A simple accountant who became the owner of a successful business

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A simple accountant who became the owner of a successful business
Irina Smirnova
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Today, in any source, wherever we go, there are many stories about success and its achievement. Unfortunately, not all of them were written by people who actually went through this path themselves: they made mistakes, rejoiced at their first victories, and were upset by failures. Many of these authors are theorists.

I consider myself a practitioner. I literally grew my business from nothing. Today I have a successful business, satisfied clients and a growing staff. Of course, it wasn’t always like this.

The very beginning

I’ll start from afar. At school I liked mathematics and science. While my classmates were rushing around and didn’t understand where to go to study, I knew for sure that I would connect my life with numbers. I didn’t want to be just an engineer and just bury myself in arithmetic values. It was necessary to find something that would combine numbers and psychology. These were my two passions. When I was 15 years old, the realization came.

My dream profession is an accountant. Here you can count and communicate with people. Without hesitation, I entered college to major in economics and accounting in construction. Since then, we have not parted with accounting for a day.

After successfully graduating from college, I entered the university and at the same time began my professional career.

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My passion for my business and complete immersion in it made me a chief accountant at the age of 20! I constantly honed my skills and learned. Here is proof that love for the profession and your craft should always come first. Otherwise, there can be no talk of any success!

At 23, I created my own accounting department in a legal organization from scratch.

My rapid growth did not please my more experienced colleagues. But I’m sure that if you’re passionate about your idea, you can’t help but succeed. Accounting literally lived within me.

I liked the hiring job, but at some point I realized that the ceiling had been reached, and I was getting bored. I need constant movement, solving complex problems, quantum leaps. Where could I get this? Just by opening your own business.

The beginning of the journey

The rollercoaster of ups and downs beckoned and frightened me at the same time. Leaving a good job for the unknown is always difficult. I had this idea for a long time, but chance decided everything.
Irina Smirnova
Irina Smirnova

One of my clients (for whom I did accounting) saw my potential and offered to organize a business together with his wife. This is how I got my first business partner.

In 2010, we registered a company by investing 5,000 USD between us.

We rented an office of 16 sq.m. And we decided to develop! The strength of the decision made also plays an important role. We were both focused on results, and thanks to our hard work, it didn’t take long to arrive.

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We didn’t have money for advertising. I remember how we stood at the tax office building and talked with people, talking about the company and our services. Then they handed out business cards and met entrepreneurs in business centers. We tried to be everywhere where our target audience appears.

Clients came, then there were more of them, and the first recommendations appeared. After two months of active work, we recorded our first profit! What happiness and satisfaction these 1000 USD brought us!

We have become even stronger in our belief that you can make money doing what you love. And we are starting to succeed.

What now?

We grew with enthusiasm, there were more and more clients, there was no physical strength left to help everyone. Then we decided to expand. We have our first employees. We were very worried about the quality of work, because the clients knew my partner and me and trusted us with their companies’ money. Fortunately, we were lucky with the team. Initially, people were selected who were also ready to work and study hard. I have invested and continue to invest a lot of effort and resources into the team. I try to constantly train them, because the level of customer satisfaction depends on them.
Irina Smirnova's team
Irina Smirnova’s team

In 2015, we realized that we could not only provide accounting outsourcing services, but also train such specialists. This is how our certified training center was born. Thanks to our courses, hundreds of people have mastered a new profession and are already earning money. The programs are based on our personal experience and practice.

In 2022, my partner left the business and I became the managing owner of the company. Over 12 years of working together, we have developed a reputation as a reliable and stable counterparty for our clients.

I am proud of my team and our common achievements. Together we learn from our mistakes, apply new approaches and constantly test something new. The world is changing so quickly, you need to always keep your finger on the pulse.

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To date, we have helped 460 businesses across the country. It was very difficult to imagine such figures while sitting in an office of 16 sq.m. However, the impossible became possible. Recently, we have been actively growing and working with large clients. Market giants trust us.

Tips for beginners

I already wrote above that the main thing is to love what you do. Without full dedication and immersion, you cannot become successful. You will never have enough talent. The secret to success is hard work. There are no magic pills and there never will be.

When you find something that makes your eyes light up, you need to practice a lot. Try and fill your bumps every time. Don’t be afraid to try.

Everything works out for those who take responsibility for the result. Only you can decide whether you will succeed or not. And only you yourself can lead yourself to your cherished dream if you set your sights on it.

If I could give a piece of advice to all young entrepreneurs or those who are just about to become one, it would be in three sentences: Don’t be afraid to try! Don’t be afraid to look! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!
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