The Wize Way

Episode 116: Wize Factor Chat: Byron McBroom - Measured Results

• Wize Mentoring for Accountants and Bookkeepers • Season 1 • Episode 116

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This week's episode of The Wize Guys Podcast presents another special edition of WizeFactor Chat with Byron McBroom, the CPA and Founder of Measured Results.

Byron shares his journey from starting his first firm in 1985 to founding Measured Results in 2002. He discusses the strategic growth of his business, driven by effective marketing, partnerships, and the invaluable guidance of Wize Mentoring.

Byron reveals how the Wize Mentoring system transformed his firm, enabling him to reduce his work hours to just 10 per week while achieving significant business growth. He also recounts a life-changing accident in August 2022, where he sustained multiple severe injuries. Thanks to the robust systems in place from Wize Mentoring, his firm continued to operate smoothly and efficiently during his six-month recovery, ensuring all clients were serviced without interruption.

Tune in to hear Byron's inspiring story of resilience and learn how Wize Mentoring's strategies can help create a sustainable, self-sufficient business!

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Wize Mentoring:

From Wize Mentoring is The Wize Guys Podcast, a show about accounting and bookkeeping practice owners and the many stories, lessons, and tips from their experience of transitioning from a time- poor practice to a business that runs without them.

Wize Claudia:

Hi Byron, thank you again for being with me and for making it to this Wize Factor Chat. As I was telling you before, I was talking to your former mentor, Tim, who said this is a really cool guy. I want you to talk to him and I couldn't wait. So you're back from your vacation and while you're back from your vacation, I wanted to get a hold of you. So, thank you again. I'm going to go, as I told you, through some questions. They're very simple, but I really want to know your journey, from when you started your firm and forward and when you found Wize. So let's go from the beginning. When did measured results start?

Bryon McBroom:

Well, my first firm started in 1985. Okay, that was Byron

Bryon McBroom:

And I did that for about I don't know, till 2002, sold it. I was going to go into something else and then 9-11 happened and wiped out that market. So I started back up again with this time measured results, and so it started in about 2002. And I had always bumbled along with about four or five guys. You know, it was the basic, everything they talk about at Wise, where someone can handle a million dollars worth of business and then. But my philosophy was that I always liked to play a lot because I had a boat and I skied, I rde bikes a lot, I was very active with my kids and so I wanted a lot of free time. So my business always hovered around. You know, 750,000 at the time. Now, keep in mind this is 20 years ago, so it's probably equivalent to 1.2, 1.3 million and my goal really wasn't to grow, it was just to have a good life and have lots of fun.

Bryon McBroom:

Okay, then what happened is in about 2016. My son became old enough and he wanted to be a CPA, so he was going to become a partner. So I said we got to grow this thing. We can't just take the same firm and split it between two people. Then we're both, you know, splitting the pot. We have to grow it so we can have a bigger pot.

Bryon McBroom:

So we started marketing and we actually found out that we were pretty good at it. We started off by giving speeches at real estate offices and every speech I'd give I'd get one or two clients from it. The average fee was about $10,000 a piece. And so we grew. I gave 30 speeches that year, so we grew up about three or four. You know we grew actually a lot and you know we had all the growing pains that went along with it.

Bryon McBroom:

And when I was in my 750, just so everybody puts that in reference that was a team of five. It was myself who acted as the manager, the client manager, my son acted as the senior production manager and then we had a bookkeeper and then we had, you know, basically one offshore bookkeeper and then we had a receptionist, just to give everybody a frame of reference for what we had. So I think the first year we grew from 700, 650 or so. We grew up to a million. The next year we grew from a million to 1.6 million. At the same time, my son started dabbling in Instagram and Facebook and all this stuff, and actually, we became very, very good at it. He actually ended up getting up to over a million followers on Instagram.

Wize Claudia:

That's awesome, I think 900, a million followers.

Bryon McBroom:

Yeah, I think 900 of them were from Pakistan, you know because they were all paid, so they weren't that good, but I think he probably had about 100,000 real followers. But we started getting, instead of giving speeches where I had to drive for an hour, give a speech, fight traffic coming home, we started getting people calling from Instagram and it really started to flow with all the, and then we found out a really good way to market is doing what we call mastermind programs. This is what I currently do. You just join a mastermind program and let's say it's a real estate mastermind program and you'll hang out with all the people with a lot of money and you get clients from it.

