Have you ever been asked a question that seemed easy, but was surprisingly difficult to answer? Back in 2021, it happened to me. The question my business coach asked was “Why?” and that’s taken me on an interesting journey.
The point my coach was making was that very few companies are clear why they do what they do. Large corporations spend fortunes with consultants to get this right, but it rarely sticks. For smaller businesses, the question might seem daft. If I’m selling widgets to support my family, isn’t that clear enough?
I learnt that we should all take time to consider why we’re investing our efforts in the first place. It’s the why that inspires us, gives us energy and keeps us going when things get tough. We decided to put this to the test, and see how answering why would change things for Merlin.
The story really begins seven years ago, away from the workplace. I was healthy and enjoyed a good, balanced diet, with plenty of wholegrains. But I was a bit overweight. I was told I had hypertension, or high blood pressure, while still in my mid-30s. My GP prescribed medication but that was it. I didn’t understand the causes, or know if there was anything else I could do.
But some months later I came across a cookbook that changed my life. In his Dopamine Diet, I read how Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge lost eleven stone over three years. Like so many diet books, it made some big promises. His idea was to build a low-carb regime around ingredients that can trigger dopamine, the ‘pleasure hormone’. Put simply, sticking to a diet is a lot easier if you get to eat delicious food.
So I started using his recipes, focusing on low carb and ‘real’, unprocessed ingredients. I noticed it working pretty quickly. The weight came off, yet I was never hungry. I was able to come off the medication.
Now more curious, I started to look at where my food came from. I did a deep dive on the science behind the low-carb approach, and followed those medical professionals who had come to similar conclusions on the health benefits. I began to understand how to make the most nutritious choices when shopping.
I also got interested in how some farmers are transforming the way they produce food – to heal the soil, benefit our health and meet the needs of local communities. In turn, this links to the restoration of wildlife habitats and more biodiversity. The regenerative farming movement has now really gained momentum, as you can see with films such as Six Inches of Soil and Kiss the Ground. I believe that regenerating the world’s soils would address our climate issues, restore ecosystems and improve food supply.
Thinking about my coach’s questions, I wondered if I could bring my personal journey into how we did things as Merlin. How could I help these ideas about health and wellbeing go even further into our community?
We decided that whenever we completed a set of accounts, did some tax planning or took on a new client, we would also make a donation to charity. We chose three things that we’re passionate about – and found a charity to match:
- To fund better education around good diet, we chose the Public Health Collaboration.
- To support regenerative agriculture, we chose the Sustainable Food Trust. They focus on strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil, improving the water cycle and resilience to climate change.
- To encourage biodiversity and healthy wildlife habits, we chose Devon Wildlife Trust, and now support Rewilding Britain.
I’ve just checked and we’ve just hit £4,000 of donations made since we started doing this. Originally we were going to do it based on work done, but it was too tricky to set that up. So we contribute on an ad-hoc basis to keep things simple.
We also had the option to give a certain amount or a percentage of profits each month. We decided against this, as it would have meant setting up a Corporate Partnership Agreement. If you’d like to know more about how all this works, I’d be very happy to share my experiences.
Now our working day isn’t just about juggling the numbers and staying on the right side of the taxman. Our efforts have some extra benefits for these good causes, and our clients can see this too. It links what we do to our why, in a way that wasn’t always the case.
How Merlin can help
To find out more about how we can help your business, please contact us. Our clients say that it’s useful to have a numerate friend prodding their thinking, especially one who understands the issues. If you’re not already a client, please get in touch here. You’ll find us a good fit if you’re looking for an accountant as an investment – rather than just a cost.
