A problem shared is a problem halved?

Setting up your own business can be one of the most rewarding things you can do.  To be your own boss, make your own decisions around work / life balance and, hopefully, to experience the satisfaction of building something from nothing.

That said, in my experience it is also harder work than any job that I’ve ever had as I suddenly have to become a jack of all trades.  And while languishing around in a sea of business skills that I do not have, it’s very easy to start to feel somewhat isolated.

So what’s the solution?

The truth is that while I may be feeling all alone there are plenty of other people who are in the same boat.  Well, not exactly the same boat because they’re struggling with a lack of the skills that I have and, of course, they have skills that I don’t.  So if we were to work together, we would have a significantly smaller skills gap than we do alone. 

So this is the value of networking for the owner of a new business.  To get together with like minded business people who are in a similar boat and support each other, benefiting from both the skills and the experiences of the group as a whole. 

Of course, meeting other people and talking about your business is also a great marketing strategy.  You can convey face to face the benefits of buying from your business which, although small scale, is a very powerful method of getting your message out.  After all, people prefer to buy from (and recommend) people they like and it’s difficult to like someone you’ve never met.  From my own experience, the best source of clients by far has been people I’ve networked with, either directly or by referral.

That said, it’s not just about connecting with potential customers.  I have also made the effort to connect with other people in my profession.  In some ways we are competitors, but they are the people who know my market and the challenges specific to my chosen field.  If properly managed, these relationships are so valuable as these are the people who have experienced and overcome the very issues I’m facing and who can offer the solutions I need to help me do the same.

I love networking.  I really enjoy meeting with other people and hearing about their businesses as well as having the opportunity to bounce around ideas for my own.  I have met some great people who have supported me tremendously, sometimes without even knowing just how much.

So my advice for anyone starting out in business is to get involved in some networking groups, build some relationships and realise that you are far from alone.

To find out more about how Pringle Accountants can help you, visit our website www.pringleaccountants.co.uk

Happy New Year

Here it is, 2014, and we’re already over a week in. So, did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year?  After the excesses of Christmas it is the obvious time to take a look at your life and resolve to do something different in order to make life better, a new start I suppose.  So what was it? Healthier diet?  Drink less? Exercise more?  And how are you doing?  Still going strong? Or fallen at the first hurdle?

Now whether you’re doing well or whether you only managed to stick to your resolution for 3 days, that’s still 3 days more than you would have managed had you not resolved to make the change in the first place.  It’s always good to have aims and targets as, even if you don’t achieve them, you will do better than if you’re not aiming for anything.

This isn’t just true in your personal life, it’s also true in your business.  It is good practice to take time out on a regular basis to objectively look at your business.  What are you doing that is working well?  Could you do it more?  Or better?  What isn’t working so well?  Is this something you could stop doing?  Or something you could improve?  It’s when you take a step back from your business, away from the hectic day to day running, that you can see clearly where the business is going and whether it’s going where you want to go.

When I worked as part of the management team for a medium sized company, as a team we would annually take the time to meet together, away from the business, and look strategically at how to move the business forward.  The best question, in my opinion, is, “If we were starting again today, what would this business look like?”.   Now, in order to answer this question properly, you will need some information from your business. For example, do you know which is the most profitable area of your business?  Do different areas of your business carry different levels of risk?  Are there any costs which could be easily eliminated?  Are you wasting money on any of your overheads?  Although don’t forget to consider what you do and don’t like doing.

Once you know what your business would ideally look like, the next question is, “How do we make get there?”.  This is your opportunity to make a plan.  It needs to be clear, achievable and measureable.  Do you remember that business plan you wrote when you first started your business?  Well, why not dust it off and give it a read?  How have you performed compared to your original plan?  You may even find there are some pearls of wisdom in there that you had forgotten all about, maybe something you could implement in 2014.  Could you update your business plan?  What do want your business to look like in 12 months, 5 years or even 10 years?  As an accountant I always find the numbers really easy to work with, but it’s also important to set out how you will achieve the numbers you’re aiming for.

But this isn’t the end of the exercise.  The next step is to block some time out in your diary, maybe in 3 months, 6 months or 12 months, so that you can review your plan and make sure that you’re still on track.  You may or may not achieve your business goals, but by making a plan you will have achieved more than if you hadn’t.

The saying is true, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!


To find out more about how Pringle Accountants can help you, visit our website www.pringleaccountants.co.uk

Where are you going?

I love Facebook.  I love how it enables me to stay up to date with my friends on a day to day basis even though some live too far away for me to see them as much as I would like.  I also think it is a great tool for small businesses, allowing easy networking opportunities for promotion, morale and advice – really important to alleviate the isolation of working alone.

