Values are important to us at Fresh Clarity. They give us a clear direction and framework to work with. Values in business will help to ensure everyone can make decisions and is working towards the same goal. When you have an accountant with the same values, working together will be a breeze! We want to tell you about our values so that you can see if we are a good fit for your business.
In our last blog, we talked about our value of Making a Positive Impact (read it here).
Our next core value is Collaboration
Collaboration
Our team are very much peopley people. We’re all about the relationship with our clients, it’s where the strength of our collaboration begins. We learn how you work, what excites you and what brings you fear. We listen to your big, scary, wonderful vision for your business and we make you feel prepared enough to go for it.
The care sector is 100% about people. It’s your relationships with clients and your team that dominate your business. Unfortunately, businesses also require CQC inspections, regulations and compliance – the paperwork stuff.
It might be that you enjoy this side of the job too, you’re process driven and have systems in place for every part of the business. If so, that’s brilliant! If there are parts of the working day that you don’t enjoy, do you leave them until ‘later’ (that never comes) and then they become harder to get done?
When there are jobs that you don’t like and take up time you could be using better, why not find someone who does like to do these things? It’s an investment if things are completed on time and you don’t have to worry. It’s good to work in collaboration.
4 ways to make working in collaboration easier are:
#1 Communication
#2 Trust
#3 Having the right systems in place
#4 Having a sounding board
Collaboration to us means having a solid relationship with those we work with. It’s the power of these relationships and building connections that help overcome challenges and creates success. These are the ways we work collaboratively with our clients:
#1 Collaboration through Communication
One of the first things we ask you when you become a client is how best to get hold of you. Are you only in the office on certain days? Do you prefer emails, texts or Whatsapp messages or for us to just pick up the phone?
It’s not just how we talk to each other, it’s also about actively listening too.
Recently, we held a session with some of our clients. We wanted to find out how they felt as small business owners. What we wanted to know was ‘How do you feel running a business?’. Here are some of the comments that were made:
It was an interesting and engaging session. We listened.
It was a great way to make sure that we steer our business in a way that benefits our clients and our team. We can now see ways we can further improve our support for business owners in a helpful, collaborative way to make sure that they have someone to talk to, to ease the isolation and we can put them in touch with trusted people we know who can help with HR or other areas.
We have new enthusiasm and some great ideas to work on which we now know will benefit our clients and our engagement with them. This feels great!
#2 We value Trust
This was a key comment from our client session, that they felt they could trust us.
Gaining and keeping trust should not be taken for granted. To ensure there is mutual trust and respect between our clients and us, we have ‘Rules of the Game’ to make sure we all work effectively and happily together. These include respect for each other’s time, recognising that you are the business owner and that we are as interested in your business as you are.
#3 Having the right systems in place
At Fresh Clarity, we’re all about processes and systems! We love it when things work seamlessly together, and everyone knows what’s going on. We highly recommend having your processes recorded. This doesn’t have to be written down, just video yourself completing a task or take screenshots if it’s on the computer, and then everyone is able to do that for you. It means you know someone else can help if/when it’s needed. If all parts of the job are in your head, how do you take time off? What happens in worst-case scenarios and you’re not available? Being able to delegate makes you more efficient as a company, freeing up your time and giving you more chances to focus on what your business means to you.
#4 Having a sounding board
The old saying ‘two heads are better than one’ is true. Do you have someone you can run ideas past? Someone objective outside the business who will not judge or laugh at your plans?
Your accountant may not be the first person you think of for support and advice, but Fresh Clarity is here for you. We have an objective view of your business and can help if you’re struggling with a decision. Most business decisions stem from money – can we afford more staff and resources or if you take on a contract, what is the knock-on effect to your current business? Even just having another viewpoint on a decision that’s not finance-related can be useful. We offer more than just financial compliance. There are business planning sessions we can facilitate for you and quarterly coaching sessions to keep to on track to reach your targets and hold you accountable.
What would you expect from an accountant? Get in touch and let us know.
Fresh Clarity are a chartered accountants in Shropshire specialising in business transformation. We want to empower small business owners to take control of their business and free up time for the things they love. Whether it’s boosting your profitability, improving your cashflow or building sustainable growth, talk to Fresh Clarity today to unlock your potential.