As young, female accountants, Sophie Hughes and Lucy Cohen were met with a lot of scepticism when they decided to set up Mazuma soon after leaving college.
But two years on, the Cardiff-based 25-year-olds have an office with four additional staff and revenues are rising impressively.
Adam Bannister: When did you decide to set the business up?
Sophie Hughes: About Christmas 2005. We bumped into each other on a college course. We had been friends in school but had lost touch.
Neither of us went to uni so I think we have more work experience than most
Sophie Hughes, co-founder Mazuma
As an accountant, Lucy had one big client, so I started helping out.
Then we thought: “Why not make a day of it, try to find some clients and make it a full-time job?” We started going to networking events and picked up a few clients in the first couple of months, so we thought we’d quit our jobs and go for it.
AB: It must be unusual to set up your own practice straight after qualification…
SH: I think so. Neither of us went to uni so I think we have more work experience than people who did; we’re about three or four years up on people our age.
AB: How did you finance the business?
SH: Just by working and building it up that way.
To be honest we didn’t really need much finance. We had to buy licences for software, but it wasn’t too expensive, and we worked at home at first, which kept costs down.
AB: The Sun did an article about your start-up and reported that you’re already getting revenues of £120k…
Lucy Cohen: I think that’s good going for such a new company, although we are wary of ‘over-trading’ – taking on so much work that we can’t deliver.
That said, we’re ambitious and hope to double that figure next year. Profits might look good but cash is always tight.
AB:Have things gone better than you thought?
SH: Yes, much better. I’d say we’ve been lucky but Lucy always tells me off, saying it’s not luck — we’ve done it ourselves.
Have you been working long hours?
SH: Yes, but it’s not too bad.
Before our first member of staff started we were working Saturdays regularly. Now we have two accountants working for us, a trainee and a receptionist, so we can have weekends off – not all of them though!
AB: It’s quite unusual to have a female-owned and run accountancy…
SH: Definitely, and that’s probably why we’ve had a fairly good reception. A lot of younger businesses like us, although we don’t just want to appeal to women.
But we do think women are attracted to us because we are female. And younger people seem to like us because we’re on the same wavelength.
AB: Has perceived inexperience ever cost you a client?
SH: I think some clients thought we were a bit young.
But the one client that really expressed that became a client anyway — a really big one. Equally, people love the fact that we’re younger, have a modern approach and speak plain English.
LC: At the end of the day age really is only a number and no indication of expertise or experience.
If you’re looking for old men in grey suits then there are plenty of excellent practices out there that can provide that, but I’m afraid we can’t! I believe that your credibility is built by doing a good job, regardless of what age you are.
AB: What have you enjoyed most about running your own business?
SH: It’s really good when we take on new clients and we’re doing it for ourselves, not someone else. We don’t have employers telling us what to do.
It’s definitely rewarding when you help someone out. When we help someone out of a tax difficulty it’s really nice and we’re like: “Well done, us!”
LC: The element of freedom; we have complete autonomy. You’re in charge of the decision-making process.
I think sometimes the higher up the corporate ladder you go, the longer the decision-making process is and the less control you really have.
And I think your work ethic changes. You’re not watching the clock any more or waiting for payday. You know that every bit of effort you put in directly affects your profit.
AB: Speaking of decision-making, have you had many disagreements?
LC: No, not really. We have a really good relationship.
We’re quite fortunate in that we both tend to like doing different things. Sophie is very good at strategy and seeing the bigger picture, whereas I’m very good at the nitty gritty stuff.
If one of us has an idea we’ll run it by the other one, and I think you can tell straightaway by the look on their face as to whether it’s a good idea or not.
We’re both clear on what we want the company to be and I think we trust each other to make decisions without any comeback.
Sometimes you get a phone call and you have to make a decision there and then. You can’t wait, you have to know each other well enough and know what the other one is going to say.
AB: What’s been the most frustrating thing about setting up the business?
SH: When we first started people were quite dismissive. I think it’s the age thing.
We went to a meeting with someone from Entrepreneur Action one time and he said: “No, that won’t work. Remember this is a profession and people won’t think you’re taking it seriously.”
We came out of that meeting really disheartened. But we proved him wrong and he actually became a client three or four months ago!
LC: I’ve always been the sort of person who wants to run before they can walk. But you can’t just set up a business one day and be turning over millions of pounds the next – that’s not how it works.
You will take knockbacks. You have to have what I call ‘Teflon shoulders’ — you have to brush it off and get on with it.
AB: Has anything surprised you about running your own business?
SH: The only thing that surprised me is just how small the business world is. Everybody knows everybody and I never expected that. I don’t know if that is just a Cardiff thing but that really surprised me.
It’s pretty much what I was hoping for, as I am now my own boss and only accountable to myself.
Don’t be wishy washy. You have to put in 100% effort, but you also have to be 100% sure
Lucy Cohen, co-founder Mazuma
But you can never prepare yourself for the sleepless nights and worrying that accompanies it. That’s certainly surprised me, I never saw myself as a worrier!
AB: Any future plans?
SH: We want to bring it back to the high street. We don’t want to be like Deloitte and have one massive office.
LC: We’re planning on opening more, smaller offices in various cities. We’re opening an office in Newport next because we have quite a few clients over there and the small business market there is growing.
We are also operating a satellite office in central London and going up every couple of weeks to attend business events and have meetings with people. Our client base in central London is growing nicely so we’re eager to make the most of that.
We’re certainly not going to have more than five or six members of staff per office though, we want to keep the units small so that clients still get the personal touch no matter how large our company gets.
AB: What advice would you give to someone starting a business?
SH: Make sure you do a business plan. It gives you something to measure against what you’ve done.
Another one Lucy says is that a lot of people tend to work part-time when they’re setting up their business. But if you do that you can’t focus on your business and it’s never going to be as good as you want it to be.
If possible, just plunge into it, and if after three months you’re not making any money then fine, get a part-time job. But if you don’t give it 100% commitment from the beginning then it won’t give you 100% reward.
LC: Don’t be wishy washy. You have to put in 100% effort, but you also have to be 100% sure.
There will inevitably be a time when you first quit your job, when you wake up at three in the morning thinking: “Oh my God, what have I done?”
And money will be tight. You’re always one month away from not being able to pay your mortgage when you’re on a salary, so it can be difficult if you have a month without it.
But this is where the planning comes into it. You’ve got to be so good at planning and commit yourself fully to it.
You’ve got to go for it.
And another thing. I heard a phrase once and it stuck with me — and that’s to tell the truth in advance.
If sales have been a bit slow, don’t go round saying everything’s awful. Next week will be better.
Something just happens; your mindset changes and you’ll hit that target. You have to have a positive outlook or you will never succeed.
I suppose Sophie and I are lucky because we have each other for support. Invariably one of us will periodically have a wobble and a moment of self-doubt and the other will step in and talk some sense back into them.
It does help having someone else there, but it doesn’t have to be a business partner. A friend or fellow business person can sometimes be the voice of reason you need.
Don’t listen to your family either! They’re far too invested in your personal interests; they can’t take an impartial view.
They want you to be happy, healthy and not struggle for money, which is obviously what parents are there to do. They’ll be there to give you a pat on the back or give you a kick up the arse when you need it.
But when it comes to taking risks, be careful about taking their advice because they’re far too worried about your happiness.
It’s one of the most stressful but rewarding things you can ever do. And if you want to do it then go for it, because you can’t spend your life thinking “What if...?” can you?
If you’ve been bitten by the bug then at least try.
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