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Mike Dawson
MDA
Mike didn’t want to work for someone else when he left the army, so he formed the learning and development consultancy MDA limited
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When searching for a new job after he left the army he discovered that he didn’t want to work for someone else. He found the path of running your own business, being your own boss. His business has grown each year, all with the help of Crunch accounting.
Mike tells us about his self-employed journey and why he decided to take this path.
Why did you choose to go self-employed? Was there something that influenced this decision?
“When I decided to leave the army, I had a rough idea of what it was I wanted to do. As I had spent nearly a decade working within learning and development, I figured that should be an area that I remain in. I began to look through LinkedIn jobs boards for opportunities in this field. What I found were a significant number of contract roles. It dawned on me that, having worked within a hierarchy that was quite strict and rigid, I no longer wanted to work for someone else. It was at that moment I started thinking about setting up my own company. Within the space of 30 min, I had gone from googling how to set up a limited company, to actually doing it and the company was born.”
We find out more about MDA and the service the business provides:
What is your business and what do you do?
“MDA Limited is a Learning and Development consultancy,” says Mike.
“We have three pillars from which we operate and provide B2B services. The first pillar is conflict resolution and change management, the second pillar is L&D and the third is agile ways of working (where we provide agile coaches and scrum masters). We take pride in not being a Big4 consultancy in that we have no shareholders or investors to keep happy and we pay our consultants every penny of their day rate, rather than making margins on them. We have set ourselves up as the anti-consultancy, where you will get a service that you actually need, at a price that is respectable, unlike the larger consultancies that occupy themselves with how much they charge at the detriment of the service they provide.”
Mike used his years of experience to his advantage by starting his business in the same industry. He knew that to grow a business, you need the right tools around you. This is why he joined Crunch.
What have you liked about using Crunch? How has it helped/impacted your business?
He tells us that “the service I have received from Crunch has been world-class. As my company continues to grow, I find myself not being able to dedicate time to minor matters, particularly financial/admin-related ones. Crunch has taken away much of the stress I was experiencing with my previous accountant. Crunch answers emails and questions quickly and professionally, the software is easy to use and well built.”
Making the time our clients have to spend on accounting tasks easy and simple to do, is what we strive for. We want tracking your finances and paying your tax to be a stress-free experience like it has been for Mike. Our easy-to-navigate software and unlimited access to expert support are why so many choose us.
What made you choose Crunch over any other option such as a traditional accountant or a competitor?
“When I set up the business, I made the decision to go with an accountant that was cheap (this was a mistake). Crunch was recommended to me at that time but I turned it down (also a mistake).”
He continues - “When the company reached its first birthday I realised that, in order for the company to continue to grow, I had to have an accountant that facilitated that growth. For me, that meant going with Crunch.”
We support our clients from the day they register as a business and throughout all of their growth. The time and expense you save with us allow you to invest that time in the next steps for your business. We provide an ‘all you could need’ service. All the tools and resources you could require to manage your accounting and finances all in one place. No need to chase your accountant for answers to your questions or keep hold of your receipts. We create simple accounting.
We are invested in each and every one of our clients as “With Crunch, you get quality from the very beginning”.
If you’re growing your business and need the right support with your accounting while also keeping your costs down, give our 14-day free trial a go. You’ll discover how easy your accounting really can be.