Anyone who reads my blog knows I have a soft spot for Stuart Jones. His practice is in Cumbria, an area beset with economic problems but Stuart fights his clients' corner and regularly takes local bureaucract to task. Yesterday, he demonstrated how he adds value to clients. In one case: value to client: £5,932. Fees: £3,050 – total value percentage 195%.
Whether you are a practitioner or client, it's worth following the link that shows the breakdown. Most important, it demonstrates that if practitioners concentrate on the things that are important, then value can be found from doing what would otherwise be viewed as routine work. Net result – happy clients.
Jason Holden has been saying plenty about how to select an accountant who will be an advisor but there's one thing he misses in my opinion. Language.
Let's say you're a builder. When talking to your advisor, would you expect him/her to know what a reduced level dig is about and the cost implications on a contract of a sandy substrate? Say you're a nursing home operator – do you think the advisor should know about spend management on food supplies? How about if you run a nightclub that has live acts – would the advisor know about gig over-riders?
If they do, then there is a fair chance that when seeking advice, you'll have overcome the first hurdle in building a relationship – speaking the same language.
There is a catch. These business specific terms and their business implications are not learned overnight. One way you could think about helping the professional advisor – yes…they need your help as well…remember we're talking relationship…is to run a blog site where you talk about the things that matter to you in business. A great example is Stormhoek, the vinyard blog for a South African winery. It's a roaring success. As is English Cut, a blog by a bespoke tailor. And let us not forget Tinbasher. The name should give you a decent clue.
Of course this cuts the other way. The professional advisor who fails to offer you insights into the profession that are useful to you and written in a language you can understand is not much good to you. Are they?
Others who post here espouse the value of having real-time access to information and the potential for collaboration. Stefan talks about the value of having the accounting app at the centre of a suite of applications all designed to provide VSBs with an easy way of get going in business. Winweb distinguishes itself by offering Virtual Assistants. This is a significant investment in people who provide front line support for the business and not simply the application. But the value of such services pales into insignificance when compared with the potential for delivering professional practice intelligence.
SaaS providers are unique in the current applications landscape because they know every single user. But they know a lot more than who they are, where they are and the industries they represent. SaaS vendors can monitor functionality to discover what works and what doesn't. Which pices of functionality are useful to customers and which are not being used. The value of this information should not be under-estimated.
Over time, I expect that SaaS vendors will become a prime source of competitive intelligence in certain markets. They will be able to give practitioners trend data so they can see how they are performing relative to others. This will help practitioners think about how they organise their audits, which customer groups are most likely to be attracted to their services. The list is endless. Some might see this as a form of 'Big Brother' intelligence gathering. I don't. Instead, I see it as a valuable resource that helps practitioners figure out how they can improve service to clients.
Yet another and unexpected value nugget from the SaaS goody bag.
Late last week, Shel Israel, co-author with Robert Scoble of Naked Conversations contacted me about a forthcoming European tour he and venture capitalist Rick Segal are planning for August. I explained that most of mainland Europe and lumps of the UK will be away on holiday so it might be tough to fill the time. Shel was of the view that startups would forego holiday as they beaver away to get product or services out the door. He obviously doesn't know a great amount about the European psyche 
Shel and Rick are trying to find early stage businesses developing for the so-called Web 2.0 space. That means they are looking for individuals and small that are developing the next generation applciations. Details are dribbling out slowly and for those interested, I suggest subscribing to Shel's RSS feed so you can receive automatic notification of updates.
This is unusual. It is rare for US VCs to look outside their borders as most of the action is said to happen in Silicon Valley. Also, the lads want to find folk with really smart ideas rather than fully baked business models. They have made it clear they are not after PowerPoint presentations (phew – I hate those at the best of times.) As professional accountants, this is a golden opportunity for you to support people in your community who are coming up with ideas that you think could make a difference in the world.
Let's put it this way – how many people do you know who have ideas that haven't a snow flake's chance in hell of getting funding because they are just that – an idea that is as yet unproven or untested? I remember meeting one such in the 1980s. His idea was so mad I thought it would never get funded. But we did and today he is a very wealthy person employing many hundreds of people. So there is hope. And nothing to lose.
Anyone out there brave enough to engage with the big bad world of venture capitalism? Anyone know which is the next Skype?
CNN Money’s article 5 deadly mistakes when starting a business puts reasons for failure as follows:
- Too little cash
- Thinking small
- Skimping on tech
- Underestimating the importance of sales
- Losing focus
How many professional accountants can truthfully say they are qualified to address all the issues CNN identifies? Sales in particular is an issue that doesn’t sit well with professional accountants but every time you undertake work for clients, like it or not, you’re selling. If you can’t provide answers to all these questions do you know people who can?
Above everything though, understand that if you struggle with enunciating answers, imagine how tough it is for a startup entrepreneur to successfully negotiate business roadblocks? I sometimes wonder how many partners really know what it’s like to bring a fresh idea to market as a good or service? Here are my answers for my business:
- Got to be prepared to carry at least 3 months startup costs and preferably 6 months
- My audience is global, maintaining and growing that is central to this site because the issues experienced by practitioners are reflected in other parts of the world
- No danger there – I’ve probably got too much technology on occasion
- Monetizing the ideas I have is my biggest pre-occupation outside content delivery. Some things are working, others not but there is enough opportunity for me to develop new sales ideas.
- It happens – I sometimes stray miles away from what I hope this blog offers. But I’m fortunate that people who come here tell me when I’m losing the plot and help me get back on track.
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