11 May 2023
Let’s be honest: no business owner looks forward to a recession. However, they are part and parcel of the economic cycle, and learning how to weather them is a vital skill for any business owner.
A recession doesn’t have to spell disaster for your business. There are several steps that you can take to ensure that your business not only survives a recession but comes out the other side stronger than ever.
1. Be Adaptable
If the covid-19 pandemic taught us anything, it’s that the ability to pivot at a moment’s notice can prove invaluable.
While your business’ core values should remain steadfast, be willing to reassess your business model and offerings to ensure that they are still relevant.
For example, if you own a brick-and-mortar store, now might be the time to invest in an e-commerce platform. Or, if you offer services that can be easily delivered remotely, consider making the switch to a virtual model.
There’s no use burying your head in the sand. As times change, your business has to change with them.
2. Keep Your Overheads Low
During a recession, it’s more important than ever to keep your overheads low. However, this doesn’t mean skimping – it’s about ensuring that every penny you spend generates a worthwhile return. Frittering away money on unnecessary luxuries will only put you in a worse position when the recession hits.
Look for areas where you may be able to shave costs without compromising on quality. For example, could you source cheaper suppliers without sacrificing product quality? Are there any areas of your business where you can cut back on spending without affecting your bottom line?
Every little saving you make will help to shore up your business during leaner times.
3. Strategic Positioning
The way that you position your business in the market can make a big difference during a recession. As your competitors begin to lose their market share, you need to be ready to pounce and take advantage.
This means having a clear understanding of your target market and what they are looking for. It also means being strategic in the way you price your products and services.
For example, if your competitors are forced to cut prices in order to stay afloat, you may be able to increase your prices and attract customers who are not being heavily affected by the recession and thus looking for value.
Alternatively, you may choose to keep your prices the same and boost your marketing efforts to attract price-sensitive customers who really need a bargain right now.
4. Keep Your Employees Engaged
The last thing you need during a recession is your best employees leaving for greener pastures.
So, how do you keep your team motivated and engaged when everyone is feeling the pinch?
There are a few things you can do, including:
- Providing opportunities for development and career growth
- Encouraging a positive and proactive attitude
- Recognising and rewarding good work
- Keeping lines of communication
- Creating a supportive and collaborative culture
More than ever nowadays, employees want a positive work culture, flexibility and a healthy work-life balance. Demonstrating that you trust and value them goes a long way, particularly during a time when job security is uncertain.
5. Keep Your Customers Close
Finally, during a recession, it’s important to keep your customers close.
If you make them feel secure and valued, they are more likely to stick with you during difficult times. During a recession, the last thing you want is to be in a position where you have to invest heavily in customer acquisition because your existing customers are defecting to your competitors.
There are a few things you can do to keep your customers happy, including:
- Listening to their needs and concerns
- Being responsive to their inquiries and requests
- Delivering on your promises
- Offering additional value-adds or discounts
- Going above and beyond to exceed their expectations
In short, during a recession, your business needs to be focused on delivering exceptional customer service. If you can do that, you’ll weather the storm and come out the other side stronger than ever.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to cope with a recession is vital for any business owner because unfortunately, the economy can’t always be booming, as much as we’d like it to be. By preparing in advance and following these tips, you can ensure that your business not only survives a recession but comes out the other side thriving, so that you’re ready to embrace the boom when it comes around again.
Book a free consultation here, to learn how we can help you navigate these tough financial times.
10 Apr 2023
As a business owner, it’s vital that you keep on top of the latest industry trends, not just within your industry but in the world of small- and medium-sized business as a whole. After all, being aware of the latest trends can help you stay ahead of the competition, identify new opportunities, and ensure that your business is operating as efficiently and effectively as possible.
So, what are some of the most important small business trends that you need to be aware of right now?
1. The rise of the ‘gig economy’
One of the most important trends affecting small businesses right now is the rise of the so-called ‘gig economy’. This refers to the growing trend for businesses to use freelance or contract workers, rather than full-time employees, to get work done.
There are a number of reasons why this trend is on the rise. For businesses, it can be a more cost-effective way of getting work done, as they only have to pay for the work that is actually carried out. This helps them to build a leaner organisation with fewer HR requirements, saving time and energy as well as money.
2. Investing in Financial Advice
The current economic climate is one that is increasingly uncertain, which is why good financial management is more important than ever. If you don’t know how to manage your money well, the chances are that you’re wasting a good chunk of it.
One way to ensure that your business is making the most of its finances is to invest in financial advice. A good financial advisor can help you to understand where your money is going, where you could be making savings, and how to best invest your money for the future.
A financial advisor will also help you to understand how cost-effective your organisation currently is and enable you to get to grips with your numbers. From there, you’ll be able to make decisions to increase your profitability and overall financial health.
