Being a Business Owner

Hosted by Alexis Charkiw

Business Entrepreneurship

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Episodes

102

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-GB

About the show

Nobody hands you a manual when you start a business. That's why I created this podcast, the closest thing to one I could build. Hey, I'm Alexis Charkiw and I cover the stuff that actually keeps business owners up at night (money, strategy, AI, growth) and I promise to always explain it in plain English. You belong in this conversation, and I want you to feel that way every single episode.

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60 recent

August 18, 2026Episode 1517 min

Should Your Accountant Tell You When They Start Using AI?

Earlier this year, I emailed my clients to explain a new partnership between two platforms I use, Xero and Anthropic, the company behind an AI tool called Claude. I gave every client the choice to opt in, opt out, or have a chat if they weren't sure. Then someone questioned why I'd bothered, since accountants don't usually announce every software change. I'm always interested in other people's point of view so started thinking about their opinion and why I felt different when it comes to AI. I'm sharing: Why I chose to proactively tell clients about a new AI partnership, and gave them a real say in whether to use it. The pushback I got and why someone believed AI deserves no more transparency than any other software update. What actually makes AI fundamentally different from traditional software, in a way that affects your financial data. Why even the companies building AI can't fully explain how it reaches its answers. Why staying informed doesn't mean becoming an expert, it just means paying attention. Transparency isn't about being an AI expert. It's about giving people the choice to understand what's actually happening with their own information. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy Useful Links: AAT Bookkeeper Community Call Diary Of A CEO with Daniel Kokotajlo

August 11, 2026Episode 1411 min

The Opportunities You Almost Talk Yourself Out Of Are Usually The Ones That Grow Your Business The Most

Every big opportunity I've taken this year started the same way: nerves, doubt, and almost saying no. Saying yes to a speaking event outside my comfort zone led directly to becoming a fractional CFO for a growing tech company. Now I've said yes again, to exhibiting for the very first time, at The Business Show at ExCeL London this November, and the nerves are back. I'm sharing: The link between one nervous "yes" to speak at an event, and the completely new career chapter it opened up. Why I always visit an event as an attendee first, before I ever commit to being an exhibitor. Everything that goes into exhibiting long before the day itself: furniture, banners, talk length, budget, the lot. Why Blackline Academy and Right Click are exhibiting side by side at ExCeL, and what that actually means for anyone who visits the stand. Why I'm sharing all of this in real time, nerves included, rather than after it's already polished. Every big moment on socials is built on months of quiet prep that nobody sees, and I think that's worth showing every now and then. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy Useful Links: Business Show Live - Event

August 4, 2026Episode 1314 min

From Co-Founder To CFO: Why I've Said Yes To A Job I've Never Done Before

I've got an announcement, actually two! I'm handing the Blackline reins over to my co-founder Tom, and taking on a fractional CFO role I've never done before. Neither decision happened overnight. One is about knowing when to step back. The other is about knowing when to say "yes" to something that scares you a little. But this week I'm chatting about how I got to both. I'll be sharing more on: Why I believe Tom is ready to run Blackline without me, after everything he's grown into over the last year. What a fractional CFO role actually means, and why I said yes despite never having done the job formally. How I weighed up my family, my apprentice and my existing business before committing to anything new. Why I'll be under an NDA, and exactly what that does and doesn't mean for what I can share here. These are the moments that shape a founder's story just as much as the wins do! (Even when they take weeks of quiet thinking to get right.) Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy Useful Links: Check Out Tom Phillips MTD for Limited Companies MTD for Self Employed GOV - Making Tax Digital

July 28, 2026Episode 1215 min

You Can't Build The Business Without Building The Founder

Nobody warns you that growing your business also means growing yourself. After speaking to thousands of founders over the years, I've noticed the same thing holds almost every business back at some point: confidence. Not skill, not the market, not the support around them. Confidence. I'm sharing: Why founders don't have the structure employees do and what that does to your self-belief The moment I realised my mum, my very first employee, taught me more about letting go than anyone since My "rubber band" way of picturing why delegation feels so hard when it's genuinely your baby Why founders who've been burnt by a bad hire hesitate to try again and why that's worth naming Why I believe you can't separate the growth of your business from the growth of you as a person Because the business only grows as far as you're willing to grow with it. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy

July 21, 2026Episode 1111 min

I Nearly Pulled Out Of The Biggest Talk Of My Career

Three days before my biggest talk yet, I turned to my husband and said I couldn't do it. I'd said yes to speaking at the ICC in Newport, my biggest stage yet, and by the Wednesday before, I was ready to back out. This week's a bit different: a personal, unedited reflection on the anxiety, the doubt, and the prep that got me through it. I'm sharing: How I ended up speaking there in the first place and why I hadn't even applied The moment I found out I was filling a slot meant for someone I deeply admire and what that did to my head What anxiety actually feels like in my body and why I think that's worth talking about The conversation with my husband three days before, when I genuinely considered pulling out The unglamorous prep that got me on stage: from charging my clicker twice to sorting my outfit down to the underwear Because confidence isn't the absence of fear. It's doing the thing anyway, toes curling and all. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy Useful Links: Lucy Cohen Substack The CLEAR Way to AI-Ready Finance (Talk)

