A Younger, Hipper Accounting Firm

Great interview on BusinessGears.com picked up from Business Opportunities Blog which publicized two 24 year-old women who started an accounting practice in the UK (Cardiff to be exact).

Sophie Hughes and Lucy Cohen are closing in on revenues (turnover) of almost £120k (about $240K USD) nearing the end of their second year in practice. They have two team members and plans to expand into another city, soon, a few more in due time.

Is this another step in a trend toward breaking free of traditional firms and their stodgy ways? Look at their website and decide for yourself www.MazumaMoney.co.uk.

Their site explains:

Their idea behind setting up the company was to put to rest the stereotypical idea of accountancy and to bring the profession to the attention of young businesses and established companies alike.

Of course, their pricing policy caught my attention, too.

...All these are offered on a “mix and match” basis with a bespoke price to suit your needs. You can even pay monthly so you don’t have to worry about a big accountant’s bill at the end of the year.

"Bespoke" if you're unfamiliar with the mostly British term, means tailored or customized to your EXACT specifications.

The interviewer asked: "It’s quite unusual to have a female-owned and run accountancy…"

Sophie: Definitely, and that’s probably why we’ve had a fairly good reception.

A lot of younger businesses definitely like us, although we don’t just want to appeal to women. There is a solicitor’s firm local to us which only has women working for it, but we’re all equals so we don’t want to come across like that.

But we do think women are attracted to us because we are female. And younger people seem to like us because we’re on the same wavelength.

When asked: "What advice would you give to someone starting a business?"

Sophie: Make sure you do a business plan. It gives you something to measure against what you’ve done.

Another one which Lucy always says is that a lot of people tend to work part-time when they’re setting up their business. But if you do that you can’t focus on your business and it’s never going to be as good as you want it to be. If possible just plunge into it, and if after three months you’re not making any money then fine, get a part-time job. But if you don’t give it 100% commitment right from the beginning then it’s not going to give you 100% reward.

Lucy: Don’t be wishy washy. You have to put in 100% effort, but you also have to be 100% sure. There will inevitably be a time, when you first quit your job, when you wake up at three in the morning thinking “Oh my God, what have I done?”

And money will be tight. You’re always one month away from not being able to pay your mortgage when you’re on a salary so it can be difficult if you have a month without that.

But this is where the planning comes into it. You’ve got to be so good at planning and commit yourself fully to it. You’ve got to go for it.

Good luck ladies, I suspect you'll do quite well!