Category Archives for "Business Tips"

Is your business attracting the right talent?

We all know that business owners are finding it challenging to find good people to join your team.

Have you considered what your employer brand says about your business?

Your employer brand is like the tone of voice for your business. It should reflect you and what makes it unique, while also attracting people who want to work there too!

The right employees are a business’ most valuable resource. With the changing needs of industry, it's important to have an attractive brand that will attract those with skills relevant for your company - and keep them around longer than before!

So how are you attracting great talent to your business?

Start with sharing the full picture

To get good people, you need to tell them what your company is like.

This includes talking about the work environment and company culture. You can do this by describing your work environment in job descriptions. Including that on your website or social media.

Also make sure your careers page has more information about your company, the culture, and the roles available.

And it helps if you can also provide some insight into company life and why your people currently work for you.

Know your Employer Value Proposition

Your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is what makes your company different from others and attractive to potential employees.

Your EVP includes things like your company's values, offerings, and associations.

Having a strong EVP makes it more likely that people will want to work for you, and it can also help reduce turnover if current employees feel aligned with your company culture.

Attracting the right talent

When it comes to attracting the right talent, you need to first understand who your ideal candidate is. Build a profile of your ideal candidate by thinking about their:

• Work experience
• Aspirations and goals
• Values
• Education
• Personal activities
• Personal life and family situation.

Then, create questions to ask potential employees to see if they fit your ideal person. You can also tailor your advertising based on the profile you develop to attract the right candidates.

Plan for the future

What positions do you need to fill in the next 6-12 months, and what skills are required for each?

Build relationships with potential candidates now. This will take time, but it will be worth it.

Make your company an attractive place to work by investing in your employer brand. This includes things like culture, environment, values, and strategic vision.

Doing this will help you save money on recruiting costs and reduce the number of employees who quit.

Knowing what your customer wants

Knowing what your customers want helps you meet your growth targets. We’ve outlined a couple of ways to improve your understanding of your customers, through better data, analysis and feedback.

The increase in digital business systems has opened up forensic ways of understanding your customer base. That's a huge bonus when you're aiming to build better connections, relationships and experiences with your audience.

Knowing what your customer wants is a fundamental piece of knowledge for any successful business to get to grips with. And when you're running a modern, digital business there's an overwhelming wealth of customer and sales data and analytics at your disposal – making it easier than ever to dig down into the needs and habits of your end user.

Detailed CRM records and customer notes

A CRM system becomes the heart of your customer management, business development and marketing activity, allowing you to log activity, keep notes and record progress throughout the sales pipeline.

The more information you have about your valued customers, the more you can do to meet their needs and deliver the perfect customer experience. And by maximising your use of this customer data, you can tightly focus your marketing campaigns and do more to make every customer feel understood, valued and (most importantly) satisfied.

Apps such as Active Campaign and HubSpot are very popular, with information being generated from accounting sales data or add-on sales management POS systems.

Drilled-down sales records

Keeping tabs on your sales activity is central to any business model. In an ideal world, you want regular, repeatable sales from a loyal customer base. But sales activity can be hard to predict, especially when you’re setting ambitious sales targets for your team to hit.

Having detailed sales records and data at your fingertips has two key benefits:

• You know how sales have fared in the past
• You know how sales may pan out in the future

Being able to run forecasts, based on your historic sales data gives you a stable foundation on which to build your future sales targets. It’s a solid projection, based on real business data.

This data also gives you an encyclopaedic overview of what your customers have been buying.

This sales data helps you understand:

• Which products/services your customers want to spend their money on
• Which specific products/services are failing to convert
• Which points in the year will have peaks and troughs in sales
• When it’s the right time to invest in more sales and marketing activity

This is all gold dust when it comes to planning out your strategy, assigning your sales and marketing resources and building engagement with your core audiences.

Hitting your growth targets, is far easier when you know the needs of your customers and can accurately target your sales, marketing and social activity.

Why you should have a business continuity plan

Keeping your business operational is a full-time job. It’s a balancing act that requires you to keep a multitude of plates spinning, while your executive team and employees support you at every stage of the operational journey.

But what happens if these plates stop spinning?

Sudden unexpected threats can catch you on the hop.

What if an unexpected circumstance comes up that derails your usual operational procedures? How will you cope? What will you do to overcome the issue? And how will you get the business back on target?

The answer lies in having a thorough business continuity plan.

What’s a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is an executive plan that describes the risks that exist in the business, your strategy for dealing with these known and unknown risks, and how you will mobilise your team to overcome any issues, emergencies or gaps in trading etc.

