My portfolio journey – an update 18 months on

• Connect with Daniella on LinkedIn

It's now 18 months since I started my portfolio career and all I can say is I wish I'd made the move sooner! That said, I don't think I actually could have done so as my most recent employed roles were key to giving me the credibility and depth of commercial experience required. I was able to very quickly fill up my portfolio with projects in varied and interesting sectors. I chose to work with owner-manager teams who shared my ways of working and values, and therefore have felt fully able to bring my authentic self to work – that does feel fantastic. The whole journey has been thoroughly fulfilling, both from a client work and relationship perspective and also from the viewpoint of ‘scratching the entrepreneurial itch’ that, if I'm honest, I've always had.

From a personal perspective, the successes have been huge for me. I've been able to command so much more control over my schedule, which has meant I've been able to flex work up and down as has suited me, and to structure when and where I work around commitments in my life that bring me joy!

I still work hard – I'm hard-wired that way, but now I can almost always accommodate something important to me, like exercise (I've recently gone back to karate after a 26-year hiatus – ouch!), regular school runs and the odd afternoon out with friends, just for fun.

Another success has been finding the right size and type of businesses that need help, and articulating my offer in such a way that clients have wanted to work together. I was surprised to find I enjoyed the sales process! Having not stayed in practice too long after qualification, it’s not something I’ve done before, but I have been able to convert work in the vast majority of potential client intros I've had. Selling doesn't always come naturally to us accountants, and I think being able to sell without it feeling or sounding like you are is a key determinant of success in the portfolio space. The client has to like you, don't hold back, show them who you are.

Saying, ‘no’ has been a success too. Not an easy one, especially when you're starting out. Everyone tells you it will be ‘feast or famine’ and you must take all work whilst you can get it. It wasn't like this for me. There has been no lull, only occasionally far too much work for me, and so I have learned to trust the work will be there tomorrow and say no whenever I'm:

1. already as busy as I want to be,
2. not convinced the client is the right fit, or
3. when the work is not sufficiently high-level and commercial.

It's quite empowering when you start to say no, and it keeps your time free for that perfect opportunity that was just about to appear.

Quickly and fully replacing my corporate six figure salary is another success I'm proud of. When you have responsibilities and you take a leap of faith, this is important. I feel quite privileged to have found the career path that I enjoy so much, which allows me the flexibility I craved in the corporate world and doesn't require me to compromise at all. I don't think enough senior finance professionals know this is a viable alternative path for them, and I'm hoping by talking about my experiences I can help more people make this their reality.

The final success worth mentioning is that I’ve broadened my experience by wearing all the other hats you have to wear as an entrepreneur. Okay, so the bookkeeping was always going to be fine, but I've turned my hand to all sorts! LinkedIn is my second home. I can now be trusted to build WordPress website pages and not break anything, and I've designed and written copy for automated email sales funnels that I've created. I get a lot out of this too. I love to continue learning and developing.

Nothing major, thankfully. But of course, there have been things I have learned from and improved. I definitely tried to network too indiscriminately initially and so refined who I targeted to make more efficient use of my time. There have also been times when I fell into the trap of taking on too much.

I would say that when you're working as a Portfolio Finance Director, four days of chargeable work is full time really as you need time for continual business development and your own business’ admin etc.

As you can probably tell, I'm really enthusiastic about a portfolio career for senior finance professionals and believe it can bring a raft of benefits to the life of anyone able to make a success of it. With this in mind, coupled with the fact that the thing I miss from my corporate career is helping nurture and develop my team, I am currently launching a transformational group course to show others exactly how I made this work so quickly and enable them to do the same. It's part training, part accountability, part peer support. Attendees will be able to put course learnings into practice, alongside the small tight-knit cohort they take the course with, so they’re set up for success with a ready-made peer network.

I would reiterate that this is a real, viable option, so long as a member has relevant commercial experience and the willingness to put themselves out there, get visible, and tell people what they have to bring to a business. This also does not have to be something you pursue right at the end of your career, so long as the experience is there.

Click here to find out more about the training programme Daniella is running:

• Power up your portfolio!

The original article Daniella wrote for ICAEW can be found here:

• My portfolio journey

^{*The views expressed are the author's and not ICAEW's.}