Episode 7

full
Published on:

24th Aug 2021

We have guests πŸŽ‰ And technical difficulties πŸ˜•

We have our first guests! We also have our first major technical difficulties.

We’re delighted to be joined on the show by Brian Lang and Mike Chawner, two CPAs out of Austin Texas who are former colleagues and former business partners. They share with us their journey from starting their firm together through to later dissolving the partnership and going their separate ways.

As Brian and Mike will attest both have learned a lot, have been able to gain clarity on what it is that they want out of their business and importantly, have remained friends and continue to refer business to each other when they know it’s a good fit.

We did have technical difficulties and lost one of the feeds half way through (unbeknown to us at the time) so we’ll need to get the guys back on to finish where they left off. Despite this, there are some great insight from the Brian and Mike that we didn’t want you to miss out.

You’ll also hear from Jovie the Jack Russell who is not doing well with a bunch of deliveries during the episode.

If you'd like outside help on this process or have questions about anything discussed in this episode, please do get in touch.

Penny Breslin - LinkedIn | @PennyB57

Damien Greathead - LinkedIn | @Damien_GH

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About the Podcast

Strategy and the Virtual Controller
Helping accounts and bookkeepers build the firm they want, their way
Your hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead have more than 30 years of combined experience in the accounting industry. This podcast is to share their experiences of working in, and consulting to accounting and bookkeeping firms of all sizes, helping them grow.

Nothing discussed will be rocket science, instead they'll be discussing 'how' firms have successfully, and not so successfully, pursued growth. Penny and Damien will be sharing their insights on how firms can be successful by focusing on their people (clients included), their technology, and their processes and systems.

Ultimately how successful an accounting business will be depends largely on how the owners manage change, which alongside taxes appears to be the only constant.

We do want to acknowledge David Maister's great read Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing what's obvious but not easy as the inspiration for our title. Buy it on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3dhcUFC

Subscribe today for an upbeat and practical conversation about what's working and what's not in accounting businesses around the world.

About your hosts

Penny Breslin

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Penny Breslin is the founder of MoneyPenny, a consulting firm specializing in helping accounting firms and other businesses embrace the power of technology to simplify their operations and increase their profit margins.

Drawing on her years of experience and her knowledge of what it takes to run a successful business, Penny oversees the development of back office processes for her client firms. From the initial evaluation of the firm’s workflow, to technology selection, and assisting in the on-boarding of the firm’s clients, Penny works with her clients to maximize the benefits of a paperless and cloud-based firm.

Damien Greathead

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Damien has been working in the accounting industry for more than 15 years. In addition to getting his hands dirty preparing tax returns and doing bookkeeping, but the bulk of his experience comes from consulting to both accounting firms and the technology companies that serve the industry.

He set up 2020 Group USA which was a membership group for small and medium sized accounting firms and then went on to set up Receipt Bank (now Dext) in North America.

He regularly speaks to industry bodies on technology, marketing and change management.