Building a Thriving Profit First Community
Tim Seymour sits down with Jason Withers and Deb Halliday to talk about how joining Profit First Professionals UK & Ireland transformed their businesses — and their sense of connection. They share how collaboration, personal guidance, and a proactive community have helped members grow in confidence and success.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome to Profit first beyond the Book, a podcast that takes you beyond the book with Profit first brought to you by Tim Duncan and the rest of the Profit First Professionals UK and Ireland.
Speaker B:Welcome along.
Speaker B:I'm joined today once again with Deb Halliday and Jason.
Speaker B:Hello to both of you.
Speaker C:Hi Tim.
Speaker C:Suppose I should say hello Deb as well, really, shouldn't I actually for completeness.
Speaker C:There we go.
Speaker A:Hi Jason.
Speaker B:Yeah, I thought we'd practice that one before and anyway this right one day, it doesn't matter does it really?
Speaker B:But it's a bit of fun.
Speaker B:So today we thought we would talk about what membership is as a Profit First Professional and what better way to talk about it than to describe our, our own personal experiences of membership.
Speaker B: he, the license back in March: Speaker B:And Jason, you are at the three of us, you're the longer standing member.
Speaker B:So you've been a Profit first professional longer than myself and longer than Deb.
Speaker B:So I'm going to go to you first and ask you to share a little bit about your experience when you joined Profit first when it was based in the US and then how it's changed since we took the license over.
Speaker B:And obviously you've got involved with us and our Profit First Professional guide as well.
Speaker B:So you have inside information as well as talking to the members all the time.
Speaker B:So going to come to you first of us.
Speaker C:Okay, yeah, sure, yeah.
Speaker C:So when I, when I joined I think the world was a different place pre pandemic, quite apart from anything else.
Speaker C:And I think my, I'll say some of my motivations at that point in time where I was, I was in a lot of groups with a lot of Americans who were naturally talking about Profit first in the background and that was ultimately I suppose my conduit to it.
Speaker C:So I think really for me I was, I was really looking at it as an element of just becoming certified.
Speaker C:That was the goal.
Speaker C:I wasn't really thinking much further beyond it than that.
Speaker C:I think there were only two or three people in the UK who had certified prior to me.
Speaker C:So it wasn't as if there were a tremendous number of people who were involved or talk about it regularly that much in the UK anyway.
Speaker C:So I really just got through the certification process and then my, my original guide that got me through certification left and I transferred over to Liz, who's still at home base in the US now.
Speaker C:Fabulous lady.
Speaker C:But I think I'd, by then I'd really Sort of like charted my own course.
Speaker C:I'd certified, I had the ability to use all the credentials and so on, and was just sort of merely getting on on my own, doing my own thing with it.
Speaker C:And I think it was really, I suppose, maybe post pandemic when things started to change again a little bit and people started to get their head above the parapet and other people had certified into the.
Speaker C:In the interim, obviously yourself in that period of time as well, Tim Duncan as well, maybe one or two others.
Speaker C:And I think that we started.
Speaker C:I think we started getting on some calls with Ron actually from the us who was sort of like hosting a group of, I don't know, maybe half a dozen of us, eight of us maybe at that point in time.
Speaker C:And that was good, that was a good experience to have his insight and so on, on what was going on in the world generally, how things were playing out in the us, how people were dealing with things.
Speaker C:And I think that was my first real, I'll say, sort of like community aspect, as it were, really.
Speaker C:There was the Facebook group that was sort of alive and kicking, which had all of the members from around the world at that point in time.
Speaker C:So that was, that was good.
Speaker C:But in terms of sort of live community feel, I think that was my first real feeling that I was part of a collective, I suppose, as much as anything.
Speaker C:It was no longer quite such an individual pursuit, perhaps on that basis.
Speaker C:And then of course yourself and Duncan took over with the UK license and that sort of changed things again.
Speaker C:I'm sure you'll cover some of this as we go through it, but, you know, that first event that the pair of you hosted for us up in Newcastle gave us a chance for sort of a dozen, 15 of us to actually meet in person for the first time.
Speaker C:So that was like a brand new, brand new thing.
Speaker C:Although there had always been the invitation to go out to the US, to go and do ProfitCon out in the US every September, which I think Duncan had been doing as part of mastery.
Speaker C:But I didn't, I hadn't been to that.
Speaker C:So that was the next sort of change, as it were, I suppose that I experienced from that membership feel.
Speaker C:And then of course, coming on board as a guide, probably best part, two years ago now, and then starting to deal with some of the members on an individual one to one basis.
Speaker C: from where I started back in: Speaker C:There is like community sits at the heart of it now.
Speaker C:It's definitely not an individual pursuit.
Speaker C:If you wish it to take it that way, I'm sure that you can.
Speaker C:But I definitely don't feel that any of the members that we've taken on board, certainly more recent times would see that as almost being an appropriate pathway forwards.
Speaker C:I think there's great momentum now in terms of how people are connecting in all sorts of different ways and I'm sure we'll get to that as well.
Speaker C:So, yeah, complete sea change, I think, from when I started originally to how we think about doing things in the uk, I'm going to say, with and for and around members now.
Speaker C:Completely different feel to it.
Speaker B:Thanks, Jason.
Speaker B:Yeah, and it's.
Speaker B:By the way, it's a lot easier to get to our events, which we've had in Newcastle, Milton Keynes, London and London.
Speaker B:I think we all understand that one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now, you said community a lot of times then, so I just want to hold that thought for perhaps a bit later on.
Speaker B:And we can.
Speaker B:We can go into that in a bit more detail because that was something that myself and Duncan were really keen to create.
Speaker B:A trusting environment, supportive environment, where people felt safe.
Speaker B:And we'll go into that a little bit later on on the conversation.
Speaker B:I think it's probably more appropriate later on, but it's.
Speaker B:But it's interesting how many times that word popped out of your mouth.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So thank you, Jason.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And yeah, I. I myself, as well, as you said, you know, I joined similar time to Duncan around the pandemic time and Liz was my guide as well.
Speaker B:Absolutely fantastic.
Speaker B:But it was very much a reactive call.
