Innovation

Many people depict accountants as money-hungry individuals who rarely have their client’s best interest at heart. Illumin8 is different. Illumin8 is a boutique accounting firm that provide accounting & tax services that encourage their clients to get out of bed every day and devote their time to what they value most.

My chat with Director and Founder of the company, Andrew, was an insightful journey through the business as he explained to me that the organisation fulfils him both: emotionally - through giving back to his clients and the community where he can, and financially - with his once small business growing more every day.

While successfully running his accounting firm based on the Mornington Peninsula, as opposed to the mainstream city based financial firm, Andrew is also co-founder of, Big Little Brush. This social enterprise sells sustainable bamboo toothbrushes and use 100% of the profits to help fund health and hygiene education and projects in developing communities. Additionally, Illumin8 have a uniquely innovative business model in a number of diverse ways throughout their company:

• Technological: Illumin8 aims to automate as much as they can, the business uses innovative solutions for their clients to create freedom by fostering growth. Illumin8 cares for their customers and want to help them work smarter – not harder.
• Relationships: A transparent accounting firm that is honest with their clients and the community. Illumin8 do not charge hourly rates for their services, their value proposition is based on what the client believes the service is worth.
• Socially: as well as operating social enterprise, Big Little Brush, illumin8 also donates to not-for-profit organisation ‘Fusion’ – a community organisation who have an ongoing commitment to developing resilience in individual lives.

Director of accounting firm illumin8, and co-founder of a social responsible business, Andrew is an extremely busy man who combines his large heart to do good with his motivation to strive in the business world. Andrew believes that all individuals ‘are not defined by what they’re going through, but how they’ve gone through it.’

Inspiration

Illumin8 wants people to ‘get out of bed every morning and devote their time to what they love most,’ their mission as a business is to help people achieve this personal and unique statement. Director, Andrew’s, inspiration behind endorsing an aphorism like this through Illumin8 originated with his desire to be different, the urge to be challenged and continually questioning ‘why’ in previous conventional business settings. As an individual Andrew genuinely cares about what others around him are trying to achieve, therefore he operates his business, Illumin8, with these principles embedded throughout their range of services. Although this is an advantage from a business perspective, as it is a unique selling point for an accounting business to truly care for their client’s personal desires in life, Andrew never wants to feel like he is merely charging a client – he wants to ‘come out with an experience, and enjoy the experience.’

Overall impact

The distinctive and exceptional operation style of Illumin8 directly impacts a range of internal and external area’s of the business, this includes:

• Recruitment: people who work for illumin8 are encouraged to feel comfortable to be who they are; diversity is welcome within this contemporary business. Andrew hires individuals who are interesting and add value, he believes that small, agile firms such as Illumin8 can make a large difference to the corporate stereotype.
• Community: their ability ‘to give back.’ Another initiative that Illumin8 partake in is donating one afternoon a week to one of their clients, assisting them with non-accounting related tasks. Whether it is helping them on their shop floor or serving coffees with their clients for their customers, this shows the client that illumin8 truly care about them as an individual while they get to learn about their businesses.

However, the biggest impact is that illumin8 is continually educating other businesses on the Peninsula. Illumin8 have many supporters nowadays, people want to be a part of the community of this contemporary business and support the culture that they have created. Illumin8 is innovative in the Australian marketplace, they have made competitors in the industry question their techniques and challenged the stereotype by creating a deeper relationship with not just their clients, but the surrounding society.

Business benefit

The main benefit from a selling stand point, is that illumin8 draws clients in because of their distinctive business offering and their thoughtful values/standards. The once niche business is rapidly expanding: from attracting clients to pay illumin8 for their commendable service offerings, to drawing graduates into working for illumin8 – as millennials WANT to work for a company they know aims to make a positive difference in the world.

Social and environmental benefit

Illumin8 is a large contributor towards positive environmental and ecological business choices. The organisation states that it is ‘paperless’ by using minimalistic hard copies by aiming to complete as much as possible through advanced and online resources. From using the smallest printer on the market to digitally signing documents to emailing each file to clients, illumin8 is attentive to their progressive contribution towards our planet.

Socially illumin8 is thoroughly invested in taking part in community events where applicable on the Peninsula, they believe in the ‘pursuit of a better way’ with the ambition of not just existing to generate money – but to be DIFFERENT within the industry and to make a DIFFERENCE within the local community.

Interview

Andrew Van De Beek, Director