The Self Esteem Bullet
Got 10 minutes? That’s all it takes to sharpen your practice! In this episode of the Bissett Bullet podcast, Martin Bissett delivers two actionable insights to help you grow your firm without the overwhelm.
What’s the most significant barrier to growing your firm?
It’s not the market, your fees, or your team—it’s you!
In this episode of The Bissett Bullet, we tackle the self-esteem issue holding back too many accounting professionals. You might be more capable than you think, but your clients won't be either if you don’t believe it.
Part 1: The Real Problem
Self-doubt is one of the profession’s most persistent challenges. You'll keep settling for less if you don’t believe you're worth higher fees, better clients, or bigger opportunities. It’s not about what clients think but what you believe. And until that changes, nothing else will.
Part 2: The Fix
The only proven cure for low self-esteem in practice is proof. Real, tangible, undeniable proof that you’ve made a difference. Your past work has helped clients save money, grow their businesses, and solve major problems—and that evidence is your strongest asset. If you're experienced, find your stories. If you're newer, ask your team to share theirs. Then, use them. Confidence follows clarity.
Want to grow your firm without being overwhelmed? Get daily, bite-sized, actionable advice that is easy to implement and budget-friendly. This is The Bissett Bullet with Martin Bissett.
---
Ready to grow your firm with practical, no-nonsense advice? The Bissett Bullet podcast gives you bite-sized insights you can implement today.
Visit www.bissettbullets.com for more resources.
---
4impactdata is an AI-powered platform that helps firms move beyond historical reporting by delivering clear, actionable next steps for your advisory team so that you can provide more value to clients without the guesswork of dashboards. To book a conversation or demo, or to join the 10X Advisory Cohort with resources from Martin, along with 10% off your first year’s subscription, visit 4impactdata.com
---
ProNation is a global community for accountants and bookkeepers that gives you peer-to-peer support, expert guidance, and proven strategies to run a more profitable, efficient, and impactful firm. Led by Will Farnell, Lucy Cohen, and Martin Bissett, it helps practices of all sizes grow with confidence and better serve their clients.
---
In association with CPA Trendlines
Transcript
Hey, if I asked you to guess who above anybody else, doesn't believe that you can be successful, doesn't believe that you can up your pricing, doesn't believe that you can build your firm, doesn't believe that you can improve your profitability, and doesn't believe that you can add more services than you've currently got.
Speaker A:Guess who is the individual that believes that you will fail at that more than anyone else?
Speaker A:That's right, it's you.
Speaker A:We've got a self esteem problem.
Speaker A:We meaning the profession.
Speaker A:Can we fix it in 10 minutes?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Let's have a go.
Speaker A:This is the Bisset Bullet.
Speaker A:So in today's episode, which is brought to you by both free agents and for impact data, more on those two later.
Speaker A:And thank you very much to them both for making this possible, we investigate the self esteem issue that rampages through the accounting profession and pretty much always has.
Speaker A:Certainly in the years I've been involved and in the Bullet, as you know, we do this first part where we talk about the issue and then we give you the solution in the second part.
Speaker A:So let's talk about this.
Speaker A: , I think it was: Speaker A:Now the book's been out long enough to spoil the ending.
Speaker A:I'll spoil the ending for you.
Speaker A:The first client is you.
Speaker A:And my point in that rather slim volume is that if you can't sell to you, if you can't convince you, if you don't believe that what you've got adds value, if you don't believe that a company should leave their current accountant and move to you because.
Speaker A:Because you're a superior option for their needs, well, no one else is going to believe it either.
Speaker A:So you might as well not bother trying.
Speaker A:Just sit back, let the referrals come in through the door and then complain all day about how you've got rubbish clients at low fees.
Speaker A:All right, that's what most of us do.
Speaker A:But there is another way.
Speaker A:And the reason why I wrote that book is because that's what I was coming up against over and over again.
