Rachel Harris | Accountant She: How to tackle your business finances

Welcome to How to Start Up, the podcast that dives into the stories of startups, told directly by the founders. I’m Juliet Fallowfield, founder of Fallow Field & Mason, where we empower you to take charge of your storytelling via both PR & podcasting.

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Rachel Harris, co-founder of striveX & founder of Accountant She. Passionate about financial well-being and running values-led businesses, Rachel has created a modern, cloud‑focused accountancy and tax advisory firm for both businesses and individuals alongside a platform for business owners to find accessible, consumable, financial education. 

Stay tuned to hear Rachel’s advice on the highs and lows of running a business. Why loneliness is something that you should not ignore, what you should ask an accountant when you are vetting your first one, how they can become your business partner, how to manage people within the business, and so much more.

Rachel’s advice:

• Initially decide how much you want to delegate
• Then employ people more intelligent than you, and delegate to them
• When you choose an accountant, choose them according to your plans/expectations for your business; it helps if they can mirror your long-term goals
• Establish your communications preferences at the outset
• Because your accountant will be effectively your partner, research their core values and the infrastructure of their business first
• Check whether or not they outsource work
• Assess their values before you assess their technical competence
• Rachel believes in the value of therapy
• She also believes in regular measuring of KPIs
• A very worthwhile benefits package will attract good employees if they are prepared to work hard for it
• Establish systems and processes to free you up
• Don’t underestimate the personal sacrifice and loneliness that being a founder can bring

FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts.
Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason. 

FF&M recommends: 

• LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
• Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod.  Link &  Licence

Transcript

[00:00:00] 

Juliet: Welcome to How to Start Up the podcast that dives into stories and startups told directly by the founders. I'm Juliet Fallowfield, founder of Fallowfield and Mason, where we empower you to take charge of your storytelling, both via PR and podcasting. In today's episode, we are joined by Rachel Harris, co-founder of strive X and founder of Accountant She.

Passionate about financial wellbeing And running value led businesses, Rachel has created a modern cloud-focused accountancy and tax advisory firm for both businesses and individuals, alongside a platform for business owners to find accessible, consumable, and financial education.

Stay tuned to hear Rachel's advice on the highs and lows of running a business. Why loneliness is something that you should not ignore, what you should ask an accountant when you are vetting your first one, how they can become your business partner, how to manage people within the business, and so much more.

Juliet: It's wonderful to have you here on How To Start Up. Thank you so much. Before we get going, I would love it if you could just [00:01:00] introduce your name, a bit about yourself, a bit about the businesses you started, because there's more than one.

So it'd be wonderful to get your introduction.

Rachel: Of course. Hi everybody. I am so excited, that Juliet and I are in your ears today. Wherever you're listening, if you're on a dog walk, if you are having your morning coffee, we are both super excited to, have a bit of a yap in a long form format. Get to know each other and hopefully you can get to know us too.

So if we've not met before. Hi, my name is Rachel Harris and I'm a disruptor in the accounting industry. I'm disrupting what it means to be an accountant, what it feels like to have an accountant and disrupting the concept that you can't scale a business without losing yourself along the way. And so I own a multi-seven-figure accounting firm.

We are a national firm, so I've got a Manchester office and an Oxford office. We have 22 members of staff in the accounting firm. I'm a content creator, so I have a cross platform following of about 200,000 people. And I create completely free, accessible, consumable, long and short form content that helps people [00:02:00] to digest a lot of the stuff that we're not taught at school.

And a lot of the stuff that we're definitely not taught at business school as an accountant with an MBA. And then, a big chunky part of my life is a lot of live TV, press. I do a lot of TV work. I've just had a BBC TV program commissioned and we've just wrapped on filming on that, that will be coming out in September.

And so yeah, I just get to teach people all of the bits that, I didn't learn at business school. And a really strong theme through all of this is that I was a free school meal kid and a charity shop kid. And a lot of my love for financial education comes from coming from a house where a lot of the stuff wasn't discussed at my dining room table in the hopes that other people start talking about it around the dinner table too.

Juliet: Incredible. Amazing and also huge thanks because I followed you for a while and I have learned a lot and I love my accountant dearly, but I have now twice messaged him going, what about this thing that this amazing person has taught me on Instagram for free? He is like, oh yeah, no, you could do that.

Trivial Benefits was one [00:03:00] that was amazing, and honest to God, your content is so rewarding for anyone running a business. And I know our audience focuses on startups and founders, but it's relevant to anyone in any job at any point. So thank you first and foremost. But my second thing is where do you find the time?

Because you are running content and your business. So Strive X is the name of the accounting firm that everyone should go and check out, and I know you have a co-founder, which I believe is your partner as well. But how long have you been doing it for and how do you manage your time? And then we'll get into some other bits around numbers.