None of us truly knows what lies around the corner. Most businesses were not expecting the 2008 economic crash, or the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. If you can plan ahead and put contingency plans in place, you'll be better prepared when a worst-case scenario does appear.

How do you formulate your plan?

Every organisation’s business continuity plan will be different. We all have different business models, different company hierarchies and different risks that are peculiar to our own sectors.

But the fundamental basis on which you create your business continuity plan will be the same however your company works.

For example:

Identify the critical areas of your business

Look at your operational business model and think about where it’s most likely to break down under pressure. Are you reliant on a specific supplier to operate? Which are the fundamental departments in your model and what do they bring to the business? Who are your core heads of department and staff, and who could deputise for them in their absence? In short, look for anything that could break down and how this could affect the whole business.

Create back-up continuity plans for each critical area

You obviously need your main continuity plan to cover the entire business. But it’s also important to look at the risks, essential personnel and key operational activities for each separate department in the company. Your finance team will need a very different continuity plan to your logistics and delivery team, for example. So, tailor each continuity plan to fit the needs of your main business areas, and make sure they’re all fit for purpose.

Assign a continuity lead and department leads

It’s a good idea to assign a main business continuity lead role or champion, so the responsibility for reviewing and updating the plan sits under someone’s remit. You’ll also need to have a lead person for each critical department, so every cog in the wider machine is represented.

Make sure everyone knows the continuity plan

A business continuity plan is useless unless the whole company is aware of the plan and knows what to do. Have a central phone number, WhatsApp group and email address set up for any business continuity emergency. And use your internal communications team to provide regular messaging, training and updates on changes to the ongoing continuity plan.

Keep the business operating

Ultimately, your continuity plan exists to keep the company operating in challenging times. It could be that your HQ is flooded out and has to be closed down and moved to an alternative location. It may be that significant employee sickness hits you, leaving only a skeleton staff to run each department. Whatever the circumstances, your plan needs a contingency in place, so you and your remaining staff can continue to trade, make sales and bring in revenues.

No plan can completely remove the threat of the unknown – that’s an impossibility. But with a continuity plan that’s well-conceived and ready to implement, you reduce the potential risks and give you and your team a practical strategy and tactics to work with.

Preventing business owner burnout

It’s tough going for business owners.

With the labour market tight, businesses are already understaffed. Add high rates of absenteeism, and remaining workers and business owners are under incredible pressure.

When you love your job and always want to do the best for your clients, it’s easy to start overworking yourself and run the risk of burnout.

It’s vital that you take care of yourself.

So here are three ways to start preventing business owner burnout:

1. Start saying ‘No’

Small business owners are experts in saying ‘Yes!’ and then figuring out the details later.

It’s how you grow a small business and build your reputation for being able to solve problems for your clients. However, if you’re overworked and stressed out, it’s time to start saying ‘No’.

Begin by turning down work from difficult clients, or work that’s outside your core business, so you’re focused on where you add the most value.

2. Identify at least one area you can delegate or outsource

You can’t do everything yourself, particularly if you’re understaffed.

Look at your processes and try to identify an area that’s not part of your core business which you can delegate or outsource.  If you look after your social media, it might be easier to delegate this to someone else.  Share the responsibility for office cleaning across the team. Or even subscribe to a meal kit service to take the stress out of cooking.

Plus, your bookkeeping and payroll are two areas that can easily be outsourced and you can always talk to us about this. 

Usually, the cost of these initiatives will quickly pay for themselves: once you feel less stressed, you’ll be more productive.

3. Hold onto your interests outside work

Running a business can be all-consuming, but hang onto your friends, sports and hobbies even when it gets busy.

Letting your relationships, health, and pastimes dwindle away will undermine your emotional, physical, and mental health.

We can help

Not sure if outsourcing tasks will pay for itself? 

We can work with you to analyse the costs and benefits of any business investment. And we can take on your bookkeeping and payroll. Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

How to coax your people back to the office

Globally, our relationship with work and the workplace has changed.

People got used to working from home (WFH) during the pandemic lockdowns and enjoyed the freedom it offered.

In fact, 61% of people working from home are doing so because they want to, even though their office is open, according to a recent survey.

But we also need to balance this new WFH ethic with the more sociable aspects of collaborating together at HQ.

What’s needed is a switch to hybrid working, with some time in the office and some time WFH.

So, how do you coax your people back to the office and highlight the benefits of sometimes working in one main workspace?

What turned people off of the office?

