Is an accountant the best descriptor for who you are and what you do?
When you take on clients, do you find that they have a strong grasp of all that an accountant can do for them?
My new website launched this week (martinbissett.com) and the part of the build that took the longest to get a handle on was what title to give me.
Am I an advisor?
A consultant?
An author?
A CEO?
A chairman?
A speaker?
A director?
A trainer?
A mentor?
A coach?
Or the title given to me in the past to try and summarise the skillset; a ‘knowledge partner’?
A case can be made for all of the above as all of these roles are part of my current and past remits.
Now what about you?
‘Just’ an accountant?
An advisor?
A forecaster?
A part time FD? (fractional CFO for our US readers)
A partner?
A manager?
A business owner?
I’m sure that a case can be made for you fulfilling many if not all of those roles too. So, what is the optimum way to present ourselves to the market?
Lots of question marks so far, huh?
The answer of course, is what your client wants the most and puts the highest value on.
Here are some bullets to consider:
➡️ If you’re strictly in the low-price, high-volume compliance market, then calling yourself a ‘budget accountant’ is likely to attract the sort of client you can best serve.
➡️ If you’re very much a general practitioner without any specific niche or focus, then calling yourself a ‘full-service accountant’ is likely to be the most accurate tag for you.
➡️ If you prefer to carry out consulting work than compliance work, then perhaps ‘SMB Advisor’ would work well for you in the first instance.
As for what I landed on in the end, take a look at the site to find out.
After all, what’s in a name?
To your success
Martin Bissett
