2021 - My turbulent year in review

What one word sums up your year?

For me - it is... 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟.

It has been a turbulent year for many people I know - friends, family, clients. My parents, for example, own a successful wine and cheese bar in Ringwood (it really is a gem - it's called The Cellar if anyone wants to check it out). As anyone in the hospitality sector will attest, uncertainty over literally whether you are able to open the doors to your valued customers, surely is the pinnacle of a challenging business environment.

Whilst the profession I chose remained relatively unaffected by the pandemic, my year was in fact similar in many ways to those who have experienced such turmoil. Personally, this year has seen a complete transformations in my professional life that I am incredibly grateful for - but this I can say now only in retrospect.

Spring

Rewind to the beginning of the year; I was stuck in a stagnant position at a firm I no longer believed in, not feeling challenged or that I was learning anything new. I felt alienated and unsupported whilst working from home and had a real sense of yearning for something more. I wanted to leave, but realising my dream of setting up my own chartered accountancy firm depended on my sticking it out for a little longer, and even despite this, my dream was looking bleak, at best.

To make matters worse, I had fallen out with one of my mentors. We had disagreements about the way the business should progress. This was incredibly sad for me, but it also taught me a lot about business and the harsh truths that we all must face. I'm grateful I was empowered to face mine early in my career.

The uncertainty this all caused my family and I was very unsettling. My career had always been a constant for my wife and I. As we were now blessed with our beautiful 1-year-old-daughter, too, how would we survive if I left? It always provided us with a level of security and safety that was the bedrock to everything.

Did it really though? Was this actually the case, or just my perception?

At that time, the stress levels we felt as a family were taking us to our breaking point.

But, at the times where we felt that we could go on no longer, our daughter, Ivy, would look up at us with her magical blue eyes, blissfully unaware of what was going on.

She was our constant reminder to be resilient. It was for her. It was all for her. And she provided us with endless strength beyond our capability.

Summer

The early Summer time saw my role made redundant. This forced my hand and in truth was a huge relief. This was despite the huge uncertainty that we now faced.

In the months prior, I had been increasing my presence online, producing videos on LinkedIn in an attempt to share value and increase my network. This had been going well and I had got into a decent flow.

I am fortunate that following my redundancy, I received many job offers and quite a few were surprisingly attractive offers that far exceeded my expectations and to my disbelief, would not require a backwards step at all (as we had so desperately feared). The problem was none of these positions would fulfil the desire that I felt to build and grow my own business. This would require a backward step.

However, I was still unable to form my own firm! I was waiting to hear back as to whether I had achieved what I needed in order to trade as a chartered firm. Months passed. Then more months. This predicament was and probably will remain the most difficult paradoxical dilemma that I will face: turning down incredible offers which would protect me and my family into the future, for the hope of forming my own business, but not knowing if this will happen now, in a month, or six-months, or perhaps even not at all.

There were so many times throughout the year that I doubted decisions that I was making. Doubted myself. Doubted others’ opinions of what I should do. The stakes were high, and I just wanted to do right by myself and my family.

The one thing that kept me going through all those moments of doubt was 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟. The unwavering belief of my wife Stephanie, the belief of my mum and dad and the kindness extended by so many of my other family, peers and close friends.

Another crucial thing happened during this time. Property118!

This is a great story encapsulating the serendipity that can appear at the most unexpected times. The most perfect solution to my paradoxical dilemma.

The videos I had been producing on LinkedIn were heavily tilted in the direction of property tax. This is a particular area of interest for me and my family and so it is a specialism of mine. I also spent a significant amount of time researching property tax in Spring to learn as much as I could in this area.

An old client of mine WhatsApp'ed me a YouTube video of Mark Alexander with Ranjan Bhattacharya with the message: "Alex, I follow this chap and there are some excellent ideas."

After reviewing a few videos, I agreed. Both individuals were very credible, accomplished and knowledgeable and I loved how they shared their knowledge for all to benefit from. I went onto the Property118 website and they were property tax experts and worked with accountants too - I thought: it would be great to form a partnership between Property118 and my accounting firm in the future!