3. Short-form video content
Like it or not, short-form video content isn’t going anywhere. Apps like Tiktok and Instagram have popularised this format and, as a result, people’s attention spans are shorter than ever before.
If you want to reach your target audience, then you need to be creating content that is easy for them to consume. That means making videos that are short, punchy, and to the point.
4. The importance of data
Data is becoming increasingly important in the world of business. Having access to the right data can help you to make better decisions, understand your customers better, and improve your overall performance.
However, collecting and managing data can be a challenge, especially for small businesses. This is why many businesses are now turning to data management services, which can help you to collect, organise, and analyse your data more effectively.
5. Hybrid Work
In the wake of the pandemic, many workers are returning to the office – but they don’t want to do so every single day.
Working from home and in office each has its pros and cons, so the answer for many businesses is to find a happy medium with what’s known as a ‘hybrid model’. This involves a mix of office-based and remote working, giving employees the best of both worlds.
This approach also saves businesses money as they don’t need to provide office space for every single employee every single day. They can move to a smaller office and introduce hot-desking, or even take on a flexible contract with a co-working space, depending on the size of the business.
Final Thoughts
As always, there’s a lot happening in the world of small business. To stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to keep up with the latest trends and developments. By doing so, you’ll be able to adapt your business to the changing landscape and make the most of new opportunities.
Book a free consultation here, to discuss your needs and how we can help you manage your business finances, including small business trends.
5 Jan 2023
Times are tough right now. The cost of living and doing business is rising rapidly, there are labour shortages, and real incomes are falling, leaving consumers with less disposable income. All of this makes for a difficult economic environment in which to do business, but it’s not all doom and gloom. There are ways to weather the storm and come out the other side even stronger. Here are three key recession survival tips for small business owners.
#1 – Focus on Cash Reserves
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: cash is king.
No matter how well things are going, it’s always important to keep a very close eye on your cash reserves and cash flow. You could be turning a huge profit and still run out of cash, which could ultimately lead to your business folding.
During a recession, it’s even more important to focus on cash flow and make sure you have enough to weather any potential storms. Cash is fuel in your tank – without it, you can’t keep driving.
Having enough cash in the bank gives you the freedom to make strategic decisions, invest in your business, and weather any short-term storms.
Building up your cash reserves will also help you to stay sane, because you won’t go to bed every night worrying about running out of money.
Ideally, you should have enough to cover you for six months in a worst-case scenario – i.e., if all of your streams of revenue completely dry up.
#2 – Focus on Making Your Customers Happy
Happy customers equate to repeat business and referrals, both of which are fantastic news for your bottom line.
When times are tough, people are pickier with their money and they’ll be quick to take their business elsewhere if they’re not happy. This is why it’s so important to focus on making your customers happy.
You need to deliver an excellent experience from start to finish. Your customers should feel welcomed, valued, and listened to. If they’re not happy, you need to find out why and put things right.
Increase touch points with your customers, so you can build up a rapport and get feedback. This could be anything from regular check-ins to survey cards in packaging. It’s also important to let them know what’s going on with your business. If you’re making changes or facing challenges, they’ll appreciate the transparency.
#3 – Work Out What Generates the Most Profit – and Do More of That
This one seems obvious, but it’s often overlooked. In a recession, you need to focus on the areas of your business that generate the most profit, and double down on these.
A big part of knowing your numbers is knowing exactly what makes you money. If you’re not clear on this, it’s time to sit down with your accountant or financial advisor and identify your key profit drivers.
Once you know what these are, you can start to focus on them and do more of the things that make you more money.
Of course, you might have a product that’s selling really well but isn’t generating much profit. Alternatively, you might have a smaller product that doesn’t sell in big numbers but is highly profitable. In this case, you need to start pushing the latter to drive up profits.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you should stop selling your low-margin items if they’re popular enough to generate significant profit due to a high sales volume. But it does mean you should focus more on your high-margin items to really drive up profits.
Final Thoughts
Small businesses can survive and thrive in a recession by focusing on cash reserves, making customers happy, and knowing what generates the most profit. These three tips are essential for small business owners who want to make it through these tough times.
Book a free consultation here, to discuss your needs and learn how we can assist you.
3 Jan 2022
Setting goals for your business is an important step in making sure it thrives. While some people might think this is a simple task, it can be more complicated than you may think. This guide will walk you through the process of setting goals and provide tips on how to make them actionable, achievable and measurable.
Why Are Business Goals So Important?
