Give us your pitch Davie?

“ I was actually very frustrated as an accountant. I’d been accounting for 16 years of my life when I first started my business, I was ten years into business and I didn't enjoy the fact that it was all about timesheets or about money or about charging the clients, but not giving the right advice to clients. I could see that accountants in the old way of doing things we were the bean counters who will prepare the taxes, will prepare the financials and tell the business owner how much they need to pay in taxes. They’d give them the numbers that they kind of already know, because they can see how much money they've made, because they've been in the business for multiple years.

What I wanted to do in my business is to be the sounding board for business owners. I find that a lot of business owners need a business partner or someone to advise them in their business so they can make better decisions. It's very similar to having a life partner in your life, in your life. Most people want one and the reason why they want one is because they want someone to support them to have a sounding board. So when it makes life a lot more enjoyable and easier, and I find that accountants and the way I created Box Advisory Services, we’re that support for business owners.”

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Is there a tip you could share with business owners to make the finance side of their business easier?

“I see that a lot of business owners don't actually understand accounting and tax throughout the whole journey of running a business and that's a crucial part of their business. Making money and doing day to day operations is important, but without knowing your numbers, you don't actually know how your business is going and how to keep it alive and you’re essentially flying blind. 

If you don't know your taxes and accounting or you outsource it, you're basically handing the keys to your prized car to someone else. Don't get me wrong, people do this all, all the time. I would give my car out, too. But when I give my car to someone, I need to know that that person knows how to drive the car. And they're good driver because this is my pride and joy. So how do you know that that person's a good driver? You need to know how to drive yourself. 

That's the same thing that goes for accounting. Learn how to do it yourself and then outsource that work.”

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What do you look for when making a business connection?

“ I'm always actively looking for mentors because I find that in business, you grow at different stages. When I was a business owner three years ago, I needed different types of mentors and now that I'm running a business with 20 plus people, I need another mentor that has been there and done that and turned their $1 million business into $100 million.

So I'm always actively looking for mentors, and I do that by speaking to friends, other business owners about my problems and asking them for advice and asking them for contacts of very successful people that have been through what I've been through. So I can get that advice.”

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