It’s a sign of spring in a lot of places: Lady Liberty Wavers, the costumed Liberty Tax characters dancing on street corners, handing out coupons at community events, and giving foam crowns to children. It’s certainly not a stodgy tax office move, but it supports the Liberty Tax Mission Statement: “Set the Standard; Improve Each Day; Have Some Fun!”
It also brings a lot of free publicity to Liberty Tax franchises, so it shows the efficiency and creative cost-effectiveness this franchise is known for. Another example is the Appreciation Days offer: Liberty Tax services will do free tax returns for active duty firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other community helpers – another promotion that keeps Liberty Tax Service in the public eye.
Millions of people need taxes done by April 15th every year, and while some people opt to do their own or use computer programs to help, hundreds of thousands of people like having a real person check over their taxes to make sure they’re properly done. The reassurance of personal service quells a lot of worry for many people. Over 63% of Americans who pay taxes pay someone else to do them for them, which means ample opportunity for tax preparation franchises.
Liberty Tax Service was ranked the 28th best franchise in the Franchise 500 and has been a franchise since 1997. John Hewitt, founder of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, brought the franchise business from Canada to the United States and it has flourished since, with over 4,000 locations nationally and only 120 of those company owned.
Hewitt has been named Entrepreneur of the Year by the International Franchise Association, and Accounting Today magazine lists him as one of the accounting profession’s top 100 most influential people. Hewitt joins a conference call with prospective franchisees as part of the decision making process.
As a seasonal business, Liberty Tax Service can allow a franchisee to make good money in a short period of time while enjoying months of off time outside of tax season. You don’t even need tax experience to run a Liberty Tax Service because all necessary training to run an office with seasonal workers is provided through the franchisee program. We spoke with one franchisee who writes novels the rest of the year.
The Liberty Tax model is about being an independent entrepreneur who wants to dream big and be the boss, and they offer a lot of support for franchisees, including a week long training session at the corporate office and continued training and one on one support thereafter. They have proprietary software for the tax return preparation and Liberty Tax Area Developers, mentors whose earnings depend on the success of the franchisees they’re helping.
Liberty Tax Service has some real advantages when it comes to running costs. Employees are seasonal and there’s no inventory, so two of the biggest costs for new business owners are kept to a minimum.
The startup costs for a Liberty Tax Service franchise range from around $56,800 to $69,900 for everything you’ll need to open your office the first day, from travel and training to office furniture to the actual franchise fee of $40,000.
