Episode 13 Transcript
heather:
Well, hello you guys, welcome back. Here I have the most amazing Mark Williams joining us on this episode. And as you've heard, he has quite the bio in the background. And we were just saying that we haven't actually caught up in person. It's been like, I don't know, four years maybe at least. So this is going to be a really fun chat because it's kind of selfishly going to be about me wanting to know what he's up to in his business since we last spoke as well.
mark_williams:
Thank you. Thank you.
heather:
So welcome Mark, how's it going?
mark_williams:
Thank you, thanks. Yeah, been great. Thanks for having me. Really excited about catching up and having a chat. It's been too long.
heather:
Good to hear it. So we, as you guys know that are my listeners, we like to dive straight in to the goodness of the guest. So I'm going to start with the very first question for you. If you think about not only your growth of your business over the years, but the clients that you help, what would be three tips or ideas that you can share on how to grow stressed out mindset.
mark_williams:
Yeah, it's an interesting one, isn't it, in business? Because there's always so many things happening and so many things to juggle. And it's a journey for everybody from day one through to when you eventually wrap up. And I don't know whether business owners ever do in their heads. I think it's ongoing. But yeah, sort of three tips, I suppose. The first one would certainly be around being planned, being organized and planning. I think time is our most precious resource and commodity. And for me, optimizing that and managing that for myself and my team is probably right at the top of the list. And particularly when you're talking around hustling and reducing your hustling, because it's so easy to get caught up in so many things and
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
be pulled in all sorts of directions. So I've found being really diligent about managing your time first and foremost and being effective with your time, which is doing the right things. and being productive and doing them the right way is really, really important for both yourself and getting that right and then for your team to help them improve their time management and efficiency.
heather:
Really good chip. Yeah. Yeah.
mark_williams:
And yeah, some things that I've found really useful is pre-planning your year in advance at a high level, sitting down in December, January, I tend to do and map out the 12 months and putting the big rocks, holidays and important events we don't want to miss and then bring it down and chunk it down from there and then break it down into quarterly monthly weekly targets and weekly calendar management is a big one for me. I spend a lot of time on just managing my calendar each week and protecting my time and making sure that it's going into the right buckets.
heather:
That's exactly what I do. I'm really, really protective of my time as well, because you just said earlier, working on the right things. So that's pretty much the roadmap that you just get, right? So it's basically mapping out the year, breaking it into quarters, breaking it into weeks, protecting your time, and also making sure you've scheduled all the big rocks or boulders that you said the holidays and whatnot. And so then you know what you're meant to work on. And then what would you say then around that
mark_williams:
Thank you. Thank you.
heather:
if other things, other opportunities path. And you look at your calendar, you've mapped out what your goals are and where you're headed, but these other opportunities are coming in. Like, what
mark_williams:
Thank you.
heather:
how do you fit those in or what should you do with those?
mark_williams:
Yeah, it's always a tricky one. For me, I try and map it back to my quarterly actions and my rocks for each quarter and do
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
they fit within that? If they don't, you've got to seriously ask the question, you know, is it that big an opportunity to come in over the top of what you've already got planned? And, you know, that's the ultimate question. And if it doesn't, then, yeah, don't say yes to it or push it back and say, okay, well, not this quarter, but maybe next quarter we can have a look at that as a project or an opportunity.
heather:
Yeah, well said. I think with some of these interviews I've been on, definitely the boundaries are a big thing to help you protect your time and have more of that balance. And I think a lot of people certainly that I know, that we will say yes really quickly, right? Oh my gosh, this opportunity and as an entrepreneur, you get really excited about things that come into your path. But setting yourself up for having these great filters where you take a moment to breathe and you actually go, should I be saying yes to that? It's a really smart thing. So what else? What other tips?
mark_williams:
Yeah Yeah, that'd be the first one I suppose the second one is around people and getting good people around you and that's really important as you grow in scale Can't do everything yourself And you can't do everything well as well. We've all got our strengths and our weaknesses. So Recognizing that and finding good people that can help you across different areas and whether that's internally with your team or externally with Yeah, advisors consultants contractors mentors, family, friends as appropriate. But yeah, that's a really key part of getting things off your list as well. So when you're looking at time management, obviously there's lots to do, but what do you do with those things that need to be done? And often they need to go somewhere. So having people and resources to move those tasks, move those projects to, it's obviously really important.
heather:
Do you have mentors yourself?
mark_williams:
Yes, certainly it's kind of ebbs and flows I suppose, depending
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
on what's going on. I've had regular engagements if you like with people from time to time and I've had informal arrangements where I'll just reach out as and when needed and when things come up. I do have a business partner or two now in the business as well, so we work closely together. Obviously how we run the business which is very helpful and other that I'm certainly part of so it's a bit of a mix but really important to have good people to be able to reach out to.
