Achieving Better Leverage in Your Firm

We all know the secret to success is to work smarter. Yet we still get stuck in the day-to-day emails, client queries, file reviews, and activities that are highly important to others, but not necessarily to ourselves. Working smarter becomes a pipe dream as we can’t see the wood for the trees.

There are three key ways to achieve greater leverage in your firm:

1. Get the right people to do the work.
2. Invest in new technology.
3. Sell services one to many.

Dreaming of growing your business without a clear understanding of leverage is at best aspirational and at worst a nightmare. Unplanned growth too often requires more work from already stretched business owners, creating a time trap where we become locked in a vicious cycle of simply working harder. But, working harder is not a solution.

This time trap ensures the more we work, the less time we have to devise ways to be more effective.

Conversely, when we take time to develop smarter ideas, better ways of working, and solutions to the problems and things roadblocking us, we ultimately work smarter, not harder. It’s counter-intuitive at first, but to work less (and think more) enables us to unlock higher returns.

Let’s dive deeper into the three ways you can start better leveraging your firm:

1. Get the right people to do the work: employing more people works well to a point. The larger your team becomes, the more important a clear business structure is, with defined and documented roles and responsibilities and set KPIs measured and reported regularly.
   
   Workplace culture, Core Values, and leadership skills are also essential to get the highest level of engagement from your team. For example, let the team do the Annual Accounts Review meetings and file reviews so you can work at a higher level. 
   
   
2. Invest in new technology: adopting better technology helps you to continue gaining efficiency. As your business grows, some systems and processes become redundant. Foster a culture of innovation so your team doesn’t fall into the ‘that’s what we’ve always done' rut.
   
   There’s much leverage to be gained by piggybacking other systems! For example, if you know the Business Advisory services you want to be delivering but don’t have the means to systemise and scale delivery, The Gap can provide you with all of the content, training, and support you need to market, sell, and deliver those services. So, if the systems are already available to you, don’t re-invent the wheel.
   
   
3. Sell services one to many: either via online workshops and webinars or face-to-face events; one person delivering and multiple people buying enables you to adjust your pricing and get a broader reach. Then, you can repurpose assets created for the events as lead magnets on your website or in your marketing.
   
   Education marketing on a one to many basis is one of the smartest marketing strategies for accountants. It works because you’re providing value before you extract it. Using this strategy allows you to position your ‘value-add’ services, better leverage your time, and can help raise your young guns’ profiles. These are also one of your biggest sales opportunities.

There are no shortcuts here. So, if you really want to grow your business and better leverage your team so you don’t blow yourself apart… build a well-resourced team, invest in the technology available to you, and start selling your services one to many. The more time you spend on your business and not in your business, the higher the returns and the more planned and structured your growth will be.

Are you ready to achieve better leverage?

The Gap provides you all the resources you need to market, sell, and deliver Business Advisory services and the tools you need to start achieving better leverage. Book a demo with our Sales team to learn more about how we can help you take back control of your business.