Bryon McBroom:

Okay, so we ended up getting to where our marketing was generating around $1.2 million a year in new business, which is pretty good growth and considering that would be a whole year's worth of business. We also met a guy and we became partners, joint venture partners with Tony Robbins, and so we would go to all of the business mastery programs and we would sit in the little back room, tony would mention us and it opened the doors for a break and there'd be a tsunami wave of people sprinting to make an appointment with me Wow.

Bryon McBroom:

So we ended up we always wanted Tony to be only 50% of our growth. So we'd actually grow a million and a quarter on Tony and then a million and a quarter with our own marketing. We were just vomiting clients. I mean, we actually at one point in time said we have too much to do and so we're going to raise our prices, which we did and then we also had to fire. We fired a whole bunch of clients. We upgraded the firm.

Bryon McBroom:

One of the great things we did was we let the employees pick who they wanted to fire and they just loved it because they got rid of all the people that were jerks and a lot of times people they'll kiss the owner of the firm's butt but they're rude to the employees and so we got rid of all those people. We got rid of all the people who didn't pay promptly. We got rid of, I mean, my accounts receivable. Back in my old days, I used to be a specialist with people with tax problems and I was running 200 days of accounts receivable because people didn't have any money. Now, with the new firm, I got my receivables nine days right now, you know, and that doesn't even count the people who make pay in advance.

Bryon McBroom:

So we're probably at zero days accounts receivable, but anyway, we got up, we kept growing, we grew, and we have grown, and with all these clients only, with all these clients, and we got up to I think we got up to almost 40 to I think it was 40 to 50 people. Wow.

Bryon McBroom:

And it was just a lot of discombobulation over and over and over again, and it was funny what had happened. We went back and said okay, how are we going to manage this? Because managing a $750 or $1 million firm is way different than managing a $5 million firm. Because we were up almost to $5 million when that happened I think about 4.5, and then we grew to 5. And what I realized is that we were the most effective when we were a team of five or six. All the customers were getting waited on properly, all the phone calls were getting returned, we were intimately familiar with the clients, and so what we did is we basically figured out that this is the Wize method. But we figured it out the deep and narrow super, yeah.

Bryon McBroom:

And so then we figured out, we broke up all these teams, and then at that point in time I stumbled upon Wize Mentoring ads. This is probably, I don't know, two and a half, three years ago. They didn't have very many US guys, I think, at the time, but we had also hired 12 people offshore. We actually at that point in time, had about 18 offshore. Now we have 12, but it was just a lot to manage. And then I bumbled upon the wise stuff and I was just so joyous and happy because this basically it was basically CPA in a box. Yeah, it was all my organization in a box and I don't know if you can tell from talking to me, but I'm a people person, I'm not a behind the scenes person and it was coming up with all these strategies. I just had to implement it. I'm a good implementer. But I just basically took the wise mentoring system and told my team, this is how we're going to do it. And so we implemented all the systems and made everything work. My son eventually left and started his own firm in Florida and basically I have about right now. Currently, I have about a $3 million firm and I have three teams through tax season.

Bryon McBroom:

Last year I probably worked 10 hours a week. I golf three days a week. You know I ride, I snow ski. You know, hopefully, about 20 to 30 days a year which is during tax season. You know, hopefully, about 20 to 30 days a year which is during tax season. And so this systematic way of pulling yourself out of the business is you. Everybody who's listening to this needs to embrace that full it just makes it so much easier.

Bryon McBroom:

Yeah, that's where I sit today and we did the one-on-one coaching and that was very, very helpful. We've implemented the fab five because now you can look at it and see what's working and what's not working. We do a bonus system to pay the industry average for CPA firms about 25% and I pay my team a bonus of 50% of the EBITDA over the industry average. That way they make a profit, if we make excess profits it's not because of me, it's because of my team. This is a way for them to make excess profits, it's not because of me, it's because of my team.

Wize Claudia:

This is a way for them to make extra profits too.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah, that's amazing so it's been a fun ride. Yeah, I wanted to ask you, so I love that you were very aligned with building a business that runs without you. You actually were like the flesh and bones of building a business that runs without you. You actually were like the flesh and bones of building a business that runs without you and beginning with the end in mind, which are two very important principles. So I wanted to ask you when you thought about growing and all of this was happening, did you see yourself out of the business? Or just 10 hours per week?

