Why setting your terms is a key part of growing a successful business

I’m passionate about empowering you in your business. One way of achieving that is to share my experiences, good and especially bad, and those of other bookkeepers. It’s one thing for you to hear theories about growing a bookkeeping business but when you hear real stories, warts and all, and you can relate to them it helps you realise that you are not alone which in itself is empowering. If you’re new in business hopefully they will help you avoid them.

I was mentoring a bookkeeper who is going through a bad experience with a client, and it got me angry because her experience was so similar to mine many years ago. It’s one that is avoidable by engaging all new clients and maintaining your relationship with existing clients on YOUR TERMS.

Your terms are not just about getting paid. It’s about your expectations of the client’s behaviour towards you and your team and the expectation that they will follow simple GST & Tax Laws such as providing you tax invoices and taking advice about what is a business tax deduction. I can’t stress enough how important this is. You cannot run a fulfilling and rewarding business – no matter what the size – if you do not engage your clients on your terms.

Many years ago I was feeling unfulfilled and unrewarded because I was not clear about that. Finally, I announced “I’m too old to put up with crap!” Although not old, the message finally got through. I felt a little like the character Howard Beale in a 1976 satirical movie “Network” when he spoke the famous line “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

If you haven’t seen it, click here to watch the clip.

So I made a decision to change the way I did business. To help me gain confidence, I created a system (is that surprising?) which included:

• Creating a comprehensive engagement letter which covered the scope of work and included my promises to my client and what I expect from their behaviour
• Made sure I read through the engagement letter and had all paperwork signed in the first appointment with new clients
• Started using FFA Paysmart for direct debit payments of my account
• Put up my prices (and do that every year on July 1st)
• Met with all existing clients to go through the engagement letter, explain my terms so there was no misunderstanding and sign them up with FFA Paysmart
• Made sure I had systems in place so that I knew exactly who did the work, how long it took and what work was done

Be prepared to lose a couple of clients but I can promise you the wasted mental and emotional energy you will save you will be able to use productively to nurture your great clients who appreciate you and find new ones. Having the system helped but I still had to find the courage to implement them and follow through.

Still not convinced? As a BAS Agent, you are accountable to the TPB and you need to be able to demonstrate that you are practicing according to the Law. It’s your responsibility to make sure your clients understand how that affects the way you work for them.

So are you as mad as hell and not going to take it anymore?