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
Yeah, absolutely.
heather:
Nice. Okay. Tip number three.
mark_williams:
Yeah, number three, well being an accountant of course has to come back to the numbers and dollars and money so good financial
mark_williams:
management is really important and often is a major stress for everyone, is finances or lack of. especially in business with all the pressures and responsibilities that come with it. So I think having good systems around your bookkeeping and budgets and forecasts and tracking those and have accountability around those is so important. And it's financial management is such an important pillar within managing a business and it's too often forgotten. It's not one of the sexier pillars and it's often not one that comes naturally to many business owners and entrepreneurs. for us, obviously that comes naturally more so for us, but for clients and when I see clients that have done well and do really well, they recognise that. They're not necessarily strong at it themselves, but they recognise the importance of it and they get good help with it because otherwise, yeah, you're running a very challenging situation if you're not managing it well, I suppose.
heather:
What would you say to somebody on where to get started with that? So let's say they have their zero or their myob or whatever they're using for their structure, their basic accounting and their invoices, but they've never really looked into reporting or really being financially intelligent about their company. Where would they start? What should they do as a first step?
mark_williams:
Yeah, first step, talk to whoever's involved with their finances if they've got anybody. So if they've got a bookkeeper, if they've got an accountant, certainly have a chat to them who already knows them and knows their business. Talk to other business owners, ideally that are in similar types of businesses and try and sort of gauge what they do, particularly those that are successful, to understand what are some of the systems and mechanisms in place that they have for managing their finances.
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
and understanding what are the key things that they need to be monitoring and on top of, and that can vary across businesses, particularly from a finance point of view. Some are fine with cash flow because of their business model. They get deposits, they get payment up front, so cash flow is not such an issue, but it's more profitability and making sure they're actually making money on their activities and that they're left with money at the end of the day. Whereas others, the profitability might be fine, but it might be or a resourcing or a productive time situation if it's a service-based business for example and they're not getting the optimal use of their team. So it really depends on their business and their situation to understand what are the key drivers in their business that they should be monitoring and
heather:
Yep.
mark_williams:
tracking.
heather:
Yeah, got it. Yeah. So talk to people in your industry. Definitely get help. I would say, I mean, it's been important for me to reach out and get help, especially if you're a creative type of person in your team or your business. It's tricky to embrace a data mindset and loving your numbers because it feels very foreign to you if that's not what you do. But it can be actually really interesting and almost fun if you actually get systems in a way that you like them them.
mark_williams:
Yeah, exactly.
heather:
All right, so I want to talk about specifically some of the work that you've done over the years. I know this is a really hard question because it's like, how do I choose one person to talk about? But think through some clients that you've helped over the years, maybe one that's really stood out in your mind. And walk me through a bit of a case study of, you know, when they came to you, what was the situation and what did you do for them? And ultimately what happened in the end as a result of you working with them.
mark_williams:
Yeah, sure. Yeah, there's obviously some good clients and good experience that we've had over the years and seeing people's journey and growth. There's one of late and I've been working with him the last two years or so. Actually runs a marketing agency and he's a younger guy in his early 30s. He's been in business a little while, a number of years and he came to us just with his finances in a bit of a mess. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. He wasn't making money. was close to burnout, I'm just really frustrated and struggling with his business and with his personal financial situation as well. He really had a goal to be able to purchase a home for him and he had ATO debt that had to be dealt with and has consistently struggled to manage his cash and his profitability and to make a profit in the business. So we
heather:
Mm.
mark_williams:
started working with him to understand his numbers and his business model so that understood how his business actually made money and it's not just selling but it's understanding the delivery of those sales and making sure that you're doing them profitably. So we did work with him around his yeah his client base, his revenue model, his team, tracking time, project management, job management, productivity, capacity, that sort of thing and he really got a good understanding of actually these are This is how I actually make changes. This is what I need to change to improve the results in the business and the profitability in the business. So that's been really rewarding working with him and typically met monthly with him the last two years and it's still going and going really well and he's come quite a long way in those two years. He's now got the business in a profitable position, positive cash flow, it's almost paid off the ATO debt that he
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
had, He's recently hit his highest ever month in revenue,
heather:
Wow.