The Covid-19 pandemic came along and shook up the work dynamic in a big way. We’d had cloud technology and remote working available for some time. But the pandemic acted as a catalyst for pushing remote working as a viable, everyday work option.

This allowed us all to work. But it also had other repercussions too:

People moved out of the city

Many people moved away from the big cities and out into the suburbs/countryside during the pandemic. With cloud tech and WFH now the norm, some people felt there was no need to be in a city-based office. This removed the commute, saved money on train and travel costs and gave them more time in their day.

A change in property usage and prices

The mass exodus to the countryside pushed property and rental prices sky-high in these greener suburbs – with a huge demand for houses. And, on the flipside, big office buildings in the city have been standing empty, wasting money on rental fees and mortgage payments for companies.

So, how do you entice our people back from their suburban homes and into your office?

Coaxing your workforce back to HQ

People have got very used to working from their kitchen table. So, if you want your team to return to the office, you’ve got to deliver a workspace that offers something more.

Working from the office has to appear like a positive benefit, rather than the poorer cousin of WFH.

Creating a more welcoming environment with added amenity and flexibility will also stand you apart in a tight labour market.

Here are five ideas to try:

1. Make your workspace more inviting

Can you redesign the layout to add different work zones?. Have a hotdesking area alongside breakout tables, informal areas to make the office feel less formal and more like a home-from-home.

2. Offer perks and benefits in the office

If there are perks of being in the office, your team will be more incentivised to work here. Whether that is coffee and fruit or a offering gym memberships or cycle-to-work schemes that add tangible benefits of signing up to working a certain number of weekly hours from your HQ.

3. Have more in-person meetings

In a recent study, researchers found that video conferencing hampers idea generation, so our reliance on technology might come at a cost of creativity.

While Zoom, Teams and Google Meet can be invaluable for collaborating across time zones, it's worthwhile, encouraging your team to meet in-person also. Run more of your internal and client catch-ups as face-to-face meetings and have team huddles on a given morning in the office.

4. Encourage in-person mentoring and education

One thing that remote workers miss out on is face-to-face mentoring.

Try pairing up senior and junior staff members and giving them an assigned mentoring day to work together at HQ. And think about offering extra-curricular training sessions and ‘lunch ‘n’ learns’ to help people upskill and learn new capabilities.

5. Get creative with your ideas

To tempt people back, you’ve got to offer some fun too.

Try a ‘Bring your pet to work’ day, so people can bring their pandemic pooch to the office. Run more charity events where people can get into the spirit and work on their team bonding. Or offer after-work sports and leisure activities, like yoga, five-a-side football, quizzes, cookery classes etc.

Anything out of the ordinary that will appeal to a workforce that’s getting a little bored of working on their own from home.

Keeping your data safe as a remote worker

Using public WiFi in cafes, hotels and coffee shops is something we all do. It’s convenient and gives you the benefits of working online wherever you happen to be. But are you aware of the data security issues of working from a public network?

In an age where remote and hybrid working are now the norm for so many employees and self-employed people, it’s important to know the key ways to keep your data safe

Secure ways to work from a public network

Remote working is a flexible approach to work that’s increased in popularity hugely over the past few years. A recent study from Buffer found that 97% of people would like to continue working remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of their career.

Working remotely is here to stay, it would seem. But what can you do to make sure you’re applying the best possible security protocols? And what are the key dangers to look out for?

We’ve highlighted the important elements of cyber safety to be aware of:

Unencrypted public networks and their flaws

A public network isn’t a safe environment when working. When you use your home network, only you and your family have access to the WiFi. If you log into a public network, literally anyone can join the network – and this can lead to all kinds of security issues and concerns.

Malware and other suspicious activity

Hackers and those with malicious intent will see a public network as a potential backdoor to your data. Malware (malicious software), Trojan horses and other hostile programmes can be easily uploaded to your device, allowing hackers to access your programmes, hard drive and data.

Using a personal VPN to access the internet

If you’re using a public network to work, the chances are that you have access to confidential information and customer data via your device. To protect your device, it’s important to use a VPN (virtual private network). This creates a secure network for you, so you can safely share and access your important data, with fewer worries about hackers and malware etc.

Having proper security software on your device

It’s a good idea to also have cyber security software installed on your computer or smart device. Providers like Norton, McAfee and Kaspersky all offer complete internet security suites that include firewalls, regular scans of your drive and other tools to keep your data safe and sound.

