Chris Maslin and feature writer Fiona Scott have worked together for over a year and there’s one thing she has learned about him; This quiet, unassuming man is acutely business savvy and very caring. Based in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, Chris exited his accountancy business, Maslins, through an employee-owned trust. He wanted to ensure the future of his first business and to honour his valued staff. The experience led him to set up his new business – Go EO through which he offers Employee Owned Trust transfer support. Here’ Fiona shares her recent interview with Chris with SME Today readers.
When you were a child what did you dream you might be when you grew up?
The stereotypical answers. As a young child, a footballer, though I was never good at any sports. As an early teenager, a rock star, though I could never sing or play an instrument.
In my mid-late teens, I dabbled in business. Amongst other things, I built PCs for a few friends and bought writeable CDs in bulk to re-sell to fellow students. I earned very little from these but learned a lot!
I’ve always stayed local (apart from working in London for a while early on in my career) and now live about half a mile from where I was brought up.
As you got older, when did you think ‘I want to be an accountant’?
My father was a salesman, my mother an accountant. If we assume I inherited a bit from each, it seems a good combination for running a company! However, neither of my parents ever ran their own business.
I certainly wasn’t brought up in an entrepreneurial household. Probably like most middle-class folk in my generation, I was strongly encouraged to go to university and become a professional of some kind. But I imagine also like most folk in my generation, I never had a strong indication of what I wanted to do further down the line.
Tell us about your early career?
I had a lovely retail job where I worked weekends and occasional evenings around school, then in holidays around university. In my final year of university, I was very naïve and/or arrogant! I figured I was about to be a graduate, so would be able to walk into whatever job I wanted.
I applied for two of the best graduate jobs around, sat back and awaited two offers. To my surprise I didn’t even get a first stage interview.
Over the months that followed, my opinion of myself took a well-deserved hit, as I sent out more and more job applications, with negative responses. I ended up having an unintended gap year, with stints on the dole, various short term temp jobs, then a good few months in a call centre. I kept applying for other roles, and eventually secured a trainee position in an accounting firm.
When did you decide to start your own business?
I enjoyed my time with that accounting firm, though I’m unsure how many of my managers enjoyed working with me! I was fairly bright and hard-working, but I’d also be the one challenging how we did things. Asking ‘but why?’ a lot.
I’d normally get the response ‘cos that’s how we do it’ which I found very frustrating. Perhaps this shows why I was destined to be my own boss. I stayed in the employed accounting and tax world for five years (the minimum to get qualified to get a practising certificate), before setting out on my own by creating Maslins.
How was it in the first few years?
The first year was extremely tough. It was another time in my life where my ego took a battering.
I wasn’t a gifted salesman, didn’t really know what I was selling, had no marketing or anything to make me different or special.
With hindsight it’s no wonder I struggled. However, over time, I picked up some bits and pieces of work with local small businesses.
My second year in business was when it all started to take shape. Cloud computing was taking off. Little known Scottish start-up invoicing/bookkeeping app FreeAgent was gaining a small following. I teamed up with them, and all of a sudden, I had a specialty. People started finding and contacting me, wanting to become clients.
What did success mean to you within Maslins?
Some of the happiest times for me were around 2016-17. I wasn’t making that much money, but every month we’d invoice more than the month before. Occasionally when I was on top of my own work, I’d look around the office and smile. I’d see half a dozen happy employees at various levels, working together, getting things done.
Things continued to grow, profits increased, but so did stress levels, and my enjoyment decreased.
So it depends how you define success. I’m certainly a believer that in business the journey is more important than the destination.
At what point did you decide to leave?
It was probably late in 2019 when I started to seriously consider my options. Continued growth with me at the helm didn’t appeal.
The staff were great and doing the majority of the work, but at the end of the day I was still responsible for it.
At its worst, running a successful business can feel like being in a well paid job you hate, but can’t quit.
Why EOTs – how did this become important to you?
Maslins was modestly successful, growing from scratch to a dozen staff and over £1million turnover. I work best in startups, and didn’t feel I was the right person to push the business forward.
After considering a few options, an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) seemed the best choice for all concerned. I believe there are many similar founders who have built a small, stable business, and an EOT could be a great option for their situations too.
What’s your relationship with Maslins now?
Brilliant. I admit there was a ropey time, perhaps 6-18 months post EOT sale. For the first few months, it’s the honeymoon period. It’s new, everyone’s excited about it and optimistic.
Once that fades, there were a few squabbles. We hadn’t done a great job of deciding who was going to be responsible for what (my fault).
