I really cannot believe it is 10 years since I took the leap to start off my own business!
After a lifetime spent as an employee helping guide companies ranging from private family owned businesses through to multi nationals, I was now going it alone.
As with most new business owners I entered my new life with trepidation. For the first few years I had recurring nightmares on where the next work was going to come from. My concerns made me conservative in my approach to spending; I built up buffer cash “just in case”. I was always planning ahead and running “what if” scenarios – what if I didn’t get another job for 3 months, for 6 months and so on.
It took me a while to realise that this approach was putting in place the foundations essential for all businesses to survive. Planning ahead, visibility of the information that’s important to your business and buffer cash are all key to a healthy business.
Whether a business has a turnover of £100k or £100m they all have one thing in common, the need to have great financial information on which to base their key business decisions. Columns of figures may be great for the accountants, but leaders in SME's really needed to cut through these to understand what information is key to their particular set of circumstances.
Over the last ten years I've worked with a multitude of clients on developing both accurate and compliant accounts together with providing the information they need to keep in control. The greatest buzz in business is the taste of success. I've felt it myself on several occasions and I’m keen to help my clients experience this.
Another bonus is getting to work in such a wide range of different industries. With my grounding in retail and logistics followed by ten years in manufacturing and international trade and then a final ten years in construction, I already had a breadth of industry knowledge before starting out.
Working for myself has allowed me to continue with the industries I know, but add others as diverse as IT development & consultancy, recruitment, veterinary, care homes, furniture and chemical manufacture. The variety continues to make my work interesting.
Being able to see businesses and the people in them grow gives me a great sense of fulfilment and really makes my role worthwhile.