[Franziska] I am so happy today to have Kristin from Trade Guardian in the “virtual room” with me. Thanks so much for joining me today.

[Kristin] Thank you.

[F] Now what I would love to do is~ I’ve known you for a few years and you run a successful company, you’re a very busy entrepreneur, mum, doing all sorts of things in your life and it’s very impressive how much you manage with such grace. I feel like you’re very graceful when it comes to multitasking and running a very successful company, but also being very productive. I didn’t want to say “busy”, so I’d love to hear a little bit some of your secrets and before we get into that, well tell us a little bit about your business first and then why did you decide to run your company.

[K] Well the business is Trade Guardian and we provide bookkeeping and payroll admin support for lots of tradespeople and small business owners. I’ve been running the business for about 12 years, I’m here in Canberra so of course Canberra is a really good public service town or it certainly was you know historically when I was a good public servant for a very long time and probably about 14 years ago when i went on maternity leave with my last child I wanted to try something different and work for myself so that was kind of where this came from. It was that sort of change in direction and well I love what I’ve done before, I really wanted to find something different and Canberra was changing it was becoming a bit more dynamic as well and that split between private business and public service was changing so it seemed like a good time to do something else. So we kicked off when my children were young and it’s kind of evolved over the last decade into what it was now.

[F] And why did you decide on bookkeeping, and also why did you decide to work with specialising more or less in tradespeople?

[K] It started off.. I couldn’t really think about what to do next so I was kind of at a crossroads and I actually started helping my dad, he was a painter at the time. And he and his partner were your typical stereotypical trainee, really disorganised, really good at painting, really bad at everything else to do with running a business, and so I started helping them and they literally came to me with the suitcase of you know, messy paperwork and I could see the significant difference I made to their business taking those aspects over and the difference it made to his mental state you know with everything being in control and organised and also they doubled their revenue really quickly because I took over quoting and pricing and chasing money and that back end of it so and I really enjoyed it, I really got a big kick out of it. So that kind of was the starting point. It was also really refreshing working with tradespeople and it’s a thriving sector, you encounter their building construction sector and so that’s where it all came from, that was the starting point, we just incrementally rolled out from there and it’s nice seeing the difference, you know these traders work really hard on site or even you know restaurant owners, they’re caught up in their business all day, on a building site the last thing they need to do is come home at the end of the day and deal with the paperwork, so we’ve really kind of filled that role quite nicely and make a big difference to them, so that’s that’s how it started.

[F] I can see sort of a combination of enjoyment and seeing the impact that you’re making for tradespeople and just seeing it with the painters and how you talk a little bit about their mental state, have peace of mind~ bringing that, and also they double their revenue, so very, very rewarding. Over the last 12 years of running a company, what were some of your most difficult moments or even a difficult moment, and then how did you overcome that challenge?

[K] I think it’s just been that evolution and there’s been lots of good bit targets along the way. I think it’s just I’m always learning there’s always something, new to learn and I think in the beginning it was really about especially shifting from working with public service, it was that understanding my value and what we could add to a business and really about that concept of charging people for what we do, had to get over that one really quickly though, to kick off so that was hard in the beginning and I think then midway through it it was about the growth of the business, about getting ready to employ staff, how to manage those staff, how to get everything out of my head and into a platform where we could sort of grow the business, so that proceduralising our work and being a bit more consistent, so that was a bit of a challenge, and you know we built in the tools that we had to use to do that and ongoing and noting that today is the 30th of June, and it’s mixed into the financial year, sometimes keeping the motivation up can be hard, but there’s lots of ways to deal with that, you know it’s about keeping your personal life in balance, and having a bit of time off and I kind of always thrive on learning something new so that keeps it interesting. You know even after doing this for as long as I have, there’s always something going on to learn or do differently.

[F] I was going to ask because I know a lot of listeners and viewers here they often~ it’s normal I guess in life and as an entrepreneur too is sometimes to struggle with motivation and there might be days where we wake up and we’re like, oh you know another day of this thing, so I was actually going to ask you how do you manage that and you say you know keeping the balance in life and for you, learning is a big driver, what strategies did you use?

