We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Barbara Schreihans a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Barbara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

When I graduated from my master of taxation program, I had received a job offer as a Tax Staff Accountant from one of the most ‘prestigious’ firms in the world. When I got there, I thought, ‘THIS? This is what everyone was striving for?’ Everyone looked like bored, overworked-zombies. We were working 100 hour work weeks and not actually saving the clients any money in taxes. Additionally, since we had so many projects, we couldn’t possibly keep up with the client communication. I quickly moved to a more regional sized firm and then small, local firms thinking I would find something better. I was hoping that a smaller firm meant more personalization and increased customer service.

I was wrong. After 10 years of working in public accounting, I was crying, literal tears, to my husband about how burnt out I was and how little my bonus was even though I was the highest producing employee. He said ‘why don’t you start your own firm?’
I had never thought of it before.

I had no money and no savings because I was feverishly trying paying off my student loans for years. How would I have the money to start my own Tax company?

I had a computer and instagram and started posting daily about how to save in taxes. I stayed consistent and slowly built up an audience and client list.

Our mission and purpose in Your Tax Coach is to save business owners money in taxes and to ease the stress and anxiety of taxes by offering amazing customer service and clear communication.

Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself.

I am the Founder and CEO of Your Tax Coach – a tax strategy firm specializing in saving business owners money in taxes. We ease the stress and anxiety of taxes while also saving our clients from overpaying the government millions of dollars.

I started the firm because I wanted to change the accounting industry. Taxes and accounting are industries known for being boring and introverted but we make it fun and exciting.

We offer our business owner clients tax strategy services, tax preparation, full-service bookkeeping, and contracted CFO projects.

We now have a staff of 13 employees and we are growing everyday since all of our clients tell their friends about us after we save them a bunch of money.

We go above and beyond in our customer service so that our clients know they are a part of our Tax Fam. Whenever they have questions or concerns about taxes, a deduction, or any business question – they know they can chat with any of the team within 48 hours AND we clearly communicate our answers so that a non-accounting person would understand.

I now also do a lot of speaking engagements and recently launched my own podcast titled Life-Changing Money.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I first started Your Tax Coach, I had less than $3,000 in my bank account. I had been paying off credit card and student loan debt for years so all of my extra money was going towards those things. For 7 years I had multiple side hustles or little streams of income to help pay off debt such as always having a roommate to help pay for housing. I would sell things on Facebook marketplace or Poshmark for extra cash. I would prepare friends’ tax returns. I would coach at the local crossfit gym so that my husband and I could get a free gym membership. I would open up bank accounts that offered a $500 sign up bonus. I was pro at finding little ways to earn money however, when I decided to start my own business I had to get scrappy.

The first thing I did was pay my LLC fee for my state and get a free EIN number from the IRS. I already had a phone, a computer, and a free instagram account so that is how I started marketing to get clients. I had a friend that was creating websites at the time so I asked her to create a website for less than $1,000. She did an amazing job and I hired her as a contractor for little design jobs like infographics for social media or my blog posts or newsletters. I then saved enough money to have a professional photoshoot for like $500 so I could have real photos on my Instagram account. Once clients started coming in from Instagram and from referrals, I constantly invested back into my business and now we have 13 full time employees.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I had a personal instagram account, I had noticed that people really liked seeing my everyday things like working out, coffee, and even work-related things. When I started my @yourtaxcoach Instagram account I followed that same process: show people my authentic self and what I do everyday. I also started sharing tips and tricks for how to save on taxes.

The process was slow but I stayed consistent. I posted at least 10 stories a day and posted an IG post 3-5x a week. I would also engage with a lot of other business owners. I think this is also key because a lot of people think you can just post and expect people to come find you but it’s also about community and building relationships and engaging with your followers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yourtaxcoach.biz/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourtaxcoach/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourtaxcoach
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/barbara-schreihans

Image Credits
Alyssa White, employee of Your Tax Coach