So, I promptly reached out to Property118. To my surprise, Mark Alexander got in contact and we got chatting. What I thought would be a quick chat about joining their partnership scheme turned out to be the best part of an hour long conversation, where we really 'hit it off.' Mark explained that they were in fact filling new tax consultant positions and that I would be perfect for the role.

A fellow director at Property118, Alex Caravello, then called me and exactly the same thing happened - a long conversation where I felt we connected and that this was something to really consider. There would undoubtedly be lots for me to learn and plenty of growth to be realised in a role like this - which would fill the void that had been left.

In July, I started working with Property118.

In August, I officially founded IWN Accountancy (named after our daughter Ivy Wren).

Autumn

The feeling of boundless empowerment, of liberated release, cannot be overstated. I felt as if the shackles were off and I could now build and progress the life I wanted, for me and my family. I also felt that I had time to make up after what felt like an eternity of being held back.

I have always been the industrious and conscientious type. Finding hard-work rewarding and enjoying the process, though this often came with over-identifying with my work - to my own detriment. Getting the balance right between work and the other areas in my life is something I have to constantly manage, as many of us do.

During the final year of my prior employment, I often sat and thought to myself: "I know I am always going to take pride in and give my all to whatever I spend my time doing at work. Why do this for someone else if I could do it for myself?" It seemed a glaringly obvious question to answer. "I shouldn't!" I thought of other types of employee who might want to get away with not taking on responsibilities or escaping with the bare minimum. "They should be employees, but not me."

It turns out that I was right in this line of thinking, but it is so easy to get sucked into the 'security' and 'safety.' Now I see that this was 'perceived' security and that the reality was that this perceived security was at the cost of growth. And the growth that this was costing was my own personal growth. Growth for my family.

During the first few months of IWN Accountancy, the business grew exponentially from word-of-mouth referrals alone.

There is nothing that reaffirms the feeling of genuine, selfless, community-spirited-humanity like those around you going out of their way for no other reason than to support you in your new business.

It blew me away. To this day (almost 6 months in) I have still not set up my website. I accept this is not something I should be bragging about (as it is ridiculous to not have this yet - apologies Sharon!), but I simply have not had the time to write the content. We have even had to turn the taps off and stop taking clients on for a couple of months.

I also benefitted from being the first to go through Alex Caravello's training! This was a real privilege as I got to learn from the best and also help to develop the training programme for future consultants. Being a tax consultant is as wildly different as it is strikingly similar to being an accountant in practice. Invaluably, I learnt a lot about the psychology of communicating value and also the tools to adopt to help prospects to take action to achieve their goals.

Winter

The freedom of being your own boss, rewarded for the fruits of your labour and able to determine your destiny! ... has its cost, of course - there is nothing in life for free!

Anyone considering starting their own business must (but often doesn't) have an idea of the sacrifice that is required. The time, effort and all-consuming stress of worrying about aspects that did not occur to you have you wondering what you've signed up for.

Without doubt every second is worth it, though. Just to know you are building the foundations for something that will grow and continue to improve. To better serve clients and support your family, along with the wider community.

As a family we were fortunate to get away for a trip to the Caribbean in November. St Lucia was the stunning setting for our families' first proper holiday together. All that we had built allowed us to enjoy this break together - and that makes me feel grateful and proud.

Making plans for 2022 consumed December, where we are planning on adding full-time members to the IWN team in Q1, systemising the business and opening the doors to new clients again (and completing the website!)

Finishing top consultant at Property118 for the first time in the third week of December was a proud moment that was followed up with the same in the fourth week of December.

Belief is the fuel. It is the catalyst to action. If you have it in yourself and act accordingly, others will have more of it in you (which you will need when yours inevitably has a wobble).

Thank you to everybody who has been in any way a part of my journey this year. I'm grateful for you all.

I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR AND PROSPEROUS 2022!

Alexandre Norian