July 16, 2026Episode 1021 min

The CLEAR Way to AI-Ready Finance

I recently spoke on the biggest stage I've ever stood on. ICC Newport, a session on AI in finance, and I was terrified. This week's episode is a bit different. Instead of talking to you directly, I'm sharing some of what I said on that stage: the pain points I see in businesses every day, the framework I've built to fix them and why AI isn't going to save you if your finances are a mess first. I'm sharing: Why you need to be AI ready before you can be AI led, and what the "messy middle" actually looks like My CLEAR framework: Clean, Live, Enhanced, Accountable and Relevant data A real story about a business that hit £3.5 million in turnover, on paper, before its Frankensteined systems caught up with it What Shadow AI is and why your team might already be using it without telling you Why I don't think AI replaces the human in the loop, and what that means for accountants Because whether you're excited about AI or dreading it, the businesses that win won't be the ones with the flashiest tools. They'll be the ones who got their data right first. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy

July 9, 2026Episode 916 min

"What The Heck Is MTD?" And Why Every Self-Employed Business Owner Needs To Know

A friend of mine, who's self-employed and runs a few different businesses, text me last week and said, "Lex, I know you'll understand this stuff, but what the heck is MTD and where do I even start?" So that's exactly what we're talking about today! Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD for IT) is the biggest tax reform in 40 years, and if you're self-employed or a landlord, it's about to change how you report your finances to HMRC. The tax itself isn't changing. How and when you tell HMRC about it is. I'm sharing: What Making Tax Digital actually is, and why the name makes it sound way scarier than it is Who it affects (spoiler: if you run a limited company, this one's not for you) and the income thresholds that decide when you get pulled in The key deadlines coming up, including the first quarterly submission on 7th August, and why HMRC won't be issuing penalties in year one Why I'm calling this a "guinea pig year" and telling my own friend to treat it as practice, not pressure The practical homework to do right now, from sorting your Government Gateway login to figuring out how you actually like to learn Because whether you're dreading it or you've never heard of it until this episode, the more you understand now, the less overwhelming it'll be when it lands on your desk. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy Useful Links: GOV Making Tax Digital NatWest Accelerator Hub Cardiff Event Making Tax Digital for Self-Employed Individuals (Blog)

July 2, 2026Episode 813 min

You Don't Own Your Business Name Just Because It's On Companies House

I burst someone's bubble on a prospect call recently. And I felt terrible about it. They'd set up as a limited company specifically to protect their business name. It made complete sense to them. The only problem? Registering at Companies House doesn't actually protect your name at all. It's one of the most common misconceptions I come across, and it can leave your business completely exposed without you even realising it. In this episode I'm walking you through exactly what I told them, and what every business owner should know about actually protecting what they've built. I'll be talking more about: Why Companies House registration gives you far less protection than you think. What a trademark actually is, how to apply for one, and why it matters. Why shareholder agreements are so important, and why most people only find out when it's too late. Why grabbing your social media handles across every platform is one of the easiest things you can do right now. Why you should always hold the master login to your own software and systems. Because building a business takes everything you've got, and the last thing you want is to lose control of it over something that could have been sorted in an afternoon! Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy

June 25, 2026Episode 712 min

Not Every Business Relationship Is Built To Grow With You (And That's Okay)

Growth in business is exciting. But nobody really prepares you for what happens to the relationships around you when you start to level up. In this episode I'm getting honest about something I'm seeing play out more and more...the way your network, friendships and professional circles naturally shift as your business evolves. It's not dramatic, there's no falling out. It just happens. And it can feel really unsettling if you don't understand why. I'm sharing: Why outgrowing certain relationships in business is completely normal and nothing to feel guilty about How to handle those shifts with honesty and kindness rather than just quietly drifting Why the right group of people around you becomes more important the higher you grow What "every new level has a new devil" actually means in practice Why I'm fiercely protective of my own inner circle and what makes it work Because the people you surround yourself with in business aren't just nice to have. At every new level, they become everything. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy

June 18, 2026Episode 612 min

The Problem With Commission-Based Accountancy (And Why It Should Matter To You)

Someone waved a £50 note at me at AccountEx. So naturally, I stopped. What followed was a conversation that didn't sit right with me...and the more I thought about it, the more I realised why. In this episode I'm talking about commission-based services, why they make me uncomfortable, and the very real, very public case that explains exactly why that instinct exists. If you're a business owner who trusts a finance professional to act in your best interests then this is worth understanding. I'm sharing: What commission-based accountancy services actually mean in practice The Apostle Accounting case what happened, who got hurt, and why it still matters Why the people who were affected aren't the ones who should feel embarrassed What I look for when deciding who to recommend, refer, or work alongside Why trust isn't just a nice to have in finance, it's everything! Because knowing what questions to ask, and what red flags to look out for, could save your business from a very costly mistake. Let's Connect: Website LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Be sure to check out: Ways to work with me Right Click Accounting Blackline Academy Useful Links: BBC News - Apostle Accounting Case HMRC Enquiries, Investigations & Powers - Apostle Accounting Case