This year we celebrate the mark of 8 years of Inspire and we would like to share with you 8 learnings from the 8 years of running this business.

Our vision when we started Inspire was to offer something more than most traditional accounting firms offer, to go past straight accounting and tax, and become a valued business advisor to our clients. We were bored with being ‘bean counters’ and wanted to be more involved with our clients. After all we have worked with some of our clients for more than 20years now and over that time built some great relationships and seen our clients achieve some great success.

Sitting here today 8 years on, we take great satisfaction in knowing that we have inspired many of our client’s business and personal successes and that we have a strong business and brand that is respected in the professional community as a firm who cares about their clients, always tries to go the extra yard for them, and who contributes in a positive way to both the business community and the Mackay region.

We have learned a great deal over these past 8 years, and to mark this occasion we wanted to share 8 of our biggest learnings thus far. Mos tof these are things we have learnt both from running our own business but also the lessons we have learnt as advisors to your businesses:

1.   Train your people and make sure they know what your expectations are.

Put the power in your team’s hand by making sure they have the skills to complete the work to the standard you require.  

This quote comes to mind: “What if I train them and they leave?” “But what if you don’t train them and they stay!”

Then communicate your expectations regularly to the team – 85% of employees seek to gain recognition from the boss, so if they know what you consider great to be, they will strive to achieve it.

2.   A great team leads to great results!

You can’t do it all on your own!  So, you need a great team around you. Take the time to mentor your people, communicate regularly with them about team targets and goals and encourage them to look out for one another and help their teammates out at every opportunity.  And don’t accept behavior that breaks down the team environment – be a strong leader and insist on team play.

3.   Strike a Balance

We have a motto of ‘work hard, play harder’ in our office.  When we are working, we are diligent and responsible but when it’s time to let our hair down, let’s just say we are pretty good at that too……

It’s important to provide balance in our employee’s lives – take the time to give them the ability to balance the demands of their personal and home life with their work commitments.  And celebrate the successes they achieve just as hard as you would your own.

4.   A strong plan is the heart of any successful business.

Businesses that have clear objectives or goals, robust accountability and a shared sense of purpose should always outperform those that just show up and go through the motions.

Strategy lies at the heart of most successful businesses. To achieve this, you need to communicate the vision to all involved, and then hold everyone accountable to achieving those results.

We have an Advisory Board that we as owners are held accountable by.

5.   Surround yourself with people who make you better, give you truthful feedback and you enjoy the company of.

You can’t have all the answers all the time, so surround yourself with people you respect so that you can bounce ideas and issues off for input to achieve a better outcome.  Look for people who aren’t afraid to give you strong feedback – after all, you don’t want it sugar coated, you want to fix whatever’s broken.  And ideally make sure these people are those who you enjoy spending time with socially so that you are looking forward to your interactions with them.

6.   Taking the time to care isn’t just important, it is everything.

When you take the time to care, by putting yourself in the other person’s shoes, you generally think deeper about the issue at hand and find better solutions. And the other party appreciate it more because they can see the care you have taken towards them.

This applies to customers, friends, clients, and your team.

7.   Learn from your negative experiences but don’t let them stop you from being fearless.

Not everything works out fabulously in business that’s for sure.  But take the positives out of those situations and learn from the mistakes made to make your business stronger, your responses better and your systems idiot proof.  

But most importantly, don’t let setbacks paralyse you from having a go at something new or exciting out of the fear of failure – business is about taking considered risks and the ones who don’t do that are at a much greater risk of failure.

8.   You must give to get.

If you want love, you must give it.  If you want someone to care about you, you must care about them.  If you want someone to work for you for a long time, you must create a job they enjoy.  If you want a strong successful business, you must give it all you have.

No matter what the situation, to get anywhere in the world you need to focus on giving, as that’s how you will get to where you want to be, and you will have helped others out in the process which will no doubt give you satisfaction throughout.

We wish to thank you for your support for the last eight years, may this new year be full of great accomplishments and success. My hope is that we continue to work together to create great results.

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