Catalyzing Entrepreneurs: A Journey to Growth and Freedom

Welcome to the entrepreneurial realm, where I, Taylor Smith, founded Taylor Smith & Co Ltd, a vibrant consultancy firm dedicated to collaborating with entrepreneurs for consistent growth, wealth, and freedom. Originating from South East England, my journey began humbly, driven by the necessity to support my family. With tenacity, I pursued a career in accounting, ascending to roles like finance director for multiple UK companies, witnessing their significant growth. However, personal hardships, including a miscarriage, compelled me to reassess my priorities. Thus, Taylor Smith & Co Ltd was born, a venture aimed at supporting entrepreneurs facing similar challenges, empowering them to achieve sustainable growth while reclaiming the freedom they deserve.

What inspired you to start your business consultancy firm?

I was working in corporate employment, in a very successful role as Director, which I did enjoy but being in such a senior role came with too many personal sacrifices. I found myself in a place where I was stressed out and overworked and I ended up having a miscarriage. It was a very low point in my life and that is what made me pull back and think about how I wanted to spend my time and what was most important to me. For me the most important thing is family and I wanted to prioritize that, but I found that was impossible when I was in such a senior role because I would always have to pick either my job or my family. So, I decided to quit my employment and start my business consultancy firm. I wanted to be able to take back control and dictate how I work, where I work, and when I work, this kind of freedom you just don’t get in employment. I have so much experience and I love what I do, I know that I can help other business owners not only grow their businesses but grow them in a way that suits their lifestyle, so they don’t get consumed by their business, but instead, create a business that gives them both money and freedom.

Describe your early career journey, including the challenges you faced and how you overcame them?

My career started as soon as I left college. Unfortunately, university wasn’t an option for me as I grew up very poor, I needed to get a full-time job so I could contribute towards the family household. 

As soon as I left college I started hunting for my first junior accounting role. It was really hard trying to find a company that would take me on, someone who had no experience and was fresh out of college. I didn’t realise it at the time but it probably didn’t help the fact that I didn’t look like a stereotypical accounts person. But my passion and persistence kept me motivated and pushing forward with the search, until finally I found a company that wanted to hire me. I was so grateful that someone was willing to take a chance on me, and I promised myself that day that I would show them what a great investment they made. So from that day on I worked my absolute socks off, to prove to them that they made the right choice. I made it my mission to learn as much as I could, as quickly as I could, and before I knew it I quickly started climbing the corporate ladder. 

The problem with climbing the corporate ladder at such a young age is that other members of staff who were often older than me, found it difficult when I was promoted ahead of them. It was difficult for me to understand why people couldn’t just be happy for me, but I soon realised that not everyone I meet in life is going to be cheering me on, and that’s ok. I needed to stay true to my values, dare to push forward anyway, and always show kindness, even if it’s not being shown to me, because you never know what someone else is going through.

How did your background influence your decision to prioritize work and family balance in your career?

My mum was a single parent to 3 kids and an absolute superwoman. She did her absolute best but the truth was I grew up below the poverty line, so from a very young age I understood that the reason we couldn’t do what we wanted to do or even eat sometimes was because we didn’t have the money. 

This helped me to focus when it came to choosing a career path. Even though my true love was sports (specifically athletics, I would have loved to compete in the Olympics), I understood that I needed to focus on a job that could earn me and my family money so that I could have choices that we just didn’t have growing up, and so that my future children wouldn’t grow up the way I did. 

This mentality guided me through my career to work as hard as I could, learn as much as I could, and become successful. But one thing I lost on the way was how important my family was to me, and how spending time with them was what mattered most, and that is what led me to the decision to quit the amazing job I had worked so hard to achieve.

Now I am continually conscious of my work-life balance, ensuring my family comes first and business is built around my family and lifestyle. Being able to create a business that works around me in this way is so empowering and rewarding, which is why it’s my mission to help others create the same.

What significant achievements did you accomplish during your time as a finance director of three UK companies?

There were so many achievements and amazing experiences throughout my role as finance director, some of the ones I’m most proud of include two of the companies growing to over £ 1 million in sales and one of them growing to over £ 400 million in sales. It takes a lot of hard work, innovation, and collaboration to grow businesses, and that’s especially true when you are growing them into the millions of pounds. The strategies that were implemented worked and were very successful and I’m so proud I was a part of that.

Another favourite achievement was providing maternity cover for the finance director of the American offices. The company had been international for many years, and some of the offices we had were based in America, Canada, and South America. I had never worked overseas before. I was not familiar with the regulations or with the staff and performance of the companies, but I didn’t let that stop me. I spent 4 months in the regional head office in New York and led the team to ensure the offices continued performing without any issues and the handover was seamless. It went perfectly, and I received glowing feedback from the President of the company, the Chairman of the Group, and the Group CFO.

Another favourite achievement was that I had to speak on stage at our group-wide conference in front of hundreds of employees. This was a real challenge for me, as a chartered accountant, I would say naturally I fall into the introvert group, however, I was asked to contribute in place of the Group CFO. I grabbed the bull by the horns and went for it. It was such a proud moment for me and I got some fantastic feedback too.

How did a personal tragedy, such as experiencing a miscarriage, impact your perspective on your career and life priorities?

Having the miscarriage was a huge wake-up call for me. I had spent so many years prioritising my work and giving that so much of my energy, that I had lost sight of why I worked so hard in the first place. The reason I worked so hard was to make money so that I could choose how to live my life, so I could have more freedom, and ultimately spend time with my family. Instead, I was wrapped up in what was important for the company meeting someone else’s deadline and worrying if I was contributing enough. In the end, by prioritising what’s important to other people, rather than what’s important to me and my family, I ended up losing one of the most important blessings you can get in this life. I felt so disappointed in myself, I had taken my body and my mind for granted, thinking I could do it all, and please everyone, when all I was doing was hurting myself and now I was powerless to fix it. 

