refresh, you get the logging credentials and, you know, knowing That someone can handle that on the fly is great rather than, you know, elevating it to the business owner level when he may be, he or she may be working on something else and it pulls their attention away and it just becomes a mess that
Yeah.
two people duplicating efforts on one thing that could be handled fairly easily.
¶ Serena's Advice on Hiring Offshore vs Onshore
Yeah. So your question on offshore versus onshore, I don't have experience with hiring offshore labor. I have kept our operations, in the U S and, I'm not opposed to offshore labor at all. It's just been how my business has grown at this point because of the connections that I've made. Like I, I, there are so many, especially women out there who have left their careers and they, they have. The background and the knowledge, but they don't want to work full time.
So, like, there's an abundance of those people out there. There's also for you, I would say, work with recruiting at your local community college and the accounting program, make a connection with some accounting professors or the dean or whatever. I've done that here too. And then one of the universities does like job fairs. Thank you. And you can set up your own booth and stuff. So depending on how fast you grow, that might something that you need to do as well.
So is your, the person you had just mentioned, is that person local to you? Like, do you have the ability to meet up or are they completely
she, all my, my whole team is, I guess they call it distributed. So I have a couple of people in Florida. I have, she's in Idaho and I have someone in California. And then I'm in Arizona. I, I did for a short time, have a local employee that I did. Yeah. recruit from the community college, but she still worked virtually. I would meet up with her occasionally, but yeah, it's, it's been fun.
yeah, so that's something that I'm sort of struggling with. You know, I, I have no problem and I pride myself on being a tech forward type firm. I have no problem working with people virtually. But I'm struggling about whether my first hire I want someone who may be a little more local who maybe I can meet up with once a month for coffee or lunch and handle something out or if I'm working on an audit.
Locally, you know, when we need to be on site for either interviews or test work or something like that, or a board presentation, having someone who could tag along with me would be great.
Yeah,
we'll see, you know, I'm open to anything. Um, I want to grow, but I want to grow smart, you know, I don't want to get too overwhelmed and drop the ball on deliverables to my clients or, you know, even damaging my reputation.
yeah, that's, that's something good to be conscious about
Yeah, for sure.
means you have integrity. So kudos. so you're currently at the point where you're about ready to hire. So the other tip I would offer if you don't decide to go with offshore is, I mean, you're on a podcast that tons of bookkeepers and accountants are listening to. So
Very true. Very true.
website in the show notes. And if one of you has experience in cannabis and is willing to contract with another firm, then, you might have someone listening today that wants to work with you.
Yeah, that would tremendous. Yeah, or even, you know, someone who has experience and can maybe guide me on business development efforts in the cannabis industry and how, you know, they've gained clients or even on the opposite side, if they need help or some sort of expertise on their cannabis projects, they can certainly reach out to me.
¶ Pricing Advice
Yeah. Awesome. So the other, okay. So I think I've covered most of the questions that I want to make sure I ask all of my niche firm owners. And, I think the only one that's left is. And this might be kind of difficult for you to answer, because I know how, how I was with pricing in my first year, but do you have a minimum price for like monthly accounting services? And maybe you do for like different. Because you have a couple of different industries that you work with.
but the reason I asked this question before I force you to answer it is because there's a lot of people, there's a lot of our listeners who are thinking about starting a bookkeeping business, or maybe they just started like. Super brand new, even, you know, less than a year. And there's not a lot of people out there willing to share what they charge.
And I think it does the whole industry a disservice because then if, if someone doesn't know what they're able to charge for certain services, you know, it ends up. degrading the pricing that others can charge. if you just don't know what other people are charging, it's really hard to price your own services. And at the beginning, that was something I really struggled with. Because especially if you come from corporate, you're like, well, I made 50 an hour in corporate.
what I'll charge as a bookkeeper.
Yeah, certainly. No, pricing is, that's a great question. Pricing is such a hot topic and As you know, there's so many, so much information out there on so many different podcasts and interviews and stuff like that, that, you know, it can certainly become overwhelming about how you want to structure things. You know, I've heard different ways of going about structuring pricing for that monthly accounting or bookkeeping generally.
I will offer up a menu or a slate of standard services that I provide. I really don't like to go below 500 a month. And part of that, you know, that may sound expensive to some startups or whatever. But on a smaller scale, you know, I'm 1 person right now. I have minimal overhead, which is great, but I don't want to penalize. My clients for when I do bring people on and have overhead. So for them to absorb a huge price shock, when that happens would not be fair.
