Today we’d like to introduce you to AARON BARFIELD.
Hi AARON, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story is not different from most people. I started my business as just a hobby.
In 2007, I found I had an interest in taxes, so I took that interest and started helping people with a task most don’t enjoy, but we know we have an obligation to file annually. It was something I learned in school, and the exercise of applying what I was learning felt like real world practical experience to add to the theoretical I was learning.
After school, I continued with my tax work and was offered a position working with a Liberty Tax office. My education and eagerness to sink my teeth in some of the more complex tax situations made me stand out to the franchise owner, and he offered me an opportunity fresh out of college to sit under him and become a franchise owner myself. I passed on this opportunity and looking back I am not sure I was fully ready, but even so our values didn’t completely align.
As I reflect on that time, one of my challenges with working in the tax office was the limited knowledge being shared with the patrons. In addition, the expense people were incurring to have their, in many cases, basic tax preparation completed felt wrong. This lead me to wanting to both educate people to have a better knowledge of their taxes and also assist at a reasonable cost.
Over time, my passion for “helping people” with their taxes grew solely based on referrals. I believe it was due to the “teacher’s heart” displayed when working on taxes and genuinely wanting people to be able to make informed decisions around their tax situation. In 2015, I was encouraged to officially start my business.
My business, Phoenix Financial Services, started with a focus on taxes, but once people learned of my education they asked for additional assistance around business and personal finance. Today, my business services focus in three primary areas tax, accounting, and compliance for businesses and tax and personal finance for individuals.
Our team is currently a team of two, but we are preparing for adding to the team. This way we can ensure that we are able to meet the demand that has continued over time based on our desire to genuinely help people do it the RIGHT way, and not ‘fleece them” to make a buck.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road in growth has not been smooth but I believe the challenges are what make the journey worthwhile.
I am a believer that if business were easy, everyone would do it, and I don’t believe everyone is made to run a business. The development, personally, has been my biggest challenge in business. Based in my desire to help, I have not always made the best decisions for my business. There have been times where my “heart to help” has clouded my judgment in what are the right things to do for the business. One area I used to struggle with was pricing. I would “lowball” my price, not because I wasn’t confident in my services or ability, but because I wanted people to both give me a shot and I didn’t want to feel like the other tax companies that I felt were overcharging. In addition, I would charge clients after completing ALL THE WORK, leaving myself with no recourse for collections.
In addition, I have had to learn how to separate myself from the business. There were times where I would have conversations with people about their situation and I KNEW I could help them but for whatever reason, we would not end up working together. There was a part of me that felt like they were saying no to me. Over time I learned, they were not saying no to me, but to the service that I was offering, and that is ok. My job is not to help everyone! There are millions of tax paying individuals in the US and I don’t need OR WANT to try to help all of them. They just may not be my client today.
As you know, we’re big fans of Phoenix Financial Services LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Phoenix Financial Services was founded with a desire to to make finances more clear and personal. Clarity by taking some of the more complex items around business and taxes then making them easier to understand and digest. Personal to help people understand that all finance professionals are right for some situations, but may not be right for every situation.
Our business offers services for individuals and business. For individuals, we offer tax preparation services and personal finance coaching. For businesses, we offer tax preparation services, accounting and bookkeeping services, and compliance services.
The thing I am most proud of with the services we offer is simply the individualistic touch for every client. It is our intention to ensure that the service received by each customer is unparalleled, and leaves the customer both satisfied and more informed. We strive to provide an experience that makes people WANT to come back to allow us to assist them.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My Wife, my Pastor, and my small mentor group are who I would give the most credit for where I am today.
Hands down, my wife is my biggest support and agitator. She encourages me and pushes me to keep reaching for the goals that I have written out. As an agitator, she doesn’t agitate me :-), but the way an agitator is the agent in getting clothes clean in a washing machine, she is an agitator to ensure I am accomplishing goals I pursue.
My Pastor has continually pushed me to do more than I believe I am capable to accomplishing. He is a constant “hand in my back” pushing me forward.
My mentors have changed over time, but they were often able to see things that I was not. The insight they provided as an outside perspective has been a huge benefit in helping me to try to be well-rounded and well-balanced as a business leader.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.phoenixfinsvcs.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoenixfinsvcs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixFinancial726
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoenixfinsvcs/?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.phoenixfinsvcs.com%2F
- Twitter: https://x.com/PhoenixFin1
