From the founder: The first 129 days at Scotch Accounting

Scotch News

26 May

The first four months at Scotch Accounting have flown by and it feels like the business moves on in leaps and bounds on a daily basis.

As all small business owners will know, it’s not easy – you work long hours, one day you’re winning, the next day not so much.

If I treat myself as one of my clients and think about the business’ performance in these first few months I can feel very proud of the journey so far, and can see the trajectory is positive. Breaking it down here are some of the highlights:

The wins:

Took on 10 new clients, across varied sectors, mainly service-based businesses. The common theme: they all are ambitious and want to grow, and it’s our job to help them.
Our systems and processes are working well from onboarding to accounts production. We partner with Xero and use it to create efficient bookkeeping and reporting processes for our clients – giving clients real-time access to their financial performance is a game changer, and helps them build confidence in their financials.
Building my professional network – I work with some great people, clients and partners. Having a sounding board is so important, for big or small questions. If you haven’t got a mentor, I would suggest getting one - we offer financial coaching for our clients.

The surprises:

Many client requests have been for our business advisory services – this is great as this is what we do best. We absolutely do accounts and tax returns, but we really want to look forward and help your business grow. Our strategic planning sessions have been really popular and we’ve had amazing feedback from our clients.
Although I’m working ‘virtually’ most of the time, I’ve found having a flexible office space, face-to-face meetings with clients, and Zooms with the camera on (!), has made it feel like I’m working with a larger team. I wanted my clients to feel like Scotch Accounting is part of their team, and so far so good.
I can’t quite believe how many pieces of software I use – but I wanted to embrace the best of technology, to enable the ‘humans’ at Scotch Accounting to do what they do best, in the most efficient way. I’m sure there is more tech to come…

The challenges:

Payroll is tricky – that’s why I’ve outsourced to Payroll Sorted, and they are great. Challenge solved! The learning here is if it’s not your specialism, then outsource it.
Prioritising the time to write blogs and content for social media – I need to embrace the 80:20 rule and not wait for perfection. This is why I’m writing this post after 129 days and not the intended 100! I’ve got The PF marketing team on the case now to help me with this. I want to grow my business sustainably, attracting the right fit of client who Scotch Accounting can really help.
Knowing when is the right time to bring in help – I’m a few clients away from needing to recruit more bookkeeping support, which is an exciting challenge to have. I will be approaching my network when the time is right. Watch this space.

There’s so much more to add to the above, but those who work with me know I like to keep things focused on the most important things!

What’s the focus for the next 3 months?

Developing our marketing model - please follow us on instagram: @scotchaccounting and leave your thoughts!
Building our relationships with existing clients and delivering for them
Planning to recruit more bookkeeping resource

Lots to do and plenty of opportunities for more wins, but for now thank you for reading this post, and a huge thank you to those who have been part of the Scotch Accounting journey so far, especially all of my wonderful clients.

Patrick

Need help? Contact Scotch Accounting today.

We’re here to help you build your business.

At Scotch Accounting, yes we do accounts, yes we do tax returns, but we offer so much more. We will be your trusted finance partner, listening to your needs, understanding your pain points, helping you plan and execute a strategy to achieve your goals.

We think-forward, and will encourage you to do the same, to help you build your business with confidence.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help you then book your free discovery call here.