mark_williams:
his teams at its most productive, his personal hours in the business have reduced, and he bought his house last year as well, which was amazing and we worked closely with his mortgage broker to get that over the line. He's on his way and very close to hitting his goal of becoming a million dollar agency. which is doing 84k in recurring revenue per month so he's very close to that.
heather:
Wow, wow,
mark_williams:
So
heather:
what
mark_williams:
that's been
heather:
in...yeah.
mark_williams:
amazing to work through with him and see his journey. A lot of the credit goes to him because he's had to go away and do a lot of it
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
obviously and he's a great implementer and taking action but
heather:
Mm.
mark_williams:
to provide that guidance and insight for him in clarity on things has been really awesome. Yeah.
heather:
So how did you decide what he needed help with? Like when you work with a client, do you do some sort of audit and is there coaching along the way? How did this process work with him?
mark_williams:
Yeah, so obviously it depends on the engagement that we have with them, but
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
in this case, we do an upfront review of his financials and his performance over the last number of years. We have a look at how he's maintaining his records and how the bookkeeping has been done, what reporting that they've been doing and getting, and then basically digging into those numbers one by one to understand the mechanics behind it. each of them. So the revenue obviously we dug into his revenue model and how he charges his clients and his pricing strategy etc to understand that. And for him being a service-based business, obviously his biggest cost is his team and salary majors and some contractors. So digging into that and then understanding how he's managing his team, how they're managing their time. bit of job management and tracking time against jobs but we really honed that in and now he's got clarity on his team, what jobs and what clients they're working on, what the budget for those clients and jobs are, and what they're actually doing against those clients and jobs each month. And that's
heather:
it.
mark_williams:
probably that made the biggest difference for him.
heather:
It feels like you really are like a financial partner to people, obviously depending on the engagement, but in this case, I mean, really, there's so much detail in what you just said. All these little facets from team to processes to how you're, you know, your financial model and what you charge. It's incredible what you do with your clients hearing that.
mark_williams:
Yeah,
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
there's a
heather:
Wow.
mark_williams:
lot
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
in there. Yeah, and
heather:
Yeah, of course.
mark_williams:
we obviously
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
don't do it with everybody.
heather:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
mark_williams:
And it's contingent on capacity and you
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
know with often with the client and what their capacity is within their business to take on things and how quickly they can take on things and implement as well.
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
But yeah, that's been a really good example and really
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
rewarding. Thank you.
heather:
Well, look at that after a couple of years, he's now on his way to having exactly the goal of his revenue that he wants a house, all of it. So that's a big testament to you and what you guys do. Um, all right, we're shifting gears and we're talking about overwhelmed because obviously that hustle and grind that comes with growing your business, a flip side of that is the emotions behind that. And a number one emotion of that is overwhelmed feeling like
mark_williams:
Thank you.
heather:
you just can't do everything. Can you really? I mean, not really. It gets just the question.
mark_williams:
Yeah.
heather:
But you can kind of control or look at. how you feel emotionally as you grow your business. So what are your thoughts or I suppose a good mindset or tip or hack on, you know, what somebody can do if they're really in a state of overwhelm. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video. I'm gonna go back to the beginning of the video.
mark_williams:
Yeah, it's a great question because it is one that we all face at different times and
heather:
Mm-hmm
mark_williams:
at different levels. And I think perhaps the older you get, the more mature and experienced you get, you develop strategies on how to manage through it, I suppose, and that can help. But yeah, I've found a couple of different things have worked. Probably the biggest one for me is having someone to talk through and not feeling alone. with you and you're feeling alone it's very hard to get out of that and see the wood from the trees.
