A new recent business guide on our website contains details of how to present a request for finance to your bank. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Bank account’
How to present a request for finance to your bank
Thursday, June 17th, 2010Raising finance for your business
Friday, February 19th, 2010Raising finance for businesses following the credit crunch and the recession is challenging to say the least. If you are thinking of expanding your business, or starting a new one, you will need to raise finance. This requires careful planning and good professional advice. It is generally wise to seek financing from a number of finance sources. This will give you greater prospects of funding and flexibility in the long term. (more…)
Buying a Business
Thursday, December 10th, 2009Buying an established business that someone else wishes to sell provides a path that many follow to fulfil the desire to enter into business or expand existing operations. Like buying a second hand car or house the need for care and due diligence is essential as this could represent the opportunity to achieve ambitions, but could also be the route to financial disaster, as Lloyds Banking Group discovered after they had acquired HBOS – seemingly with little attention to the financial situation of their acquisition.
Advantages of buying a business
One of the main reasons for buying an existing business is the partial elimination of the time and stress in establishing and growing a business. While the initial outlay may be greater this is almost certain to be represented by underlying assets. Any deficiency in asset value is normally represented by what is known as ‘goodwill’ – the difference between the price of the business and the underlying value of the net assets. That is the price of being able to operate an existing business and generate cash flow and profits. It may also be easier to secure financing for an existing business, provided there is a positive track record and the purchaser is considered a suitable person or company for running the business successfully.
A new business may be acquired through a franchise. Other business types include internet or mail order businesses.
Disadvantages of buying a business
Often the biggest hurdle to buying a small business outright is the initial purchasing cost. As the business concept, customer base, brands and other fundamental work are already established the financial costs of acquiring an existing business are usually greater than starting one from nothing. Other possible disadvantages include hidden problems associated with the debtors or stock that may not be worth what they are valued at. Good research and professional advice are essential ingredients on the path to acquiring a business.
Other disadvantages of buying an existing business include:
Credit Management
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009Good credit management is always crucial to the profitability of your business, but during an economic downturn, it can become a matter of life or death.
With traditional sources of credit tightening, businesses are currently forced to manage their cash as effectively as possible. But if customers delay or default on payments the flow of cash becomes tighter and the very survival of the business is threatened.
Currently three fifths of UK businesses are experiencing cash-flow problems due to late payments and defaults.
What can you do to make sure payments are made on time and in full?
How effective is your credit management?
Many problems of late payment and bad debt can be avoided by making sound arrangements at the beginning of a trading relationship. How many of the following can you answer ‘Yes’ to?
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Disaster Recovery
Friday, December 4th, 2009If a disaster were to strike your business could you maintain essential operations during the emergency and fully recover afterwards?
The commonest threat to a business is data loss, but there are many other potential threats such as sudden loss of key staff, unexpected loss of a critical supplier, or disruption to essential services such as electricity, not to mention possible disasters such as a fire, storm, flood, or even a terrorist attack.
Being unprepared for such eventualities could be severely damaging and potentially fatal for a business. A little time and energy spent now developing a business continuity plan could prove to be a very worthwhile investment in the future.
If you would like to discuss how we can help you with a business continuity plan, give us a call today.
