You may be surprised to know that most accountants I speak to, do not have a clear plan for the growth of their practice. I believe that it’s one thing to have growth goals, but these alone do not enable the growth. The key difference between firms who achieve their growth goals, and those that do not, is that growth follows a PLAN. That is a clear plan of the activities required to achieve the growth you want.
You can avoid some common mistakes by understanding how they happen, and then follow my step-by-step method for formulating a growth plan that can achieve 30% growth in a year.
Let’s get down to it…
As I mentioned, most firms don’t have a clear plan for growth. What they may be doing instead is budgeting around a specific growth factor, rather than having a clear activity focus.
For example, I talk with a lot of firms. When I ask them about their growth plans, without fail, everyone is looking to grow their practice.
Goals may range from generic growth of between 5-10%, to much bigger, hairier goals of millions of dollars or say ‘tripling the practice in three years’. Regardless of the size, and despite how specific the goal is, replies become more vague when I ask what plans they have in place to achieve the goal.
In fact, it’s safe to say that most accountants don’t have a specific list of activities in place to achieve their growth goals.
The big benefits of an Activity Plan:
- You can work it out in advance, scheduling activities for each month and/or week. This means that when you get busy, you don’t have to think about what needs to be done, you just need to refer to the plan. Note: These activities are high priority for you on that day or week. Do not put them off for low priority day-to-day jobs.
- Advanced scheduling means you maintain a strategic focus, even during the busiest times. You know where you are in relation to your growth plan, which is especially useful if you find yourself getting behind the schedule.
To grow successfully, you need to plan for growth by including it in your monthly billing target & focus on the activities each week and monthly basis.
Real Life Example of a Successful Growth Plan
Recently I spent time with a firm who achieved a $480,000 increase in extra work for last year. Here’s what they did to make that happen…
- Targeted value add services and new client billing $400,000, above its fixed or existing client contracts.
- Prepared a monthly budget, which included the extra work as though they were already achieving that,
- Detailed an activity plan and allocated tasks to not just the principal but the whole team, so they were all focused on it at weekly meetings.
How it looked
- Monthly target of $125k in existing contracts
- Every month they are looking for $40k additional billings, regardless of whether it’s from existing or new clients.
- Tasks and actions tracked and discussed each week at the team workflow meeting
Result
This firm achieved $500,000 in the year ending June 2014, and are currently on track again this year to achieve $480,000.
How to Plan for your Growth – Your Guide to Building an Activity Plan
Luckily, it’s fairly straight forward to formulate a plan.
I’ll walk you through the process now so you can get started, and draft yourself a winning Activity Plan for 2015 now.
How to Build an Activity Plan for Growth
- Prepare a budget and forecast of activities
- Set value add services and new client billing target, above its fixed or existing client contracts.
- Prepared a monthly budget, which included the extra work as though they were already achieving that,
- Detail an activity plan and allocate tasks to not just the principal but to all the the team, so everyone is focused on it at each weekly meeting
- Get clear on your products & packages.
- Identify the ideal clients to offer to.
- Plan when to position these products to the clients.
To make this process easier, you’re welcome to follow my Farming for Clients Spreadsheet to build a 90 day activity forecast to have existing clients buy additional work. You can download the spreadsheet here.
Expert advice on your growth plan & mentoring in how to implement
Over the years, I developed my methodology for building growth targets, scheduling activity plans and ensuring my firm achieved our growth goals. But the thing was, it took me years to get there. In the past year I’ve helped clients grow in ways that took me years to achieve via a lot of hit and miss tactics.
The Practice Acceleration program is for Accounting partners and principals who are seeking:
- a proven method they can rely on to achieve their goals,
- help with implementing these growth strategies, not just generic marketing theory,
- practical advice on growing their firm (including 24/7 mentor contact),
- strategic mentoring from someone with public practice experience.
Get clear on your Activity plan for 2015 (book now before the end of the year)
There are still a few opportunities available to get your 2015 Activity Plan started in a free, personal session with me before the end of the year.
This is an obligation free, short, casual chat that will quickly determine whether I can help your firm grow. (If I can’t help you right now, or you’re not ready, I’ll say so up front & point you towards a more appropriate course of action.) You have my personal guarantee that this chat will be one of the most valuable discussions you have in planning for 2015.
All you need to do is find a time in my diary and book yourself by using the link below.
[or copy and paste this link into your browser >> http://www.timetrade.com/book/6SWV1]
If you’re not ready for a chat in-person, you’re welcome to reply to this email with the biggest growth challenge you’re facing. I’ll create a specialised list of my most recent TA’s that will help you, and get my assistant to forward it to you.