My father was certainly the inspiration for starting my own business. He taught me at a young age that anything is possible. As I was growing up in North London, he was running a successful leather goods business. When I was on my school holidays, I would go to help him out with the filing. Then, as I got older, I started helping him with sales at his various store concessions in London. He gave it his all every day and the business depended on his dedication to it.
A good business is built on good relationships and it’s really important in today’s professional world to have your client’s back, get personal and plan something fun together.
I’ve known Lisa and her husband, Roger for around a decade now. However, it was my love of football that initially helped kick off the business relationship. Roger and I had been chatting about the business at a game and that led to me joining forces with them on a professional level.
What’s interesting is that Lisa is not only a shoe designer and runs the business, she is also an accountant. So, this is an unusual business advisory role for me because it brings a whole new dimension to the way we interact with each other. I have to admit, there are times when we just fall into jargon, but engagement is essential in business!
The jargon just means that conceptually we understand each other more easily because we are talking accountant to accountant and have that trusted connection. Our relationship is authentic and we have been able to develop a mutual respect for one another over the years. Of course, we’re all human and that means we’ve shared some vulnerabilities too. I have supported Lisa and Roger through both challenges and change within their business.
When we started working together, the business was traditional. Roger was a salesman and his role was selling their lines into independent high street shops across the country. At this time, things were going OK for the business.