An entrepreneur who hired a Varanasi-based accounting firm to save money over expensive Bengaluru rates revealed why cheap services can backfire. the IIM-educated founder discovered that the distant firm lacked e-commerce tax expertise While trying to cut costs while bootstrapping a business. She ended up personally teaching the accountants how to handle marketplace filings.
“My CA went into shock. His only comeback was – we will need to increase the fees of our services. Whatever fees you increase – I would like to charge the same as my fee of educating your team. We had a good laugh about it. A third expressed, “Bootstrapping teaches you one thing quickly: every expense has to justify itself. Great example of learning the business while building it. A fourth wrote, “Bootstrapping is really hard and not every person’s cup of tea. One day, you are an individual meeting with a high-profile client; another day, you are standing on the field, solving a minor issue. One has to wear so many hats to get through, but I just realised that we have to pay to the others and teach them as well.”
That’s not all, the founder shared how the firm was left shocked when she “dropped another bomb on their head”, asking the team to file tax returns for 5 different GSTs. I said, yes definitely, you can increase it.
