9 Facts That Can Make or Break Your Firm’s Future

The rules of engagement for business are changing. Today’s world is complex, evolving, extremely high-tech, and fast. Whether you’re a small, one-person shop or a partner at a large or global firm, you’re probably aware that your most valuable current (and potential) clients are unwittingly converting business as we knew it into business-on-the-fly. And they’re bringing new methods that can also prove beneficial to the CPA.

Our societal landscape is significantly different than it was just a decade ago. There are new faces, new modes of interacting, and technology has inarguably and almost completely taken over. Is there a way to sustain and strengthen your practice in this ever-evolving world? Absolutely. In fact, now is an incredibly opportune time for your firm, especially considering the statistics.

In my presentations, I often share knowledge and new data to illustrate the many ways our communities are becoming increasingly diverse and more high-tech. Here are 9 things to know about today’s decision-makers:

• Women make up more than 50% of the national population. They also account for almost 85% of overall consumer spending.
• 47% of U.S. workers are women.
• America’s population is currently 34% Asian, Black or Hispanic.
• Our ten largest cities are now minority-majority. By 2040, this will be true across the nation.
• The LGBTQ population has $917 billion in buying power per news reports.
• Millennials are now the largest living generation.
• Within this Millennial population, technology is a way of life. They have tech-connect habits and expectations of the profession that are too profitable to ignore, and businesses who win them over are those that accommodate these habits.
• While these population statistics naturally overlap, if your firm isn’t working to attract these clients, you could be missing 76% of loyal clients.
• Since technology is changing at such a frantic pace, some of your current clients’ products and industries will fall away.
  1. Smartphones, for instance, will eventually replace the need for wallets.
  2. Self-driving vehicles will change and possibly eliminate parts of the transportation industry, such as trucking.
  3. There will no longer be a need for typing, and
  4. virtual face-to-face meetings will be commonplace.

These insights into today’s population, and the diversity of thought, perspective and worldview that literally lives right next door, can hopefully provide insight into who your customers are, who they can be, and how to adjust your practice accordingly. This is a dynamic and transformational time, with new avenues to help sustain and strengthen your practice. Opportunities are virtually limitless.

I’ll be sharing more information in a free AICPA webcast that includes a question and answer session for participants, and offers a free CPE credit. Register for “How to grow your practice in a changing environment: technology and generational impact,” to be held Wednesday, Sept. 20, from 1 pm–2 pm ET.

Tariq Khan, founder and CEO of Global Diversity Marketing, is a recognized business leader in marketing, branding, innovation, digital marketing, social media, and diversity. He serves on several boards of directors, is a sought-after keynote speaker, and also teaches marketing, public relations and leadership as an adjunct professor at New York University graduate school.

Grow your practice courtesy of Shutterstock.

     

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