When you are starting up in practice it is important that you are aware of the options to consider. Often the first steps are the most difficult ones. Our Setting up in practice pages will help by pointing you in the direction of answers to some key questions.

1. Set a review date

After a few months diarise a half-day to review your accounts, cash flow, client leads and conversions, etc. and consider how you have progressed. Your business will be simple so the easier your metrics are for measurement the better at this stage.

2. Are you heading in the right direction?

Hopefully the answer is that you are. If you are not achieving the amount of new clients or the level of fee income (per client or overall) that your business plan expected, consider why and analyse whether there is anything more you could do or if you are suffering from competitor fee pressure. Alternatively, was your plan simply unrealistic? If so, you have the opportunity to revise it.

Wrong decisions can be changed swiftly and, for example, if your pricing is not correct now is a good time to reconsider it.

Incorrectly priced services are the bane of any experienced practitioner’s life. Once set, it is very difficult to change the charges a client has become used to and can hamper the ability of a practice to maximise its income. As a practice becomes more established this can be a significant issue.