Narrowing the scope of the general practitioner

In my last article I questioned whether it was still viable to be a sole practitioner if you are ambitiously seeking to scale up your firm. My question was drawn not by doubts over whether accountants would want to run their own firms (I totally get that!) but whether it is still possible to take on growing a firm single-handedly, given the level of the mental and emotional challenges as much as the technical knowledge, skills and resource demands.

My opinion is that you can run an accounting firm on your own, utilising the resources and technology that are out there, but growing a firm to meet bigger ambitions is a different story. It’s still possible but it’s a damn sight easier with the right partner(s) and network around you. Of course, picking those is a challenge in itself but that’s for another time.

Following on from that, let’s move onto looking at ‘general practitioners’ and the ‘general practice’ firm.

Both have been, and remain, the bedrock of our profession. I would say that, with the exception of a few years in Big 4 audit, I have always been a general practitioner. My role has been to support a wide range of SME clients in a wide range of financial, business and compliance matters, either using my own skills and expertise or those of my colleagues and network. I’ve never been offended by the phrase “Jack of all trades…” although I would definitely take exception to “…master of none”!

General practice firms have always at the forefront of the accounting space, dominating the overall number of firms. Typically, these are firms that are built on compliance but many develop strengths in other areas through their own interests and skills and the demands of their clients or market place. You will commonly come across firms that are ‘general practice’ but with a particular strength or reputation for tax,  business advice (definitely in my case!), audit and so on. They still seek to offer a wide range of services to a wide range of clients but the conversations tend to have a bias towards their particular strengths.

This is a long way from a niche firm that focuses on a particular service or sector and heavily targets its delivery, expertise and marketing on that to the exclusion of other areas.

Being a niche firm has benefits in enabling the firm to focus its development on skills, resources and marketing specific to a clearly defined market. Being seen as a specialist in the field has obvious attractions to that market place and is a recognised growth strategy. However, putting all of your eggs into a handful or less of baskets has risks as well. The pandemic highlighted how individual sectors can be exposed.

Spreading your wares over a wider range of sectors and services reduces exposure and is the land of the general practice. Many accountants want to work with varied communities rather than niches and so like that general approach. The challenge now though is that, as clients themselves become more demanding and selective, and as running an accounting firm becomes more challenging, requiring greater skills, resources and knowledge, is it too difficult to offer a wide range of services to a wider spectrum of clients?

I believe that the answer lies in applying a little more focus and clarity without compromising your general practice status. I don’t think that we can any longer be all things to all people but, by focusing on our greatest interests, our best skills and our most appealing markets, we can still deliver the wide range of services that those clients want, and work in a wider spectrum, without spreading our expertise too thin.

General practice firms will always have a compliance base, that is a good thing! It must continuously evolve with technology but clients will always need compliance support and advice.

What I see changing is that compliance base becoming part of a wider service offering to a more defined client base that makes it easier for the accountant to then resource and model their own firm. Rather than trying to resource and promote a firm that can deliver every service to every client, focus more on the sort of clients and types of project that you really want and ensure that you can meet their needs. It eases the pressure on your resources, training and development and allows better client service through better focus.

A general practice firm can still focus on multiple clusters of client types, depending on your interests, but because your client base doesn’t also populate the gaps in between, your resources and development can be much better targeted.

Those clusters can be whatever piques your interest. For instance:

·      IN: creative industries, professional sectors, high wealth individuals

·      OUT:  tax only, farmers, property developers, contractors

Or

·      IN: >£2 million turnover, >10 staff

·      OUT:  < £250,000 turnover < 3 staff

Or

·      IN: entrepreneurial clients

·      OUT:  compliance only clients

Or

·     swap any of the above around….Add/delete whatever you want! It’s your firm!

By better defining your range of target markets, still within general practice mode, you can better define your resources, systems, skills, training and marketing.

Compliance and  value added services are delivered to more specific markets, with more specific needs and questions. Your knowledge, team and systems can be streamlined as a result. There is less ‘noise’ around.



In better focusing  your marketplace, and gradually bringing your existing client base into line, you can actually become a better general practice firm.