Most of the year, we’re too busy working in our business — serving clients, putting out fires, and dealing with vendors or employees – that we don’t take time to work “on” our business so we can get to the next level. Now is the perfect time to explore and initiate projects that we can’t afford to think about other times of the year. Here are seven ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
1. Attend an accounting industry conference.
There’s nothing better for motivation than a conference. With great speakers, exhibits, and a chance to meet peers, a conference provides a unique experience for us to learn ways to improve our practice. There’s one somewhere almost every week. Here are a few that are coming up:
FICPA – September 28-30, 2016 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
QuickBooks Connect – October 23-26, 2016 – San Jose, CA
Thomson Reuters Synergy – November 2-5, 2016 – Grapevine, TX
New England Practice Management Conference – November 16-18, 2016 – Uncasville, CT
To find a conference, look in these places: software vendors, state CPA societies, professional associations that serve the industry, and major CPE providers.
2. Update your marketing materials, especially your website and social media.
Technology is huge part of our jobs now, and it’s essential that your marketing materials reflect updated technology or your firm will look out of date. A current web design is most essential, and the designs have dramatically changed in the last few years so that a re-design is pretty much a must. If you’re going after startups, you won’t get hired if your site looks old and tired. (And if you need help, check out our new web packages for accountants here: acceleratorwebsites.com )
3. Knock out your CPE.
If you’re like me, you have a birthday a bit too close to tax season. I try to knock out my CPE early because I just don’t like last-minute rushing around.
4. Earn a new certification.
Several vendors in our profession offer software certifications that can not only help you learn their product better, but also display your expertise in your marketing materials. Many of these programs are free or low-cost. For example, Intuit have several certifications on QuickBooks expertise, and once you have one certification, you can be listed in their Find a ProAdvisor directory, which yields lots of great leads. Other vendors that have certifications include Bill.com, TSheets, and Xero, to name a few.
For bookkeeping, AIPB offers a certification, and for business, we offer the Certified Business Profit Consultant. All of these lead to new and expanded services offerings, meaning more revenue for you.
Download our free ebook “Start with a Profit” here to learn valuable advice about starting your new business.
5. Adopt new technology.
We are constantly looking for new technology to improve our firm’s profits and make our clients’ lives easier. And we’ve been pleasantly surprised at the ease of workflow and headcount reduction we’ve been able to achieve in the last few years by implementing apps that streamline our project management.
6. Take a vacation.
Giving your mind a break from the daily chores at the office can provide you with a new outlook and fresh ideas.
7. Become a trusted advisor.
As compliance tasks become more automated, it just makes sense to begin moving your practice to advisory services. That may mean learning more about small business hot spots and needs and possibly even expanding your financial role to more of a business partner role.
There are many ways to approach this: one way is to go deep with technology solutions and workflow. A good start would be taking the QuickBooks Online Advanced Certification training. A second way is to learn about specific industries and cater to that niche. To do this, attend the industry’s major conference so you can pick up on terminology and issues facing the business owners. A third way is to go deep on business functional knowledge, such as operations, HR, and marketing. If you have controllership experience, you’re a natural, and our Advisor Accelerated course next month leans in that direction too.
Choose one or two of these seven options before the summer ends to take your business to the next level.