146 Ideas for Practice Improvement

Source: Rainmaker Best Practices Special Report

Patrick McEvoy says the best path to better practice performance is through good questions. Don’t expect to answer all the questions, but use them to provoke serious thought on where your practice is headed. There are 146 questions and ideas presented in the special report. We have selected just a few. You may want to review the entire list by clicking on the link below.

Strategy

• Are you in the business of accounting? Or the management advisory business?
• How do you earn profits?
• How are you different from others in your business?
• What are your competitive advantages?
• Does top management add or detract from the value of the business?
• What would the following people do if they took over your business?
  • Your most admired entrepreneur.
  • Your most important competitor.
  • A ruthless capitalist.

Leadership

• What keeps you awake at night?
• What are your goals?
• What do you need to change to reach them?
• Do you promote shared goals?
• Do you criticize and praise constructively?
• Do you make people feel part of the team? Do you instigate enthusiasm?

Marketing

• Describe your client base and your target market.
• How well do you know your clients?
• Do you know what they really think about you?
• Do you provide services that are distinctly different from those of your competition?
• Who are your most profitable clients?

Financial

• Do you make 80 percent of your profits in 20 percent of your time? Identify that time.
• What services should you discontinue?
• Which ones should you sell more?

Personal

• How do you define your success?
• Is your work stimulating? Why or why not?
• How could you cut your work time in half and double your profits?

And here is some other advice:

• Create a brand, i.e., a description of who you are, what you do, and what is unique about you. Communicate it continually.
• Whatever you are going to do, do it now.
• Let people buy from you, but do not overtly sell to them.
• Measure the things that are important in your business—the key performance indicators.
• Learn how to run your business by advising clients how to run theirs.
• Lead by example.
• If you have the wrong people in jobs, train them to be better, or move them out.
• You will not be able to achieve what you think you cannot achieve.
• Be aware of your unconscious communications.
• Work on your business, not in it.
• Outsiders will give you great insights into your business. Spend more time with them.
• Be passionate about your business.

From Rainmaker Best Practices Special Report, Rainmaker Best Practices, Brantford, ON N3T 6R5 (www.rainmakergateway.com/), Special Report, January 18, 2007. For the complete article, click here.