Exit Strategies. What Are They And What Can They Be

Exit strategies simply put, are the plans that you have to leave, divest yourself of, close, or sell your business.

The Cardinal Sin of Business Owners Everywhere: Doing The Business Instead Of Managing The Business

How many SME business owners reading this have said these immortal words: ‘I must get around to having a Marketing Strategy?’  or ‘I don’t have time for Social Media’?

Is My Business Ready For Investment? 3 Tips To Make Yourself Ready

Two types of financing are available for your business – debt and equity.  Once you understand that, read on for our 3 top tips for working with an investor.

Tax Planning: Salary vs Dividends?

You don’t need to be a Tax Accountant to know that the Salary vs Dividends question has been dramatically altered recently by Corporation Tax and National Insurance changes.  The question is not about whether to pay yourself salary or dividends but when to pay them and how much.

Tender Writing – The Lost Revenue Stream For Your Business?

When you were writing your business plan, did your business advisor or bank manager tell you that you needed a budget for tender writing costs?

Of course not.  Why would they? After all, professional tender writers (well, the good ones at least) should cost you around £500-£1000 a day, even more for highly specialised sectors.  Considering that a tender can need around 7-10 days planning, writing, and evaluating – it is a big cost for a smaller business.

But consider the benefits.  A 7-10 day tender writing exercise is usually warranted for business that will be increasing your income by around £100k (as a guide).

Just like the House Doctor, that investment up front that is a fraction of the overall value when you get the money coming back in.

And just like the House Doctor, if you don’t sell – you find yourself living in a better house because of all the work.  Most business people are astute enough to realise that an expert outsider coming in to their business and reviewing it to see if it is fit-for-purpose within its sector and operating environment.  The cost of that?  Around the same day rate as a business consultant.  Tender writers should be exclusively focused on assessing your business in terms of being able to answer to a tender within your sector, and then presenting it in a meaningful way, that is relevant and defines what differentiates you and your business.

So you get a tender written that can win you oodles of new business, when you probably did not have time to write it yourself or from within your staff team, and you get the inside track on the health of your business and its competitiveness all in one fell swoop.

Sounds like a bargain to me.

When you look at tender writing services as an additional cost to your business, it can look like a high price, but on balance it is exactly the kind of investment that many businesses could be making, and reaping the many rewards associated with that.

The Capable Manager

Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

A quick New Year reminder from TCM about the good and bad of publicity. Read on to find the only two tips you need for protecting you and your business.

How will government cuts affects SMEs?

There is a multitude of bloggs around addressing this subject and a piece in Bytestart, is an indicator of what is being said:

Niche Marketing: How Many Is Too Many?

We are all told to consider the subject of niche markets and whether you can have too many. Well I’m no marketing expert and that’s why I’ve asked TCM to help me with this one. In simple terms a niche market is an identifiable market that can be targeted and the key word here is ‘market’.  We are not talking here about products e.g. the Toyota Prius or denture cream, but a new group of people that we can sell our products to.

Will A Bank Lend To Me To Finance My Business?

This is question many business owners are justifiably asking, so it’s important to do your homework before finding out the answer!

Develop your business plan and realistically consider how you plan to finance your business.  Just like on Dragons Den, your bank expects you to know the basics before you walk in their door.

Blog Makes a Splash in the Business Community

The blog of local businessman Crispin Read has won a top award at the recent inafishbowl.com Awards event, held in Nottingham.

Crispin, part owner of Optimum Financials, which also trades under the name of 80:20 Financial Management, won the award for his blog ‘How to Write a Business Plan”.

The event, hosted by Daily Telegraph Enterprise Editor Richard Tyler, brought together business owners, entrepreneurs and the team behind the business reality website www.inafishbowl.com, which offers advice, case studies and resources to new business start-ups.

 “I am really excited to have won the award for ‘Most Useful Blog’” said Crispin, clutching his ‘Fishbowl’ award; “I hope that start-up businesses find the guide to writing a business plan of use.”

 80:20 Financial Management provides outsourced financial management to local, regional and national companies.

 To see the blog, visit www.inafishbowl.com/how-to-write-a-business-plan.