[K] I think and that’s something I’ve really been keen on for the whole time is, and probably one of the highlights of having done this overall for this length of time, I’m actually really proud of the team that we have, I’m surrounded by amazing clever people all the time, and our clients, because we have a bit of control over who we work with as well. Our clients are amazing, so being surrounded by that positivity is… that’s what makes the difference, so yes, and then I just have to occasionally have some time off to do something else. And you know, given that we do accounting stuff, I try and do stuff outside of work exact opposite, keep some sort of balance there.

[F] Yeah, a team makes such a big impact when you have a team. We run some sessions here on culture and team and I always say that your culture is like a magnifier of everything, if you have a really good culture and a good team everything else in business is great, and if it’s the opposite, everything else is a little bit more.

[K] I agree, and I think you know something, years ago, my husband said to me, you know you’re so lucky because you get to make all the decisions and on one hand I was going, yeah, but I also carry all the responsibility, and I kind of thought if I turn that around, and go actually I can make the decisions about the people I work with and the clients we work with. And if I focus on controlling that aspect of it and really work heavily in that area, it really changed my mindset but also made a massive difference to how we work so, we spent a bit of time and out of the Clever Bunch work that we did, where we talked on you know setting our values and the culture of our team, I really took all that stuff to heart and implemented that, and try to push that into every aspect of what we decide.

[F] Yeah, that’s actually a good segue into the Clever Bunch, because I feel like I’ve known you for a few years now in the Clever Bunch and then now in the Genius Bunch, so you’re a genius and you always have so much to bring to the community too, what is one of the reasons at the beginning a few years back, why did you choose to join the Clever Bunch? Because it can be quite a daunting decision to make.

[K] Yeah, it took me a long time too. I think I always grappled with the marketing side of the business, I think you know when you run the business yourself you have to do everything right, order the stores, do the marketing manage the IT, run the business, you know there’s one aspect that I probably never really had great momentum or took responsibility for, I guess. And I attended one of the Blast-Offs that you held in Canberra years ago, and walked away motivated, really inspired, but I kind of still held back. I have done an MBA, which had you know, marketing courses in it, so of course I knew the principles and I thought I knew what I should be doing. At the end of the day, I never really implemented anything, so eventually I just went, I needed to join, I needed some accountability, and I needed some guidance to break it down from that kind of high-level principle of creating an elaborate marketing plan, to getting some help to actually do things in smaller chunks and actually get some real practical guidance, so that’s why I ended up joining.

[F] I love that. And we get quite a few people that have done MBAs, and MBAs are obviously great. Actually, my brother is a Swiss banker and he’s doing an MBA right now, although his involves a lot of drinking for some reason anytime he calls me he’s in some bar, somewhere in the world, I’m like what are you doing? Oh MBA, like yeah.

[K] Well mine wasn’t that much fun, no, mine was more classroom boring, yes.

[F] Well but again as you say, it’s really good stuff and then you also chose to join our community for the practical side of things, accountability, what are some of the results, or what are some of the things that you have achieved throughout the Clever Bunch, and now the Genius Bunch, too?

[K] I think you know for the first time, I had a really simple practical strategy or a framework where I knew what I was doing, and how I was going to do it and I really bought that for the first time of running the business so that was probably~ and it was something I was really hoping for, so that was a good tip for me, I think our communication became much more targeted and clear, so we really have to clearly determine who we wanted to work with and what that sort of client looked like so that kind of then fed into all the communication we had during our marketing or sales processes. We also ended up with much more clearer and consistent branding, both online and in all our touch points along the way which was a bonus. And we did a bit more work around our online presence, which we’ve not really done before. I think so much of our work is referral-based, but I’m not really relied on that, but now we have a clear website, we use social media which has really improved our communication touchpoints with all our clients, so that’s been a good win. And the other really good thing that I’ve liked is I’ve been able to kind of link those marketing aspects into just our normal internal activities, whether it’s recruitment, team building, and getting the staff to start doing that as part of their mobile roles as well. So that’s been a really big win for us.

