This post was written by my Co-Founder Rowan Grant. Startups are sexy, and everyone’s uncle is working on the next big calendar app (no jokes, I did get pitched another calendar app last week). As a result, professional service providers are now offering ‘startup’ packages or services to try to capture a chunk of this…
Niching for a Startup is critical. It levels the playing ground between small and large businesses. The challenge is however, when you start a new venture or develop a new product, you say yes to anything and everything. You take every meeting, every phone call, every bit of work that comes your way. Even if…
SmartBooks Online is a virtual business, meaning an array of challenges are immediately apparent. Just to name a few, these include building trust with clients and their accountants, showing the world that we know our sh!t without warranting a face-to-face coffee promising everything, and most of all managing expectations. We’ve received mixed feedback from both…
SmartBooks Online has been floating around the internet over the last 12 months. During that time, Rowan and I were both working full time and progressing in our respective careers – jobs that we genuinely enjoyed doing – whilst running the business by night. Some called it part time entrepreneurship. Others called it a lifestyle…
The team at SBO are both proud and humbled to have been named the 2015 “Rising Stars of the Year” in the Australian Accounting awards, hosted by Accountants Daily. It was an honour to share the stage with the leaders in our industry. However, we definitely didn’t make it this far on our own, so…
Myself and timesheets have a love-hate relationship. While I detest completing them on a day-to-day basis, unfortunately I cannot live without them. Allow me to explain. If you have worked (or are working) as a practicing accountant, lawyer, consultant or in any other profession in the business of buying and selling time, you are likely…
‘Giving before you receive (or ask)’ is an attitude central to every religion and is a fundamental component of all successful relationships. Collaborating and being willing to share is vital if humans are to coexist fruitfully. And this philosophy applies to business relationships as much as it does to life. But the thing that frequently…
The term ‘Startup’ has been thrown around with increased frequency over the past few years. It’s become the new ‘sexy’ way of describing your business/hobby/piece of software/concept. The problem is that it’s used in so many facets that I don’t know what it actually means anymore. The Government thinks Startups are just small businesses. TechCrunch…
I see business owners everywhere constantly living the struggle. The struggle of running a small business. “I’m stuck in the start-upy phase at the moment. I’m so busy trying to manage my staff, do business development, manage my cashflow…plus do the work!” Days are spent fulfilling a multitude of roles, with the belief that hard…
ATTENTION: Lawyers, accountants, architects, creative agencies, recruiters, financial planners, consultants…any other business in the business of ‘buying and selling’ time… …this applies to you. Some seasoned entrepreneurs may say revenue growth, profitability, lock up – amongst others – are the most important metrics to your business. Of course they are important, however I believe one…