Rachel: Of course. Okay. Yeah. So I have been self-employed for four and a half years. We were a COVID baby dining room table during COVID, just, thinking. I'm sick of looking at my boss thinking, 'why do you not prioritize my wellbeing?' And now, four years later, I'm an employer who has an NVS score of 100, within my team.

And so have just been able to drive all of that into what we do at work. And so I'm employed for four and a half years. Yeah, my [00:04:00] life and my time is very much split into three sections. So a third of it is driven into the accounting firm. I am responsible for all of our business development and all of our growth within the practice.

I am responsible for all of our customer experience and user experience. And so my full-time job is, annoying people, asking them for feedback, really deep diving into any five star Google reviews, asking clients like, 'what can we do to replicate this?' 'What was the best fit about your, experience?'

And so my full-time job is looking at all of the systems and processes and blueprints and playbooks. We use systems and processes and everything, but inside of our business is as franchised as a McDonald's. And so we look at all of that on the inside. That's a third of my job within Strive X. Other third of my job is content creation.

And so again, that is nearly a full-time job creating content at the rate that we do. So we are three times a day on TikTok, once a day on Instagram, once a day on LinkedIn, once a week on YouTube. And I host a private Payroll weekly podcast as well as Instagram stories. You're looking at seven to 10 Instagram stories in between [00:05:00] there.

So I create content and then the thirdthird, is PR, live TV. So I do the valuations for people before they go on shows like Dragon Den, get to get involved in Sky News, BBC News, have regular slots with BBC radio and that is how I try and split my team.

The too long didn't read on how to do that is employ people far more intelligent than you to do the bits that you can trust to delegate and then try and work out which of the bits of the business where pound for pound, minute by minute, I can get the biggest return on investment by spending my time really intentionally.

Juliet: I feel like you have mastered what so many retiring founders get to at 60, 70, and you've done it in an incredibly short space of time. So, massive respect for that. And I'm a good year or two older than you. I've been working in as a grownup, I'd say for 25 years, but I've only done this business for five years.

But it's all of those lessons you learn by doing that you have conquered, mastered, and now sharing through your content. [00:06:00] Which is so helpful, but it's then feeding back into the business, isn't it? Because people get to know you, they trust you, they rely on you, and then they come to you as a client, which I'm sure pays dividends, no pun intended. So, you've been running your business for four and a half years.

You've done a huge amount of content. What, for you, was the gap in accounting or business services industry that you wanted to really solve when you went into being self-employed?

Rachel: Fun, passion, energy. There's such a strong image stereotype. Like every day I get told that I don't look like an accountant, and that's very much how I always felt. People would describe me as bubbly and cheerful and full of enthusiasm and like I was just born in a good mood.

That's very much how I would describe myself. And my ability to love numbers and love maths and love business, led me to become an accountant and suddenly I was parked in this industry that was very stale and pale and male and 

 I just didn't really understand like where all the passion, it seemed to get left at the door [00:07:00] and I, yeah, I don't know, like every day through all of my training, feel like I have the best juiciest job in the world in that I get to see the bits of business that nobody else gets to see, and it's no coincidence that I get to see that stuff. Whilst also you telling me like, oh, you figured it all out. And I'm like, obviously I have, because I have access to this incredible, black book of clients. I can work out what's working well, what's not working well, what personality types do well in certain industries versus what doesn't, where they're spending their money, how they're investing.

Like I get that

Juliet: So they're all AB testing for you? 

Rachel: Literally doing all of this for me and I get to do all of it, and so I get access to the business equivalent of the inside of their knicker drawer, like that's the stuff that I am able to get access to is that's how personal business finance is. Lots of people, their partners don't know how much money the business is making. 

Juliet: But also some founders aren't comfortable with their numbers. The number of people I've interviewed who said, get smart with your numbers. Get on top of them, know them inside out. If you don't have your numbers sorted, you don't have a business. 

And every [00:08:00] single guest, I think we're up to about 135 episodes now, but every single guest says, 'be okay with responsibility.'

'Be okay with a rollercoaster.' I'm like, I'm not okay with it. Accept it, but get a good accountant. And now I'm realizing everyone has a different definition of what good is and that is fascinating as well. 'Cause people are like, 'oh well, you know,' and I was like, no, there are massive legalities around this.

And for me to outsource budget to anybody where I can't do it myself, I struggle with, and actually the best money I've ever spent is on an accountant. And he is not a right hand, but as good as it's gonna get to one, because he will always be the technical expert in accountancy. Storytelling, on the other hand, and I did do a TEDx talk for my sins last year about this is I believe, always better done in-house and I will always be my own best storyteller for my business, but for finances in accounting, that person or accountant will be the technical expert.

