Sam begins the conversation around renovating what you do every day to get time back in your accounting practice and ultimately, grow your business. Following on from the interview with Mark Calleja, Sam has put together the next few podcasts as a series to look at how to create space in your business to make the shifts needed to move from expert to advisor.

Sam looks at the lesson from Mark in the opportunities being missed by not freeing up space and systematising in our businesses, and why the biggest opportunity is the EOY tax processes. Sam explains the difference between a process and a system, as well as how the industry can be the disruptors through becoming relationship businesses, rather than being disrupted by technology.

Sam interviews Mark Calleja, accountant and business advisor based in Sydney who has been through the journey from practice owner to business owner and now to business advisor. Mark shares his journey of over 20 years in accounting and what happened when he moved into practice ownership.

Sam looks at how we might take what David Masefield taught us about using a knowledge based model (his blog) to educate his market and drive business to gaps in the market outside the sale of the traditional big ticket market and how we can parallel this to think a little differently about how we offer services.

This episode is all about startup innovation, the absolute importance of your team, and the benefits of incubators and accelerator programs for status and business owners. Sam and David also discuss the importance of transparent and future-focused conversations between cofounders early on before there’s vested interests at play and the qualities David identifies in people who will be successful entrepreneurs, either now or in the future.

David and Sam discuss the importance of connecting with other entrepreneurs and business people, of being in community. David then shares the definition of a startup and how it differentiates from doing business long term. Plus, the success rates (or lack thereof) of startups and why fast failure is the goal.

In this episode Sam discusses two of the most important questions you can ask yourself in business: “What do you want?” and “What brings you joy?” So often, when Sam asks clients these questions they tell her that they’ve never been asked before, or they’ve never given themselves time to pause and think about the answers.

Sam dives deep into the takeaways from her conversation with Greg Gunther in Episode 8. She shares some suggestions for marketing that doesn’t cost you the earth, some strategies around people—both hiring and collaborating—as well as the importance of having a business mindset.

Greg shares why it’s important to understand the different skillsets of the practitioner and business owner, and how he helps business owners find the joy and reignite their passion while becoming redundant in their businesses. He also gives his advice about doing due diligence and getting the right advice in business, and why you shouldn’t spend too much on marketing.