I’m going on a bit of a rant this week! I hope you’ll find it helpful. For many years financial advisors, M&A advisors, insurance brokers, bankers, and estate planning attorneys talked about “exit planning” or “liquidity events.” They were dismayed as owners were disappointed by the money they got for the company they’d nurtured for … Continue reading Is the Idea of a ‘Nest Egg’ Outdated?
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Why Knowledge Work is Not Like Assembly Line Work
When your intellect doesn’t crank out content in neat hourly increments why should you sell or buy hours? I had a fierce disagreement with a CEO last week about value based pricing versus hourly billing. He insisted that the only way he could have control over my work was to pay by the hour. I, … Continue reading Why Knowledge Work is Not Like Assembly Line Work
What Are You Doing to Relieve Owner’s Stress?
Chances are that if you were stressed about your business before the pandemic, that stress is greater now. If you weren’t stressed before, you may have experienced it the past several months. I experienced my own elevated stress and have worked with many professional and business services firm owners to mitigate theirs. Now that we … Continue reading What Are You Doing to Relieve Owner’s Stress?
How Much Could You Gain by Letting Go?
When he turned 10 months old, my Bernese Mountain Dog Gabe became completely impulsive and difficult to control on a leash. He loves dogs and people and he wanted to exuberantly greet everyone who came near. He’s also over 100 pounds and is very strong. My response for 3 years was to work harder and … Continue reading How Much Could You Gain by Letting Go?
Should Owner Choose Between Being CEO and Chief Provider?
When Brian and Janice started their CPA firm 20 years ago, they did everything: business development, tax returns and other services, and managing the back office tasks that keep a company running. As the firm grew, they continued doing client work themselves, as well as BD and the back office. By year 20 their client … Continue reading Should Owner Choose Between Being CEO and Chief Provider?
Are You Trapped by Tenacity?
Is it possible tenacity can trap you? We business owners tend to nod vigorously when we’re exhorted to be tenacious, to persist, to let our grit and resolve carry us through the challenges we face. I do it myself, and I wrote about the evidence that founders and owners have a lot of built-in tenacity … Continue reading Are You Trapped by Tenacity?
Tenacity and Resolve: Easy to Say, Hard to Do
Tenacity, resolve, grit, persistence…. We see and hear these words from every source. You need tenacity to reach your goals! Resolve to put one foot in front of the other, even if your feet are blistered and painful. Grit is that internal toughness that helps you power through the difficult times. Persistence means to keep … Continue reading Tenacity and Resolve: Easy to Say, Hard to Do
Is Your strategy Complete without a Pricing Model?
Does it make sense for your company to have a strategy without choosing a pricing model? We think of strategy as the foundation of planning and implementation. It’s like the good nutrition an athlete needs to execute the weight building, running or other details of their regimen. If this seems like an approach that would … Continue reading Is Your strategy Complete without a Pricing Model?
Disguising Hourly Billing is Still Hourly Billing
Too many professional and Business services firms struggle with Value Based Pricing: they fear losing money; they struggle with how to set value based fees for individual clients; and they don’t know how to make it clear to their clients that Value Based Pricing benefits the client. They do know, however, that hourly billing is … Continue reading Disguising Hourly Billing is Still Hourly Billing
What’s the Difference Between Deliverables and Value Delivered?
One CPA tossed deliverables and doubled revenue in one year. Would double revenue make a difference to your firm? When professional and business services firms work on their pricing, they look at what the competition charges, their own history, their industry “best practices” and expenses. They enumerate their deliverables. Where’s the client in all of … Continue reading What’s the Difference Between Deliverables and Value Delivered?
