As we launch headlong into another year you need to ensure your practice is well prepared for 2022. By taking the time now, before your calendar becomes prohibitive, you can tick off a few wins to set you on the path to a successful year.

1) Staff requirements and hiring parameters

What will your practice’s staffing requirements look like in 2022? According to research by KPMG, hiring and retaining staff will be a key concern for the next few years.

Further research by Deloitte also points to staffing shortages as a major issue moving into 2022. In fact, “previous concerns about Brexit and weak global growth have eased. Instead, businesses named persistent labour shortages as their biggest threat, ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

As the Guardian also reported, “More than a quarter of the 500 firms polled said the lack of staff was putting pressure on their ability to operate at normal levels.”

There’s another issue at play here too, the skillsets that are required to run a future proofed practice have shifted. You may now be looking to not only keep valuable staff working, you may be required to hire for a wider variety of roles with a specialty focus.

With data specialists and business advisory roles becoming more important, it may be time to replot your staffing needs on top of ways to mitigate staff shortages due to the pandemic.

2) Take stock of last year’s performance and absorb data-based lessons

How thoroughly have you evaluated the year previous? It was likely a strange anomaly as compared to your previous year’s data and performance, so taking stock is of the utmost importance.

You may be inclined to charge directly into the new year to reinvigorate your practice, but do so with a cool head.

Ruthlessly interrogate the data in your systems such as CRM and practice management to:

• Determine your financial trajectory and projections
• Document client behavioural changes, including ebbs and flows in work as well as remote working practices
• Determine your high / low performing services
• success / failure of remote services or measures
• Understand your high value and repeat clients
• What was the effectiveness (or lack thereof) for your of marketing campaigns (ROI)
• Staff performance metrics

You can easily extrapolate crucial lessons on how to adjust course this year with a thorough evaluation of your firm’s data.

3) Spring clean your online presence

Your online presence is an ongoing project that will endure in perpetuity.

Websites are never ‘done’, social media efforts can always be maximised and SEO can always be improved.

Things you can achieve:

• Do a review of your website – include branding, menu review, site structure, site speed, mobile friendliness, contact methods, and calls to action.
• Revamp your SEO efforts – bring in an expert to do an SEO review. They can advise on website tagging, content SEO, keyword research, link building, and improving site speeds and webpage efficiency.
• Social media page review – ensure you have up to date details, polished branding, well-articulated purpose and quality content.

4) Re-evaluate your marketing

New year, new marketing plan.

Rejigging and correcting course in your marketing efforts should be a regular event. In a tumultuous business environment, adjusting your approach may be more necessary than usual.

Log into your social media accounts, website backend, Google analytics and EDM tools. Pull out some reports from these tools and solutions to understand the true value of your marketing efforts over the last year or more.

Evaluate:

• Social media performance – what worked well and what didn’t?
• Your EDM campaigns – how can you improve open rates and click throughs? Have you tried A/B testing to home in on the best approach?
• Your advertising – Which of your ads performed the best? What was the better platform?
• Your marketing ROI? Are there clear winning strategies and losing avenues? How much are you currently paying per lead?
• Do you have a marketing content calendar ready to go which hits on current pain points? Be sure to include blogs, social content, videos, advertising, interviews and any partner or client focused deliverables.

Once you’ve taken stock of the winners and losers in your marketing strategy from the year prior, the impetus is clear – double down on what performed favorably and ditch the rest. If unsure, always A/B test.

5) Look to further digitalise your workflows

You should also be spending some time at the beginning of this year looking at your tools and workflows. While you’re more than likely already on a journey of digitalisation, it’s time to seek further improvements for the new year.

• Are there better, more efficient solutions out there?
• Can you consolidate disparate workspaces?
• What kind of headaches or blockages do you have in your workflows?
• Are your staff fully equipped with the best solutions to increase their efficiency and performance?

These may be iterative improvements or more comprehensive overhauls, but the simple fact is that you can’t stay static forever. There’s always going to be a better way to do work, as served by better processes and new technology. Be sure you keep your finger on that pulse.

6) Work on futureproofing your practice

Get your Nostradamus on. It’s no industry secret that the accounting profession is in flux. New roles are emerging, service types are diversifying, and technology is taking over previously human centric roles. Add to this the true advent of remote working and a pandemic influenced business landscape in turmoil, and you have a situation ripe for reimagination.

It won’t all happen at once, but it should be abundantly clear that it’s time to start taking steps to embrace change and ready your practice for the not-too-distant future.