Speaker A:When I tried to implement a pricing solution in a practice, it's, oh, we could never do this.
Speaker A:When I tried to build a pipeline in a practice, it's oh, the partners will never do this.
Speaker A:And when I tried to develop the senior team into the next level partners, the partners will never let us do this.
Speaker A:And it was all that kind of vibe is that still happening in your firm?
Speaker A:Kind of depressing if it is.
Speaker A:But it was.
Speaker A:There was no external verification for this.
Speaker A:There was nobody outside.
Speaker A:We were ever hearing clients going, you're not very good.
Speaker A:We, we don't like you, we're going to leave you.
Speaker A:In fact, firms would tell me the opposite.
Speaker A:Martin, we are proud that we lose very few of our clients year in, year out.
Speaker A:So where's the problem?
Speaker A:It's up here.
Speaker A:It's always up there.
Speaker A:So this self esteem is a big issue.
Speaker A:Not just for you, for others.
Speaker A:I'll explain why.
Speaker A:If you allow yourself to have low self esteem in your professional delivery, what you do in your life, no business of mine.
Speaker A:But in your firm that has been business of mine.
Speaker A:So if you decide that you're not worth X amounts of money, you can't possibly provide another service.
Speaker A:You can't ever find enough capacity to do work for this particular client who has high involvement and high needs on your time.
Speaker A:If you don't ever do that, guess what happens?
Speaker A:You never progress as a firm.
Speaker A:And you might be alright with that.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:But more importantly, your client doesn't progress because they don't always look elsewhere.
Speaker A:They'd be very justified in looking elsewhere to get the help they need.
Speaker A:But if you don't help them and they don't know where to look for who does help them, then that affects the business and that is a dereliction of duty and that's not okay.
Speaker A:So getting your self esteem right affects you positively, your team positively and your clients positively.
Speaker A:So I'm going to recommend that we do it.
Speaker A:And there's only one way that I know to fix self esteem in the long term.
Speaker A:And I'm going to show you after a word from our sponsors.
Speaker A:If you're in the UK and you're an accountant in practice, why not try some accounting software you'll love Nail the daily admin, See your cash flow 90 days ahead and saw through self assessment with direct filing to HMRC.
Speaker A:Try FreeAgent they have 50% off the first six months right now and you can find that@freeagent.com that's freeagent.com Free agent accounting software you'll love if you're an accountant in North America.
Speaker A:Did you know that four ID business guidance system monitors, predicts and recommends course corrections for your business.
Speaker A:It's designed to empower business leaders and advisors by combining the codified wisdom of successful entrepreneurs with artificial intelligence.
Speaker A:So the software learns from thousands of companies data and they provide affordable actionable Guidance that can be implemented in your business in not days, not weeks, not months, hours.
Speaker A:Change the odds.
Speaker A:Get further faster.
Speaker A:Use 4impact data for your clients and your firm.
Speaker A:Find them at 4.
Speaker A:That's the number 4.
Speaker A:Fourimpactdata.com that's fourimpactdata.com so now we come to the solution segment of the show.
Speaker A:And are these solutions that I provide earth shattering, brand new scientific breakthroughs?
Speaker A:No, they're things you've ignored previously.
Speaker A:You knew to do them, you just didn't do it.
Speaker A:And here's my solution for this self esteem issue.
Speaker A:We know that the self esteem issue comes from deeply rooted psychological things.
Speaker A:And we won't go into that.
Speaker A:This is a 10 minute show.
Speaker A:What we will do is show you the way to overcome it in a way that you can't dispute.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:If you are experienced and have many years under your belt as a practitioner, you will have an awful lot of.
Speaker A:Here's the magical word.
Speaker A:You ready?
Speaker A:Proof that you have helped businesses.
Speaker A:If you're a young accountant listening to this and you don't have much experience under your own belt, your firm that you work for has got lots of proof that other people just like you were also junior partners once or senior managers once and rose through the ranks and got the experience they need and helped people along the way.
