Businesses and individuals are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertain times due to the COVID-19 emergency. Our support page link is at the end of this newsflash. Like you, we are feeling the impact to our work, families and friends. UK Business Advisors (UKBA) have contingency plans in place and are we already remote working and communicating via phone and video calls to support our clients. As premier advisors to UK Small and Medium sized businesses, we are ready to play our part to help our clients and the wider business community during these difficult times. We remain confident that businesses that show decisive leadership can survive and bounce back. UK Business Advisors have activated our nationwide network of experienced advisors to help business owners and directors plan what is needed. Even with government grants, business rates relief or emergency loan support there will be difficult decisions to be made quickly. We can provide initial support and share our … [Read more...]
Important employment law changes coming in April 2020
As the New Year dawns, some changes to the detail of your employment contracts, leave arrangements and holiday pay will need to be made in April. Furthermore you will need to start to think about how you are going to resource your business with changes in how ‘temps’ are paid and, further down the line, how your company is going to employ contractors. Employment contracts Two changes may be necessary depending on your current contracts and your process for issuing them to new starters after April 6th 2020. Firstly, all new starters (including employees, zero hours’ workers, casual and seasonal workers) after this date need to be issued with a written statement on or before the first day of employment (rather than within the first 8 weeks of employment as is currently the case) Secondly, for new employment contracts issued after 6th April 2020, the mandatory information that needs to be included has been extended to include the following: normal hours of work, days … [Read more...]
Are you ready to put your STAMP on 2020?
Strategy Targets Accounts Marketing People However you voted in December, and whatever your preferred outcome, we know the UK will be leaving the EU on 31st January. The clock starts on the transition period… but don’t worry, this is not a Brexit rant! The start of every New Year is the perfect time to restock your thought-bank, recharge your batteries and do some planning. Here’s how you can put your STAMP on your business in 2020 by focusing on these 5 important areas: Strategy Most small businesses do not have an up-to-date business plan, which means they tend to focus only on shorter-term outcomes. And as the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there.” The classic result is an initial feeling that you are responding to the market and widening the range of services you provide, but this soon develops into a business spread so wide that it’s impossible for potential customers … [Read more...]
Why you need to focus on values and behaviours for business growth
In my experience of working with MDs of their own companies over the last 14 years it doesn’t take very long before they start talking about why they set up their business, what is important to them in running the business and keeping it solvent/profitable, the differences that exist between them and other Directors and shareholders or conversations that start about a manager who just doesn’t get it. There are many insightful stories and anecdotes. Passions and frustrations run high in equal measure. So in a very conversational way, the values of the MD become very clear i.e. what really matters to them. With a bit of gentle probing, it doesn’t take a lot to get an MD to define the behaviours that enable success in their business. ‘If only people did this, we would be even more productive.’ When the MD set up the business, working with a small team, direction, focus, consistent behaviour was all a lot easier because everyone could see what was happening, everyone was involved in … [Read more...]
Why you need to improve your listening skills!
It’s not often that I write an article for business people telling them to do something. Typically, if someone tells me to do something, my urge is to do the opposite! Due to that fact, I avoid telling others to do something unless I feel very strongly about it. I feel very strongly about the importance of possessing excellent listening skills and have yet to meet someone who couldn’t improve theirs, however good they are (or think they are). Why? Because they are essential! Listening is the key to understanding, whether in conversation with a business partner, an opponent, a sales call, trying to close a deal, figure out why a staff person is unhappy or demotivated, or what’s really going on at your child’s school. It is all through your listening skills. What isn’t being said? It’s not just about what the person says, but what the person isn’t saying. There are clues in their word choices. Are they being evasive or direct? Are they hesitant? Having you used language that allows … [Read more...]
Is your business stuck at a crossroads? Time for a strategic review.
Many businesses reach a stage when they are at a crossroads about the direction to take next or are “stuck” without a clear strategy. It may be a crisis point or it could be an opportunity to take a different path. Directors may no longer be aligned with the planned company direction, and this can cause friction. Rather than putting off hard decisions, it makes sense to face up to the challenges and opportunities, have a strategy review and then put an implementation plan in place. Reasons for a strategic crossroads could include: Change in market dynamics that impact growth or profit potential.Increased competition forcing new approaches.Loss of important customers or contracts.New product or service opportunities possibly requiring research and development.Recognition that the business is too reliant on a small number of key customers.Macroeconomic/political changes such as Brexit.Divergence of what Directors want from the business.Planning for exit / opportunities to … [Read more...]
How to pick the best candidate for your Technology business C-Suite
With the current skills shortage in the technology sector and ever-increasing demand it is simply not enough to broadcast a role when you are recruiting for your leadership team. Placing an advertisement or hoping a quality candidate will alight upon your website will rarely succeed. You deserve and require the very best of candidates. Invariably, finding great people requires a more proactive approach. The best candidates are not looking for your role The best of candidates, or targets, are probably fully committed to working for a competitor, supplier, customer or possibly currently working overseas and not actively looking for another role. Alternatively, they may be restricted via a compromise agreement, garden leave or clause in their current contract – all of which can be the subject of further negotiation and equitable determination. A discreet approach A thorough, comprehensive, discreet and confidential first approach to the targets is required for a … [Read more...]
Top tips to reduce business legal fees and prevent expensive disputes
Litigation should never be embarked on lightly. There is no such thing as a “clear-cut case”. Most lawyers will rarely give even the strongest case more than a 70% chance of success. There are a number of questions which you need to ask yourself before seeking to resolve a dispute by embarking on litigation: Is the dispute one which you need to address? It is important to look at any dispute dispassionately and without emotion. Have you looked at every possible way of resolving the dispute?Can you afford to lose the case, which could involve you having to pay not only your own costs, but also a large portion of the other side’s costs?Is there a significant disparity between the respective financial strengths of the 2 parties?Will you be able to withstand the attacks you and your business will face from lawyers experienced in our adversarial legal system?Can you afford the distraction that a lengthy court hearing could cause? I will address each question: Disputes can often … [Read more...]
Are successful business leaders born or made?
The answer to this poser invokes the old, ‘nature’ versus ‘nurture’ argument. Maybe we need to study twins who were separated at birth, where one became a business leader, and determine what happened to the other? In the real world, business leaders, like any other leaders, come in all shapes and sizes. If you studied a group of successful business leaders from various industrial sectors, I would hazard a guess that they would have different personality traits and backgrounds. The variants are likely to be greater still according to discipline. Successful business leader in the financial sector are unlikely to have the same personality characteristics as one in the high technology sector or in the hospitality arena. An accomplished executive in the insurance sector, however, may very well have more in common with a leader of a banking institute. I’m making some assumptions here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you are in agreement. Are business leaders born or … [Read more...]
How to design a robust profit-sharing bonus scheme for 2019
In the last newsletter we talked about what to do about awarding a Xmas bonus. [If you missed it click here to find it] Now we talk about putting a bonus scheme into place for 2019. If your financial year-end is say March, the next few months could be a good time to develop and trial a scheme before launching it in April. What should l incentivise people on? The profitability of the business is a simple way to measure business success. If there is a large minority of support staff then you might also consider cost-savings/efficiency savings as being the other side of the profit coin. You might be tempted by the achievement of individual objectives. Our general experience in the SME space is that staff appraisals don’t happen consistently enough so we wouldn’t recommend a performance pay system based on the achievement of individual objectives, as MDs usually haven’t the infrastructure in place to make this watertight. What do l need to do first? You will presumably have a business … [Read more...]
