The “Hidden in Plain Sight” Growth Channel that Helped this Firm Owner Grow 75% YOY (for five years straight)

Podcast

Summary

• Creating The Largo Group
• Tapping into a “hidden in plain sight” growth channel
• Growing during COVID
• Building strong client relationships

Connecting with The Largo Group

• Visit their website: https://www.thelargogroup.com/
• Find them on Facebook
• Schedule a call with Anne

Meet Anne Gannon

Anne Gannon is the owner and founder of The Largo Group. The Largo Group provides innovative accounting and bookkeeping services to businesses and individuals. Since 2016, The Largo Group has seen huge success,  growing its revenue by 75% YoY over the last five years. In this podcast, Anne will explain how The Largo Group got started, how she tapped into a unique growth channel, how she’s grown during COVID, and how she builds and maintains strong client relationships. 

Creating The Largo Group

Before launching The Largo Group, Anne was working at one of the big five firms in Boston. She quickly realized she worked better in a small firm and was attracted to the idea of doing things her way. She left the firm and started serving clients on her own. This allowed her to create her schedule and have more client interaction, something she really enjoys. 

Anne continued her business by herself until 2016 when she then hired a part-time employee to help with general tax clients and officially became The Largo Group. With the addition of her new employee, she made it her goal to get away from billable hours because she believes it can create a disconnect between her and the client. To do this, she aimed for smaller clients so she could come in with a set price. 

She also continued working within her niche; hospitality and restaurants. She enjoys this aspect of her work because she can make real-world connections and it keeps things exciting.

Get everything you need to manage projects and meet deadlines.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, and get 32 free accounting workflow templates today!​​

sign me up!

An added bonus to working with clients in the restaurant business is they are typically looking for bookkeeping services, meaning they need her help year-round rather than just during tax season. To get in front of these kinds of clients, she began to build relationships with operational consultants. Creating this connection was key to her early success. 

To get connected with the consultants, Anne attended hospitality shows where they typically went to find clients. She would introduce herself to them and ask questions to get a better understanding of what they did. From there, she explained how they could work together to help their clients. 

Anne would offer the behind-the-scenes bookkeeping while the consultants would communicate what the numbers meant and how they could be improved. Because both she and the consultants wanted to see the clients succeed, they were able to provide unique and personal service to the clients. 

Growing During COVID

Before 2019, Anne’s largest consulting relationship fell apart, forcing her to find a way to connect with clients without their help. Fortunately, this prepared her for what was to come when COVID hit. Because her clients were mainly restaurant owners, nearly every single one of them was running a failing business. They were forced to cut back in a lot of areas but luckily for Anne, her clients knew they needed an accountant to help them through this difficult time. 

With business looking different than usual, Anne knew it was time to hire a COO. Through a connection with Sysco, she was able to hire a former high-level exec within two days. His upper-level management skills were exactly what she was lacking and brought a whole new approach to the way they operated the firm. Making this hire enabled Anne to focus more on the technical side of things, as well as building client relationships. 

Building Strong Client Relationships

Anne’s desire to reach and connect with clients on a more personal level sparked her idea for the Championship Retreat. The Championship Retreat is a weekend full of golf and tax tips for any of her clients to enjoy. The purpose of the event is to connect with clients outside of the traditional environment, get to know each other better, and plan forward. 

She has also introduced The Largo Academy which was created to help bridge the gap between her clients and general accounting knowledge. There is also a free, four-week financial accounting course available to anyone interested in learning the basics. More in-depth courses come with a small price tag but offer one-on-one and additional resources. 

Through Anne’s unique approach to reaching clients, her focus on growing during COVID, and her innovative ways of connecting with clients, she has been able to experience success over the last five years. To learn more about how she did it, be sure to listen to the full podcast above!