So for you, when a founder or somebody who's on the fence about starting a business [00:09:00] is thinking about finding an accountant. What should they look for?

Rachel: Oh, good question. 

Juliet: It's a big one. 

Rachel: Yeah, I would definitely get them to think long and hard about the bits of the business that they want to do, the bits of the business that they feel confident doing. And it's really interesting,in, different areas of our life, people do not struggle at all with delegating things that they can't do.

Like I have never thought, 'why do I not MOT and service my own car?' I'm like, absolutely not. I can't be asked. I don't know what you do. I don't wanna get dirty. Like I just don't know how to do it. Whereas, when we become self-employed, we are like, we must be able to do everything on our own. And so it is really important to think about what your deal breakers are, what you want, what sort of personality type you want to work with.

If you want someone who feels like they're in your business, or if you want someone that's maybe a bit more hands off and you speak to 'em less frequently. So work out your deal breakers. Lots of us carry financial trauma. Lots of us were maybe taught by teachers that we weren't good at maths. Lots of people have been in [00:10:00] relationships that make them feel a certain way about money.

Lots of people, lean one way or another with regards to lots of people feel in control by doing as much of it's possible themselves. Other people feel more in control by passing it to somebody else and, meeting once a month. And so working out where your comfort zone sits, but also, tying into that is the long-term goals of the business.

So if you said, I want to scale my business to 5 million pounds, really scale it rapidly scale and outsource as much as I can, that would look like one accounting firm. If it was, I would really love for this to be a one man band operation for quite a long time. I'd love to maybe get up to about 150k turnover, really high profit margin.

But other than that, don't have crazy plans, that would look very different. And it's really important to understand your long-term goals combined with your comfort level because the difference between a good accountant and a great one is significant. A good accountant will mean that anyone can search for you on company's house.

They won't see any red things, and will see that you are up to date on everything. That's a good accountant. [00:11:00] Most business owners who are scaling or starting up don't need a good accountant, don't need a great one. And the difference between the two is one, makes sure that you are compliant. The other, this is where our firm comes in,

a great accountant means that you have the ability as the founder to understand by looking at your calendar that week, if you have a spare 60 minutes of time, where you should invest that time to get the biggest return on investment financially within your business. And so that's the difference between a good accountant and a great one.

And you can tell that the return on investment is infinite.

Juliet: Yeah, and I mean, you could liken it. I've just moved house recently and I'm entering the foray of interior architect, designer, garden, all this stuff I need to learn. And someone said, oh, you just get a designer. They make their feedback within the first trade deal that they've done on supply and that you invest in your business.

And I think a lot of founders start and go, 'I can't spend any money. I can't spend any money, I haven't got any money to spend.' And then I've seen a lot of, actually my background in pr, you know, a lot of journalists, and they're like, oh, I don't wanna talk about it. I'm [00:12:00] much safer if I don't talk about it, I don't think about it.

I was like, no, you don't understand. You are being tax inefficient. And they're like 'uh,' and they panic. So, for people who have blind spots and maybe numerically dyslexic or fear money, what could they do to then feel more comfortable with it, given it's mandatory that they do this?

Rachel: Yeah of course. And this is where it comes back to things like preferences, communication preferences. So one of the questions. We ask some really juicy questions the first time we meet with people, there's a few that are my favorite. The first is, how would you score your current accountant out of 10? That's my favorite question.

And then the second is, in order for us to sit here in a year's time and for you to score us a 12 out of 10 in a room that we are not in. What do we need to know? And so we actually write down their answer to that question and we keep it at the top of our CRM. And so every single time we picked up your file, we would know.

So I have one client who it says, 'my goal in life is to own more corgis than the Queen. Every time you speak to me, please can you check in and ask how close I'm to that.' Other people say, 'please don't use jargon and remind me of my deadlines at every touch point.' [00:13:00] Other people say, 'please ask me every single time you speak to me how much money I've spent this month on online courses that I'm never gonna take.'

And they just like that accountability built in. And so, they answer that question. We keep it on file, they can update it, but it's them saying, every time you speak to me, please ask me this question. The other thing that we ask is communication preferences. So I'm hard of hearing, I'm profoundly deaf and I really struggle to find suppliers that can speak to me in a way that I want to be spoken to, which is basically anything other than on the phone.

my laptop is brilliant. I have subtitles built in. I don't struggle to communicate at all other than on a mobile phone. And so when we built the practice, we built it with communication preferences in mind. We deal with lots of people who have 'fanxiety', financial anxiety, or, are neuros spicy in some way or actually just have a preference because you don't have to have a disability or a neuro spiciness to have a preference.

