I get a version of the same message from firm owners constantly — overwhelmed, working way more than planned, margins thin, wondering how to grow without adding more hours.
Their instinct is almost always to think the answer is more clients, and it usually isn’t.
In this episode, I’m breaking down the four things that actually tend to be capping growth.
Listen below.
1:01 It’s worth naming why this gets so hard before jumping into the fixes. Often, the firm owner is the bottleneck in their own business, without knowing it.
2:01 Start with your client base. It’s uncomfortable to actually go through, which is likely why so many firm owners skip it. Not every client belongs on your roster equally.
3:40 Second, look closely at who you’re hiring to lighten your load, because this is where a lot of firm owners go wrong. When it’s time to delegate, the default is usually a junior hire.
4:37 I did this at Xen Accounting: brought in a senior resource before it felt safe to. It’s a big reason that firm scaled and became sellable.
5:33 Third, look at how systematized your firm actually is. Try this test: disappear for two weeks starting tomorrow, and see what breaks. For a lot of firm owners, plenty would, and it’s usually not on the team.
7:18 Fourth is how you talk about what you do, and it trips up more firms than it should. Many firm owners describe services like an accountant would to another accountant, so the marketing reads like a deliverables list, not a reason to care.
8:32 All four of these point to the same underlying idea: scaling isn’t about doing more — not more clients, more hours, or more hustle.
