Author: Zachariah Longinidis, BSU student
I interviewed one of the owners of the Morgan & Morgan CPA firm, Tim MacLellan, for some background info on both himself and the company. CPA stands for Certified Public Accountant, and the firm provides accounting services, business consulting, and various other services that can be found listed on their website. The firm itself has been around since 1917, but Tim joined the firm in 1980.
One of the first questions I asked was why he chose this line of business to begin with. He said, “I was always good in math and I liked the prestige of being a CPA. It allows us to be involved in many businesses at a high level.” There certainly is a prestige that comes with the title. It shows that anyone who calls themselves a CPA needed to be able to pass an exam to get a license, and is good at the job to be able to effectively work in, and in this case run, a business with that knowledge.
My next question was what made him want to start the business. He told me, “It was a business operated by people who wanted to retire, so it was a good opportunity to get ownership without starting from scratch.” Acquiring a business that already has an established reputation for doing excellent work is a great way to save money on things like branding and advertising, especially when first starting out.
In addition to hearing about why he wanted to start the business, I was curious what the toughest part about this type of business is. I was told, “The toughest part is getting the clients to warm up to you. It is a very personal relationship business.” From what I know of him, he’s very personable, so I can’t imagine it’s too hard for him.
He also told me that what kept him going while starting the business was that “I was committed to exceeding the client’s expectations,” which is exactly what you would want to hear from someone you want to hire to do work for you. When I asked him what sets him apart from any other companies, he said, “It comes down to the personal relationship, because it is a trust business. We meet and see if it is a good fit, but we don’t try to bring in customers that don’t feel right.” That’s a really good way to do business, because as the client, you would want to be doing business with someone who actually cares about who they’re dealing with, instead of someone who would consider you just another face in the crowd.
Lastly, I asked about how technology has affected his business. He told me, “Technology is an important tool for our business, but we haven’t participated much in marketing through social media. We use it more to push information out and allow people to find us.” However, he also said that, in the future, “We are looking to redesign our website and work on our social media presence,” even though most of their customers are brought in through referrals.
Visit Morgan & Morgan CPA at 175 Derby St #40 in Hingham, MA.
Contact them via:
Phone: 781-749-0050
Email: tim@morgancpa.com
Website: www.morgancpa.com
Facebook: @morgancpa