Life and work with Steven Barr
We continue our conversations this month with Steven Barr. Steven has been a massive support to Kesero over the last year and it has been a real pleasure getting to know him.
Steven is an accountant and tax specialist and is offering 1 hour and 30 minutes of consultancy time for your number and tax-related questions.
Here Steven shares his motivations for setting up his own business, how he uses a tough experience to help others, and the tools he uses to look after his mental health.
Tell us about your work
I am Steven Barr and I started my business, Quest Tax Services, in June 2020 during the pandemic. The main service that Quest offers is assisting businesses who have been involved in creating a new product, process or application claim Research & Development tax relief from HMRC. We have helped a number of businesses in a number of different industries claim vital funds which can help to grow our clients’ businesses.
A typical week
I normally attend a few networking events throughout the week to help build the business brand, through networking the business has built up nicely which sees me spending more time on client work with no 2 days being the same.
The best part of my week
Being my own boss I love the freedom that this brings and having the flexibility to build my week as to what suits me/my clients best. The added bonus of having some free hours during the day means I can occasionally get out on the golf course.
My proudest moment is…
I wasn’t in a great place mentally when in employment and in November 2019 I first spoke to a doctor about my circumstances and how I’d been feeling. Since then I speak openly about my mental health and feel like I can help others through my experience. Having got through the first year of business without having a day of dreading opening my laptop, I can safely say it’s a very proud feeling and I’m very grateful for the support around me.
Skills I could offer
I can offer my accountancy skills and through starting my own business I feel like I’m well equipped as how to advise people going through the start-up phase in business.
Skills that would help me
From a business perspective I’m not great with my social media skills and content creation, having the access to people with these skills would be a great asset to me. Personally, my DIY skills could be worked upon as my girlfriend constantly reminds me.
Self-care for me is…
Self care is very important to me, I like to keep in reasonable physical shape but being in a better mental place in massively important. To help me with this I try to meditate a few times a week, complete a journal called, The Way of The Tortoise and listen to mindset podcasts to help with my self development. I couldn’t have told you what self development meant at the beginning of 2020 but it’s something that everyone should strive to impart as part of their lives.
Use your Kesero time to book Steven for sound accountancy advice.