Speaker B:So you get on the call with Liz and Liz would say, hey, Tim, how you doing?
Speaker B:What do you need help with today?
Speaker B:Whereas I think what we're doing now is we believe you need help here.
Speaker B:This is what we're going to take you through on this call and then the people come to the call.
Speaker B:But again, I'm probably jumping ahead.
Speaker B:I just wanted to highlight that as a big difference to where we were when we joined.
Speaker C:I. I think one thing I would just add on quickly in.
Speaker C:In that respect, Tim, is I. I would.
Speaker C:I would tend to agree.
Speaker C:Liz was always available for me if I wanted to, to do a call with her, but I always felt it was.
Speaker C:It was.
Speaker C:It was, you know, it was on me to say, yep, I'd like some help with this, Liz.
Speaker C:I need a different way of thinking about something.
Speaker C:So I. I feel as if I agree there was that kind of reactive thing.
Speaker C:It wasn't even like a set monthly call, it was a wanted it.
Speaker C:Whereas now, I think very much within the UK membership now, the flavor is very, very different to that now.
Speaker C:And we'll get into that in due course, I think.
Speaker C:But Yeah, I would 100 agree.
Speaker C:I think there is definitely a reactive to a proactive approach with it, for sure.
Speaker B:I think so.
Speaker B:But what I will say is the fantastic support from the global community of profit festivals all over the world.
Speaker B:And, and we're talking, as we're talking about Liz.
Speaker B:I know, and I know, you know, we could reach out to Liz right now, say, can we get on a call with you?
Speaker B:And we would book a call in there and there would be a great call and we would get a massive amount of support from her because we would have a reason to reach out to her.
Speaker B:And it reminds me, I need to get her on the podcast because I think she'd be a great guest for a few episodes.
Speaker B:So I need to do that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now everybody who's listening to this has heard it, so I need to follow up on.
Speaker C:Yeah, no, this was fantastic.
Speaker C:And, you know, I definitely wouldn't, Wouldn't view this in terms of, oh, you know, the US didn't help me.
Speaker C:They were there whenever I wanted help and Liz was fantastic every time we got on a call, without any shadow of a doubt.
Speaker C:So, yeah, it's definitely not that kind of dynamic, but the flavor has changed, I think.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No, I agree with you.
Speaker B:And it's interesting that you, you, you talked about being on a call.
Speaker B:Ron starting to do some monthly calls with the UK members.
Speaker B:So it's a UK only.
Speaker B:There have been about six to eight of us on the calls.
Speaker B:And of course, that's when you and me cross paths and met.
Speaker B:And I actually remember you being very giving on those calls from work go, by the way.
Speaker B:I can remember you.
Speaker B:I can remember we were talking about webinars and you gave loads of advice about a webinar.
Speaker B:I think it might have been to me, I might have been asking the question.
Speaker B:I really can't remember, but it seems to ring a bell.
Speaker B:And that was the first time I came across you.
Speaker B:So it's quite interesting that you naturally are a given person in that environment and hence why, you know, the community has grown like it has.
Speaker B:But after one of those calls with Ron was when myself and Duncan got onto one of our calls that we were having at the time, just the two of us, and we actually had that conversation.
Speaker B:Do you think we could do a better job of this.
Speaker B:And again, that's not meant in any detriment at all to anyone else to run to anyone.
Speaker B:But it is at the end of the day, us trying to tell the UK how to run things when without necessarily understand all of the tax implication, all of the tax rules and regulations.
Speaker B:Because how could you, you know, I don't know the tax rules in the us, no idea.
Speaker B:No interest in learning it either, you know, but over here it's different.
Speaker B:And I think that was one of the conversations where it came from when we actually then went to Ron and went to Mike and said, can we have a conversation where we're actually interested in holding the license for the uk?
Speaker B:Interestingly enough, we were the only people that approached them.
Speaker B:And after we got the license and it was announced and we were out there, every man and his dog said to us, oh, I wanted that, I wanted that license.
Speaker B:We're like, did you ask?
Speaker B:Well, we didn't know it was a thing.
Speaker B:Nor did we, but we asked.
Speaker B:Don't ask, you don't get.
Speaker B:And there's the rule there, isn't there?
Speaker B:You know, there's a lesson to be learned.
Speaker B:So we took the license on.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:Deb, we've mentioned this before in previous episodes, but you were the very first member that we took on once we own the license in the uk, so.
Speaker B:So your experience is going to be different to mine and Jason's because you didn't have calls with the US Guides, you had calls, you had calls with me.
Speaker B:I was basically your one to one guide when you joined, wasn't I?
Speaker B:So now, now I've sort of twisted your arms around your back by saying that.
Speaker B:How was your, how's your experience of membership?
Speaker A:I have nothing to compare it to, Tim.
Speaker A:So you're okay in that regard?
Speaker A:No, it was, it was a bit of my first kind of experience of online membership or community, to be honest.
Speaker A:So I didn't really know what to expect.
Speaker A:And like Jason, I kind of just read the book, implemented it, and really wanted to become a certified profit first professional so I could help my clients.
Speaker A:So I kind of thought that that's what it would be.
Speaker A:I just thought it was going to be a certification.
Speaker A:I didn't realize that you got the amount of support that I, that I got because my business would never have evolved as quickly and as successfully had it not been for the support of yourself, Duncan and the group at the time.
Speaker A:I can't remember how many members there were, but I remember and I, I kind of do remember being the first person that you said was under your license.
Speaker A:But to me that, that wasn't a worry.
Speaker A:I just thought, well, you're profit first professionals, you know, if you're going to take me through the certification, you know that that's, that's what I'm after.
Speaker A:But we had, and there was a lot, there was a lot.
Speaker A:But no near as you've mentioned before, what there is now.
Speaker A:But for me there was a lot.
Speaker A:So we had, I think it was bi weekly, fortnightly, we would say in the UK when we meetings with you, Tim.
Speaker A:And it was from memory it was more about what my goals were, my ambitions were with the practice and where I wanted to take it.
Speaker A:And you would hold me accountable to that.
