Business Strategy for CPA's

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7Many CPAs work super long hours and go for periods of time where their head is down, getting the work done. But when your head is down and you’re busy, how do you take the time to find out what your clients truly want? Here today to talk with me about this is my guest, Rochelle Moulton.  Rochelle turns consultants and big thinkers into authorities. She earned her consulting and big thinker stripes leading introverted brainiacs at some powerhouse global consulting firms like Towers Perrin and Arthur Andersen. But even better, she has built, led (and sometimes sold) more than a few 6, 7 and 8-figure consulting businesses. And earned the equivalent of a second MBA building authority brands and businesses with hundreds of soloists. She has recently launched a mastermind to build wealth in the form of money, time, and flexibility, for soloist women in the expertise space.    Highlights: — ”In a listening tour, you're going to ask your ideal clients or prospects a very specific list of questions to get insight into something that you're trying to figure out, like a new product or a new program.”  — ”One the kinds of questions to ask, I'll open with something about their business, to make sure that I understand where they're coming from.” — ”What we think our audience wants is not necessarily what they actually will buy.” — ”A listening tour gives you a better understanding of what your clients want beyond what you think they want.”   ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list Connect with ROCHELLE: Website: https://rochellemoulton.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConsultingChick LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochellemoulton/ Episode mentions: 166 How CPAs Can Build and Monetize Authority with Rochelle Moulton https://www.businessstrategyforcpas.com/166   Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7There are a number of mindset, structure, and mechanical components that are not working well for CPAs and accountants. Many are working long hours and are underpricing. And they continue to be busy because they are positioning themselves in the marketplace as generalists. It's difficult to create value, which means it's difficult to raise prices, which means it's difficult to do less work.  There is an easier way, and it doesn't have to be thaaaat hard to make the changes that you need in order to get your business pointed in the right direction to get where you want to be. I'm launching a new program called CPA Mastermind. It’s designed for CPAs and accountants who are solos or small firm owners: to update their business model, make their business more profitable, get their business on the path they want it on, and get their life back. In short, CPA Mastermind helps CPAs create more profit, with less effort. Here are the 10 steps that you'll go through in CPA Mastermind: Figure out your goals. Figure out your strategy.  Determine your ideal buyer. Figure out your value. Package your services. Determine pricing.  Improve your website and online presence. Replicate your ideal buyers Test/experiment. Move low-value work off of your client roster If you don't want to do another year that feels like the last three that you have gone through, check out CPA Mastermind.   Get on the interest list:  https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/interest More about the CPA Mastermind: https://shethinksbigcoaching.com/cpa-mastermind Episode mentioned: 125 Value and Segmented Pricing for CPAs with Pricing Expert Mark Stiving, PhD https://businessstrategyforcpas.com/125   ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list   Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7What I have for you today is the audio from a webinar I hosted on Crowdcast on how positioning can help you in your business. Focusing on your niche or position can be really challenging. What I want is to help you keep on moving and to continue making progress in terms of narrowing who you focus on working with and who you work best with, because it makes your business so much easier.   Highlights: — Why choose a position in the marketplace? It deepens your expertise, which increases the value you can provide, which enables you to raise your prices, which enables you to work less It simplifies your business: fewer internal workflows and assembly lines to manage Your marketing becomes much more effective: your message resonates more readily with better qualified clients, and you know where to place your message so it’s in front of prospects’ eyes The moment a CPA separates himself from the crowd, he immediately opens himself up to that very type of business owner who is thirsty for his expertise and will pay him for it.  ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list Get access to webinar slides: How to Position Your Business https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/position-your-biz-slides   Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7In episode 193, I introduced a tool called The Model, which you can use to understand how your thoughts, feelings, and actions create your results.  Pricing, and especially raising prices, tends to elicit fear-based thoughts.  In this episode, I give you specific examples around the thoughts CPAs have about pricing, so you can see how your own thoughts about pricing might be inadvertently affecting your prices. HIGHLIGHTS: Here are three sample thoughts about pricing, that could play out as follows: — When an accountant thinks, “They might say no,” she might feel hesitant, and want to think about her new prices some more, and meanwhile not list her new prices. The result is that buyers cannot say yes to her higher price because that higher price doesn't officially exist anywhere. Buyers are effectively saying no to her higher price. — When a CPA thinks, “I've got to step up and deliver, I better perform,” he feels pressured and doesn’t think his processes all the way through. The quality and delivery are not as good. The result is that he doesn't perform when he feels under pressure about performing. — When a CPA thinks, “What if they don't think my service is worth it?” she shows up apprehensive and holds back on delivering direct but valuable advice. When she wonders if her service is worth it, she doesn't make it worth it. And then she proves to herself and her prospect that her service is not worth it. … Thoughts show up in results. And, it can help to remember that this is just the brain doing its normal brain-thing. (After all, it was designed to keep people safe from tigers and inside the tribe, so that they could live to tell another day.)   There is nothing wrong with thinking these thoughts. But it helps to be aware of them, in order to choose a new set of thoughts that line up with the results you desire to create. Low-priced thoughts, create low prices.   ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list   Episode Mentioned: 193 Create the Exact Business You Want: Introducing The Model https://businessstrategyforcpas.com/193   Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7Today I want to introduce you to something called The Model. It’s a model for understanding and making sense of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and results.  And it is created by Brooke Castillo, the founder of The Life Coach School. I am a certified coach by The Life Coach School, and as such I am licensed to teach her methodology.  