Accounting and Pricing for Entrepreneurs

Week 5 in the Accelerator — Lindsay Joseph

We are about half way through the accelerator program and it has been such a learning experience so far. Earlier on, we discussed topics around customer segments and making sure we had a viable business idea. Now we have moved on to some of the more operations aspects of the business. This week, we covered both small business accounting and pricing which, in my opinion, was one of the most engagedclasses yet.

The class found the accounting segment extremely important. While many in the class already have a legal structure for their businesses, many do not. Our guest speaker, Scott Mckenize of Moody, Famiglieti, and Andronico LLP, explained the legal structures and what they mean for us in terms oftaxes. He also discussed the accounting considerations we need to take in terms of employee status and whether they were W2 or 10–99. He also talked about creating an advisory board for our businesses which includes a CPA, attorney, technology consultant, and a few other professionals. However, many of our companies are still very small and so he suggested we consult with a lawyer to see what we really need for our businesses to be protected from the beginning but it’s crucial we have a CPA who can advise us on a consistent basis.

He also covered tax deductions such as travel expenses and how to write taxes off for our home based businesses and using different accounting software to keep track of our records.

The second portion of the class was spent learning about pricing with Scott Lewis, an entrepreneur and an EforAll graduate himself. He started off by making sure exactly that everyone knew that pricing based on the perceived value of a product or service by the customer along what their willingness to pay is. In addition, he covered the different factors that influence pricing such as competitors, sales channels, regulations, etc. He also discussed different pricing models which we should consider for our companies which include neutral, penetration, or skimming as well as pricing strategies such as value-based pricing, cost plus, etc.

He also discussed the psychology of using different prices for different features and benefits to drive customers to a higher ticket item as opposed to the lower cost product or service.

Of all the presentations in EforAll so far, it was perhaps the most information dense session we had yet. The most important takeaway Scott wanted us to have was that if we were going to have a sustainable business, we needed paying customers and our prices needed to cover out cost as well as bring in a profit.

As we’ve made it this far in the program, I’ve come to appreciate each class even more than the one before. I’m grateful for this experience as an entrepreneur not only to have been selected for the cohort, but to also be able to learn from these great guest speakers as well as other in the program.

See more and the video on EforAll’s Fb page:

https://www.facebook.com/EforAllLowellLawrence/videos/659476067565867/

-Lindsay Joseph “Greater NOW”