A while back I attempted to relate my advice for accountants to my hobby – magic (conjuring).  I had a fanciful idea I would build a talk around the idea. I never did. But the analogies still work if you want to increase your profits.

As I often point out, you need to do more than wish or wave a magic wand if you want to make more profits.

Magicians typically look to feature a range of different magical effects during a single performance. Here are a number of such effects and my suggestions as to how each of them can be seen as an analogy for ways that you can increase the profits of your practice.

  • Producing something from nothing – Magicians produce objects and people from seemingly empty tubes and boxes. Accountants need to produce new clients willing to pay sufficiently high fees. It’s not that simple of course. As you can’t rely on magic you may need to review your lead generation activities and ensure that you are well placed to convert new leads so that they want you as their accountant.
  • Vanishing something so it disappears – This is the converse of a production. Accountants will end up making more money if they can encourage their worst clients to vanish – or least move their affairs elsewhere. It’s a sad fact of life that some clients are a drain on resources and this reduces your ability to make more profits.
  • Transforming one object or person into another one – Accountants will make more profits if they transform their payment terms and then pursue the collection of outstanding fees more promptly and thus reduce the level of bad debts.
  • Restoring a previously broken or torn object back to its original state – How could you restore your profit margin if it’s no longer what it once was? Perhaps by looking at how you deliver services and reducing the time and costs involved?
  • Levitation – Making objects or people seemingly rise and float in the air unaided. Can you raise your fees to existing clients, perhaps by offering different service levels?
  • Prediction – Magicians often appear to be able to predict in advance what spectators will do, write or say during a performance. Accountants are typically able to predict business warning signs, pitfalls and opportunities long before their clients become aware they need advice. This is one of the ways in which you can evidence the value of your service over and above the basic compliance work.

If you would like to have a chat about how you might achieve any of these feats in your practice, please fix a call for us to have a chat (no obligation). Just don’t expect me to reveal an magic secrets!

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