How to Effectively Market and Manage an Accounting Firm
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About this ebook
Dear Friend,
In 2008, my business ran into trouble. Staring at the abyss, just one payment away from bankruptcy, I contacted my accountant.
I remember being sat at his reception, scared and completely despondent as I waited for him to call me in.
I resembled the guys about to face the electric chair in the movies.
When I explained situation, he shook his head as if to say you are toast.
He advised that I closed shop and start afresh.
For me the idea of closing down my business without a fight was something I was unwilling to accept.
I went to my two closest friends for advice...one a professor and the other an entrepreneur.
My professor friend advised that I followed the advice of my accountant, while my entrepreneur friend told me to not even give it a thought.
I still remember my entrepreneur friend telling me: “Romeo accountants are really great with figures, but when it comes to business, they leave a lot to be desired”.
“How many successful accounting firms do you know”?
“You see Romeo, if you want to calculate your expenditures, you can go to your accountant. However, when it comes to management and business growth, you want to be contacting a business consultant”.
He was the one who exposed me to the difference between professionalism and business.
There is a different between the profession of accounting and the business of accounting.
The profession of accounting is the deliverables: creating profit and loss statement, completing end of year account or performing audit on behalf of your client.
The business of accounting on the other hand is about three functions:
- Operations: the deliverables
- Marketing: attracting and retaining clients
- Finance: knowing your numbers
Because most accountants are trained in the profession of accounting, even when they establish their own accounting firms, they tend to ignore the other aspects of running their firms.
Like accounting, business is a profession. Obtaining a CPA does not automatically qualify you to run an accounting business.
Just recognising this simple fact will save lots of entrepreneur accountants the agony of working for less than the minimum wage.
There are known and reliable principles for accounting firm business growth that when deployed properly in a practical way, can attract truckload of potential clients to your firm.
Those principles are the focus of: How To Effectively Market and Manage An Accounting Firm
Your will learn:
The Accounting Firm Business Growth Process
The three step accounting firm business growth process:
- Generating new client
- Increasing the volume per transaction
- Increasing the frequency with which those clients hire you
The Client Attraction Process
The three step effective client attraction process:
- Crafting an effective marketing message
- Identifying the right target market
- Selecting the right media through which to channel your marketing message
What You Must Know About Your Accounting Firm Marketing
The ultimate key to accounting firm marketing:
- Psychology
- Mathematics
The skill that brought you out of Egypt cannot take you to the Promise Land.
You cannot succeed as an entrepreneur accountant with the skillset of an employee or with a CPA.
Learn the requisite skills and the process of growing your accounting firm from: How To Effectively Market And Manage An Accounting Firm.
This book comes with 100% money back guarantee. If after reading it you feel that the information was unhelpful, just request a refund and you will be refunded 100% of your money no questions asked.
Your friend
Romeo
P.S. As appreciation for buying my book, you are entitled to free 45 minutes consultation with me. To take advantage of this, please email or call +447855049508
P.S.S. Meanwhi
Romeo Richards
I am the founder of The Business Education Center, an entrepreneur and business training firm that provides business growth information to professional entrepreneurs such as medical doctors, lawyers, accountants, consultants, coaches, retail executives, dentists, corporate trainers and private security entrepreneurs. The Business Education Center, is the business intelligence hub for professional businesses such as businesses consulting firms, business development firms, dental practice, private medical practices, law firms, accounting firms, businesses coaching firms, corporate training firms, private security firms and retail organisations. The Business Education Center aims to offer access to valuable business development information to entrepreneur professionals: medical doctors, lawyers, accountants, consultants, business coaches, dentist, retail executive, private security firm owners and corporate trainers through the creation of information products such as books, eBooks, audio books, DVDs, home study courses, workshops and seminars. I conceived The Business Education Center after undergoing a traumatic business failure and recovering through the help of valuable business development information. In late 2004, I established my private security firm. By 2006, my revenue had grown to a million dollars and I was able to count the likes of Nike, BskyB, BMW, Renault, BT and Target Express amongst my clients. However, in 2008 when the financial crisis hit, my