Speaker A:Proof, evidence, third party, irrefutable, no one's opinion, just proof.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Now when I go and speak at a conference and I ask the question, you know, who has helped their clients to do something major or what is the biggest way in which you've ever helped a client?
Speaker A:The room not wants to be the ones to be picked on, will keep their hands down.
Speaker A:Very few will volunteer.
Speaker A:If any will volunteer and if I then say, right, you've had your chance and I point to somebody and I go, you, you specifically, you individually.
Speaker A:You tell me what you've done for your clients, all of a sudden the stories come pouring out and I say, those are incredible stories.
Speaker A:Why didn't you put your hand up when I asked the first time around?
Speaker A:And they say, I didn't really like to, I didn't really want to.
Speaker A:Okay, that's no good.
Speaker A:You're in business.
Speaker A:You're in business.
Speaker A:I'll say it again, you're in business.
Speaker A:You're in business and you're in business to help people.
Speaker A:That's what you do.
Speaker A:You help people beyond sometimes the help they can get from anywhere else.
Speaker A:It's a big deal what you do.
Speaker A:So we cannot be messing around and Wasting our careers, having low self esteem.
Speaker A:Go find your proof.
Speaker A:If you're an experienced practitioner, you will have stories of how you were able to help people.
Speaker A:It might have been tax savings, I don't know.
Speaker A:You might have found some venture capital for someone.
Speaker A:You might have helped them on some great strategic planning exercise.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:But you will.
Speaker A:And you will know what the impact is beyond that.
Speaker A:So we help the clients save X amount of tax, which means that they reinvested that capital in the business or they were able to take out a large dividend and go on holiday or whatever, you know, and whether we are on little things like a holiday for the first time in years that you've helped the client have, or whether on big things like you've saved the business, you've saved jobs in the business, you've saved the marriage, you've saved the mortgage, whatever.
Speaker A:You made this happen.
Speaker A:And I bet you can come up, if we were sat together, you would come up with more than 10 examples of where that was possible and where you've done that in your career.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Get your proof, get your stories, get them out of your brain and onto something where other people can see them.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:You don't have to name names.
Speaker A:They can be anonymous, but they're true stories of your expertise in action to prove that you are worth that amount of money.
Speaker A:You can handle that assignment.
Speaker A:You can find the capacity in the firm to service the client if you really need to.
Speaker A:And get out of this funk of going, oh, I can't do it.
Speaker A:Not good enough.
Speaker A:Not good enough for the client, not good enough for you in your future.
Speaker A:Now if you're a younger accountant watching this, then I have a different piece of advice.
Speaker A:Go talk to the team.
Speaker A:Go talk to whoever you report to.
Speaker A:Ask them for their stories, ask them what age they were when they got their stories and realize the exact same thing can happen to you.
Speaker A:You might have one or two stories already yourself.
Speaker A:If you've got lots, fantastic.
Speaker A:Use those.
Speaker A:But proof, guys, proof is what overcomes self esteem issues.
Speaker A:Because you can't dispute it.
Speaker A:It's not an opinion.
Speaker A:It's not someone saying, hey, you're great.
Speaker A:Really, I think you're great.
Speaker A:It's the evidence of what you have done for businesses over years and that can't be disputed.
Speaker A:And you can't have low self esteem and proof that you are very good at what you do in the same room together.
Speaker A:One vanquishes the other and it's the self esteem that loses in that scenario.
Speaker A:So I'M going to encourage you to go find your stories, to go show me the proof that you are very able professionals, and then to go and tell other people about it via your website or marketing communication methods.
Speaker A:And then let's see what happens to your self esteem over time as people congratulate you on all proof you've created in your career.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Deal.
Speaker A:Good.
Speaker A:That means I can leave you alone now.
Speaker A:I will see you on the next Biscuit Bullet and I will thank UF4 impact data and free Agent for making this one possible.
Speaker A:Bye for now.