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
So I've really found when it sort of gets to that point and there's so much going on and you sort of you don't know where to start type thing and you just feel like you're going backwards. For me sitting down with somebody and that's been yeah different people at different stages other my business partners, team members, my wife at times and just going through this is what I've got on. Can we just talk through it and literally just spend half an hour an hour maybe a couple of hours if needed depending on how big the list is to
heather:
Hmm.
mark_williams:
go through and just get clarity on How to manage it and to build a plan to get through it and that exercise alone just gives you so much Confidence to get through it and then a plan to get through it So I think that's really important rather than just trying to work work work and push your way through it And sometimes that'll work and sometimes you get through But taking a bit of time to sort of sit back and try and look at it from a broader lens and having somebody else's input and perspective, I found it really, really helpful in managing that. And I've done that twice this week actually with team members who are both feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment with their workload and with other things.
heather:
Yep.
mark_williams:
So just to sit down and I sat with one yesterday for nearly two hours just to work through things. Which I think was really beneficial for them. to just have clarity on what to do. And I find that the 4Ds do defer, delegate, or delete. And just basically applying that methodology to each task or each project is a great way to help make it more manageable and help put a plan in place to get through it.
heather:
How did you know your employees were overwhelmed in the first place?
mark_williams:
In both cases I asked them how they were feeling
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
and that was the answer.
heather:
Ah.
mark_williams:
Some people will come forward and say I'm just snowed under, I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to do and it's probably a personality thing. Others won't come forward, you'll have to get it out of them and you can often get a sense of how people are feeling. Yeah, in that sort of state you can sense that something's going on and just by asking the question Hopefully they'll be honest with you and then you know talking about it and then working through it
heather:
And it's interesting you bringing this up because it also makes me think of another question which is if you're overwhelmed as a business owner, are you managing your team to the best of your ability and are you letting the overwhelm this of your team slip through the cracks? I suppose the question is what have you done over the years when you're feeling a bit overwhelmed or stressed out to still manage your team in the best way that you can?
mark_williams:
Yeah, that's a really good question and a tricky one because if you're in that state and are struggling then there's likely to be a flow on to your team.
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
So I think awareness of it is probably the first thing and then just trying to create that time and space to work through it. As I mentioned, having a sit down with somebody else and getting their perspective and input I found really helpful. times just clearing space to work on things. And for me, I'm a doer. I like things done. And if there's a big list of things to do, I carry that. And I won't be then as efficient or as present in other facets. So
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
I would rather than say, OK, I've got a lot on. I'm going to get up at 3 AM or 4 AM and smash out a couple of hours of work. and get that feeling back that I'm feeling a bit more on control and on top of things. So that's a bit of a harder one to put to a team member to say, just get up early and do some work and catch up. But for me and a lot of business owners probably would do the same. But that's
heather:
Thank
mark_williams:
not
heather:
you.
mark_williams:
sustainable. Obviously you can't do that consistently, but through periods you do what you've got to do on a spouse. Yeah, for me that's been, yeah, I'll do it.
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
Yeah.
heather:
And knowing yourself that you can do that and that's something that you can do. You know, some people might be a late night session.
mark_williams:
Yeah,
heather:
Um, maybe
mark_williams:
it's all right.
heather:
who knows, right? But it's, I think there's no right or wrong in managing these, these hectic moments, but I do like that you said, get another perspective, away, talk to somebody, get it, you know, from outside or inside of you outside. So you can look at it more clearly. I know that we can spiral a lot as business owners or people,
mark_williams:
Thank you. Thank you.
heather:
just people. Like you get it. something that is coming into your life is difficult and you are internalizing it and spiraling around with it and you get really anxious
mark_williams:
Yeah,
heather:
from it. So,
mark_williams:
absolutely. And the impact
heather:
hmm.
mark_williams:
it can have on you psychologically can
heather:
Oh.
mark_williams:
really impact your ability to be efficient and productive if you're carrying something and constantly thinking about it, it's gonna impact on you right across the board.
heather:
Yeah, yeah. Thank you for that tip. It's good.
mark_williams:
Yeah.
heather:
Okay, so one other question for you is what makes you different from
mark_williams:
Thank you. Bye.
heather:
other people in your space with what you do and how you work with people?
mark_williams:
Yeah, it's an interesting one.
heather:
Ha ha.
mark_williams:
Yeah, to work through, I suppose. And I'm a pretty, I think a pretty humble person. So I don't really
heather:
You are.