Speaker A:So every couple of weeks we would, we would discuss what I was going to be doing and the tasks ahead.
Speaker A:I remember we probably overrun a lot because I can chat so, but, so we, we had that and that was brilliant for me because I mean I, I try and do a lot anyway, but to have somebody knowing that I'm going to have a meeting with them in a couple of weeks and I've already said what I want to do, you know, I've got to do that and a bit more, you know, I'm a bit like that.
Speaker A:So that was absolutely fantastic because the other thing I could, was I could feed off your, your experience and your, your suggestions, your advice.
Speaker A:And we had Duncan there as well.
Speaker A:We had.
Speaker A:I can't remember how often the calls were, but I just remember being in a group of all these people that had really traveled much further along the journey than I, than I was at.
Speaker A:But I could just jump start, I could just, you know, whatever idea I had or issue I was, I was having.
Speaker A:I would just ask the group and was just an open book, you know, it was just.
Speaker A:And my experience of working with accountants before, they're a bit of a closed book and they're a little bit guarded and they don't really want to tell you too much because you might steal their clients, that kind of mentality.
Speaker A:But this was completely different.
Speaker A:And it was really.
Speaker A:I felt as if I found my tribe because I'm, I'm.
Speaker A:You ask me a question and I'll tell you, I'll tell you to the cows come home until you've had enough and said right enough, that's enough information.
Speaker A:I'll just carry on talking till you tell me to stop.
Speaker A:So, so that was really, really good.
Speaker A:We had Stephen Edwards, we had Duncan, we had.
Speaker A:I don't think Nikolai was in there at the time.
Speaker A:But not only that, we had all the suppliers and the people that the account managers for software etc that Duncan and yourself and others that were established practices were using.
Speaker A:You invited them along to give us demonstrations and then connected us with them.
Speaker A:So that was amazing because I mean I wouldn't have probably known what kind of software I should be looking at.
Speaker A:But you all say no, we've tried this, we've tried this.
Speaker A:This is the one that we're going with.
Speaker A:This is one.
Speaker A:And here's your account manager.
Speaker A:Here's the person.
Speaker A:So I met Sam from Swoop now at Nexus.
Speaker A:We met Ollie from Starlink.
Speaker A:We met there was, I'm gonna say it's Nikolai's competition but Frontline.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Met all these people that I jumped on calls with and it just shaped my practice plan if you like.
Speaker A:And that's what it did.
Speaker A:It was amazing.
Speaker A:So yes, bringing all together your all experience.
Speaker A:I just felt as if I'd struck gold.
Speaker A:It was just like I've, I found this membership and I thought I was just going to be certified as proper first professional.
Speaker A:Actually I'm now know exactly which direction to go and when I come to a crossroads and I've got a group of people that I can ask their opinion and their suggestions.
Speaker A:So it was, it was, it was, it was brilliant.
Speaker A:You're going to ask what it's like now?
Speaker A:I, I'll let you lead that in Tim.
Speaker A:Because I mean it's, it's a whole different world now, isn't it?
Speaker B:Yeah, I, I suppose it evolves, doesn't it?
Speaker B:Like anything.
Speaker B:And you know, let's be honest, I, I, I myself and Duncan accountants run accountancy practices and bookkeeping practices.
Speaker B:Duncan still runs his.
Speaker B:I sold mine, went into coaching, then we took the license on and you know, and then we suddenly were running a membership organization.
Speaker B:Well, we've never run a membership organization before in our lives.
Speaker B:But we know.
Speaker B:I'd like to think we've worked it out or we're working out, maybe we're still working it out.
Speaker B:But these are things that you do.
Speaker B:You take a step into the unknown when you take a risk to, to buy a license and to, you know, invest in yourself because you back yourself to do it, don't you?
Speaker B:And it is no different to when you first become certified as a proper first professional to actually going out to your clients and talking about profit first.
Speaker B:It's the same thing.
Speaker B:You just back yourself and you just take that leap of faith.
Speaker B:But I think you know, Deb we probably, or I probably learned a lot from the course with you as well, because you used to ask great questions and from the questions that you're asked is where you start to build the ideas of how you can start to structure what you take all the members through.
Speaker B:So that.
Speaker B:Because the problem with a one to one as much as a one to one is fantastic.
Speaker B:The obvious problem with the one to one is you can't do it all yourself as the membership grows.
Speaker B:I could not.
Speaker B:It's impossible for me to keep doing one to ones.
Speaker B:Of course, then we got Jason involved for that very reason.
Speaker B:And then as me and Jason were working together, you know, we had the bright idea of why don't we take people on in cohorts?
Speaker B:Why don't we put groups of people together that are in the same sort of stage of their journey so that we can engage with them as a group.
Speaker B:And then you've got that little bit of peer pressure.
Speaker B:If one's going ahead than the others, the other ones want to keep up.
Speaker B:There's accountability, but there's also support and the fact that they're building up relationships with each other outside of that session as well.
Speaker B:You know, in the WhatsApp group, in the other ways and you know, reaching out to each other, getting on calls with each other.
Speaker B:And I think that was the learning of starting somewhere, doing one to ones, because that's what we've known from Homebase doing it in the US to us, to then thinking how can we evolve this, how can we make this better?
Speaker B:And I think that was the first stepping stone was going in, was getting Jason on board and now of course Kerry and then going into small cohorts because I think the outside world that are not within this community and they're not in our profit first pathway free community, which is for people interested in becoming profitable professionals in the future.
Speaker B:I don't think, I think all they believe is it's profit first.
Speaker B:You learn how to do profit first, you become certified and then you can go out and work with clients with profit first.
Speaker B:That's what I think.
Speaker B:That is the image people have in their mind.
Speaker B:And we need to change that because as you've both said, it's so much more.
Speaker B:We actually are involved in all of our members business completely.
Speaker B:We are, we are partners to them.
Speaker B:We are their profit first professional.
Speaker B:But we don't just work with them on profit first.
Speaker B:We work them on, on so many other areas of their business and with our collective experiences of running our businesses, of working with clients and of our contacts, like you've mentioned, all of the people you've mentioned earlier, you know Sam, you know Nikolai now with his offshoring team.
