The Best Time to Start a Bookkeeping Business

for bookkeepers Aug 26, 2024

Today, I want to revisit a very good question someone asked me a while back:

“When is the best time to start a bookkeeping business?”

This was a question that I got in my email as somebody was applying for my program BABs, which teaches the technical skill of bookkeeping.

For context, they asked this question near the end of January that year. So the thought going through their heads was, “If it takes me a couple of months to get through this program and then I'm ready to start my business, will it be bad timing? Will I be entering the industry during a slow season for bookkeeping?”

Let’s unpack this together.

The Busy Season

Most people know that the busiest time of year for bookkeepers is the month of January.

From when the statements are closed to when they're opened back up, we're trying to crank out that last month of data while looking at 1099 requirements, filing them if we're going to, communicating with the tax preparers, and so on.

By the end of January, I am, for the most part, through that year-end review, except for a couple of loose items. The stress of needing to review is gone. That's pretty much our busy season, but people are generally thinking about bookkeeping and tax through April 15th, although I would not say that that is the hard stop for anybody.

However, this means a lot of people start to think, “If I don't start a bookkeeping business during this busy season, or if I'm not already established by then, I'm going to miss a rush of clients.”

Spoiler alert: that's not true.

There's no bad time to start a bookkeeping business. There is only the best time to start, and the second best time to start.

The Second-Best Time to Start a Bookkeeping Business

The right time to start a bookkeeping business is when you understand that it's the right thing for you, when you're sold on it, when you're motivated, and when you're ready to stop stalling and just start doing the thing.

And even if the beginning of the year was the best and only time to grow a bookkeeping business, now would be the time to start that so that you have everything in place to get it going at the beginning of next year.

This is not my phrase, but I love the message it gives us: the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is now.

The best time to start your bookkeeping business was probably the first time that it came into your mind. But if you're like most natural humans, you ignored that thought for a while. You dismissed it. You poked holes in it. You told yourself all of the reasons why it wouldn't work for you. Whatever it is, whatever reason you have, it kept you from starting, and you still haven’t started.

But this isn’t about shame or regret. If you are judging yourself for how long it took you to get started, I want you to know this: you didn't do anything wrong.

You had the idea, and that would have been a great time to start…and if you had started, how far along would you be now? But you weren't ready. For whatever reason, you weren't ready. So stop judging yourself.

Now is the second-best time to start. But if you poke holes in the idea and convince yourself why it's not a good time of year to start and why you're going to stall until it's the right time of year, guess what? You're going to find yourself right back where you are today, thinking, “Man, I really should have started back then, because how much farther along would I be if I had?”

I shared about this once before. Do you remember? Were you a listener (or reader!) back then? Here’s my question for you:

Did you get started then? Or are you still sitting where you were back then, waiting for exactly the right time, wishing you’d started so much sooner?

Don’t wait anymore. You’ve already missed the best time to start…but you can still seize the second-best time to start.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Need to boost your bookkeeping basics? Join BABs now: https://www.katieferro.com/become

Want a peek behind the curtain into LIBBY, my program all about what it really takes to have a simple and scalable (and successful) bookkeeping business? Get access to my free, on-demand four-part series, 6 Secrets to a Simple, Scalable Bookkeeping Business: www.katieferro.com/6-secrets

Learn how to take your bookkeeping skills and turn them into a business that allows you to replace (or surpass) your corporate salary, be present for your life, and profoundly impact your clients without selling your life in the process by joining Life by the Books (LIBBY).