Let’s get one thing straight: CEOs don’t suffer from a shortage of ideas. They suffer from a shortage of focus. It’s not always a strategy issue. It’s not always a talent issue. It’s oftentimes a focus issue. A recent study by Harvard Business Review tracked large-company CEOs over a 13-week period and found that the average leader spends 36% of their time reacting to unexpected issues, with only 11% on routine duties tasks that could typically be delegated. I talk to business owners every day who are stuck. Not because their companies aren’t growing, many are. They’re feeling stuck because they’re adding work, not value. The business is expanding, but they’re more exhausted than ever, buried in distractions, unsure if their time is making the impact that it should. If that sounds familiar, here’s the hard truth: your business can’t outgrow your lack of clarity. Growth is a Focus Problem, Not a Capacity Problem Many leaders think the answer to growth is more: more marketing, more meetings, more tools, more talent, more money. But the real answer the one that actually works is less. Less noise. Less chaos. Less doing. You scale not by doing more, but by doing less better. And it starts at the top. If the CEO isn’t focused, no one else will be. Compartmentalize to Multiply We help leaders grow by helping them focus. And the key to helping them focus is breaking the business into five essential parts: 1. Sales & Marketing 2. People & HR 3. Admin & Finance 4. Client Delivery 5. Owner Initiatives Everything that happens in your company lives inside one of these five areas above. Once you compartmentalize, you can prioritize. Once you prioritize, you can delegate. And once you delegate, you can finally do what only you can do: drive the strategies and tactics that will make your business a success in the minds of its stakeholders. That's the essence of what we call *highest and best use* getting you, your team, and your systems aligned with the work that drives real value. Clarity is a System, Not a Slogan Once your business is broken into these parts, it becomes easier to implement clarity across three crucial dimensions: 1- Roles & Responsibilities – Is everyone clear on what they own? 2- Policies & Procedures – Are there repeatable systems in place? 3- Metrics & Goals – Is performance defined, measured, and aligned? When those elements are murky, teams spin. When they’re clear, the machine runs. The Real CEO Job Too many business owners are still in the weeds, wearing too many hats, babysitting every decision. That’s not leadership it’s firefighting disguised as hard work. Your real job as CEO isn’t to run every department and put out every fire. It’s to *create focus*. Focus for yourself. Focus for your team. Focus on the right things, at the right time, with the right people. So What’s the Next Step? If you feel like your growth is costing you clarity, or your role is expanding while your impact shrinks we have a tool that might help. It’s called the Growth & Value Assessment . It’s completely free and takes only 15 minutes to complete. The assessment will help you identify areas where your business may be scattered… and where you need to improve your focus. Because once you fix your focus, everything else will fall into place.

Most firms don’t fail at M&A because of bad intentions. They fail because they didn’t know what they didn’t know. If you're a CPA firm leader thinking about buying or selling a firm but you're not sure where to start or what traps to avoid you're not alone. M&A gets talked about as a strategic growth lever or a retirement solution. But when it shows up in real life, it’s rarely smooth or simple. Deals stall. Cultures clash. Clients leave. Partners second-guess each other. Whether you're considering selling your firm or acquiring another, there’s a good chance you’ve already felt some of the friction. Below are a few of the most common concerns we see and a way to gauge how prepared you really are. If You’re Considering Selling, How True Are These Statements? I have no idea what my firm is actually worth. What if my clients or staff leave when I start to step back? I don’t have a clear successor and I’m getting tired. I’m too busy running the firm to even think about selling it. If you nodded to two or more, your firm may not be sale-ready yet. But you’re asking the right questions. If You’re Considering Buying, How True Are These? We want to grow, but the right deals just aren’t out there. The last firm we bought was chaos to integrate. I’m worried we’ll overpay and lose clients anyway. Our partners can’t agree if we should even be doing this. If your head nodded on a few of those, you might have the desire but not the alignment, strategy, or infrastructure to move forward confidently. And Then There’s the Universal Stuff Buyer or Seller: We don’t have a real M&A process we’re just winging it. We’re afraid of making a bad deal that messes up the culture. We don’t have anyone we trust to guide us through this. Even one or two “yes” answers here should prompt a deeper pause. The stakes are too high to fake your way through this. So, What Now? Try this quick self-check: Count how many of the above statements you answered “yes” to. 0–2: You may be in good shape, but a second opinion never hurts. 3–5: There are likely gaps worth addressing before you proceed. 6+: You’re not alone. Many firms start here. Now is a great time to step back and build a clearer roadmap. You don’t need to have all the answers. But you do need to ask the right questions before signing a letter of intent. If this helped you think through things more clearly even a little then it’s done its job. If you'd like a simple checklist to evaluate your M&A readiness, just reach out to me at dlandrum@integratedgrowthadvisors.com. We’ve built one specifically for CPA firms to help avoid the common pitfalls. It's our mission to support CPAs in making better decisions and it's my pleasure to provide the checklist with no strings attached.