Going from a financial professional working for someone else to a business owner running your own firm requires shifting your way of thinking and adopting an "Accountpreneur" mindset. It's vital to go beyond your comfort zone and explore opportunities to grow your new business, so it cannot just survive but thrive for years to come.
But it can be challenging to escape the trap of thinking like an employee in your own business when you should be thinking like an owner who:
- Delegates. Focuses time on high-value activities and delegates transactional tasks to the capable people on their team.
- Builds systems and invest in innovation. Creates efficiency in their workflows to serve your customers in more ways without increasing their workload.
- Thinks strategically and long term. Realizes that what got them to where they are today will not take them to where they want to go in the future, so they stay aware of the evolving business landscape and remain agile.
The key to making the mindset shift: doer vs. visionary
Many accountants are stuck in the doer role — head down, focused on task after task, and tracking billable hours. But idling in execution mode limits a firm's growth potential and may even result in losing valued clients. Assuming a "visionary" role is the key to discovering and embracing opportunities.
The Doer Mindset"
- "I have to do everything myself."
- "I'm too busy to think big."
- "I'm not ready for that."
The Visionary Mindset:
- "Who can do this instead of me?"
- "What's the opportunity here?"
- "Let's test and adapt."
While clients will continue to need traditional accounting services, they are also looking for assistance with their other pressing business needs. Firms that augment their value by expanding into advisory and strategic consultancy services are those that are best positioned to meet clients' evolving needs, which in turn opens new revenue growth for their practice.
Take stock of what offerings will provide additional value for your clients and strengthen their loyalty to you. Services such as business advisory, tax planning, wealth management and tech stack consulting that are part of a comprehensive solution can make you invaluable to your clients.
Strategic partnerships to advance your business
Strategic partnership opportunities cover varied areas of need, such as:
- Marketing: Beneficial to businesses with limited resources and market reach.
- Supply chain: Helps companies cut costs, streamline processes, and improve quality.
- Integration: Allows both companies to offer a more streamlined service to their customers.
- Financial: Outsourcing and shared resources help provide businesses with expertise they cannot maintain internally.
- Technology: Any kind of technological expertise that is needed to run your business, but that you cannot provide in-house, can be delegated to a strategic technology partnership.
Seek strategic partnerships that can enable you to scale your offerings without substantially increasing your workload or adding expense to your bottom line. Consider reputable companies that offer services that complement yours and that provide a partnership program with a platform for seamlessly integrating their offerings into your operations.
Professionals and companies that can serve as mutually beneficial strategic partners include:
- Business entity formation and compliance service providers;
- Business consultants;
- Executive and leadership coaches;
- Attorneys;
- Tech companies for services like IT support, web design, digital marketing;
- Payroll solution providers;
- Cloud accounting, financial management or ERP software companies; and,
- Banking and payment solution providers.
Tips for evaluating partner programs
As you might expect, not all strategic partnership opportunities are created equal. It's important to evaluate potential strategic partners to determine their credibility and commitment to helping you succeed.
- Are they transparent about how the partnership will work?
- Do you have direct access to their leadership team?
- Do they provide efficient self-service options for integrating their services into your operations (e.g., an online portal, APIs, downloads, etc.)?
- Do they provide ongoing education and training opportunities to ensure your team can confidently speak with customers about their services?
- Do they give you personalized service, i.e., dedicated support to answer your questions and address issues or concerns?
- Do they offer a 100% service satisfaction guarantee?
- Do they provide reseller discounts and/or referral commissions that enable you to increase your revenue?
- Do they pay commissions promptly?
All of these factors play a role in helping you determine whether participating in a partner program will be worth your while.
Endless possibilities begin by taking a few next steps
A thriving practice that serves clients more meaningfully doesn't require adding an entire army of employees or overwhelming your existing staff with additional work. With an "accountpreneur" mindset, you can expand your revenue potential and fortify customer loyalty by leveraging your strengths and seeking strategic partnerships to augment your services menu.
Where to start?
- Audit your current role. In what ways are you still a doer rather than a visionary in your business.
- Identify one task you can delegate this week. The time that frees up will give you bandwidth to tackle the next step.
- Explore one new service or partnership opportunity. Remember to evaluate that opportunity using the tips I provided above.
- Set a quarterly vision. Document what you want to achieve each quarter so you have a tangible reminder of what you want to accomplish.
These simple steps will help redirect your efforts from day-to-day execution to strategy and growth. They'll also put you on the path to creating a network of collaborators and strategic partners that can enable you to build a firm that can serve clients in more fulfilling and profitable ways.
In the new year, I wish you and your practice abundant inspiration and success. In the words of John D. Rockefeller, "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."
