The Start Up To Grown Up Podcast

Are you tired of your lead generation being haphazard at best? Do you feel trapped in the day-to-day operations of your firm, constantly firefighting, tied to your high billable hours? If so, then this episode is for you. It shows you how to put your marketing on autopilot by focusing on delivering a flawless client experience. The episode introduces the concept of the Market Flywheel. A series of...

If you went back to 2022, what do you wish you had learnt back then? If you are anything like most business owners, hindsight is a tough teacher. This is a short podcast episode on the 7 lessons that I wish I had learnt 3 years ago. Useful links: - sign up as a paid subscriber and use this link to get 20% off an annual membership of Start Up To Grown Up Welcome to a free podcast episode of Start U...

Have you become addicted to work? A slave to your to-do list and feeling like you are always on? This is how to step back and get that sense of perspective. In the episode I talk about tips and techniques to rebalance your day. To move away from a state of chronic stress. Sadly, what used to be my strengths are now a liability. I can’t just push through now. In this episode, you will learn: - What...

Is your body telling you that it can’t carry on at this pace? But being driven and pushing through is what you know best? For many driven business owners, the ability to ‘push through’ is not just a strategy, it’s an identity. But what happens when that strength becomes the very thing holding you and your business back? In the episode I candidly talk about how I am failing at learning to pace myse...

What do you do when you find you've been given some bad news which will become life-changing? This is what happened to me this week when I had my first session with the Rheumatologist. In the episode I candidly talk about how I am processing the news and how I am going to be adjusting. If you find this episode useful, please share, comment, and subscribe to the Start Up to Grown Up podcast so you...

Does social media feel like a grind and exhausting? Ever wondered how to build up your tribe of loyal clients and fans on social media? In this episode, I cut through the noise and share the exact playbook I've used to grow my Substack community to over 1000 subscribers and 1800 followers in just nine months. This is the exact same playbook that I have used to grow large follower numbers on Linked...

Are you feeling swamped by your own business? When your firm starts to grow faster than you expected, it can feel like you’re being pulled in a million different directions at once. You’re stuck firefighting, trapped in the day-to-day client work, and you have no headspace left for the strategic thinking you know you need to be doing. In this episode, I share a very personal story about a bonkers...

Feeling the squeeze? Not a fan of 'mindfulness' to reduce your stress levels? Running a growing business is a marathon, not a sprint. And while a bit of pressure can be motivating, too much leads straight to stress, overwhelm, and even burnout – things no busy business owner has time for! PS: The episode does not suggest starting a daily yoga or meditation habit. (But these can help!) In this epis...

Do you ever have a great day where your business feels like it's flying, only to find that later that evening, a corrosive, critical voice has set in, making you question everything? If so, you’re not alone. That voice is a normal part of the journey to grow and scale your firm. But if you let it run the show, it can cause untold damage to your ability to grow and scale your business While it's te...

E ver feel weird picking up the phone to call a client out of the blue? You’re not alone. In this honest and practical episode, I share the one simple tactic that has helped my clients generate more business consistently - without any sales scripts or awkward cold calls. This episode is all about why unscheduled client calls are one of the easiest, most effective ways to grow your business, and ho...

Ever feel like you should be "great" all the time, especially as a business owner? In this honest and vulnerable episode, Start Up To Grown Up gets real about those times when things just feel... meh. It’s a common experience when you’re juggling the pressures of leading a business, supporting your team, and managing your personal life. In this episode I'm ditching the highlight reel and talking a...

Has AI decimated your search engine traffic and ability to get people to sign up to your email list? You are not alone. It’s been a tough few weeks. In this episode, I'm breaking down the reality of what's happened to our two businesses - The Accountants’ Growth Club and How To Make Partner . AI has seriously disrupted our web traffic, and new international VAT rules have added another layer of co...

Struggling to build a strong pipeline of new business that you can rely on? In this episode, I open up about the real challenges we’ve been facing in our own marketing and share the key lesson it’s taught me: scaling a service business isn’t about doing more, it’s about building better systems. I’ll walk you through the four core business development processes you need to fix or strengthen before...

Ever faced a situation where 80% of your fee earning team walk out on 1 day? That’s exactly what happened. This is what this podcast episode is about - coming back from critical setbacks in your business. This episode explores: - How to find the momentum to carry on even when it seems hopeless - How to rebuild stronger - 6 lessons to overcome a critical setback Welcome to a free podcast episode of...

How to deal with your firm’s Dysfunctional Star (without losing your sanity) Your Dysfunctional Star is likely to be working on your biggest clients and praised for bringing in new business. But they cast a long negative shadow with their behaviour. In a small business – whether you're running an accountancy practice, a law firm, or a consultancy – this Dysfunctional Star presents a particularly a...

Do you wish that your team would step up and take initiative? Are you tired of team members not pulling their weight? You are not alone. As you will find out in this podcast episode, there is no such thing as a well-rounded small business owner. We all have our strengths, preferences and weaknesses. The problem is, as small businesses evolve, owners - particularly in knowledge worker type business...

Are you working long hours and feeling overwhelmed, but your business growth is stuck? Often the mindset, beliefs and behaviours that have got you here are now holding you back. But with your level of work you just don't have the headspace to challenge what is holding you and your business. Sound familiar? When I coach, typically service-based business owners, they normally come to me because they...

Know you need to delegate? But really struggle to? It's because your brain is keeping you safe. I know I should do it. I tell other people nearly daily to do it. Books have been written about it. So why is it SO hard to routinely and systematically delegate stuff to others? Particularly the stuff that matters? And yet, when it comes down to it, I and many others just don’t delegate. In fact, just...

Feeling stuck? You’re business not moving forward? You’re not alone I’ve been there myself. Too many times. I’ve created the spreadsheets and business plans that I believed would rapidly grow my business. And in the process allow me to drop down my working hours and enjoy financial freedom. Only to then find out that my business, at best, limps along. Even worse, I’m still working long hours. And...

How would you cope if you were being berated for 6 hours straight? And for those 6 hours you needed to just suck it up and take it without reacting. Even if you had opinions and lies being hurled at you? Then imagine that ordeal being livestreamed for anyone to watch. And many were watching. That’s the reality of budget-setting evening for the ruling but minority administration of Central Bedfords...

You are ill-informed, misleading people and dangerously misrepresenting the facts. This was the message that kept coming at me in the lead-up to a big vote in council.  It wasn’t just one councillor disagreeing with me. It was a consortium.  Worse was still to come. During the debate in the council chamber, I was repeatedly told that I had misunderstood and was wrong.  There were moments when I do...

Welcome to a free edition of Start Up To Grown Up: Your source for ideas, insights and tactics to take back control of your business and scale it sustainably and profitably by Heather Townsend, award-winning author of The Accountants’ Millionaires’ Club and Founder of The Accountants’ Growth Club You’ve poured your heart into your business. The last thing you want is for most of that business to w...

Welcome to a free edition of Start Up To Grown Up: Your source for ideas, insights and tactics to take back control of your business and scale it sustainably and profitably by Heather Townsend, award-winning author of The Accountants’ Millionaires’ Club and Founder of The Accountants’ Growth Club I saw the topic, and was bored. Not another *** session on goal setting. I must have lost count of how...

A recent local political spat erupted and went viral. This podcast breaks down how it went viral. It then goes on to help you understand the key lessons to establish a narrative and gain traction in the hearts and minds of your clients and employees. If you are trying to work out how to get your message to live rent free in your key stakeholders heads this is a must listen podcast. Get full access...