Having a well thought through business strategy is key to keeping ahead of your competition. Adopting cloud computing as part your strategy, can be an important factor in striving for excellence. Cloud computing can enable SME businesses to compete with larger business globally. It can allow both Start-up and established businesses to scale up with ease. This article will demonstrate some of the opportunities that are available to businesses that adopt cloud computing while considering the potential downsides. What is the cloud and where is it? Cloud computing is an Internet-based computing model that provides shared data and computer processing resources typically on a “pay as you go” model. Up front capital costs are replaced with ongoing variable costs. Unlike traditional local IT, capacity can be rapidly scaled up and down with minimal management resources. Cloud computing enables ubiquitous on-demand access via PCs and mobile devices. Cloud services are … [Read more...]
Brexit – What now for SMEs?
The electorate has decided that the UK should leave the EU. How best can SMEs respond to the coming changes? Whether you are pleased with the outcome or dismayed is irrelevant. The decision has been made. What you need to focus on is how best to manage and grow your business in the short to medium term. Long term planning is more difficult as the Brexit option only leads to many uncertainties. The first thing is - Don't Panic. Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems. Every triumph always has at least some form of downside, and every disaster (except perhaps illness and death) is never as black as it first appears. There is almost always some benefit to be found, and things are very rarely as bad as they seem initially. As small business owners we are naturally optimistic people. We would not have started and continued to run our businesses if we were not naturally hopeful. Now is the time to start thinking what the opportunities are for you and your business … [Read more...]
Are you making the most of the upsurge in Leasing?
Leasing is powering ahead in the funding marketplace. In 2013 43% of SMEs used leasing as a method of funding new plant and machinery, office equipment and cars, this increased to 51% in 2014. The survey of 3,000 SMEs from Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden found that SMEs financed 19% of their total investment via leasing in 2013, more than any individual form of bank lending. This figure showed the popularity of leasing among SMEs, as the leasing penetration rate for businesses of all sizes stood at 12% in 2013. SMEs focused on exporting and growth were found to rely on leasing to a greater extent than other firms. Exporting firms financed 20% of their investment via leasing, as opposed to 18% for non-exporters. Similar results were recorded for growth firms, with almost a quarter (24%) of their investment financed through leasing, significantly more than the 18% of non-growth SMEs. For further details contact: Peter.kelly@hcbusinessadvisors.co.uk … [Read more...]