Bryon McBroom:

When I started growing this, I always had a saying, and I remember one time I was at a sales seminar. It was a two-year deal. We were learning how to sell to other CPAs not how to sell to other CPAs, but learn how to sell to customers. And I told everybody at the table or in the room that we have an expression at my firm that said Byron doesn't do anything. So when I sign up for work to do, I try not to sell work that Byron has to do. I'll speak of myself in the third person here. But so when I'm, a lot of times there's really complex issue situations where you can help a client out, but it's work that I have to do. We don't hardly take that on anymore. Or you break it down into small segments so that somebody in your firm can do it.

Bryon McBroom:

In my marketing plans, I don't try to sell things that I have to do just because I'm not trying to sell myself a job. I'm trying to just you know, just trying to make work that my team can do. So when you're designing your marketing program, always design work that can be done by your team. Remember one time I asked Ed what his ideal client was because you go to some of these people pushing these seminars on how to grow your business. They want to get you into doing CFO consulting or they want to get you into doing profit improvement. The problem with all that is and I'll give you a real- life example with me in a minute but the problem with that is work that Byron has to do.

Bryon McBroom:

And then I'm just buying a job where, when we were doing Tony Robbins, we were doing CFO work, fractional CFO work, and I had about 20 active clients and I would meet with those people one day a month and it was you know, or two days a month. It was 1500 bucks. I was making about 750 to 1500 bucks an hour, which is a good hourly rate. But the problem with that is there was no leverage on that work.

Bryon McBroom:

You know, it's someone that pays me 10 or 12,000, and I talk to them for maybe two hours a year. I'm really making $6,000 to $7,000 an hour on that work.

Bryon McBroom:

Where if I have CFO work and let's say I'm making $1,500 for an hour's worth of work. It's still only $1,500 because there's no follow-up work that my team does. It's all Byron.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah.

Bryon McBroom:

So I like staying with the rank and file. I remember one time I asked Ed what his favorite client was, you know, because everybody always loves the big clients oh, this guy's paying me $50,000. One time I had a world- famous client and I used to pay all of his bills and everything, and this is back 20 years ago. But he used to pay me $60,000 a year, so equivalent to 120, but I had to do about half the work, so it just was sucking all my time. Well, Ed told me his favorite client was the guy with an S corporation and a 1040. And he never he didn't even hardly know who he was. That's his favorite client.

Bryon McBroom:

But I thought, okay, we were in the process because our firm was growing so fast. We were making an $8,000 minimum to be a client of our firm and I realized we've made a big mistake by doing that, because it eliminated all the people that there's leverage on, and that was who I should have been pushing to. I should have been getting rid of all the $50,000 people and keeping it with the $8,000 people, you know $8,000 or less.

Wize Claudia:

Totally Exactly. Thousand dollar people and keeping it with the eight thousand dollar people, you know, eight thousand dollars or less, totally exactly like all these lines that require lots of your time. They're basically not your ideal. If your dream is to withdraw, there are firm owners who actually want to sit down with clients and do that because they love it, but at the end of the day is beginning with the end in mind. And if you're not sure that you want to live a life where you have to work seven hours a day, eight hours a day or plus, because honestly, for most CPAs it's plus.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah, Talk about tax season. A 10-hour tax season, that's thriving too. Byron, that was insane.

Bryon McBroom:

I golf three days a week through tax season this year. That's thriving to Byron. That was insane. I golf three days a week through tax season this year.

Bryon McBroom:

That's beautiful, but think also when you look at what generates a firm and value. What generates value if you're going to sell your business, which is more valuable for a firm where the owner works 10 hours a week or a firm where the owner works 70 hours a week? You know, obviously, it's the one that works 70 hours a week. This last year I had a 38% EBITDA, so 38% to my profit before my salary, and I work 10 hours a week.

Wize Claudia:

I mean, it didn't get much better than that this video or listening to us on the podcast, probably are thinking that that's the life they want. And it's not a tale. It's not a fairy tale. It happens to people like Byron, happens to people like Jamie. Actually, you remind me a lot of Jamie's journey, so I am.

