Podcast

 

 

Welcome

 

Join us today as we talk with Joe and Carla Castro on the Jetpack Workflow, Growing Your Firm podcast. 

 

Joe and Carla are the founders behind Cycle CPA, let’s dive right in! 

 

Resources

 

     

     

    About Joe and Carla 

     

    Joe and Carla are from Long Island, NY, where they took the train into the city at the very beginning of their journey. During their commute, they discovered the Growing Your Firm Podcast, taking in as much information as possible. They started Cycle CPA at one of the most challenging times any of us have faced, Q4 of 2019 as it led into the testing time of 2020.

     

    Thankfully, due to Carla’s previous professional experience, they landed in the right niche. Because COVID-19 created much demand for home improvement projects and investments in people’s homes, this allowed for their business in the green industry to thrive and grow, both figuratively and literally. 

     

    Who, What, When, Where, & Marketing 

     

    Joe talks with David about two important questions Cycle CPA asked in the early stages of its development. 

     

       

        1. Where is the best place to get new clients?

        1. What would be the client acquisition cost?

       

      Joe explains that if we understand where to focus and how much it will cost, businesses are able to scale up rather quickly. It certainly worked for Cycle CPA as they’ve recently passed 7-figure revenues, and are looking into hiring their 12th employee in just about three years. 

       

      We can also learn from their conversation that many accounting firms aren’t taking advantage of marketing, online marketing tools, advertising dollars, etc. 

       

      Joe uses the terms, patience and presenting the value that you can provide. For more information on accounting firm marketing, check out this Growing Your Firm Podcast.

       

      Creating Value and Maintaining It 

       

      Marketing is crucial in the world today as are social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and many more. The daily newspaper is becoming obsolete and platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are the next big thing. 

       

      Joe explains that their firm focused on marketing from its inception, spending time and efforts on ads. More importantly, however, Cycle CPA noticed the significance in creating value and how it helps with maintaining potential clients. It’s also important to note their focus on brand development. 

       

      Joe explains that leading with the following can help potential clients keep you in mind, even if now isn’t the best time for them. 

       

         

          • Leading with value provided 

          • Leading with education and experience 

          • Creating a brand that is remembered 

         

        Even in the scenario that your personal efforts don’t land a client, it’s still important that they know who you are and what value your business can provide. Once this information is clearly communicated; it creates accountability, remembrance and the possibility that consumers want to do business with you when the time is right. 

         

        Joe and Carla’s success can be attributed to their hard work, grit mindsets, and YouTube (sort of).

         

        Carla is the CPA out of the two, and she manages the accounting and operational side of the business. While Joe has taught himself marketing funnels using YouTube, he also manages the HR side of the business. 

         

        For more information on marketing funnels, check out our video here

         

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        As the demand for time grows with the influx of clients, it’s important to prioritize what needs need to go where. Carla opens up about the importance of understanding the production rate. She defines this as the amount of time it takes staff to complete a service and/or revenue stream that Cycle CPA offers. 

         

        Here is an example they shared. 

         

        Carla uses a transaction count measurement in terms of the bookkeeping side of their business. To be more specific, it is recording a transaction and reconciling the length of time necessary for the staff to complete it. 

         

        In essence, Production Rate (Transaction Count) = actual time (minutes) spent on the project.

         

        Another measurement they use is prep times required for meetings.

         

        Cycle CPA asks the following questions when it comes to meetings: 

         

           

            • Historically, how long does it take to prepare for a quarterly meeting? 

            • How long does it take to prepare for a monthly meeting?

           

          Once identified, Carla uses historical information to derive all of the prep time based on the transaction count and revenue size of the client. 

           

          From here, it’s easy to see that by allocating project budgets (in time) to their staff, Cycle CPA is able to track, measure, and re-measure why projects were over, under, or on target. This also helps with measuring if their staff is over or under their specific working capacity. 

           

          We can learn much from the formulas and processes Carla and Joe use within their virtual Accounting Services firm. 

           

          They take a new-age approach to an age-old profession. One perspective Carla and Joe use is getting away from the fear based 70-hour work week and focusing on the flexibility that comes with the virtual workforce.

           

          For further information on the services and pricing provided by Cycle CPA: 

           

             

             

            If you’re seeking more information or further resources, you can always go to www.jetpackworkflow.com/blog

             

            We will see you there!

             

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