business went into a tailspin. Like most entrepreneurs, I blamed the financial crisis for the failure of my business. But the reality is, I was in a recession proof business. When there is financial crisis, the rate of crime increases simultaneously increasing the need for private security. If I was in a recession proof business, how can the recession be responsible for the demise of my business? The fact of the matter is this: I broke every good business practice during my formative years. After providing services for most of my initial clients, I did not even bother to follow up with them to solicit additional work. The way security work is: the private security firm receives a call from a company that require security for their premises or event. The private security send their officers to the designated location and when the work is complete, the firm sends an invoice to the client's accounts department. Representatives from the security firms never get to know or even meet the person who made the call or sent the mail. Therefore, never get to form relationship with them. However, in hindsight, I now know that there were ways that I could have forged relationship with those companies. In 2008, we have a single big client that we provided services for nationwide. The fact that we provided services for them nationwide, appeared to us as if we had multiple clients. When the big client got caught up in the flames of the financial crisis, they pulled us down with them. Literally placing all my eggs in one basket was my first deadly mistake. My second fatal mistake was not developing along with my business. This is the biggest sins of most entrepreneurs. We establish our businesses, as the business grows, we fail to grow along with the business. Kind of like parents who remain kids themselves. The same skill sets that I had when I started the business from practically zero stayed with me even when I was making a million dollar. I never developed myself and my thinking process in confirmative with my new status. I still worked as a security officer. I still conducted mobile patrol, alarm response and site visits. I could have easily employed a supervisor or manager to do all those while I concentrated on developing the business. This was the key to my business failure. However, instead of facing the facts and accepting my short comings, I blamed the financial crisis. I was very fortunate to have received an email of a business growth program called the 7 Figure Code. When I bought this program and watched it, it completely revolutionise my thinking. I came to the conclusion that business success does not depend on the type of business one is in, the environment or luck, but on the type of actions one took. Like the chemistry formula hydrogen two plus oxygen equals water, which has never changed since it was discovered, there are certain actions that lead to business success and certain actions that result in business failure. After the 7 Figure Code, I attended or acquired several different business development training by the best business coaches in the world. Business development training programs such as: Eben Pagan - Get Altitude Eben Pagan - Learning Technology Frank kern - Mass Control Frank Kern & Brendon Burchard - Millionaire Marketing Formula Brendon Burchard - Expert Academy Dan Kennedy - Magnetic Marketing Jeff Walker - Product Launch Formula Don Crowther - Social Profit Formula Rich Schefren - Business Growth 2.0 John Carlton - Simple Writing System and Kickass Copywriting Secrets The likes of Dan Kennedy, Rich Schefren and Eben Pagan are responsible for billions of dollars' worth of business development strategies. Dan Kennedy is considered one of the smartest business coaches in the world and Rich Schefren is the business coach to many of the internet millionaires in Silicon Valley. Frank Kern is the marketing genius who sold twenty-three million dollars' worth of information products in a single day. Learning from these guys completely revolutionise my business and my own thinking process, moving me from the brink to a business success story. But here is the caveat: their trainings are not particularly cheap. Many of their training cost a minimum of $10,000. Despite the cost, their trainings are worth every single penny. For example I have just completed nine books. Think about that for a moment... Nine books! In a few months! When many people struggle to complete even a single book. I was I able to realise such achievement? It was the result of my product development training from Brendon Burchard - Expert Academy and Eben Pagan - Guru Blueprint Product development formula. However, because not a lot of entrepreneurs are capable of spending $10,000 for business development training, The business Education Center, was established to help budding entrepreneurs gain access to these valuable $10,000 business development training even if they cannot afford them. Romeo Richards' new sets of books: How To Market And Manage A Professional Firm How To Market And Manage A Private Security Firm How To Market and Manage A Corporate Training Firm How to Market And Manage A Dental Practice How To Market And Manage A Private Medical Practice How To Market And Manage A Consulting Firm How To Market And Manage An Accounting Firm How To Market And Manage A Law