I did it-finally

[Julie]

I just signed a lease on a nice new office space in a shopping center a couple miles from here.

A bit longer commute than I would have chosen, but not too bad (bicycle distance). Not real visible from the main street. Plate glass windows on three sides. Street frontage on a residential street. For some reason office rent is much cheaper in this middle-class residential area than it is in my own lower-income neighborhood. Shopping center has a couple restaurants and a grocery store, so there's some foot traffic. Lots of signage, including some visible from the main thoroughfare.

The space is larger than I need for a one-person tax office (but smaller places cost so much more per sq foot that the absolute rent is just as high). The excess space will, of course, become an art gallery (which my artist husband and I will manage together).

I'm scared. Will I be able to make the rent? Is this thing gonna fly?

[Booger]

NO, you'll fail miserably.

(JUST JOKING)

Booger

[Joel]

Best of luck to you Julie.

Those of us who have moved our office in the past had many of the same feelings. We all wondered if it was the right thing, but it always seems to work out best. Your exposure sound good and once you are in the new location start window advertising and offering discounts to anyone new who walks in. It will all be for the best.

Good luck on the art gallery. That should also bring walk in traffic and more exposure.

[JohnH]

Good luck Julie.

Most growth involves some risk, but I'm betting you will do fine.

[mcb39]

Good luck Julie.

Most growth involves some risk, but I'm betting you will do fine.

I'm betting that if anyone can do it, Julie CAN.....she has been a longtime supporter of her husband's art career and appears to be extremely knowledgeable in her field. Working together, they should do well. (Incidentally, I have a California artist as a tax client, but, of course, it is not Julie's husband).

[Lion EA]

Good luck. You'll be fine. You chose a location that people will know, whether from eating at the restaurant or noticing the new art gallery or living around the corner or.... Have hubby help you with unique signage to let people know what's coming.

[jainen]

>>Will I be able to make the rent? Is this thing gonna fly?<<

http://www.museumoftalkingboards.com/WebOuija.html

[BulldogTom]

Julie,

I wish you the best of luck. I think you will do fine, but I would like to share the one thing that I believe might be a problem for you - walk in traffic. Being a one person office, you will have to manage who comes in and when. If you don't have a receptionist, you can get overwhelmed by the people just walking in off the street shopping your service. If your husband is going to manage that part for you, you will do great. Good luck.

How far from Laguna and I-5 in Elk Grove will your office be located? My day job company is moving there next month. The owner of the company bought a building at that business park.

Tom

Lodi, CA

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

Julie,

Congratulations! It sounds like you found a good place for both businesses. Good luck.

Bonnie

[joelgilb]

Good Luck Julie

And that Ouija board is great.

Asked it if you would succeed and it said Yes

Asked if you would improve your income and it said Yes

Asked it if my wife would allow me to have a Concubine and it said Yes!!!

Yahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now to find the right women for my concubine.....

[bstaxes]

Good luck on your move and new office. Success will follow.

[Karen Lee]

Went from home to office space in town (population 1100) in Jan 2007. Had that anxiety for only a couple months...people started stopping by asking about services, signage brought clients in from a whole new region, I have great landlords, rent isn't bad and hi-speed internet is included in the rent, owners are local ISP.

Been SE here for 13 years and realized growth every year but just exploded when I had a store front and open 12 months/year.

You'll do just fine!

Karen

[joanmcq]

So where are you moving to? Somehow my 1st thought was somewhere around Tahoe park...(my stomping grounds).

[kcjenkins]

Julie, just a thought you might consider:

The hardest thing about moving your office is the fact that most clients only see you once a year, so they just go to the old location and if they don't find you there they may or may not look for you. Some will just assume you moved away, went out of business, or whatever, and go to the nearest other tax shop. So consider talking to the restaurants in the new location, about some shared advertising. Often they will agree to give you some 'discount' coupons, especially if you will pay to have them printed, that you could include with your 'we moved' letter.

This does two things for you. It makes you the giver of gifts, always a positive thing. And it gives them a reason to find the new location. Once they come to the restaurant, they see your new office with it's eye-catching signs, and that makes it easier for them to find you next Jan. Heck, the restaurants might even print the coupons, just to get you to pay for the mailings. It's a win for both of you, because they get their ad into specific hands, much more effective than mass mailings tend to be, and you get to give your clients an extra reason to find your new location. And consider sending that 'we've moved' letter twice, by the way. Once now, and again in early Jan. People do tend to forget, and go to the old location, if not reminded.

[Yardley CPA]

I just signed a lease on a nice new office space in a shopping center a couple miles from here.

A bit longer commute than I would have chosen, but not too bad (bicycle distance). Not real visible from the main street. Plate glass windows on three sides. Street frontage on a residential street. For some reason office rent is much cheaper in this middle-class residential area than it is in my own lower-income neighborhood. Shopping center has a couple restaurants and a grocery store, so there's some foot traffic. Lots of signage, including some visible from the main thoroughfare.

The space is larger than I need for a one-person tax office (but smaller places cost so much more per sq foot that the absolute rent is just as high). The excess space will, of course, become an art gallery (which my artist husband and I will manage together).

I'm scared. Will I be able to make the rent? Is this thing gonna fly?

Julie...congratulations and best of luck. In a year from now you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!

[Julie]

Thanks for all the encouragement and good advice. I will follow some of it.

KC, I had some vague ideas about shared advertising; thanks for crystallizing them for me. I was planning to send the first "we moved" letter in June, with an map and invitation to an open house/art reception in July, and the second with an appointment card in January or December.

Joan, you got it exactly right. It's in Tallac Village in Tahoe Park.