This miscarriage changed everything for me, and it’s what set my life on a completely different path, the path I’m on now where my focus is on freedom. And I want to help other business owners take back their freedom too because I see too many business owners creating these wonderful businesses but end up getting consumed by them. So many business owners don’t realise that it doesn’t have to be that way and my mission is to show them that so that they can also take back their freedom, live and create a business that works for them.

What motivated you to transition from your corporate role to entrepreneurship?

My motivation for almost everything in my life is my family because for me nothing is more important than my family. So the motivation for changing from corporate to entrepreneurship was my family, however the goal, the reason why I worked so hard in corporate and now in entrepreneurship is freedom. Success for me is freedom. Freedom to choose how and when to work, freedom to make the choices you want. I would say the catalyst that drove me to take action so quickly was the miscarriage I had. That for me changed everything and gave me the wake-up call I needed to let me know that the path I was walking was taking me further away from my goal and my motivation.

Explain the mission of Taylor Smith & Co Ltd and how it reflects your values and experiences.

Taylor Smith & Co Ltd’s mission is to empower and support 10,000 business owners in shaping their businesses into ones that create growth, wealth, and freedom. In my opinion, these three things are so important if you want to create a business that works for you rather than you working for it. 

Growth both personally and professionally is the key. As we journey through life, I believe the more we can learn and grow ourselves as people, the better people we become. And the better we become, the better our businesses become, because, after all, our businesses are just a reflection of us. If you have a problem in your business, the first place to start is looking at yourself, because it’s more than likely something is going on with you that is now being reflected in your business.

Wealth in both time and money are important pieces of the puzzle too. We can’t manage time but we can manage the actions we take in the time we have available. Taking aligned action and not procrastinating, can make all the difference when it comes to building your business. 

Freedom in its absolute form is the goal. To have the freedom to choose how and when you want to work, the freedom to choose how you spend your time in general, the freedom to change your mind, and the freedom to just live your life the way you want to is what I believe success is. I want to be able to support other business owners to get that for themselves. 

I believe that is what most business owners want and I believe the moment you want what you have, you’re happy, and I love the idea of helping other people find happiness in this life. 

How do you utilize your expertise and knowledge gained from your career to support entrepreneurs through your consultancy firm?

During my corporate career, I have learned so much. I have been involved in all areas of business, and I have been involved in businesses at different stages in their business growth, giving me and my clients a huge advantage.

Some of the most rewarding ways I can support entrepreneurs include; creating and revising strategies focused around growing businesses. This is where you can get creative and think outside the box, to be able to challenge the norm and come up with fresh exciting ways to grow the business is the part I enjoy most.

Another advantage my clients receive from working with me is taking care of the numbers. Simplifying the numbers is something I have a knack for. So many entrepreneurs avoid the numbers in their business, and I get it, it’s not fun or sexy and sometimes it’s an area where entrepreneurs aren’t comfortable. However, I must say that the numbers to the business hold the key to so much information, and I can help simplify the numbers, and show entrepreneurs which key numbers they need to focus on. Forecasting and monitoring the performance of businesses financially can skyrocket your business, and I can show entrepreneurs how to do this.

Another advantage my clients receive from working with me is my experience with teams. I have recruited staff members and led a team full of ambitious talent wanting to climb the corporate ladder, and I have also been the one to take staff members through disciplinary action. With this experience, I can help entrepreneurs who are thinking about building a strong team, and who want to be able to get the best out of their team. This is key because let’s face it, your team can make you or break you. The cost of hiring the wrong staff can destroy a business, and I can use all of my experience to help entrepreneurs navigate that minefield.

I can’t include everything here but there is a wealth of experience and knowledge I can bring to support entrepreneurs, it doesn’t matter what stage they are at as the businesses I’ve worked with range from turning over £50k per year to turning over £400million per year.

My clients get access to this wealth of experience and we use it to drive their business forwards.

What are some key principles or strategies you emphasise to help entrepreneurs achieve sustainable growth and freedom in their businesses?

There are so many strategies I could share but I will share some of the key things they need to be thinking about.

If an entrepreneur wants to achieve sustainable growth, they first need to start with the 4 pillars every business needs to focus on when it comes to growing their client base.

These pillars include:

• Lead generation: how do they get prospects interested in what it is they have to sell
• Lead conversion: how do they convert those prospects into paying clients
• Client retention: how do they ensure the customer experience is so good that the client doesn’t ask for a refund
• Client ascension: how do they get the client to buy from them again, what’s the next step in the ladder of services

In addition to having these 4 pillars nailed, the entrepreneur also needs to think about the systems they have in place to be able to deliver the service/product, without getting overwhelmed and burned out. This is something that’s often forgotten but if it’s done correctly, it can transform the business from an energy-sucking vacuum into a business that takes care of itself through automation.

Another area entrepreneurs must master is the numbers in the business. They don’t need to become an accountant, but they MUST be able to understand the performance of the business and monitor changes and what impact that has on the business if they want to grow a successful business. This is key for strategic decision making and to be able to adapt to the changes in the marketplace.

How can individuals interested in your consultancy services connect with you or learn more about your firm?

If you want to talk to me about how I may be able to support you and your business, book a meeting with me:

Via email – [email protected] 

Via this link – https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/taylor3/consultancy-call

If you want to learn more about me and the firm you can visit my website www.taylorsmithandco.com

I would also love to connect with you on the socials:

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorsmithandco/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/taylorsmithandco/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/taylorsmithandco