should you be the boss?

many cpas dream one day of owning their own firm.

but are you cut out for the entrepreneurial life? are you any good at it? and how do you improve? if “yes” to any of the above, then congratulations! you could be one of the millions of people every year who take the plunge and start their ventures.

daniel isenberg, a professor of management practice at babson college says he’s “learned in my own years as an entrepreneur that there is a gut level “fit” for people who are potential entrepreneurs. there are strong internal drivers that compel people to create their own business.

so he has developed a 20-question, 2–minute “isenberg entrepreneur test,” below, to help you test your temperament for running your own business.

just answer yes or no to each question, and at the end, count up your answers.

1. i don’t like being told what to do by people who are less capable than i am.

2. i like challenging myself.

3. i like to win.

4. i like being my own boss.

5. i always look for new and better ways to do things.

6. i like to question conventional wisdom.

7. i like to get people together in order to get things done.

8. people get excited by my ideas.

9. i am rarely satisfied or complacent.

10. i can’t sit still.

11. i can usually work my way out of a difficult situation.

12. i would rather fail at my own thing than succeed at someone else’s.

13. whenever there is a problem, i am ready to jump right in.

14. i think old dogs can learn — even invent — new tricks.

15. members of my family run their own businesses.

16. i have friends who run their own businesses.

17. i worked after school and during vacations when i was growing up.

18. i get an adrenaline rush from selling things.

19. i am exhilarated by achieving results.

20. i could have written a better test than isenberg (and here is what i would change ….)

if you answered “yes” on 17 or more of these questions, isenberg says you could have a future running your own practice.

via should you be an entrepreneur?

the power of charisma: yes, it can be learned

charisma effectively deployed can have electrifying results.

according to richard wiseman, psychology professor at the university of hertfordshire, in england, you don’t need divine powers to be charismatic. he estimates that charisma is half inborn and half acquired, which means you have to be blessed with certain qualities at birth but you can also nurture and develop them.

he says every charismatic leader shares three qualities:

  1. he or she feels emotions very strongly,
  2. excites them in others and
  3. is impervious to the influence of other charismatic people.

but exactly what do charismatic leaders do differently? here’s a list of traits to learn from:

read more →

are you getting your money’s worth from your state cpa society? [video]

here’s what cpas should expect from their state association in these tough times.

[youtube]_6rzfopowyu[/youtube]

elaine weiss, chief executive of the illinois cpa society, says the recession makes society membership never more important.

she acknowledges “the economy is tough” and says it’s essential that associations give “our members the guidance to run an effective business and then serve their clients.”

“most important,” weiss says during a break at the midwest accounting and finance showcase in suburban chicago, “you have to help your members who are in economic crisis.”

see more clips from the interview here:

partner pay off 3% on 1.4% revenue rise

strong showing from midsized accounting firms through recession.

the soon-to-be-released rosenberg map survey of over 400 mid-market cpa firms is expected to show average net income per partner of $354,000, down 3% from the year before.

marc rosenberg

marc rosenberg, the creator and author of the survey for the last 12 years, said many partners are grateful it wasn’t worse.

meanwhile firm revenues inched up a bare 1.4%. but the disparities between the high performing firms and the rest was pronounced, with 38% of firms reporting growth of 5% or more and 41% reporting a decline.

for 2010, firms are projecting revenue gains of 2.6%, with few expecting any declines, a considerable improvement over the latest year.

will the profession get another golden age, like the period from 2002 to 2007 as the result of sarbanes-oxley? it’s possible.

“whenever legislation changes,” rosenberg said, “accounting firms clean up.” even in recession, accounting firms have already been out-performing most of the rest of the economy.

visit www.rosenbergsurvey.com to purchase a copy of the full report.

four tough questions facing every accounting firm about client service

and dozens of possible answers!

at a recent staff workshop, there was a brainstorming session to answer some key questions about what constitutes excellence in client service. four questions were placed on the table:

1. how can we make it easier for our clients to do business with us?

2. how do we meet and exceed expectations?

3. how do we overcome an attitude of indifference on our part towards the customer?