So, know, I'm starting at a level where I think I can slowly increase the fees over time. And it's not going to be such a sticker shock to them because you always hear the story of clients changing accountants because one year they just got an astronomical bill out of nowhere. They need to increase their fees significantly. So I think. At the bare minimum for a small startup, 500 a month, which is six grand a year. That sits about right with me.
And I don't really have a scientific answer to that. I mean, I know obviously what my overhead is and sort of the hours that would go into a job like that, but it's sort of a gut feeling too. And also. You know, I think that's working for me right now, because I have not had many rejections on that price, has been good. And someone argues, say, well, if no one's rejecting, then you probably should increase your fees more.
But also, too, I mean, you don't really know what you're getting into until you see what's in their QuickBooks files or their 0 files or whatever system you're working with. So I always put a clause in there that I evaluate the pricing every 3 or 6 months so that. If I'm spending a ton of time every month with this client outside of, you know, the initial onboarding month, then I do have the ability to renegotiate the fees.
Yeah. I think that's a good clause for everyone to, to have. And the other point I want to make, because this is a trap I fell into is, once I started doing like the flat fee package pricing, I was like, well, now I don't need to track time because it doesn't matter, but it matters even more now.
It does. It does. Oh my gosh. Tracking time such a pain in the street. Yeah.
is. And there's so much like back and forth about it, but the truth of the matter is, is like, one of the things that you said is you, you have an understanding of how much time goes into a certain. Level of service. And that's, that's the hard part to figure out as a new bookkeeper. And unfortunately, you're just not going to figure it out until you get in there and you do it and you screw it up. But after a couple months or a couple clients, you'll, you'll start to get a feel.
Of the time involved with certain types of industries and certain types of business models, and that's where having a niche is really helpful because also you're specializing in a certain software. You're able to kind of streamline your process.
And, um, and you are able to confidently say, this is my minimum price for all these types of businesses, or this one type of business that I, I work in, because I know the work, the minimum level of work that's going to be involved in the services that I'm offering. So I think that's where people need to focus on getting. at the beginning of their business.
It's not necessarily about figuring out the right price, but more understanding what it is you're offering and the time involved in doing that. And, and then the will fall into place.
Yeah, and that's a great point. And something that I've done too, which has worked out well for me is I provide a standard set of services, which is, this is what is included in your fat flat fee. And on top of that, I have some ancillary services that are built out hourly. Should you need them, you know, like people. Need an annual budget. People need projections.
People need liaison with their tax preparer or, you know, their banks for collecting documents if they're going through financing or something like that. So I give them a menu of what's included in this flat fee and then also give them a menu of other services that I offer based on my experience that they can choose and that will be built out hourly. So that has certainly been productive for me.
Have you found, many clients like after they, cause you give that to them with your initial proposal or what, with your initial engagement letter? Is that how you do that?
Yeah, so I give that to them up front. In my proposal, and then sort of give them. a range of what I think their fee is going to be and what that all includes. And then, you know, they'll provide me with last year's tax return and their current month balance sheet and P& L just so I can see sort of what's on their books currently. And then we'll lock into a price. But, you know, I also I want to be a partner with these businesses. I want to grow with them. I want to help them grow.
I want to be a valued resource to them. So I don't want to limit myself to just this box of services. You know, I want them to pick up the phone and call me of, Hey, we're raising capital and we need a five year projection. Can you help with this? Yeah. Great. You know, we need a 13 week cashflow because we're going to be running tight here because we need to purchase a new piece of equipment. Awesome. Okay. I'm glad you called me.
And that's really the value that I'm bringing to some of these small businesses.
Yeah. So when you provide that kind of list and like priceless, basically, uh, of additional services, when they sign on with you, have you found many clients reaching back out in a few months and saying, Hey, I need this extra service. And they already know they're going to pay for it. And they're totally like, they're just like, I just know I need it and they know the price. So have you had a lot of people take you up on adding those, on.
yeah, certainly. And honestly, like, it's nothing that they probably think of in the moment. It's just natural through conversation. And, you know, this, this happens all the time in our industry where A lot of people look to their accountants or CPAs as handling everything related to finance and they call you. Can you do this? Can you do this?
And it's easier to have that conversation and be very transparent on the front end than to be stuck in a fixed fee contract without having that conversation and then. Filling them extra and then being mad. So I always talk about it up front. And then when that request does come through, I'll just remind them like, hey, just want to let you know, like, this is outside of the scope of our monthly accounting.
So we'll be hourly, and, you know, refer them back to the engagement letter for that hourly rate. So
Yeah. And you don't find any pushback with that.
no, because, you know, they're coming to me with a need. Right. And if it's not me, I mean, I think that I'm priced fairly appropriately for what the market's going to bear. So, you know, it'd be harder for them to go find another CPA for this one project, which may be at a higher price than me. And I already have the intimate knowledge of their books and records and how their business runs.
