"The best advice I would give is FOCUS!"
Fradel Levin specializes in helping Accountants & CPAs position themselves so that they have a personalized roadmap on how they can attract NEW high-paying clients through LinkedIn. She has personally worked with businesses in the UK and the USA, managing and growing their firm’s profits with proven ROI, even in the current climate.
Fradel’s clients are some of the fastest-growing accounting firms and she has helped them achieve higher revenue with clear marketing strategies. She is a certified accountant and business consultant from London, England who has over 5 years experience and has been running her own highly profitable Accounting Firm since 2018.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Fradel Levin: I founded my company, a short 5 years ago, with the intention of eliminating entrepreneurial poverty. As a chartered accountant, I have a unique way of assessing a business and identifying quickly what needs to change in order to scale the company. I started off locally, here in London and got my first few clients through LinkedIn.
As my work started picking up, accountants began asking me HOW I make those changes. So I shared the process and realized there is a real need here. Accountants and CPAs want to change their clients’ business, but they simply need the tools.
This led me to my coaching business today, where I coach accountants and CPAs on how to land high value clients, how to deliver them an extraordinary service (MY CFO Success Framework) and I show my clients how they can transform their clients’ lives. Over the past two years, this has exploded due to the requests I get on a daily basis. All in all, I am living my dream because I love helping others reach their potential!
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Fradel Levin: Oh yes! these years were challenging for everyone and unfortunately, many businesses couldn’t survive.
The main lesson I learned from those years is that a company needs to have financial backing. It was clear that those who had cash reserves, or a line of credit that they could have dipped into, managed to survive. Sadly those companies that didn’t have where to fall back on and they were lacking a cash reserve account, needed to close shop.
I think this is a powerful lesson in terms of managing business finances. Always set money aside for a rainy day and work on getting a line of credit even when you don’t need it. The problem is that when your business is stuck, it’s too late to try and get a line of credit as at that point, many lenders will refuse to give you a loan.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Fradel Levin: The best advice I would give is FOCUS!
There is this mantra; “What you focus on expands.” (Esther Jno-Charles)
And I took this as a lesson in my business and when I help out my clients-
Be positive, be solution-oriented and try to make the best of the situation.
It’s clear that if you focus on how bad things are, they get worse. We actually function better when we are in a positive state of mind.
So when the going gets tough- I always remind myself to focus on the good and then the good expands and suddenly I see so much opportunity laying right in front of me.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Fradel Levin: The pandemic has changed the way meetings are coordinated. Nowadays, 95% of my meetings are conducted via Zoom. Whilst I like the face to face meetings as it builds a real connection, I think it’s important to adapt to the times and welcome change.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Fradel Levin: So this is a really interesting question.
Because when the pandemic started I reached out to one of my mentors and got advice!!
You will be so surprised by what he said.
I asked him-
“Look, I feel like I am moving into times that the world hasn’t seen, there is so much fear, people are afraid to invest- how will my business survive?”
And my mentor responded;
“I survived the 2008 crash and other difficult times; remember every crash/pandemic will make some people lose their money and some people will earn a lot of money. Make sure you are part of the latter”
I let this sink in and I spent hours thinking about how I can adapt my services to a wider audience so that I can influence, grow and scale my business. I decided to let nothing get in the way of using LinkedIn efficiently and grow my network. I am so grateful to my mentor for these words as this helped my company thrive despite the pandemic and this is the advice I want to share with you all.
Whilst the market is tough, THINK about how you can adapt to the market and offer a solution that your clients are waiting for!
In 2022, I am focusing on growing my network, meeting more like-minded people who want to make a big change in terms of business finances and I would like to create a powerful team of accountants who are here to impact
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Fradel Levin:I think that virutal meetings and remote work are becoming more and more expected.
It’s important to adapt and change with the times. I believe we will be seeing this more and more. This is because before Covid, remote work was a secondary option, now that the world has seen how useful it can be, it transforms the way Employers are viewing this option. The flexibility that remote work offers, is another useful way to get talented people to join the workforce
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Fradel Levin: Too many 😉
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Fradel Levin: I think this is an excellent question, because no matter the age, we humans are wired to enjoy a good story.
Stories and live examples help take a difficult concept and break it up in a way that people can digest and implement it in real life.
Many times, when my team huddles on a zoom call I share interesting episodes which sparks a good discussion internally. I always get good feedback from those calls as my team feels they can relate to the story and they can take out a lesson
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Fradel Levin: The real challenge is FOCUS!
We are so busy looking at social media, at the news that our minds are brainwashed that we are in a recession and a crash is coming-
STOP THAT!
Start focusing what you can be doing day by day so that you can achieve your goals. Its all about taking one step at a time.
For the past few weeks, I haven’t opened the news, I don’t even want to see the nonsense going on. it completely takes away my focus from my business and my family..I would rather focus my energy on making money and achieving my goals
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Fradel Levin: I am mostly interested in learning about what causes people to take action. I find that when people take action, they can change something. Even if mistakenly they take a bad course of action, they can learn and move on. But I find that if no action is taken you can stay stuck for years…
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Fradel Levin: So this is really interesting, because I too quit my job because my employer was a micro-manager and I felt like I had no control over my work.
I believe that most bosses think that the employees are the problem and they don’t plan on changing their behavior.
But here is my advice; If your job sucks, go get a life and find a better one OR open the business of your dreams. Don’t let anyone control what your life can look like!
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Fradel Levin: If I had a way how to make people believe in themselves- I would pick that.
You see, people only make decisions when they trust that their life could be better. Sadly so many people find themselves in difficult spots that it’s difficult for them to imagine that life could be different. It’s hard for them to believe that they deserve better.
If only more people had self-confidence and believed they have everything it takes to succeed right now- I would have an easier time getting them the results they so badly want.
Success is a mindset. If you are not successful in your mind, you cant put it into practice and bring those results on a day to day basis.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Fradel Levin: Success in 2022 for me would be when I see more business owners profit through my CFO framework.
I believe that every person has the right to make money and live an abundant lifestyle and the only way to achieve that is by being successful in business. So my goal is to eliminate poverty and business owners should be proud of their income
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Fradel Levin for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Fradel Levin or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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