And so some people say, 'if you email me that is never getting done, it's a black hole. Just call me.' Other people that opposite, they say, 'my phone's on DND [00:14:00] the entire day. If you email me, that's my Bible, that's my inbox.' And so making sure that you are working with people that feel like they are a really great

valuable addition to your business rather than this like really awkward bit that you have to change your preferences and your financial infrastructure to like bolt into it is really important to make sure that they're adding value to your business and not anything else. And then again, I would really encourage people to do some research, go on company's house.

From 2027 onwards, actually profit and losses are gonna become public. I am very excited about this because I will be encouraging all of our prospective clients to compare our profit and loss to our competitors. I think that's a really important part. If you are gonna invest in the finance function of your business, it's really important that you do that in a firm that is mirroring your long-term goals.

For a lot of people, they want to be profitable, they want to be systems driven, they want to remove themselves from the dayday running of the business. I've done that and I've maintained fantastic profit margins over time, as well as, a fully UK based team with no [00:15:00] outsourcing, which is unheard of, as well as a really happy workforce.

And so do research on the business model, the infrastructure, the core values, the way that they treat the team. If the team are happy, what the team turnover is. Look at Google reviews, look at company's house, look at profit and losses because an accountant isn't just a compliance function, this is an opportunity for you to feel like you actually have a peer in business for probably one of the first times ever. Becoming self-employed is incredibly lonely.

And actually it's very rare to find people who get it. And so an accountant for some people's, the only thing they actually outsource, lots of people do everything in-house, and outsource it purely for compliance reasons. And so don't see it as a, just an accountant. See it as If I'm gonna have to spend this money, I want to spend it in a way that reflects my values, my personal values, and the direction that my business is going in.

Juliet: It's fascinating to hear you say this, 'cause every time you are giving an accounting example, I liken it to PR. So when you're pitching to a journalist, know their audience, know their reader, why are they pitching? What's in it for [00:16:00] the reader to feature you? And then do your due diligence. Do your research.

Because if, as you said, if you're investing in something in outsourcing budget, they need to be the right person. And there's nothing worse than feeling like you've wasted time, 'cause time is so precious. So yeah, it's set up for success at the beginning. You are so beautifully passionate about financial wellbeing, and you put a lot of time and energy into your content.

Would you advise, say, every founder to do this, or is this something that just works particularly for your business?

Rachel: Oh, everyone. Yeah. I would encourage every business. I found my therapist on Instagram, because I really struggled to connect with a therapist for a long time. Kissed a few frogs, went and chat to a few different therapists and I kept hitting a brick wall. I knew that I wanted a long-term relationship with someone that I really connected with, and I thought, how do our ideal clients find us?

Social media. Why do they connect with us in that way? And it's 'cause they can try before they buy. Most people, you've gotta get on a half an hour call with someone before you think, 'oh gosh, she's too enthusiastic and pink for me, I don't [00:17:00] like it. not for me.' Actually, I get to show people what to expect.

I get to show people, the standards, the service levels, the enthusiasm, the way that we treat the team. All of these things I get to show them before they engage. And so I thought about this and I started searching on Instagram for a therapist and. Therapists create content, it really helped me to get a feel for people before I engage with them.

Depending on why you want a therapist, it could be important that you get somebody of a specific demographic age. Like I wanted someone my own age. I didn't want someone who was my parents' age. And so I was able to find someone that felt like me. And so I would encourage everybody to get onto social media.

And again, with our client base, we don't have a specialism, we don't have a niche. The only niche we have is our values, and actually through making content, it means that we are pre-qualifying all of the leads that we get. We reach, on Instagram, in a month we'll reach about 10 million people and actually, not that many become clients.

That's our way of filtering them out. That's our way of setting the tone in terms of like budget, investment, time investment, the way [00:18:00] that we treat our team, I've built the team as an accountant that worked in practice for other accountants who work in practice. And so, our team have the ability to red flag clients if they don't adhere to our core values.

Clients have to sign our core values when they become clients and so actually, if you don't engage with our core values and our number one core values, don't be a dick. Actually, you're probably not gonna engage in And so I use content as a way to save everybody time by letting them know what to expect.

Juliet: It's actually a really efficient way of filtering, and I think a lot of people forget this in the service based sector that it's a dialogue, it's a partnership. You can't set and forget you anyone that you are contracting to help support your business, it's back and forth. It's not that you've outsourced and it's gone, it's coming back to you with questions, but you need to trust your supplier or your partner and they need to trust you too. And there's nothing, I love that you say that your value is don't be a dick because I remember my dad, he was a carpenter and he would add what we would call the fuck it tax on top of, or the [00:19:00] dickhead tax, excuse our French, to quotes. 'Cause he was like, I don't really wanna work with this person, but if they pay this much more, then I could suck it up and just deal with it. But actually, we became a B Corp two years ago, and it's a point where we say no to the wrong clients because they're gonna drain resources, drain energy, and we're gonna work that hard.

