The term ‘family business’ often conjures up images of a small, locally run enterprise, traditionally in the towns and villages of mid 20th century middle England – perhaps a family building firm or bakery. Family business doesn’t always have to mean small however; think JCB, think Tesco even. And Wal-Mart, with approximately £287bn of annual […]
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Running a business is tough. With risk to manage, cash flow to control, and relationships to build with key stakeholders such as your bank manager and accountant, there is often little time for anything else. Many business owners find themselves working around the clock to drive the business forward, and this can be made all […]
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Research by content marketing agency Seven found that whilst 43% of marketers think the public want to be talked to, only 15% of consumers agree. This suggests that many companies are failing to engage a high proportion of their audience effectively. The way that businesses communicate with clients has undergone a radical transformation in recent […]
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21st century businesses are operating in an environment never before seen by SMEs. Globalisation, the speed at which technology is changing, and the empowerment of customers are all factors which have made modern business arguably more competitive than ever before. These are not problems exclusive to large firms; SMEs are also affected. SMEs can however […]
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At a recent seminar it was reported that those businesses which have completed Auto enrolment have taken on average 18 months from the start of the thinking process to their staging date. And these are the large organisations that are able to pull together a task force to manage the project. How long will a […]
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In our article ‘Getting the most from your accountant’ we touched on 5 ways that, as a business owner, you could improve the relationship with your accountant. The ultimate goal being to see your accountant as an investment in the growth and development of your business. As part of our ongoing commitment to building valuable, […]
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With yet another banking mis-selling scandal hitting the headlines shortly before Christmas last year, the title of our related article ‘Can you bank on your relationship manager?’ now seems more appropriate than we could ever have envisaged. The link is made with tongue firmly in cheek of course; many bank managers are keen to support […]
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There has been much publicity in recent months over an ‘SME lending crisis’. The Breedon Report, published in March 2012 predicted a gap between supply and demand of up to £190bn by 2017. Britain’s banks have been accused of ‘ruining the country’ as a result of the lack of lending. This has resulted in many […]
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A Guest Blog by Alex Canham of Herrington & Carmichael. A number of businesses now look to outsource non-core functions, particularly in creative areas, to third party contractors. This may be in the form of marketing design work (such as a brochure or an article), software development/maintenance work or a musical composition. However, are commissioning […]
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Those who have studied SME failure rates will be well aware that small business is in fact risky business. Typically, 25% of UK SMEs fail in Year 1 and almost half of all businesses started fail within their first 3 years. However, it need not all be doom and gloom. Ensuring compliance with relevant regulations, along […]
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