4. how do we make the workplace a more positive place to work?

here are the results from the attendees. how many of these items could you deploy in your office?

read more

is your firm’s corporate culture getting in the way of great client service?

developing excellence in client service requires a change in organizational culture.

kevin phillips
kevin phillips, director of consulting services, prohorizons network inc.

and culture change is very difficult.

as valuable as a brainstorming session might be in shaking loose new ideas, kevin phillips, director of consulting services at prohorizons network inc. says it’s even better to identify just one or two behaviors that will move the entire organization in a new direction.

“if the firm is profitable, it is probably doing a lot of things right,” he says. “if the firm is human, there is probable one or two adjustments one could make to make it even more profitable. the trick is to identify them.”

to get at culture, phillips recommends ask these questions:

  1. what behaviors do we repeat over and over again out of habit that limits the quality of our customer service?
  2. in what ways to do each each staff member feel constrained, limited or shut down? where do these experiences overlap?
  3. who sets the cultural norm around here? and what benefit does the norm-setter gain at the expense of better customer service?

so before brainstorming begins, it might be helpful to invest some energy in really understanding the firm’s culture.

the big mistake cpas make in client service

how to find new success by shifting your firm’s focus from service-centric silos to client-centric goal-setting.

most accounting firms believe they provide pretty good client service. and most of them are probably right. until they hear edi osborne, a client-service evangelist.

osborne

there are other firms that strive to deliver more than just satisfactory service. they are seeking to go a step further, something beyond merely satisfying clients, something akin to wowing clients. perhaps they know what bain & co. consultant fred reichheld discovered in 1995: even among clients who say they are perfectly “satisfied,” half will change providers anyway. clearly, customer satisfaction is not enough. something more is needed.

to be sure, more accountants today are focused on pushing fresh tax returns out the door than on esoteric discussions of client service. but it’s exactly when you have the client’s most ardent attention that you have a real opportunity to vault past mere satisfaction.

read more….

teresa mackintosh: the client of the future… today [video]

demographics shifts aren’t just about staffing. clients are changing too.

[youtube]s1twrphnimy[/youtube]

when it comes to bridging the generation gap, most accounting firms focus on what it means for their staff and their own firms.

but there’s another dimension to the demographic shifts that are bringing gen x’ers and millennials into positions of influence — the shifting client base.

in this 3:28-minute clip, teresa mackintosh, senior vice president and general manager for workflow and service solutions in the americas professional division of thomson reuters’ tax and accounting unit, explains how those demographic trends are changing the client of the future.

today, she notes, the workforce is made up of 48% gen x’ers, 38% baby boomers, 10% millennials, and a few traditionalists. but that’s not at all the client base for today’s cpa firms.

according to data from thomson reuters, the aging client base is much more pronounced than the aging workforce.

generation
% of workforce
% of client base
traditionalists (62+)
4%
7%
baby boomers (44-61)
38%
87%
generation x (28-43)
48%
6%
millennials (under 28)
10%
0%

“as a whole,” she says, “firms are not successfully serving that layer of younger demographic.” if firms don’t try to capture that generation today, she wonders, will they be there as a market in the future? “we really need to worry today about what clients will need tomorrow?”

more from mackintosh here:

see more videos at the youtube 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 channel here.

[march 13, 2010]

43 steps to gold-plated client service

never lose a client again.

how do you dazzle a client these days?
add your ideas in comments

with client retention replacing the staffing shortage as the most troublesome issue facing cpa firms, it may be surprising that so few firms are taking a proactive approach to the problem. certainly, many firms are stepping up client service levels, but jerry lopatka, managing principal at dugan & lopatka cpas in wheaton, ill., is deploying a particularly systematic and disciplined program.

jerry lopatka
jerry lopatka, managing principal, dugan & lopatka cpas, wheaton, ill.

“a year ago we started a renewed focus on client retention and business development,” he says. at the firm, they call it “biz r&d”  for business retention and development.

jerry sent us a 43-point list of tactics based on six broad strategies:

  • go the extra mile on the current engagement
  • increase the amount of client contact
  • build the business relationship
  • build the personal relationship
  • increase knowledge of client’s industry
  • increase knowledge of client’s business

“we try,” he says, “but we can always do better. as i often tell our employees – our good clients are on our competitor’s radar screen.”

here’s the complete list…

read more →