Spend time ON your business, not IN your business

Having worked in a number of accounting firms, I’ve seen a lot of different processes and ways of doing things that are occurring.

In my opinion, no business owner ever gets into business to do administration, but by nature of owning a business there is always an element of administration and internal workflow management that needs to occur, in order to provide the service or bot, that you got into business to provide. For the accounting industry, by creating a streamlined approach for the majority of your client work, and only altering that approach where absolutely necessary for those bespoke clients, will allow you as business owners to focus on providing a valuable service to the majority of your client base, instead of the minority!
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Now, every Accounting firm likes to think they are different...but the reality is, you are not dissimilar to the other 15K-20K Accounting firms within Australia. Over the next 7 weeks, we'll highlight some critical areas of your business that need some focus and some serious improvement, because getting a grip on these 7 steps, will help you stand out as the trusted advisor you know you are. 

To kick this series off, lets pose an important question to ponder: Are you an Accountant who owns a Business, or a Business Owner of an Accounting Practice?

A lot of Partners in firms still do far too much actual client work and not enough Business Development, be it internally or externally. Therefore, the first of the 7 steps is: 
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1. SPEND TIME ON YOUR BUSINESS, NOT IN YOUR BUSINESS

Every week, you should spend at least half a day working on your business. It can be really difficult to put aside the time when clients and staff want your attention, however it will ensure that you are tracking towards your business goals, instead of getting stuck in a vortex of just completing client work. 

You need to commit to this though, block out the same time every week in your diary and DON’T make exceptions. 
This is your time to spend on investigating new processes, streamlining current ones and looking at new software options. 

Refocus your business goals and KPI’s, invest time in marketing and new client acquisition. 

​Spend time with your team and keep them updated with internal changes and industry knowledge. The ability to spend time on your business on a regular basis, means your focus is adjusted and areas for improvement can be identified quickly, to allow you a much smoother overall workflow process.

This in turn makes you a happier business owner!


In the next blog, we're going to talk about Culture....want to know more? Get in touch for a chat!