Forensic Accounting Today

Freelancer or Go-It-Alone Business?

If you're not sure whether you should operate as a free-agent practitioner or a "go-it-alone" business, Bruce Judson's free 204-page online book, Go It Alone!, does a good job of laying out the differences between the two. Here's a brief excerpt.

"Go-it-alone business is not simply a fancy term for a free agent or a freelancer. These businesses provide their founders with far more stability than freelance work and more personal rewards than franchising. These entrepreneurs are building a substantial asset. They have control of their own destiny. In difficult economic times, free agents or freelancers are typically in the extraordinarily frustrating position of waiting for the phone to ring. In contrast, go-it-alone entrepreneurs always have a focus for their energies and an asset that will provide them with an income stream.

Moreover, freelancers, free agents, and many small-business owners typically work on an hourly or daily rate, or they charge by the job. In all of these cases, they depend entirely on what they can produce as individuals, and their earnings are tied to the clock. They have not established a business system that allows them to magnify or leverage their skills. As a consequence, their earnings are inherently limited. Go-it-alone businesses don’t suffer from this income constraint."

Table of Contents...

Maister: The Managing Partner's Speech

I just read the latest entry in David Maister's "Professional Business, Professional Life" blog. It's packed with practice management material which applies to the largest of CPA firms...as well as to you and me, the solo practitioners of the world. Here are a few excerpts:

In this profession, the need for personal development is life-long. The minute you begin to cruise, to rely on skills learned last year, that’s the moment you begin your decline. All of us, from the 30-year-old’s to the 60-year old’s must constantly be asking “What new skills can I acquire?”. And the firm has the right to ask that same question of you.

My experience has taught me that success comes not to those who swing for the fences every time at bat, but those who commit themselves to a continuous program of constant improvement, base-hit by base-hit.

There are many ways to make yourself more valuable on the market: intellectual leadership, better client counseling skills, greater ability to run large projects, and so on. But one stands above all else: specialized industry knowledge. Regardless of your discipline, and your command of it, I believe that each and every partner should have one or more industries that they know in depth, to the level that the clients perceive you as up-to-date in their industry as they are. There is no better way, in my view, for each of us to succeed than for every one of us to declare a specific industry specialization.

Read more...

Industry Specialization: Give it Some Thought

In my previous post, "The Basics of Building a Solo Practice," I emphasized the importance of developing niche-oriented capabilities. Relating to this, a post in Michelle Golden's Golden Practices blog included these comments:

"When an accounting firm establishes any formal niche, thoughtfully measuring your foothold in various industries and considering the reception you'll have within them can mean the difference between success or failure."

"Before deciding which niche to pursue, consider the perils of each vertical market before jumping in. Don't start with the toughest markets to penetrate. There's probably some lower-hanging fruit that is more ripe for the picking...and tastier, too."

Ms. Golden provides other advice under the headings, "Taking an Inventory" and "Choosing the Right Industry." Read the entire "Choosing an Industry Niche" post.