Plus this was during the height of Covid, so there was limited scope for face to face discussions.
It was a tough time, and a few of our leadership team moved on, albeit for very different reasons. A couple of years on from that, the company’s going better than ever. I’m more relaxed, and coincidentally one of two people who left will shortly be returning (as the grass isn’t always greener on the other side!).
What prompted you to create Go EO?
I’ve got no shame in saying we’re the cheapest provider – I could see a way to ‘exit’ a business via this route for less cost. This is currently our main differentiator.
I can hear all the business gurus yelling ‘that’s a terrible business model!’
My focus is on making the complicated, multi-step process, as streamlined as possible. I created this business based on my own personal experience of a process which, I believe, can be needlessly complex and expensive.
There is a cost yet it does not have to be over £20,000 to take this ‘exit’ option. Founders do need to understand it’s a hugely significant thing to do, and we make that very clear. But, this doesn’t mean it has to be expensive or difficult.
In what circumstances is an EOT a realistic and sensible option?
EOTs can be great for stable, profitable companies. The founder needs to understand and be at peace with the fact it won’t be ‘their’ company any more. They can still work there, potentially still lead it, but they will no longer have full control. More commonly founders sell to an EOT as part of a plan to step back – Cashing in on success to date, reducing their input and stress, giving the senior team more responsibility to drive the business forward. It typically won’t be a founder’s most financially lucrative exit option, but can still pay out a decent sum, typically tax free, whilst helping secure jobs as well as business legacy in the local community.
What’s in the pipeline for EOTs in 2025?
The Labour Government seems keen that EOTs are here to stay, and we expect it to be a continued growth area for many reasons. Firstly, it’s still relatively innovative, and not that well known. The more people who hear about it, the more people are attracted to it as an option.
Secondly, in the modern world of huge wealth divide, EOTs help fight against that. They ensure when companies are profitable, that all staff share in those profits. Finally, with capital gains tax rates increasing on other share sales, the tax differential of selling to an EOT as opposed to other possibilities will make it increasingly financially appealing. All these reasons mean we expect to be very busy in 2025 and beyond.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
I wouldn’t say I’m a workaholic…indeed some might say I’m lazy…but I do find myself thinking about work a lot. When you run your own business, it doesn’t always feel like work. It feels more like dreaming for a positive future. That aside, I’ve been married more than 15 years now, and we’ve got a 10 year old dog, so I’m busy.
Do you do anything for community or charity? If so why?
Largely due to my wife’s Christian background, we’ve done a lot for both charity and community over the last decade. Business has served us well, and neither of us have expensive tastes or any desire to ‘keep up with the Jones’. With our spare cash we’ve helped set up a homeless day centre, and more recently a community interest café that helps reduce food waste whilst also asking customers to pay whatever they feel able to (enabling the poorest to get a free meal). I’m also a trustee and treasurer of a cancer charity in my community.
What does success mean to you now?
Sounds cheesy, but making a positive difference to as many people’s lives as I can. It’s great being in a position where Go EO doesn’t need to generate any money for me personally. I’m very keen it that it washes its face financially, any spare cash it makes gets reinvested in new ways to help reach more people and benefit them more. It’s also lovely when Maslins makes profit share payments to staff. Whilst it won’t make any of them millionaires overnight, it’s a sizeable boost to their pay packet, making a huge difference in these tough times.
Do you have any dreams or wishes you still wish to fulfil?
Plenty! I’m still ‘only’ 42, with plenty more gas in the tank. Everything I’ve done in business to date has been about trying to make complicated things easier and affordable for people. I imagine that will continue to be a focus of mine.
Life has a habit of becoming ever more complicated, and it takes a real deliberate stance to stop this happening.
I’m in the fortunate position financially that I could cut back significantly on any stressful work-related things whenever I wanted to. I appreciate many aren’t so fortunate.
What are your top tips for anyone thinking of starting a business in 2025?
- Find a niche. I was told this before I started, but of course I knew better so ignored it. The truth is, if you try to appeal to everybody, you’ll appeal to nobody. I ended up falling into the niche of FreeAgent using freelancers/contractors, and business blossomed from there.
- Reliable recurring income is your friend. Sure, winning that big project may give the exciting ‘bust out the champagne’ moment, but it’s a hard slog constantly having to pitch for and win new projects. Far better if you can build a steady monthly income from lots of long-term clients.
- Focus on sales first. If nobody’s buying anything, you don’t have a business, irrespective of how good your systems or marketing or bookkeeping might be. Get some customers in as number one priority. Then worry about the other sides of running a business.
