How to go from start-up to scale-up to £1 million-plus

• Preparation is key – allow a day a week to work on business growth.
• Consider what you are best at and get the right message to the right clients.
• Embrace technology and hybrid working.
• Take your team with you on your growth journey.

Ambitious businesses that scale up are the growth stars of the country, contributing £1.2 trillion to the UK economy, according to the Scale Up Institute.

But going from start-up to scale-up as an accountancy firm requires preparation and a plan, as well as the right team and tools.

We asked Heather Townsend, founder of The Accountants' Growth Club, for tips on how to take your business from start-up to £1 million turnover and beyond.

Processes and systems

The main difference between growth and scaling up is that, with growth, you add resources at around the same rate as your revenue grows.

Scaling involves rapid growth of income while adding resources at a slow rate.

Automated, low-cost delivery that includes inexpensive customer service and support functions is part of the key to the latter and increasingly essential for all accountants.

To get from £50,000 to £250,000 and beyond you need to implement an integrated practice management or customer relationship management (CRM) platform and automate processes, says Townsend.

This will not only free up your time to win more of the right type of work, but provide consistency of service.

Practice management platforms can automate processes such as onboarding, chasing records and tax receipts from clients, generating task lists, sharing documents with clients, tracking productivity and profitability, and more.

The right software can also help you make the most of your transaction data to gain insight into and improve sales performance for growth.

Fail to plan, plan to fail

“Accountants often fall into the trap of thinking they will concentrate on growth when it is quiet,” says Townsend. “They simply don’t plan enough.”

Your processes should include a rolling, week-by-week operational plan as well as a 12-to-18-month plan that considers issues such as potential hires to increase capacity.

Beyond that, having a regularly reviewed, long-term growth plan that includes scenario and contingency planning, as well as strategy and implementation, is key.

Townsend suggests building in planning time of, ideally, eight hours a week to work on the business. This is particularly important if you are chasing fast growth to scale up.

Hiring right

You can’t scale up alone and it’s also difficult if you are intent on hiring cheaply.

“A lot of accountants hire an apprentice and then wonder why they need a lot of support and time,” says Townsend.

Conversely, smart hiring isn’t necessarily about employing an all-rounder who is good at everything, or a power player who will help drive growth in specific function, she says.

“It’s about hiring for attitude and fit, and creating the right firm culture. That means someone who can get quickly to the level where they are managing a client portfolio, and who supports the goals of the practice.”

Flexible working

A fancy location or a state-of-the art space won’t necessarily help your business grow faster.

If you are considering scaling up, you need to think about how you operate a hybrid work system, says Townsend.

A recent survey UK Talent Trends in Finance 2023 found 77% of finance professionals believe they are more productive working remotely.

Collaborative tools and platforms such as Zoom, Slack or Microsoft Teams are essential, as is a management process that includes regularly checking in with your team to manage performance and morale, and setting deadlines to ensure efficient workflow.

Stepping up

To lead a team, you need to be a leader, and that may mean some changes in behaviour and even some upskilling to give you more confidence and management tools.

“As a leader the questions you need to ask yourself include ‘can I delegate?’, ‘can I set expectations around behaviours both formally and informally?’, and ‘can I have difficult conversations?’,” says Townsend.

Of course, leadership is more complex than this, she says, but a good leader is able to take their team with them on every part of the scaling up journey.

The ‘Help to Grow’ site from the Department of Business and Trade is aimed at upskilling businesses to help them boost business profits.

Expanding your client base

“What is it you do that you are particularly good at?” asks Townsend.

“You might be fanatical about delivering great service, or you could have a niche area like property investment.”

She advises against accountants trying to be all things to all people, particularly on their website, and recommends specialisation instead.

Once you’ve decided who you are and who your client is, it’s crucial to get your marketing message right, particularly if you are chasing fast growth rather than just growth through referrals.

“Really consider your audience and how you make yourself attractive to them,” she says. “You might be posting on LinkedIn and putting out a mix of testimonials, case studies, fun posts and some that inform or educate.”

If you are not confident in marketing or social media, outsource it.