Facing The Music

If you’re not at the spot you want to be with your firm, something has to change.

That seems simple, but I struggled at the same spot for years with my firm.

Sure, revenue was increasing, and I was adding team members, but what I envisioned for my firm was not getting any closer.

I felt like I was lacking consistency.

So many gurus preach consistency.

Consistency with the hours I was putting in.
Consistency with levelling up my tax knowledge.
Consistency with improving my tech.

But when I stepped back and looked at my trajectory, I realized that I wouldn’t end up where I wanted to be.

Consistency was going to be my demise.

The long, consistent headdown hours will not get you where you want to be.

The inconsistent, seemingly massive gambles move the needle to where you want to be.

The hardest part of these needle movers?

The mental and emotional labor behind these decisions.

The Tough Calls We Don’t Make

It’s tough to spend money without an immediate return.

It’s a tough call to say goodbye to revenue and cash flow in hopes of something better.

It’s tough to niche down when you know you’re leaving money on the table with clients outside that market.

It’s tough to tell someone, with a family and plans, that their time with the firm is up.

It’s tough to reassign that work to other team members or back on your plate.

But the toughest part is being brutally honest with yourself and acknowledging that these decisions need to be made.

One of my phone’s locked images.

It kills me every time.

And when we stay ‘busy’ avoiding those tough decisions, we kill our firm – the slow, painful way, full of frustration and regret.

The biggest killers of firms I’ve seen in the last 2.5 years:

• Hands down, #1: Not committing to a niche. Hedging their bets with general offers to general audiences with narrow margins.
• Not investing in the right people soon enough. If you’re flying solo and you don’t see a way you can hire, your services are too varied and you can’t see a way to systemize to delegate.
• Not investing in the right tools. People don’t get rich by skipping Starbucks, and you won’t build the firm you want by saving $150/month and putting 5 extra hours of work on your schedule.

The Hard Work

It is so easy to stay busy and avoid the real hard work.

I did it for years.

But taking the time to step back and work on your firm instead of in your firm, is like a muscle.

The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.

Tough decisions start to feel less like gambles and more like requirements.

That momentum carries forward, leading to more strategic choices, better results, and, ultimately, a stronger firm.

The tough decisions are your needle movers.

They’re the trajectory adjustments to where you want to be.

They cannot be avoided.

If you want consistent support and accountability to work on your firm instead of solely in it, the recurring revenue code is open until Nov 30.

Join a small group of firm owners who want something different.

Weekly support to move the needle.

Mark