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Accountancy Practice Launch Programme · Stage 1 of 10
Choose Your Model & Niche
Make the decisions that shape everything else: what you sell, who you serve, and what you charge.
How long
1–2 days
You’ll have
A service list, a niche, and packaged pricing
Steps
4 steps
Resources
2 resources
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01 Step 01
Step 01
Pick your service lines
Your service mix drives your software, your insurance, your pricing and your target client, so choose it deliberately.
Do it yourself
- List the core lines: bookkeeping, VAT, year-end accounts, corporation and personal tax, payroll, and advisory.
- Mark each as offer now, offer later, or never, against what you can genuinely deliver unaided.
- Write your "no" list explicitly: audit is separately regulated, and investment advice is FCA territory.
- Check every "offer now" line is one you can take to a filing deadline on your own.
Common mistake · Offering everything to everyone on day one, so you systematise nothing and under-price the hard work.
Time~half a day CostFree DifficultyEasy -
02 Step 02
Step 02
Choose your target client and niche
A niche makes your marketing, pricing and templates far more efficient than serving "any small business".
Do it yourself
- Pick a client type (sole traders, limited-company contractors, VAT-registered SMEs) and, ideally, a sector.
- Test it against three filters: enough of them, able to pay, and you understand their numbers.
- Write a one-line positioning: we help [who] with [what] so they [outcome].
- Note the niche calendar (VAT quarters, sector year-ends) so your capacity planning is realistic.
Common mistake · Picking a niche you find interesting but that cannot afford recurring fees, or that a big local firm already owns.
Time~1 day CostFree DifficultyMediumResource for this step
PDFNiche validation scorecard
Score two or three candidate niches before you commit to one.
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03 Step 03
Step 03
Set your pricing
Fixed monthly fees are what let a solo practice scale; hourly billing caps you at your own clock.
Do it yourself
- Choose fixed monthly pricing for compliance work, and reserve hourly rates for genuine one-off jobs.
- Build three tiers with clear inclusions and exclusions.
- Price from the bottom up: the income you need, divided by the clients you can serve, is your minimum average fee.
- Set payment terms now: monthly Direct Debit, in advance, no work before the mandate is live.
Common mistake · Under-pricing to win the first few clients, then being trapped serving low-fee work you cannot profitably let go of.
Time~1 day CostFree DifficultyMediumResource for this step
PDFFixed-fee package builder
Turn your services into a few packages that actually pay you.
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04 Step 04
Step 04
Know your capacity
How many clients you can actually serve solo caps your revenue and tells you when to hire or say no.
Do it yourself
- Estimate the hours each client takes across a year, by tier.
- Divide your realistic billable hours by that to get a client ceiling.
- Decide your delivery model: fully remote, local, or hybrid.
- Set a "full" number and a waitlist plan so growth stays deliberate.
Common mistake · Assuming software lets you serve unlimited clients, when reviews, queries and deadlines are the real bottleneck.
Time~half a day CostFree DifficultyEasy
What you’ll have after this stage
- A clear list of services you offer now, later, or never
- A niche you understand and can market to
- Fixed-fee packages priced from what you need to earn
- A realistic client ceiling for a solo practice