I love how Facebook has enabled me to reconnect with old friends and colleagues with whom I had lost touch.  It’s great to see how people have moved on, what they’ve achieved and what they are doing now.  For some people, I could have predicted where they would be, but less so for others.

So the question is, are they happy with where they are?   Are they where they wanted to be?  I have one friend who has had her life planned out in her head for as long as I’ve known her – probably 15 years or so.  And her life has followed her plan. She’s qualified in the profession she sought after, has a lovely husband and the four children she wanted – it’s amazing really.  But to be fair to her, she has worked hard to achieve her goals and never lost sight of them.

Now I don’t know anyone else quite like her.  Certainly my life looks very differently than I imagined it would do 10 or 20 years ago.  But my aspirations have changed and my priorities with them, and my life reflects the choices I have made.  For the most part, I am happy with them.

So what about your business?  What will that look like in 5, 10 or 20 years time?  Do you have a clear long term plan that you  are working to achieve?  Or are you just drifting along hoping that success decides to land on your doorstep?  To be honest, with very few exceptions, success is something that you work at and you need a plan to get there.

Most businesses start out with a business plan.  A clear roadmap of what they hope to achieve and how they will go about it.  But how many business plans get shoved in a drawer and forgotten about?  And yet, how can anyone hope to achieve their goals without proper planning that is followed through?

The business plan is so often undervalued by businesses.  What it is, in fact, is a living document that can develop with your plans and ambitions.  Very few people can write a plan at the inception of their business which will see them through for the long term, but a good business plan will be adjusted as a business develops, changing with the benefit of hindsight and helping  you achieve your, possibly changing, long term goals. 

So why not get out your business plan today?  Have you achieved what you initially set out to do, or has your business taken a different direction?  Take some time now to plan how you can move your business forward and make sure that your long term goals always feature in your decision making process so that success, whatever that looks like to you, is where your business is going.


To find out more about how Pringle Accountants can help you, visit our website www.pringleaccountants.co.uk

Anything for an easy life?

I know it’s an annual thing, but a bit like Christmas my insurance renewal seems to sneak up on me every year.  So with less than a week until my current policy expired I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and shop around for a new quote.  I had been informed by my current insurer that they no longer offer the product that I had last year and so it was with a sigh of foreboding that I started trawling insurance websites looking for what I needed at a good price.

One website that I visited asked me a few straightforward questions before returning a reasonable quote.  To be honest, this particular site was a welcome relief to their competitors, some of whom asked incomprehensible questions, some of whom had websites which took so long to load that they “timed out due to inactivity” and one even required a phone call to a call centre where I was very helpfully informed that “the computer says no”.  I don’t think I need to tell you which policy I bought!!

 

So how easy do you make it for your customers?  Is it easy to buy from your business, or are there unnecessary hurdles to overcome?  Now don’t get me wrong, there are businesses that need some hurdles to ensure that customers are being sold the right product for them or for the protection of both parties.  After all, I would feel a little suspicious of an insurance provider who didn’t ask any questions at all.  But even when the sales process isn’t straightforward, is there anything you could do to make it easier for your potential customers?

 

Another thing to consider is whether it is just the complexity of your sales process that prevents people from buying from you?  I would say not, even with the most customer friendly sales process no business will achieve a 100% conversion rate of enquiries into customers.  But if someone has taken the time to enquire about your business, walk into your shop or check out your website, they must have an interest in the product or service you sell.

 

Increasing this conversion rate is a great way of increasing the number of customers and growing your business.  Of course, some of the reasons potential customers don’t buy will be out of your control but if you can identify as many objections as you can, find sensible solutions and communicate these effectively to potential customers you may well see an increase in your conversion rate and real growth in your business.

 

So try walking through the process yourself and seeing what frustrations you find, it may even be a good question to ask on social media to get a conversation started with those who have previously enquired but not purchased – and maybe even convert them!

How well is your business represented?

I was really quite annoyed earlier this week when, while shopping with my 2 year old, a van pulled into the last parent and child parking space at our local supermarket.  Of course, that would have been fine had there been a child in the van, but there was not.  This wasn’t just any van though, it was branded with the name of a local coffee shop (see my blog from a few weeks ago).

 

I am aware that many people are guilty of taking advantage of the proximity of these spaces to the shops, but most people are protected from consequences by their anonymity – unless of course a very harassed parent is up for a fight on a carpark (one should never entirely discount this possibility).

 

Now, most business owners I know are keen to present themselves well when put in front of potential customers.  After all, people buy from people or, more specifically, people buy from people they like, all other things being equal.

