In the 21st century economy, it’s becoming more
and more common for working professionals throughout the UK to be
self-employed, but many of today’s leading industries have yet to adapt to meet
the unique demands of these self-sufficient clients. For British accountants to
remain effective and marketable in the long-term, they’ll need to master the
ins and outs of working with self-employed clients, and learn what simple
mistakes they should learn to avoid if they want to remain successful for long.
Here’s how you can meet the unique needs of self-employed
clients, and the key stats about the future of the job market in general you’ll
want to stay up-to-date on.
Understanding the
future of the job market
Before you can hope to meet the needs of your self-employed
clients, you’ll want to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the future
of the job market, which increasingly appears set to be dominated by the
self-employed and freelancers. In the post-Brexit economy in particular, the UK
is set to experience and explosion of self-employed workers and freelancers,
especially as millions of professionals come to realize that self-employment is
the ideal route towards achieving financial security while retaining
flexibility. There are already more than 4.7 million self-employed professionals in
Britain alone, and this number is only likely to grow; so, what should you be
doing to tap into this key market?
The first thing you need to understand
is that your self-employed clients, include a dentist working at Fourth Ward
Dentistry, are a world apart from those clients with a more
traditional job at a classical firm, and that you can’t handle the demands of
these two disparate groups with the same approach. It’s not impossible for
accountants to handle both self-employed and traditionally-employed clients at
once, but understand that doing so will put a significant strain on your
resources and attention span, as you won’t be able to take a one-size-fits-all
solution and expect it to work for every one of your clients.
Accountants should take extra time when dealing with their
self-employed clients to figure out their personal workstyle and living
arrangements, as the two are necessarily essential to any contractor’s
continued success in the market. Contractors have significantly more
unpredictable incomes than traditional employees, meaning it can’t hurt to encourage innovative ways to usher in greater
personal savings, which are much more vital to freelancers and contractors than
to traditional workers. Becoming a specialist in contractor affairs isn’t easy,
precisely because it’s not all about industry-specific knowledge; oftentimes,
you need extra social skills, and a good eye for determining your clients work
schedule and financial preferences.
Furthermore, specialist accountants who are aiming to corner
the self-employed client market will need to retain a greater level of
flexibility themselves. The rise of flexible working arrangements
appears to have been spurred by the recent increase in automating technologies,
but flexibility is particularly important when it comes to dealing with
non-traditional clients who don’t necessarily keep ordinary schedules, too.
Thus, don’t be afraid to book your time more sparingly to ensure you’re going
to be there for your clients when they need you the most.
Help your clients see
the big picture
Far too often, the self-employed fail to have a bigger
picture of the market place, largely because they don’t need one; self-employed
specialist and freelance contractors need only master their area of expertise,
and they can attain financial security for themselves. Still, not keeping your
finger on the pulse of the broader market is an ideal way to spoil potential
future profits, so it’s your job as an accountant to remind your self-employed
clients that the fact that they’re self-sufficient doesn’t mean they live in a
world of their own.
Younger clients who are just embarking on their careers may
need more professional advice than you’re used to lending as a traditional
accountant, too, so be prepared to act as more of a mentor than you may have
originally thought when you began catering to independent contractors. Above
all else, accountants will want to stay up to date on the handy tips that the self-employed can follow
when it comes to filing their taxes, which is a unique way that contractors in
particular can save a few extra pounds that many traditional employees can’t.
Above all else, don’t get in over your head, and
take on too many self-employed clients at once. These clients will need extra
time and attention, and you’ll have to develop more extensive personal
relationships with them, meaning trying to expand too fast is a surefire way to
doom yourself to inevitable failure. Keep calm, expand slowly, and never try to
rope in too many contractors at once, and you’ll soon find yourself to be
providing invaluable services to a plethora of self-employed clientele.