Speaker B:All these different people that we can talk to to bring in and add support.
Speaker B:Ashley doing his LinkedIn master classes.
Speaker B:We've got another one next week.
Speaker B:You know, all these people that we've built connections with can add so much value to our members.
Speaker B:So, yeah, it's, it's, it's interesting and I think, Deb, you've seen lots of changes throughout your membership already and, and, but let's go back to Jason first before we come back to you to talk about that.
Speaker B:You know, Jason, from your perspective, a profit first professional through Homebase, then a profit first professional through myself and Duncan as we took the license over and then not too long after, a profit first guide working closely with me.
Speaker B:We brought up a great relationship working together.
Speaker B:So you've seen changes, but you've also had a hand in, you know, pushing for these changes to happen as well from what you've learned as a Prophet First Guide.
Speaker B:So can we, can we talk about that a little bit about your experience as being a guide and what you've seen from members etc, that's different from.
Speaker C:Yeah, you joined.
Speaker C:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker C:I think one of the things as you, as you were just talking then, Tim, that occurred to me and I, I've been on hundreds of online group calls in the last decade or so, I should think.
Speaker C:And one of the things that always stands out to me is it's the questions that other people ask that you haven't thought of.
Speaker C:That is one of the most powerful things about the group calls that we do now.
Speaker C:I think, you know, people being at different stages in their journey, small practice, large practice, very confident, not very confident, doing some form of advisory work, not doing any advisory work.
Speaker C:There's a whole sort of intertwining matrix of those, of those circumstances.
Speaker C:But I think that ultimately there are some, there are some core principles that hold true for all of those people, regardless of where they are in that journey.
Speaker C:And I think that one of the things that has definitely come about is there is a real appetite for people to learn from each other now within the group as a very active, participatory part of being a member.
Speaker C:And sure, some people are more vocal, some people are more prevalent in terms of volume of question answer, contribution and so on.
Speaker C:That happens in all groups.
Speaker C:But there is this underlying feeling that people are here to help each other.
Speaker C:There is no competition.
Speaker C:We could all be competition to each other.
Speaker C:And yet, you know, one of my, one of my own favorite phrases is we all read the same 200 pages in a book, but we all deliver slightly differently.
Speaker C:And standing behind that are very much our own personalities, the things that we are good at, strong at as individuals, the things that we choose to focus on from a financial perspective amongst, you know, any number of other things.
Speaker C:But I think that really sort of underpins a lot of it.
Speaker C:And I, I would agree, I think you can get an awful lot on a one to one basis.
Speaker C:And there are undoubtedly times where the one to one element is incredibly helpful, very useful, and there are elements of privacy involved in that as well.
Speaker C:Of course, of course, you know, people are dealing with finances, numbers, their own firms, their own strategies.
Speaker C:You know, a lot of that information is shared.
Speaker C:But clearly there are times where it's not appropriate and perfectly understandable that people do not want to share some of that stuff in, in the open world.
Speaker C:But I think switching into the cohort idea, taking people through certification, I think has definitely helped.
Speaker C:It's almost like a pre group for the community in its own way.
Speaker C:People traveling that journey, watching the same things, the weekly accountability as we go through those processes with them realizing, I think as well, and this is one of the really important aspects of it for me, that they are not the only person experiencing a particular set of circumstances at a moment in time.
Speaker C:They're actually at a moment sharing common experiences and realizing it's okay to talk about the fact this thing doesn't seem to go working out quite that well for them right now.
Speaker C:Okay, here are steps to take.
Speaker C:Here's how somebody dealt with it.
Speaker C:But they get that kind of familiarity within that sort of almost tightly knit cohort setting that then moves us on.
Speaker C:So I think really it's the.
Speaker C:It's trying to find that balance of the one to one and the group cohort kind of ideas in the right time, in the right place.
Speaker C:But I mean, as you know, I find the Monday morning calls that we do, they're an absolute anchor in my life.
Speaker C:It's like I know exactly why I'm getting up on a Monday morning, and I love getting up on a Monday morning to deliver those calls.
Speaker C:I think the other side of it is there is an immense amount that we learn both from you as a license holder and for Kerry and I as guides, the contribution that the members make, the feedback that we get, the way they're talking about advancing things and can we discuss this topic?
Speaker C:That topic.
Speaker C:The next topic is.
Speaker C:It is a continual Kind of like feeding mechanism for topics, areas to go deeper, things to focus on, the things that people find a bit more difficult and the things that are going well and sharing those things.
Speaker C:So I, I think there is a very all round learning aspect to it.
Speaker C:It's definitely not unidirectional from perhaps, let's say the purpose of this, from you and I and Kerry to the members, we also receive an immense amount of amount back.
Speaker C:You know, that classic, you get in or you get out what you put in.
Speaker C:You know, there is definitely a reflection in the process that we go through now, which I think is helping people move faster.
Speaker C:I think it helps them gain confidence more readily.
Speaker C:And one of the other great things about communities, of course, is you get members helping members and that's always going to be incredibly helpful, regardless of what kind of membership you're running.
Speaker C:The moment that the community starts helping the community, you know, we're around pretty much whenever they want us to be around.
Speaker C:And the WhatsApp group has changed that dynamic in the course of this year as well.
Speaker C:That's been amazing for people, sharing ideas, moments in time, celebrations, you know, like the whole run of things.
Speaker C:So that's been incredibly powerful as well, I think, as a change.
Speaker C:So, yeah, I go back to where I was about 20 minutes ago, complete kind of chalk and cheese environment to where I started off and the things that are happening now within the group, for sure.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think there's some major changes that have happened.
Speaker B:I mean, the cohorts happen on a Monday, so at 10 o' clock we have the people going through certification.
Speaker B:So the certification is the first stage of membership and it takes three months as a maximum.
Speaker B:It shouldn't take any longer than three months.
Speaker B:Sometimes for reasons that happen that are outside all of our control, sometimes it slips over three months.
Speaker B:But generally people should be able to be certified within three months comfortably without having to overstretch too much each week.
Speaker B:But by taking the small steps that we guide them through and taking action, you can actually quite easily achieve that.
