A Foot in the Door

A CPA who isn't afraid to stand alone builds a solo practice in New York City. Can a CPA build a profitable practice by promoting a specialty in low-level services, such as bookkeeping? The common wisdom says absolutely not, but a New York City sole practitioner has used these services as a stepping stone to more complicated assignments from clients to whom she otherwise might not have had access. She also has turned herself into a marketing expert--focusing in particular on opportunities with small business owners--and built niches among women-owned businesses and media and entertainment clients. UP THE LADDER Ginger Broderick came to New York in 1981 from a small town in Illinois. After growing up in a family of business owners, she was determined to have her own company, so she obtained an accounting degree and got a job with a CPA firm that served small businesses, the market in which she planned to specialize. During a year-and-a-half stint at her first firm, she methodically interviewed more experienced staff on their career histories and satisfaction and how they had achieved their positions. "I wanted to get feedback on the different paths they had taken and what they did and didn't like about them," she says. She concluded that tax and business planning seemed to be the most appealing and lucrative specialties. At the same time, however, she realized that the firm could not offer her the training in technology she would need to succeed: In the mid-1980s, the 200-person firm had three computers. So, she interviewed at 28 firms to find a practice in which she would spend the next five years learning about tax and computers--and laying the foundation for her own business. Finally, in 1992, she was offered a 3-month full-time project that was to begin in September and decided to use it as the platform to launch her own practice. "If it didn't work out, I always had the chance to hop back into a CPA firm for tax season," she remembers. The 3-month assignment turned into a 10-month project because once Broderick took the accounting responsibilities off the shoulders of the sales department, the client found the salespeople could do the work they were hired to do. The company experienced tremendous growth and, in turn, required even more help in planning and development for its accounting, tax and management functions. Thus, a new accounting firm was born. THE RULE OF SECONDS One of Broderick's first tasks was to network and expand her business as much as possible. She follows what she calls the rule of seconds, taking what might be considered second-choice assignments because of the potential advantages they offer. For example, she has found that people don't change accountants very easily, so she promotes bookkeeping services either for those without computers or for start-ups that need someone to initiate their computerization. At the beginning of these engagements, "I make sure I have a very strong presence with that business owner in the first six months." In many cases, within a year Broderick gets the client for accounting or tax work, too. In one example, a payroll outsourcing company referred Broderick to a client that owned 80 pieces of real estate in New York and that was having payroll problems. The client's owner warned her up front that he already had a CPA--but one who wasn't interested in payroll issues and who had told the owner a bookkeeper could do the work. Some of the problems, such as working bank accounts that had liens on them, would have been too technical for a bookkeeper, but Broderick was able to solve them. She became an office hero, someone who sorted out the day-to-day confusion as well as the long-term problems. "Their accountant was really throwing away work," she says. "Maybe it isn't as attractive to do that kind of assignment, but it certainly is a foot in the door. "Within a few weeks, management realized how much I cared about the well-being of their company" according to Broderick. …