We first met Vraicman in a pub
Which, let’s face it, is where you tend to meet people in Guernsey.
TCS were excited to meet a local superhero, and when owner Ben asked for some help with costings, we were only too happy to assist.
“I explained that I mostly know what I am doing,” says Ben, “and that I just needed some third-party overview rather than the fully managed solution I knew TCS were already providing to some of my acquaintances.”
Ben was planning to run his books himself using a set of Excel sheets he had put together using his existing accounting knowledge. “Without trying to push me into anything, Tim asked if he could briefly run me through Quickbooks Online as he believed it would benefit me and suit the way I run the business,” explains Ben. “The kicker for me was that QBO makes it really easy to run full transaction journals so I can be confident that what’s going on in the background is correct.”
Ben had a decent idea of what his chart of accounts should contain, and aside from a couple of tweaks that’s how it remains today. “The system we have in place now suits me well. A lot of my transactions, both inward and outward, are for immediate payment and recorded after the fact, and being able to easily upload receipts directly to Quickbooks is invaluable.”
As Guernsey Seaweed grows over the coming months and years, TCS has designed processes to ensure the scaling of the operation is smooth. Currently the company only sells a very small range of products, and Ben retains control over all production and distribution. But as that ramps up, new processes can be brought in at the right time to ensure no-one is ever playing catch-up.
“I still process 95% of all transactions myself,” says Ben, “but if I’m knee deep in kelp down at L’Eree at seven in the morning, or in the greenhouse racking and shredding, and I need to send out an invoice, I know a quick text to the team at TCS will mean it’s taken care of promptly.”
As news spread of the covid-19 pandemic
Vraicman was busy in his kitchen cooking up seaweed based sanitiser. “We partnered with Luke at Channel Islands Liquor Co,” says Ben, “to create a hand sanitiser made out of nothing but ethanol and seaweed. The house stank for weeks as we perfected the recipe.”
At the time, hand sanitiser was in short supply on the island, and Guernsey Seaweed were able to quickly adjust their business model to help ensure front-line workers were able to keep their hands clean.
“We initially distributed the product through the local emergency ambulance service to make sure it got to those that needed it most, such as paramedics and carehome staff,” explains Ben. “Later we decided, following States guidelines, to start a click-and-collect service.”
TCS were able to build and launch an online shopping site in a matter of hours to facilitate this.
“It was painless - we pretty much just sent TCS a few product images, told them the collection slots we wanted, and the site was ready to go a day later.”
To find out how TCS can help with agile adjustments when trading conditions change, get in touch