Embarking on an entrepreneurial adventure when you have a great job and promising career path in front of you is no small feat. But Ricky Jessop, a dynamic entrepreneur and recently returned BlueRocker, did just that. In this article, we dive into Ricky's business adventures, tracing his steps from his initial stint at BlueRock, his five-year foray into entrepreneurship and remote work, and the recent merger of his advisory business into BlueRock and his return as a director.
Q: How did your BlueRock adventure begin?
A: I knew Peter Lalor through my local football club and had some other connections at BlueRock, so in 2013, I came across from another boutique firm as a supervisor. BlueRock was a lot smaller then and was signing on a lot of local hospitality groups who had heard about the efficiencies and productivity that Pete had built into his own businesses. I worked with these businesses initially and developed a broader advisory skill set.
Q: Despite your rapid growth and budding advisory skills, you decided to leave BlueRock. Why?
I’m quite entrepreneurial and I’d started getting involved with running my own businesses. Going out on my own seemed like the only way to have the freedom and flexibility to work on those ideas and grow those businesses. Despite 5 great years at BlueRock, one catalyst for leaving was probably the loss of my father to cancer. Initially it was just about getting away, which turned into a couple of years of travelling and working remotely.
Q: Tell us about your businesses?
The side hustles I was working on developed into a small hospitality group that I'm still a part of with five other people. We have four venues that are neighbourhood cocktail bars with a bit of an old-school edge. Think vinyl playing in the background, DJs, and 80s/90s aesthetic in buildings with a bit of soul. We’re in Thornbury, Brunswick East, Richmond and one recent addition in Busselton WA.
While I was being a bit of a nomad, I was also doing business advisory work and started Arthur Advisory. In late 2019, I was settling back in Melbourne and getting really involved with the venues , but then COVID hit so I had nothing else to do except grow the advisory business while the bars were closed. I also started doing a lot more work with eCommerce clients as that was booming during lockdowns, which led to becoming a CFO and shareholder in a number of other business opportunities, one which involved Adidas Combat Sports and their Australasia license.
Q: What has brought you back to BlueRock?
I've always worked pretty closely with BlueRock in the five years I was away. A lot of the clients I was looking after were utilising legal, finance, grants and incentives, and complex tax advisory services from BlueRock. So, I always felt that I was pretty close to the team and that's what's so good about BlueRock; you can always be within the ecosystem and community.
But now that my businesses are settling down and are under management, and we've set up systems and processes that allow me to take a step back and focus more on advisory work, it feels like the right time to come back and put my advisory skills to use in the best place.
Q: Did working at BlueRock give you the tools to succeed in business?
BlueRock definitely gave me the tools to be able to go out on my own and run my own business, to bring teams together to execute, and get the best out of people. I don’t believe I would have developed those skills if I had not have worked at BlueRock for all those years.
Q: Tell us a bit more about Arthur Advisory.
I'm in a fortunate position to have a lot of close friends and an inner circle network that have an entrepreneurial mindset. They’ve started and grown businesses and become quite successful. Stepping away from BlueRock was a lot easier because I had the support of these friends and close networks that valued my advisory and tax work.
Arthur Advisory was born out of the fact that my network was quite prominent in the eCommerce world and I also had experience and connections within the hospitality industry. We developed an expertise in those markets and grew organically from there year on year.
Q: Arthur Advisory merging with BlueRock seems like a natural fit. How did that unfold?
Coming out of COVID with the client lists that I'd built up, things became a lot harder to maintain due to resourcing issues and my time being pulled in different directions now that the economy was back open, this led me to hand over about 30% of my clients 18 months ago to BlueRock in the first stage of what would end up becoming a full merger.
Then 18 months later, it was basically the same process but for the remainder of my business. That first part went really well, was seamless for those clients and myself, who has been here before and understands the systems and the people around, and what they offer to clients.
Q: So Arthur Advisory clients are in good hands at BlueRock?
For sure. BlueRock breaks the mould of that legacy accounting firm. My clientele, which are largely in the 25 to 40 age bracket, are millennials that are pushing a common approach to growing their business and they want to work with someone that's on their level.
Awesome stuff. Thanks Ricky!
Well, there you have it. If you’re after expert business advisory services you know who to call. Get in touch with our accounting team today to start your BlueRock adventure.
