We all have a responsibility towards the health of the planet. While advisors may not be the chief culprits behind the drivers of climate change, James Lizars, CEO at Thrive Accountants says that his industry has an important role to play:
“I’m a parent, I’ve got eyes and ears, I can see what’s going on with climate change. I want to be able to look my kids in the eyes when they’re older and be able to say that I’ve tried, I’ve done what I can.”
Thrive Accountants is a 10 year old company that specialises in providing a full finance function service to early stage tech businesses. Thrive became B Corp certified in 2021, pledging 20 percent of profits to good causes:
“I took this crazy step in 2021 to not only commit to plant a million trees by 2030, but also to bring two businesses along to make the same pledge. So far we have one and are looking for the second.”
On the environmental front, James has a clear goal and a pathway to achieving it. With funding for his clients Thrive has a similar approach: they are partnered with Swoop for Advisors. James explains:
“Five years ago, funding was not central to what we did, not least because tech startups are not usually that lendable, so it wasn’t really a big feature of what our clients needed. Banks have always been a bit of a struggle to work with and we had looked at non-traditional alternatives to close the gap.”
There were also ethical issues with some funding options pushing products with high commissions rather than those that were in the best interests of the customer. During the pandemic, clients’ need for finance became more acute – and that was when James found Swoop:
“Swoop was a breath of fresh air. Straight away, I felt there was a values alignment which I always feel with anyone I deal with: always solutions focused, trying to get the best outcome for the client. And sure, there may be commissions involved in that, but I never get the feeling that the wrong thing is being pushed.”
Swoop’s focus on solutions means that many of Thrive’s early-stage businesses have been given support with grants and equity, taking them to the next level of growth and profitability.
For James, the reasons for working with Swoop are clear: they make his life easier and his clients happier:
“At the end of the day, we have happy clients that have had their problem solved and that’s what we’re here for. It feels lovely to just hand that stuff over so that I can get on with what I actually come to work for in the morning, knowing that the client has been given a solution and I haven’t had to go out there and find it for them.”
Here’s to a partnership that’s sustainable in every sense!
Watch the full case study on our Youtube Channel here.
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