Funny how time flies; has it really been three years?   We’ve posted in the past how our 1^st and 2^nd tax seasons played out, so in keeping with tradition, this post will tell how this year went.

We’ve got some more analysis to do, but here are some of the successes that we are aware of:

• Approximately 150 clients served
• 50 new clients entrusted us with their tax situation
• Revenue growth in excess of 20%
• Processed returns in 20 states, which is a 18% increase vs. last year

Our Challenges
This year was not without its challenges.  Some of these were self imposed (i.e. possibly setting the bar a little too high) while others were outside of our control.  With that being said, here is what we faced:

Staffing.  In working to grow and serve more clients, you have to add infrastructure.  While we did a good job on the employee screening front, we encountered a issue mid season that required a personnel change.  The biggest problem with this is that it happened mid season so finding a replacement was a little challenging.  However, we successfully navigated that challenge and in this post, our first employee discusses their time working with us.

Testing marketing programs.  This year we went a little big on the marketing front and threw our hat into the ring on multiple fronts.  Problem with this is 1) it cost money and 2) you won’t know what doesn’t work until you test it.  Needless to say, we did find out what made the phone ring and people come through the door.  The downside is that we spent a lot of money to get that education.

Hey, who is that guy?!?!

Aggressive projections.  Last year we had a 3^rd party source that brought us a sizeable amount of business.  Problem with that is that we based our projections for this year with that business in mind.  Unfortunately, we lost a nice chunk of that business (i.e. the clients didn’t repeat) which of course impacted our numbers.  But the lesson learned is that past performance is not indicative of future results.  So we’ll lick our wounds on that front and come back with a new plan for next year.

In the end, we continue to plod along and we continue to grow.  More clients come to us each year and tell us how glad they are to have found us.  This gives us hope that if we keep acting like the little engine that could, maybe one day we’ll make it to the top of the mountain!