As the year draws to a close, it comes the time when many people consider cutting ties and starting afresh in the New Year. This thinking may be influenced by ageing, illness, altering family commitments or simply a change of motivation. When a Senior Partner departs, they leave a large hole in your business. So how do you go about finding someone who will be able to successfully step into those big shoes? Plan In Advance When there is a lack of succession planning in a business, it can become vulnerable when a partner leaves at short notice. Annual assessments of all employees at all levels is sound practice; monitoring progress versus objectives. A major objective should be for every supervisor, manager or lead to find a replacement ready now and making any salary review or bonus contingent upon significant progress in this regard. This sound practice not only solves the succession issue but also avoids the over dependence on any one individual. It also provides … [Read more...]
Top tips for giving an Xmas Bonus to your team
It's that time of year, when Managing Directors are considering (or agonising over) whether to give a Xmas bonus. My start point would be to ask why you are considering a Xmas bonus. (If you are agonising over it then this suggests it is a marginal decision and you may be better off not bothering for the likely impact it is going to make) There are probably two reasons for considering a Xmas bonus As a form of recognition, a thank you for your efforts in 2018 As a retention tactic for 2019 in the face of a tight recruitment market There are 4 options available: A token gift (such as a bottle of wine) This can be tax free if all the following criteria apply: It costs less than £50 to provide and isn’t cash or a cash voucher It isn’t a reward for work or performance It isn’t in the terms of the employment contract The impact here is more on how it is done rather than the gift itself. One Senior Partner used to dress … [Read more...]
Top Tips for Networking at Business Events
Business networking is one of the most effective ways of generating new business, but it can seem daunting for the less extrovert doing it for the first time. However, even the most shrinking violet will gain confidence and effectiveness with practice. There are many different types of networking event and different times of day in which they happen. Most will let you try them out once or twice for a small fee. Once you have attended a few, chose the ones where you are most comfortable and have had the most success. To help you make more of the opportunities present at your next business event, here are my top 10 tips for networking effectively. Draft an 'elevator pitch' - a short (approx. 30 seconds) overview of your business, that you can trot out when asked “what do you do?”. It is best to have a few variations so that you do not say exactly the same thing every time, and so start to sound like a recorded message. Take a plentiful supply of … [Read more...]
Why appoint a Virtual Non-Executive Director or Strategic Advisor?
If you run a business that has strategic challenges to address, or if you are looking to raise it to the next level, where can you turn for advice? The answer may be appointing a Non-Executive Director or Strategic Advisor. Even very successful businesses can benefit from an external independent view to help make better strategic choices and challenge established thinking. What can a Virtual Non-Executive Director do for your business? Every business has a different mix of challenges and opportunities at a given point in time and often the owners or management feel their business is unique and difficult for an “outsider” to understand. To an extent that may be true, however, a VNED’s experience of the dynamics of multiple businesses and transferable knowledge of best practice from other markets is proven to bring significant benefits to management decision making. Our Home Counties and London Group Business Advisors have developed a Virtual Non-Executive … [Read more...]
Budget 2018 – At a glance
Business Small retail businesses in England will see business rates reduced by a third. The annual investment allowance is to rise five-fold from £200,000 to £1 million for two years. Reforms to individuals working under IR35 are to be extended to the private sector by April 2020. Corporation Tax to remain at 19%. Personal The personal allowance is to rise to £12,500, higher-rate threshold up to £50,000. A 4.9% increase will set the national living wage at £8.21 an hour for over-25s. Stamp duty abolished for all first-time buyers of shared-ownership homes worth up to £500,000. Duties Fuel duty unchanged at 57.95p per litre of petrol, diesel, bio-diesel or bio-ethanol. Duties on beer, most ciders, and spirits remain unchanged for 2019/20. Cost of a bottle of wine duty to rise by 8p, in line with inflation, in February 2019. VAT The VAT-registration threshold is to stay at £85,000 until April 2022. The Government will revisit options … [Read more...]
Budget 2018 – At a glance
Business Small retail businesses in England will see business rates reduced by a third. The annual investment allowance is to rise five-fold from £200,000 to £1 million for two years. Reforms to individuals working under IR35 are to be extended to the private sector by April 2020. Corporation Tax to remain at 19%. Personal The personal allowance is to rise to £12,500, higher-rate threshold up to £50,000. A 4.9% increase will set the national living wage at £8.21 an hour for over-25s. Stamp duty abolished for all first-time buyers of shared-ownership homes worth up to £500,000. Duties Fuel duty unchanged at 57.95p per litre of petrol, diesel, bio-diesel or bio-ethanol. Duties on beer, most ciders, and spirits remain unchanged for 2019/20. Cost of a bottle of wine duty to rise by 8p, in line with inflation, in February 2019. VAT The VAT-registration threshold is to stay at £85,000 until April 2022. The Government will revisit options … [Read more...]
Business Start Up – Getting it RIGHT First Time
Starting a business is not easy. Getting everything set up correctly can make the operation of your business run smoothly, especially when you need to be working on or in the business to make sure it survives. Last year 660,000 companies were established in the UK, which is up from 608,000 in 2015. That doesn’t include sole traders. But 97% of business startups fail in the first three years. So when you are firefighting to survive, if you have tackled the issues in the diagram below you will have a better chance of surviving because these issues have been tackled. The more of the issues you deal with before you start running your business the easier it will be to operate. The FIRST thing to do is a skills audit on yourself. Do you have the skills necessary to run a business? Which skills do you have and which ones should you learn and what can you delegate? What are the … [Read more...]
Business Start Up – Getting it RIGHT First Time
Starting a business is not easy. Getting everything set up correctly can make the operation of your business run smoothly, especially when you need to be working on or in the business to make sure it survives. Last year 660,000 companies were established in the UK, which is up from 608,000 in 2015. That doesn’t include sole traders. But 97% of business startups fail in the first three years. So when you are firefighting to survive, if you have tackled the issues in the diagram below you will have a better chance of surviving because these issues have been tackled. The more of the issues you deal with before you start running your business the easier it will be to operate. The FIRST thing to do is a skills audit on yourself. Do you have the skills necessary to run a business? Which skills do you have and which ones should you learn and what can you delegate? What are the … [Read more...]
5 essential ways to scale a creative services business
Growth is often cited as one of the most important targets for a business to achieve. At its simplest level in the creative sector, it can come from adding team members to meet increased demand. However, growth without improved scale can also result in a greater level of frustrations for an entrepreneur. So how can a creative services business find smart ways to scale when a large portion of the cost is allocated to the delivery team’s efforts? And what are the first steps if you want to move your business from simply growing to scaling exponentially. Clearly Define Your Business Activities Too often in creative service businesses, the principles and teams will want to steer clear of defining and systemising their strategies and tactical approaches. It feels like it runs counter to the flow of creativity and can be seen as a way of cramping ideas and new thinking. However, if everyone has a different interpretation as to how things are done in the … [Read more...]
5 essential ways to scale a creative services business
Growth is often cited as one of the most important targets for a business to achieve. At its simplest level in the creative sector, it can come from adding team members to meet increased demand. However, growth without improved scale can also result in a greater level of frustrations for an entrepreneur. So how can a creative services business find smart ways to scale when a large portion of the cost is allocated to the delivery team’s efforts? And what are the first steps if you want to move your business from simply growing to scaling exponentially. Clearly Define Your Business Activities Too often in creative service businesses, the principles and teams will want to steer clear of defining and systemising their strategies and tactical approaches. It feels like it runs counter to the flow of creativity and can be seen as a way of cramping ideas and new thinking. However, if everyone has a different interpretation as to how things are done in the … [Read more...]
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