Firm How To Market And Manage A Coaching Firm Contain the over $100,000 business development trainings I received from those business growth experts and experience of applying them to my business and those of my clients. Every successful business, whether it is the HSBC Bank in the City of London or a cleaning business in a New Delhi ghetto, has five things I common, you will learn those five things in these books. Markets are becoming saturated. The tyranny of choice brought about by the internet is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to find new customers for their businesses. How can your business benefit instead of be a victim of this new business reality? The answers are in these books. Change is the only constant. The business environment is changing. Businesses practices that were acceptable yesterday can no longer be effective in this new business environment. What are the new business practices that will be effective in the new business environment, and how can you implement them in your business? You will find the answers in these set of books. My desire is to help businesses understand how to navigate the new business environment. I also co-authored the following books: 84% Most Effective Strategies For Increasing Retail Profit 14.3% The Most Effective Shoplifting Reduction Strategies 43.5% The Most Effective Retail Profit Protection Strategies 12.24% The Most Effective Retail Employee Error Reduction Strategies 24.5% The Most Effective Perishable And Non-Perishable Shrinkage Reduction 27.9% The Most Effective Retail Shrinkage Reduction Technologies 27.8% The Most Effective Retail Employee Theft Reduction Strategies 48.8%: The Most Effective Strategies For Reducing Retail Receiving Shrinkage Romeo Richards books slated to be published October 2012: Store Design Blueprint: How to design an attractive but profitable store Visual Merchandising Display: How to create a beautiful yet profitable display How to Increase Retail Sales How to Make Profit in Retail How to Attract Customers to Your Retail Store How to Increase Retail Sales with Store Design and Visual Merchandise Display Romeo Richards submitted book proposal for the following books: How To Manage and Market A Business Development Firm How To Manage And Market An Architectural Firm How To Manage And Market A Recruitment Firm How To Manage And Market A Private Psychology Practice How To Manage And Market A Plastic Surgery How To Manage And Market A Physiotherapy Practice How To Manage And Market A Construction Company How To Manage And Market An Engineering Firm How To Manage and Market A NGO How To Run An Effective Government
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How to Effectively Market and Manage an Accounting Firm - Romeo Richards
Acknowledgements
My sincere gratitude to Mr. White, John and Michael for editing the book.
Thanks Jen for formatting it and Joseph for managing the entire project.
How to Effectively Market and Manage an Accounting Firm
Romeo Richards
www.theprofitexperts.co.uk
Why You Should Read This Book
Let me tell you a story.
In his E-Myth series, author Michael Gerber wrote that every business is a family business. At the time I read it, I did not understand what he meant until I had a business failure which resulted in the breakup of my own family.
However, please don’t shed tears for me; you need to understand that despite my own painful circumstances, business success can be gratifying. There is no better feeling than realising your ambition and making a difference in the lives of others. I have a long list of former employees who otherwise would have been condemned to cleaning for the rest of their lives, because of me, they were able to pay their university tuition fees and are government officials in their native countries.
For decades the world has struggled to find a malaria vaccine for the developing world. With the financial and personal support of the Gates foundation, we are one step closer to eradicating this preventable illness. HIV was ravaging large areas of Africa at one point threatening to decimate the entire population of Southern Africa. Bill Gates made one of those life affirming decisions, he left Microsoft and got personally involved with his foundation. As a result of his personal involvement, the high rates of HIV infection in Africa are at last showing signs of slowing down and becoming manageable.
Why have I chosen to illuminate my own personal story and the achievements of Bill Gates?
When any business fails there are consequences, both positive and negative. Like me you could lose your love ones, your house, your car and everything you have worked hard for. Believe me those debt collectors don’t joke when they show up at your door, even your cat is not immune.
However, when you succeed, there are no words in the dictionary that can describe the feelings of elation and joy that owning a successful business can bring. It’s not just about the money. The money is great because you can now take those vacations you have been dreaming of.
For me the sense of making a difference in the lives of others supersedes all other personal attainments. In this same sense I think we can all agree that preventing entire communities from being wiped from the face of the earth is more gratifying to Mr Gates than his 50 billion dollars.
