Who is Elena?
Elena is a professional accountants and tax advisors who help automate and optimise your business processes, to be able to make informed decisions and experience the financial freedom you deserve.
Key Takeaways
What are the mistakes business owners are making and how do they play out in their business? 2:24
Looking for the problem in concentric circles starting at your desk. 4:28
The importance of taking a simple approach to business. 6:08
Not all business coaches are very good with the financial data. 8:03
What is the most stressful period in accountants’ lives? 12:54
The importance of paying yourself first -. 15:47
Valuable Free Resource or Action
https://www.elenameskhi.com/london-stadium-associate-partners
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Transcript
Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, elena, clients, business owners, accountant, problem, accountability partner, people, find, money, book, life, question, report, speak, coach, burnout, share, talking, tips
Stuart Webb 00:24
Hi there, and welcome to It's not rocket science five questions over coffee. I'm here with my coffee in front of me. And I'm ready to have a really interesting discussion with Elena Meskhi. I hope I'm saying that correctly. And that, you know, you'll tell me, thank you. Elena is an accountant, she helps her business clients to optimise and automate their processes so that they can make better financial decisions and therefore achieve the financial freedom that they're really interested in. I love this sort of subject this is definitely write up my tweet, I love talking to business owners about how they optimise and and make their business, less about them and more about the business process. Because that's the only way you can exit your business. If you're still at the middle of your business, being the controller everything, you cannot exit your business, you can never sell it. So Elena, I think it's gonna give some great, great, great tips in there. So she's also the author of a book, we'll come to that I'm sure during the discussion, Elena, welcome to It's not rocket science, five questions over coffee.
Elena Meskhi 01:26
Today, thank you so much for inviting me, I'm very excited to be here to share with you the tips with their audience about how to extract yourself from the business and move yourself to the next step. And how to face different fears and challenges. So we work with that business owners who run their own businesses day to day. So it's usually starting when they think that they had enough working for one lunatic and surprise and maybe they they started working for another one being themselves who is much harsher, who is more demanding and more challenging and constantly sitting inside you and say Go Go Go doo doo doo bigger, but more more not enough. How to how to overcome all that.
Stuart Webb 02:21
I know that lunatic very well. And I'm not going to say any more than that. So I mean, that's the answer to the first question. But tell me about the second one, which is you're obviously working with people that have tried things in the past, they've tried ways of doing it, what are the mistakes they're making? And how are you seeing those mistakes sort of play out everyday in their business?
Elena Meskhi 02:39
The first thing, the most predominant one, they the business owner would think that there is no problem. So they don't acknowledge the problem, that there is a problem. They think it's the team, they I can't find the right people. It's the system which don't work. It's the banks who don't get the loans. It's a cash flow. It's always the problem. And you know, the social media and the media overall, it's kind of support that thought. So everything else is wrong around you, you're the right one. So you're in the, in the quest to put things right. And to what I understand about business and business owners being so foreign in this industry for the last 15 years, you better start from yourself. And when when you face yourself and you realise that you have the burnout, you keep doing doing doing and you're afraid of stepping back and think about the business and analyse the situation. And actually when you remove yourself and this is the first fear because what if they're willing to go job What if the product is not going to be so good what if someone else will drop the ball I have to control everything and everywhere. And by being in the operational side so much involved, the business owners struggle to actually present the better product the better idea and to do to remove themselves from the business and enjoy it and deliver even bigger scale the life changing opportunities they can do. And when they finally identify the problem, they would try to solve it in isolation. So, they would think people is the problem. So, I will fix the people they will hire different consultants, they will aim they will improve the recruitment process the training process and then something else does work then they will figure out that there is another problem there was a system don't work because we do things in a without using technology for example, and then they will work with another specialist who will help them to improve technology. So the problem I see is that total disintegration of there are aspects of the business, because they, they either have to put all the consultants together, which first of all challenging to find the right people. Secondly, it comes at a cost, because, um, the business owner feels the demand that they have to know, all those areas, they go in deeper research, they invest more of themselves in that subject. And that's more harder for them to delegate it. So it's like a catch 22 They never can win in that situation. And this is, this is how they get more stress, burnout, this money, never ended circle. Sounds familiar?
