Daniel McKenzie

Why did you decide to take part in the workshops?
I’m responsible for the financial aspects of the business as business director. I’m someone who is quite good with numbers, but I didn’t know enough to be able to run business accounts and understand the full terminology.


What did you aim to get out of the sessions?
A better understanding – I wanted to try and pick up ideas and tips to help run my business. The session was really good and certainly helped me achieve this.


What did you enjoy most about attending?
The delivery of the course was fantastic. Finance and accounts can be a really dry subject and we had a number of people who were at different levels of understanding and experience taking part.

The trainers who delivered the content were able to communicate effectively with everyone present in an interactive way, as well as making it fun and interesting. It was enjoyable and it’s not often you say that about financial courses, as they’re just not pitched right for attendees. However, this one was spot on.


How have you used what you learnt within your business?
I used my experience on the course to help me set up an accounts system for the business. It has helped to give me a foundation of knowledge in this area and I can now go to an accountant and know that I’m going to understand the majority of what he is talking about.

My experience has given me the confidence to handle finances for the business. Whether you look after the finances yourself or you have an accountant already, the Understanding Finance workshop will help you ensure that you’re getting the right help for your business.


What benefits have the sessions brought to your business?
It has meant that we’re operating more securely than we would have been. Our business has signed its first major contract in July, worth £1million, and I would say that taking part in the workshop has certainly played a helping hand in this. Because I now have the foundation of knowledge learned on the session, it’s given me the confidence and capability to be able to handle much bigger contracts.


Would you recommend the sessions to other businesses?
I certainly would and already have – it’s a fantastic course and any entrepreneur running their own business should definitely take part. You need to be able to fully understand cash flow and even if you have an accountant to do this for you, you need to be able to understand what your accountant is telling you.