, have both had to bounce back from financial setbacks, such as lack of capital or losing clients during economic dips.
However, creating more than one revenue stream complicated business operations. “Event management used to represent just one revenue stream,” Thomas says. “I could work on Xero myself using a basic setup. But as my business grew, I had to engage a bookkeeper who specialised in Xero.” Ward eventually saw an opportunity to improve how business decisions were made by switching to cloud accounting. The impact? Increased transparency and accountability across both the team and the business.
Ward recommends finding people who’ve achieved the success you’re aspiring to, and asking them how they did it. A pivotal moment for him was being selected for the 2009 cohort of Wine Australia’s Future Leaders program. However, with the support of an experienced bookkeeper, she was able to address her knowledge gaps and realised she didn’t need to employ full-time or part-time staff to take on the management of systems and processes.
Xero’s survey found that 21% of SMB owners delayed starting their businesses because of a fear of failure. Ward admits to “seeing failure every day” as part of running an independent venture. His advice? “Do your research. Ask yourself the hard questions. Stay focused and use the tools available to you.”