[F] I love how you did that actually, you’re taking your team on this journey with you, so it’s not just you doing the marketing, but the whole team is on board.

[K] Which makes more sense, because I thought that you know, 10 to 12 staff, they’re the ones that are having the relationship with our clients and out talking to people, so it’s better than just sitting with me.

[F] Yeah, it’s very clever, I like how you how you make them a part of your marketing journey because they all communicate with clients. One last quick question on the Clever Bunch, there are so many different aspects to the Clever Bunch, there’s the community, there’s the support, where we critique campaigns and support business owners, there are the sessions, what are some of your favourite parts about the Clever Bunch?

[K] For me it was… I’ve not touched into another organisation or a network like that, it was just so positive, and motivating, that was the big win, you know if you think about when my Clever Bunch session was about to start was when COVID started, went to the monthly sessions face-to-face, and we all very quickly had to change how we were doing that and it went online and you guys did an amazing job of doing that, and the sessions were just as rewarding, just as fantastic, even online and I used to look forward to those every month. You know 2020 was challenging that year of that was that course but I always kind of… it was so positive. I think when you run a business you don’t often get to talk to other business owners about how things are going, everyone’s a bit secretive and competitive, so to be able to walk in with another group of business owners who are really open and supportive during that tricky year, was that was the absolute highlight for me. And something like my marketing got better, so you know I also got what I signed up for, so that’s really important as well.

[F] And I couldn’t agree more especially in in those few years that were so challenging, I did feel like the community got even stronger, and more supportive, and caring, and sharing, and as you say, especially in the Genius Bunch, we have people are so deep in terms of sharing, also because of the confidentiality agreement that we have with each other and it’s such an important part of running a company. Now you have been in business for 12 years, you’ve learned a lot, you have a lot to share also with fellow business owners, what do you wish you had known when you first started?

[K] I don’t really know… I should have thought about this one, and I don’t even think I’ve got a good answer for you for that. It’s almost what you know you don’t… I think if I knew what I knew now, I perhaps wouldn’t have tried it in the beginning, so maybe the naivety was a good starting point, that sounds terrible… but there’s so much to know, just I think we’ve enjoyed the journey, I think that’s been a good thing.

[F] And I agree, you know to a certain degree sometimes being a little bit as you call it, can almost help. I think not too many blockages, it’s just like, ‘okay’. And the very last thing I wanted to ask you is, because you do have a lot of wisdom for other people based on your journey, what is one word of wisdom or a few words of wisdom that you would like to impart?

[K] I think as you’re going on the journey, I think you need to get involved with other business owners, or groups or service providers to get the support that you need along the way. And to get the experience in areas that you don’t have, I think that’s really important, I mean in our business we’re saying that to business owners all the time, you shouldn’t do the bookkeeping, you shouldn’t do the payroll, you should give it to us, because we’re experienced. Sometimes you need to remember to apply that to yourself as well which is you know the exact example, I went out to you guys to get the marketing experience, so really tapping into that is where you’re going to get, you know your help on your journey, and to be really open-minded about where you perform, that’s probably the best advice I could give anyone.

[F] That’s super helpful. Thank you so much for that and again I agree, open-mindedness and also asking the right people, asking the right people for very specialised~ I’m very much a believer like you say in asking people that have specialised knowledge, to help you with that one thing, and then asking another person to help with that one thing. Thanks so much, thanks again for sharing your your thoughts, your intel, your ideas, with our audience. I really appreciate it.

[K] It’s a pleasure, and thank you for all your help along the way. You and Christo have been amazing, not only both you and Christo, your whole team, I mean I even get calls from Liesl regularly.

[F] They are amazing.

[K] You are doing what you said you were going to do so it’s been greatly appreciated.

[F] Thank you so much. Thank you. And all the viewers and the listeners, thank you again for tuning in. If you want to connect with Kristin, where would you like them to connect? Linkedin, or website or where…?

[K] On our website, it has all our contact data.

[F] So tradeguardian.com.au Awesome! Thanks so much we’ll put everything in the show notes too, for anyone who wants to get in touch with Kristin, and thank you, thanks for joining us. And thank you Kristin.

[K] Thank you.