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The recession is in the bottom of the ninth and it's time for your firm to hit a home run! Winning the New Ballgame: Planning for Growth in a Post-Recession Economy takes the core concepts discussed in Ride the Bear: Strategies for CPA Firms to Thrive, Survive, and Grow in a Down Economy and guides your business practices through a recovering economy. Author Michael Ramos surveys both the short and long-term investments that you can implement as the economy rebounds. Recent, upcoming, and unprecedented legislation will prove to afford more tax planning and compliance opportunities, a wider range of tax planning services across larger pools of government and not-for-profit groups, and full service tax planning for budding renewable energy and reformed healthcare industries.
You'll find information on how to take improving economic conditions into account as you
This book is the second title in the Practice Forward series. AICPA Publications and the AICPA Private Company Practice Section have partnered on the Practice Forward series to bring you fresh thinking and creative approaches from recognized experts. Books in this series tackle new and emerging topics of concern for CPA firms, as well as delivering new approaches to perennial issues. You'll get a “from the trenches� perspective on the issues facing firms today and strategies to help you shake up established paradigms and reinvigorate tired processes.
About the Author
Michael Ramos works with CPA firms to create and implement business development, communication, and marketing strategies. He is the author of many books, most recently Ride the Bear: Strategies for CPA Firms to Thrive, Survive, and Grow in a Down Economy.
Content refers to previous edition
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From Introduction
May You Live in Interesting Times
The Chinese say, "May you live in interesting times." The use of this phrase is neither proverbial nor divine in nature, rather, it is said as a curse to someone you don't particularly care for. It's easy to see why. Interesting times are characterized by upheaval, as long-established customs and conditions abruptly cease to exist. Uncertainty about what will come next breeds anxiety and fear. You wouldn't want to live in interesting times.
Or would you? After all, what is the opposite of "interesting?" Dull? Wouldn't it be worse to live in dull times, where nothing ever changes, and have no chance to do anything different or to improve your lot in life? To live in interesting times is to be engaged and presented with unique opportunities that didn't previously exist.
In a famous speech given at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1966, Bobby Kennedy spoke of the great social unrest of his times and referenced the Chinese curse. He then added, "Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind."
Like it or not, we now live in interesting times, though our great challenges are economic, not social. The status quo is rapidly crumbling, much of it unlikely to return. Stability, when it does return, will usher in a brave new world. CPA firms now have choices to make, not only about how to deal with current economic conditions, but about how to position themselves for the new business environment that will emerge when the current crisis gives way to that as yet undefined set of conditions that will shape our new norm.
From the Conclusion
It's All How You Look at It
The current recession is deep, and the changes coming from Washington are staggering in their scope. The stimulus bill, the budget, and other changes that may soon be coming will fundamentally restructure the U.S. economy. And while all of that is going on, the playing field (and the rules of the game) will become increasingly global and technology will completely transform the way we do things, possibly several times over.
Interesting times? Indeed. But it's all how you look at it. Viewed from the right frame of mind, this "curse" is actually a blessing for firms willing to accept the inevitable risks, embrace change, and forge ahead with an intent and well reasoned plan to present clients with the services they need now rather than lamenting the decrease in demand for the services clients needed yesterday, when the market was more bullish and their balance sheets more robust.
The current economic climate is difficult, and CPAs are faced with issues they may not have seen in their professional careers and may not see again. But change brings opportunity. Do not let the headlines fool you; it is possible to succeed, and to grow, in this climate. Initiatives to drive down costs are at the forefront of most firms' strategic planning right now, in part, because risk-level appropriate cost containment is always smart practice and because this is familiar territory that we understand and feel comfortable implementing. But the firms that will grow in this new environment are the ones that take the calculated risk of getting out of their comfort zone and—in the cases where it makes sense—putting their resources in play to grow new lines of business.
These are historic times as our economy is poised to move in an entirely new direction. CPA firms should position themselves to move in that same direction.
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