The story behind Journeys By Design’s sustainable growth

From dashboards to donations: the financial management tools driving their success

Born from a deep connection to Africa and its wildlife, Journeys by Design was founded in 1999 by Will Jones, a trained environmental scientist who had spent years working as a wildlife guide across the continent.

"My parents came out to Africa in the late 60s, and I was raised in six different African countries," says Will. "So I've basically been raised on the road in Africa."

His passion for conservation and belief in the transformative power of tourism were the foundations of the business. "I started Journeys by Design in 1999 as a vehicle for adventure and as a method for raising funds for conservation programs on the African continent," he explains.

"I didn’t want to put a suit on and go into town, so I started a travel company instead. It really just played into my passion around wildlife, adventure and travel."

The company has since grown from Will working alone to a multi-national team across three countries. As Managing Director Paul Herbertson explains, "It’s grown from Will as a one-man band through to now, a team spread across three countries: two in Africa and one in the UK."

What Journeys by Design is striving to achieve

Journeys by Design's mission is to harness tourism as a tool for positive disruption — improving lives, protecting ecosystems, and reshaping perceptions of African travel. They embed social responsibility into every journey it creates. 

“As someone that comes from Africa, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a company that’s willing to work in partnership with local companies to promote African businesses," says Finance Controller Sandiso Sibanda.

That ethos of balancing commercial success with social good is not just aspirational. It’s operational. “We explored lots of different ways of generating revenue," says Will. "We’re able to pay at the generous end of salaries and still be profitable."

According to the company, their philanthropic arm contributes a percentage of turnover to community and conservation projects from tree planting in Tanzania to mobile libraries and women's training programmes. "Taking, giving, feels slightly counterintuitive, but it's an effective way of building a business," says Will. "We've proven we can do good and still be profitable."

Laying the foundations for growth

As the company scaled from a founder-led start-up into a globally respected team across three countries, operational complexity followed.

"We were looking for better management information," says Paul. "We needed the right data, quickly, not just for ourselves, but so the board and team could see where we stood."

At board level, the live dashboards and management reports gave directors real-time snapshots of business health. "Having relatively live data and the ability to pull that off easily has allowed us to really monitor all the elements of the business we need to," Paul continues.

Sandiso adds, "We’re not just reporting this financial year. QuickBooks helps us scope out two or three years ahead so directors can make quicker decisions about where to focus — whether it’s marketing, sales, or new ventures."

"Typically, we're looking at three years at any one time — part of the previous year, the current year, and the next," he explains. "That visibility helps us plan for the future and gives us confidence to invest in our team."

By connecting bank accounts and credit cards directly to QuickBooks, the team simplified their reconciliations and gained real-time visibility over spending.

"The good thing about QuickBooks is that your bank and your credit card can sync in," says Sandiso, "and if people upload their receipts, it makes life easier for processing and reconciling."

How QuickBooks Advanced is making it possible

“With growth came complexity. The finance team needed tools to support faster, smarter reporting — and reduce manual overhead.

But QuickBooks Advanced offered more — like Spreadsheet syncing and simplified budgeting. You can download a template, fill it in, and upload it directly into the system.”

Sandiso explains how this has improved the flow of financial reporting: “We use spreadsheet sync a lot. Our reporting template is laid out so anyone — even a junior team member — can just refresh it and run reports the rest of the team understands.”

The automation has also helped save time. “With QuickBooks, we can just press a button to refresh our reports. It’s much faster than exporting and remapping data manually. That efficiency has really helped,” he says.

Managing expenses seems easier, too. “We use it for staff expenses and credit card reconciliations. If people upload their receipts, it simplifies the processing,” Sandiso adds. “Your bank and your credit card can sync in, and you have that information in real time.”

Even collaboration with external accountants is streamlined. “They have access to the system and can download what they need,” says Sandiso. “We’ve been able to close two financial years quickly and ahead of target.”

Building for the future

At Journeys by Design, growth isn’t just about revenue — according to Sandiso, it’s about building a resilient business that can reinvest in people, planet, and purpose.

"Within the current year, we’ve got budgets built into QuickBooks, alongside actual performance, so we can get a clear sense of how we’re tracking," says Sandiso. "It helps the board plan things like bonuses and other investments."

One of those investments is their charitable commitment to 1% for the Planet. "We try and make sure the elements we do for 1% for the Planet are factored in," Sandiso says. "QuickBooks helps us see where we’re likely going to be and that visibility lets us start investing early in those donations."

"We've got a five-year plan as a business," Paul adds. "And being able to run projections across multiple years in QuickBooks gives us a real-time view of how we're tracking against it."

That clearly gives the company the confidence to commit. "It gives us that runway," says Paul. "A foundation to grow in a sustainable way, and to make sure everyone feels part of that journey."

Why QuickBooks?

As a new user to QuickBooks, Sandiso shared the smooth onboarding experience. "When I started, I didn’t use QuickBooks before, so it was good training for me to have a support system I could call when I had a query. The response has been really good, and the support is instantaneous whether via chat or by phone."

That sense of partnership extends to ongoing product improvements. "I've made suggestions and I've seen some of them being rolled forward. It's nice to see that the new invoice functionality is more fluid."

If QuickBooks were a tool? "It might be a multi-purpose tool, like a Swiss Army knife," laughs Sandiso.

Will agrees: "Yes, a Swiss Army knife. It just helps with everything."

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