Speaker B:So once you're certified, then you move into the 11 o' clock slot, which is what we call a post certification group.
Speaker B:And that's where we go into deeper detail.
Speaker B:So we ask people to do a profit assessment and bring it to the call and we all discuss it.
Speaker B:Then they've got great ammunition to go out and have a great conversation with their client.
Speaker B:That's just one example.
Speaker B:There's lots of other things we go through.
Speaker B:Then at 12 o' clock we have the what we what we were calling the Community Call, which is open to all of our members, but we're actually renaming that to the Profit First Power Hour, which was Cara's.
Speaker B:Cara's brand in name.
Speaker B:So we've gone with that name because it's a bit more powerful and it says a bit more.
Speaker B:Bit more.
Speaker B:You know, kind of hits it like that, doesn't it?
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So, yeah, so that, that's what happens on Mondays.
Speaker B:But as Jason says, you know, when, when somebody has an issue or one of our members has a client meeting coming up and they're a bit.
Speaker B:Not overly confident because they're only just certified, they need a bit of guidance, we jump on a call with them and go through the profit assessment with them, we talk about their client with them, we give them the value of all of our collective experience.
Speaker B:And that might be me and Jason with a member.
Speaker B:It might be Jason and Kerry with a member.
Speaker B:It might be Deb with a member, you know, or it might just be me or it might even be Duncan with a member.
Speaker B:It just depends on what they're looking for, the support they need.
Speaker B:There's always one of us available to help people.
Speaker B:And the whole point of this is for our members to be successful so that their clients are successful and the ripple effect of Profit first just goes down the line and creates more profitable businesses, which is the ultimate mission of all of us that we want to achieve.
Speaker B:That comes from Mike at the very top, you know, through to us.
Speaker B:So debate, obviously, we talked about your experience when you joined.
Speaker B:How do you see things have changed?
Speaker B:Like now, you know what, what's changed in your eyes throughout the.
Speaker B:Is it three years?
Speaker B:Is it two and a half years?
Speaker B:I'm trying to think now.
Speaker B:Three and a half years, Isn't it three and a half years of being a member?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think.
Speaker A:I mean, we've always had a group like an online Facebook group, but we've recently introduced the WhatsApp.
Speaker A:And that, I think, has really changed the dynamics within the whole membership.
Speaker A:So whether people just automatically look at WhatsApp and they don't tend to log into Facebook, I don't know.
Speaker A:But the, the engagement is on a daily basis and sometimes I look at it and there's like 20 odd messages that I. I'm going to catch up on and it's a conversation that's going on and it's all so supportive.
Speaker A:And as you say, there's celebrations, there's wins, there's problems, maybe, that, that people are asking for, for support on or suggestions on.
Speaker A:And it's just an ongoing, constant community.
Speaker A:So I'm not saying that it didn't happen before, but not to this level.
Speaker A:I don't think it happened before.
Speaker A:And that to me is whether it's been since Profitcon or because it's the WhatsApp group, but the dynamics between everybody, this just a bunch of real good friends hanging out.
Speaker A:You know, they're hanging out, they're all traveling a similar path, but they've all got the same attitude.
Speaker A:It's all collaboration, not competition.
Speaker A:And they're the first to, to congratulate you or celebrate wins.
Speaker A:Because it can be a lonely place, can't it, on the online world, especially if you're remote working and not in a risk with a team.
Speaker A:So to have that, that to me is a huge, huge plus.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:There's not many communities or online groups that have got such a constant flow of communication.
Speaker A:Sometimes they go a bit slow, or it might be the odd message that comes through.
Speaker A:But this is, this just seems constant and I think it's great.
Speaker A:You just feel as if you belong, you know, I think it's great.
Speaker B:I think the, the WhatsApp group's been amazing.
Speaker B:I think the problem with the Facebook group is probably the algorithm doesn't always, you know, it doesn't always prompt you, it doesn't always come up on your feed.
Speaker B:We all know what Facebook's like.
Speaker B:We can't control Facebook, so why, why even try?
Speaker B:But in a WhatsApp group, you can control whether you mute the.
Speaker B:Mute the group.
Speaker B:You can look at it when, when it suits you.
Speaker B:I think some people are very quick to respond because they, they love being actively involved in it.
Speaker B:Others probably step back and just catch up when it suits them.
Speaker B:Some of the chats have been amazing on a Friday evening.
Speaker B:Who would think that people have sat back from week week, probably chilling with a, with a, with a glass of wine or a hot chocolate, whichever, you know, and, and they're asking questions and engaged in conversations.
Speaker B:On the WhatsApp community, it's absolutely amazing how that has really pushed things forward.
Speaker B:But I do agree with you.
Speaker B:I think from our ProfitCon event in September, I think that group has taken a, it's gone up a notch again where people have met in person.
Speaker B:And I think that's also a really key part of the community having an annual event.
Speaker B:You know, we've had four events now where we've got members and non members together, but I think this most recent event was the best of the best so far.
Speaker B:And I think in particular the social that we had on the Sunday evening, the all day event we had on the Monday with some of us then going off for, for drinks and some of us not, but some of the members getting together in the evening was great.
Speaker B:And then the next day the members only workshop in the morning, I think that was fantastic.
Speaker B:Every single member that came to profitcon stayed for the Tuesday morning workshop and I think that says a lot.
Speaker B:So that's from Sunday afternoon through to Tuesday lunchtime.
Speaker B:They gave that time up from working in their business to attend the event and not one person had anything negative to say about the whole experience.
Speaker B:Every comment has been 100 positive of what they got from that experience.
Speaker B:And I think that face to face part on that, even if it's only on an annual basis, you know, and because it is a big commitment for everybody to get together, I think it is second to none.
Speaker B:And that really builds the community feel and I think that is an area we've really developed really well on.
Speaker B:I give Duncan the credit for that because he's, he runs the events, he's in charge of the events.
Speaker B:So he does a lot of work in the background talking to people, building that relationships with a lot of the partners that you mentioned earlier.
Speaker B:That's come from Duncan building relationships in the background.
