Problems:
- Jolted by COVID-19
- Stuck on the Tax-Return Grind
- Lack of High-Value Clients
Solutions:
- Hire Capable Support Team
- Learn About Best Marketing Practices
- Price Services Appropriately
Goals:
- Create Sustainable Growth
- Spend Time With Family & Have a Career She Loves
- Assert Value & Expertise
Although she graduated college as a full-fledged architect, CPA Lisa Raiche cast aside building design to be the architect of financial success for contractors. Initially, she worked for a burgeoning tax firm but soon found that she cared more about the lives of her clients than she did about their taxes. After the market crash in 2008, she took it as a sign to move on to better things, and so she did.
“You're seeing businesses that are just imploding and life was just imploding financially. And we weren't actually helping anyone. All we were doing was tax returns..”
Initially striking out into the corporate accounting world, Lisa eventually moved onto a smaller market, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she could be doing more. And so, she started her own accounting firm, dedicated to changing the lives of her clients. Burdened by all-too-common mistakes, she inevitably found herself and her firm in impossible situations. Small missteps added up, and then, COVID-19 happened.
“2020 really was really a big eye-opener for me. I strongly felt the need that I had to do something different cause I was just circling around.”
That something different was Dream Firms. And it made a world of difference.
At The Bottom Of The Ladder
Tax Returns & Low-Value Clients
To the untrained eye, Lisa’s firm was doing fine. She had enough clients coming to her to pay the bills. But, she knew that her firm wasn’t moving forward the way she had planned. She was bogged down with more tax returns than she could handle, but she was missing the advisory piece that would allow her to actually help her clients and couldn’t figure out how to get there.
“The problem that I ran into is that I didn't learn about it until I started working with you. I didn't have a clear value ladder with the clients.”
Tax returns were paying the bills, but Lisa started her own firm with the intention of improving the lives of her clients year-round, not just during tax season. She knew advisory was the way to do this, but she was struggling to find and connect with the type of client who knew they needed these services, her dream clients. And, she couldn’t take the time she needed to analyze her problem because she was so wrapped up working for her business instead of on it.
"I was apparently pushing $12,000 a year to the side for a $300 tax return of people who send me all their information over the wall like little nuggets."
Having “enough” clients wasn’t enough for Lisa. She was tired of the back-breaking hours and unappreciative clients. But, without new, high-value clients coming in there was no change in sight. So she began trying to untangle the complicated knot of processes that comes with marketing your accounting firm.
She knew that she needed to end this cycle, kick the unappreciative tax clients to the curb and devote her expertise to high-value clients that recognized her value. She tried a couple of different accountant coaching programs but found that at the end of the day all she had were a bunch of “tools” and no idea how to use them to propel her firm to success. She needed a clear direction, and she found it in our Create Your Dream Firm program.
Climbing The Value Ladder
Expanding Accounting Services
In the CYDF program, Lisa found the clarity that she was looking for and more. She found step-by-step plans, enthusiastic coaching, and a committed community of entrepreneurial accountants just like herself, to turn to for additional help. Armed with all of this, she was soon on the road to her dream accounting firm.
“That is what I was missing in all the other programs, clear direction…You basically laid it all out on the table and said this is what we do, this is what worked for our clients, try it.”
She committed to firing her tax-only, low-value clients. And, with her newfound free time, she was able to focus on growing her accounting firm and connecting with high-value clients. She turned her attention to business clients, S-corps, LLCs, and the like, and found that when she provided a solid base of bookkeeping and tax services, advisory accounting was the next step up on the ladder.
“I’ve realized that I've got to do both bookkeeping and tax because those are parts of what they need. The advisory kind of comes naturally on top of it since clients look to you more regularly for support.”
Because they trusted her in all other financial aspects of their business, her clients realized that she was an invaluable resource for advisory accounting. Now, instead of frantic meetings once a year, she works with them around the clock to accomplish their goals, both at home and at work. She isn’t stuck on the tax return grind anymore and her firm is growing every month.
Dream Firm: Initiated
Where CPA Lisa Raiche Is Now
From wasting time on low-value tax return clients and being stuck in a marketing fog to connecting with her dream clients and providing a breadth of accounting services, Lisa Raiche is truly on the path to her dream firm. Along with the addition of high-value dream clients and the many hours saved, Lisa has found yet another benefit of the Create Your Dream Firm program- increased profits.
“In the first three months, I added $34,000 in annual occurring revenue to my practice.”
A 10x return in less than 90 days is an incredible ROI, but that’s just one plus for Lisa. She went from heading a practice with an uncertain future to helming a firm on the path to success. She gets to genuinely help her clients like she has always wanted, and she gets paid her true value for doing something she loves.
