The Wize Way

Episode 177: The Bad Habit Every Firm Owner Must Break to Scale

• Wize Mentoring for Accountants and Bookkeepers • Season 2 • Episode 177

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Most firm owners don’t realize they’ve built habits that keep them trapped inside their own business.
They’re working harder, staying later, and solving every problem themselves - but every time they step in, they take the job back.

In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Ed Chan breaks down the #1 habit that’s holding firm owners back - bypassing their team. He explains why every time you answer a client directly or fix an issue for your staff, you’re actually stopping your business from working without you.

You’ll learn:
✅ Why the “No Bypass Policy” is the hardest rule to follow but the one that sets you free
✅ How to stop being the bottleneck in your own firm
✅ The mindset shift that turns chaos into calm
✅ Practical ways to retrain yourself (and your team) to lead, not do

If you’re serious about scaling a business that runs without you, this conversation will hit home.

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PS: Whenever you’re ready… here are the fastest 4 ways we can help you fix and grow your accounting firm:

1. Download our famous Wize Freedom Strategy Map for FREE - Find out the 96 projects every firm owner must implement to build a $5M+ firm that can run without them - Download here

2. Need to Hire right now? Book a 1:1 FREE discovery call with our WizeTalent hiring coaches to help find your next team member the Wize Way – Click Here

3. Book a 1:1 Wize Discovery Session – Spend 30mins with our Wize CEO, Jamie Johns, a $7M firm owner who is ready to give you his entire business plan to build a firm that can run without you – Find out more here

4. Work with Jamie and our mentors for 8 weeks - Build a custom business plan for your firm - Apply here

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to The Wise Way, the show for accounting and bookkeeping firm owners who want more time, profit, and freedom, and a business that can run without them. I'm Bren Ward, your host, and each week we deep dive into the real stories, proven strategies, and battle-tested tools from successful firm owners just like you. Our wise mentors want to share their journey of how they've scaled and systemized their way to freedom so you can too. If you're stuck in the grind or you're ready to scale smarter, this is your blueprint. Let's get into the episode.

SPEAKER_02:

Got to see friends. So he's coming back refreshed to talk to us about some of the burning topics that our members have been asking about. So yeah, very excited to dig in with you, Ed. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm well, thank you. Thank you. Ed, thanks for having me, Cody.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, happy to hear that. Thank you. Um, so yeah, some of the questions that we've gathered, as always, come from uh, you know, careers that we have and ideas that our mentors and members have about certain topics. So I'm going to to ask a few and see how how you would tackle them. So one of the first things that we are are seeing in the current landscape and everything is that uh you know that the no buy policy is one of our uh most important pillars that firm owners implement if they want to build a business that runs without them, right? So um it's very it's often you've seen that it's very difficult for firm owners to adhere to generally, especially when it comes to bypassing their senior client manager and engaging directly with team or clients. What is your advice on this?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Um it's it's firstly it's very, very important because uh it's it's the reason why uh a lot of firms, including myself when I first started, uh, was working so hard. And, you know, I I started this business uh thinking that it would give me the life that I wanted to live, but eventually and and end up taking the life from me. And uh and you know, and I hear that from firms constantly, and they say things like, uh, I don't want to grow anymore. And and that that's how I felt also. But what they're really saying to me is not that they don't want to grow, it's just that they associate growth with pain and they can't take any more pain, so they don't want to grow anymore. But you know, this is this is all to do with um, you know, creating a system and a business that works. Because if the business doesn't work, then you're working really hard. But if the business is working really well, then you don't have to work. So you just uh said that I come back from Europe for a trip, and that's right. So the business doesn't depend on me, it just runs without me. And so the harder you're working, the less your business is working, and the less you're working, the the better your business is working. So and this bypassing policy is is one of the really important ingredients uh things that you've got to implement in your firm. Uh but most people find it very difficult because it is very difficult to break habits. And and to be honest, some some some of us um we're we're accountants, of course, and accountants have this tendency to be uh very controlling over everything and they want to be across everything, and it's very hard to let go. And um, you know, if you want to grow your business, if you don't want to be a prisoner in in your business, if you want the business to work so you don't have to, then you need to master the no-bypass policy. And and I'll I'll give you a couple of examples, uh Claudia, so that we can uh understand what we're talking about. So often you might meet a client and the client gives you their work. And um, you know, it could be, you know, anywhere, it could be at the pub and they give you their work. Um although nowadays it's mostly on the computer, but in my in my days, they you know, they hand this this bundle of work to you, and um you then go and you and and the bypass can happen both ways. So you can bypass your senior client manager and you give the work down to his or her staff, uh, or the bypassing can occur from the staff to you and bypassing the the senior client manager, or you're you're you're dealing with the client directly and you're bypassing the senior client manager. So when you do that, then the the person that you've asked to run this team for you, you're you're actually undermining their authority. So you're you're saying to them, I want you to run this team and you know take care of the clients, and then you then bypass them and deal with the clients yourself. And then eventually they're gonna go, well, you know, you you tell me to deal with the clients, but then you deal with them directly. So I'll just sit back at what you what you deal with them, and eventually all the work ends up on the partner's desk. And it's not because, you know, the staff are not any good or anything like that, it's because of your own behavior. And your behavior dictates how everyone around you behaves as well. And and and the other bypassing that occurs, uh, apart from bypassing the client manager to the client and deal with the client directly, so is also giving the work directly to the staff and not through the client manager. And also sometimes the staff member comes and asks you a question rather than going back to the client manager to ask the question, and then the question that the client manager either answers it or comes to you if if he or she doesn't know the answer comes to you for the answer. So all these situations uh occurs and it it's bypassing and it's undermining your author the authority of your client manager, and eventually they don't know, they they get so confused, um, they don't know you know whether they're coming or going, and it creates chaos in the organization. So um the the the the thing that's it and it's really hard to to to break habits, right? It's it's really, really hard to break habits, and I get that, but you really have to uh work hard at uh not doing that, and to make sure that um if a client rings you and you've spoken to the client and you've answered their their their questions, you've come up with a solution, you must go back to the senior client manager to keep them in the loop, keep them informed as to what's going on, because if you don't, they won't take ownership of that client. That you've just taken the ownership of that client back onto your own hands. All right. So that's the worst thing to do. Um, but uh when a staff member comes to you directly with a question, and I know what you're thinking, you're going, well, it's quicker if I just answer it, right? Rather than do all this long way around, you know, do the it's quicker if I just answer it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But if you do that, again, uh you're not you're undermining the your c senior client manager's authority to manage the team. And eventually they'll just sit back and let you manage them as well. So eventually all the work comes back onto your onto your desk. Um, so often, you know, it it's best to have a three-way conversation. So sometimes um whenever I go see a client, I would bring the senior client manager in with me. So there's three of us uh sitting in in the conversation or in the Zoom. Um if a staff comes to me, sometimes you know, I'll have a three-way conversation with the client manager and the staff and myself. And that's a bit more efficient because I don't have to repeat and go back to the client manager, but it it it empowers the senior client manager to take ownership of both the client and the staff, the team, because they're responsible for the team. Um, so so that's why it's so important that you get on top of the no-bypass policy. And and look, it some of us are early adopters, you know, you you get told once and yes your staff is the same, and your clients are the same. You know, you you say to the clients, um, you know, Jack, Jack's your client manager, and they come back to you. All right. So they're they're the they're the the the early adopters, you tell them once and they go straight to your senior client manager. The middle adopters, you've got to do it two or three times. They'll keep coming back to you, but you keep directing them back to the client manager, or you bring the client manager into the room or into the conversation. And you have to do that, you only have to do that two or three times to the middle adopters, and then they they're constantly dealing with the client manager. Now, the late adopters, it they might need 10 to 20 times um to get them to change their habits, including yourself. You know, you've got to change habits yourself too. So you could be a uh a middle to a late adopter, and it takes you longer to do this, but you need to do it. And uh and I'm I'm a bit of a middle adopter. I'm not an early adopter, I'm more of a middle adopter. So it took me uh a bit of difficulty as well to do this. And um, but you know, the the the the the outcome is it's it's it's incredible, you know. Like often I get uh accountants say to me, Oh, but my client only wants to deal with me. You know, I hear that quite a bit. Um but they don't I you know I've proven it, they don't only want to deal with you. Part of it could be your ego, so sorry to say, because people like to be liked, okay. Um but if you want to scale this business, you've got to grow this business, it's about getting the team to to to take over uh most of the work, if not all of the work. And and then you get to do the things that you enjoy doing, you know, and and um and and but but when clients say I only want to deal with you, they're not really saying that. It's just because they haven't you haven't introduced them to anybody else. And also, um, you know, they might be middle to late adopters, they take a little while to change their habits. But, you know, um I find there's challenges with early adopters, middle adopters, and the different types of challenges. So as a st with staff, if they're early adopters, they're they're great to work with because you tell them once and they and they're doing the new, that they know how to do it very, very quickly. But early adop adopters also change very, very easily. So they they grab onto something new, and then the you know, you've taught some you've taught them how to do it this way, and all of a sudden they're doing it something, you know, a different way uh in in a few months' time because they're they're so they're so quick to learn, they grab onto other things, and that's a bit frustrating uh because you want everything done in the same way. The middle adopters, you've got to tell them two or three times, and that might take a bit more work, right? But eventually when they when the habits do change, then you know they they're just fantastic. Now, the late adopters, you know, they're they're very hard to work with uh initially because you've got to tell them 10 or 20 times. But the really good things of good thing about the late adopters is once they've changed their habits, they're fantastic to work with because they always do it exactly the way you tell them. They never change. And and that's so easy in the long run to work with. So as long as you understand this, then you can work with the people that you've got around you. And you know, you can use the the different techniques with them because you understand, you know, what kind of personalities they are. I hope that made sense.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you so much for your for pouring your thoughts into our conversation today. This was amazing. Um, as always, great pleasure having you, um, you know, sharing your wisdom and answering burning questions from who listens to us. And um, I would say to everyone to stay tuned. We're going to have even more content, even more wisdom on our episodes. So, yes, thank you so much, Ed.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for having me, and uh look forward to the next one.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Wise Way. If today's episode sparked an idea or helped you see things differently, please don't forget to leave us a review. And if you haven't subscribed to the podcast on your favourite platform yet, please go ahead and do that as well. Let's continue the conversation here through YouTube or any other social platforms that you can find us on. And just remember, if you're not a subscriber of our weekly Friday tip newsletter, you can get that to your inbox every week going forward. Whether you're starting out or scaling up, you don't have to do it alone. Let's build a business that works for you, the wise way. We'll see you in the next episode.