Why this Accountant is opting for a Tree Change
Nearly 5 years ago I started this business. After 2 redundancies and 2 children under the age of 3, I just thought there had to be a better option for providing financial guidance with personality and flexibility. The personality came in abundance, but the flexibility not so much. So I am opting for a tree change in 2018.
As a family we are moving to Ballarat, so my business will be based there. But to me, location is only where we live, Healthy Business Finances already operates Australia wide thanks to the awesomeness that is cloud technology.
“But we only just found you. What on earth are we going to do?”
These were words squealed at me by a new client and it got me thinking that I haven’t really conveyed why we are moving, why we chose Ballarat and how this will impact my business.
You see the truth is, it won’t impact my business a whole lot. So I didn’t think it was worth making a big deal out of it.
“But business is certainly not stopping, in fact we just keep getting busier (which we love). We are just changing it up a bit.”
We will continue working with our amazing clients. We love our clients and we are not giving them up for anything.
We will continue working with start ups and entrepreneurs to train them in accounting software, ATO obligations, budgeting, cash flow, payroll obligations and so much more. It is just the majority of these sessions will be done remotely (aka from the comfort of your couch in your active wear using online screen sharing software).
We will continue to hire amazing staff to ensure we can service our ever growing client base (our crew has now expanded to Kirsten, Christine, Karen and myself).
We will continue to educate ourselves in accounting software, accounting trends, small business news, technology and anything we can lay our hands on that we feel our clients need to know about. This may include more remote training and online training but thankfully Ballarat is still on the radar for many training organisations and I have just booked in for MYOB Incite 2018 in “The Rat”. So our knowledge will certainly not go backwards.
“So really, what we are doing now, we will continue to do. We will continue to grow. You just won’t see my face at many networking events in Melbourne in 2018.”
So why did we pick Ballarat (yes we know it is cold). But you see, I have lived and worked at a ski resort in California and I have lived and worked in London for 4 years. So the cold – well in my opinion if I can survive 4 winters in London then Ballarat should be a piece of cake.
Ballarat to us ticked many boxes on our wish list. It was close enough to Melbourne to visit clients (and also my beloved Hawthorn football), it has great schools for our children, it has the lake for hubby to fuel his crazy desire for running marathons, it has a great business hub and it has a great community feel.
I have spent the past 5 years pouring my heart and soul into my business and I have grown it now to have my amazing team who can handle pretty much anything you can throw at them. So whilst those first 5 years meant many late nights, many weekends working, many networking events and many hours away from my young family working like a ninja, it has come to a time where I wanted some of my life back.
2018 is my year to reign that in and work some sensible hours.
2018 is my year to spend more time with my family.
2018 is my year to have less stress across all aspects of my life.
2018 is our year (as let’s face it, this is a family decision not just me losing the plot) for a tree change.
So yes, Healthy Business Finances will be based in Ballarat in 2018. I anticipate coming to Melbourne once a fortnight or once a month to visit clients and have face to face meetings. I will probably park myself at a co-working space and just say “come and book me” for those who need my help (hit me up with any suggestions of co-working in Melbourne where parking is PLENTIFUL).
I will personally be working school hours and I will be delegating even more to my amazing team. My amazing team that I have hand picked and hand trained to ensure our level of service remains the same no matter who you speak to.
So how does the tree change impact our clients? Um…it doesn’t. And we don’t intend that it will impact any new clients either. Technology is our best friend and enables us to work with clients Australia wide. We will be offering even more virtual financial coaching & training sessions and we will continue to share our love of numbers with as many people as possible.