Good session at the seminar this week and I believe that some of you gave those nice people from BERR a tough time. Thanks for the involvement they seem to be genuine about finding out about small businesses but no idea what happens next.
On the business front a couple more Hub companies reporting that business is holding up well and another who has seen business slide at the end of last year but now holding level and feeling a little more confident.
Also an interesting discussion about keeping staff in the loop and one important point if you are doing most of the new business for your company, don't forget to let them know how it's going. You may have a positive feeling after a pitch but they may just have seen all the hard work and not know how it went. Generally the feeling is that you should be monitoring the pipeline and be transparent about it.
Still finding HMRC helpful with tax re-scheduling but they are asking for a business case to back it up so expect a few more questions but still a useful way out of a cashflow hole and yesterday a bank said to a client "we are going to help you through this"!
Friday, 13 February 2009
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
They're coming to get me
Our house (and part of the village) was cordoned off due to a rumoured cache of explosives being found up the road. Unfortunately they neglected to check the house first so Gill dragged out a couple of bemused teenagers and a sleepy dog leaving the security experts to blow things up. That excitement over back to business.
Interesting offer from a bank at 0.5% over base on what is admittedly an excellent covenant but there are some deals out there.
Also looked at a couple of good business performances - their secret? - Good management, good basic product, a good share of their market and a history of aggressively paying off debt.
Gordon Brown (by accident?) called it a global depression today. Avoid depression - keep talking to your peers and look after each other when things are tough, sometimes we need someone else to remind us to keep going for it.
Interesting offer from a bank at 0.5% over base on what is admittedly an excellent covenant but there are some deals out there.
Also looked at a couple of good business performances - their secret? - Good management, good basic product, a good share of their market and a history of aggressively paying off debt.
Gordon Brown (by accident?) called it a global depression today. Avoid depression - keep talking to your peers and look after each other when things are tough, sometimes we need someone else to remind us to keep going for it.
Monday, 2 February 2009
End of January
Back from Christmas and a broken laptop - realised how much I use the laptop out of the office.
Still getting patchy stories out there - one company had their best month ever in January, another has this year's target turnover 70% booked already, another won 4 straight pitches as clients move from larger suppliers. However also heard of orders drying up in the space of a week and of course everyone is hanging on to their cash. Still no movement on the Government's secured lending to business which is not due until end of February but one bank I spoke to said it still did not mean that money would come easy, they would still want to see financials and a plan.
Key things to concentrate on - Cash of course - offer discounts for quick settlement, get people on standing orders where they pay regular fees. Look at your cashflow and budgets regularly and now of all times know your pipeline of business and set costs accordingly. re-do your business plan it needs to be a working tool.
Can you make your costs more flexible? - I have heard of companies reducing working hours and therefore pro-rata salaries, others changing to production linked pay - make sure you get good HR advice first. Above all keep your staff involved and let them know how things are, they might have some good ideas for you.
....and finally - look after those customers, call the ones you haven't spoken to in a while and don't forget to ask for more work.
Still getting patchy stories out there - one company had their best month ever in January, another has this year's target turnover 70% booked already, another won 4 straight pitches as clients move from larger suppliers. However also heard of orders drying up in the space of a week and of course everyone is hanging on to their cash. Still no movement on the Government's secured lending to business which is not due until end of February but one bank I spoke to said it still did not mean that money would come easy, they would still want to see financials and a plan.
Key things to concentrate on - Cash of course - offer discounts for quick settlement, get people on standing orders where they pay regular fees. Look at your cashflow and budgets regularly and now of all times know your pipeline of business and set costs accordingly. re-do your business plan it needs to be a working tool.
Can you make your costs more flexible? - I have heard of companies reducing working hours and therefore pro-rata salaries, others changing to production linked pay - make sure you get good HR advice first. Above all keep your staff involved and let them know how things are, they might have some good ideas for you.
....and finally - look after those customers, call the ones you haven't spoken to in a while and don't forget to ask for more work.
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