Success comes in many forms. For Mario Costanz, the founder and CEO of Happy Tax Franchising, the road to success did not take the usual path. An authentic rags-to-riches story, Mario made it through hard work and perseverance. He started out as a NYC Sanitation worker doing tax returns on the side and went on to own 99-tax preparation offices nationwide. Among his biggest hurdles was growing up in a non-traditional household. He is the son of a single mom who died at a very early age.
Mario is now turning his success into opportunity for anyone looking to own their own business. Happy Tax is a departure from the status quo. “It’s akin to the restaurant experience. The dining is done out front while the preparation is done in the kitchen,” says Costanz.
The Happy Tax model allows anyone to start a seasonal tax preparation business without any knowledge of accounting as returns are prepared by Happy Tax’s back office of expert CPAs. Clients come from the franchisees network of friends and family as well as innovative marketing. As a believer of ‘giving back’, Mario has pledged to waive the usual $10,000 franchise fee for single moms interested in becoming a Happy Tax franchisee. Says Costanz, “This opportunity is my way of honoring single moms everywhere.”