Political leanings and opinions aside, as government downsizing efforts continue to be planned and proposed, many federal jobs seem poised for elimination, including accounting, bookkeeping, finance, and business analyst positions.
Though opinions on the necessity of these cuts vary, a wave of highly skilled professionals seem certain to face unemployment soon.
Alan Padgett, founder of Succentrix Business Advisors, believes this shift could lead to a major change in the job market: one where displaced workers take control of their own careers, rather than relying on employers who may not prioritize job security.
A Changing Job Landscape
According to research reports, the average worker experiences up to seven career shifts over their lifetime, whether from layoffs, terminations, or voluntary transitions.
“I speak with accountants, financial professionals, and corporate executives every week who are still reeling from a pink slip experience,” Padgett said.
While job loss has always been a reality in the workforce, Padgett noted that the corporate landscape has changed dramatically in the past few decades.
“There was a time when employees could count on long-term job security. Workers would spend 20 to 40 years with a single company, and employers valued loyalty,” he explained.
“But during the 1990s, stock values became more important than people, and many employees today no longer trust Corporate America to take care of them.”
Soon, Padgett added, many federal workers who’ve long thought their jobs to be ultra-secure will also face that same reality.
A Rising Wave of Entrepreneurs
With job security becoming increasingly uncertain, many displaced professionals are opting to take control of their futures by starting their own businesses.
“There’s a real sense of determination among those who have been laid off,” Padgett said.
“I hear people say, ‘I will never let this happen to me or my family again.’ They recognize that working for someone else never truly guarantee stability.”
This trend aligns with broader workforce shifts, as more professionals explore entrepreneurship as a means of protecting their financial future.
Time to Rethink Job Security?
According to Padgett, for those willing to take charge of their careers, this moment of uncertainty could be an opportunity—one that leads to independence, stability, and no more pink slips.
While starting a business isn’t the right move for everyone, Padgett believes it’s a viable option for those seeking greater financial independence.
“Ask yourself if your job is really secure,” he advised.
“If someone else controls your paycheck, the answer is probably no.”
Franchising: The Entrepreneurial Lifeline
In fact, helping prevent unexpected paycheck deprivation is what inspired Padgett, his wife Johnette, and Succentrix COO Wayne Nix to found the company in 2014.
While the Padgetts and Nix were prepared to enter the exhilarating-but-risky world of entrepreneurship, they realized such a blind leap of faith would paralyze many individuals who would like to start their own businesses because they needed the kind of plan, system, and support that franchising could offer.
“After I retired from one franchise, we started Succentrix because we wanted to develop something for people to be able to help other people, particularly in the realm of tax preparation, accounting, and bookkeeping,” Padgett said.
“But we also wanted degreed accountants, EAs, and other financial professionals to have a family who supports them in their dreams, too, and who could do that by helping them stay ahead of the curve and be on the cutting edge of things in the world of business.”
Padgett added that the Succentrix model was also inspired by the need for accountants and tax professionals to address the severe work/life imbalance that often comes with the territory of the profession.
“Wayne, Johnette, and I said, ‘There has to be a better way than working all this overtime and being chained to a desk almost 365 days a year,’” Padgett said, “so we threw away preconceived notions of how things should be done and worked to find new ways that were just as effective and efficient.”
When formulating their plans for the Succentrix franchise, the founding group kept the following principles in mind:
- Marketing & client acquisition: identifying costs and strategies for a marketing plan to attract profitable clients
- Service offerings: deciding which accounting and payroll services to offer or exclude for prospective clients
- Pricing & profitability: evaluating ways to ensure that work is properly valued
- Business continuity planning: preparing for potential incapacity and its impact on the practice
- Tax knowledge & resources: identifying a trusted source for tax advice and assessing tax training and experience for return preparation
- Client targeting strategy: identifying ideal types and sizes of businesses to serve through accounting and bookkeeping
- Technology & IT setup: selecting proper office equipment, and maintenance planning
- IRS audit preparedness: navigating and securing professional guidance IRS audits
- Staffing needs: estimating the personnel required for practice expansion
- Business entity consultation: advising clients on selecting the proper business entity structure
- Fee structuring: evaluating pricing models to avoid overcharging or undercharging clients
- Digital development & maintenance: understanding costs and requirements for setting up and maintaining a professional website and other digital media
- Industry Knowledge & Compliance: tracking the accounting, software, tax, and marketing changes necessary to sustain business success
One change that offered immense added flexibility was Succentrix’s insistence on moving from desktop to online/cloud work, which Padgett said was a then-groundbreaking move that was scorned by some but embraced by those who shared his vision for profitability and flexibility.
Padgett added that such a bold business move created a haven for financial professionals seeking a comfortable place to land when jumping from the corporate financial career ladder, but he added that it also infused a pioneering spirit into Succentrix.
Padgett said he believes that displaced financial professionals from the government and other business sectors would appreciate the opportunities to advance with Succentrix.
“After being stifled by federal or corporate infrastructures for so long, they’ll welcome the freedom that being a franchisee can offer, and they’ll find Succentrix to be a perfect place for revolutionaries,” Padgett said.
In 2022, the Padgetts began the process of selling the franchise company to Bill Stansbury, then a five-year Succentrix franchisee in West Monroe, La.
Padgett said that Stansbury and his team of corporate director-resourcers, which still includes Nix, have picked up where he and his wife left off with transforming the financial profession, specifically in two ways.
“For one, Bill and the Succentrix corporate team are doing even more to help the company create as secure of a job future as possible for our owner-partners by initiating a program that will allow them not only to operate as franchisees, but to also soon be able to purchase equity in Succentrix,” Padgett said.
“How many other franchise companies can offer that?”
Padgett also said that Stansbury and his team at Succentrix corporate has created a landslide of future revenue streams for owner-partners that are fueled the company’s newly hatched redefinition of the practices of a fractional CFO.
“Bill’s been hard at work over the past year or so figuring out how to help our franchisees be able to make more money, and he’s done that by simply reimagining what a financial professional can do beyond merely filing tax returns, keeping books, and tracking financial accounts,” Padgett said.
“Succentrix is now on pace to become the fractional CFO leader by offering comprehensive services in tax advisory, business advisory, and financial advisory for small businesses, and essentially being part-time CFOs for people who need it most.”
“The need for a fractional CFO among small businesses will never disappear,” Padgett added.
“So not only did we revolutionize tax, accounting, and bookkeeping practices when we built Succentrix, but we’re also giving our franchisees the chance to participate in the growth of a burgeoning franchise that’s creating numerous streams of income by redefining what it means to be a fractional CFO,” Padgett said.
“We founded Succentrix upon the core belief of helping people take control of their own professional destiny, and that applies not only to the service we give to our clients, but to our franchisees, too, who are also businesspeople and entrepreneurs in their own right.”
Over the last decade, Succentrix has grown to 33 franchises in 16 states with offices ranging in size from one staff of 10 people to numerous solopreneurs.
“Every day, when we wake up, it feels pretty good to know we started something that helps people who might otherwise struggle on the corporate ladder be able to not only fend for themselves but to thrive in an increasingly uncertain job market,” Padgett said, “and now we’re prepared to welcome those from the government sector, too”
“To quote one of my favorite music acts, Montgomery Gentry, that’s something to be proud of.”
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