So, you know, it's that's like I said before, I want to be that valued partner to them where they do come to me with those requests.
Yeah, I love that strategy of offering, you know, even if like whether it's an hourly fee for these additional services, or you have fixed fees for these additional services and what's included in those like giving that to them on the front end, having the conversation with them, because most as a business owner like this is something you start to realize after you start like, maybe you don't realize that when you're first going out on your own because this is the first
time you've had a business or whatever. Right. Yeah. But as you grow in your business and you have to hire, you know, outside contractors or service providers to get things done in your business, I always know, like, I know I need, I'm going to be charged for this. So like,
Yeah, certainly.
so much easier if we, if I already know on the front end of working with someone that like, that's an additional service. Great. I'm willing to pay for it.
No, for sure. And, and honestly, you don't want them to assume that something that, you know, like a five year projection or an annual budget is included already in the fee.
Right.
But also like it may open their mind to something that they didn't know they needed. Right, like, you know, a 13 week cash flow or annual budget which they've been struggling to come up with for the last year and didn't know that someone else could help them with it. Things like that that. You know, you can portray the value of those things to them and why they need it or why it would be beneficial to them.
Yeah. So do you, when you're working with a client, have you noticed, like, do you have to, do you ever remind them of the additional services that you offer? Or is it more of like, that kind of comes up organically when, when you're meeting with them and they're like, I'm really struggling with this one thing. And you're like, Oh, I mean, I do that. help you with it. I gave you the list of these items
Yeah, no, it, it is more organic. And I mean, all of my clients I like to keep in constant communication with, and I know I don't have a regular cadence and I talk to them every month.
I mean, I talked to all my clients multiple times a month, but with my standard bookkeeping or month end close type clients, I talk to them close to the end of every month to let them remind them, no. To let them know that I will be getting started with their accounting soon and then I'll have a follow up call after them after the books are all closed and just let them know, you know how the month ended up provide them a financial package profitability reports where they stand
compared to last month or even last year. So. With all of those conversations, it comes up like, Hey, we may be bringing on another investor. We may be, fundraising here because we want to take this to the next level. Or we've taken on like a series a investment from this private equity group. So a lot of these things. Happened in the natural conversation and just learning about the business.
I mean, they're not gonna, they're probably not going to come up on your first, second, or maybe even third phone call, but as you start to develop these relationships and get more ingrained with their business, you can. Understand what their needs are and maybe sort of suggest things like, Hey, listen, I see your cash is running a little bit low this month. Can we add on maybe a. A cash flow forecast for the next six months.
So we know where we're going to stand and that we can make payroll every month or every two weeks, whatever the cadence is so that it is not such a headache or stressful event when the cash does get well,
Yeah. Yeah. So, so smart. Thank you for sharing that. I know. I mean, it wasn't really on necessarily on topic, but like I warned you, I'm the conversation can really go anywhere. It's
no, it's great. And I mean, I hope I provided some value. I just, you know, I, I know it's not groundbreaking stuff, but it's, you know, stuff that I find value in hearing from other accounting professionals on these various podcasts, including yours, and that hopefully, you know, someone can take some benefit to anything we talked about here.
¶ Results of jumping into the industry solo
Yeah. I mean, I have some ideas that I want to implement now. like, I selfishly like to interview other people so I can make my own business better too. It's like, if, if I find value on it, I know other people are going to, and that's really what I'm trying to do here is like add value to the industry, let people know what's possible, give them the inspiration to implement it. Things how they want to do it.
There's so many ways to, run your business and just to, to know that someone else is doing something and they're successful with it, then
Yeah, certainly. And it's, it's interesting, you know, looking back a year ago, I was so scared to jump out and do this. And, you know, everyone always says, Oh, I wish I would have done it sooner. I do wish that. But also. The relationships I've made over the last 10 12 years and the experiences I've had in both the top five firm as well as a small regional firm, they've come back tenfold to me.
I mean, a lot of my clients have come through the relationships I've made over the past 10 years, whether it be former clients, former colleagues. And then again, networking with other accounting firms in my area and just letting people know I'm open for business. I mean, one of my biggest, Sticking points with other accounting firms is that I don't do tax, right?
If, if we, if I network with a tax concentrated firm, maybe not tax only firm, that's a good relationship for them because I can handle the books. They know the books of their clients are being prepared by the CPA. And they're going to be clean by the time they get to them. And then, you know, we don't really have to worry about competing and stealing clients from each other.
