Show notes
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Helen Bower, founder of Adder Bookkeeping, a practice she built from a solo venture to a thriving 8-person business over the course of two decades. Recently, Helen sold the business to Fresh Financials Group and now works part-time, having achieved her goal of a better work-life balance.
Helen’s journey is a fantastic case study in growing a service-based business with purpose, resilience, and a bit of creativity. What began as a way to balance work and family life gradually evolved into a scalable, systemised business with a strong team culture and a focus on delivering value through strategic financial insight.
Together, Kevin and Helen cover three key areas:
- The Business Journey – From solo bookkeeper to team-based practice offering high-value, tech-enabled financial services.
- Scaling Challenges – Including team management, leadership transition, and the emotional and practical considerations of selling a business.
- Quickfire Questions – Helen shares her perspectives, advice for other founders, and her experience with the ScaleUp Challenges.
You’ll hear how Helen embraced technology and cloud-based systems early on, how she built a positive team culture through gamification and creativity, and why recurring revenue and financial metrics were central to her growth strategy. She also shares candidly about the challenges of staff management, getting pulled back into day-to-day operations, and the importance of planning for exit early.
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For now, continue listening for the full story from Helen.
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Most founders I speak to feel busy but stuck; plenty happening, but not always clear on what genuinely matters most this quarter. If that’s you, the G90 Summit is worth a look. A structured half-day where we work through everything competing for your attention, get clear on the three to five things that must happen in the next 90 days, then commit to them and build the system to make sure they actually happen. Quarterly, virtual, £97 a seat.
Helen can be found here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenbowerbookkeepingpractice
https://www.adderbookkeeping.co.uk/
https://www.freshfinancials.com/
hello@freshfinancials.com (Put ScaleUp Radio and FAO Alex in the Subject line)
Resources:
Diary of a CEO podcast - https://stevenbartlett.com/doac/
The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-e-myth-revisited-why-most-small-businesses-don-t-work-and-what-to-do-about-it-michael-e-gerber/82114?ean=9780887307287&next=t
The 33 Laws of Business & Life by Steven Bartlett - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-second-book-by-steven-bartlett-keep-it-to-yourself-steven-bartlett/7257436?ean=9781529146523&next=t
Engager - https://engager.app/
Microsoft Teams - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software
James Ashford - https://jamesashford.com/