Entrepreneur spreading his tax business nationwide
There's a new player from Dayton in the tax-services block. Using unorthodox methods, TCA Financial, parent company of Instant Tax Service, has grown rapidly in its short four-year history to nearly 120 stores that stretch from Sacramento, Calif., to Atlanta. The company also more than tripled its revenue in its first three years, which was $6 million in 2003. But Instant Tax Service founder Fesum "Fez" Ogbazion isn't satisfied. He recently started offering franchises in hopes of blanketing the country with his tax centers as part of a plan to boost revenue to at least $50 million in five years. Ogbazion expects demand to be high for his tax centers that cut the competition's prices by as much as 20 percent and seem more like a coffee shop than a chain store. "To keep growing the company -- that's the major focus right now," Ogbazion said. The growth comes despite competing against three entrenched national players: Virginia-based Liberty Tax Service, Parsippany, N.J.-based Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, and the biggest of them all: Kansas City, Mo.-based H&R Block. Kartik Mehta, an analyst for the industry at Midwest Research in Cleveland, said more national tax services companies have a good shot at the market for tax preparation. "I think the market does have room for another player," Mehta said. He added the two largest companies in the industry - H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt -- have just 35 percent of the market. Employee counts Ogbazion sees opportunities, largely because his concept has worked, and it has more than 40,000 customers to prove it -- even if the approach is a bit unusual. When Instant Tax Service opens in a city during its first year, it offers completely free tax preparations to any customer.
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