Every business has a 100% chance of succeeding or a 100% chance of failing. Whichever way the scale tips depends upon four plus one key fundamentals:
Visionary leadership
A
level people
Robust system
Effective marketing system
I started my business in 2004, by 2006 I was making £500,000 per annum which at the time was a million USD. By 2008 the worm had turned and I was £200,000 in debt. How and why did this happen to me? How did this refugee from Africa who arrived with just his ambition had it all and then lose it virtually overnight.
Like most people who start out in business I believed that business is common sense. On my own personal road to Damascus
I was to learn that business is more than just a good idea and anything but common sense.
As I took stock and sought answers to why I fell from grace, it slowly dawned on me that if we don’t prepare for success then we are preparing ourselves for failure. What do I mean by this?
As I write this preface, Facebook is about to be floated for approximately $95 billion. Facebook is just eight years old, what is it that makes Facebook so successful as a business? Bear in mind that before Facebook there were other social media sites.
Google has become synonymous with search engines and internet optimisation. But before Google, there were other search engines. So what did Google get right that other search engine providers got wrong?
Apple is today the most valuable company in the world, even more valuable than the US government. In the first quarter of 2012 Apple made a profit of US$11.6 billion, that’s more profit than some Plcs. annual turnover.
So what do Facebook, Apple, Google and the rest of the other successful companies around the world have to do with you?
Everything!
The founders of Facebook, Google or Apple were just like you. Like you and I, they made the decision to establish a business. But they succeeded beyond even their own wildest imaginations. Why did they achieve the level of success that they did?
Even though Gates and Steve Jobs are academically bright they understood this simple yet profound fact, business is not common sense. To succeed in business like any other profession requires certain skill sets.
The gap between one thousand pounds and a million pound is just a single idea or getting a single decision right.
Contained within this book is a formula that would help you make the right decisions for your business. Every successful business or entrepreneur has used this identical formula to succeed.
It was announced in May 2012 that the UK was officially in recession. All over the news there were images of shop closures, members of the public, business leaders and government officials commenting on how difficult this year was going to be. The world economy was failing, France and Greece were adding fire to the Eurozone crisis, the press were tainted with allegations of phone hacking
, what a year.
Meanwhile in the first quarter of 2012, Apple made sales of US$39.2 billion. The tabloids did not write about this because bad news is easier to sell.
So before you begin to say that the founders of Facebook, Google, Apple or the other successful businesses where lucky, let’s put to bed a commonly held belief in business or life in general; there is no such thing as luck, it’s an abstract concept that infers outside forces are responsible for success or failure. When you are prepared physically and mentally to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way, that’s when you make your own luck.
I’ve previously mentioned that there are four plus one elements to running a successful business. The fifth and some would say the most contentious element is a good business model.
Your business model is the most critical element in the success or failure of your business.
I made the point earlier that before Facebook, there were other social media sites. Before Google, there were other search engines. So what did Facebook and Google get right that the others got so wrong? Quite simply they developed a better business model.
There are lots of business books out there written by super successful entrepreneurs, so why is my book any different? What can I teach you that hasn’t been taught by those ultra-successful entrepreneurs?
There are four main types of business books:
Celebrity endorsement
Highly researched and informative
Me too
Effective strategies
Celebrity endorsement:
Celebrity endorsed business books are those written by celebrity entrepreneurs such as Donald Trump, Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Robert Kiyosaki etc.
These books can be subdivided into:
Written by the celebrity before they became successful. No one knew the author at the time, therefore, the books included great contents.
Now successful in their area of expertise these books contain all the usual I did it so you can do it mumbo-jumbo, completely removed from reality.
Penned by a clever author who understands the power of a name. In most instances the celebrity never takes the time to read the manuscript.
Highly researched and informative:
Written mainly by academics or business journalists; based upon solid research. They are usually well written in academic or journalistic style and language. The only problem with these books is their level of complexity for the average reader. Even when you reread them and eventually understand the principles, implementing the information into your business can be difficult.
Me too:
Me too business books are written by wannabe experts, who write books just to be able to say they have published a book. In most cases these books contain no real substances and do not reveal any new insights into their so-called expertise.
