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I am in the early stages of starting my DMM business. I live in South Florida where there is an abundance of Seniors so that is the market I am focusing on. I want to start out keeping it simple- basic bill paying, opening mail, tracking payments, and basic personal banking needs. Does anyone have experience “keeping it simple”?
Thanks!Sharon
I am an AADMM Board member. I started out 20 years ago exactly where you are. Feel free to call me anytime at 917-881-7042, but take into account, that I am on the west coast so we have a three-hour time difference. Look forward to hearing from you.
Gideon
Thank you Gideon. I will give you a call later in the week. 😊
Sharyn, One of the most effective tools to prevent ‘mission creep’ is saying no, politely but firmly. But instead of ‘keeping it simple’ by severely limiting the services you provide, consider restricting the number of clients you take on initially. Why? In order to establish a sterling reputation, you need to build lasting relationships based on trust and confidence; you can’t achieve that with too many “Sorry, I don’t do that” responses. But if you provide ‘world class service’ to a small number of clients, your business will flourish.
Naturally, I say no when asked to do something clearly out of my lane; in those cases, I always recommend an appropriate service provider (perhaps an in-home health care aide; a house-cleaning service; a CPA; etc.). But since starting out in 2009, I’ve done (and still do) many things for clients that are not listed on my “Services” page. I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned along the way (even when the lesson was, “I’ll never do that again!”). All of those unanticipated tasks helped build my professional knowledge and confidence (and reputation!).
I look forward to reading what other colleagues have to say in this regard. And I know you’ll get excellent advice from Gideon!
Best wishes,
RoxanneHello Sharyn,
Congratulations on starting your DMM business!
When I started my business almost 8 years ago, I focused on providing DMM services to seniors and veterans. I made the decision to keep things “simple” by doing what I do best and what I enjoy the most, which includes developing rapport and trust with clients, opening and tracking mail, bill paying, checkbook reconciliation, etc. As a clinical social worker, I frequently take on an advocate/liaison role on behalf of my clients to keep their service providers and financial professionals informed and accountable.
However, I don’t work remotely with clients (although I am in communication with their family members who live in other states) as I decided I didn’t want to set up a system to manage those clients. When I get referrals for clients with more complicated financial situations, I refer these to my colleagues nearby or if someone prefers to work remotely, I will find a DMM via the AADMM website. Hope this helps.
I can be reached at 608-515-4083 if you’d like more information.
I am also starting out in this business, and I am excited to see the quick responses and support of others. I would enjoy having a conversation with a “veteran” in this business to get ideas on the logistics of the bill paying aspect. I just want to ensure I set clients up in a manner where they feel safe and also protect myself.
Thank you in advance for everyone’s help! These forums are a fantastic resource!
Welcome Sharyn! I am in South Florida as well and also on the board for AADMM. I have a different target market, but am more than happy to speak with you about starting your business in South Florida. I think it is great to start out with a core group of services that you are providing and that are in your comfort zone, knowing that you will likely get asked to provide services outside of those services. You will need to decide if they are in your wheelhouse or not. If they are not your expertise, you may decide you want to learn and provide those services. Or, you may decide another professional or service provider will be better suited. You may decide you are fully satisfied with providing the limited scope of services and referring out the rest. It is your business and you get to run it how you want to run it. Feel free to reach out to me for help. 954-465-6374. Lillian – same for you.
Thank you for your comments. It was great speaking with Lillian and Caitlin. Much appreciated. I will continue to reach out as needed.
Hi Sharyn! I’m also just starting out, so I don’t have as much experience as the others. One thing I learned quickly is that I had a huge influx of interest but I can only add two clients per month right now. Onboarding takes a significant amount of time.
Best of luck with your new venture!
I am so grateful for this resource. I have been doing bookkeeping part-time for 19 years and I am just starting to venture into DMM. My question is how do you best establish pricing?
Take a look at the “how many clients do you have” thread (do a search on “to charge”) that has some general guidelines that may be helpful.
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