Growing your Business
Where do you see your business in five or ten years’ time? When and how should you expand? How much will it cost and what are the risks or pitfalls to avoid?
Like most business owners, you probably have a good idea of where you want to get to but need some guidance to ensure you put the most realistic and effective growth plan in place.
As entrepreneurs ourselves, we’re passionate about helping our clients to succeed and love to see their success. We offer a range of strategic advice and support to guide owners through the lifetime of their businesses. We help you to navigate challenges and make the most of the right opportunities. See our Article on 'How To Plan Your Company's Financial Future At Every Stage Of It's Lifecycle' here.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
If you have an idea of what your business could look like in the future, but are struggling to get there, you aren’t alone.
Whether you need help to create/update a business plan, or just want a sounding board for new ideas, we can help.
From starting out to scaling up, we work with entrepreneurs every day to help them identify where their business is now and envisage where they want it to be.
Together, we can plot out the process needed to achieve your plan and break it down into bite-sized action points, with realistic timescales.
Once the plan’s agreed, we’ll ensure it stays on track through regular follow-up meetings and reminders of what you need to do.
And, if circumstances change, we are on hand to help you review the key issues and update your plan.
As a client, you’ll be able to access additional expertise from our specialists in Management Accounting, Finance, Payroll, Audit and Tax.
FINANCIAL FORECASTING
What’s the most effective way to make cost savings? How much does your profit increase if you put prices up by 5%?
Forecasting can help you make important financial decisions like these, based on information not guesswork.
WHAT'S INVOLVED?
Forecasting, or budgeting, is the process of looking into the future to see what your financials will look like in the year ahead.
It helps reduce your business risk by assessing what the financial pinch points might be. And, as well as keeping your business on track, forecasts are essential if you’re looking to raise finance from banks or investors.
HOW WE CAN HELP
We’ll work with you to review what your costs are and what you need out of the business. We then calculate what minimum sales are needed to cover this.
Using these numbers, we can prepare a forecast profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow so you can see how the profit, assets/debt and cash will look month by month.
By performing a sensitivity analysis, we can also tweak your forecasts to show you the outcome of small changes. For example, what will happen to your cashflow if you get your debtors to pay you five days earlier?
Once the forecasts are prepared, we can slot the numbers into your management accounts and start comparing your actual performance with the forecast and exploring the reasons for any variances.
RAISING FINANCE
How should you access finance? What are the key considerations and are there any pitfalls to avoid?
Whilst there are more ways that businesses can raise finance nowadays, securing it is harder, but you can vastly improve your chances with some expert support.
HOW WE CAN HELP
Whether you are considering a traditional bank loan or overdraft, invoice financing or more complex corporate finance, we can help you to review the best options.
As part of this, we can look at the loan terms, repayments and covenant agreements, as well as advising you on the tax implications of different finance.
PRESENTING YOUR CASE
Our team can work with your bank manager or our local, reputable brokers to give you the best chance of securing the finance your business needs.
Although having good rapport with your lender or investor is important, in the end it’s the numbers that do the talking. Banks and financiers need convincing evidence that a business has a real need for a loan and a robust plan to repay it.
We can guide and support you with preparing forecasts and presenting your company accounts and business plan, as well as providing the financial references required to secure your application.
SEE FURTHER INFORMATION BELOW
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Debbie Boulton
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