A blueprint for success

How a successful young businesswoman transformed her family firm.

When Kylie Liew walked into the family firm about five years ago, she began to form a plan.

The company, accountancy firm Giles & Liew, started by her mum Dawn about 20 years ago, was in good health. But Liew knew that traditional accounting businesses were increasingly subject to massive technological change while, in parallel, shifting consumer trends were demanding new approaches to creating value for clients.

It's a measure of her success that, at the 2018 MYOB annual awards, Liew was named Accountant Of the Year and Innovator of the Year while Giles & Liew received the Connected Practice Award. She also won Young Accountant of the Year (under 35) at the same awards last year.

"We want Giles & Liew to be a vehicle for change and innovation both within the industry and our individual clients' businesses," said Kylie at the time. "Keeping up with changing technology is key to this strategy and how we ensure we help our clients succeed."

That success was engineered on the back of what Kylie calls due diligence – one of the Three Ds espoused by psychologist Sara Chatwin: Desire, Drive and Due diligence (Cracking the Success code)*.

Chatwin said: "All successful business people say, when they are asked about their success, they adhered to a plan. This [Due diligence] is all about finessing that plan. It's when you really research, validate and refine the plan so you know exactly what you want to do and how to do it."

Liew certainly had a plan. When she came into the business it had four offices (Auckland, Waihi, Tauranga and Katikati) and 40 staff. "It had a solid reputation, with many word-of-mouth referrals – very much a traditional accounting firm with, for example, no money spent on marketing."

But she knew change was marshalling against traditional accountancy practices and began planning the company's successful transformation.

"It was doing well but it was just a stereotypical accounting business. It didn't reflect me as a person – I like always to push the boundaries – and we became passionate about re-directing the business to be more business advisors than straight accountants.

"I wanted us to be able to embrace that concept and how exciting business can be when you help business owners realise their dream and succeed. I couldn't understand why the concept of accountancy was so bland."

She drew up her plans and then, in the words of Chatwin, began to finesse and refine it: "I knew, in terms of due diligence, we had to take drastic steps to transform our own business, not only so we could offer services clients wanted but so we could help them succeed."

Clients did not just want tax advice and cash forecasting, she says. They want advice and insight into how to grow their business, particularly in the fast-changing, fast-moving digital world.

So in came new services like digital transformation, where clients are helped to manage and grow their online presence for business growth, to retain existing customers and to generate new leads.

Process optimisation was introduced too – when Giles & Liew take "a deep dive" into a client's business processes, streamlining them for efficiencies, giving them time to grow their business and advice on how to do so. They also help with implementation advice if the client does not have the resources or capacity to do so.

But, to succeed in such a transformation, Giles & Liew had to transform their business first. Liew and her team completed the following projects:

• Brand repositioning
  
• A new website and visual platform with which to communicate with clients
  
• Overhauled internal practices and systems, all put on one platform so all areas of the business could talk to each other
  
• New business advisory services were introduced
  
• A new team culture – ""we looked at everything we did and created a high performance team culture, bringing everyone together so they understand the positioning and strategy of the company"
  
• New offices which better illustrated and embraced the firm's new branding
  
• New hires
  

Liew also oversaw the splitting of the business, dividing it with her mother's former business partner and heading off in a new direction. She now has two offices in Auckland, the first in Botany, the second in Beachlands.

"It hasn't been an easy journey and I am not comfortable talking about numbers – but I will say we are experiencing more growth than ever before. We are really poised to offer new services to new clients now; there is a lot of new growth to come."

*Sara Chatwin's Three Ds:

• Desire – "Success is all about desire and commitment. It is people saying, 'I really want to do this' and identifying a high level of commitment that will get them to be exactly what they want to be and do what they want to do."

• Drive – "The energy and enthusiasm from identifying that desire; it turns the focus from dreaming big to creating a plan of practical steps to make it happen. It's when people take that first step towards their goals – and then they find that they have this real energy; they are positive and fully engaged and they are just going for it. They need to harness and channel that energy to achieve what they want to achieve."
  
  
• Due diligence – "All successful business people say that, when they are asked about their success, they adhered to a plan. This is all about finessing that plan. It's when you really research, validate and refine the plan so you know exactly what you want to do and how to do it. Due diligence done well will uncover any show stoppers early to avoid nasty surprises down the track. You will find your confidence is at a spiking high – because you know, having done your due diligence, that you can achieve your goal."
  

To view article 1 - Cracking the success code click here
To view article 2 - 'Shocking' truth about Kiwi workers click here
To view article 3 - Teaching kids to be money-smart click here