Tax season can bring angst for many, but Melendi Morton, co-owner Brown & Morton Tax, wants to help make the process as painless as possible.
Tell me about your business.
I am the co-owner of Brown & Morton Tax. We are a full service income tax business. We also offer bookkeeping services, life insurance products, and business planning. My partner Haydreia Brown and I started the business in 2012.
Why did you decide to start it?
I’ve always had a good head for numbers and understood taxes from an early age. I’d never paid anyone to do my personal taxes, even when I had home-based businesses. I also had been doing income taxes for friends for many years. People told me that I should do it as a business. I also managed the finances for most of the jobs I’ve worked throughout my career, so understanding the tax implications of business decisions was always something that was critical to my positions.
What can customers expect when they purchase services from you?
We pride ourselves on offering convenient, honest and precise income tax preparation. We aren’t about gimmicks–we focus on being aware of the best ways to maximize our clients’ individual tax situations. We specialize in preparing schedule C (home based) and 1099 (independent contractor) returns. We believe in educating our clients on the best way to proactively manage their income tax obligations throughout the year.
What’s the best business advice you have ever gotten?
The best business advice I ever received is to let integrity be your guide. If you act with integrity, you won’t compromise the quality of the service you provide to your clients. Integrity won’t allow you to take the easy road if you know the hard road is the way to go.
What advice do you have for others interested in starting a business?
- Perfect your product or service as much as you can. Learn everything about your business so that you can speak to your clients as the expert. People come to you expecting you to point them in the right direction and appearing not to be sure can cost you a client.
- Take a marketing class and determine your target market. Once you identify your target market, make sure your message resonates with them. You can’t be everything to everybody and you’ll wear yourself out trying to.
- All money is not good money. Don’t be afraid to tell people you may not be the best person to provide the service they are asking for.
- Don’t be afraid to work long hours. You’re investing in yourself as well as your business. If you can spend eight hours a day building a business for someone else, you can spend two hours in the evening working on building a business for yourself.
- Don’t spend everything you make. Make a budget and follow it religiously so you have money to reinvest in the growth of your business.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is not to be afraid to change directions if you need to. Flexibility and adaptability is crucial if you want to be successful When we started the business, we invested in office space. We quickly learned that it wasn’t the best model for our brand. People are busy and the last thing they want to do is drive to an office to wait for an appointment to see their tax professional. Personalized service involves a level of mobility; we go to our clients and make it convenient for them to get their information to us. We allow our clients to drop off their forms or send them to us electronically using highly secure transmission methods.
What’s next for Melendi Morton and Brown & Morton Tax?
We want to continue to grow the income tax client base. We also want to expand our bookkeeping clients and have purchased the software needed to help clients manage their books remotely.
To learn more about Melendi Morton and Brown & Morton Tax, connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BrownMortonTax, call 205-718-8268 or email [email protected]; Haydreia Brown (Atlanta) can be reached at 404-484-8727 or email [email protected].