Keeping up to date with the latest threats

No security system is 100% safe. But you can do a lot to improve your internet security by being aware of the current threats. Keep an eye out for news stories about cyber breaches and read the updates and social posts from your internet security provider. The more you’re in the loop about present dangers, the more you can do to update your security arrangements and keep your devices safe.

Start improving your internet security

We’ve all enjoyed the additional flexibility and time-saving benefits of working from somewhere other than the office. But as remote working becomes a standard working practice, it’s vital to improve your internet security and be more aware of the potential threats to your data.

Using forecasting to help your decision-making

Producing regular management information is one way to help improve your business decision-making. But looking at historical numbers can only tell you so much.

In business, you want to know what the future holds. And to make truly informed decisions about your future strategy, it’s important to use forecasting tools to project your data forwards in time. By running projections, based on these historical numbers, and producing detailed forecasts, you can get the best possible view of the road ahead – that’s invaluable.

Run regular cashflow forecasts

Positive cashflow is vital to the short, medium and long-term success of your business. Without cash, you simply can’t operate the business efficiently. Running regular cashflow forecasts helps you overcome this challenge. With detailed projections of your future cashflow, you can spot the cash gaps that lie further down the road, and take action to fill these cashflow holes.

Income can often be unpredictable, especially in challenging economic times. If customers fail to pay an invoice, or suppliers increase their prices, this can all start to eat into your available cash. Using forecasting, you can extrapolate your numbers forward to which weeks, months or quarters are looking financially tight. And with enough prior warning, there’s plenty of time to look for short-term funding facilities, or to get proactive with reducing your spending.

Run sales and revenue forecasts

Keeping the business profitable is one of the key foundations of making a success of your enterprise. You want your sales to be stable and your revenues predictable if you’re going to generate enough capital to fund your growth plans. And you need to know how those revenues will pan out over the course of the coming financial period.

Revenue forecasts work much like a cashflow forecast. Instead of looking at your future cash position, a revenue forecast gives a projection of your sales and how much revenue is likely to be brought into the business in future weeks and months. With better revenue information, you’ll be more on top of your profit targets. You can manage your working capital in a more practical way. And you can improve your ability to invest in new projects, additional staff or funding of the long-term expansion of your business.

Run different scenario plans

What’s going to happen to your business in the future? None of us have a crystal ball to predict this future path exactly. But by looking at different possible scenarios, you can run projections to see what the potential outcomes and impacts may be.

These ‘What-if scenarios’ can be exceptionally useful tools when thinking about big business decisions. What if there’s an economic recession? What if our sales increased by 25%? What if we raised our prices by 10% next quarter? What if we lost a quarter of our customers? By plugging the relevant data into your forecasting engine, you can run these scenarios and see how each option pans out. That’s massively useful when the worst (or the best) does happen.

Update your strategy, based on your forecasts

By making the most of your forecasting tools, you give your board, your finance team and your advisers the most insightful data and projections to work with.

A good business plan is designed to flex and evolve to meet the needs of the changing market – and the changing needs of your own business strategy. By making use of your cashflow forecasts, revenue projections and what-if scenario planning, you give yourself the insights needed to update your strategy and your business plan. You can make solid, well-informed decisions and keep yourself one step ahead of your competitors. In the dog-eat-dog world of business, that’s a competitive edge that can make a huge difference.

If you want to delve deeper into the positive benefits of forecasting, please get in touch. We can showcase the latest forecasting software and apps, and show you the value that’s delivered through well-executed forecasting and longer-term projections.

Goals for your business

Have you achieved the goals you set out to achieve when you first started your business?

In this article we pose 5 important questions for you to ask yourself before you take the next step in your business journey.

Founding, managing and growing a business is a BIG commitment.

For most business owners, it will take years to build a customer following, turn a profit and create a truly scalable business. It's a journey that can sometimes be pressurised, stressful and risky.

But when your plan really does come together, there is the chance of real success, a lasting legacy and a business that delivers on your initial dream.

So, how do you know when you've truly achieved your goals for your business?

Here are five questions to help you understand if you've reached your original goals. 

1. Has your business met its growth targets and scaled up as intended?

You’ll have seen your business idea grow from being a fledgling start-up, to an established business and on to become a scaled-up, ambitious enterprise with a solid customer base.

If you’ve met your growth targets, then you know you’re on pretty solid ground as a business. Your idea clearly has legs and you’re delivering a product and/or service that your clients see as valuable. And which they’re willing to part with their hard-earned cash to purchase.

2. Are you running a profitable enterprise that's in good financial shape?

Running a tight financial ship is crucial. You need solid revenues, positive cashflow and good liquidity to keep your business ticking over.

