Hi

This is my first day back in the office after a slightly longer summer break than I had originally planned, which included a week in the Lake District, two, all be it shortened, Test Matches, my daughter’s wedding and a 9-0 victory over Bournmouth. Not bad.

And on the business front I am optimistic; the opportunity for accountants and bookkeepers over the next couple of years is immense as three trends emerge:

1. Established practitioners choosing to retire rather than embrace digitalisation and Making Tax Digital.
2. Accounting software technology advancing at an unprecedented rate.
3. Owners of smaller businesses recognising the cost advantages of outsourcing to bookkeepers (in particular) over keeping their own books.

This may seem perverse given the economic doom and gloom fed up by the press, television news and online media, but remember: as owners of relatively small businesses there will always be clients and customers who need and want your products and services and are willing to pay for them.

You just need to answer three questions for them:

1. What do they really want?
2. Who or what is stopping them from getting it?
3. What will their life look like if the get what they want?

These aren’t easy questions to answer, particularly if they require you to unlearn some of your long-held beliefs about your products and services and re-think them from your customers’ point of view.

It may be particularly difficult as well if some of your customers go out of business – as some will do in the coming months – and your sales decline. If that is the case it’s even more important that you understand business metrics such as your break-even point and the actions you should and shouldn’t take if this happens as I explained in this article from a couple of years ago. 

Book a call with me here if you’d like a complimentary chat about your business and how best to safeguard yourself against a possible recession.

Noel Guilford