Our fees include an initial fee for set-up, training and coaching you through the first 18 months and an ongoing management fee.

The fees we charge will depending on a number of factors. We can agree a fixed monthly fee, a percentage of sales or a fee per client or a mixture of these. We think it works best if there should be a affordable fixed monthly fee plus a small percentage of sales.

Our fees are insignificant to the value as we expect offices will have a turnover of £500,000 with a minimum target of £250,000 over ten years.

Not just the knowledge of how to launch an accounting practice (in a mature market) or how to generate leads, sell with easy and price so you make a profit, but the knowledge of how to add value to traditional accounting services.

If you do not have the knowledge to help a business make more profit then the fact is your are stuck competing with traditional accounts with the same offering. This means you will be dragged into the middle to the bottom of the market.

The truth is, if you are not distinctively different and compelling attractive it will be much harder for you to get noticed, generate high quality leads and sign-up great clients at a premium price.

We are now in the knowledge economy and what you know determines your success. Do you think you can invest the time and energy to develop the knowledge you need. Or, does it make sense to collaborate with like-minded, non-competing people all over the UK?

Being different is vital in marketing because the brain ignores and filters out what it already has.

Crunchers have created the Alternative Accountants category and you can watch the video by clicking here.

This means that potential franchisees have another reason to join Crunchers. This policy also supports our position of being the Alternative Franchise for Alternative Accountants.

The Success Guarantee works on a one-on-one basis. We find out what the franchisee is most concerned about and build a guarantee around that. For many this could be the levels of new business as we can link the guarantee to the level of sales.

If you are interested in seeing if Crunchers is right for you then register here.

At the start it would show you studying hard for your qualification.

You may already be self-employed and engaged in bookkeeping, VAT returns, year-end accounts and tax returns.

But, you would be unaware that your skills with numbers could transform not only your profits, but your clients as well.

A potential Crunchers franchisee may be thinking; is all the hard work worth it? Is there is a better way of running my practice?

You will know that many businesses have a poor understanding of bookkeeping and accountancy. And, you will see weak financial systems and a lack of structured business planning in the majority of businesses. Many of the business owners will be working really hard but have little or no personal wealth.

You have reflected on the situation and know deep down things must change.

You may have considered different options and would have come across or been contacted by Crunchers.

When considering doing something new it’s normal to be a little fearful. Others may warn you of dangers of doing something different.

But, after doing your research and speaking with us over the period of weeks and months you would find the courage to head in a new direction.

By being committed to personal development and working with like minded people you would notice that you start to change. You develop new attitudes, insights, skills and knowledge.

When you go back and launch your Crunchers business you confront your biggest fears.

From time to time they doubt their ability but have the passion, determination and support to push on. They start to implement their plan and by using what they learnt and it starts to work.

So, you now they fully appreciate that for their business to develop, they needed to develop.

They now have the confidence, knowledge and skills to make a difference to their clients lives.

Sales and profit flow but when they receive heartfelt thanks from their clients, they know it is worth it.

And, they are proud to be a Cruncher, recognised by their business community as an Alternative Accountant.

Someone who doesn’t just count numbers but improves them.

First, he is now a Member in Practice and we’ve helped by reviewing his work and completing Damion’s work experience verifications.

Second, Damion turn down his first client. It was going to be the biggest fee yet but while most bookkeepers and accountants make the mistake of taking on the wrong work Damion stuck to his strategy and immediately won two other clients that fitted!

Third, he is a third of the way to employing his first person. Obviously, I challenged him to suggested he employ earlier, so he can focus on building the business, and he is now reworking is sales and cashflow forecast.

Damion is really going well. The local seminars are building his brand, leads are coming in and sales are being made. It’s just about ongoing improvement.

This will cover the key areas of business development including:

• Personal financial planning
• Business strategy and budgeting
• Profit Improvement Strategies
• Effective business management

It was interesting to see what Xero announced today with their budgeting tool. This is exactly what accountants and clients need to collaborate and get the best from each other.

From a standing start (having qualified with the AAT in 2011) it has taken Damion just seven months to get to a position where all his costs (including the Crunchers management fee) are covered.  From now on any surplus revenue comes to him.

As a rule of thumb we say break-even takes at least six months, but it does depend on your circumstances and marketing budget. Damion’s marketing budget was three days a week (in terms of his time and energy) plus just under £5,000 in cash.

Damion feels he has developed greatly as a business owner through the process, enjoyed the journey and built capital value.

Here are his key lessons:

• Plan your time
• Engaging a client takes quite a long time
• Have a script for everything you can
• Trust in your advisers
• Cold calling works
• Stop procrastinating and speak to people
• Have something to give away for free
• Sell on an emotional level
• Don’t be cheap
• Don’t be afraid to walk away

If you are stating up our suggestion is that it will cost you less to join a franchise than going it alone. Yes, you will need to pay some money but you will make more progress faster.

Watch some videos of Damion talking about his experiences click here.

Our marketing plan includes a seminar at The Tremough Innovation Centre. The topic will be Pricing for Profit aimed at the creative industry.

It will be interesting to see how Cornish businesses take to our message of Alternative Accounting; low cost and high value.

We kick-started our advertising to the franchise world in October 2011 and we now have nearly 200 people interested. We will be releasing our Orientation Videos later this week and plan to start arranging telephone interviews and one-to-one meetings so we can launch new offices in the first quarter of 2012.

To help kick-start the year with bookkeepers and accountants who are already in business, they will have the option to join Crunchers without the initial fee. This saves £2,750 which can be put towards relaunching their business or pays for the first 10 months management fees.

This development makes Crunchers the only fixed fee franchise with no upfront costs for existing business owners.