My “Two Bob’s” worth and what accountant can learn from Two Bobs Bakery

Ideal clients are a key ingredient for a fun, rewarding and profitable business!

Here’s an example of a business owner doing business and life their way.

Two Bobs Bakery opened just before Christmas and I go there probably twice a week.

Days of Trade – Wednesday to Sunday

Hours of Trade – 7.30am until sold out

This photo was taken at 7.36am this morning (Good Friday) and I’d already been in line for 5 minutes.

I was only going to get a loaf of sourdough $8 but others were there for the hot cross buns $3.50 each.

By the time I got to the counter, the hot cross buns had been sold out – they were literally running out the door! According to a Facebook post, the racks were empty by 9am. Good for Two Bobs Bakery from a penalty rate perspective and an added bonus is that after prepping for tomorrow’s trade, they too can enjoy time with their family and friends like many of their customers are doing today.

The owners of the bakery use quality ingredients, have invested in expensive equipment, have a prominent location in the CBD and I believe making sourdough is quite labour and time intensive. Being a new venture and something completely new for Port Stephens, the owners would of done their numbers and combined with a supply and demand uplift factor they arrived at a price that was profitable, one that was acceptable to them and one that worth their while taking such a risk!

Running an accounting practice is no different. The equipment used is expensive (server/offsite storage solutions, software subscriptions), it’s labour and time intensive (doing the work, starting and nurturing client relationships, building trust and confidence in the marketplace, and applying your knowledge and experience to situations) and then there are other significant overheads (wages, rent, insurances, CPD). There is a limited amount of hours available each day, you and your staff’s intellectual property has taken years to acquire, develop and maintain and you deserve to have a life outside of your practice.

The “scarcity” factor I also think is a winning formula of Two Bobs Bakery. If they were like many other bakeries opening 7 days a week from say 6am, would they do so well and be so profitable? Here in Port Stephens, people don’t want to miss out and they make visiting the bakery a priority. When I had my accounting practice and I cut my days in the office back to three and started making my last appointment at 3.30 of an afternoon, my clients actually started valuing my time more and were more likely to think ahead and book a time to see me instead of leaving it until the last minute.

Please, please take some time to look at your numbers and how you are doing business and life. What frustrates you? What would you like to do if you could muster up the courage like I did?

The clients that value what you do will pay you the price you ask for and deserve.

The problem is, I believe many practice owners are asking less than they deserve and stretching themselves too thinly trying to please everyone, all at the expense of themselves and their family – the people they envisage will be in their life in 15 years time! ❤️💙 Will the clients that you are bending over backwards for, still be clients in 15 years time?🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

You are worth it and clients will pay you – they are your ideal clients!!

The clients that don’t value what you do are the ones that whinge about your prices now and they are the ones that are making you undervalue the work that you do and stop you from increasing your prices when you know it’s the financial and commercial thing to do – they are not your ideal clients!!

I have been in your shoes. I ran a very successful regional accounting practice for 18 years and like Two Bobs Bakery, I created a winning formula and found my practice “sweet spot” and I now help other small and solo accounting practices find theirs. I want you to have a business and a life that is more fun, rewarding and profitable and one that totally works for you and your family and not just everyone else’s! Here’s the link to book a time to chat and see if we might be a good fit.

Alternatively, you may like to participate in my upcoming “5 Steps to a Balanced Firm” course where amongst many other nuggets of gold, you’ll uncover exactly who your ideal clients are so you can start attracting more of them and politely and empathically move the ones that aren’t on to another practice that they are the ideal client for.

Clink on this link to find out more. The course kicks off on Tuesday 21 May and registrations will close on Monday 13 May or once the 15 spots are filled.

#idealclients #yourbusiness #yourrules #thebalancedfirm #thebalancedfirmcoachingprogram #bizifebalance

And that’s my “two bobs” worth this Good Friday morning!4Jacalyn Fenech, Julie-Ann Andrews and 2 othersSeen by 25