Tom, although it's in the southern half of Sacramento, it's still a long way to Elk Grove. You can find it on a map if you want; it's near 14th Ave and 60th St. Using a route we might use to get there (probably not the shortest, Google Earth shows your location as about 12.3 miles away. (I love Google Earth.) I understand your concern about walk-in traffic, and although being overwhelmed with work seems like something impossible now, I'm wondering how I would deal with it. Might have to drag Walt away from his paint to help manage the traffic some days.

As for that Ouija board, Joel, if you keep asking the same question, eventually it will give you the right answer. And I think you'd best ask your wife about that concubine. And I think I'll try to keep you away from my husband; you're a bad influence.

I'm already wondering why I didn't do this three years ago.

[joanmcq]

Nice coffee shop in there. I had a friend that had set up shop in Tallac Village but she ended up getting a job with the county..needed a steady income. I got some of her clients when she quit. The Village Drive-in across the street has the best milk shakes! I'm about a half mile away.

[jainen]

>>I'll try to keep you away from my husband... wondering why I didn't do this three years ago<<

Hmmm. Please tell us more.

[Julie]

We've already discovered the coffee/donut shop. And although it's been many years, I remember those milk shakes! Yes, we'll have to stop by there soon.

You'll have to come by and say hello sometime soon. I'm moving in next month.

Nice coffee shop in there. I had a friend that had set up shop in Tallac Village but she ended up getting a job with the county..needed a steady income. I got some of her clients when she quit. The Village Drive-in across the street has the best milk shakes! I'm about a half mile away.

[Julie]

T'was only a bad joke, and there's no connection between those two comments. Perhaps it would make sense if you knew that Joel was not the only guy around to make jokes about concubines. That's all. Nothing more to tell.

>>I'll try to keep you away from my husband... wondering why I didn't do this three years ago<<

Hmmm. Please tell us more.

[kcjenkins]

Julie, one tip, don't do the second letter in Dec, because with the Christmas mail, holiday stuff, etc, your letter will tend to be ignored or overlooked. Plus no one wants to think about taxes in Dec. Hit them the first couple of days in Jan, and they are on your wave length, thinking about getting their refund to pay some of those bills. There is a major shift in attitude toward taxes in that week.

[Jack from Ohio]

Julie,

Congrats on your move ahead!! I am certain you will make it work!! Here is a tip that has had good results for me. Use the customer referral form in the program. It generates discount vouchers for your clients to give to new people. If the new person brings in a voucher, you know who referred them and it gives your new client a discount. I give m clients cash for each referral that becomes my customer. You can customize the voucher to fit your situation. Mail the referral vouchers with your Jan letter.

I am certain things will move ahead for you. My home practice has not outgrown my space yet, but I am thinking in another year or two it may. It is always good to see a fellow tax preparer moving ahead.

[BulldogTom]

I understand your concern about walk-in traffic, and although being overwhelmed with work seems like something impossible now, I'm wondering how I would deal with it. Might have to drag Walt away from his paint to help manage the traffic some days.

It is the "shoppers" and the ones trying to get free advice that will sap your time. They will walk in with that "quick question" about the uncle who left the home to them that they sold but it never went through probate and the realtor held the money on the sale and how do they get that back? After educating them, they thank you and walk out.

I know it seems unrealistic, because it doesn't happen when you work out of your home. Wait until you get the guy that comes in and you tell him he can't get EIC for his girlfriends kids that he just told you he supports, and then he brings in his girlfriend and wants you to make her HOH based on his wages. Or better yet, wait until he sends his brother in with his W2 and ID telling a different story about how the kids are his and the girlfreind doesn't live in the home. Seriously, this crap happens, and it will take your time up. Just be aware that when you are open to the public, the public will come in.

Good luck.

Tom

Lodi, CA

[Julie]

I haven't worked from home in several years now, but where I am is almost as private. Before that, I put in five years at the HRB at Stockton Blvd and Fruitridge Rd, with an 80% EIC clientele. I saw all that and more before leaving to go out on my own. Seems like the anonymity of HRB made them feel like they could get by with anything. I'm out of practice now, but I used to be pretty good at spotting them.

That's one thing I've enjoyed about being on my own....I don't get clients who lie to me. But, yes, I know that open doors and signs will attract people, some of whom I don't want to talk to. But Tahoe Park, although not far away (neighborhood boundaries are rather sharp in Sacramento), is a very middle-class neighborhood, and I don't expect to get all that many of those.

It is the "shoppers" and the ones trying to get free advice that will sap your time. They will walk in with that "quick question" about the uncle who left the home to them that they sold but it never went through probate and the realtor held the money on the sale and how do they get that back? After educating them, they thank you and walk out.

I know it seems unrealistic, because it doesn't happen when you work out of your home. Wait until you get the guy that comes in and you tell him he can't get EIC for his girlfriends kids that he just told you he supports, and then he brings in his girlfriend and wants you to make her HOH based on his wages. Or better yet, wait until he sends his brother in with his W2 and ID telling a different story about how the kids are his and the girlfreind doesn't live in the home. Seriously, this crap happens, and it will take your time up. Just be aware that when you are open to the public, the public will come in.

Good luck.

Tom

Lodi, CA

[joelgilb]

Thanks for all the encouragement and good advice. I will follow some of it.

... As for that Ouija board, Joel, if you keep asking the same question, eventually it will give you the right answer. And I think you'd best ask your wife about that concubine. And I think I'll try to keep you away from my husband; you're a bad influence. ...

Now wait a minute, I was careful and only asked each question once. Guess I just got lucky. And, your husband might like a concubine!

Think of how happy this could make him, or... hmmm there is an alternative line of thinking here best shown by the following joke:

Why do husbands die before their wives?

Because they want to.