We’re a little bit late to the “What have we learnt from 2020” party, but we thought that this year in particular was worth reflecting on. It would be far too easy, when looking back on 2020, to focus on the negatives (as it feels that there have been quite a few!), but there have also been a lot of positives.
Kirkwood Wilson Accountants: What we learnt in 2020
- We have long been advocates of everything ‘cloud’ and as a business we were already cloud-based. This meant that when Boris addressed the nation back in March 2020 and told us to work from home, we simply unplugged our tech, went home and hit the ground running.
- We started out having a few Zoom calls a week, this quickly went down to one main meeting a week for the whole team, and then each department had their own calls which meant we were working much more efficiently.
- We’re great at helping each other. Not everyone is technically minded, and luckily we have a select few who are our techie go-to’s who are only too happy to help their colleagues out in their hour of need.
- We sharpened up on our communication skills. Like most businesses, we had lost the art of communication along the way, and we now have far more voice calls than we did before. It’s good to talk, and this is also great for our mental health.
- Every day is a school day. We have always been incredibly focussed on nurturing and harnessing our talented team, and we weren’t going to let a pandemic stop us! Our fantastic team of trainees have all re-enrolled on their respective courses, distanced of course, and we have also had some in-house training via Zoom.
- We have great ears! With each update to new laws and different government grants and schemes, we took so many calls from our clients. At times we had to put our accounting ears to one side and have some difficult conversations with clients. It’s nice to have some more less formal conversations with clients, after all, we’re human too, and it’s nice to just be heard.
- Our team looks great in loungewear! 2020 was definitely the year of the lounge pants and the oversized sweatshirt. It’s been nice to see everyone a little more relaxed and less ‘done up’
Key learning from our clients
- Some clients have had their hands forced into the online world, but because we’re already there, we have been able to guide most of them through it, which feels very rewarding. Our clients have faced more or less the same struggles as we have here, communication with their team, control over the business, and educating on different and more efficient practices.
- We have several clients in the leisure and retail sector who remain closed for business due to the current restrictions, but we are still having catch up calls to discuss ideas for re-opening their doors, ideas for cash flow, and generally chatting (we’re very good listeners).
- We have helped lots of clients get their online shops set up, so there’s still a revenue stream coming in for them, and this continues to be our focus. How can we help you through this?
Our key takeaway from 2020
2020 has been a thought-provoking year, and has made us question everything we do and how we do it, is there a better way to do things? How can we be more efficient and still provide our clients with the service that they deserve?
It has also made us realise that behind every CEO and MD is more than likely a bored child desperate for some attention whilst we’ve ‘got calls’. Or a furloughed partner who is pulling out their hair because they can’t go to the gym or see their friends. It’s made us realise that despite our different paths, different views, that we really are in this together and we just want to help as many people as we can.
What does 2021 hold for Kirkwood Wilson and our clients?
There’s light at the end of the tunnel, and whilst not everyone might not be on board with it, there is a vaccine which has already started rolling out across the country, which is fantastic news. This should mean that we soon start to see businesses across all sectors opening back up again and offices buzzing with the sound of conversations about “when we were working from home”. We will be able to travel safely and enjoy some time away with our families.
2021 might also mean that some of the changes that you adopted at the start of lockdown will continue, and will now just form a part of your normal practise. You might have introduced flexible working, a different office dress-code, better and more efficient practices within the office environment (and at home).
For us, we’re doing what we normally do, looking for ways to help our clients get the most back from their businesses. Helping their business work for them, and giving them more time back to spend doing the things they really like to do. It’s what we genuinely enjoy doing ourselves.
We really hope that 2021 is a better and happier year for everyone.
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