The primary motivations which entice most individuals to establish their own enterprises can generally be classified into two categories. Firstly, the aspiration for a sustainable and sufficient revenue stream that ensures not just basic nourishment, but also fosters social mobility and advancement. Secondly, these ambitions often extend towards more luxurious symbols of success such as esteemed automobile brands like BMW or Mercedes.

The second advantage pertains to personal fulfilment. Many accountants in our network initiated their independent firms due to a heightened sense of commitment beyond the confines of their former positions. While deriving pleasure from assisting their previous firms’ clients, they frequently experienced restrictive situations that hindered them from leveraging their full potential. Consequently, they passionately sought opportunities for extending richer value and transformative impacts on both their clients’ businesses and lives.

The additional advantage of pursuing this secondary benefit is that the sense of fulfilment isn’t simply an incidental bonus. It also doubles as a powerful instrument for shaping your enterprise into your ultimate vision of an ideal organisation.

Helping clients helps you

As you collaborate with an increasingly diverse client base, you will gradually develop a deeper understanding of the types of engagements that invoke your greatest sense of personal satisfaction. For instance, let’s imagine that compliance-related tasks may not stimulate your interest as much, whereas providing assistance to novice business owners navigating through their initial financial challenges could be profoundly rewarding and motivating for you.

Over the forthcoming days, I encourage you to curate a comprehensive catalogue that prioritises your professional services based on your personal preference. Start by placing favoured tasks at the pinnacle of the list whilst consigning those less appealing duties towards its lower plateau. Remember, there are absolutely no incorrect responses in this exercise as it chiefly reflects individualised orientation and is destined to be highly personalised.

Once done, you don’t just have a list of services; rather, you have the future of your firm in your hand.

Specialisation and A-list clients

Now is the opportune time to utilise your curated list to develop a company that not only epitomises your ideal but also distinctly resonates with the preferences of your most favoured clientele.

Consider identifying those solutions to your clients’ needs that resonate with you most, essentially, the services you particularly delight in delivering. This subset of offerings is poised to become your unique specialisation area. Concentrating on these areas promises significant advantages not only for client satisfaction but also for bolstering your financial performance.

Primarily, you will undoubtedly find immense satisfaction delving further into your chosen specialisation, acquiring an enhanced body of knowledge to utilise in the context of your clients’ profiles. This amplifies the value you provide to these clients, subsequently allowing for a justifiable increase in your value-based pricing rates.

Second, you’ve identified where your marketing dollars should be focused. Shot-gun marketing, advertising that is meant to try to pull in clients from any and all directions, is usually a waste of money because in your efforts to appeal to everybody you’re unable to show your value to a specific type of client. The problem is, potential clients want their particular problems solved, and they’re looking for focused experts to help them find their solutions. Wide-range advertising does not speak of specialisation expertise.

Thirdly, in correlation with marketing, specialising in services and client types of your preference allows you to establish yourself as a local authority within that sphere. Consequently, clients from this specialised sector will begin endorsing your abilities to other individuals who share analogous financial concerns. This kind of organic promotion is often referred to as word-of-mouth marketing – the most credible and trusted method of advertising available.

Fourthly, the task involves recognizing your premium clients – these are individuals or enterprises you genuinely desire to collaborate with. Once identified, you can strategically position your firm to better appeal to such clients as part of your regular business acquisition process.

Just by creating this one list, you’ve laid out the future of your firm.

The rest of the list

Now the question is what do you do with the rest of the list?

While your present financial stability might not permit the exclusion of clients comprising the lower two-thirds of your portfolio, it’s important to consider their potential impact on hindering your specialisation and shaping an exemplary firm.

The initial approach could involve encouraging your affiliates or personnel to develop comparable lists tailored to their distinct, ideal clientele. This would subsequently permit them to hone specialisations within sectors that bring them the utmost satisfaction and joy.

By establishing a collaborative relationship with their preferred clients, our team members are able to deliver tailored solutions aimed at addressing the unique needs of each client. This symbiotic relationship not only ensures continuous revenue stream for our firm from these clients but also holds potential for an upward revision in income generated. Two key factors might contribute to this increment; firstly, by providing distinctive and customised value to the clients, thus fostering grounds for a premium pricing structure, and secondly, positive referrals garnered from the satisfied client base lead to enhanced brand reputation and fosters organic growth through new customer acquisition.

The alternative solution is to delegate the tasks corresponding to the lower segment of your client roster. This ensures that these clients continue to experience high-calibre deliverables in a swift and efficient time frame, while concurrently freeing up your schedule to concentrate on servicing your preferred top-tier clientele.

So what kind of work makes you happy? Which types of jobs bring you the most satisfaction? What is your ideal type of firm? Don’t just hope for it – get to work on your list and take action.