plus 7 ways to practice discipline in an accounting firm.
by rob nixon
it’s time to focus on the final four of the 12 critical traits on you becoming a better you and the best business leader you can be, including having fun and leaving a legacy.
more on strategy: 4 more critical traits: be your best you | 12 traits of a better you | 8 ways to become super-efficient | sales is like workflow management | sales is about trust | how to dominate the internet | marketing objectives determine marketing amount | what products should you create? | keep a watchful eye on clients | rewards go far beyond money
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
as before, i will explain the critical area and you are to score between 0 and 10 how you are on each of the critical areas. the scoring guide is below:
on each trait on my “spider wheel” put a mark where you fit. in the middle is 0 and the outer point is 10.
don’t learn ‘stuff’
in the year 2000 i relocated my family from sydney to brisbane. when i met the furniture removalist i asked him if he had a lawnmower. the answer was no. i said “you do now” and i gave him mine. i have never mown a lawn since. nor do i intend to. i choose to do tasks i like doing and that i am good at. if i like doing a task, i learn how to use the tool to do the task. if you look at office equipment there are many tools that make life easier that i don’t want to learn how to use.
take the scanner. it’s a useful tool but i’m not going to learn how to use it. if i do i may have to use it. or what about that thing with sharp teeth called the binding machine? that thing can hurt you. there are trained professionals who know how to use the binding machine. i don’t want to be one of them.
i like to get focused on the three highest-dollar productive activities that i can do in my business life. i am brutal with my time on this and i don’t do what is not a “top three” activity or i delegate it to someone else.
in the year 2005 i started my accountants coaching business from home. within a couple of weeks of my new startup i wrote in permanent ink on my whiteboard the following:
i will only do three things in this business:
- marketing
- selling
- delivery
i will only not work for anything less than $750 per hour.
remember this was 2005. my self-esteem was not as high as it now and that’s why i priced my time at $750 per hour. pretty quickly i took that to $1,000 then $2,000 then $3,000, then i moved to value-based fees and it didn’t matter anymore.
these days my top three have changed. my business has grown and i have a team of people around me who are professionals in what they do and i am a professional in three things only.
- leveraged marketing: writing a book is a good example
- strategic thinking: basically coming up with ideas
- leadership: inspiring the team to greatness
i currently still do a little bit of direct client work (around 10 percent of my time) but over time that will cease. if i can spend 80 percent of my time on my top three then the business is better off for it and so am i.
this post is all about you. you are the primary risk-taker in your life and you should get the spoils. go ahead and rate yourself where you are about learning “stuff” versus what you would like not to know!
fun every day
in 2001 i started my first software business. it was all exciting at the start (as all startups typically are) and super busy. we raised quite a lot of cash to get it going and we were away.
as the co-founder, one of my roles was sales. i was selling every day to my target market. it was tough work but the product was working, the clients liked it and we were making a difference. however, i was not enjoying it. in 2005 we decided we should chase some big fish and that meant looking for distribution in the usa. i went for a visit, met with the key people in the target company and they also liked what we had. it was all going great and they verbally said they wanted to distribute the product throughout the usa. i was excited.
a few weeks after returning home i had a 4:30 a.m. phone call with the key people in chicago. i got a “not now” answer from them. it turned out to be a big fat “no.” at 4:45 i put my head in my hands and i actually beat my head against my desk. why is this so hard? why is this not working for me? why am i not enjoying it?
the day prior to this call (october 25, 2005) i had received my test results of my “wealth profile” – which path i should follow to create wealth and enjoyment in business. i looked at the test results and i instantly realized i was in the wrong business – for me. i could not be “me” in the business and i felt the business was boring. something had to change.
i waited until 7:30 and i called my then-business partner. i said i needed to see him. he asked what it was all about. i said, “i’ll tell you when i see you.” a couple of hours later i was at his home and i told him that i was not enjoying it and i wanted to leave. he said “when?” “today” was my answer. he said “you can’t leave today” and he also said, “what are you going to do?”
i said i didn’t know what i was going to do but i was going to follow this “star” thing and see where it took me. my mind was made up and i ended up leaving two weeks later. they gave me a nice sendoff and i was out of there.
i had no money, no method of making money, no assets, kids in private schools, car leases and a mortgage. i had the whole thing going on. that weekend i was at a friend’s house at a bbq and he too asked me, what was i going to do? i had no idea. he gave me three ideas that i followed through on. one of them (coaching club) turned out to be a $30 million (and counting) idea.
so i started a new business from home. the first month i did $2,000 in revenue. the second month $22,000. the third month $24,000 and by the time the first 12 months finished, i did $975,000 in revenue. i made a profit of $450,000 in my first year and in the second year over $1 million in profit and have never looked back. since that day (october 26, 2005) when i decided to take massive action i have been in my flame (not in the wax) and enjoying business and having fun literally every day.
the business of business should not be a drag. if you have designed it your way then surely that involves having fun and enjoying the journey.
how much fun are you having? are you passionate about what you are doing? if it is “off the charts” fun every day then score a 10. if it is a drag and it’s not working and you’re not passionate about it then score lower. and do something about it. it’s a business and we’re only here once!
having the discipline to succeed
all top performers have immense discipline. the top-performing person could be an athlete, a musician, a politician, a spiritual leader, a salesperson, a doctor or a business owner. it doesn’t matter what field the person is in, the successful ones all have a disciplined approach to success.
so how does discipline make its way into an accounting firm? here are seven examples that require discipline.
