Is your business ticking over nicely? Are you still working the same way you were last year, 2 years or even 5 years ago? Or are you constantly looking for new, better ways of working… …how you can do your work quicker, better, more accurately… …are you looking for new services that you can offer to those you already provide to clients… …are you getting feedback from your team, clients,… Read more
Do work consistently across the year? Or are there times like every December and January when you have to work all hours to get all the work done on time? No time to speak to new prospects at this time. Life outside of work put on hold to hit deadlines. Then collapse in February. Spend a couple of months barely turning up because the pressure is off. This isn’t really… Read more
Do you have clarity? Clarity about what it is you want. What you want personally, not in business. After all, your business should exist to provide you with what you want on a personal level which, when we break it down is: “Being able to enjoy the lifestyle you want, doing the things you enjoy, spending time with the people you care about and not worrying about money.” To achieve… Read more
Or is it just ‘marketing speak’ which is just fluffy stuff which doesn’t really mean anything? This is what I use to think. But when you really dig down into it and spend time understanding what it really means it makes perfect sense. And perfect sense to work out what yours is and articulate it to your team, your clients and the business world in general – all your prospects… Read more
If you are asked this question do you feel proud of what you earn, or embarrassed? Does it reflect the hours you work and the value you provide to your clients? If you’re running your own Accountancy Business and working full time you should be able to earn the equivalent of a £100,000 a year salary. At least. If you’re not because your business doesn’t generate enough profit, then you’re… Read more
Are you an Award Winner? If you are, congratulations! A question though… …is it a reward that really reflects how your business is performing and delivering for you… …are you able to enjoy the lifestyle you want… …spending time doing the things you love; with people you care about and not being stressed about money? …do you love your work, are you: earning enough not working too hard working with… Read more
Do you ever measure how productive your time spent is? Are you spending too much time in areas of your business that aren’t productive? What about marketing? Coming back to work after a holiday this summer where I didn’t go on social media or look at work emails once I realised that I’d been wasting my time. That’s time spent on social media – LinkedIn and Facebook. Wasting effort on… Read more
Failure to Implement How often is this due to fear of failure? Or a fear of not knowing how to really do it? Or maybe its just because you don’t have the time available to invest in that product or service to maximise the value? You need to invest the time to get a great return We use Diagnostax in our accountancy business and I’m a huge supporter of… Read more
You’ve probably heard the term scope creep and groan at the thought of how much you give away for free to clients. Let’s face it there isn’t a single accountant who hasn’t done something for free and known “I should be charging for this”. Now that’s you, what about your team? Are they clear on exactly what they should and shouldn’t be doing for every client? And do they understand… Read more
You may well have come across the original quote from Steve Jobs, but do you use it in your business? Do you actually ask your clients what support, advice, services they need or do you just assume? My clients don’t want a business plan. My clients think we provide that already, so they won’t pay for it. Really… These are two comments I’ve heard recently from more than one accountant.… Read more
You wouldn’t back every horse in a race. So why are you using all that software? Diagnostax, The Gap, Clarity, Syft, Fathom, Float… …I could go on, but you get the picture… You’re keen to not ‘miss the boat’ so look at all the software that’s out there that can help you provide ‘advisory’ services to clients. The result is you get overwhelm. Your head spinning, listening to and trying… Read more
Most accountants face the same problems at some point in the life of their accountancy business. These problems appear to be, one, two or all three of: Not earning enough Working too hard Not doing enough of the ‘right’ work These problems are symptoms of deeper underlying issues. Not earning enough can be the symptom of: Not having enough clients Not charging enough Not working efficiently Senior team members (usually… Read more
As accountants we are never ever in the position where we finish work for the day and say “great, I’ve completed everything, all up to date, nothing left to do”. Which is one of the reasons we tend to work a little later before going home or open up the laptop in the evening once the kids are in bed. Or catching up with work at the weekend. The nature… Read more
Stop chasing a “…£1million turnover, 40% profit, working 3 days a week business…” – it won’t make you happy. Far too often we see headlines which ‘appear’ attractive and therefore worth chasing. But in reality are not what we want and so we waste time, effort and money trying to achieve something we don’t ‘really’ want. Spend some time visualising what it is you really want – personally… …and I… Read more
How often do we sign up for new software, have great ideas for our new marketing campaign, running webinars, email newsletters…? …only to run out of steam, get busy with other things… …and stop. Cancel the software subscription (or worse still, carry on paying for while not using it!)… …post 3 blogs in one week…and then stop. …post twice a day or more on social media every day for 2… Read more
Final point in this series – but the most important one if you want to grow and improve your practice. For a long time I was resistant to having any team members. I had worked in big businesses before I started my practice and had been responsible for teams of up to 30 people. This was draining in itself; it often felt like having 30 children! For too long I… Read more
As choosing to work with the right clients is vital, so is providing the right services. You may decide that you purely want to focus on compliance work. Or it may be compliance plus some advisory in the form of management accounts, cash flow forecasts and board meetings. Or you may decide that you want to commit to a comprehensive range of advisory services, or what I prefer to break… Read more
The five questions every new business owner should ask themselves We all know that starting a new business is a test of nerve, energy and resilience. But does it have to be? What if there was a way to focus on what we really want to achieve – not just in business but in life too – and find a plan that connects the two. Mark Telford explains how connecting… Read more