mark_williams:
look at things and look at myself too much in, from that perspective, I suppose. But I suppose in terms of being different, particularly in my line of work is that business has always attracted and excited me and numbers are part of that. wanted to go into business and I'm driven and really love working with and connecting with other business owners and I get excited and energised by working on things that have a real impact there. So I think that's definitely a key and not just the skills I have as an accountant and the technical ability that I have but it's that sense in and around business and that love of business I think that really helps me. and helps our business do what we do. And probably the other thing is, a strength of mine would be adapting, I think I'm very adaptable to situations and to people and to change. And in my role personally and my skill set, I've been able to adapt and a lot of people do as they go through their career to being, from being a technician when you perhaps start and leading your trade managing and overseeing others to then leading and moving more into creative thinking and ideas and solving bigger problems as opposed to the doing. So I've been able to do that I think pretty well and yeah, connecting with people which is obviously a really important thing and people is the most important thing in business to be able to
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
connect with and communicate and understand and build trust and connection. pretty good at that as well.
heather:
I would agree. I like that you said you're passionate about business because the times our paths have crossed in person. You get a real sense of that. And I find that's incredibly unique with most accountants or people in the financial space. They're looking at numbers, at least my experience has been obsession with numbers, not a great deal of human skills and
mark_williams:
Yeah.
heather:
to be honest. And that's what I always found you really intriguing and interesting because straight away I could tell you have great interpersonal skills and you do your, have a real passion for business. And just so you know too, I love asking this question because I find that most really interesting business owners that are are actually growing with a bit of balance actually squirm a bit when I ask them that question. And just so you know that most most people
mark_williams:
Yes.
heather:
are like, Oh God, I have to talk about myself. And
mark_williams:
I'm sorry.
heather:
I find that an interesting study of actually successful business owners that have been around for a while, that it's a difficult question for them to answer. So you're a
mark_williams:
Yeah,
heather:
good
mark_williams:
yeah.
heather:
company.
mark_williams:
I'm
heather:
Oh, this
mark_williams:
good.
heather:
has been such a great conversation. Um, where, so our first of all, A, are you taking on new clients and B, if you are, what sort of businesses do you like to work with?
mark_williams:
Yeah sure, yeah we're always open to taking on new clients even when we're full.
heather:
Ha ha.
mark_williams:
It's hard to say now, especially to the right client obviously. So the answer is always yes there.
heather:
Mm-hmm
mark_williams:
In terms of who we work with and an ideal client, as I mentioned we love working with small business owners and anywhere from start-ups, you know, I had two conversations this week with people that are looking to get started in business. I normally wouldn't have those conversations, but I did and I wanted to take them on and just chatting to people and that excites me about them. They've got an idea and they want to get started and they want some help with getting
heather:
Yeah.
mark_williams:
us off the ground. So anyone from looking to start a business up to a seasoned business doing 50 million plus in turnover, we look after
heather:
Yep.
mark_williams:
and obviously help with all things accounting, compliance, tax, financial management in and around numbers. we really enjoy getting to know the individuals and the family and we feel that building a long-term relationship we can add the most value in understanding their holistic situation, not just their business but their personal situation and personal wealth and their goals and all the way through to estate planning, succession planning and transitioning wealth from generation to the next generation. All of that.
heather:
before, true financial partner
mark_williams:
Ha
heather:
in
mark_williams:
ha ha
heather:
life and business for sure. So
mark_williams:
Thanks.
heather:
obviously
mark_williams:
Bye.
heather:
people in Australia would be your client and where would
mark_williams:
No.
heather:
they find you? Where do they go to learn more about you?
mark_williams:
Yeah then go to our website, it's probably the best place, which is ImagineAccounting.com.au and you can reach out through there. Feel free to reach out to me directly. Find me on LinkedIn, always happy to chat and help wherever we can.
heather:
Perfect. And before we say goodbye, are there any last comments, thoughts, things that have come up during our conversation that you want to leave the listeners with?
mark_williams:
Oh, that's a good one. Yeah, some great questions that we tackled today. Probably the most relevant for me, again being an account, is the financial management side and just to re-emphasize the importance of that and getting it right because I see too often in what we do, people that work hard and take on the risk and everything else that comes with running a business and don't get the financial return and reward that they should be getting. So making sure you're doing what you should be from a finance perspective. and that you're going to get that financial return reward, yeah, it's really important. There's a majority of us aren't in it to run a charity, so making sure we do get a financial return, you know, it's really important, and yeah, good financial management is key to that.
heather:
All right, you guys, you heard it. You might have needed a little reminder. Time to look at your numbers.
mark_williams:
Yes.
heather:
Thank you so much for joining us on this episode. Mark, it's been a pleasure having a chat with you. And thanks, everyone, for tuning in as well. Mm-hmm.
mark_williams:
Alright guys, thanks Heather. See you.
