How to Raise Your Prices and Get More Bookkeeping Clients
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In this blog, we have a special guest: Serena Shoup, CPA!
Serena is the owner of a virtual bookkeeping business, a bookkeeping business mentor and coach, plus a mom of three!
She generously donated her time to chat with Team Workflow Queen about how to get more clients for your bookkeeping firm, how to charge more, plus how to work more efficiently, and create space to take on more clients!
Keep reading this blog to learn about how Serena got started, and how zeroing in on a niche for her firm impacted her bottom line and her business as a whole.
What is your niche?
"I currently serve mostly online course creators and online experts. So sometimes there's an e-commerce component, but the majority of them are either consultants that work mostly virtual, or they are an online course creator."
When did you choose a niche?
It took Serena a couple years to really narrow down her clients to what she felt was the niche that really aligned with her vision. She didn't start her business with a set niche in mind, so her clients spanned over several industries before she decided be more selective.
"We ended up with a certain client base in addition to some other random clients we had, and then we kind of decided that we wanted to make some changes, but we weren't really sure where to start."
How did you determine your niche?
Serena and her team sat down to analyze all of their current clients. Once they started the analysis, they noticed a few trends among the clients they enjoyed working with the most.
The clients they connected with most were all:
Female course creators or online experts
Using Xero (Serena's preferred accounting software)
Super fun to work with and appreciated the valuable service
"It was fun to see the growth that was happening and the impact that they were making. And you could just tell they really enjoyed what they did and we just loved supporting them in that."
How did you eliminate clients that did not fit your niche?
Once Serena and her team narrowed down their niche, it was time to phase out the clients that did not align. They decided to only take on new clients that met certain criteria in order to keep their systems super streamlined.
But she didn't just drop all of her current clients that didn't fit the ideal avatar. They still work with industries outside of their niche because the clients are a joy and they have efficient processes around the client work!
What changes did you notice in your practice after niching down?
The biggest change (and benefit) was being able to streamline their processes.
"Like now when we're onboarding new people, that onboarding is super easy and simple because they all have the same chart of accounts...same software...same industry."
She was also able to raise her prices and become more profitable!
"...we set ourselves apart and say, we understand your industry."
Since Serena is also a course creator, she has an advantage in understanding the metrics and struggles her clients are facing.
"If you have other clients that are in that industry, it's still a selling point because you can say, I see what's happening in other businesses in that industry and I can compare you to some industry trends that I'm personally seeing."
If you have experience working in a specific industry, you already have a leg up if you try to serve that industry. An understanding of the ins and outs of a business from the operational side is super valuable when it comes to serving the business on the bookkeeping end as well.
Don't have any clients yet? Start pulling from personal experience to help you find an industry you could serve that sets you apart from the rest.
If you already have a group of clients over several industries, consider analyzing them to uncover any trends. We love a decision tree around here, so try one out to help you figure out your niche!
How did your systems change after niching down?
"So the systems part was actually one of the best parts of niching down because in our industry, most people use the same payment processors, similar banks that integrate with our systems."
Niching down afforded them the ability to create a repeatable onboarding system for all of their new clients. This created SO much more efficiency on both sides of the transaction.
A win-win for everyone!
What are your tips for anyone considering niching down?
Evaluate your current client base
Create a list of your favorite clients
Look for any commonalities between clients you enjoy serving
Take into account your strengths and how you can leverage them
Consider your zone of genius - and the genius of your team as a whole
"Think about what is easy for you to duplicate and train other people on."
What if I don't want a niche?
"I would say I can relate to not wanting to have all your eggs in one basket."
Serena and her team still serve existing clients that are outside of their established niche, but moving forward they will be pretty selective.
Niching down enables you to be selective and set yourself apart (plus raise your prices to compensate for the extra value you can deliver).
If you choose not to have a niche, you may be viewed as more of a generalist. It would be hard to learn the nuances and inner workings of several different industries AND efficiently serve them.
"You're not going to be able to charge as much, so you're going to be less profitable and you won't necessarily be even able to afford to hire people to take on that workload."
How did you figure out how much to charge?
Serena began by testing out new prices with incremental increases for each new client. She would start by offering three different packages, and slightly raise her base price each time until everyone started picking the cheapest option.
"There's no black and white answer when it comes to pricing."
"When you start to raise your prices beyond a certain point, You have to add more value."
The value you add once you niche down is your specific experience working with other clients in the industry and creating strategy and advisory services.
Takeaways
Coming out of this conversation, it was pretty clear that focusing on serving one niche does wonders for a bookkeeper's efficiency, productivity, and profitability.
The amount of value you could add as a niched bookkeeper is a huge selling point when you are going after new clients, but could also help new leads find you organically!
At the end of the day, you have to do what feels best for you and your firm, but if making more money and saving time fits the bill - niching down may be the answer!
Want to get in touch with Serena Shoup, CPA?
Follow her on Instagram 📲
Read her blog 🔎
Listen to The Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast
Take her course on implementing Dubsado for your firm: Onboarding on Autopilot
Just getting started? Check out Serena's course, Bookkeeping Business Accelerator, to take your bookkeeping skills and turn them into a business!
We LOVE Serena and her positive impact on the bookkeeping community! If you want to learn more about zeroing in on your niche and optimizing your offers, join the waitlist for our most robust program to date (featuring special guest instructor, Serena Shoup, CPA!).
Breakthrough for Bookkeepers & Accountants is a group coaching program that will help you transform how you run your business as a whole. Streamline and solidify systems across all aspects of your firm with this high-touch program!