Speaker B:So, and it's really important to us the, this positive community.
Speaker B:I don't think I've once had to pull anyone back from saying something negative to someone.
Speaker B:I just don't remember having to do it.
Speaker B:I don't recall ever having to say, look, I'm sorry you're being a bit negative.
Speaker B:It just doesn't happen.
Speaker B:And maybe that's because we choose the right people to join.
Speaker B:I don't know, maybe, maybe it's because once people are in and they, they can see the way the community is operating, they want to be a part of it and it just feels positive.
Speaker B:Why would you be negative?
Speaker B:But it, but it really is.
Speaker B:That to me is the most important, important part of the community, which is why I said to Jason, we'll come back to that.
Speaker B:Because a community is like you just said that, a group of friends hanging out, but all striving to be successful or more successful with their business, all at different stages of their journey, it's fair to say, some at the beginning, some in the middle, some really successful, but still want to go somewhere else and still pushing to go higher, still pushing through those barriers, all willing to help each other in, in whatever way they can.
Speaker B:And I don't Think you can't buy that.
Speaker B:You can't put a value on that, can you?
Speaker B:And, and I think, Jason, I just want to reflect back with you on what the calls were like when we first did the UK course with Ron.
Speaker B:And again, this is no reflection on Ron's fantastic, by the way.
Speaker B:So it's not a, it's not a reflection on Ron.
Speaker B:It's just the difference to, to where we're at now.
Speaker B:How do you feel about that?
Speaker C:So, I mean, you well know from our coaching calls, one of the things I focus on a lot is the concept of transformation.
Speaker C:And that obviously comes out in our dialogue with members every single Monday.
Speaker C:But I think one of my reflections on this as you, as you've been talking, Tim, is this whole idea, again, without any disrespect.
Speaker C:But I think, and I think you and I perhaps would definitely appreciate this, we have gone from ultimately a pretty passive existence when we first certified into a very active existence.
Speaker C:And one of the things as you were talking about certification there was, I, I kind of get this feeling that it could have taken me a decade to have got my certification sorted out and that would have been fine.
Speaker C:You know, no one would have like hurried me along in the interim.
Speaker C:And you know, I, I feel the difference is we want people to get certified because we know what good stuff sits on the other of side, side of that moment.
Speaker C:And I feel that, that actually, it really, it's that initial moment where I think members really start to recognize very quickly we've got their back.
Speaker C:We want them to get through certification.
Speaker C:We give them the tips up front about how they can proceed through certification in the shortest period of time.
Speaker C:And that's not just about having your bank account set up in advance because you read the book and you tried to give it a go.
Speaker C:This is actively about the type of clients that you want to take through the beta client part of certification.
Speaker C:Start getting them lined up.
Speaker C:Now, here's the right type of client to do this.
Speaker C:You know, we are trying to give them all the help we can to help them proceed as quickly as possible.
Speaker C:So it really does come down to remember, you know, diaries are diaries, time frames are time frames.
Speaker C:But I think we are doing all that we can to put the members and these new members going through certification into a very active kind of existence.
Speaker C:And really, I will say partnership with us, you know, the more they give, the more they get back, the faster they move, the quicker we move with them.
Speaker C:So I think it really is that, that whole idea, we are, we are Doing whatever we can to make it as active as possible with these people.
Speaker C:And I, well, with the members.
Speaker C:And I think that, that also there's a, there's a, there's a moment.
Speaker C:I go back to the DAS exhibition a couple of years ago and we met with someone who'd been part of a.
Speaker C:The previous free group that we ran and we met with someone who told us that they had joined an accounting membership group, hundreds of pounds a month, and the person running the group had no idea who they actually were.
Speaker C:And I'm like, oh, my word, this is terrible.
Speaker C:How on earth can you find yourself in this position where this thing is up and running and it's a name within the industry?
Speaker C:Haven't got the faintest idea who the members actually are.
Speaker C:That element of detachment and I'm thinking, oh my word.
Speaker C:You know, there's like this, this massive gap in my brain.
Speaker C:Like the consideration is, I wonder what they are actually getting out of the group.
Speaker C:And then I think about how we approach things hands on.
Speaker C:We know people, we know their businesses inside out.
Speaker C:The fact that we go through a profit assessment on their own firm gets us totally 100% in touch with their firm.
Speaker C:The breadcrumbs of their history, their plans for where they think they're going, that helps us to help them far more actively with those things in mind.
Speaker C:It's not just people being dropped into a pool with other people and maybe you'll get somewhere if you kind of get lucky or maybe you won't.
Speaker C:It's like this is incredibly participative and active.
Speaker C:And as much as we talk about the community, I think that those bonds with the individual people strengthen very quickly.
Speaker C:They know that we contribute and they can deal with us one to one if they have a moment in time where that's appropriate.
Speaker C:They know the community is there.
Speaker C:They know that other people in the community will help them out at moments in time.
Speaker C:And I think that that is, it's not to be understated how important that aspect is.
Speaker C:It is very active and we do know these people in their businesses.
Speaker C:I think that that's.
Speaker C:That is incredibly powerful.
Speaker C:You know, it helps people feel like they belong.
Speaker C:It helps people feel that if they've got a bit of an issue at a moment in time, that we're going to help them get to the other side of that.
Speaker C:You know, we've recently had people who've lost clients, like people lose clients all the time.
Speaker C:You know, it doesn't matter how good you think you are.
Speaker C:People move change for any Number of reasons at moments in time, but I think just the idea that we have the ability to focus a strategy, talk to an individual about how they are going to get themselves out of that position, the steps they could take to do that.
Speaker C:It's incredibly active the way that we participate in that way.
Speaker C:Not necessarily for now, but maybe we can come back to it in a bit.
Speaker C:Tim, one of the other things I'd like to flag on this is we walk the walk.
Speaker C:We are doing it.
Speaker C:You mentioned earlier on we are their profit first professionals as well.
Speaker C:And I think that there is another incredibly important aspect to this.
Speaker C:This is not theory.
Speaker C:This is actively transforming your business.
Speaker C:And how people shift from compliance to advisory is not just about having a mechanism for delivery and some theory.