- workflow processes. do you have a process? if you do is it followed every time? i bet not. my guess is sometimes you do it, sometimes you don’t. we created an 18-step workflow process that works with every accounting job no matter what source of software you use. every accountant we teach it to loves it and when they implement it they get amazing results of efficiency, customer service and margin improvement. one of the steps is to do a business performance review once per year using our www.panalitix.com software. every single accountant agrees it is the right thing to do and they agree they should do it at least once per year with every business client. do they? not likely. it takes discipline to follow a workflow process.
- meeting rhythm. we endorse and teach regular (and short) stand-up meetings that are designed for quick communication. every accountant we teach it to loves the idea. they’re supposed to start at an odd time (9:09, 10:10) and go for a short amount of time. there are three questions asked of each team member: 1) what’s up? 2) what’s your daily metric? and 3) where are you stuck? the ones who follow it get amazing results of communication and problem-solving. do they always follow it? not a chance.
- systematic growth. if you want to double the revenue of your firm in three years then you need 26 percent revenue growth per annum or 2 percent per month – month in, month out. if you want to double in five years then you need 15 percent per annum growth or 1.2 percent growth per month – month in, month out. to grow a business you need a systematic approach to marketing, sales and service. each month builds on the last month. it takes discipline and focus.
- sales meetings. i strongly endorse that partners should make a minimum of 20 client visits per month with existing clients. the objective is to see where the client is at with their business, understand their objectives and then see if they need any help (new services) to achieve their objectives. let’s call it what it is. it’s a sales meeting. they take about 90 minutes per meeting and then with some followup (write a document and maybe meet again) it might take another 90 minutes. so 3 hours per client x 20 clients = 60 hours per month. if you did this (and you were really bad at sales) then you’d get at least five new projects per month. the ones who have been trained in our sales methods are getting 15 projects from 20 clients. let’s be conservative and work on five projects per month from 20 clients. if each project has a value of say $7,500 (based on value-based fees) that’s $37,500 of new business. that’s a $625-per-hour return. it’s a pretty good use of time and the client is better off for it. it takes discipline to make 20 meetings per month. most don’t but all should.
- meeting times. i like to schedule meeting times at odd times during the day. i’ll call you at 10:15. let’s meet at 8:08. how about we catch up for coffee at 9:40 on tuesday? then i like to play games with time. i like to watch the second hand on the clock get to the 12 and then start calling. i have exactly 60 seconds to connect with the person and most people look at the clock on their computer or their phone. i am calling precisely as agreed. i am meeting with you precisely as agreed. we are starting the meeting at precisely the time we agreed and we are not going over time in any way, shape or form. i like to call out and i rarely let anyone call me. i do that because i know i will be on time with my meeting/calling schedule. it takes discipline to do this. most people are sloppy with meeting times and many will say “we’ll get started as soon as so and so is here.” not on my watch. i am not going to punish those who are on time because a few people are late. incompetent people are late. competent people are sometimes behind schedule.
- one thing at a time. i think multitasking is a crock. how can you do three things at once really well? the human attention span is dropping every decade as our lives are flooded with more and more content and data every day. it’s coming from all angles all the time. to deal with all that life and business throws at us, the answer is not getting good at multitasking. the answer is to get focused on the one thing you have to do right now. do it properly and once only. do one project at a time only. have one uninterrupted conversation at a time. deal with emails when you deal with them – not emails, facebook, phone calls and twitter all at the same time. have one open client job at a time and stay focused until it is done. if you attempt multitasking you’ll enter into “job pick up put down” syndrome, which leads to inefficiencies and mistakes.
- saying no. if you know who your target market is and what services you offer then you need to stay true to that and say no to potential clients, services and projects. if you have a business plan (i can send you an awesome sample one-page business plan if you email me) and you set the objectives, priorities and projects at the start of the year then make sure you stick to them. say no to shiny new things that may look good but may divert your course. it takes discipline to say no more than yes.
at the end of the day it’s about being true to your values, doing what you say you’re going to do and finishing what you start. if you start something then take it through to the finish line. sometimes you might not finish exactly in the timeframe you intended but at least you finished.
you know you better than anyone so score yourself really honestly on this one.
leaving a legacy
when you’re gone from this earth what will they say about you? what are you building or doing that is making a difference? have you written your own eulogy?
as the saying goes, we’re only here for a very short time, not a long time. my life coach is an ex-monk and he introduced me to my “death” clock. i thought death was a bit harsh so i renamed it to my “time to die” clock. it counts down every second on my smartphone and it is quite sobering to realize that i don’t have much time left.
i set my clock at exactly 100 years old. i am going to check out on (or thereabouts) on august 28, 2069. i figured that 100 years is long enough.
in that time i want to live by my core purpose, have goals and values, be courageous, learn a lot, get on planes, live large, improve my self-belief, fail many times, don’t learn stuff i don’t need to, have fun every day, be super-disciplined and leave a legacy!
for the last time, score where you sit on the “leave a legacy” scale.
so how did you do on your scores? like most people you’ll have some high and some low. it’s time to join the dots. when you join the dots does it look something like this?
it is what it is.
the 12 traits are all about making a wheel. this is the wheel that will get you from a to b in your business life. this is the wheel that will keep you sharp as you strive to remain relevant.
what does your wheel look like? how is your wheel going to roll? wheels are supposed to be round, aren’t they?
if you have a small round wheel (all 2’s and 3’s) then your journey to remaining relevant will be tiresome with a lot of effort and you’ll feel every bump in the road. if you have a large round wheel (all 7’s and 8’s) then the journey will take less effort and you’ll cruise over the bumps.
how do you want your wheel to look? maybe it’s time to pump up the tires!