I’m feeling sad tonight because one my favorite small business contractor clients concluded they can no longer afford my services. I know that they did not want to make this decision.
This is a client that gave raving reviews, referrals and even a glowing third-party interview. I used them as the model of my ideal startup business client in my marketing plan a few years ago. When we started working together a few years ago, I could be competitive with contractors as small as $250,000 sales revenue. We’ve been through challenges and many unexpected business adventures. I did my best to them to grow from their launch four years ago. I was able to provide them with references and good job referrals. But now I know that I can’t be competitive unless a contractor’s sales are over $500,000. This firm has not grown to that level. Meanwhile, my internal cost of providing bookkeeping, payroll, and income tax compliance continue to increase every year. I was handling everything except invoicing for $550/month so it was not a profitable account for me. I just liked working for them.
Peer CPAs warned me that this was a risk of taking these small startup contractor clients. I may need to talk with startup business clients earlier that we need to meet growth targets to keep me engaged.
I have a larger contractor client call scheduled tomorrow. I probably just have to shake it off and move on. But it is still sad.