Stuart Webb 05:41
Does sound familiar? And and I remember a very wise mentor of mine in my early in my career told me that whenever you see a problem in your business, you start looking for the problem in concentric circles starting at your desk, because so often the problems that you see are the ones that you are beginning to create. So having been somebody that spent a lot of time in businesses trying to help them fix process problems. You're absolutely right. There are too many times when people look and go, Well, it can't possibly be there, it's got to be over there. And you start putting together too many different disparate things that just make it even worse, you really need to take a simple approach only you take it back to basics. Business is actually fairly simple business is really not very difficult. But we make it difficult by looking and trying to complicate things, because it can't be as easy as it looks kind of.
Elena Meskhi 06:34
Absolutely, yes, we will look everything at our perspective. And one of the very good technique is to have the accountability partner. And this is also very tricky solution, because we tend to find the wrong people to be our accountability partners. I see different situations, sometimes that could be your life partner, and your common goal and you consult with them to discuss at their dinner or breakfast, how to do different different scenarios. It can be a business partner, and I find it there once you reach the limit very quickly, because all those people they subjective. And of course, they have your best interest at heart, but they can't, subconsciously they always will be their first advisor for themselves rather than you. So that's why it's very, it's very different, different. Another solution business owners comes up with, they will find the business coach. Yeah. But the business coach themselves, they will help them to take their mind to the next to look at the things differently, they will challenge them, they will be their accountability partners. However, not all business coaches, they are very good with the financial data. And the business owner also would be a little bit reluctant to share too much financial data with coach for the number of reasons. And the business coach, understandably, they would withdraw themselves from that sort of conversation and talking about money. God, this is what the business about is nothing if you are in business for money, yes, okay. You could have the illusion, I started the business, I want to help people, I want to make this live better. I want to work with best people. That's that's fine. That's your ethical. And that's your ethical understanding of the business. And this is the mission of the business. But the primary goal of the business is to make money. And who is the better person to speak about money than your account? Because we know so many, we know so many information, it is so valuable, that even life partners they don't know and with accountants is why do I call myself more than accountant because I'm not. I'm not scared to talk about money with my clients. I'm very open and open to share my insights and my advices about it. It's type of the industry accountants, typically they are introverts, and they don't that much like talking to people, they will like during reports or data and analysis of the digits and figures. And, and by presenting you with that. So one of the Gronk conversation we hear from our prospective clients who come to us the question we ask, How often do you speak with your accountant? And then most times, they will say well Once a year when the financial year is over this is when they see their accounts. And they're like, That's too late. That's already too late. How did you make all those decisions through the year? How did you know how to borrow money? How to whether you have capacity to recruit more stuff? How did you raise the prices? These are all the questions you speak through with your accountant, because Coincidently, not coincidentally, it all come to the matter of your business. This is all interlinked, and this is what evolved. So I find that accountant would be the best accountability partner, accountant would be the best business coach, when you find the right accountant, who is keen to speak, who came to share, and who will not be, you know, afraid of hiding behind the figures are the highs of the reports, and actually elaborate and be open and give you feedback to understand what's the reports about how to read the report. And what's the report, because there is the another fear that some accountants have, if I will share too much information with my clients, and they will teach them too much how to read the report, they will be doing it themselves. And it's, it's again, it's self fulfilling prophecies, it's when when you are not sharing the learning the understanding what business business owners are crazy. Business owners, they, they are best in what they do in their best in their product, their best in their services. They don't know that much information about the financial data, and how to read it and what strategy to use and how to approach. So that's why I think that we have done tremendous help and tremendous assistance to the business owners on growing the business on extracting them from the business. They have more clients less and less time in their business, they have bigger profits, and they finally living the life they want.
Stuart Webb 12:13
I have to admit a very unusual accountant because I find very few accountants who are who are quite so happy to act as a business coach to their clients as you Elena and in fact, some of the best, best work that I do is with accountants, because the accountant will often say, you know, you need to help them to sort of extract themselves from their business by making some changes. They won't listen to me because they think I'm just here to talk about their numbers. So if you've managed to crack that you've done very well, I know that a lot of a lot of the best joint ventures that I got going on are with accountants who are turning around and saying, you know, I need to crack into what is actually going on in that business. I can't find out the numbers are telling me something. I don't know what it is. And they're not prepared to tell me so. And I know you've you've written a book about all of this, I'm just going to share the link for where we can see that book on screen. There it is going on. It's on Amazon. And I think you said that you you have you not only have you documented this but you eat your own dog food, don't you you actually live what you have written in your book.