Speaker C:It is about actually getting out there, having the conversations, learning to frame those conversations and understand what transformation really means to a client.
Speaker C:Sorry, that was more than I intended to say then in the end.
Speaker C:But maybe we can come back to that a little bit later on because I think these distinctions around these things are also incredibly important for people to understand.
Speaker C:As you say, it's not just about being in a membership and off you go.
Speaker C:There is so much more to it than that.
Speaker B:I think that is a really, really valid point that you've brought up there.
Speaker B:And it highlights the difference between somebody reading the book and thinking, I know profit first.
Speaker B:It's easy.
Speaker B:You just put money into pots and someone and which will go wrong, by the way.
Speaker B:And someone who gets to be within our community gets to understand when they go through certification what it's like implementing into their own business the transformation that's causing them, creating for them.
Speaker B:Then gets to understand how they can talk to their clients about it because they're doing it in their own business.
Speaker B:They've overcome those obstacles.
Speaker B:They've had the same resistance points that their clients are bringing up to them and they can explain how they overcome them and they can guide their clients over these hurdles towards the outcomes that their clients want to achieve.
Speaker B:There's no other.
Speaker B:There's no other strategy out there, in my opinion, in the UK and Ireland that can do what we do for our members with their clients.
Speaker B:And that is literally move them from compliance into advisory.
Speaker B:Because we've done it, we've done it ourselves.
Speaker B:I did it in my accountancy business.
Speaker B:You know, I moved into advisory.
Speaker B:I sold the compliance side, I became a coach.
Speaker B:Now I'm a guide to our members and a mentor, whichever way you want to look at it.
Speaker B:Jason built his own coaching business on profit first.
Speaker B:Advisory to his clients.
Speaker B:And that was always the starting point, wasn't it?
Speaker B:Then you go into more of the commercial aspects of their business with them.
Speaker B:But profit first was always a starting point.
Speaker B:Duncan built his business from compliance with a little bit of advisories, arguably management accounts being provided.
Speaker B:I would probably argue with Duncan, but we can have that conversation separately because we know we've talked about that before in the past on this podcast into providing really meaningful conversations and advice to his clients.
Speaker B:Deb, you did the same.
Speaker B:I think you've said before that you, you kind of followed the steps that I took.
Speaker B:And I think that's testament to everything we're talking about right now from your experience of following the path that, that we took.
Speaker A:Yeah, without a doubt.
Speaker A:I mean, you mentioned it before.
Speaker A:It's having your own profit first professional, which we are to the members and them, experiencing firsthand what that means to them and their business, and then being able to transfer those skills that they've learned because they've observed and we've coached through them, through them to deliver to their clients.
Speaker A:So they mimic what we actually take them through, rather than just theory, go away, have this conversation.
Speaker A:They've actually had this.
Speaker A:They've been on the other side of the conversations.
Speaker A:So they know the emotional attachment that comes with these things.
Speaker A:And that's, that's key.
Speaker A:I mean, you've got to have, it's all very well having a system, but you've got to have those skills of understanding that sometimes you're going to have to be a counselor, sometimes you're going to have to be a coach.
Speaker A:You know, sometimes you're touching on a subject that maybe it's going to bring tears.
Speaker A:You know, maybe they're not ready to have that conversation and confront that problem.
Speaker A:But these are all the skills that we have developed with our own clients.
Speaker A:And now we're teaching and going through that with our members.
Speaker A:And they, they're, they're mimicking and, and developing in, in a, in a way that other, other advisors aren't taught, really.
Speaker A:They just taught the theory, you know, or maybe a bit of role play.
Speaker A:So, yeah, so I think it's amazing, and I don't think sometimes that that comes across when we talk about the membership and the profit first.
Speaker A:So, yeah, that's, that's me shouting from the mountain.
Speaker A:This is what we're doing.
Speaker A:And why aren't you here with us?
Speaker B:And there's another thing I want to mention that we haven't mentioned yet.
Speaker B:It was something that we wanted to do or I particularly wanted to do from the moment we took over the license and it's taken us three and a half years to get there and it's taken the support of UDEV for us to get there as well.
Speaker B:The massive support from you.
Speaker B:So thank you very much.
Speaker B:And that's our own Profit First University because up until the beginning of October we were still running through the American Profit First University which has been fantastic and our members love it.
Speaker B:And by the way, everybody still has access to that portal.
Speaker B:But our own Profit First University I think is a massive step forward.
Speaker B:So alongside the cohort sessions that many members get, they also have access to the online portal where they work through the certification program initially.
Speaker B:But then there's going to be so much more in there as we continue building.
Speaker B:So Deb, is there anything you can share with us on what that looks like for our members, what it currently.
Speaker A: ike or what the plans are for: Speaker B: We'll keep the plans for: Speaker A:Canvas that be whole other podcast anyway.
Speaker A:So we have got in the Profit First University for UK and Ireland we have got an a similar certification track.
Speaker A:It incorporates all the elements that the US does but there are tweaks and additions in there to support the learning.
Speaker A:We have a resources, we call it a course.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's a resources resource really.
Speaker A:Over 200 templates in there but everything for Profit first advisory.
Speaker A:But we have sales templates like sales report reporting, hr, project management, social media templates, personal financial management, financial forecasting, over say over 200 templates in the resources.
Speaker A:We have a library that's being built currently.
Speaker A:We have all the Profit first derivative books in there so that have been done by Global members, written by Global members with Mike's permission obviously and a small section on our own members books members that have been authors.
Speaker A:But it will be being built out with all the self development and business books that we all find so helpful.
Speaker A:So like time's up or who not how all those kind of books will be in there and suggestions from our, from our members.
Speaker A:We've got a Profit Con resource in there for the members that went to Profit Con with all the lecture notes and the books that the, that the speakers have written.
Speaker A:What else have we got in there?
Speaker A:Am I missing anything so far, Tim?
Speaker A:I think that's what we've got.
Speaker B:I think that's it.
Speaker B:We've got some, we've got some plans to add in some future programs for Instance marketing master classes which we're recording some at the moment with Ashley, aren't we on LinkedIn we, we've got the, the search program.
