Do you hear that sound? Yup, it’s technology knocking at our door. Heck, it’s not just knocking, it’s knocked and come right on in.
We all know it. It started quietly. Remember when the accountants copy and pasted into QuickBooks desktop, and how cool that was? Or remember when the reclass tool arrived and we first got our fingers on that? It felt like magic!
But now we are on the cloud. No longer do I manually enter data. I download, l push, I import and manipulate data. The time-savings is incredible! The accuracy is phenomenal! We attach documents like there is no tomorrow. Think of that feature and how inefficient that was when it first became “a thing” in QuickBooks Desktop. With tools like Hubdoc, Autoentry, Receipt Bank, it is a click or two and the data is there, with the attachments.
Enter Comodotized Bookkeeping Services
With all the automation comes the downside of automated bookkeeping, services like Botkeeper and QuickBooks Live. Now in fairness, they are not completely automated....YET. But with bank rules and such, these services will get better and less expensive.
How do we survive this change to our industry? We specialize. When you take the time to evolve your practice, you will stay ahead of the times. Adapt. Survive. Niching your practice allows you to up the game. You study and learn your chosen field of expertise.
Selecting your Niche
Getting started is easy. It starts with a mindset shift. Once you decide, choosing the right niche will set you up for success.
How do you choose? This is how I narrowed my client list to be able to select:
- Export your client list from QuickBooks to an excel spreadsheet
- Add a column and add the industry
- Sort by the industry column
- Add a column for a rating
- Rate your clients 1-5, with 5 being the best
- Re-sort the list by the rating first, then the industry
That should help you to decide your favorite clients and industry. Don’t forget to evaluate to see if the industry is a profitable one. Is there a complexity to it? This is the key.
Pick Three
I narrowed down my list to law firms, real estate and startups. Yes, I picked three. But you cannot really be a full expert in three and market yourself. It's too much work and can get too confusing. The benefit of choosing three industries though, is that I was able to decide on the one that suited me best.
Startups was an easy decision to take off my list. Although they are fun to work with, they just are not profitable and can be difficult.
I am a landlord so a real estate niche seemed like a natural progression, but it just did not thrill me or get me excited to jump in for deeper study. I will not be removing these client's from my work list, but I will not be seeking new real estate clients either.
What I really loved working on is the trust accounting. Discovering the issues and fixing them was fun for me. I also really liked working with attorneys. They respect me as a professional and they were quick to give me the documents I requested. They seemed to be very interested in their business growth. It just felt like the right place to specialize.
So choosing can be difficult, but sometimes the niche chooses you. You don’t always have to pick an industry, but that is the easiest way to start thinking of where you want to go with specializing in your firm and the steps it takes to narrow it down.
Specializing will keep your firm future ready. You can study and set your firm high above a generalized practice. As you become the expert, you can command a higher value for your work. Client's will seek you out for your expertise, knowledge and workflows.
Why wait? What is holding you back? The future is now.
Lynda Artesani
Author Bio: Lynda Artesani is the president of Artesani Bookkeeping where she uses her expertise and organizational skills to help her small business clients grow their firms, thrive and become profitable. Her specialty is working with attorneys, real estate clients and start-ups. Lynda was recognized by Intuit and invited to be a member of the Intuit Advisory Council and the Intuit Trainer Writer Network. Additionally, she is the first Expert Columnist for the QB Community forum. She also co-admins a Facebook group with Matthew Fulton to help other business owners with QuickBooks, marketing, apps, workflow challenges and much more. The group is called QB Community Live!Originally from Rhode Island, Lynda relocated to Estero Florida. She is a registered yoga teacher and teaches two classes per week. Connect with Lynda on Facebook or Twitter @lynda_artesani and subscribe on YouTube at Artesanibookkeeping.