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My Week – The best-laid plans

25th Aug 2016
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I am sitting in my study with a cold drink on a beautiful summer evening thinking what was my week like. What should I blog about? I was at a loss, so I just let my fingers do the talking. The headline was drafted after I completed writing the blog.

I do not think we as small practice owners have a monopoly over having a tough time. In a highly competitive and an increasingly connected world it is getting harder to make it all work for the vast majority. Where will it all get us? I tend to forget, like you, I am on a one-way ticket on this earth. At the same time to survive, I need to do what I need to do.

Best I do not come out with the boring usual cliches of – life gave me lemons…. Well, I am trying to make lemonade. It is not working. What a nonsense cliché!

Remember, the myth about technology – we will work fewer hours. What nonsense. Just to survive in the small practice world, I have to put it all the hours. I do not think you will be surprised my dear reader when I say, even that is not enough.

Once again my week was non-stop on the day to day. At the start of the week, I had planned to get client work out of the way in the first 2-3 hours in the morning and then move to practice development and practice thinking work.

I think you guessed it, life, well in my case my week, never turns out the way I anticipated or planned. There were times; I just felt like walking out of the office and leaving Q to get on with it and come back a week later. Even if I did, I would be back the next day. Something inside me will pull back to my creation, frustration, and satisfaction all rolled into one.

I thought by the end of my week I will know where I stand with my practice. I would understand its  viability, whether all this is worthwhile or I am just a busy fool. I managed to spend only 2 hours thinking about my practice and doing work that is not client related.

Since the client base has increased with that comes client queries and request for information. I cannot relax and work on practice development when they are client requests for information waiting to be actioned.

I always say we have made significant progress with our workload and we have. New stuff always comes up. Q will be off for a month has not helped. We agreed, I would deal with all client queries, and she will work on accounts and tax returns. My other role is all other practice matter that comes up. It is such a challenging part. It is never ending.

If I thought, with a rational mind, about the risks and rewards of being a small practice owner, I think I would get back into employment. Honestly, the fees that client pay and the service they expect do not match. It is madness, and it will get worse.

Getting back to my key point, aside from my blogging that is such a help, I need to sit down look at my figures and think very carefully, whether I can make my small practice a financially stable and a decent income earning vehicle. This is not a hobby!

I am pleased with my achievements, starting with a zero client base, combined with zero practice experience. I had to concentrate solely on marketing, growth, systems and staffing. To grow, it had to be this way. I have now taken my foot off growth in the hope it will give me the space to think. This has not happened so far. We are getting there. Yes, we are. I hope we are.

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