In the early days of being a start-up, cash will have been tight. And your own personal income as a founder and director will probably have been scarce too.

But as your business has become more established, you should have found that your business revenue became more stable and predictable. And that your own personal wealth also followed this same reliable pattern. 

If your business has a solid balance sheet, great cashflow and meets your intended profit targets, you’re onto a good thing and can be sure that your financial position is in good shape.

3. Do you have a stable client base who say good things about you?

Without clients, you don’t have a viable business. 

Finding your first clients as a start-up was probably a significant turning point in your journey. A good client base brings with it the bonus of new sales, fresh revenues and a business that can actually turn a profit.

When clients engage with you and buy your goods and services, that confirms your original faith in your business idea.

You’re providing something they value and want to purchase. And you’re also building a community of like-minded people who all think your brand is great.

4. Do you have a team who can operate the business without you?

In the early days, you’ll probably have become a jack or jill of all trades. You’ll have run the sales and marketing campaigns, taken care of all the main operational tasks and dealt with the many invoicing, accounting and bookkeeping tasks. 

Turn the clock forward, and you probably have a team of people around you to take care of these jobs. But can they function without you?

This is really the acid test of whether you’ve scaled and succeeded.

If your business is still reliant on you, personally, you may have a problem.

To be a saleable proposition, a business needs to function effectively without the founder. If not, you're unlikely to be in a position to sell up. 

Usually, to make a business saleable, you need a team of engaged and talented people around you. People who share your vision and talents and who can keep the ship on an even course, even once the original captain has set sail on fresh, new adventures.

5. Do you feel you've achieved what you wanted to achieve?

In your formative years as a founder, you’ll have sat down to draw up a start-up plan. In that plan you’ll have outlined a clear vision for what your business was going to achieve.

This vision might have been:

• To scale up over five years, sell-up and retire
• To deliver a new kind of technical widget and make it the global standard
• To help your target audience improve their lives, helped by your product/service
• To provide the income needed for you to live your desired lifestyle
• To plough your profits back into the local community and be a force for good.

We all have different goals, and whether they are financial, personal or moral comes down to the individual. The important thing at this point is to assess whether you’ve actually met the vision that you set out to achieve. 

If your aim was to sell for a profit and then retire, are you ready to do this?

If the goal was to become a household name and move your sector forward, do your client engagement figures and market share stats reflect this?

Deep down, only you and your fellow founders know whether you’ve truly met your intended goal. But if the general consensus is that you aced it, then it’s time to think about the future.

What’s the next chapter in your business story?

If you can answer yes to all five of these questions, then congratulations! You've built a successful, stable and profitable business.

But what do you do now?

Do you continue to plough this fertile furrow and live off the profits?

Do you find a buyer for the existing business and start on your next business idea?

Or do you sell up and look at retirement and enjoying the benefits of your money and lifestyle?

It's a good idea to talk to your accountant or business advisor before you make what is, essentially, a life-changing decision. And your financials will play apart in their advice. If you’d like to talk through your options, do get in touch.

Offering online payment options

If you're a business owner, one of the best things about you can offer your customers and clients is online payment options.

With online options like these listed below, quick payments and receipt funds can be a thing from today!

•  ACH (Automated Clearing House) services like Stripe and Paypal
• credit and debit cards
• direct deposit

While there are a range of online payment options available, the important thing is to choose a provider, or providers, that can integrate with your accounting software.

By doing this, you can add a super-simple payment button to your invoices, which makes it easier for customers and clients to pay you and, therefore, helps you get paid quicker.

Costs

The average fee charged by a merchant service provider is 2-4% of the transaction amount. For Direct Debit it’s usually under $2 per transaction.

Something to consider is that for online payment for invoices over a certain amount, the credit and debit fees can be quite significant. Also, it can be expensive to process transactions when there are multiple customers and clients.

Because the cost of processing online transactions can be significant it’s important to take these charges into account when considering how much you charge for your products or services.

There are a number of apps available that can help you price your products or services. Some of these apps focus on cost-plus pricing, while others use value-based pricing. Ultimately, the right app for you will depend on your specific business needs and goals.

Benefits

Businesses who offer their customers and clients the option of paying online should see a big improvement when it comes to getting paid. 

While not all of your customers and clients will use the online option, many will, which means the time it takes to get paid will reduce – improving your cash flow.

Online payments can also help strengthen your customer/client relationship as anything that makes a process easier is usually appreciated.

We can help you implement the appropriate apps to set up online payments, so feel free to get in touch.