¶ Being an Introvert
yeah. Yeah. Good point. Okay. I have one, I think I just have one more question for you, because we've talked about a lot about you getting out there and talking to people and getting your name out there. Are you an introvert or an
I, I don't know. All right. I hate this sort of like. Lean on one side or the other, but I'm definitely an introvert. I would say I'm an introvert in social situations, you know, going to a networking event, which is tough because, you know, I like meeting people. I find myself more of an extrovert in a one on one situation, right? A one on one coffee or a lunch. I can hold a conversation and I do well with that. But if I get into a large networking scene.
I kind of stick to my own and, you know, find one person who I either know or have just met and, and kind of keep the conversation small.
Yeah, yeah, I, I was just curious because I know that's one thing that, a lot of our listeners struggle with is being introverted and, and wondering, like, how do you even have those conversations and
Yeah.
Not really wanting to go out and do that. And, and that's what I've found too, is like I, in big networking situations, I need a wing person or know that there's going to be someone there that I know at just kind of get comfortable and then I'm okay. But yeah. So do you have any words of advice?
For someone who knows they need to do this work because building relationships is really the, the way you're going to get clients, but they're really holding themselves back by identifying as an introvert.
Honestly, that's the cliche thing to say here. I'd be like, just do it, you know, take a chance, get out there. A lot of the relationships I've made, you know, obviously through my past work experience, but also just connecting with people on LinkedIn, right. I've made a ton of connections, you know. Like this connection that we're at right now, having this podcast, very scary, but just get out there and try it. You never know what's going to happen.
And honestly, getting involved in your local community with things that you like, you know, one thing that I do is I coach my four year old soccer team. Right. So we've gotten really close with a lot of the parents on the team. And those parents are now CFOs and business owners who know other people who know a friend who has a startup and just. Really evaluating your current network and not trying to sell anyone, right?
Just one of the best piece of pieces of advice I've gotten to someone who has acted as someone of a mentor for me is, you know, people aren't going to do business with you unless they like you, they know you and they trust you, right? And the only way to do that is to be yourself around people, right? Be a genuine person and not, not go out there with the cheesy sales pitches and things like that.
Yeah. Or feeling pressured to do that. So it's like,
Exactly.
especially if you're an introvert and you know that like, you don't like slimy sales, like don't even feel obligated.
Oh my gosh.
is that like, just go have a conversation. And, I think for me, what makes me really uncomfortable is I know there's going to be people there being that way. And that's what I'm trying to avoid.
A hundred percent. I mean, like just think about going to buy a car that gives me anxiety. I don't want to be sold. I don't want to have this cheesy sales pitches and the sales tricks done to me. So I would much rather buy a car over the internet than step foot on a dealership and deal with all that.
that's why we have Carvana.
yeah, exactly, exactly. But no, I mean, just. Just being a genuine person sort of cultivating the relationship that you already have is going to come back to you and and letting people know that your doors are open. I mean, you would be very surprised even Even one post on LinkedIn, how many people are going to see it, but on the opposite side, how many people aren't going to see it?
How many people don't know that your doors are open or that you're doing this certain thing on the side and trying to build your business. So keep reiterating that putting things out there multiple times on social media platforms and keep reminding people about what you're doing. And that's really come back. And been very beneficial for me.
Yeah. Oh, this has been a great conversation. Thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone.
Yeah,
So is this your very first podcast
it is my very first podcast. I was very, very nervous to join, but I'm very excited that you asked me to be on.
¶ How to Connect to Sean
Yeah. Well, thank you for spending the time, taking the time to respond back to me and let me ask all these invasive questions.
No, this has
an absolute pleasure. If someone wants to connect with you, if they're interested in working for you or just learning more, maybe there's a business owner listening that needs your help. Where's the best place to connect with you?
I would say the best place is either through my website, which is CogginsCPA. com or through LinkedIn, Sean Coggins. I'm not big on the other social media platforms yet. I don't really know how all the algorithms work yet, but maybe one day. I know there's a lot of people who are big on Twitter. Tax Twitter is out there, but I haven't made the leap out there yet.
I'm not a, I. I'm not a Twitter fan. I don't hang out there. I spend most of most of my efforts, on LinkedIn and, and Instagram, but yeah,
Yeah. Well, you're ahead of me. I haven't dove into the Instagram
I don't think it really, like, might not make sense for some industries, like, you know, so I try to reiterate that for people is like not to feel the need to be everywhere. And you're, you're going to get a bigger bang for your buck and your time. Thank you. With building relationships All right. Well, thank you so much for your time and thank you for listening. If you've made it this far and make sure you go and connect with Sean on LinkedIn and Sean, thank you again. We'll talk to you soon.
Yeah. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.