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Please click on the question of interest to see the relevant response
How much do you charge? First of all our intitial meeting with you is free; the intention of which is to learn more about your business, establish our credibility with you and see if there is anything that we can help you with. At that point we will agree a commercial rate with you. Typically this is based on a daily rate appropriate to the service we are providing. Sometimes it may be a fixed fee for a given project. The cost will be no more than you will have paid for plumbing, accountancy or garage services. Our experience is that we can quickly recover our costs through the impact we make on the profitability and performance of your business. If you would like a free, no obligation meeting with an experienced UKBA business advisor, please email us now - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - letting us know what the issue is and how you think we can help. Who are your services for? Our target audience is managing director/owners of businesses with 5+ staff and/or a turnover in excess of £250k. Having said that, we do work with start up companies and have successfully raised funds for new ventures. Essentially, as a commercial organisation, any company needs to be able to afford us (see Q1 above). Please click here for a pdf of the services we provide. Why would I use you? It's the old adage of working 'in' a business rather than 'on' it. If you're the boss, you are probably dealing with (fire fighting maybe) the daily issues that are ending up on your desk - because the buck ultimately stops with you. By working with us, you are accessing a businessman/woman who knows what it takes to run a business, with the benefit of being able to take an unbiased, 'helicopter view' of your organisation and work with you 'on' the business. It can also be a lonely place to be and having an experienced ear to use as a sounding board will impact your business and help relieve some of the day to day pressure that you may be experiencing! Please take a look at these relevant links: Case Studies, References What’s the difference between you and Business Link? Business Link (BL) are a government funded body that have access to various grants and funding schemes to support the SME sector. BL do not provide any direct business support and only act as a broker or signpost organisation, recommending companies from their supplier matching service. This means there is no consistency or quality control in terms of the person that will be providing support for your business. UKBA are an independent, commercial organisation providing direct, hands on support through members who have a proven track record with many years of business experience. You may be interested to read an independent report undertaken by Doug Richard, of Dragon's Den fame, about the small business services offered through government agencies - click here to download. What’s the difference between you and consultants? We deliberately use the words "business advisors" as opposed to consultants to convey that UKBA members are experienced, hands on, practical and passionate about working with clients. We are definitely not about writing lengthy reports telling you what you already know about your business, charging you hefty prices and then leaving you to it. Our philosophy is action based plans that deliver results. Take a look at a selection of profiles of UKBA members - click here. I use my bank manager/accountant for business support – why would I need you? Whilst bank managers and accountants offer valid, professional advice - it is limited to their core competences. Would you really use them for support on sales, marketing, operations, HR and many other issues - all of which are important to the successful running of your business? It's best to ask an expert and that's who we are. Take a look at a selection of profiles of UKBA members - click here. Aren’t you trying to be a “jack of all trades”? Some independent business advisors work with companies on all aspects of a business; be it sales, marketing, finance, operations, etc. With over 80 members, UKBA are able to offer the right person, with the right skill set, to do the right job for our clients. You will see that our members are listed with certain, specific skill sets and we can offer an holistic offering to clients by having this breadth of experience. One person is not an expert on every aspect of business! Please click here for a pdf of the services we provide. What credentials do you have? All our members are part of the UKBA by invitation only - this means that they have a proven track record of working within the SME sector. As well as being accredited by the Institute for Independent Business (IIB), many of our members hold other credentials from recognised bodies relevant to their field. Most importantly, all have had direct experience of running their own businesses - we know what it's like! Take a look at a selection of profiles of UKBA members - click here. How do you guarantee your services? We are as good as our last job! We are confident in our ability to provide you with a service that will significantly impact your business, therefore, for most of the support we provide, there is no long term contract and you are able to cancel at any time. In addition, you may want to talk to an existing client to establish what we can do - this can be arranged by request. Please click here for a pdf of the services we provide. Take a look at these relevant links: Case Studies, References Do you cover the whole of the UK? There are some gaps in our coverage and we are working to develop new groups to address those areas. Whilst we may not have a local group in your location, as we are all accredited associates of the Institute for Independent Business (IIB), we have access to over 1,000 associates in the UK - therefore we can usually accommodate any geographical location by using this extra resource. In Ireland, we have an affiliated group of IIB associates - Focus Business Advisers. Please download our organisation chart of the different groups we have - click here. If you’re that confident in your services, why don’t you work on a no win, no fee basis? As we are a commercial organisation we have overheads and ongoing costs, hence the need to charge for our services. There are some cases where a no win, no fee arrangement is possible - for example when raising funding, grant applications and some legal areas. You should be wary of any organisation offering free services. |