Business goals and objectives are important and should be established for a number of reasons. If you don’t define what success looks like, the chances are that your business will never achieve it. You need goals to measure growth by comparing them from year to year or month to month. If you’re not seeing the results that coincide with your expectations, then it’s either time to adjust your goals or get to the bottom of why you cannot meet them. Goals are also important because it shows that you’re organized and have a plan in place, which is especially helpful when raising capital for growth. It lets potential investors know what milestones to expect throughout the process of investing into your business. Goals keep you and your team focused, and provide a clear benchmark against which to measure your success. Clear goals enable you to prioritise the most important tasks and focus on the things that matter most.
Step 1: Identify Key Areas Of Focus
First things first. What are the top areas you want to focus on in your business? Of course, this depends on your unique business and industry, but some examples to consider include:
● Improve customer service ● Reduce costs by 10% ● Grow sales volume by 20% ● Be the first mover in your industry with a new product or service offering ● Increase employee satisfaction to 75% ● Improve customer retention rate by 5% ● Reduce company debt and interest expense below a certain threshold, e.g. £40,000 ● Increase profit margin by 10% ● Reduce time required for product or service production by 12%
Step 2: Set SMART Goals
In order for your goals to be effective, you need them to meet a specific criteria. They must be SMART. This means:
● Specific – very clear and easy-to-understand. ● Measurable – determined by the numbers or data. ● Achievable – your goals must be realistic, or else you are simply setting yourself up for failure. ● Relevant – each goal should be pertinent and directly beneficial to your business. ● Time-bound – the deadlines must be clear and reasonable.
“Increasing profit margins” is not a good goal because it’s far too vague. However, “increasing our profits by 10% in the next 12 months by reducing costs and increasing efficiency” is an example of a SMART goal.
Step 3: Set a Timeline
Your goals need to have a timeframe. This is important because it helps you think about which resources are required, how much time your goals will take and what milestones must be reached along the way. For example, you won’t increase your profits by 10% overnight – it will happen in much smaller increments. Therefore, you should set milestones that will be reached along the way. For example, you might aim to increase profits by 4% by the end of Q1. Then, you can adjust your goals against real-time progress.
Step 4: Review Your Goals Regularly
It is crucial that you regularly review your goals to ensure they are still relevant and helpful. You may find that the market has changed, or that new opportunities have emerged based on customer feedback which would alter some of your original plans – this means it’s time for an update. Maintaining four or five year goals is a good idea, but you should also create one-year and quarterly plans to ensure your business stays on track.
Step 5: Accurately Track Your Goals
You cannot measure progress unless you are measuring against something specific – that’s where SMART goals come in. You need to establish metrics and benchmarks against which you can measure your progress. This way, it’s easier for everyone to see whether they’re on track towards achieving the goal and when adjustments need to be made.
Final Thoughts
Clear goals provide a clear direction for your business and keep everyone on the same page, working towards achieving something that is meaningful and beneficial to all. They can be used as an effective tool when pitching to investors or potential partners to give an idea of how the business will progress over time.
No matter how well your business is doing, there are always areas for improvement and new heights to reach. Setting goals is the first step on the journey to success..
4 Nov 2020
As a construction business you might be getting materials and tools for your business from other countries in the EU. If you are still unsure what are basic requirements post Brexit keep reading.
Transitional period related to Great Britain leaving the EU is coming to an end on the 31st of December 2020. On 1st of January 2021, new regulations come into force. If you import or sell your goods outside the UK, an EORI number will be necessary for you.
What is EORI?
EORI stands for Economic Operator Registration and Identification, it is a registration number and at the same time an identification number of each economic entity trading with countries outside of the EU.
More simply – it’s a unique code used to track and record customs information within the EU. Before Brexit, it was necessary only for those businesses who traded with countries outside the European Union, such as China or USA. From 1st of January it will be required for all trades within the EU.
Who will need an EORI number from January 1?
Each company that ships or imports goods from countries outside the European Union for commercial purposes should have an EORI number. This applies to both sole traders and LTD.
Remember that if you do not have an EORI number in a few months, you will have to suspend your business as your goods will not be able to “cross” the UK border. It can have a serious impact for your business, if you are buying materials for your construction projects from the EU.
EORI number and shipment to the UK
The EORI number from January 1, 2021 will be mandatory not only for companies registered in the UK and selling to the EU. All entrepreneurs who buy or sell their goods from or to the Islands will also need it.
What details to prepare for the EORI application?
In the application, you will have to provide, among others company data, data on VAT, if you are a payer, and necessary information about your goods. If you complete the application correctly, you should receive your number by email within three business days.
Remember to give your EORI number to the courier or forwarder – it will be necessary for them when submitting customs declarations on your behalf.
What happens if you do not have an EORI number and you import or export goods outside the EU?
If you do not have an EORI number, you cannot import or export goods from the European Union legally. As we mentioned, from January 1, 2021, this also applies to Great Britain.
