For the last 20 years my accountancy firm, Samera, has built a niche within the Dental sector. We serve dentists at all stages of their careers, from fresh out of university all the way through to retirement.
This has served us well, and by being so focused on a sector it has given us a special insight into a sector we know and love well.
If you are at a crossroads in your accountancy firm's evolution, my thoughts are:
1. Find a niche that interests you or one that you can add value to. I chose dentistry, as my wife who owns and runs dental clinics was my inspiration and someone i could learn about the sector from. ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐.
2. Sector knowledge is everything, you build contacts, you network, you start to understand the problems your clients are having. If you can understand their problems, you can then also help them find solutions. As an accountant you are perfectly placed to help your clients with their problems. For example, I had a client ask me yesterday about introducing a bonus scheme into their practice and what would I recommend. Having done this for my wife's clinics but also many other clients, I knew what would work and what would not. ๐๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
3. From those early days of starting a niche over 20 years ago, we have added a compliment of other services to our offering. We realised early on that dentists needed help with raising finance, so we started an FCA regulated commercial finance brokerage. Two years back, we started off a buying group, enabling our client base to save money on key aspects of their business. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ.
I cannot stress how important building a niche within a sector is today. ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐ก๐๐ข๐จ, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช, ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ค๐ง, ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ก๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ.
Get in touch if you need some help with some ideas!