Effective strategies:
Templates with a purpose of providing information and showing readers how to implement those changes into their businesses. Like the highly researched information books, they provide effective content. Unlike the highly researched research books, Effective strategy books help their readers implement their theories and ideas.
What differentiates this book from other business books is that it belongs to the forth category. It actually teaches you how to do what is written in the book.
At the end of this book you will learn the four plus one fundamentals that are responsible for a successful business. You will also have a step by step guide of how to implement those changes into your business.
Every Monday and Thursday I pick my son up from school. I once told my assistant that going to pick him up was like going on a date with a beautiful woman
. He reignites my fire to succeed every time I see him. Unfortunately I don’t live with my son and I have to return him to his mother at the end of our time together. The agony and pain I feel as I drive away is unimaginable.
If your business fails, it can have unintended consequences on the ones you love. Don’t you owe it to them to gain the requisite knowledge to at least give it your best shot?
This book will provide you the information you need to succeed in your business. It is your instruction manual to effectively market and manage your firm.
Introduction
This is a self-help instruction manual on how to make ‘7 Figures’ per annum as an entrepreneur accountant. Since I developed this concept the question that I am asked time and time again is why are you so certain that I can make a 7 Figure within a year
?
I explain that with my formula their chances of success will increase by at least 100%. It is based on the same formula that has been used by all successful businesses since the beginning of trade and commerce in the modern world.
We all know the formula (H20) equals water, Newton’s laws of motion have been established for almost three centuries and they remain true to this day. No one has yet to disprove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, his theories are as relevant today as they were years ago when Einstein first theorised them.
This book is about the timeless principles of business success. It’s the same principles that allowed Facebook to float for $104 billion after only eight years of existence. It’s the same principles that made Google synonymous with search engines even though there were several high profile search engines on the net. Microsoft’s Bill Gates used these principles to build a business from nothing and become the richest man on the planet. It’s the same principles that will turn your accounting firm into a success story.
Chapter one:
The first chapter of this book deals with the business fundamentals: the ‘four plus one’ business fundamentals that are critical for success. As an entrepreneur accountant your first action must be to create a clear vision of what your firm will eventually look like when it is finally matured.
To help you achieve this vision you need:
The right people: the right ‘A’ level people can accelerate the speed and level of your business success. Without them your job is made harder.
Robust systems: without a robust operational system firmly embedded throughout your firm, the daily operations will be chaotic resulting in client dissatisfaction.
Effective marketing strategy: no business can succeed without attracting new customers. To attract the various categories of clients your firm needs, will require an effective marketing strategy.
We’ll show you how to create your vision, recruit the right people and how to create a robust administrative and marketing system for your firm.
Chapter two:
Further expands on the marketing strategy by providing a step by step guide on how to effectively market your accounting firm.
Chapter three:
How do you create a new market for your firm? With the internet breaking the monopolisation of the factors of distribution, providing consumers with infinite choices, accounting firms are witnessing their clients numbers dwindle. However, 90% of the clients currently using the services of accounting firms are unhappy with their current accounting service providers. This opens an opportunity for you to attract their attention. But how can you go about this in an ethical way? This chapter shows you how to do that.
Chapter four:
Outlines the most effective strategies for recruiting and retaining ‘A talents’ for your firm. Bill Gates once said Take away our best 20 people and Microsoft would become an unimportant company.
Bear in mind Microsoft has close to half a million employees and yet Mr Gates believes that taking away just 20 ‘A’ level people would make the company irrelevant. This is the power of having the right people within your organisation. This chapter shows you how to recruit and retain ‘A talents’ in your firm.
Chapter Five:
Dive into the most important aspect of the life of an entrepreneur accountant. Entrepreneur accountants like most entrepreneurs put in the hours. While this is necessary to ensure your success, it also reduces your productivity. It is not the amount of hours you put in that matters but how ‘smart’ you have worked. Remember it is productivity that counts not activities. Chapter five shows you how to increase your productivity tenfold without increasing your activities and number of working hours.
