Four years ago, we made a strategic decision to update our firm’s vision and execute a big change. In a profession generally resistant to change, this was a daunting move.
Our business and tax clients needed proactive advice and a partner to hold them accountable every step of the way. We saw too many entrepreneurs stuck on a hamster wheel, consumed by ‘doing’ business vs. growing their business. We knew that our team of talent needed to be in a position to focus on proactively educating and advising our clients to help them get to the point of enjoying their entrepreneurial journey.
Our team is everything.
What we had in our favor was a team of talented people who bought into the firm’s vision and were eager to do the work needed to grow. Key to this was communicating everyone’s role within that vision and the importance of working together as a team to meet every client wherever they may be in their journey.
Processes and technology
Shifting our focus to grow our advisory services business involved creating, documenting, and implementing new processes. It also required us to re-evaluate the technology we used to manage our practice and ensure efficiency with our compliance work. While building processes and leveraging technology are essential, another key ingredient that accelerated our growth was our community of peers.
Sense of community
Creating peer groups to bring like minded people together was something the industry had been lacking.
We took the leap and joined a Thomson Reuters’ Practice Forward program. For a firm our size who was in the middle of a strategic business shift, the opportunity to come together and share ideas and best practices built a new sense of community.
Exposure to peers across the country has been empowering. We all win when we support each other through the challenges of change and growth. Our peers quickly became our tribe.
Then, THIS happened.
The Thomson Reuters Luca Award for Firm of the Year. In early November, Harper & Company CPAs Plus had the distinct honor of receiving the 2021 Luca Award.
While Glenn and I had the privilege of accepting the award, it was the Harper Plus team who did the work and earned this prestigious award.
We also knew we wouldn’t be where we are without the people who were continuously there to help us make the strategic changes to our business. We weren’t in this by ourselves. We had a community of peers and lots of opportunities to exchange ideas and thought leadership. Together, we all realized we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, we just had to make it better.
The hardest part…
…is getting out of your own way. This is truly the secret to executing change and building your business. When you realize that you can accomplish anything by collaborating, delegating, and communicating, growth happens and positive culture builds.
Thanks to the stellar team we have at Harper & Company CPAs Plus, our tribe of peer firms, and Thomson Reuters for the Practice Forward framework, the sky is the limit for what we can all accomplish.
