Bizdom is a boutique accounting firm in Napier on New Zealand’s North Island with nine employees and two directors. Since its inception six years ago, founder and CEO Mark Greer CA has implemented a clear strategy for growth.

“A strategic plan is important. It helps build constant and consistent brand messages to attract the right customer and the right employees,” he says. “Our whole business is built on our strategy: our website, how we behave, how we dress, even our meeting rooms. It’s the manifestation of our strategic plan.”

Originally launched as an advisory firm, Bizdom later expanded into compliance. About 20 % of its clients are accounting firms seeking coaching support for their own business development, while the majority are medium-sized businesses, with a few ambitious start-ups.

“Our purpose is to help all our clients build a better business,” Greer says. “We help make sure that your business works for you, not the other way around.”

Strategy is the lynch pin to making this work. “When you are not confident about your strategy, you’ll say ‘yes’ to the wrong client. We don’t want you to fill up your conveyor belt with non-target clients and have your employees pumping out low-value work. We’d rather you pumping out high-value work,” Greer says.

The advice he gives to clients, he also applies to his own business. Bizdom currently aims to take on only one new client a month, despite receiving more than 20 new requests. “We’re only looking for ten new clients a year to achieve 10% growth,” says Greer.

And there’s a big difference between vision and strategy, he adds. “To turn that vision into a plan, you must have tangible actions, tight accountability and independent accountability. Otherwise, it stays a vision or a mission — or a dream or a wish — that may never happen.”

Every quarter, Greer and Christine Singh, Bizdom’s other director, meet with Mark Jenkins of The Gap. They also belong to a group of eight accounting firms that meet every 90 days.

“Those eight firms challenge our strategy. They challenge our assumptions, they challenge the goals that we’re setting for the quarter,” he says. “We break them down into a timeline and inside those measurable goals are specific tasks tagged to an individual employee with a deadline.”

Before Bizdom, Greer owned another accounting firm which he sold after working himself “into the ground”. He learned from his past mistakes and now takes three months off every year, from December to March.

“Less is more. I have fewer high-value clients and that really works for me. I’m servicing them all really well. I’m empathetic and friendly, but firm, and don’t let them take over my calendar.”