Speaker B:I think we're gonna get in there as well.
Speaker B:Which is all about niche and why niching will would work especially if you want to go down the subscription model of your business.
Speaker B:So there's so many more places we can take our members and that's what's coming next.
Speaker B:So all the time we're adding new stuff in and we're creating new conversations and building more opportunities for our members to be successful.
Speaker B:But we also do remember very often to pull them back and say to them, don't get too carried away with the stuff that's going to happen in the future.
Speaker B:Let's make the right progress right now and let's take the steps now.
Speaker B:And nine times out of ten those steps are to create profit assessments for your clients and go and talk to them, have conversations, show them the value of being a profit first professional has to their business as your client which is only going to increase the value to the members business as an accountant, bookkeeper or coach.
Speaker B:So yeah, I think we've covered a lot.
Speaker B:I'm sure we could have done this as a two part episode.
Speaker B:Is there anything else Jason, Is there anything else you want to add that we haven't thought of or do you think we've covered everything so far?
Speaker C:I think one of the things from what you were just saying, Tim, for me is this idea.
Speaker C:It's like we meet people where they are, we talk about what they need and how they're going to get to the next step, take that next step quickly.
Speaker C:As much as Deb has listed off an enormous range of fabulous resources in the background, this is, it's not a place where it's just like here's content, here's content, here's more content.
Speaker C:Go on, go read more content.
Speaker C:This is highly focused on people taking the dream of running an advisory practice and giving them the skills and the know how and a framework to be able to do that in short order.
Speaker C:Some people move faster than others, of course that's the case.
Speaker C:But I think that this is, this really is about participation and making a change and actually that whole idea about giving people strategies, techniques to get the first three client side that next step to take you beyond.
Speaker C:It's like there are milestones to be achieved and the work that needs doing for each milestone is different, a thing we can think about how we deliver but getting one to one case studies and clients and that kind of work under a belt.
Speaker C:To experience something before we start developing that into different delivery styles is incredibly important.
Speaker C:People need to feel comfortable, they need to be proficient, they need that level of experience to handle a question coming from anywhere about anything.
Speaker C:So I think that the work that we do with them is highly focused on them getting a result and them transforming their practice in the way they always hoped that they would.
Speaker C:But not only that, giving them incredibly practical and uncomplicated skills and techniques to help them achieve those things at certain moments in time.
Speaker C:So much tendency to overcomplicate in the world and yet so much of it is so straightforward forward.
Speaker C:It's not to say it's easy, but it can be very straightforward as a process.
Speaker C:And I think that is one of the great strengths.
Speaker C:And again, that comes back to knowing and understanding the members where they are, where their strengths are, the things they need to get more comfortable with and how they apply themselves in that journey is an incredibly important part.
Speaker C:It's not, here's more content, go learn stuff, try and do it.
Speaker C:It's no, bring the questions, let's talk about it.
Speaker C:Let's develop the theories and the trainings that go with that and formalize some of that stuff to help people get a result.
Speaker B:Yeah, that was fantastically put.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And Deb, is there anything else you'd like to add?
Speaker A:No, you put me on the spot.
Speaker A:Now, I said earlier that I could chat for England, but actually I probably run out.
Speaker A:I think I've said everything I need to say.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker A: membership that's coming into: Speaker A:I'm super excited.
Speaker A:Yeah, can't wait.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, what we've got coming is really exciting.
Speaker B:We can't share it on here because we haven't shared it with our members yet.
Speaker B:And our members, members will always come first in everything we do, so we will share it with our members.
Speaker B: , on what's coming as well in: Speaker B:So, so that's going to be interesting.
Speaker B:So look, if you're, if you're interested in finding out a bit more in, in just perhaps dipping your toe in the water, join our free group on Facebook.
Speaker B:Just go onto Facebook, look at the profit first pathway, and you will be able to answer three very simple questions, agree to the rules and we will give you access into our group, you'll then be invited into the different challenges and different workshops, free workshops that we, that we offer.
Speaker B:And it is a pre membership group, so it is for people that are interested in joining Profit First Professionals in the future.
Speaker B:If you're curious to know where you're at with your business right now, go on to our Score app quiz.
Speaker B:So if you type inprofitfirst assessment.scoreapp.com you'll be able to answer 20 very quick questions.
Speaker B:You'll be able to do this in less than two minutes and you'll get a whole detailed report on your Profit first business, the Profit first aspect of your business.
Speaker B:So you'll get an opportunity to see your business through our eyes and it'll be interesting to see what comes back.
Speaker B:And if you do this and you've got any questions, feel free to reach out to us.
Speaker B:And if you want to just find out more about what being a Profit First Professional is, just go onto our website, profit first uk.co.uk there's lots of information on there, there's, there's an events page where you can see photos of our previous events, there's information on there about what being a Profit First Professional is.
Speaker B:There's some of our members are on there with some profiles and you can always join our wait list, fill the form out and that'll come into my inbox and I can reach out to you to have a conversation when you're ready.
Speaker B:So feel free to take action on that.
Speaker B:We don't take everybody on, we only take the best of the best.
Speaker B:That doesn't mean you shouldn't apply because whilst you might think to yourself, I'm not sure you might actually have the right attributes that we're looking for.
Speaker B:So be brave, fill out the form, send it over to us, have a conversation and then we'll see where we go from there.
Speaker B:But for now, thank you very much for listening.
Speaker B:This is a bit of a long edition this week, but we had a lot to talk about.
Speaker B:If you've got any questions from what we've talked about, feel free to reach out, join the Profit first pathway on Facebook and, and come and ask some questions.
Speaker B:But for now, thank you very much for listening.
Speaker B:Thank you to Jason, thank you to Deb and we'll see you next time.
Speaker C:Bye, Tim.
Speaker C:Bye, Deb.
Speaker B:Thank you for joining us on our podcast today.
Speaker B:Profit first beyond the book was brought to you by, by the Profit First Professionals UK and Ireland team.
Speaker B:If you'd like to find out more about Profit first or becoming a profit first professional head to our website profitfirstuk.co uk.