Elena Meskhi 13:14
Yes, exactly. It's all the self, self written. This book is about my experience, how I put my business to the next level. I've been in this business for the last 15 years, started from scratch from the kitchen table and grown it throughout town at some point in time I sold my business and I started again from scratch with more experience and with more knowledge and tips. And now finally, believe it or not the most stressful period in accountants live in December and January because it's such a joy. So look at me. I'm not in the office, I'm actually in Africa, having the time of my life with my family. And I know for sure that all the deadlines are done on submitted. And they wish the same for all my clients. Because they on top of like things they don't have to stress on the 30th of December or 23rd that they have to complete the tax returns. So we totally implemented all those strategies in the business to meet with the use of technology with use of different different aspects including psychology, including neuroscience. And it was very, very exciting journey and it is still is I'm still this is actually what we keep doing. I'm training and speaking with my clients on a daily basis, parts of the day. This is sacred and assisting them on taking that journey forward to find a way to find that happiness in life. I found the balance.
Stuart Webb 15:02
Pretty bad, pretty good. If you've ever if you've been able to train your clients that well, you've done well, we're coming to the end. And I've got the final question for you for you. Couple of questions wandering off his and we've talked about your book. But there must be a question that I haven't yet asked you that you would really like me to have asked you. So what is the question you would have liked me to ask you? And once you've asked the question, would you mind answering it as well for us?
Elena Meskhi 15:27
All right, that's a good strategy for the interview, I learned that you might wish to ask me about my innovative method called Pay yourself first. And what it is about this is at length spoken in my book, and this is the idea I came along. And I have been lucky tested on the on on the several on all of our clients, and have the tremendous results. So the concept and I think this is one of the tip on takeout, what your listeners and your audience can take and actually sleep on it and see how this concept will be lent into their business. So the business owner, they have so much pressure and they have so much responsibility. So they are responsible to the clients for the product to the team for the salaries to the suppliers, and they always prioritise and they act like firefighters, whichever demand think they're touching. First, they completely forgetting about themselves. And they completely forgetting to pay themselves first. So the concept talks, and introduces the change of this world and to put themselves first. So they think about themselves first they think how much money they do the personal budget how much money they need, in order to functional properly not like on bread and water, but to have all the variety in life what they used to, and come with a personal budget and setup that as the minimum amount of money their business must generate and generate, but probably after to leave as a bottom line on what they can take it minus taxes. So and to put it as a priority. And rather than every month, paying the salary, and then suppliers and then the software and then whatnot, they will pay themselves first that particular amount of money and see how the world will start changing around them. So on my website, and under mosquito calm, we have a scorecard which will help your audience if they take that test, they will be able to see they will get there pretty neat report about their business where the business right now and what next actions they can do to take the challenge and then out of that test, they will get a free copy of my book. So this is one of the perks and they can learn a little bit more about their pay yourself first, which I find is a life changing for all of my clients.
Stuart Webb 18:15
They know I think that's a brilliant offer. And I thank you so much for spending a few minutes away from your holiday to spend some time with us today. I wish you all the success going back to that holiday. I'm just going to finish by saying we've got a problem with the video. It's playing far too quickly. We will we won't read it because we don't edit on this programme. I'm just going to say thank you to Elena Elena. Thank you so much for spending a bit of time with us. If you would like to get onto the mailing list so that you get to hear about really interesting people like Elena coming up go to TCA dot FYI forward slash subscribe that's tcaa dot FYI, forward slash subscribe and get on to our mailing list so that you can hear about really interesting people. Elena, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us today. I am now going to play the the out video which will enable the other metre stop this so you'll hear the music you're getting so my apologies for for glassing areas with that far too quickly. But we're gonna we're gonna say thank you very much wish you all success in your business and have a lovely holiday.
Elena Meskhi 19:25
Thank you so much. Thank you, Stuart. I am the subscriber to your podcast from now on and I'm looking forward to hear more interesting, insightful stories
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