This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey there, welcome back to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Today we received a call from Jason in Toronto, Canada. Jason is looking to differentiate himself from competitors and attract new clients. He is a bookkeeper, an accountant, I should say.
He's an accountant who does bookkeeping and some other services as well. But he's not sure if he should specialize or offer a broad range of services as he's been doing. As a solopreneur, Jason is concerned that specializing in a specific niche could mean losing his existing clients who don't meet that specialty. So in today's episode, we're gonna look at this issue. I've got two specific tips for Jason and maybe even for some other listeners out there.
Wherever you are in the world, I'm glad you're listening today. Question is, I'm an accountant, how do I specialize? Detailed version coming right up. [Music]
Hi, I'm Jason and I own a small accounting firm in Toronto, Ontario. By small, I mean, it's just me.
So it's not really a firm, but that sounds fancy. So that's what I call it. Anyway, I currently offer bookkeeping, tax preparation and financial planning services. But I want to differentiate myself from competitors and attract new clients. I'm not sure if I should specialize in a specific niche or offer a broad range of services to clients.
It seems that the obvious answer is specialized, but this presents a range of issues. For example, would I have to fire my existing clients who don't meet that specialty? Jason, a couple of thoughts on this. First idea, number one, identify your most profitable clients. So before you actually make this decision, I mean, you probably do want to specialize at some point, but before you do, take a close look at your existing clients to see which ones are the most profitable.
And think about the amount of income they bring in, how frequently they use your services, how easy they are to work with. This is going to help you identify which types of clients you should be targeting with these specialized services, just to kind of make sure that you're going to have a good match going forward. And you always want to make sure you're focusing on the most profitable areas of your business. So that's why we do that audit before we do too much else. And number two, consider offering a hybrid model.
So it doesn't always have to be one way or the other specializing in a niche. Doesn't necessarily mean you have to turn away clients who don't fit that specialty. You know, you might choose to do that, but you might say, okay, I'm going to do this hybrid thing where I do specialize in the niche, but I also offer some broad services, you know, in certain circumstances. So that can help you attract new clients who are interested in that specialized service while also maintaining your existing clients. And then, you know, the last tip here, 'cause I gave you two so far, but here's a bonus one.
As always consider what you want to do. It's not always about what is the most efficient, what is going to make the most money. I mean, money is good, efficiency is good, but really what do you want to do? You know, I think it's good to just kind of pay attention to that and use that as an additional kind of gut check as you go forward. Like do the analysis for sure, but also ask yourself, how does this feel?
Like as I move closer towards something, how do I feel about it? As I move further away from something, how does that feel? These signals can be just as important as any kind of quantitative analysis. So pay attention to how it feels. Listeners, I encourage you to pay attention as well.
You know, consider what you want to do. Consider what you're moving toward, what you're moving away from. You don't always have to specialize to the point of turning away all kinds of business, but you may want to, right? That's why you have to figure out what is best for me. So I hope this guidance helps, but ultimately you are the judge, you're the decider.
And if you've got a question or comment, sidehustleschool.com/questions, we'll continue to feature them each week along with updates from listeners as they launch and grow their projects. There's just so much going on in the world these days, and I really appreciate you taking some time, a few minutes every day to join me. New episode coming out tomorrow. It's all completely free. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the "Onward Project."