 

But when are you representing your business and when is it OK to behave in a less professional manner?  I am a member of various networking groups where everyone is on their best behaviour, but would I find people equally as courteous and professional if I ran into them in the pub after a tough day?  The truth is that you are always representing your business.  Even if no-one in the vicinity is ever likely to purchase your product or service, they may know someone else who is.  Or they may be a keen Facebook contributor whose friends are potential customers – I’m not sure that bad publicity is worse than no publicity at all. 

 

For every interaction you have, you have no idea where it will end up.  The number of times I have come across people in the course of my business who I have had a previous, completely unrelated, connection to is amazing.  It truly is a small world.  But the impression you made first time around still counts, and will influence a potential customer’s decision to buy from you.  This may be worth remembering next time someone cuts you up while driving – what image do you want to portray?

 

So it’s important to remember that you are always representing your business – in every photo on Facebook, while driving your car, in every social setting.  Make sure you represent your business well.

Always check the small print

I am a reader and I like to read everything that is put in front of me.  I’m a nightmare for reading notices and labels, but also an advertisers dream because if there are words written, I am drawn to them. 

 

So while out shopping recently I saw a sign on a shop and was amused at what it said.

 

 

If you’re wondering which bit caught my eye, it was the qualification on the price match guarantee.  A qualification which, in my view, makes it no guarantee at all.

 

Now in all fairness to this particular establishment, they are at least prepared to put their small print on the front of their shop for all to see, as opposed to hiding it at the back of a sales agreement in writing so small that requires a magnifying glass and which often can result in a customer buying a product very different from the product they believe they are purchasing. 

 

A number of banks have employed such practices in the past resulting in recent significant costs in the form of compensation for missold payment protection insurance.  But it’s not just the banks, have you ever approached your insurance provider hoping to make a claim, only to find that you weren’t as comprehensively covered as you had perhaps believed?

 

While working for an international conglomerate, I did some work with the Japanese arm of the company and was amazed at the levels of trust upon which business operates in Japan.  I found it fantastic that a gentleman’s word was his bond and that a handshake agreed the terms of a deal without any need for long legal processes.  But more that, the management of the Japanese business would not contemplate reneging on an agreement they had made as it would significantly impede their ability to work in their market in the future.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to just believe what people say, to be confident that you weren’t going to be ripped off and to know that the society in which you operate frowned upon misselling to the point where those guilty of it would be rejected by the market place?

 

So what about your customers?  Would they describe you as a stand up guy, someone who can be relied upon to deliver their promises?  Or is your inclination to look for a get out clause when things get difficult?

 



Christmas comes but once a year

I started my Christmas shopping last week, in October!! Only just in October, I grant you, but nonetheless in October.  Now this may be no big deal to some people, in fact I know one (smug) person who has already finished (and wrapped) her Christmas shopping, but I am usually panic buying the week before Christmas for those of my loved ones who are, at best, difficult to buy for (at worst, downright awkward) and for whom I have procrastinated the gift buying process until it can be put off no longer.

 

 

Now we all know that Christmas is on 25^th December.  It has always been on 25^th December and I have known that it was coming up on the 25^th December this year since before 25^th December last year.  So why is it always a last minute rush to get organised?  The truth is that with better planning, not only could I reduce my stress levels, but also quite possibly reduce my Christmas spending – after all, with the whole realm of internet shopping available I would be less likely to plump for an extravagant gift just so that I could go home, or at least be able to shop around for a better price on said extravagant gift.

 

The 31^st January is the deadline for filing your tax return and paying any outstanding tax due.  It is the same deadline every year and yet, as an accountant, I can give testament to the fact that this deadline seems to come as a surprise to some people every year.

 

There is, in fact, nothing to be gained from leaving your tax return until the last minute – even if you submit your return in May, the tax due will not need to be paid any earlier, but by being well organised and having your books and records in order you can ensure that you claim all of the expenses and allowances available with plenty of time to peruse the HRMC website and watch their YouTube videos (which I can recommend) for any help needed thus saving accountancy fees. 

 

Those who leave it until the last minute, however, will often miss some expenses where unrecorded receipts have gone astray, may miss out on allowances without the time to properly investigate what is available to them and may even struggle to find an accountant to help them as many firms struggle to hit the deadlines for their existing last minute clients without adding to their already heavy workload with new ones.  Of course if you don’t manage to hit the deadline, there are late filing fees to pay which is just the start of the interest and penalties that HMRC can levy.

 

So when's the best time to do your tax return?  Well how about now, after all who wants to be doing their tax return over the festive period or adding to the hangover of January?  And just a note for your diary - next year's tax return deadline will also be 31^st January.