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by Stephen Parezo

December 5, 2005—Several Fiducial franchisees learned first-hand what it’s like to be the boss as small business owners when they opened their doors during 2005 including Navjeet Chahal, William (Bill) Turnage, Sr., and Michael Partee.

Navjeet Chahal

Having previously served as an auditor for a major accounting firm, Chahal used to do taxes part-time before deciding to become a full-time entrepreneur. Unlike other Fiducial “rookies,” the San Pablo, CA-based CPA had the advantage of bringing some existing tax clients with him when he set up shop.

Chahal credits Joe Rouleau, Fiducial’s franchise relations manager for the Mid-Pacific, Southwest and Southcentral regions, for helping him smooth out some rough spots along the way.

“Joe’s been phenomenal in terms of being a strategic coach,” said Chahal. “Sometimes I want to do certain things but he says to slow down and focus because it’s all about delivering the products.”

Also high on Chahal’s gratitude list are tax advisors Bob Sperling and Guy Mullen on Fiducial’s Tax Hotline.

“I always get the answer I need from them,” Chahal said.

Rouleau describes Chahal as “young, energetic and enthusiastic” who has some “big goals.”

Bill Turnage, Sr.

“I hope to be in the top 10 someday,” Chahal added, referring to being listed on the “Fiducial Honor Roll” which ranks the leading members of the Fiducial network on a monthly basis.

Experiencing the learning curve

In Gladstone, MO, Turnage began serving clients in the spring. Like all franchise newcomers, Turnage says he would certainly enjoy having more clients right now but he knows that as word spreads about his services that will take care of itself.

Turnage works with his son, Bill, Jr., and the father-son combination has been a hit with clients. Since he’s in his 50’s and his son is in his 30’s it allows them to serve several different generations of small business owners.

“I think they like that,” said Turnage. “They accept that well and like that sense of someone younger and then more experienced. Even though we’re pretty similar in many ways we probably bring different things to our clients.”

For marketing purposes the Turnages’ plan to capitalize on the father-son angle with photos of themselves in a Yellow Pages advertisement.

Michael Partee has also been experiencing the learning curve in Lula, GA, since February but activity started picking up there in October. One big plus that’s helped him launch his business has been the background support he’s received from Fiducial.

Michael Partee

Strong call for accounting services

“Having the ability to tie-in with other people that know what you’re going through is really a key component,” said Partee who credited franchisee Sam Smith of Middletown, MD, for being a great mentor for him in the early going. “Without someone like Sam helping me, it would really be difficult,” he said.

If there’s been any surprise for him so far it’s that a strong call exists in this area for the types of services Fiducial provides.

“There’s a need out there for good accounting services,” he said. “There’s a lot of CPAs in small shops that aren’t putting out the quality work.”

Partee finds that taxes are always on his clients’ minds along with having the ability to gauge how their business is doing throughout the course of the year.

“You can’t wait until year-end to see if you’ve been successful,” he said.

For 2006, Partee sees his office “turning the corner, posting a profit and being able to help even more clients.”.

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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