Expanding Your Tax Franchise During The Off Season
As a provider of tax services, you know firsthand how cyclical and seasonal the business is. You'll be very busy from January through April, but for the rest of the year there is little or nothing to do. You don't have people coming in to file anywhere near the volume of peak time, and when they do come in, they usually need assistance with more complex and difficult filing questions.
Many tax franchise owners just pack up and maintain minimal hours during non-peak. But if that's how you operate your business, you are missing out on an important aspect of business development. You don't have to offer anything beyond pure filing of returns, but if you do, you can not only provide better for your community €" you'll also increase your own profits.
Two Types Of Expansion
There are two main ways that your business can grow. The first is simple: you can open up another location if you've determined a particularly advantageous opportunity. The second is to start expanding into other, related businesses. The most common among these include accounting, business return filing, and more in-depth and specialty returns.
Opening A New Location
If you're thriving in a particular area and find yourself with cash left over, it might be time to start looking for expansion potentials. Depending on the terms of your agreement, you may be able to receive discounts if you open a second (or third or fourth) tax franchise. This combined with other incentives can quickly make it very favorable for you to consider adding more locations to your roster.
Just be sure to do your research before you even start the process. You need to know what the competition is in the area you've selected. Remember that people typically choose filing locations that are close to their home or office. They're not likely to travel far afield. That means that if you select a setting that isn't close to anything, or has too much competition from other offices, you may find it difficult to be successful.
Expanding What You Currently Offer
The other option is to broaden the reach of the services at your current location. Filing returns is just the beginning of what you can do. Without investing in additional infrastructure, you should be able to expand into accounting and business returns. You will need to ensure that you have people who are trained to handle these new areas. Make sure that you do your research before financing any type of expansion. You might not have the volume in your area to make it profitable.
Whether you're growing into a new office or expanding your capabilities at your current location, make sure you perform sufficient analysis to determine that the move is a smart one. There can be a lot of variation even between two adjoining communities, and their expectations may be completely different. Unless you know what you're getting into, you might find yourself suddenly in a situation you never expected.
Many tax franchise owners just pack up and maintain minimal hours during non-peak. But if that's how you operate your business, you are missing out on an important aspect of business development. You don't have to offer anything beyond pure filing of returns, but if you do, you can not only provide better for your community €" you'll also increase your own profits.
Two Types Of Expansion
There are two main ways that your business can grow. The first is simple: you can open up another location if you've determined a particularly advantageous opportunity. The second is to start expanding into other, related businesses. The most common among these include accounting, business return filing, and more in-depth and specialty returns.
Opening A New Location
If you're thriving in a particular area and find yourself with cash left over, it might be time to start looking for expansion potentials. Depending on the terms of your agreement, you may be able to receive discounts if you open a second (or third or fourth) tax franchise. This combined with other incentives can quickly make it very favorable for you to consider adding more locations to your roster.
Just be sure to do your research before you even start the process. You need to know what the competition is in the area you've selected. Remember that people typically choose filing locations that are close to their home or office. They're not likely to travel far afield. That means that if you select a setting that isn't close to anything, or has too much competition from other offices, you may find it difficult to be successful.
Expanding What You Currently Offer
The other option is to broaden the reach of the services at your current location. Filing returns is just the beginning of what you can do. Without investing in additional infrastructure, you should be able to expand into accounting and business returns. You will need to ensure that you have people who are trained to handle these new areas. Make sure that you do your research before financing any type of expansion. You might not have the volume in your area to make it profitable.
Whether you're growing into a new office or expanding your capabilities at your current location, make sure you perform sufficient analysis to determine that the move is a smart one. There can be a lot of variation even between two adjoining communities, and their expectations may be completely different. Unless you know what you're getting into, you might find yourself suddenly in a situation you never expected.
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