So I want to tell you about what this tool is, give you a sense of what it looks like and how it works and show you how we can use it to create the reality that we want and stop recreating a reality that we don't want. What I love about the model is that it helps you understand your mind, understand your feelings, understand why you take the actions that you do and why you don't take the actions that you don't, and how these actions in aggregate create the result of our lives. Highlights: — “Our thoughts create our feelings, and we can choose what our thoughts are.” — “The Model is a tool that you can use to understand what's happening in your life, and how to create the life and the business that you want.” — “What's so powerful about the model is that you can see your thoughts showing up in your results.” — “Improving your ability to think intentional thoughts on purpose is how you create the business and the life that you want to have.” ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7When you run a business, getting a handle on your time can be a challenge.  Keeping your time and your tasks organized, is one way to get more big things done.  Here today to talk with me about this is my guest, John Lee Dumas.  John (or JLD, as he is affectionately known) is the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Entrepreneurs on Fire.  With more than 100 million listens of his 3000+ episodes, JLD has turned Entrepreneurs On Fire into a media empire that generates more than a million listens every month and 7-figures of NET annual revenue 8 years in a row.  He is also the author of the recently published book, the Common Path to Uncommon Success in which he shares his 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment.    Highlights: — “How do you start batching when you're working a  60-hour work week? You start with the small things.” — “When the unexpected happens you just need to be ready to flow with it.” — “As your business grows, you bring in people to your organization to take more things off your plate so you can keep focusing on what you can do.” — “It takes time for people to really get a handle on their time because they're going to have to try things out.”   Connect with JOHN: Website: https://www.eofire.com/ ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list   Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7Most CPAs struggle with pricing. After all, it’s not a topic that’s commonly taught. Even less frequently discussed is pricing mindset - in short, how to think about pricing. If you don’t think about how you think about pricing, you will run on default thinking. And if you run on default thinking about pricing, you're probably going to leave money on the table.  Here today to talk with me about this problem is my guest, The Pricing Lady, Janene Liston.  Janene is a Certified Pricing Professional, and she works with small businesses to improve how they price so they can be most sustainably profitable.    Highlights: — “What most people understand about pricing comes from being a consumer, especially from the retail industry.”  — “Pricing is about how you set, how you get, and how you manage prices. And it's a way of being or behaving in your business. It’s a mindset.” — “There are lots of prices that are right for your business and your customers. Your job is to find the price range that you can work in.”  — “Even if you're offering accounting services that are same (as other accountants), you may be able to charge more if you're better at communicating value.”  — “Believe that you are in fact better than the rest, not just by saying it, but actually being better than the rest.”   ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list Connect with Janene: Website: https://thepricinglady.com/   Download Janene’s Self-assessment Pricing Scorecard: https://thepricinglady.com/goodies/   Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7What is cost, what is price, what is value? First let us clarify how these terms can be used and what they mean. The seller determines the cost, and it is based on the inputs required to produce the service or product.  The seller determines the price, and it is simply a choice.  The buyer determines the value, which is unique to each person and highly subjective. You can think of designing the “equation” like this:   Cost < Price < Value   So that:  When the cost is less than the price, the seller sells at a profit.  (The seller’s profit is the price at which he sold, minus his cost, of course.) When the price is less than the value, the buyer buys at a profit. The buyer’s profit is less obvious. It’s the value to them, minus the price.  The value to the buyer is what they would have paid.  The buyer’s profit is what they would have paid minus what they paid. When you design your services such that Cost < Price < Value, you are designing your service to create mutually assured profitability.  It’s a sweet spot worth seeking.   ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7When you set out to pursue your CPA, being an amazing manager of people was probably not in your crosshairs.  Yet, as your firm grows, the need to become an effective manager of people becomes readily apparent.  If you’re not an effective manager of people, one can get bogged down in staff-related headaches, pulling the focus away from working on the business.  Here today to talk with me about better managing your team, is my guest, Kris Plachy.  Kris is THE Thought Leader and Expert for Female Entrepreneurs. She has poured her life’s work into teaching them how to lead a team. In a space where there is a lot of ‘noise’ and advice, Kris has designed the ‘how to’ of team leadership through her How to CEO for Female Entrepreneurs™ program. She knows without a doubt, there is no challenge you are facing as a leader that she can’t help you solve. Highlights: — “You don't evolve and develop leadership and management prowess, if you don't understand the mind of a team member.” — “The world of work has radically changed in the last two years. If you aren't paying attention to that, you're gonna really struggle to find top talent.” — “If you're having repetitive problems with same kind of employee, that's just an indication that you have some things you need to work on to make better decisions on who you hire, and have better practices on how you lead and manage.” — “What's essential in delegation is telling people what success looks like as clearly as you can.” — “If you're the owner of a business and you can't hold people accountable, you are rudderless. You are operating at the whim of other people's brains, and it will make you nuts.” — “We want to have a culture of accountability, which means that when you say you're going to deliver something, you do.” ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list Connect with Kris: Website: https://krisplachy.com/ How to CEO Program:  https://leadershipcoachinc.lpages.co/how2ceo/ Book mention:Dan Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About Motivation https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805 Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7

Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7Sometimes we overcomplicate our offerings and our services for buyers because: 1. we think it's actually complicated or 2. we want it to sound fancy, or 3. we want the buyer to believe that they need our help and they can't do it on their own.  We think if, “I make it simple for them, they won't buy.” Or, “If I make it simple, they’ll just do it themselves.” As if tax returns were just easy-peasy for everyone. But the opposite can be true.  If we simplify how we talk about what the buyer needs to know, and we simplify the process for them, it can be easier for them to buy, because finally, they understand what's required of them, what they're getting, and what the value is to them. ***Want one piece of business strategy delivered daily to your inbox?*** Subscribe here: https://www.shethinksbigcoaching.com/subscribe-main-list   Get your FREE 7 Pricing Essentials for CPAs and EAs here:https://geraldinecarter.com/7