Practice Growth can be elusive. Win a new client, lose a current client. Increase your billings, but your expenses go up to offset your increase. To really grow, you need to develop a strategic plan that you can control, execute and refine. We started our Practice Growth - inDepth series to pull together some of the leading practitioners and trainers who are willing to share their thoughts and insights into strategically growing an advisory practice.
Gale Kirsopp is the Principal of 4700Group and Insightful Accountant's 2020 ProAdvisor of the Year. She works "at the crossroads of law and accounting", a crossroads at which she provides virtual accounting workflow training and financial advisory services exclusively to law firms. Her understanding of law firms' reporting needs beyond standard financial reports has earned her acclaim from the legal community.
IA - What do you think are the top obstacles preventing accounting professionals from growing their firms?
GK - The willingness to schedule time for learning; this is time specifically set aside
Gale Kirsopp
weekly to explore, study, and learn about various topics affecting professionals.
We get comfortable with our level of knowledge in accounting and do not take the time to explore and listen to thoughts and ideas that may challenge our statusquo.
IA - How critical is a firm's "Tech Stack" in driving growth.
GK - The tech stack is the foundation on which your practice/firm is built and not just the tech stack you use with your clients. It would also include your 'internal productivity' tech stack, those apps used internally in your organization for communications with employees/contracted labor, marketing, and production apps, i.e., Office 365.
We use 15 different apps within 4700Group, to function efficiently as a virtual firm. Seven are for internal purposes, and the other eight are client-facing applications.
IA - As a practitioner/trainer, what do you think a plan for firm growth should look like?
GK - Niche, Niche, Niche - Yes, it can be uncomfortable at the start, when you put yourself or your firm out there attached to a specific industry, but it is worth the rewards. I am not suggesting "niche-ing" by services you provide, but by industry.
Schedule time weekly to learn about your niche industry – subscribe and read industry-specific blogs, listen to webinars industry associations offer. Then, annually go to an industry-specific conference. You need to understand the industry, its pain points, and the definition of success.
Understand that you excel at some skills and can-do other skills, but you do not excel at them. Find people that excel at those skills and listen to them. It is not difficult to hire for your weaknesses. However, it is more challenging to listen to someone else telling you how to handle your professional weaknesses.
IA - What books do you recommend for firm growth.
GK -
#1. By far 'They Ask You Answer' by Marcus Sheridan
#2. 'They Ask You Answer' by Marcus Sheridan, reread it!
IA - What trends are you seeing that today's accounting professional needs to be aware of and how can they prepare for and stay on top of them?
Change is always coming towards you, commit to being a life learner – you can never stop being open to hearing about and learning new things. You do not have to embrace everything you hear; you do not have to incorporate them all into your practice, but you do need to know what is potentially coming down the road at you!
Working at the crossroads of law & accounting, Gale provides virtual accounting workflow training and financial advisory services exclusively to law firms. Her understanding of law firms' reporting needs beyond standard financial reports has earned her acclaim from the legal community.
In 2020, Gale was named ProAdvisor of the Year by Insightful Accountant and Trail Blazer of the Year by Intuit QuickBooks Solution Providers. 4700Group is also Gold Certified Clio Consulting Firm.
Gale is both a national and international speaker & trainer for both (CLE) training for attorneys and (CPE) training for CPAs. Gale holds an undergraduate degree and two graduate degrees.