052 Matthew May | Niche, Niche, Niche – the Journey of The Tech CPA
So many of the episodes on this show talk about the power of the niche. You might resist it now, but listen in to Matthew May share his journey of specializing his CPA powers on clients in the field of technology and let me know why it does not work for you.
Matthew’s path took a few years, but he knew getting that one anchor client in technology would lead to more value in his work as well as higher profits. Listen for the opportunities that Matthew has now because of his niche.
Seriously, this conversation is as valuable as it comes when deciding who you serve in your business and spans across all types of business. Just think about this, the typical CPA does not focus on any given industry and hence does not grow the way Matthew talks about in this episode. It is unfrocking believable!
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Matthew’s Target Audience: Matthew’s target market is other companies who need a part-time CFO. Matthew’s team becomes the company’s management team 1-2 days a week, to provide oversight of the accounting team.
About 20 years ago, Matthew May was like a lot of other CPAs in the world. He was good at his job and he enjoyed his work. But he took a look around him and wondered how he was different than anyone else – what set him apart and made him unique and memorable?
TWEET THIS: "I saw if I wanted to be successful, I had to be the one people called." Matthew May
At the same time, the company he was working for had hired an executive business coach. They were required to meet with the coach as a group once a month and individually once a month. It was in those individual sessions that Matthew began to formulate who is ideal market was and how he was going to work with them.
With the help of his coach, he knew he needed to work with his ideal market if he was going to be most impactful and memorable among all the CPAs out there.
TWEET THIS: "Having a niche gave me a workable plan.” Matthew May
He settled on the technology industry; he had always loved working with those clients and no other CPA was specializing in that niche. Again at the behest of his coach, he created a list of a few of his top “movers and shakers” in the tech world and began systematically contacting them, connecting with them over lunch or coffee and setting the groundwork for a solid relationship.
Though it took three years and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, Matthew has landed on top. He is now one of the managing partners at AcuityCFO, a thriving accounting firm. In fact, last year they went from 12 to 28 people. If you do the math, they more than doubled their staff! And 80% of the firm’s clients are in the tech space, Matthew’s original target market.
TWEET THIS: "You become an innovator in your field because you start thinking out of the box." Matthew May
In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:
- He generated clients before he created a niche: true or false?
- How does he create the most impact with his clients?
- What were the steps he took to get started in his niche?
- The necessity of encouragement when you’re niching down.
- What gave him the confidence to go out and buy an existing firm?
- Does he get tired of working in the same industry and the same clients?
- How often should you hold strategy sessions?
- How long did it take for people to see him as The Tech CPA?
TWEET THIS: "There's a turning point once you become a specialist." Matthew May
Practical & Actionable ([32:00]):
Matthew’s practical and actionable advice is to narrow down what you say when you meet somebody at a networking event, keep it simple. When I walk up to someone and they say what do you do? I say I’m the tech CPA.
It took me a long time to narrow it down to that simple of a message.
Somebody described it to me as a “Scooby Doo” moment: you either get a head turn and they say “What?” or you know they aren’t interested.
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS SESSION INCLUDE:
To give Matthew a shout out for being on the show, follow him and send him a message: Matthew May. Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter at @genehammett and let me know what you liked about the episode!
Do you have questions about today’s episode!?!
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