He started off working with his father, who was a financial advisor, wealth manager, and tax planner. But, he realized that he needed to strike out on his own if he was going to build a financially rewarding career that he loved. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and he didn’t stray far before finding himself a job that he was passionate about. It wasn’t an immediate success, but today he heads an accounting and financial advisory firm worth $400,000. Who is he? He’s James E. Jones, Dream Firm Leader and founder of Your Tech CPA.
James didn’t discover his path in accounting until his mid-thirties, but that didn’t slow him down. James had a passion for helping dentists manage the financial aspects of their business. And, luckily he didn’t have a hard time finding new clients. By studying how the wealthy handled their money, he was able to apply similar practices to his client’s businesses and make a name for himself.
But, sometimes that’s not enough. Even though his calendar was pretty full and he had a solid team in place, James still felt like his dream firm was just out of reach. And, that’s when he met us…
“I probably made the same mistake that a lot of accounting professionals make, and that is pursuing volume over everything else.”
Chasing Numbers- A Wave of Low-Value Clients
There is no denying that James E. Jones had both the knowledge to ensure that his clients were making smart decisions and the skills to help them. But, he didn’t know exactly how to market those skills effectively in order to secure his dream clients. So even though he wasn’t having a hard time maintaining a client base, they weren’t necessarily the ideal ones for him and his accounting firm.
“I built a pretty solid practice on high-volume work.”
James knew that in addition to standard accounting services, he also wanted to help tech practices make smart investments and well-informed financial decisions. He was there to do much more than just their taxes, but that takes trust. And, an inability to effectively communicate his value and credibility left him constantly searching for a new way to connect with new clients.
“What I found was, when it came time that I needed the additional help, I had to make the choice of “well do I pay myself or do I pay my staff?”
Additionally, James also admits that he was prone to leaving his team in the dust. He didn’t have any systems in place so his team didn’t know the best way to support him. In his own words, he was “doing it differently every time.”
Not only did this mean that his team wasn’t functioning to the best of their ability, but it also meant that James himself needed to spend more time focusing on minor tasks and standard functions instead of higher-level processes that would allow him to grow his firm. Altogether, these things left James feeling as though he was at the edge of a precipice. If he could find and learn the right marketing systems, then he could build a bridge to his dream firm and a financially secure future. But without them, he would be stuck right here.
Dream Firms Growth Tip: Having set systems, that your team can follow, streamlines the onboarding process and frees up your time.
Implementing Systems & Captivating Dream Clients
James knew that there was a free world of marketing out there to take advantage of, he just didn’t know quite how to do so. Once upon a time, James was wasting money, just trying to get his message out there, but his message didn’t set him apart from his competitors. Then, Dream Firms stepped in and helped him build the groundwork that would have clients coming to his door, instead of vice versa.
In order to really focus his efforts on marketing, James first needed to create systems that would allow his team to easily handle both new and existing clients. This meant taking advantage of capable support staff, learning how to delegate, and trusting the process. James and his team worked together to establish ways to pre-vet their James clients and create an onboarding process that allowed them to identify pain points and immediately establish trust.
Once the systems were in place, James quickly realized what he had been missing out on.
“…By The Time They Work With Us, They’re Ready To Get Started Immediately. There’s No Selling At This Point Because That’s Already Been Done. We’ve Already Established Trust With Our Audience.”
These processes were so effective that James found his current clients communicating the same thing to other tech professionals and reaping the benefits. His dream clients were now coming to him, ready to invest in his services and trust his processes.
Implementing these systems also allowed James to free up his time. He meets with his lead generation specialist once a week to discuss minor tweaks and to do a quick check-in. But other than that, he is free to use his downtime for other things like building his own Facebook group, specifically for tech professionals, and putting out weekly podcasts where he talks with thought leaders in the tech field. While these things may not seem as effective as a paid ad, they allowed James to demonstrate his knowledge and capabilities, and his dream clients loved it. His firm recently reached their highest revenue mark yet, and they’re still going. That’s what we at Dream Firms call a win-win.
“Since we’ve started the Dream Firms stuff, I’ve learned to kind of trust my staff because they’re capable. They know what they’re doing.”
To hear about James’ journey in her own words, watch their full interview below.
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM FIRM WORK
By focusing on connecting with his ideal clients, learning how to impactfully articulate how he can solve their problems, and implementing brand-new systems to help his team & free up his time, James has had the pleasure of seeing his accounting firm flourish. And, he feels comfortable with his own financials.
“A year ago, I would have never considered adding $100,000 in revenue within 365 days, and now I think I’ll be disappointed if I don’t.”
By focusing on connecting with his ideal clients, learning how to impactfully articulate how he can solve their problems, and implementing brand-new systems to help his team & free up his time, James has had the pleasure of seeing his accounting firm flourish. And, he feels comfortable with his own financials.
We helped James learn how to successfully market his practice and take advantage of the support of his team. James uses this knowledge to help dentists take care of the people they love, support the causes they care about, and build a lucrative tech practice that makes them feel as successful as they are. His accounting and financial planning firm is not your everyday firm, and now James knows how to communicate that. He’s leading his dream firm, and he’s not done yet.
To quote James if you’re thinking about Dream Firms “Just do it.”
