From Accountant to Owner: What to know when starting your own firm with Ryan Lazanis

“Get the pricing wrong, and you’re going to see all those other things cascade.”

In this episode of Greater than the Sum, Mark welcomes Ryan Lazanis, who successfully scaled and sold a seven-figure accounting firm and is now providing support to fellow accountants through his work as a CEO of Future Firm.

As an experienced accountant, Ryan knows firsthand the tradeoffs that come with the risk-averse training of the profession. But if you want to run a business, you must be open to growing, learning, and innovating. And that often requires thinking outside of the box and taking calculated risks.

Ryan breaks down all the lessons learned from his entrepreneurship journey, from an accountant-specific point of view. He highlights the importance of pricing your offerings smartly and avoiding the pitfalls of undervaluing yourself.

He also shares some tried-and-true strategies for negotiating strong business deals, recognizing the areas where you need to grow, and continuously educating and bettering yourself as a firm owner.

This episode focuses on:

• Common mistakes that accounting firm owners make
• The essential tips for overcoming the knowledge gap as a business owner
• The importance of getting pricing right – and how it can impact everything else
• Ryan’s proven three-tier pricing approach to make discussions with clients straightforward and tension-free

Greater than the Sum helps small business owners and the accountants who serve them remove the guesswork from their business finances and gain back the time to focus on what really matters.

You can check out Plooto.com for resources, tips, and advice on how to get control over your cash flow.

Links from the episode:

Future Firm Accelerator Program: https://futurefirm.co/accelerator/

Ryan’s recommended books for accountants: https://futurefirm.co/best-books-for-accountants-to-read/

Spark Hire recruitment software: https://www.sparkhire.com/

Vervoe: https://vervoe.com/

Future Firm newsletter: https://futurefirm.co/newsletter/

Ryan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlazanis/

Chapter Markers:

[1:01] Introduction: Ryan’s business mission and purpose

[1:46] Advice for my past self: Reverse-engineer your business

[3:20] Lessons from entrepreneurship: Starting a business as an accountant

[5:40] Challenges of starting a business: The importance of a pricing strategy

[8:30] Cloud accounting then vs. now: Winning customers’ trust

[11:42] Common mistakes SMBs make: Pricing, marketing, talent acquisition

[13:43] Tactics for negotiating pricing: A three-tier framework

[17:42] Resources for improving your skills as a business owner

[19:22] The critical role of your pricing strategy on business

[22:21] How to find tools to transform your business