There is one thing about our industry that continues to override most other things in running a practice – namely, compliance.
While financial services has always been heavily regulated; with FOFA and new the licencing regime, it seems compliance will play a much larger, and critical, part of decision making around business strategy and growth in the future.
In this week’s episode of No More Practice, Sam Henderson has a deep and meaningful conversation with compliance and legal expert, Christina Kalantzis.
With Barry Lambert urging Sam to franchise his business, Sam puts a real focus on finding out what would be involved for him in going down this route.
The biggest message he takes from these conversations is around the importance of managing risk. If he is to franchise his business, and have other advisers and accountants giving advice to clients in this franchise model, then Sam would be legally responsible for every piece of advice given.
This responsibility may well see Sam put the brakes on a franchising strategy due to the potential burden of compliance risk versus the possible return.
I have to wonder if this increased level of complexity will see a ‘flight to safety’ to the big brands, who will take the ultimate responsibility for education, licencing and compliance. At the very least it will force practice owners to pick their strategy and stick to it – and in Sam’s case, franchising will mean much more of his time working in the business making sure everyone else is meeting the compliance rules to manage his risk.
However, the increased focus on legislation and compliance will present opportunities for many service providers and partners to bring new ideas to the market. In fact, this is one of the reasons No More Practice is really resonating in the market. There are growth opportunities available right now – and those who move quickly will capitalise first. In upcoming episodes, Sam is coached through the new licencing regime for accountants and advisers in SMSF, and he learns what this could mean for his business growth.
While all this change can be complex, we aim to bring you more clarity around your business growth by showing you the options available and profile real live business owners making decisions based on these options.
If you have a strategic decision to make around your business we would love to hear from you – sometimes sharing with your peers can give you new ideas, and help others who may be in the same situation. Write to us via the website and we can point you in the direction of the right tools and resources that may help make up your mind.
Finally, I hope you are enjoying the show – make sure you tune into Sky Business this weekend at 9am Saturday or 9.30am or 5.00pm Sunday to see Sam deliberate on his choices and the compliance implications of growth.