We wanna like the people. But that partnership, that equal footing, it sets the tone of we are in it with you, but you have to respect us back.

Juliet: We're taking a quick 30 second break from this episode to ask, are you thinking of starting your own podcast? If so, this is great news because we run a course that will train you how to produce your own podcast yourself. This course is for people who do not want to outsource and pay someone else to do it.

You want to learn how to do it yourself. We teach you everything that you need to get up and running with your own podcast show, and so much more. Just DM us at hello@fallowfieldmason to book your spot.

Rachel: A hundred percent. and again, we specifically operate in the ecosystem of UK [00:20:00] businesses and even things like when somebody books a prospective client call with us, they get a checklist straight back that says, if you are chatting to other accountants, here are six questions that you should be asking everyone.

First one is, do you outsource? You will struggle to find an accounting firm, with employees, that does not outsource part of your data and your work to another country or another firm. And actually we've now started to really attract this beautiful like cohort of clients who invest-

we are not cheap. And we're not cheap because we don't outsource- invest their money. Because of those values and because of the fact that we don't outsource and because of the fact that we've created 23 British jobs in the UK through no outsourcing and 

Juliet: Well, the trust. The trust is that you're being transparent. 

Rachel: And so many calls people will have of an accountant where they don't mention it, they don't mention outsourcing at all. And so that's your data, that's your work, that's your income, that's your fees going to another country. And so actually the reason we go straight back is that's basically us saying this is our values proposition, but here's six, six questions that you [00:21:00] should ask every single accountant.

Juliet: Well and that specialism, same thing. We get lots of people saying, oh, can we have a quick chat? It's like, well, that's technically consulting and an hourly rate, but if you'd like to book a call, here is how we work. Here are our decks, here are our prices, and here is a q and a. We'd love you to fill in before the call so we can sense check how committed they are to the call and if they're just gonna try and mine us free information.

But it is again that partnership and that dialogue, back and forth, and the filtering process. But I love that you use content, 'cause from outside looking in, it is a ton of work. You are doing a ton of work around content and it will take time, and time is precious. But if it's working really hard for you, that's really interesting.

But just as a sidebar, I love the fact that you invest in therapist as well, because when you are running a business, you are at the coalface, you are doing something you've never done before. You're probably doing something that no one's ever done before in a different way. There is no playbook. You need support and you need an accountant.

And I do think everyone needs either a mentor, a counselor or a therapist or some sort of mental support. And [00:22:00] we've done a lot of episodes around health and wellness in this show. and our most downloaded episode ever was the imposter syndrome one, which is actually an experience. You can't be diagnosed with imposter syndrome.

It's just a feeling. It's okay. People listen to Hamish Mackay-Lewis and everything will be well. But it is that mental health aspect. For you, is that something that you'll just continue on, it's just a mandatory expense now for you?

Rachel: Yeah, 100%. So I've seen a therapist weekly. We have a weekly relationship for about three years. Some weeks I feel like I have nothing to talk about. Other weeks, I think, 'have you got three hours?' One, 'cause my, my life keeping you in business and Yeah. A hundred percent non-negotiable.

I've had the same experience that lots of people do when they become self-employed. Which is, at the beginning I thought, oh my gosh, I'm in control of my own income. This is terrifying to, a year later being like, oh my gosh, I'm in control of my own income. This is amazing and I feel like once 

your hierarchy of needs grows with you and grows with your income. And every single year we do this and all of our clients get access to an online course which teaches them [00:23:00] how to do it too, which is a quality of life audit. And It really like prompts you and guides you through auditing your quality of life and making sure that when you are doing financial goal setting, you are not starting with the numbers, but the numbers are mirroring your personal quality of life goals. Lots of people would start a financial forecast and think, 'what if my income increased by 20% this year?'

Whereas really you should be starting with a wheel of life, scoring the areas of your life. And actually, a more likely outcome from this audit is that rather than increasing your income by 20%, you think, could my income stay the same, but I buy back 20% quality of life in my personal life by working 20% less?

And so we teach everyone to do those things. But for me, I'm at the point in the business, we have playbook, systems, processes, an incredibly efficient team as well as we leverage lots of AI. I'm now at the point where my job is thinking, solving problems, being strategic, being innovative, and driving the business forward.

And [00:24:00] rapidly scaling a business means rapidly scaling yourself, and you sometimes go through eras where you feel like you are good and the business is bad. Sometimes you feel like the business is great and you are bad, and like somehow your personal life has this beautiful way of being awful when the business is great and great when the business is awful.

And so, yeah, therapist 100% is non-negotiable.

Juliet: Yeah, this is it. 'cause a lot of people are like, oh, you work for yourself. You have endless annual leave and you can do whatever you like. It's like, I am at the coalface of every second of every day, and that weight of responsibility is real and you need support and you need that external person that you can go and dump all your shit on and be like, help. Or they know you so well that they can go, do you think this might match something else that happened in your personal life,dah.

