Smart Tax Featured in the Nashville Business Journal

Smart Tax was recently featured in the Nashville Business Journal in an article entitled, “Smart Tax to enter Nashville tax-prep market.” It discusses the expansion plans into Nashville and the type of entrepreneurs that they are looking to attract. In addition, CEO Nick Rizzi shares the impact and creation of jobs that Smart Tax has the ability to make in the market. The circulation of the Nashville Business Journal is 7,372 and will be a great way to inform potential franchisees about Smart Tax. Click here to view the full article!

Smart Tax to enter Nashville tax-prep market
Nashville Business Journal - by Brian Reisinger, Staff Writer
Date: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 2:51pm CDT

Tax preparers stand to face a new competitor as a New York-based franchisor moves into Nashville with the expectation of creating more than 100 jobs over the next five years.

Nick Rizzi, CEO of Smart Tax, said his company intends to open its first locations by January 2012 for the next tax season. The company targeted Nashville because it believes the area is under served, with many people flowing to big-name providers he plans to compete with.

“Nashville happens to be one of those areas where there’s just not enough for the area,” Rizzi said.

Smart Tax sells rights to franchisees who own or want to start their own tax service, offering them the benefit of marketing, training and some standardization of methods. Rizzi anticipates opening five to six locations over the course of the next two tax seasons, ultimately reaching about one dozen spots in the Nashville area.

Those offices would ultimately employ between 100 and 130 people, to help area residents prepare their taxes, he said.

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Smart Tax featured in Brooklyn Business Trends

Smart Tax was recently featured in an article in Brooklyn Business Trends called, “Nick’s Smart Franchise,” where Nick Rizzi, Founder and CEO of Smart Tax discussed his process of putting the company together. Realizing the potential of the tax industry, Nick looked for franchise opportunities with Liberty Tax and Jackson-Hewitt however all of the markets were sold out…leading to the inception of Smart Tax franchise. After the first two years, Nick’s colleagues wanted to get involved and the brand started franchising in November of 2009 and opened with nine locations. Just one year later, the brand has 27 open locations and 46-territories sold in all five boroughs, North and South Jersey, Philadelphia and South Carolina. Click here for the full story.

Nick’s ‘Smart’ Franchise
By Tim Ronaldson

Nick Rizzi is a walking, talking advertisement for public transportation marketing.

No, he’s not a salesman and he doesn’t work for the city’s Transit Authority.

But an advertisement on the side of a bus did serve as a catalyst – at least in part – for Rizzi starting his own business, Smart Tax, that in six years went from a one-location operation to a 29-location franchise. The advertisement wasn’t awe-inspiring, and it wasn’t sexy. It simply beckoned, “learn how to prepare income taxes.”

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Franchisee Profile: Matthew Jamel

Opening Date: January 3, 2010
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Q: Where are you originally from?
A: I was born and raised in Brooklyn.

Q: Before Franchising, what were you involved with?
A: Before partnering with Thomas Rock to open a Smart Tax location, I attended Brooklyn College and graduated in May of 2010 with a degree in Business Management. Upon graduating, I started working with Thomas to put together a business plan so we could open a Smart Tax location in Brooklyn for tax season 2011.

Q: How did you learn about the brand?
A: Thomas had both known and worked with Nick Rizzi, CEO of Smart Tax, at Redhook location for five years. When Smart Tax started franchising in 2009, we began discussing the possible business options and the details in how we could open a location after I graduated from college.

Q: How do you see the brand connecting with your local community?
A: Because I have spent my whole life in Brooklyn, I want to see our business connect with the local community 100 percent. Thomas and I grew up five blocks from each other, played sports in Brooklyn as kids and still do. We plan to take every opportunity we can to connect with the residents of Brooklyn, building relationships and creating a strong local aspect to our Smart Tax business. We want our customers to feel comfortable and realize we are hard-working locals just determined to make filing taxes less formal.

Q: What are your future goals? Development plans?
A: I would classify myself as a hard-working individual who is dedicated to my work. We are earning our entire year’s salary in less than four months, so we have set the bar extremely high for our first tax season. We’re planning to file 400-500 tax returns, well above average.