Beat the Competition!

Hitting the bulls-eye for your firm in tough times

Study successful business operations and you will find that they commonly seize opportunities and use them to their advantage. In fact, many of my entrepreneurial clients during my years in practice would tell me they made money the day they bought an asset - not the day it was sold. Sure, being a good negotiator is always a plus, but there are best practices that you can pursue with or without strong negotiating skills. The recession has created some very attractive strategic opportunities, but not enough CPA firms are capitalizing on the chance to energize their practices in an economically advantageous way. Pulling the trigger is a skill, and with practice, you learn to hit your target more precisely. Here are some definite bulls-eyes for your firm:

Marketing:

This is the perfect time to either start or upgrade your marketing effort. Budgets for marketing have been slashed dramatically, and as a result, marketing consultants, web companies, graphics businesses and advertising companies are all looking for business making the competition for business intense. The current conditions spell value. You can get significant bang for your buck and you owe it to your firm to do just that. If you have no campaign, then launch one, and if you have one, hold your providers feet to the fire and plan for upgrades. The opportunities are not restricted to outside resources. There are many folks who are looking for permanent positions. Salary possibilities for permanent positions are quite attractive for buyers and should be an important incentive to bolster or create an internal department. If you are on the cusp, then make the jump or consider sharing a marketing employee with another firm. Think about starting with a part time role that may eventually graduate to full time. Rainmakers market all of the time, but they are much more effective with a real marketing program. Conditions are ripe for you to help bolster the success of your business development process – take advantage of the conditions.

Talent:
Leading CPA firms live by the philosophy that there is always room in their firm for talented people. There are numbers of disappointed, unhappy but talented people in CPA firms. These folks are not just salaried employees - they include partners as well. There are numerous folks who have been laid off from private industry positions. Since CPA firms are in the knowledge business, the more knowledge you have to offer, the more significant your potential for profit. Now is the perfect time to upgrade your talent. Upgrading is not restricted to the upper level - it is for every level. Talented juniors and administrative professionals allow you great leverage. Greater leverage allows for higher profits. So it is imperative to think out of the box on personnel matters. Good citizens from private industry can be trained to become very valuable in the compliance functions of your firm. Accounting firms have been the hallmark for diversity for many years since they have been staffed with folks who have been trained and employed elsewhere. Partners who were not proper fits in one firm become super stars in another, and potential partners have been uncovered when they move from firm to firm. Salary structures and compensation systems have become much more attractive for buyers. Be aggressive and hunt down folks who will energize your firm. Be creative with your compensation packaging - part time, flex time, seasonal, temp to perm and incentive driven systems should all be pursued. There is a lot of competition for work – with the right people you only enhance your chance of success.

Tough times present unique opportunities for progress. Bill Gates started Microsoft during a recession. You too can excel in a challenging time period – there is a bulls-eye out there for you – now pull the trigger.