They, it was a old flatmate, described it. He said, you take all of your mental dirty laundry and it comes out kind of white company ready after an hour, and oh,

thanks. And you get that respite and that breathing space. So interesting talking to you. There's a billion, billion angles I want to take with [00:25:00] this,

but I know how important your team are to you and I've interacted with them and they are all professional, upbeat, wonderful. They sing your praises and your values. But how, given you've only been doing this for four and a half years, which is a short period of time, but it found a life that sort of dog years as well.

is 40 years, not four. But, how have you approached building your team and finding those right people? Because I find people the hardest, the best, and the worst part of the business.

Rachel: Oh, ditto, same. Yeah, it's fascinating. I feel, in some weeks, a Monday, I'll think, I was born to be an employer, this is so good. And then by the Tuesday I'm like, why does anyone do this? This is so bad. and so it's really important that I talk about being an employer with the context of,

it is so hard. It is so hard, and I feel very grateful every day. I won't call myself lucky 'cause there's a strong correlation between how hard I work and how

lucky 

Juliet: There is no luck.

There's just grunt work.

Yeah, the luck thing really [00:26:00] pisses me off. And people say, oh, you're so lucky to have such great jobs. I'm like, what? What part of luck? And random fortune is anywhere near my CV? So yes, I hear you on that. 

Rachel: Yeah, so we embed lots of culture into all of our recruitment process, and so we score based on core values. We have a three step interview process. The first is a vibe check, values check, core values, testing. Second is a technical skills test, so we are checking the technical competency of every single team member before they join.

Juliet: So you do that second?

Rachel: Second, yeah. Again, our firm is I can teach you technical competencies. I cannot teach you, I have this theory that anything, any one of our clients could pick. An employee of mine out of a lineup of more than 20 accountants and like I'm really confident that is true. And so we start with soft skills.

We start with values again. I'll ask them about their values at their current firm. They'll tell me, and then I'll say, have you ever watched anyone be fired? As a result of not adhering to the values. And then obviously all of [00:27:00] them say no. And I say, they don't have values. That's something that they painted on the wall for PR as actually not value.

And so this is a workplace where you be measured weekly based on the values, your ability to uphold them, client experience, all of these things. So first is a vibe check. Second is a competency. Third is a, come in, meet the team, shine a light in their eyes, and then really assess whether or not they're competent.

And so we operate in an industry which has a recruitment crisis. There are very few accountants in the UK at the moment. Either lots of them are leaving or left. Lots of people outsource, which makes the problem worse. There's a recruitment crisis, but because of what we do online, we are very grateful, not lucky to have a very strong talent pipeline.

And so we do all of this with KPIs built in. So our entire firm is driven on KPIs. Everybody is measured weekly on their performance in the firm. And I mentioned KPIs from the very first touch point so that, this isn't something that gets brought in once you pass your probation, this is from day one. But all of the, checklist all of the processes because I actually don't [00:28:00] get involved until step three, but I know that it's being done really effectively by everybody else in the team is because of the systems, processes and meeting templates that we do. All of it is built in with very strong, alliance to the experience that they should expect as an employee of ours, which is we have a best in-class benefits package.

We go on an all inclusive holiday, all expenses paid to Mallorca every year. We've got private medical, private dental, you can get a therapy paid for. We do all of these things. This is what I expect in return. And so if you've come for the benefits package, but not to work hard, we're probably not for you.

If you have come for the benefits package and you want to earn it, you're in the right place. And so it's impossible. It's hard. I can't reconcile a person. I can reconcile a spreadsheet, and that's the best and worst bit about my job.

Juliet: Well people have bad days and people have life happen and people change. This is what I've learned, is that someone could be fantastic one year and then not so great and trying to rationalize it, and I'm with you on this, I want the black and white, I want the kind of maths approach to it, but with people you [00:29:00] can't.

And that's what I think is the hardest part. And for us, I was chuckling to myself the other day going, oh yeah, we have clients who are people? We have teams who are people, and then we have press who are people, and then we have podcast guests who are people. I'm like, it's all people. And I look at my friends and coworking offices who do product based businesses.

Like I just want a product that stays still and doesn't have an opinion, but yeah. But it can be joyous and wonderful. I spent Monday out of the office with one of my colleagues and just thought, 'God, I'm so lucky to spend time with this person.' So the pros do outweigh the cons. But going back to your processes, I bloody love a process.

And I used to get laughed at, at Chanel for being too corporate and inverted commas. And I took that as a great compliment, but I wasn't the PR stereotype. I didn't go for four hour lunches and just shop off net-a-porter at my lunch break. I love a spreadsheet, running numbers and putting systems in place and automating things.

