Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Benet.
Hi Nancy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story is not a pretty fairytale or an overnight success. It is one of overcoming big obstacles by putting one foot in front of the other every day. It is a story of persevering through failure after failure and setback after setback.
Fix-It Accounting is the 6th business of 10 so far. The first closed without ever having served any clients. The second had both my husband and me filing bankruptcy. The 5th had so much emotional and financial loss that I found myself as divorced, a single mom with four small children, $600k in debt and no income. I was frustrated and absolutely positive that I would never dream big enough to start another business. I gave up on entrepreneurship and got a job.
As is true for most entrepreneurs, being told my work hours and what to do all the time did not go well. Yes, I was able to meet my day-to-day financial obligations, but the drudgery of it was almost more than I could take. And having strict work hours while raising 4 children alone created a never ending juggling act. I wondered if this was all there was to life and wished for something different. Little did I know that something quite different was coming!
The company I worked for was abruptly sold and all accounting functions were moved to Colorado. This was during the middle of a recession when there were no jobs. None. Anywhere! My wish for “something different” came true, it just was in different packaging than what I had expected. It was also a great lesson that there is always something positive in every seemingly negative situation.
After the layoff, unemployment was helpful but quickly ran out. We were on food stamps and Medicaid. I stressed over where the next gallon of milk or gas would come from. Then there was the added worry that the house would be foreclosed at any moment and we would be homeless. The present and the future looked hopeless and bleak.
When I thought I might die, a ray of light appeared in the form of a small business owner who needed help in his tax practice. As a former CPA in my home state, I was a good fit. He was older and ready to retire and offered to sell me his small practice. As much as I did not want to be a business owner again, it was all I had. I jumped in with both feet.
We needed office space so I signed a 3-year lease on a beautiful new office and prepared to go out on my own. However, the day after the lease signing, this “gentleman” backed out of our agreement and gave the business to his daughter. I was left sitting there with a big lease payment, 4 hungry children and only 1 client. Shock, anger, and depression ensued. The underneath of my beautiful, new executive desk became the place I chose to crawl and cry.
This was a pivotal moment though. As I look back, I realize that if the seller had not backed out, I would be the proud owner of a small hometown tax practice. Instead, I am the leader of a state-wide, very successful accounting firm.
How? The answer is simple. Everyone in our small town already had an accountant. I was forced to do get creative. As someone who thrives on creating win-win situations, I began looking for a need to fill in the community that would be good for everyone. We found it in taxpayers who had federal tax liens and started helping people who were in trouble with the IRS. They weren’t criminals, but just regular people who had life’s hardships happen to them.
One of the first cases we handled was an ICU nurse who had been erroneously issued 2 W-2s in 2002 from the same employer. The IRS didn’t know it was an error and had been hounding her for years. She had given up and just didn’t file because they kept keeping her refund. She was finally forced to do something because they levied her bank account and wages. This is where we came in. Through a lot of hard work and tenacity, we were able to get the levies lifted and the 2nd W-2 removed. We filed all of the back returns and got her thousands of dollars in refunds. After that, I was hooked on this kind of work! It feels incredibly satisfying to help someone get their life back.
So we kept expanding our target marketing area. It went from our county to neighboring counties then to all of Central Florida and the entire state. We have literally helped hundreds of struggling taxpayers, mostly small business owners, get out from under the dark cloud of seemingly insurmountable tax problems. And because we do such a good job for them, those taxpayers typically stay with us for their bookkeeping and annual tax preparation. I couldn’t have asked for a better calling in life!
Today, I fondly remember the dark days when I was forced out of my comfort zone. They provided the fertile ground for me to grow, change and become what I needed to be to obtain elusive “success”. It gave the realization that true success is found in who we are, not what we have.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There is almost never a smooth road to success. We all have our peaks and valleys that we must learn to navigate. But all obstacles or challenges have some positive take-away! Aside from the business purchase falling apart, some of mine include:
- Early in the business, my 17-year-old son was involved in a near-fatal car crash. He was hospitalized for five weeks and recovered at home for a full year. He couldn’t be left alone. The business almost failed during that time. This experience taught me that I must have a solid team to hold down the fort while I’m away.
- Our main source of revenue came from clients who had Federal Tax liens issued by the IRS. Budget disputes, hurricanes, and now a pandemic have caused the Service to shut down or suspend filing liens many times, totally disrupting our income stream. This taught me to diversify our offerings so that there will continue to be funds coming in whether the IRS is open or not.
- As the recession ended and the people began building again, our landlord decided that he needed our office space for his own business. He gently asked us to move. As I looked for a place to be, it became clear that there wasn’t much to choose from. One of my good friends is a real estate broker. She suggested an office complex that was run down, rat-infested, and just plain ugly. I balked! But, in the end, didn’t see any other choices. We bought it. Through the process, I learned many lessons and now have an income-producing property as well as a permanent home for Fix-It Accounting.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Fix-It Accounting?
Fix-It Accounting specializes in IRS Problem Resolution, Remote CFO work and tax prep for small businesses. The Resolution work is highly specialized and requires vast amounts of education, training, and experience. This makes us much better at our other services because we deal with the IRS on a daily basis. We know what they do and don’t accept, we know how to navigate their systems and speak their language. We have developed efficient systems for getting things done quickly to meet tight IRS deadlines.
Also, team retention is very important to us. Turnover creates disruption and stress for our clients as well as the rest of our team, so we have developed a system to attract and keep high quality individuals. We have a great office culture with flexibility for working parents, a family atmosphere, and a climate of personal and professional growth.
It has become a passion of mine to share my experience with other entrepreneurs. I have worked with so many that I see some common traits…
- They feel alone in their struggles
- They think they should automatically know everything they need to know and feel embarrassed when they don’t
- It’s much harder than they thought it would be
In coaching entrepreneurs, I provide honest guidance and systems to help them succeed.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
While many accounting firms couldn’t pivot during the Covid-19 lockdown, we never missed a beat. Handling clients all over the state meant that we were well equipped to work virtually. Zoom was the norm. A client portal to securely drop documents was already in place. Electronic signatures were a way of life.
The interesting lesson here for me is that the more obstacles you encounter and overcome on your journey, the more ability you have to handle anything that comes along, including a global pandemic!
Contact Info:
- Email: nancy@fixitaccounting.com
- Website: https://www.fixitaccounting.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nancybenet/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FixItAccounting
Image Credits
Canovas Photography