Bryon McBroom:

I can see that you guys have worked a lot together but when I first started I had I felt pretty special because I had Ed, Jamie, and Tim as my coaches.

Wize Claudia:

Wow.

Bryon McBroom:

And pretty soon. Ed disappeared pretty quickly. Yeah, Jamie hung around a little bit longer and then they were struggling. I said Tim, Tim, we get more done when I just talk to you because then we get into the nuts and bolts of it. So Tim's been very, very helpful. High shout out to Tim.

Wize Claudia:

You've been an amazing mentor to byron and here's everything that he learned. So he's golfing three days a week in tax season as you can. He learned a thing or two, but I think you also had it in you, byron, and kudos to you for living the life you wanted to live from the beginning, because the envisioning free time for yourself as a practice owner, especially accounting especially in the United States, where it's also this tax seasons are very, very jam packed and I know that many accountants dream of this life. So my last question was related to that Like, now that you have more free time, what's a hobby you enjoy doing and that you'd like to do more of? But I think you're already there. So you mentioned golf, you mentioned hiking.

Bryon McBroom:

I just came back from a three-day backpack trip, Saw some beautiful waterfalls. Sierra Nevada and California are just stunning, you know. One thing I wanted to mention too is I mountain bike ride a lot and in August of 22, while I was mountain bike riding, I had a massive tree fall on me and it actually broke my neck, my back, my ribs, my teeth. I had bleeding on the brain. I was sitting at home in a back brace for months and I have to say this system really saved me because my business ran flawlessly without me. Well, I was gone for almost six months, other than taking an occasional phone call, and my business ran without me. So how many CPAs out there could have that happen to them and their business run and clients all got serviced when a tree falls on you and breaks your back? So that's something to consider too on how valuable this is.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah, thank you for sharing that. This is huge, even bigger than saying that. Yeah, of course, hobbies and having free time to enjoy family and golfing and bike riding is, of course, very important, but having your business survive after you are absent other than as you just, said phone calls.

Bryon McBroom:

It's amazing really, and, like I said, I just spent a week with my wife on vacation. Like I said, I just spent a week with my wife on vacation and then I came back and went immediately backpacking for three days and I don't have a lot of phone calls to answer. I got a lot of emails because there's a lot of spam, but the business clients all got handled while I was gone, and having the freedom to do that allows me to be able to work a lot longer and many, many more years because I'm not so burned out.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah, and that's amazing. That's what sustainability of a business is about Having a system that runs for you and works for you, so you don't have to, basically. So thank you for sharing all these insights. I came here hoping to find a very good interview, but this was great. So I thank you so much for your time, and for sitting down with me right after a three-day packing trip that I can't imagine. You're very tired and I'm so glad to see that you're perfect after that accident you had.

Bryon McBroom:

Well, I'm still a crappy golfer. I was a crappy golfer before my back broke and I'm still a crappy golfer, but I'm actually getting the ball better than before my back broke. So I used to be out there golfing with my back brace on and I could only do a three- quarter swing because of my brace, and people would ask if that was a training aid to make me golf better.

Wize Claudia:

No, I just had a very lethal accident.

Bryon McBroom:

I just had a tree fall on me.

Wize Claudia:

Yeah, oh, but so glad you're doing good and I hope the golfing improves.

Bryon McBroom:

I can highly recommend Wize Mentoring. It's just been wonderful for me. It's helped me focus on where I need to focus on my profit. The Fab Five that they run is amazing. You have to set that Fab Five up in your business. And I really like the one-on-one coaching program because it allows you to really get into the nuts and bolts and you know, a coach tells you things you need to do but don't want to, and that's what you'll get and it's a really good program.

Wize Claudia:

Thank you very much, Byron, and I hope that whoever sees this feels very inspired and can do the same as you did. So I'm not going to take more time from your day, so you may go ahead, Byron, have a great July. W hen this comes out, it will be later, but thank you so much.

Bryon McBroom:

Thank you Bye.

Wize Claudia:

See you. Thank you so much. Thank you Bye.

Wize Mentoring:

See you. Thanks for tuning in. If you liked this episode, please remember to subscribe and leave us a five-star review For more practical Wizee tips on how to build a business that runs without you, head over to wizementoring. com/ podcast to download a free copy of the Accountant's 20-Hour Workweek Playbook. We've included a link in the show notes below. See you on the next episode!