I think the best advice I've ever been given is automate, delegate, solve, and if anything keeps recurring, do those three things and you'll be fine. [00:30:00] How have you tackled all of your processes? Like, where have you learned how to do this?

Rachel: Oh, so after I qualified as an accountant, I did a master's in business. I did, an MBA, and through the course of the MBA became really obsessed with the McDonald's franchise. Not in terms of quality, or nutritional value, much more this concept of I've never walked into a McDonald's and expected the founder of McDonald's to be in there flipping burgers.

But I do go there because I know what to expect. I know the price point, and having been to one, I have been to all of them. And I became really fascinated by like, how do they do it? And so big chunks of my masters were driven around the concept of franchising the inside, even if you never expect to sell.

So I never plan to sell my accounting firm. I'm so far removed from the day-to-day, why would I ever sell it when I can be, the shareholder with all of this value in mind. And so yeah, just started systemizing and processing lots of things that you [00:31:00] do in accounting practices, but most importantly in industry.

So I did a stint in industry before I became self-employed, and the only way to take a day off or annual leave in industry is by creating processes for somebody else to follow, to do a job. Otherwise, you can't take any annual leave over payroll, no annual leave over month end. And I was like, this is a problem.

And so I documented everything. And we created playbooks on everything. So we, from day one, knew that the goal was to scale the business. I knew that I always wanted to become a parent and in my practice life repeatedly saw, business owners have to wind down businesses to take parental leave and just got heartbroken every time.

And so, from the very beginning, knew that we wanted to scale, knew that we wanted it to be bigger than just me and my husband. And so from day one, documented everything. 

Juliet: You were AI-ing before AI.

Rachel: Yes, yeah, a hundred percent. And so now we have this entire ecosystem of systems, processes, playbooks, standard operating procedures, working papers.

And a big part of my life within my personal brand is I have now [00:32:00] created a business that most months generates as much profit as my accounting firm. Which is selling those systems and processes to other accountants. And we have not only, been able to create this stuff for our own firm, which makes it really easy to measure performance.

We work in professional services and we're a zero time sheet business, which makes most accountants jaws fall on the floor. because we're output driven, we're KPI driven, the team are measured on client happiness and billable output. And outside of that, I don't care if you want to do the school pickup every day, like you should never miss an important day in your child's life.

And I feel very proud that I've built a workplace where parents want to work. And so through doing all of those things have just continued to double down on all of the systems and processes and now get to use that to help other accountants and bookkeepers to do the same as well.

Juliet: It's brilliant 'cause you are on sharing your value and what you've learned, and I think that is, should be applauded because a lot of people, it's quite funny, coworking offices. I think there should be a reality TV show based on it. 

Rachel: Yeah, a hundred percent.

Juliet: [00:33:00] The chatting, the dating, the eavesdropping and all of that kind of stuff is fascinating, but it's the kind of

'i'll share, but I might not share everything.' But you are sharing for the greater good what you've learned, and I'm sure many people are benefiting from it. What would you say have been the biggest challenges you've faced within the business?

Or in yourself in running the business?

I ask because a lot of people glorify founding a business and I go to Soho Works in White City and the bro culture and the gym downstairs where they're beating their chest and lifting weights and doing deals. It's ugh. It's like I'm a founder. It's like, but what have you actually done? And I think a lot of people look at that and look at, say, Chris Williamson or Alex Hormozi and look at these incredible entrepreneurs who've done great things and go, 'wow, I'm gonna become famous.'

But it's glorified. People don't talk about the loneliness, the isolation, the challenges, the mental health struggles. For you, what have you found the biggest challenge in your four and a half years of self-employment?

Rachel: For sure. [00:34:00] I think the biggest emotion I carry on a daily basis is loneliness. But loneliness is someone who is literally surrounded by people. But I have barriers with nearly everybody. I made a TikTok recently, which just echoes what you were saying about lots of people become self-employed to not answer to anyone.

And the reality is now I just answer to 770 clients, 20 employees and the internet. And you are surrounded by people. But that sense of like belonging and sameness, that as humans we crave. 'cause we were born to live in a group of people, it becomesharder and harder. And so I, again, it's the cycle of you feel quite lonely, but then you struggle to connect with people because the bigger your business and your brand gets, you feel suspicious as to, 'do you want something from me or is this a safe place?

I don't know if it's a safe place.' And so the personal loss that I have experienced in exchange for getting everything I've ever wanted, which as someone who came from a free school meal house was financial freedom. And choice, [00:35:00] as a woman, I always wanted a choice. I grew up in a family where my mom, I have a disabled sibling, and my mom gave up work to become a full-time parent.

