There’s a constant chatter amongst ex-practitioners eager to tell us about their successful practice, or the gurus and consultants in the sector who want to tell us how to be successful without having done it themselves.
If any of us (me included) look at our practices there are always things we can change to improve, some will be a quick fix, others will require a longer-term approach.
But what defines whether we are or will be successful? Is it:
- Running a £1m practice working three days a week?
- Winning an accountancy sector (enter name here) award?
- Having a practice that runs itself?
- Growing 50% every year, getting 10 new clients every month?
Don’t let anyone (me included) tell you whether you’re successful – or not.
Ultimately it comes down to what you want to achieve and what helps you achieve personal freedom.
That freedom could be financial; not having to worry about money, paying off the mortgage, building a pension pot, paying for the children to get through university.
Perhaps having more time is what appeals; not being tied to the desk, taking two weeks off in the summer, being able to take a day off when you feel like it.
If you are on the way to achieving these there’s a good change you’ll be free (most of the time) from the stress that comes from work – lack of time and money.
A lot of the marketing blurb about success is just that – blurb. Coming from those that haven’t achieved it, telling you how you should do it and pay them an eye-watering amount for the ‘advice’.
There’s no magic pill: work out what you want to do and go and achieve it.
If you’re struggling to do this, or perhaps you’re not sure where to start, go and speak to your peers.
Threads on AccountingWEB’s Any Answers are a great place to start. In my early days, I consumed a huge amount of the information available on AccountingWEB and it helped me get started.
Success for me? Earning enough money to provide for my family, working with clients I like and having enough time to do things that I enjoy outside of work.
What does success look like for you? Growth? Work-life balance? Or is it something else? And, are you there yet or is it something that you’re building towards?