Salim Omar of CPA Marketing Genius joins Steve Major on the Pricing Power podcast. 

Salim has spent the last 19 years uncovering the keys to success of any CPA firm.  He’s used his financial expertise and his own struggles in the early years of starting and growing his CPA practice as a springboard for understanding the success principles that create accounting firms that are profitable, respected and fun for their employees.

Feeling unfulfilled and tired of corporate politics and a long commute, in 1996 Salim left a “cushy” corporate, CFO position with a corner office to fulfill his mission of starting his own CPA Practice. He soon found out that this was no easy task, and he struggled with low-paying clients, poor cash flow and a high employee turnover.

After going $100,000 into debt, Salim made it his mission to transform his struggling practice into a highly profitable, 12+ person firm that it is today.  Best of all, he works only a few days a week while his practice continues to grow.

He is the author of the popular book, The Ultimate CPA Practice in the New Economy and has been featured in a range of prestigious publications such as The CPA Journal, Financial Advisor and Wealth Manager and on the cover of Accounting Today.

Show Notes

Challenges for accountants :-

• bring in new clients
• keeping clients
• clients to pay
• clients have shorter attention span
• there is a lot more scepticism

Opportunities :-

• small business is more confused than ever
• business people are pressed for time

The opportunity is with sound business advice. 

CPA & bookkeepers are closest to the financial and these financials are a springboard to have conversations. 

Salim thought he knew the answers. He sought advice in marketing. If approach business like an accountant then you think everything can be solved by working hard but important to learn more from outside industries. 

There is a segment of business owners who want to understand their numbers. 

To often in accounting firms are working on wrong things and the wrong clients. The wrong clients bully you into low prices. 

To work on growth – must nurture clients.  Have a conversation with clients. 

Business advisory is helping with net profit, pricing and gross margin. 

Marketing is best through expert positioning ie speeches, books and articles.

Niching is imperative.

Content creation – find a template and the more you do it the better you get. 

Money is attracted to speed.

Technology is a tool. It allows you to be more efficient. 

The One Key Point – don’t under value yourself as a practitioner. 

 

Website – cpamarketinggenius.com 

 

 

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This week Melanie Power joins Steve Major on the Pricing Power podcast.

Melanie Power has been involved in the Australian small business sector since her career kick-off in the accounting industry in 1992. She has owned and managed several other small businesses as well as a bookkeeping practice, the IT industry , the motorcycle industry, and finance brokerage but she always maintained a passion for software-based systems and processes for small to medium enterprises.

In her current role as Head of Bookkeeping for Xero, Mel is the voice of the industry to Xero. Mel is passionate about raising the profile of bookkeepers globally and showcasing the value they bring to helping small business, especially how bookkeepers use their understanding of the financial data and to help small businesses make informed business decisions.

Mel is a keen advocate of the accounting and bookkeeping function in helping small business by putting the words behind the numbers. She is proactive in helping bookkeepers grow and transform which leads to Melanie’s facebook group – The Bookkeeper Revolution. 

Prior to working for Xero, Mel worked for LEAP Legal Software and also owned a highly successful KTM motorcycle dealership and finance brokerage.

Show Notes

Bookkeeping function is the foundation of accounting. 

Mel had a desktop bookkeeping business which was difficult to make profit and sold. 6 years later Mel established a cloud bookkeeping firm which is scaleable and has grown. 

When move clients over to cloud have more time to spend on client relationship and business development. If you have adopted value pricing then with more time you can ask what other services eg :- cloud integration, finance, risk, business analysis. 

Bookkeepers have more touch points than accountants. 

Have to have internal systems in order.

 Need t0 have business in box – it must be sale ready. 

Need to have an engagement funnel – sales funnel.

Identify target client – compared to dating world – Tinder vs RSVP/Match.com

Narrowing the focus of target client is powerful to grow a bookkeeping firm. 

Once identified target client then find out where they are and start talking to them. 

Bookkeepers – put words behind numbers however there is a skills gap. 

Cashflow management is such an important opportunity for bookkeepers. 

Accountants & bookkeepers are set free from data entry. 

Take a step back and create your own business model.

Rod Drury Xerocon Keynote –    

AI & Machine Learning – Rod Drury & Gary Turner Show Podcast – Listen here

Facebook – The Mel Power

Twitter – @themelpower

Email – mel [@] melaniepower.com

 

 

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Why would an accountant open a coffee shop as part of his accounting business? Ben Walker did and it has created a fantastic business. 

Ben Walker lists himself as the Chief Inspiration Officer of Inspire CA (the accounting firm) and the Beer Development Manager of Inspire Cafe   Inspire CA has its mission to inspire people to build phenomenal businesses. The dream for the cafe is create a place where you can enjoy a good coffee and something decent to eat with entrepreneurs and business people.  

In the short time that Ben has been in business he has made a mark. I first heard of Ben from a colleague in the United States. Impressive. The cafe is fast becoming a hub for business events and a thriving community. 

And by the way Ben does not do timesheets, he value prices, extensively uses the cloud amongst other impressive aspects of his business. During this interview we talk about why he created the Coffee shop and how that changed his business. As Ben talks about it has not all been plain sailing but he has fought hard to create this fantastic business. 

If you have any comments, thoughts or questions please email me at steve@pricingpower.net

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