NED-style support

My standard mentoring promo messages and rates are further down the page but if you already know me you can ignore these 😉

What would you prefer?

One-off conversation

         Quicky – 15-30 mins support – no charge – pick a time here >>>

         Focused –  60-90 mins support – you share your background, where you are, what you’re worried about and what you want to achieve in the short and long term. We discuss what actions you could be taking in the immediate future. You clear your head. I help you prioritise and get motivated. And I follow up with notes and related materials as appropriate, all for just £395.  You can pick a time that suits you here >>> NB: Members of SPC qualify for a special rate.  

Flexi-Mentoring and NED-style support

My clients tend to only book for this level of support after either a ‘quicky’ or a’ focused’ conversation – see above.  Where appropriate you can then choose which of the following best suits you so that we can have multiple conversations. Often, but not always these will focus on you making Progress as we resolve your Problems and focus on Priorities and Possibilities. Our conversations will be focused, flexible and fun.

Typically our sessions will be monthly  – but some clients prefer to speak with me more often. During our sessions I will prompt, encourage and motivate you to get on with the things you need to be doing, to resolve your challenges, overcome difficulties and explore opportunities.

So you need to make 3 simple decisions: 1: Which level of support do you want? 2: How frequently do you want your sessions? 3: Do you want to commit to 12 up front?

          Mark one: Regular short sessions (typically 30 – 45 mins). No follow up or flexibility. £245 per session. Pack of 4 sessions £900, Pack of 12 sessions over any period up to 12 months: £2,750

          Mark two: Regular sessions (typically 45 – 75 mins).  Includes follow up emails as appropriate and occasional extra calls when you need ad-hoc advice/guidance. £350 per month.  Save by paying for a pack of 4 sessions £1,250 (over any period from one month to one year). Pack of 12 sessions over any period up to 12 months: £3,400

         Mark three: Regular longer sessions (typically 60-90 mins). Includes supporting notes, templates and checklists as appropriate, occasional extra calls when you need ad-hoc advice/guidance, personal video recorded guidance and follow up after each session to remind you of key points, tips, advice and insights we discussed. £695 per month.  Save by paying for a pack of 4 sessions £2,500 (over any period from one month to one year). Pack of 12 sessions over any period up to 12 months: £7,300.

Payment is due in advance of each session – with regular sessions, whether weekly, fortnightly or monthly, covered by a direct debit mandate. Discounts for packs of 4 and 12 sessions only available when invoiced and paid up front. 

If you don’t know me:

The remainder of this page contains an overview of how you could benefit from having me mentor and/or provide NED-style support for you in your practice.

If you are considering inviting me to support you, I am sure you will fall into one of these 3 situations:

S-level – You are under 40 or so and did not spend much, if any, time in practice before starting or buying your own firm a few years back. Things have gone pretty well for you but your relative Success comes with a degree of feeling Stressed, Stretched or Struggling.

You would welcome a sounding board, a quasi non-exec, a source of relevant knowledge, experience and insights – to help you clarify your real options, to make the right choices (for you), to better organise things, to save time and to help you develop or refine appropriate management, leadership and other key business skills for your practice.

F-level – You are probably at least 10 -20 years more experienced and seasoned than my S-level clients. However you have reached a stage where you now feel frustrated or excited and want some guidance and support to help you decide how to move forwards.

You probably have a key burning issue to discuss and where you feel my insights could help resolve things so that you can move forwards with confidence. Again you may want to use me as a sounding board or a source of relevant knowledge, experience and insights – to help you clarify your real options, to make the best choices, to save time, and, often, but not always, to help you take appropriate actions to generate more clients or to become more profitable.

O-level – You don’t fit neatly into either of the above groups but you would still welcome the opportunity of working with me and benefiting from my support ;-)

Typically my clients also thank me for discouraging them from wasting time and money on initiatives, services and software that would divert them or not generate the results they seek.

I am only able to commit to providing regular support to a maximum of 10 sole practitioners each year.

Who are you?

You are a sole practitioner accountant (with or without staff and contractors) and you do not feel as confident or successful as you would like to be.  You know you could feel better about your practice or that you could simply be more successful and you know you need someone to ensure you do one or more of the following:

• Clarify the options available to you as regards the future for your practice
• Manage your time more productively
• Stop worrying about your marketing activities
• Get more value from your networking and business development activities
• Spend more time working ON your business rather than IN your practice
• Plan more effectively for the future
• Take the actions necessary to achieve your goals
• Stop being side tracked from what you really want to be doing
• Avoid reinventing the wheel
• Develop and rehearse more powerful conversations
• Attract new clients of the right type, quality and fees
• Generate more referrals and avenues of introduction
• Charge higher fees without losing clients

You are also realistic, so I’m not going to promise we can resolve all of these issues in the short-term. But once you have clarified what you seriously want to achieve I will do all I can to help you succeed. As a result you will feel better about yourself, about your practice and about the future. And this will typically result in you generating more clients and more work of the type that you want and for which you can charge the fees you deserve.

What is involved?

The mentoring relationship is personal and confidential. My mentoring style involves a mix of support, consulting, encouragement, coaching, challenges, motivation and inspiration. I will encourage you to take action and hold you to account to ensure it is all worthwhile.

When you work with me you get the full benefit of the lessons, experience and insights I accumulated during my 25 years in practice as well as the insights I have gained more recently from mentoring, coaching, speaking and writing for many hundreds of accountants.

In addition to regular calls you also have ad-hoc email support, access to dozens of checklists, white papers and tip sheets and my personal promise to do all that I can to help you to achieve the success you deserve.

Initial contact

There is no charge for a brief initial conversation to check whether we are going to get on. You can book such a call here now>>> You may then decide to engage me to mentor you – or we may decide that’s not the best way forward for you.

After that,  you can book a one-off more substantive focused call, to obtain advice, ideas and insights.

Typically this will last 60-90 mins during which time you will share your background, where you are, what you’re worried about and what you want to achieve in the short and long term. We discuss what actions you could be taking in the immediate future. You clear your head. I help you prioritise and get motivated. And I follow up with notes and related materials as appropriate, all for just £395. If you already know this is what you want then you can pick a time that suits you here >>>

Keep moving forward

You can decide whether to have further one-off focused meetings or book a flexi-package for ongoing mentoring and NED-style support, as summarised at the top of this page.

If you require more intensive support I also offer a premium priced meetings-focused mentoring programme for sole practitioner accountants – as set out here >>>>>