Tag Archives: practice management

Post-busy season check-up

Posted on by
Reply

Congratulations! You have made it through another beast of a busy season. You have cajoled clients and staff, put in long hours, and are beginning to forget what your family and friends look like. You are probably feeling that you deserve a nice long vacation on a sunny beach, preferably sipping (or gulping) something bracingly alcoholic, not a 1099 or a tax code reference in sight for miles.

Before you book that trip to Aruba, there is one thing I want you to do, and that is to take brief stock of what just happened. Why now, you might ask? Because Aruba may well dull the pain that you have felt for the past 6-8 weeks, fooling you into thinking that this was not so bad, after all, and that kind of thinking is a ticket to another beast of a busy season next year. Continue reading →

The wisdom of telling time

Posted on by
Reply

What time is it now? Seems like a simple question, you might say as you glance at your watch, cell phone, or the clock on the wall. We all learned to tell time in kindergarten. How hard can it be?

The answer might surprise you. Telling time can be the hardest thing you do all day. When you watch your to-do list spin out of control, surf the Internet during the afternoon post-lunch coma, yawn through a long meeting, or look in despair at that pile of dishes in the kitchen sink, or at the pile of snow outside your front door, what you are really struggling with is telling what time it is.

Allow me to explain. Continue reading →

3 things that hold you back from growing your practice

Posted on by
Reply

Doug and I have just returned from exhibiting at the AICPA Advanced Personal Financial Planning conference in Las Vegas. Some of the conversations we had with fellow exhibitors and attendees were simply too good to leave them in Vegas. Over and over, we were asked: “How do you grow your practice in the midst of the busy season?” Continue reading →

“You’re fired!” (and other choice things you want to say to your clients)

Posted on by
Reply

This has been an intense few weeks. The sheer joy of about to be done is probably washing over you in a welcome cool wave of relief. However, before this busy season fades from your mind to join all previous busy seasons, I encourage you to reflect on what just happened. Specifically, think about your clients, because they contributed significantly to making your busy season what it was, in all its glory and misery. My question for you is: which three clients are you going to fire? Continue reading →