And so as a young woman, I literally remember being like eight or nine years old and thinking like, I just wanna work hard enough to have a choice. A choice in what I do, a choice in how I do it, a choice in how I'm a parent. What that looks like, what that feels like, and how much I have to give up in inverted commas to do that as well.

And so, in exchange for that, the cost of it has been probably far greater than I think anyone will realize. This week I got invited to visit the Prime Minister in a few weeks time and stuff like this will happen and I, this is gonna sound really pity party, but sometimes this stuff will happen and I actually look at my phone and think, I dunno who to tell because I obviously have friends.

But lots of friends in 2025 dunno how they're paying their mortgage or they struggle to spend this money. And so I struggle to find the right outlet to have those [00:36:00] conversations of like, aha. Like 

I'm meeting with the Prime Minister. Yeah, and it's very hard. And so yeah, personal sacrifice has been far greater than anything I ever thought it would be.

And there are things that you can't talk about on the internet. the HR nightmares, the loneliness, there's elements of it that are very unrelatable, given the financial situation that you are in or other elements. It's a hard topic to know how to approach.

Juliet: Planning for success. I think episode six, my old flatmate in Sydney in private equity said this, he's like, don't plan for failure, plan for success. But that, that, when I've made success, who can I celebrate with? 'cause you need to celebrate what you've achieved. If in doubt, please DM me and be like, oh my goodness.

I've just been given a press appointment at the, Prime Minister office like, I will be your biggest cheerleader privately, no problem. Something that we do is ask our previous guest, ask our next guest a question, and it was Chloë Luxton who founded Bramley, the British beauty brand outta Wiltshire, who had a question for you saying, 'is there an [00:37:00] expression or saying that you live by' and for hers it was find a job that you love and you'll never feel like you're working a day in your life.

But is there a sort of mantra that you have?

Rachel: Yes, mine is, you don't become poor by giving.

Juliet: Ah, you don't become poor by giving. Can you expand on that a little?

Rachel: Of course. Yeah, I think so often, people work so hard to get something and they fear that by giving it away, they'll lose it. And again, the reason that I have accidentally created a second business by giving and sharing is because I, was born into an industry where everybody kept their cards close to their chest, and it felt very closed and very cold.

And my ethos in my personal life and my business life is 'you do not become poor by giving.' For example,investing in your team will never mean that you are at a loss. You'll always get more than that back. My goal, if I ever do any TV or press or PR, is to just be the easiest guest possible and say is there anything I can do to help you?

Do you need anything? have you got a good accountant? can I recommend you to anyone? [00:38:00] And so just being an incredibly kind person firstly, but I do think some people think that by giving lose. 

Juliet: Yeah.

Rachel: And to me that mantra has just been built into ever, everything that we do is just by being like, how can I help?

 I've definitely experienced this, like personally, like the bigger the business gets and the more well known I've become, the less people actually expect you to behave like that, which is quite sad in that I have more to give now as well. I have more, time, money, freedom, even knowledge, like what's in my brain.

I, I constantly ask people for stuff and I expect people to ask me for things back. And I recently met, Claudia Winkleman and I said can I come and do a day's work experience with you?' And she said, no one ever asks for stuff, and it's just so fun. But I do feel like the bigger the business has got, the more surprised I see people be by just real strong kindness.

Juliet: Oh, I love this. Be decent. And what would your question be for the next guest? It could be anything about [00:39:00] entrepreneurship, anything.

Rachel: My number one core value is don't be a dick. What's yours?

Juliet: I love this, that's the one excerpt of the entire season.

Rachel: I love it as well because most, accounting firms will paint, be kind on their wall and you think that is actually a minimum viable product of just being a human being. So we could just do a little bit better than like not hitting each other. That would be great. Like none of us mean be kind, we mean

don't be a dick like you are allowed to be stressed. You're allowed to be this. You're allowed to be that. But if you could just not be a dick, that would be great.

Juliet: This is fantastic. My first ever episode was a friend called Harry Anscombe, who has done many businesses in his life. But he said that he called me when he saw me put on LinkedIn the day after my redundancy. I'm doing my own business. He called me straight away. He is like Jules. What's this like, how can I help?

And he said, just get a good accountant. Get a mentor and don't be a dick. And that was his opening. I was like, goodness. 'Cause I'd just come out of luxury brands. I was like, can we swear online We can't. We can [00:40:00] do whatever we like now.

Thank you so much, Rachel. You've been an absolute. heroin hero, person of utter weight to interview. Thank you so much for your time. I've loved every second of it, and I'm sure the listeners will benefit everything. And we'll put all of your contact details in the show notes and so people can get in touch with your team and go through that three step process to get a call in.

Wonderful. If you'd like to contact Rachel, you can find all of her details in the show notes along with a recap of the advice that she has so kindly shared. 

And tune in next week to hear our next guest's answer to Rachel's question about 'what is your core value?'