There is no shortage of advice and resources for wannabe entrepreneurs – but what about those who have had their first taste of success?

Warren Munson has devoted a book – and a new business – to helping them.

The business is called Evolve, while the book is Evolve to Succeed. Both grew out of his enthusiasm for working with entrepreneurs in his existing business, the Poole-based accountancy practice Inspire.

“Over the last five years, as we’ve grown and developed as a business, we’ve become more in tune with the niche market of ambitious, driven entrepreneurs,” he said.

That impulse led the company to run an annual conference, free to invited guests, and a series of entrepreneurial lunches and dinners.

Mr Munson said: “Eighteen months ago, the switch finally clicked that said that ability to inspire and motivate and drive these entrepreneurial individuals forward on a holistic basis was something that absolutely fired me up – and that what we had been doing with them was something we could develop into a national offer.”

His target market is entrepreneurs who have got a business off the ground.

“There’s intuitive growth where things happen because they’ve got the drive, ambition and focus. That all feels good,” he said.

But then comes the point where the entrepreneur starts to scale up. They could find themselves working too much, neglecting their health or personal life, or drawing money from the business to finance a more expensive lifestyle.

The book promotes a “holistic” approach to balancing all areas of the entrepreneur’s life.

Evolve, the business, is a membership community of ambitious business owners. Membership costs £25 a month plus VAT, with £1 of that going into a fund to help the entrepreneurial community.

Membership brings access to content such as podcasts, articles, white papers and online forums; events including forums, lunches, dinners and conferences; and a coaching and development programme delivered by partner businesses in the accountancy industry.

Mr Munson’s own career followed an undistinguished spell at Queen Elizabeth’s School in Wimborne, where he was more interested in football than exams.

“When I left school having done my CGSEs, there wasn’t much opportunity to do something with art. I got a job as a trainee accountant with a local firm in Wimborne in 1989,” he said. In the evenings and at weekends, he sold burglar alarms door-to-door.

He had a flare for numbers and went on to work for Grant Thornton for five years. “Grant Thornton is a great firm but I realised I wasn’t cut out for corporate life and working in a big partnership and always had this hankering to work with entrepreneurs and owner-managed businesses,” he said.

Inspire, launched in 2004, offered a “financial director on demand” service, for companies that didn’t have someone in that post but needed the service. In a year, it had five employees based at Longham.

“Those days where everything seemed to be going right. It was easy to be an intuitive leader because you had a small team all dedicated to achieving the same thing, going in the same direction,” he said.

But as the team grew to 45 people, difficulties arose.

“In all of our success in delivering for clients, we had lost our focus and what was really important to me. That was the point where I kind of pulled up the stumps and said ‘enough’. I took my foot off the growth pedal and took the time to step back and reflect,” he said.

The company parted company with some “really great clients” as it contemplated a new mission. “I needed to come up with something that would resonate with our team, that the team could believe in. That was essentially to enable ambitious and driven entrepreneurs to succeed. Our spirit is what defines us and what our beliefs are, the processes that we follow,” said Mr Munson.

“If you chase the money, the money never comes. Instead focus on growing a great business that delivers what its customers want and success will come.

“We scaled down to about 30 in 2014 and have grown since. Every single one of them needs to know what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and the direction we’re going in.

“The thing that’s kept us that focused is we really understand what we’re about and what we’re doing and where we’re going and never losing sight of that again.”

The company dealt with successful businesses such as iSupply and C4L and handled the management buyout out Aish. Away from the office, Mr Munson chairs the children’s hospice charity Julia’s House.

Developing Evolve, with its managing director Barry Kick, has been an education.

“I’ve bootstrapped Inspire to where it is today but for this one, we sought extra funding. I’ve often advised clients through that process but to go through it yourself, that’s exciting – and the level of responsibility that comes with it has been a very eye-opening experience,” he added.