It is extremely easy to get “caught up” in the daily routine of work, regardless of the specific position we hold within an organization. It is also easy to fail to connect the true purpose we are serving in our specific position and just how important that purpose can be to others.
Within the Franchise Services team at HORNE, we are serving our franchise-owner clients in a manner that is somewhat unique, even to CPA firms. Our business model is built around HORNE assuming the role of the client’s back office accounting staff, human resource team to a degree, and even the controller and chief financial officer in some cases.
This approach means we are typically having interactions with our clients’ businesses each and every day. This allows our team members to become extremely competent in their knowledge of each client’s particular franchise brand. And this level of brand specific knowledge is found throughout the varying levels of our client service teams, from the customer service representative to the partner serving the relationship.
Because of our focused approach and the keen senses that are honed from it, our team members are truly making a difference with our clients on a routine basis.
I recall instances when a client has gotten involved in the ownership of a particular franchised brand without a broad understanding of that business— and our team’s continual oversight and guidance through the intricacies have proven invaluable.
We also have circumstances in which we obtain a new client within a particular segment who may have been in the business for years but has not had the advantage of having an advisor who is focused in their industry. I have seen over and over how in a short period of time our team helps demonstrate to the client what they should expect, versus what they have been accomplishing in their business. In these situations our team shares in the excitement of seeing the client’s business evolve into a level of success that far out paces their previous results.
Additionally, through our constant contact with the clients we gain a clear perspective of each client’s goals for their businesses, from their growth aspirations, their ownership time horizon, and even their business divesture or succession plans. With this open dialogue our team engages in guiding the client along their planned path and advising them when a change in course may be prudent.
We often have clients who plan to grow their business in number of operating units, and we help them evaluate the opportunities to execute certain expansion or acquisition transactions. Often the result of our guidance can result in a potential transaction being foregone for various reasons identified by our team. These decisions are sometimes difficult ones for the client, but the reward for the client and our team members comes when the right opportunity is seized and the desired outcomes are achieved.
We pride ourselves on giving our team members the opportunity to reach their full potential by being engaged in relationships with clients. It is there they can individually recognize how they are indeed an integral component to achieving the client’s goals and our firm’s own mission of “Creating Value and Making a Difference.”
About the Author
Dee Boykin, CPA, CGMA, has served our franchise team and clients for 28 years. He is known for treating his clients’ businesses as if they were his own. He loves the outdoors and doesn’t mind making a client call from his deer stand.