Whether your business sell products or services, people are at the heart of everything you do. That’s why we at Kashoo regularly feature stories from customers just like you to find out what inspires and motivates them. We’ve rounded up the most inspiring lessons from five very different entrepreneurs and gleaned insights about company finances from customer reviews. Read on to learn more about how these entrepreneurs are changing the world—and themselves—one project at a time. Lesson #1: If you’re sick of the status quo, change it. One standout quality of every entrepreneur we’ve interviewed is that they were tired of something. For Gabrielle Fortin, it was boredom. Neill Ervick couldn’t stand office politics. Kathi Jones was sick of being married to her job. Jean-René Auger wanted to change the talent turnover in tech. Ann-Marie Kellaway was wary of corporate life. Instead of learning to manage their dissatisfaction, they chose to start something new that leveraged their talents and change their career life for the better. Key Takeaway Stop managing your unhappiness and do something meaningful. Lesson #2: Train your clients and employees well. In the search for the elusive key to work-life balance, these entrepreneurs discovered that the power to make things right lie in their own hands. A big part of living a balanced life is to set clear boundaries with clients and employees. This means different things to different people. For Kathi Jones, learning to trust her team and staying away from answering emails on weekends keeps her sane. Jean-Rene focused on having fun everyday at work, and his insistence on creating a tight-knit company culture has truly helped his bottom line; his talent retention rate is a staggering 100%! Key Takeaway You are in control of how others treat you. Build a team of people you trust and make it clear when and why you will intervene after hours. Lesson #3: Do everything with the customer in mind. When working for someone else, Neill Ervick felt “the boss was not always right.” He wanted what was best for the customer, and decided that creating his own company was the best way to achieve that. As a coach, Ann-Marie Kellaway is 100% invested in her clients’ successes, and helps them learn from their failures. No matter what business you’re in, all the recognition in the world doesn’t make a difference if you’re not solving real problems for real people. Stop worrying about being noticed and start focusing on getting results for the clients you already have. Key Takeaway Build your business around real needs, not what you think your clients want. Lesson #4: Bigger is not always better. Not everyone wants to build the next Apple or Facebook. One trend we’ve noticed over the last year is our customers want more freedom to do the things they love. This often involves slowing down and building companies on a smaller scale. Kathi Jones didn’t want to build a multi-million dollar empire, and Ann-Marie Kellaway was tired of the competitiveness inherent in working for large corporations. By focusing on building a business around their desired lifestyle, they found the ability to be successful AND take the time to enjoy it. Key Takeaway Think about the life you want, then build a business around it. Lesson #5: Accounting is complicated. Don’t make it worse with complex software. Our last lesson comes from the scores of reviews we’ve received this year from Kashoo users like you. Many struggle with accounting, but understand the importance of staying close to their finances. We were blown away by compliments about Kashoo’s ease-of-use, and that even accounting professionals found it easy to get up and running quickly without extensive training. Key Takeaway Accounting is hard. Using accounting software should be easy. Now’s the Time to Think About Your Future We hope these lessons inspire and motivate you to think about building a life you love. As this year winds down, now is a perfect time to reflect on what gets you excited and move confidently into your future. If you’re ready to stop using spreadsheets to manage your company finances, why not give Kashoo a try? You can manage your company finances on the go, get up and running quickly, and share info with your accountant quickly and easily. Get started for free today!
