Starting and growing a bookkeeping business is challenging.
You already know it demands so much of your time and resources.
I didn’t even mention the obstacles that will hit you out of nowhere.
With all that commotion, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.
You don’t have to be.
It starts by organizing your thoughts first then your business.
It’s vital because taking care of what’s between your ears is the foundation for the organization of your bookkeeping practice.
If we try to organize our business without working on our thoughts first, we will fail to attack the problem.
It’s not about just time or people management or cleaning up our desks or alphabetizing client files.
Organization is first, last and always about cleaning the mess of our minds.
By learning how to think about the practice of bookkeeping, by learning how to think about your priorities and by learning how to think about your life, you’ll prepare yourself to do battle with the forces of failure.
Right thinking leads to right action -- and now is the time to take action.
Because it is only through action you can translate thoughts into movement in the real world, and, in the process, find fulfillment.
So, first think about what you want to do.
Then do it.
Only in this way will you be fulfilled.
Here’s help to get you started.
1) Create a story about your practice. Your story should be an idealized version of your bookkeeping operation, a vision of what the elite bookkeeper in your field should be and why. Your story must become the very heart of your practice. It must become the spirit that mobilizes it, as well as everyone who walks through the doors. Without this story, your practice will be reduced to plain work.
2) Organize your practice so it breathes life into your story. Unless your practice can faithfully replicate your story in action, it all becomes fiction. In that case, you’d be better off not telling your story at all. And without a story, you’d be better off leaving your practice the way it is and just hoping for the best.
Here are some tips for organizing your bookkeeping practice:
- Identify the key function of your practice
- Identify the essential processes that link those functions
- Identify the results you have determined your practice will produce
- Clearly state in writing how each phase will work
Take it step by step. Think of your practice as a program, a piece of software, a system. It is a collaboration, a collection of processes dynamically interacting with one another.
Of course, your practice is also people.
3) Engage your employees in the process.
Why is this the third step rather than the first?
Because, contrary to the advice most business experts will give you, you must never engage your people in the process until you are clear about what you intend to do.
Overall, it’s important to know:
- How you intend to proceed
- What’s important to you and what isn’t
- What you want the practice to be and how you want it to get there
Once you figure it out, it’s critical you mention to your people about what you intend to do and why.
Be clear - both with yourself and with them.
You see, clarity is a beautiful thing.
It eliminates the guessing and overwhelm.
Once you know what you want in your business, you can pour your focused energy into making it happen.
An organized mind is definitely an ally that will lead you to great outcomes.
Take the time to evaluate what you’re looking for today, so you can become the success you’re meant to be.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Michael
