Challenges:
- Bad Clients
- Uncertain Future
- Taking On Too Much
Solutions:
- Tailor Services to Dream Clients
- Delegate Responsibilities
- Determine Best Practices & Processes
Goals:
- Sign More High-Value Clients
- Work On Business, Not Just For It
- Create A Legacy
“I don’t want a job, I’m creating a legacy.”
CPA Chris J.’s personal philosophy is a lofty goal. Creating a legacy is no walk in the park, but when you want to build your dream accounting firm, it’s the mindset you need. And, it’s the mindset that Chris has had since day one.
Jourdan Accounting Agency was born from a desire to provide high-quality tax services without the insane fees and questionable decisions. But, between his desire to help and his driven, entrepreneurial spirit, he soon found himself in over his head.
A hard worker, motorcycle fanatic, and father of two, Chris realized that if he was going to build his legacy with Jourdan Accounting, he needed to change his approach to business. For that, he turned to Dream Firms.
99 Problems, But Getting Clients Isn’t One
Plenty of Clients, But No Dream Clients
As Chris built his business, he had his eye on one thing and one thing only, getting more clients. And as the self-titled “end-all, be-all” of his business, every part of this process fell on him. He knew that to make more money, to build his legacy, he needed clients, but what he didn’t know was that he needed the right type of clients.
“Up until last year, if a client was paying, I was taking them, I was all about the money –I was taking him.”
Without the capacity to fully serve large businesses and the bandwidth to take on several niche markets he found himself “faking it,” until he “made it.” This is a true tribute to Chris’ hardworking spirit but ultimately this put more stress on himself and his team. And soon enough, he had more clients than they can handle.
Doing Everything, Except Working On His Accounting Firm
Taking On Too Much
As a naturally hard worker and someone who loves his job, Chris quickly found things piling up on his plate. Chris was providing valuable services to his clients with his tax expertise, but that wasn’t all that he was doing. He was in charge of hiring; he was in charge of marketing; he was responsible for sales… There was hardly a part of his business that Chris wasn’t directly overseeing.
“I've been chained to the computer, as I call it, for 20 years servicing clients… And with that being said, that has been my biggest downfall”
Stretched thin and lacking the time to handle everything, Chris realized that this was not going to work. Not only was it actually slowing down his business, but being in charge of everything meant that he didn’t have time to focus on expanding his practice and building his legacy. It also meant that there were no standard practices or processes for his team to follow. Everything Chris did was in his head, which often left his team scrambling to catch up.
Out of A Nightmare, Into A Dream
Elevating His Clientele
“I don't want to be the end all, be all anymore. “
Chris was unhappy with the trajectory of his firm, so he decided to change it. He dipped his feet in the water with our Practice Ignitor challenge and then turned to the full Create Your Dream Firm program and discovered the roadmap to an accounting legacy.
When you think about your dream clients, they’re high-value clients that trust your expertise and have the promise of a long business relationship. They’re not constantly trying to cut corners or questioning the value of your services. That’s the difference between a dream client and just a client. When you cut out clients that don’t fit the vision for your dream accounting firm, you’ll find that you have more time to focus on your business and your dream clients.
“in the last two weeks, we’re approaching 200,000 in revenue, with that we have the opportunity for another $150,000 in long-term clientele.”
Cutting clients, even when they don’t fit your version of a dream client, is tough. Before working with Dream Firms, Chris would take on any and all clients that wanted to work with him. He felt, understandably so, that saying no to clients was literally saying no to money in the door. But, he quickly learned that saying no to a “bad client” now opened up many more doors for better clients in the future. He realized that he couldn’t build his dream accounting firm without his dream clients.
And now, if they don’t fit his vision of a dream client or even if they do, but are too large for the size of his firm, he says no with the knowledge that a better fit is just around the corner. And, his profits have skyrocketed as a result.
From Doer to Director
Working On His Business, Not For It
For Chris, one of the hardest parts of participating in the Create Your Dream Firm Program (CYDF) was learning to delegate things and trust his team members. It wasn’t that he had plenty of time on his hands, or that his team wasn’t worthy of trust. It was just a huge departure from how he was used to working. But, once he started trusting the process, he loved the results.
“It is nowhere near as stressful as it was this time last year. That’s because we have processes and procedures in place, where the bulk of the weight is not on just me”
The biggest step he took was utilizing the expertise of his partner, Shalonda. She went from a remote partner to an in-office team member who takes on tasks with zeal and makes decisions knowing that she has Chris’ trust. In fact, Chris trusts her so much that he’s not even sure how many employees she’s hired as they’ve grown. He trusts her and his other team members to focus on their priorities so that he can focus on his priority: working on his business and building his legacy. And now, his accounting firm is flourishing.
Talk The Talk, Walk The Walk
What The Create Your Dream Firm Program Is All About
“Once I started seeing that come to fruition, hell I was sold… I gotta keep going. It was working, not only on the business but on me”
Chris knows what it’s like to be burned. Our Create Your Dream Firm program wasn’t the first program he tried, and Dream Firms was not the first organization that he put his trust in. But, we were the first ones that worked. Instead of offering useless and increasingly ineffective methods, we provide real, actionable procedures that you can use on your business immediately. Thanks to the Create Your Dream Firm program, Jourdan accounting was able to bring in another $200,000 of revenue with his dream clients. Armed with everything he’s learned and a new community of like-minded accountants Chris knows that it’s just the beginning.
“The sky’s the limit on that, but the deadline is tomorrow.”
The deadline to build your legacy may not be tomorrow, but every day you don’t get started it gets one day further away. Our Create Your Dream Firm program is the roadmap for scaling an accounting firm to create a legacy.
