Two's company

UNDER THE RADAR: Sonia McEntee,  Astons

LAWYER AND tax expert Sonia McEntee believes some people are cut out to work in large organisations, while others are predisposed to work for themselves – and she’s firmly in the latter category.

“My parents were self-employed,” McEntee (35) recalls. “They ran a little mushroom-growing business in Cavan. And, ironically, one of my abiding memories is of them giving out about tax consultants, accountants and solicitors . . . So when I decided to go into law, I thought of it as a service. I wanted to provide a service which would have at its core an understanding of business, and which would allow me to work with clients to help them make their companies more effective.”

Yet, when it came to it, McEntee set up her own business, McEntee Solicitors, more by accident than by design – going in the opposite direction after qualifying as a solicitor and joining the tax department of Ernst Young.

“It took a little while, but in 2004 I saw the opportunity. The property boom was well under way and there was a huge volume of conveyancing being done. That appealed to me as a starting point because it’s done on a per-job basis; you get paid as soon as you close on a transaction, and so you don’t have to carry big expenses or manage big works-in-progress.

“But even so, when I started McEntee Solicitors, it was also my intention to use my specialist tax background to move from residential into commercial property and to combine that with tax-structuring advice.”

The way in which McEntee made that move had all the innovative aplomb of a fully fledged entrepreneur, and has left her wearing two separate hats: one as the founder and principal of McEntee Solicitors; and the other as managing director of consultancy firm Astons.

“That also happened a bit by accident,” she smiles, “though it fitted well with the direction I’d been hoping to take . . . I learned that Astons was looking for someone with significant tax experience. I was at the point where I was still working alone but was very busy and needed the back-up support of an office. Also, I hadn’t had the breathing space I’d hoped for to develop the commercial property and tax advice aspect of the practice.

“So I joined Astons on a part-time basis as an associate director, providing tax advice to clients. Part of the deal was that Astons would provide McEntee Solicitors with serviced office facilities, such as someone to answer the phone, do the typing, and some junior staff, so that it could continue to function as a conveyancing practice.”

McEntee became managing director of Astons in January 2008. Astons and McEntee Solicitors continue to work together harmoniously, though the legal practice’s emphasis on conveyancing has been hit by the collapse in the property market.

The most successful year for McEntee Solicitors was 2007. “There was still a lot of momentum in the property market. For that reason the slowdown wouldn’t have been apparent in conveyancing practices until early 2008, when things slowed fairly dramatically, reducing almost to a trickle by September.”

But interestingly, McEntee adds, “there is some activity again at the moment”.

By contrast, 2008 was Astons’s most successful year to date. “It’s still very strong, particularly in areas such as investment structuring, business restructuring and personal taxation.”

Can McEntee continue to drive both businesses? “At the moment, the balance is very much in favour of Astons. I suppose I’m reaching the point where I’ll have to take a decision about McEntee Solicitors, though happily there’s no urgency about that,” she says.

“The priority these days is having a proper work-life balance. At one stage I was working 70 to 80 hours a week. I don’t do that any more, and I don’t work weekends any more either. I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s a lot in the saying: work to live, don’t live to work.”

ON THE RECORD

Name:Sonia McEntee

Company:Astons www.astonswealth.ie

Job: managing director

Age: 35

Background:Graduated from UCD with a BCL in 1994, followed by a Master of Laws (European Law). Qualified as a solicitor in 1998 and joined the taxation department of Ernst Young. Set up McEntee Solicitors in 2004. Joined Astons, which has offices in Cork and Dublin, as an associate director on a part- time basis in 2006, and was appointed managing director in 2008.

Challenges: "Although Astons and McEntee Solicitors don't overlap in terms of the services they offer, they are very similar businesses. At the moment, the balance is in favour of Astons, so I'd say my greatest challenge is keeping McEntee Solicitors on track."

Inspired by:Her parents, who are now retired from their business as mushroom growers in Co Cavan. "I was inspired by their willingness not just to provide a service to their customers, but to provide the best service possible . . . In terms of business people, I'd say Seán Quinn, Gillian Bowler and, love him or hate him, Michael O'Leary."

Most important thing learned so far:Having a good work-life balance. "If you don't have that, it alienates you from friends and family and you're stressed and in bad humour all the time."