Yes. One of our values is transparency, so we always look to understand their commercial aspirations first. Then we build a compliance strategy that maps that and allows them to market their products without the fear of enforcement for non-compliant products.
What’s your take on inflation and interest rates – are you going to pass that on to your customers or let your margins take a hit and reward customer loyalty in these tougher times?
No. We offer a retained service that acts as an extension of their company. We have no plans to increase our pricing due to inflation.
How often do you assess the data you pull in and address your KPIs and why?
Our data is assessed constantly, owing to the various moving parts within compliance. It’s essential that we keep our finger on the pulse of any regulatory changes and communicate them to our clients asap.
Is tech playing a much larger part in your day-to-day running of your company?
Yes, we have invested heavily in proprietary software. Having our own software is not only a USP but allows us to handle tasks in a fraction of the time it would take a human to handle them. It means we keep our head count low as well as our costs. Our aim is to provide an outsourced compliance department at a fraction of the cost that it would be ‘in-house’.
What is your attitude to your competitors?
We don’t concern ourselves with our competitors. We focus on our swim-lane only and aim to get better than we were previously. Competition then becomes irrelevant.
Do you have any advice for anyone starting out in business?
Expect the road to be bumpy, then when a problem comes along you’re not as fazed by it as if you were expecting plain sailing. Make sure you have enough cash to cover costs while you are building your reputation, and that reputation is going to take you 3-5 years to build.
It can be a lonely and pressured place to be as the lead decision maker of the business. What do you do to relax, recharge and hone your focus?
I learned transcendental meditation shortly after starting the business. It was a game- changer for me. It made me realise I wasn’t great at everything and that I should farm out anything that I wasn’t great at and focus on what I was good at. TM still plays a part in my life today and keeps me relaxed and focused.
Do you believe in the 12-week work method or do you make much longer planning strategies?
No, it’s not something I follow. I’m pretty much a workaholic and just go hard at it all the time. I don’t employ any schedules or best practices to growing the business, although I am at the point where I am bringing in the staff that focus on that, to allow me to be the aggressive sales person that I am.
