We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alicia King, MBA a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alicia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know

Allow me to give you a little backstory first; when I decided to start my own tax company, I was unsure of how to run a tax business but I knew it was something I wanted to do. I was running my business like it was hobby, although that was not my intention, I had to be honest with myself. It wasn’t until well into my third tax season that I noticed I needed the proper guidance. At that moment I figured I would try a mentorship program. Not just any mentorship program, but I knew I needed a mentor who had taken similar paths as I did. Someone who was knowledgeable, honest, and critical, trustworthy and who would have my best interest at heart.

I started my 1-on-1 mentorship program 5 months ago and it is the BEST investment I have made in my business. Just to give you a few ideas of how my mentor has helped me; I have learned to put processes in place to ensure my business is running efficiently so when I hire an assistant on-board it will be an easy transition. I began the process of having my business run on autopilot; automation has allowed me time to focus on day-to-day task in my business. Started building business credit to fund my business and I was able to leverage my business credit. And let’s not forget, I learned to always be consistent. This is just a few jewels I learned from having a mentor. I will take this same knowledge and provide to my partners especially if they are new to the industry.

So to answer your questions, if I were to start over, I would definitely invest in a mentor or some sort of mentorship program tailored towards my needs and goals. If I had started with a mentor, I would have definitely surpassed where I am today especially with using my business credit to fund my business.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Alicia King, MBA; Mom, Grand-Mother (MiMi), Dance Coach, Employee in State Government, Angel Award Recipient and CEO. A Solopreneur at its finest! I own Sophisticated Tax & Associates, LLC with Sophisticated Tax Lab, LLC and Sophisticated Tax Academy, LLC under its umbrella.

Under the Sophisticated Tax & Academy’s umbrella, we assist individuals and business owners with all their tax needs as well as providing motivated entrepreneurs with an opportunity to become their own CEO. We help entrepreneurs grow and learn the tax industry.

Specifically, our services include tax preparation, business registration, bookkeeping services, payroll services, tax software and coming soon business credit.

Our services are also targeting individuals who aspire to become entrepreneurs or need help keeping their small business a float.
Through all the adversities we have experienced, we have accomplished purchasing our own software geared towards expansion. We have also started building our team, which is major because “I” was a Solopreneur for 3 years, LOL. Building our team will allow us to better service our clientele. We are very proud of how far we have come!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Many years ago, before starting college in fall 1997, I knew I wanted to be a Tax Accountant based in New York, crazy right?! When I started college, my major was Accounting and in the final year and half I added Entrepreneurship as a minor because at some point my vision changed. Once I received my Bachelor’s degree in Accounting with minor in Entrepreneurship I then went straight to grad school where I received my Masters of Business Administration degree. Summer 2018, the opportunity to start my own tax company came across my Instagram time line. At that moment I was afraid of starting my own company. I was gainfully employed, comfortable with my salary but uncomfortable with the thought of becoming a CEO. I was afraid of the start-up cost and life as a single mother was already a struggle. The competition was intimidating because there were so many tax bosses out there. I still was unsure and scared, but I pushed past all my fears, and took a leap of faith and began the process of starting my own virtual tax company. Just think, I was able to start my own tax business on a payment plan!

October 2019, I started my virtual tax company only part-time because I was still employed full-time. There was a lot to learn about running a tax company and servicing my clientele. For me at that time the major issue was knowing and understanding what my tax fees should be and how to explain to my client what their fees are. The offer I invested in advertised virtual offices could be successful but that was not my experience. I kept telling myself, I could have done better if I had an office for clients to visit, so I researched office space that was affordable and included everything that I needed to run my office efficiently. My second tax season, I secured my own tax office suite for 6 months because I did not think I could afford a year round office. That tax season was a little more hectic than the previous year as it was also the beginning of COVID. I still found myself working from home most of the time due to the COVID restrictions. Although it was a little challenging, I gained an additional 15 clients. Things were going great until hurricane IDA hit Louisiana and the office suite I wanted to return to was damaged. So that meant I had to search again for new office space. This was very upsetting because I didn’t want to be one of those businesses that always change their location and seem unstable. I needed something permanent! Everything happens for a reason, because I found the perfect office suite that better fits my office needs.

This entire 3 year journey has taught me patience and to never give up no matter what it looks like, because GOD will always provide.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Absolutely, the pivotal moment for me was during the last tax season. I watched my clientele grow rapidly but still wasn’t making a difference in my business as hoped but I knew the potential was there just didn’t know how to bring it to the forefront. I desperately needed to change the direction my business was going.

At that moment I knew it was time to shift towards growth and expansion. I took a few steps to shift the direction of my business; If I had to give advice to any entrepreneur, hire a mentor as well as a branding and marketing team. With all the changes I had to find better ways to meet the needs of my team and clientele. I purchased my own tax software.
Deciding to really start investing in my business and hiring a mentor to help guide me, take the blinders off, and to push me to step out of my comfort zone was major career challenge for me, however, it was worth the investment.

Rebranding my business, hiring a branding and marketing team created the ultimate vision; these investments helped to identify my target audience and to better meet the needs of my clientele.

Being a solopreneur/entrepreneur is NO easy task and it is not for the weak. I will never forget what my mentor told me,” That in business you must be able to pivot!”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/sophisticatedtax
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophisticated_taxlab_llc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SophisticatedTaxLabLLC
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/SophisticatedTax and https://www.instagram.com/sophisticated_tax_academy/

Image Credits
Tatiana Baker of Dream Creator Marketing Armon Dauphin of Dauphin Tales D’Andre J. Nolden of Sav2Different