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by Stephen Parezo

Mike Osowski

April 26, 2005—Making calculations has always been a snap for Michael (Mike) Osowski, a Fiducial franchisee in South Bend, IN, who says he’s aced every math class he’s ever taken.

A guidance counselor got him into accounting as a junior in high school and he took to it right away. He liked the fact that it involved dealing with somebody else’s money. After getting his BS degree in accounting at Tri-State University in Angola, IN, Osowski entered the field working in the accounting department of a photo finisher.

Then he set out to hone his sales skills by selling used cars at a Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealership. Sales appealed to him because he realized “that people that sell make more money then people that don’t.”

He concentrated on the used car lot since it was more challenging.

“With new cars you were an order taker but for used cars you had to sell the virtues of that certain car,” said Osowski.

In the fall of 1978 he got involved in the franchise side of the accounting industry and has been there ever since. For over three decades, Osowski has never forgotten the lesson he learned early on about taking care of the customer.

“If it’s important to them [customer] then it has to be important to you,” he said.

Making a difference in somebody’s life

Osowski has had his fair share of client success stories including the very first one he signed up back in 1979 who remains a loyal customer today. He had been referred to a hairdresser who wanted to go into business for herself. She needed a $15,000 loan for equipment and was told by her bank to go to the secondary market where the high interest rate of 15% made it cost prohibitive.

But Osowski knew the aspiring entrepreneur had 10 years experience and her husband had solid income so he worked up a resume for her along with a personal financial statement. He took her to two banks and she soon received much more agreeable terms with a 7% financing rate.

“She’s still a client,” he said. “She’s got the premier salon in the area with a payroll that’s over $250,000.”

Every business advisor would like to have clients that follow their advice to the letter and Osowski had one do just that starting 18 years ago. A young man had just graduated from college and after working summers at a service station, wanted to open his own convenience store/service center. Osowski helped set up the business’ original financing and now the client is worth between $4 and $5 million.

“He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do: invest and plan,” he said. “That’s the common sense stuff that every business owner should be doing. He takes time to do it. He’s just a good businessman and has referred seven or eight customers to me.”

Clients express their appreciation on a regular basis to Osowski for helping them get their business started and keeping them on track.

“That feels good like I’m doing my job,” he said. “You’ve actually made a difference in somebody’s life.”

Seen competitors come and go

Asked how his clients view him, Osowski says they see that he’s down to earth and easy to communicate with.

“I tell them ‘your business doesn’t run 8 to 5 so neither should mine,’ ” he said.

Having been in the same location for the last 22 years, Osowski has seen competitors come and go. He says more and more of the smaller accounting firms are trying to duplicate the services and attitude that he’s had through the years out of necessity.

“I find most accountants have the attitude when a customer needs them they’ll come,” he said. “I try to work to avoid problems before they get out of hand. I don’t think other people have that attitude.”

Clearly, Osowski enjoys what he’s doing and says a lot of it has to do with his family. He and his wife, Catherine, have seven children and they received some unexpected news six and a half years ago with the birth of twin daughters. He was 49 at the time and believes that event changed their lives in every aspect—financially, socially and how they ran their business.

“We made a conscious decision that we are going to enjoy these children while they’re at home,” he said. “God gave us this gift and we weren’t going to take it for granted.”

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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