Daniel and Rachel Wu have launched Success Elevation Coaching, a new advisory service aimed at helping family businesses gain clarity over their finances and develop long-term strategies.
The venture builds on their work with a Tax Assist franchise and is structured around Rachel’s book ‘Success Mindset, a 40-day diary’, which encourages business owners to engage confidently with their financial data.
Rachel Wu said: “We found out about 80 per cent of our clients don’t know if they are really making a profit or not because they are too scared to look at their numbers.
“We recently had a client who was due a refund from HMRC. I asked if he had received the money and he said ‘I have no idea. I don’t normally check my bank account because I am so scared’. That’s the time we have to say ‘why don’t we have a conversation, let’s sit down, have a chat, look into your business and see what is really happening and where we can support you’.”
Rachel has exited her bubble tea franchise operations to concentrate on developing the coaching programme.
Daniel said the service is designed to address issues before they become problems and to provide strategic guidance. “Success Elevation Coaching was born seeing the need of supporting clients not only with accounts filing, but also offering a holistic approach that encompasses tax planning, business consulting and strategies for growth and scaling,” he said.
Their time working as missionaries has influenced their emphasis on purpose and community impact.
“Research shows that once you get to around £60,000 a year, your life really does not change that much after that,” said Rachel. “Your happiness does not change much. It is not about money, it is about what you do with it, how you can impact and empower other lives.”
She described experiences in Uganda that shaped their ambitions to support infrastructure projects. “A lot of the kids there never go to school – they are getting up at 4am and carrying jerry cans of fresh water for two hours,” she said.
“You see something like that, and you start to wonder what is wrong with the world, what are you going to do about it? That is why we started our businesses in the first place – we plan to go back to these places and help to build new water pumps, new schools and homes.”
Daniel said his mother’s experience as a small business owner inspired his professional focus. “My mum came to the UK from Hong Kong, managed to open two takeaways and put all three kids through university.
“Part of the reason I became an accountant was so I could help other people like her and their families – what would my mum have been able to achieve if she had had someone like me to help her?
“People tend to do things on their own, but you don’t have to. We can help you go faster, we can tell you what the potholes are along the way because we have got that experience.”
Details of the programme can be found on the Success Elevation Coaching — Transform Your Mindset & Life.