AccountancyFinance
I started the business in January 2020 (after being made redundant for the third time in ten years) with £400 cash, a Wix website and some insurance cover and have managed to scale from 0->300 clients and employing eight people in less than five years, with no external funding or investment.
I have four figure likes/follows across my Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn business pages and have established a vibrant community in my Facebook group with almost 1,600 members to date, offering advice, guidance and support by way of tips, guides, webinars, interviews, panel sessions and free downloadable financial models and templates.
I have been interviewed by internationally renowned industry peers, have twice spoken at the world's largest global accountancy conference Accountex and Xero's biannual conference ''Xerocon'' and have recently been named as one of the ''World's Most Inspiring Accountants'' in a published book by esteemed public speaker and author Steve Pipe. I have been named as a finalist in the 2022 FSB Awards as well as “Entrepreneur of the Year” in the 2022 Business Leader Awards and have been awarded “Most Client-Focused Accountancy Business”, “Best Financial Data Solutions Company” and four separate ''Accountancy Firm Of The Year'' awards.
I've communicated from day one of the business opening that my main focus was to help people understand their financial data, however, as the business has become more successful over time, I wanted to share that success to help people in other ways.
I have helped support charities by donating to over 30 projects via the organisation B1G1 and currently sponsor several local sports teams plus two professional darts players. B1G1 fund projects that fall into categories based on the UN Global Goals and so I have been fortunate to support initiatives such as:
• planting trees
• giving access to eLearning for children
• access to clean water
• building educational facilities (amongst many others),
all occurring in deprived areas across the world. The charity work that I have completed has also helped me to stand out and tells people that I have an ethical aspect to my business - the more clients that come on board, the more projects I donate to.
I have quickly learned that the appetite for a more personal approach in the accountancy profession is highly desirable, so I have grown my social media channels by being myself and offering support to those who need it most, positioning myself as a personable, friendly accountant with a mission to ''Make Finance Fun!!'' and to deliver easy to understand information in a commercial yet jargon-free manner. I haven't paid for any Google or Social Media advertising at this point, so my new engagements very much seek me out as opposed to the other way round - which means I attract the right clients for me and my business.
My new business statistics have grown month on month since the very beginning and shows no sign of slowing down. As I obtain more clients and my social media exposure widens, the number of referrals, word of mouth and inbound contacts that I have receive have also increased.
I'm also involved in a lot of other projects such as supporting Weston College with giving help and advice to young students, offering guidance on the College’s digital services programme, as well as a couple of Director positions for a local CIC and electric vehicle company, which all help to diverse my skillset and exposure.