Chapter six:
How do you know that your office assistant is not spending half his working day on Facebook? How do you know when your clients are dissatisfied with your services? How do you know if your marketing resources are being allocated effectively? Chapter six contain the systems and tools necessary for measuring your own performance and the performance of each and every member of your team.
Chapter seven:
What’s holding you back from expansion? What’s the simplest way of achieving your vision? My simplified version of the Theory of Constraint
(TOC) can be used to diagnose your current level of success and plot the most appropriate course for achieving your goals. This is what chapter seven teaches you.
Chapter eight:
Becoming a partner within an accounting firm is what most junior accountants aspire to. The road to partnership is not paved with gold. For most junior accountants, it can be a long and tedious process, however, through hard work, patience and a lot of ambition the journey can be financially beneficial. Chapter eight outlines the steps necessary to make partnership successful within any accounting firm.
Chapter nine:
This final chapter deals with change. Change is the only thing that is constant. With the internet and the level of change taking place in every industry, you cannot continue doing things the old ways and expect to succeed. Change will come whether you like it or not. Are you prepared to be a master or victim of change? Illustrating the transformation strategies employed by the U.S. Army to transform itself from a Cold War army to one fit for the 21st century, I outlined various steps that you can take to prepare your accounting firm for the changing world.
Chapter ten:
One chronic malady afflicting many accounting firms is the lack of succession planning. Succession planning refers to the intended activities, processes and programs put in place by an accounting firm to guarantee a smooth transfer of responsibilities and leadership to a succeeding generation of accountants and managers.
Essential to the success and long term endurance of accounting firms are a well mapped out succession planning that immediately takes effect and maintain the firm’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. In chapter ten I will outline the importance of succession planning and lay down precise step by step instructions on how to develop a plan for your accounting firm.
Every business needs the services of an accountant, yet accountants struggle to make 7 Figure per annum. It should not be that way. There are a lot of tools at your disposal that can make it possible for you to achieve a 7 Figure revenue per annum. Outlined in each chapter of this book are those tools and ways of taking advantage of them.
Chapter One: How to Make 7 Figures Annually as an Entrepreneur Accountant
At the Association for Accounting Administration National Practice Management Conference held in Louisville in June 2011, a group made up of some of the smartest CPA firm leaders agreed the below list as the top seven leadership challenges facing CPA firms:
Succession planning
Accountability and buy-in
Communication (lack thereof) Managing millennial
Work-life balance
Leadership development
Managing change
The above challenges does not seem particularly unique to the accounting profession. Most businesses are facing similar challenges which they are dealing with effectively. The question is why are issues appearing so mundane challenging CPAs?
Answer, CPAs are not trained to deal with those types of issues.
In the first instance, CPAs are binge counters who only understand the language of numbers.
However, when it comes to the business of accounting, many CPAs are challenged.
Secondly, CPAs are not shrewd business people. They hold the view that business is common sense. All it takes to run a successful business is passing the CPA examination.
Accountancy is a very lucrative profession because every business needs an accountant. Public sector organisations hire accountants, NGOs, large and small businesses, the Police, the Army and even individuals use the services of accountants. Despite this high demand, most accountants struggle to make a living.
The reason most accountants will give for struggling in a very lucrative profession is the economic downturn which in forcing businesses and organisations to curtail spending. But the irony is this, the services of an accountant is in higher demand in difficult economic times because it is when businesses and organisations need help to prevent them from being victimised by the tsunami.
Another reason the large majority of accountants struggle in a business environment where their services are in high demand is, accountants like most professionals continue to strive under the protective kokum of a ‘professional’. This means that they are not subject to the demands for result that other business services are subjected to.
The dynamic of accounting has changed in the 21st century. The 21st century accountant understands that there are two reasons why a client will seek his services:
To provide answers to questions
To provide results
The 21st century accountant who makes 7 figures per annum:
Produces results
Provides answers
Provides clear action steps for implementing his solutions
Takes responsibility for the outcome of his work
Business is not common sense. Entrepreneurship is a skill like accountancy. No one wakes up one morning and says from today onwards I am going to become an accountant. To become an accountant, one has to be trained. Like accountancy, business is a skill and like any