Sort your Practice, then sort your Clients

Every day I speak to accountants who are considering diversifying into business advisory and they often say “how can I credibly offer business advice. What do I know about managing client marketing, operations, systems, people and profits?” 

To which I answer “more than you think, because you’re already doing all that in your own practice” 

“Ah” they say “but I don’t do any marketing because it’s all referrals, my operations manage themselves through people who don’t need supervision because they are trained in compliance work, all the accountancy software I’ve bought isn’t applicable to any other business and profits are just a function of how much I can charge” 

To which my further answer is, “turn your practice into a business and when you’ve done that, you’ll know exactly how to help any client’s business with any problem to greatly raise your revenue. And by the way you know more than you think” 

After a long pause for reflection my accountant then says, “so how would I do that then?” 

“Let me see your business plan” I say. “Ah” (a wry smile) “it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have one would it!” 

“Right then” I say, “here’s where we begin your journey with a plan to become a full business advisory practice, and you an experienced business advisor” 

And so, during a lively hour I induct them through a (free) process that goes like this: 

  1. Vision statement  

    E.g. by 2030 my practice will be recognised locally as the first place to go for anyone with a business problem or ambition 

  2. Mission statement

    E.g. we work with business owners to fix any problem and realise any ambition  

  3. Marketing Objective 

    E.g. we will add 10% to sales every year from new clients 

  4. Operations Objective

    E.g. we will add 10% the revenue per client every year  

  5. Systems Objective

    E.g. we will increase business operating efficiency by 10% every year 

  6. People Objective

    E.g. we will raise productivity by 10% every year  

  7. Finance Objective

    E.g. we will raise profits by 10% every year

  8. Value Objective

    E.g. this practice will sell for £3m in 2026 

  9. Strategies

    E.g. we will: 

    1. Benchmark our performance against these 6 measures to see what is possible

    2. Analyse each to see what:

      1. Strengths we have to build upon

      2. Weaknesses we suffer that ought to be fixed

      3. Opportunities open to us that we can exploit

      4. Threats we confront that should be defended against 

  10. Action Plans

    1. Make one for each strategy with names, dates and numbers

    2. Ensure everyone in the practice has at least one for which they are accountable

  11. Implementation

    1. Weekly consultancy training

    2. Consultancy technology licensing

    3. Business Advisory marketing

    4. Practical work with real businesses

    5. Monthly team meeting to review and correct progress and problems

    6. Coaching throughout the training period

    7. On demand support   

  12. Outcome

    E.g. £3m practice sale in 2026

  13. Objections

    1. Time 

      “Ah” says my accountant “but there is no way I can find the time to do all that, it sounds like a full-time job in itself”

      To which my reply is “it’s a new way of life that liberates you by integrating business and accountancy so that you meet every client’s every need. 

      And by the way, thanks to technology, items 1-10 above take just one hour…

      …so I’ll give it to you for free – right now if you like. 

      Item 11 takes three hours per week in the training period and new income will commence by month 3 of the implementation programme”

    2. Risk 

      “Ah says my accountant “what if it doesn’t work and I don’t get the ROI?”

      To which my reply is “if you implement the plan, I’ll guarantee the ROI”

    3. Cost

      “But what if I can’t afford it?” says my accountant.

      To which my reply is “the first three new clients will fully cover all the training and licensing costs and it’s pure new profit thereafter”

    4. Marketplace

      “But how will I find the clients?” anguishes my accountant.

      To which my reply is “we’ll start with the 200 you already have and get an extra £100 per month from each one. And if you want more, we’ll engage you with another 1000 businesses near you. We know how to do it”

  14. Reaction

    I say “you now have a plan of how to do it which has given you 3 things:

    1. How easily and quickly the skills and technology will build a plan

    2. What it feels like to be a client of your new business advisory practice

    3. You feeling that you can do this yourself for any business” 

  15. Proposal

    I say “work with us, and by month three you will have learned so much about business consultancy, selling it, delivering it, profiting from it that you will progress rapidly through the key learning stages of:

    1. Conscious incompetence – now

    2. Conscious competence – 3 months

    3. Unconscious competence – 6 months - ie doing it standing on your head    

So, we get to the end of the meeting…  

My accountant says, “there is so much to get hold of here, my head is spinning, I need a couple of weeks to think it all through. I suppose you get that a lot with accountants?” 

 “Yes, indeed” I reply. “Most sales organisations have a pipeline of leads and prospects, but Runagood® has a ‘fence’ of accountants. (No offence intended…) 

 “So, I’m putting the next meeting in both our calendars now, at which you will make a decision (please) because I need your help in making my fence shorter…”  

By Duncan Collins

Founder of Runagood.com Ltd

Runagood Ltd