Meet the adviser: Accountant Joel Dailey

To mark the launch of the new Enterprise Nation business support platform which makes it even easier to connect with experts, we're profiling some of the many advisers on Enterprise Nation. First up, Joel Dailey from accountancy firm Chaddesley Sanford.

Describe your business in one sentence.

Technology driven but people focused, the team at Chaddesley Sanford leverage cloud technologies combined with their professional expertise to support entrepreneurs and small business owners in streamlining their compliance and accessing real-time insights into their financial performance.

What services do you offer?

We offer small business owners and entrepreneurs the opportunity to subcontract to us the all of the responsibilities of a finance department.  As well as the full range of compliance services you would expect from an accountant, we can also be your part-time bookkeeper, financial controller and finance director.

We offer specialist support such as company valuations, forensic accounting and complex tax advisory guidance where required and also offer a full range of personal compliance and advisory services to the owners and directors of our corporate clients as well as a growing portfolio of high net worth individuals.

What first attracted you to Enterprise Nation?

We see on a daily basis the needs of business owners to be able to access advice from reliable and informed professionals across a wide range of disciplines.

As a small business ourselves we rely heavily on being able to call upon this sort of expertise to support us as we grow.  Enterprise Nation has been an invaluable go-to resource for identifying and engaging with the sort of advice and support that can make all the difference to the success of an enterprise.

As well as the online platform, Enterprise Nation offers an incredible range of events and workshops to help members make connections.

How has being involved in Enterprise Nation events benefited your business?

A number of members of the Chaddesley Sanford team have been involved in Enterprise Nation events as diverse as recording podcasts, speaking to an audience of budding entrepreneurs and even visiting 10 Downing Street!

As well as providing invaluable opportunities for personal development (exposure to public speaking etc), for junior and senior members of the team alike, involvement in these events has led directly to a significant number of new clients (primarily members of the audience at events that we have spoken at) as well as professional connections that have indirectly added significant value to our business.

How has seeking advice from other experts helped you build your own business?

When you start your own business there are certain areas that you will be an expert in (setting budgets was a doddle for us!) but plenty more that you have had very little if any exposure to or experience in before.

For us, some of the key areas in which we have relied heavily upon the advice of experts would be marketing and HR. We've now grown to a point where we have our own marketing department and HR won't be far behind but when we started out having access to professionals who could at the very least provide a steer in these areas was invaluable.

What business tips do you often give to clients you work with?

Don't be afraid to mercilessly exploit your existing network of friends and family for support and advice - particularly when you're starting out.  Generally people like helping people and so, far from taking offence at being asked, you'll often find that they take a great deal of pleasure and pride at being able to help in some way.

When it comes to finance be prudent but also be aware of the value of your own time and the value that can be added by engaging with professionals who really know their stuff.  If it's going to take you two days to phone round every bank in the market in order to shave £5 a month off your fees (often at the cost of a substandard service) ask yourself if that's really the best use of your time and effort.

If you have a two hour conversation with your accountant about how you can get a £10 cost past the tax man to save £2 in tax ask yourself if you time could have been better spent running your business and your accountants could have been better spent pulling together a financial strategy that will help get your business to the next level.

What's the best piece of advice you've been given that has benefited your own business?

Always take notes.  Surround yourself with people who know things you don't. Work on the communication systems in your business to ensure that those on the front line have a voice when it comes to decision making.

Anything else you would like to share?

Public speaking is an amazing way to generate new business. If you speak with genuine enthusiasm and passion about what you do people will buy into that.  I make a sincere effort not to 'sell' whenever I've spoken in public and yet I haven't come away from a single public speaking engagement without at least one new client.