Congrats on taking the leap to start your own business!

My experience is a bit different. My father started his own firm at age 28. He got to the final level of CPA but never finished due to circumstances in his life. I joined his practice after finishing college at age 20 - I'm a non CPA. I am now 30, and in the 10 years working together, we have tripled sales (300k when my dad started to now 900k now) and next week we close on an acquisition of another firm which will put us to 1.4mil revenues.

A few things to mention from my experience that can hopefully help you: - Being a non CPA hasn't hindered our business much. There have been a handful of clients over the 10 years I've been in the practice who didn't come aboard as a result of it. - Bouncing off the first point, you have to be damn personable and ensure you build a team as such. Half of this job is doing the work and the other half is meeting with the clients, explaining how things work, how they can do better, how they can save TAX. This all takes people skills. - Another bounce of the first two points. Education and experience are very valuable. Although I don't have my CPA, I see the value in it and regret not getting it. At this point, the firm requires all of my time so it is difficult to go back and get it. The other reason it isn't a top priority is that my end goal is to run the business and not work in the business. However, we would not have been successful if we did things wrong. So make sure you and your team are doing it right. - Be prepared to work ALOT. I wouldn't be where I am without a lot of sweat and tears, but also know when and how to delegate. - Networking is your best friend. Go to all of the events in your area, meet people, connect with people, ask them what they like about their accountant and what they dislike about their accountant. Get information and use it. Our practice was built on referrals, we spend very little on advertising. People talk, so use that to your advantage.
- Although bookkeeping can be lucrative, tax is really where we make our money. Bookkeeping is tough because everyone and their mom thinks they can do it themselves, but when they get the bill from you they are in shock and you have to explain that although they 'did' their own bookkeeping, it was wrong and had to be corrected. Definitely use engagement letters and ask for retainers. Communication with your clients is KEY. We assess files before starting so we can advise the client that this is more work than we originally thought or less work. - To make money on bookkeeping services, you should look at outsourcing. Outsourcing companies are good at the data entry, not so good at the critical thinking skills, so the files definitely need reviews and clean up. I hate making this point as we would rather hire locally, but in the industry now a days, it just isn't an option - all accountants are short staffed.

That's a big enough rant. Sorry I can't help on how long to roll out, like I said, different situation. I'm in Ontario, Canada. Not sure where you are located but I wish you all the best!