This article is for those who dream of one day being an entrepreneur. If you find yourself in this crowd here is why you should consider starting first in public accounting.
Some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs started their careers in public accounting including Phil Knight, founder of Nike. Before focusing solely on Nike, Knight worked as a CPA for Price Waterhouse in Portland, Oregon. His public accounting experience immensely helped him find success as an entrepreneur.
In his memoir Shoe Dog, Knight shares: “Price Waterhouse boasted a great variety of clients, a mix of interesting start-ups and established companies, all selling everything imaginable — lumber, water, power, food. While auditing these companies, digging into their guts, taking them apart and putting them back together, I was also learning how they survived, or didn’t. How they sold things, or didn’t. How they got into trouble, how they got out. I took careful notes about what made companies tick, what made them fail.“
My experience has been very similar. In my short time in public accounting, I’ve been fortunate to get an inside peek into companies in a range of industries including SaaS, health care, manufacturing, retail, farming, tech, finance, food, and insurance. I’ve witnessed the challenges they face from raising funding, entering new markets, being acquired, and selling to Amazon, Walmart, Costco, and other retailers. I’ve seen tech companies that are operating on investor funding (as the majority do) and others that are self-sufficient.
Public accounting provides regular opportunities to meet successful owners and executives and learning their stories and seeing what makes them successful. I met a business owner who realized while in college that he could build a business, and be paid handsomely, for doing something that he was already doing. One of my favorite experiences of public accounting is learning how entrepreneurs see the world, and how they take advantage of opportunities around them. Many of my clients’ stories are essentially: “I encountered a problem and found a unique way to solve it.”
One significant advantage that public accounting provides is seeing how companies are legally structured and the legal challenges that they face. We learn what mistakes companies made in the early years, as nearly all do, and what helped the company thrive. In addition, we get to see different ways that companies administer the same tasks (i.e. the ERP systems they use, how they recruit employees, pay bills, process payroll, establish and reinforce culture, etc.) all of which collectively provide a monumental advantage when starting your own business.
I am much better equipped to start a successful business due to my experience in public accounting. I have been fortunate to be exposed to a variety of different businesses and my understanding has expanded to see that there are business opportunities all around us. If you’re considering starting your own business, start with public accounting.