After a decades-long stint in the corporate realm, Russell Pope eventually called his ‘big company’ career quits to carve out his own path as a fractional finance director.
We sat down with Russell to discuss what brought him into the finance industry, how his previous experiences have helped define his current approach, and what the future holds for Dartcell.
When you finished school, did you set out to work in finance?
Absolutely not. I studied Zoology at university because I didn’t know what else I wanted to do, and it was a subject I was interested in. I’ve always been more of a ‘numbers’ person than a ‘words’ person, so after going around the houses a bit, I came to the conclusion that studying finance would be a good basis for a career.
How did you cut your teeth in the finance space?
I applied for a position at a ‘big 4’ company and, with a bit of convincing, they let me defer the role for a year and travel around the world, which I’m grateful for. When I eventually came back and picked up where I’d left off, I completed my training alongside my work and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1991.
From there, I had what you might call a lucky break. I was asked by one of the partners in my firm to help him deal with the collapse of a UK bank (which was happening under the radar). I suddenly became exposed to a brilliant network, and I learned so much from the year and a half I spent under my mentor’s wing.
Next, I was invited to help set up a turnaround and restructuring group at Arthur Andersen, my then employer. We worked on behalf of the debtors, the Boards of Directors of Companies, not the creditors, usually the banks to whom the companies owed their debts. I spent the best part of 10 years hands on in very complex turnaround situations with some huge brands, using my financial and operational skills to try to get better results for the stakeholders in these massive organisations. Still in my 20s when I started, I was very young to be in this position, and it was a big learning curve for me.
What happened next?
I decided to leave Arthur Andersen in 2001. By this point, I had had enough of pulling extremely long days. It was a stressful role, and, unlike some of my peers, the pressure of having to make hard decisions that affected the homes and livelihoods of the employees who were in my care was taking its toll.
So, I started working for smaller organisations, becoming involved with more owner-managed businesses. Working at executive level and often as a director, I helped these entrepreneurs grow their companies, raise finance, and eventually sell. I was often the person to step in and help turn things around for them when they were in financial trouble. I embarked on some very varied roles over the next few years and continued to work on assignments with businesses in a wide range of sectors, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
When and how did you establish Dartcell?
As I got older, I realised that I had something of an entrepreneurial streak. The idea of working for myself appealed to me. I was keen to work with people who shared the same values as I did and avoid people from the corporate world who weren’t a good fit for me anymore.
I set up a private equity business but had to take a step back from this when one of my children became seriously ill. This unfortunate but important series of events changed the course for me, and I decided to rebrand myself as an outsourced finance director who could work for companies on a fractional or ad hoc basis. Before launching Dartcell, I did a lot of research into what the market needed from me, and I was confident that I could offer a service that stood up against what was on offer from the bigger players.
Finance people aren’t typically brilliant at sales and marketing, and this could have been a real obstacle for me. However, having been an interim Sales Director in a previous role, I wasn’t daunted by this prospect and developed a successful formula to start raising awareness of my new brand – especially once I had enlisted the help of some marketing professionals. I plugged away on the business development front, and quickly started generating more leads than I could handle, which meant I had to start looking around for like-minded, experienced FDs to join my venture. I didn’t ever expect to manage a group of finance directors as well as service my own clients, but I do like being able to bounce ideas off people and being part of a team environment again.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Much of the time, you’ll find me at my screen, poring through the figures and producing reports for my clients. I’d say that around 70% of my time is spent on managing my own accounts, and the rest of the time I’m either checking in with my FDs and their clients, or focusing on managing and growing Dartcell, which involves all the usual admin that comes with running a business.
I’m very hands on with my clients and I will always take the time to thoroughly understand their business before we agree on a mutually beneficial way forward. It’s vital that every client is a good fit for us and vice versa – so I will spend a lot of time in the discovery phase, scoping out the nature of the work and building those relationships. I also like to book in face-to-face meetings with my clients wherever possible; I aim to attend at least 10 board meetings with each company every year.
What’s been your biggest lesson so far?
I certainly now understand the importance of consistent marketing, even when things appear to be going well! Having a strong pipeline is imperative, and the only way I can achieve this is by staying active and keeping my brand’s visibility high.
Perhaps the biggest lesson for me, though, is learning to say no to partnerships that just don’t work for me. I’m very conscious that I don’t want to end up working full-time for any one organisation, because I like variety in my role. So, when clients ask me to join full time, as happens from time to time, I’ll reassess the situation to see if I can meet their needs in another way, perhaps by backfilling roles and helping them create a more developed team that will be designed to benefit them in the long term.
What motivates you to keep growing Dartcell?
Obviously, I love being able to make a significant difference to a business in a short space of time – and I get a real kick out of our clients quickly realising that fact. Once we get to work, the sudden realisation of what they have been missing has been described to me as a “veil being lifted from their eyes”! We were recently told by one of our long-standing clients that instructing Dartcell was the best business decision he’s ever made, and without wishing to sound complacent, this type of testimonial is not uncommon. It is extremely satisfying! My aim is to keep bringing our services to a wider market so we can keep getting fantastic testimonials like this.