“Everyone in our networking group presented their business. I didn’t sleep for a month before mine.
“‘I have nothing to say,’ I kept thinking.”
Chaya Landau is soft-spoken and thoughtful. She trained as a bookkeeper but struggled to find work. She went back to school and eight years ago, she became a tax consultant.
“I was afraid I’d never find work,” she shares, “but one of my teachers recommended me to his company.”
Chaya got the job, but the pay was minimal and conditions tough. She stuck it out for a year and then decided to leave.
The company didn’t want to lose and offered a raise. She stayed.
But she dreamed of opening her own business. “I got my license and opened an official business. Right afterward, someone asked me to do his taxes.”
This was the start of a trickle of clients. But the bulk of Chaya’s time was going to her employer. Her boss was constantly checking everyone’s work. “It left me feeling unsure of myself, doubting my abilities.”
Chaya was on a forum with religious tax consultants, and there she heard about Temech. She joined a networking group.
“The group opened my eyes to so many aspects of business—how to find and keep clients, how to market, how to manage a business. Seeing other business owners gave me direction and hope.”
Before presenting her business to the group, Chaya wracked her mind for what made her business special.
“Then it hit me – I give clients a clear system of exactly what can be claimed and how. Everyone goes after the big clients, but I was willing to work with small clients and walk them through everything they needed to know.
“I had my clients use a program that tracked all expenses and incomes. This saved them a lot of money since they could claim all their expenses.
“I also offered attractive packages for larger clients.”
She gave her presentation — and got up the gumption to quit her job.
“I’ve been on my own since July, and it’s been amazing. I used to work crazy hours and had to do whatever my boss requested.
“Now I have control over my life — I choose my hours and don’t work with demanding clients. Most of my clients are women, and I love that female energy.
“We moved to a different city, and despite the move and the war, my client base is slowly growing.”
Today, Chaya works around a quarter of the hours she used to and earns as much or more each month.
“‘Planning is the key to success,’ is my business’s slogan,” she shares. “However, I didn’t know how to plan that leap from salaried to business owner. My mother was a stay-at-home mother; I had no role model.
“The Temech group gave me a map. And even more, it gave me confidence—it helped me realize that I had a lot to offer and that I could do this.”
