2025 Fastest-Growing Firms: An entrepreneurial mindset at REDW

Transcription:
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Steve Cogan (00:09):

Well, REW, we have about 40% of our firm is advisory services, and we have about 10 different unique advisory services businesses within the firm, and they're all entrepreneurial and kind of independent departments that just do a great job serving our clients. And the other 60% of the firm is traditional audit and tax services, but we have really a great platform to provide a variety of services to our clients, and we've packaged several of those services or bundled those services for clients that can use a number of services, need different things in order to have a successful business or personal financial life. The other thing that's really makes RDW successful is we're very entrepreneurial and we've invested in the future of the firm. I mentioned earlier, we've added talent to the firm, and that's one of our sustained profitable growth opportunities and something we've done. So we've added people with different ideas from different industries.

(01:14):

We hired a chief operating officer from a non CPA financial services business. We hired a sales and marketing VP from a business that did technology software. We just hired a client, a success director from an automotive company that does automotive web-based marketing. So we've added people with different ideas and different talents. Many times, not from the CPA profession we're willing to invest. Recently we invested in hiring an audit to a partner in our Oklahoma City office, even though we didn't yet have a need, but we wanted a leader and we were willing to make an investment in that individual and in our Oklahoma office, and we hired an HR attorney to lead our HR consulting practice. So we're diversifying the ideas and the thoughts within our organization, and it helps our growth. Another thing we've done is we're now spending four and a half percent of our budget on sales and marketing, which is more than the industry average. And we're seeing results. It's working, it's t contributing to our growth, it's contributing to the quality of clients we're getting. It's creating opportunities for our team members. And so it's exciting. I think that's an area where some profession hasn't always invested enough in business development. Sales.

(02:44):

I would just recommend taking risks and making investments and taking some of the profits of the firm and deliberately investing in the future. Sometimes the profession, like I said earlier, sometimes the profession has kind of underinvested or bootstrapped things, and there's a great opportunity to invest in the future, take risks, try new things.