It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about my escapades within the company.  Part of that was because we had a pretty good tax season; which we’ll share via a post in a few days.  However, another reason was because I had been dealing with a roller coaster of emotions during this same time period.

You see, back when I took the plunge to head up Wilson Rogers on a full time basis, my wife and I cut a deal.  3 years.  Yup, that was the amount of time that I had to make it work or it was back to Corporate America for me.  Hey, when you have a family to support, you have to do what’s in the best interest of the unit and not what you desire.  Well, this was the second of those three years and needless to say I was feeling the pressure.

While season one was okay, the financial results weren’t what we needed them to be given the three year time frame.  Thus, it was imperative that season two be pretty good and then some.  The genesis of our 2013 tax season went something like this:

  • Due to 2012 bills, the company’s cash had gotten so low that I had to make a capital contribution
  • The Fiscal Cliff shenanigans of Congress pushed the start of tax season back by two weeks
  • Our newsletter program that we had banked to bring us in some new clients wasn’t producing
  •  I had a meltdown about mid season under the premise that things were not going to work out and we weren’t even going to hit our minimum revenue goals
  • I resolved to do anything and everything that I could to try and turn things around
  • The presence of our facility being in the neighborhood for a second season started to bring us new clients from the neighborhood
  • A few practitioners in the area retiring brought us some more clients
  • Our client referral program finally kicked in and a few rainmaker clients from 2012 gave us a nice amount of referrals
  • A partnership program that we had with a major company brought in more money then we had anticipated in our wildest dreams
  • We finished the season out strong and beat our minimum 2013 revenue numbers

In case you missed it, the turning point with our season happened in bullet number 5.  I had no idea how I was going to make things work, but all I knew is that I needed to do something.  And what was that something?  It was keeping the faith.

You don’t have to be a religious person to buy the concept of faith.  Quite simply it’s believing in something that you can’t see, hear, taste, touch or feel.  It’s having the courage to push forward when everything is giving you indicators that you should stop.  It’s knowing in your heart of hearts that if you keep at it long enough, things will work out.

Every entrepreneur reaches that deep, dark place that I hit earlier this tax season.  It’s an inevitable part of the process of growing your business.  But if you are willing to keep the faith, just know that it gets a little brighter on the other side.

Until next time…