How did Klaar.me start?
A few years ago, I was sitting by the windy sea, watching kite surfers. My husband was one of those who fearlessly broke the waves and was enjoying the moment of freedom. And that was the moment when I felt it was the feeling that I want to experience on a daily basis. Having worked in previous years in the traditional and sometimes routine financial world, my excessive desire to control had become the dominant part of me, but I felt that it was not quite my nature. I realized that I could operate more freely in the accounting landscape, with the same enthusiasm and diligence as the surfers in the waves, and at that moment I decided that I would not continue the old way. I realized that I have a strong desire to provide accounting services in a different way.
How did my journey into the world of numbers begin?
The world of numbers fascinated me already as a little girl, and my merchant father has played a big role in this. The playground of my childhood was his automotive shop and my playmates were different goods, the systematic arrangement of them and the logic of numbers. I vividly remember the moments from my childhood when I helped my father to count the cash in the register and go shopping in Tallinn with him. As a little girl, those were the moments that made my eyes shine very brightly. I feel the same inner glow and fire today, when I can keep “playing” with numbers and processes in my daily work. I am still fascinated by the logic of numbers and systems and the big picture that emerges from that logic, which allows me better to bring an order in the financial world.
Discontent with what is happening in the market
I have never tolerated inefficiency and poor planning. These are the triggers for me. In my career as an auditor, accountant as well as a managing director and business developer, I have seen the financial side of companies from very different angles. These experiences have shaped my views on accounting and taught me what actually works and what does not.
One of the biggest problems that I noticed in my work was that business processes in companies were often very inefficient. It has been very common in accounting to do the bare minimum and focus on working hours rather than activities. In my experience, this is not an efficient way of working either for the company or the accountant. Frequently, when company executives employ an accountant they do so with unrealistic expectations, requiring that the accountant enters documentation, prepares tax returns, advises the financial director and has a big picture of the company’s financial position, and develops the accounting processes. In 99.9% of cases, this does not work. Most of the working time of an accountant is usually spent on performing routine work and solving ad hoc problems so that there is simply no time left for other activities, not to mention that the employee does not have the ability and experience to act as a financial manager or developer. Who will benefit from this situation?
I saw opportunities in drawbacks
Accounting services are provided by many professionals who are self-employed and work as freelancers. When I analysed their work in detail, I understood that this form of employment does not enable very strong specialists to develop the quality of their service, because they spend a lot of their time and energy on managing the company. I saw it as an opportunity and wanted to exploit it. I had a very strong vision of how I can help such self-employed accountants to take their service to the next level in a way that benefits everyone, both the customer and the service provider. This was the moment when the idea behind Klaar.me started to take shape. I realized that this is my opportunity to redefine accounting, such an important business process for companies. I had to find all these innovative accountants and customers and with their help develop and standardize accounting processes so that financial reporting becomes transparent for companies.
You cannot go far alone
All my life I had been someone who wanted to do everything herself. But I soon realized that I could not be a specialist in all areas and that I need the right people around me. In developing the new business model we needed another accountant who turned out to be Sigre from Pärnu. Fortunately our cooperation went super well. Together with Kairit and Kreete we started to build a system according to Sigre’s needs and also to add more and more people to our team. It started to work organically and we were attracting people and customers. So we saw that the system works. We developed the processes further until we realized that we have a base and was time to match the content with the appearance. So the Klaar.me brand was born.
For five years I and my team have been working on both the content and the form. Today I am extremely proud of the road that we have travelled together. My passion has found the perfect form for me. My job allows me to fulfil my dream – help others and make someone’s world simpler, more logical and more systematic – on a daily basis.
Liis Laanesaar, founder of Klaar.me
