Life as a business owner
Lucy, an AAT professional member since 2006 and Sophie, an AAT professional member since 2007
If working for someone else isn’t your thing, then once you’re qualified you could become an AAT licenced member and set up your own practice to offer a range of financial services.
Running your own bookkeeping or accountancy practice can be so rewarding, as well as giving you greater freedom, more flexibility in your work and possibly higher earning potential and job satisfaction.
We’re not saying it’s easy to set up your own business, the early days can be tough and demanding on your time. To be your own boss you need to have the desire and drive to keep going through the difficult times, as well as being highly organised, motivated and diligent – but these are all skills you’ll pick up during your AAT studies.
What led you to decide to become self-employed?
We’d spotted a new way of providing a service for small and micro-businesses across the UK. We were first to market with the subscription-based accountancy model that is so common nowadays.
What does a typical day look like for you?
We both take different days in the office and working from home. Typically, our mornings are taken up with catching up with the teams and checking where we’re at. Then afternoons tend to be meetings and business development. At least once a week we try to attend a business event in the evening.
How has your business developed since you started your practice?
We made the decision that we wanted to ‘go big’ with what we did. We’ve invested heavily in technology and systems as well as in a full team of staff to deliver our vision. It’s fair to say that, whilst the premise is the same as when we started, the business is unrecognisable from the time we were two 23-year-olds working out of a spare bedroom at home.
What’s the best thing about running your own practice?
The knowledge that you have created something from scratch, on your own. Both of us would also say that our personal development and professional skills have been accelerated by throwing ourselves in at the deep end.
