Self-employed Accountants and CPA’s are in a catch-22 position when it comes to marketing their businesses. We have strict rules and guidelines that we have to adhere to from our respective professions while on the other hand we need to attract clients on a very consistent basis to survive, thrive and grow our business.
What to do? What to do?
There are some financial professionals that rely entirely on joint ventures (JV’s) and referrals to get clients and these are great strategies, but there are 2 things wrong with this tactic.
One, these strategies are dependent on others-their time and their confidence in your abilities and two, they keep you in your comfort zone and prevent you from truly sharing your expertise and talents with potential clients and other referral and JV sources.
To ensure a steady and dependable stream of clients knocking at your door, you must get out there and show off your knowledge and skills at what you do and educate people on what you CAN do.
Yep! Easier said than done, huh?
Most accountants and CPA’s tend to be introverts, working behind the scenes and supporting others. But as they venture out to run their own businesses, they must conquer the fear of self-promotion to ensure the survival of their business.
I’ll share with you 3 quick processes I use to squash that fear and move forward.
1. You must have a vision of what you want your life to be. I cannot emphasize this enough! The vision of your life in the next 3 years will parlay down into the business you build and in effect what you do on a daily basis.
By reading this vision often, preferably daily, will ensure that, as you put yourself out there or venture into a new service, the clarity of this vision will help you overcome any fears that crop up.
2. Just do it. Yes, this is Nike’sTM tagline but it’s applicable in those situations when fear is holding you back from ‘snagging’ that big client. Change IS uncomfortable but that’s the only way to grow ourselves and indeed grow our business. Think of the results of getting just one affluent client who has the ability to pay you the exact fee that you quote AND not only that, refers you to many of his affluent friends and colleagues!
3. Going into business for yourself is, in itself, a scary proposition and so very different from working for someone else. A few of my colleagues ate the elephant one bite at a time! They started taking on small clients while working fulltime, then stepped out gradually on their own. This may be a good solution for you while you’re building your business.
Here’s an example. Instead of immediately jumping into tackling the clients making over a million dollars per year and ‘messing up’ the job, start focusing on small businesses that are generating under a million dollars then work your way into that circle or community of more affluent clientele.
As you get more confident in ‘wowing’ your clients, getting out their information, whether it be financial statements or their personal statements in an efficient manner, you will naturally progress into more wealthy clients that allow you to work less while making more.
Whatever technique you use to grow your business, it’s so important that you continually step into the fear to make those changes you want in your business.
What have you used to conquer fear when building your business?
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