Tax Preparation Service
The shortcut: Don't try to compete with H&R Block's $200 storefront 1040. Get your Enrolled Agent (EA) credential and own the 1099 freelancer plus Schedule C niche at $400-$800 per return — the credentialed-preparer math beats the volume-storefront math by year two.
Industry: Finance & Insurance | Investment level: Small — $3,000-$10,000 | Time to launch: 4-9 months (EA exam + Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) approval gate the first full season)
Best for: Former corporate accountants, payroll processors, bookkeepers, and ex-IRS staff who can read a Schedule C without flinching and explain a vehicle log to a panicked freelancer in plain English. What you'll likely make: $1,500-$4,000 month 3 (off-season prep), $6,000-$12,000 month 6 (mid-season), $40,000-$80,000 in the Jan-April peak. Math is in Section 4.
Market Opportunity
Here's the thing most tax preparers miss: the freelancer who needs you most isn't panicking in April — they're panicking in November when the CP2000 letter arrives, or in December when they realize they owe $18,000 and quarterly estimates have been zero all year. By April it's too late to do anything except file. The real money, and the real client relationship, starts in November when there's still time to max out a Solo 401(k), time a big expense, and actually reduce the bill. The preparers competing on price for April 1040s are leaving the highest-value work — the year-round planning client — wide open.
The other buyer is the small business owner whose accountant ghosted them on April 12. The S-corp return is unfiled, the K-1 hasn't gone out, and the personal extension is three days away. They are not shopping on price. They are shopping on "can you start tonight."
The market is structural. Roughly 144 million individual returns get filed each year, plus another 11 million business returns per IRS data book. About 53% of returns are still prepared by paid preparers. The volume storefronts (H&R Block, Liberty, Jackson Hewitt) own the simple W-2 1040 at $89-$220 — leave that to them. The gap is the freelancer with a Schedule C, the landlord with a Schedule E, and the side-hustler with a 1099-K from Stripe who got their first IRS letter and wants a real human who can represent them.
That representation right is what turns a $300 client into a $1,500 client. Only EAs (Enrolled Agents), CPAs, and attorneys can represent a taxpayer in an audit, appeals, or collections. A PTIN (Preparer Tax Identification Number)-only preparer cannot. One sentence — "I'm an EA, I can stand in front of the IRS for you; the chain store can't" — closes most small business owners on the call.
Start with this idea — free signup, no card required.
