06 February 2024
“In life, change is inevitable. In business, change is vital.” Warren G. Bennis
Every Spring we traditionally give our homes a thorough clean and, in essence the same practice should be applied to our businesses. But as with many big tasks, the question is – where to make a start? Here are some of our top tips to help you dust off your old processes and get ready to spring clean your business!
1. Revisit your business plan: Every year, business owners should review their business plan and update it to reflect their current goals. If you ignore your business plan, it’s easy to become side-tracked, which might be fine if it leads to a successful strategy, but it might just be the reason why you aren’t achieving your goals. Knowledge is key to writing a business plan. If you need help and advice on business planning, please contact us.
2. Review your business goals: Without goals, no plan will stand the test of time, so have you achieved the goals you set out last year? If not, are they still relevant and if so, why haven’t they been achieved? Do you need to set more realistic goals? Taking advice ahead of starting a new project or setting a goal is important to the success and can often mean avoiding incurring costs down the line that could have been saved if advice had been taken up front. Speak to us if you business goals have changed and you need advice on your long term goals such as expansion and improvement, scaling up and raising funding or exiting/selling a business.
3. Evaluate your finances: You might already have internal finance staff who look after finances, but it pays to review all these functions and ensure you are getting the most from your team. Knowing the value of your company’s assets, debts, capital and cashflow are good starting blocks for reviewing your goals and business plan. With so much data potentially available in your business, it is important as an owner to know what management information you should look at regularly and how to analyse it to make decisions, improve performance, and keep control of all areas of your business. We can advise on accounting software implementation, training and support.
4. Review your employees: The staff you employ can make or break a business, so your employees need to support your company’s vision. Do you have the right people in place to support you? Have you got a shared vision and plan? Maybe you need to hire a specialist in a specific area to leverage their expertise? We’ve developed a range of outsourced services that ease the burden of administration, save you time and money and ensure you stay compliant.
Our outsourced services cover everything from running your complete finance function to payroll, company secretarial, non-exec services and IT outsourcing. Talk to us, if you want to find out more.
5. Update your website: It is no secret that your business website can help your business grow and evolve. But if you let much needed changes fall through the cracks, your website can easily collect dust. Chances are, your business has grown and changed over the last year and needs a bit of attention, fixing little details can make a huge impact.
If you don’t have a website, then it’s time to put that in motion. Increasing revenue is the target and you can’t do this without a good sales and marketing strategy. You need to find the best way to market your product or service to create sales opportunities and put a clear process in place to convert those opportunities.
6. Revisit your processes: The best way to evaluate your processes is to ask yourself – what would you do differently if you were just starting out today? This is your opportunity to streamline your processes, saving both time and money in the future.
If these or any other challenges are affecting your business contact us. Our support and advice covers people, financials, systems, processes, risk and we can provide clear business advice on how you can grow.
At Haines Watts we are more than just accountants, we work with business owners, building trusted relationships, because we know that the more we know your business, the more we can help make it better. We focus exclusively on owner managed businesses and work with over 30,000 of them what’s more all of our partners are owner managers themselves, so we understand not just the numbers but the business issues that you face.
Embracing Change
Changing your accountant can feel daunting, but it's a step towards optimising your business's financial management. Embrace the change with an open mindset and being proactive in communicating your business goals and expectations to your new accountant. Working together seamlessly will lead to more accurate financial insights and better decision-making for your business's future.
Changing your accountant, it’s easier than you think
Changing your accountant is surprisingly easier than you might imagine. While it's a significant decision that demands careful consideration and planning, the steps ahead are straightforward once you've made up your mind.
You will be sent a new engagement letter for agreement, approval and signature, it will outline the terms and associated fees. Once signed and returned we will handle all the necessary tasks on your behalf. Including sharing documentation, parting ways with your previous accountants, and maintaining an open line of communication.
Embrace change with confidence and anticipate a more prosperous financial future for your business. Looking for an accountant to partner with? start a conversation with us today…
- Click Here to contact our Derby office
- Click Here to contact our Leicester office
- Click Here to contact our Nottingham office
Related content you may find of interest:
Owning it. Business conversations. Our very own series of business conversations brought to you by Haines Watts aiming to uncover the trials and tribulations of being a business owner, from the highs and lows to everything in between.
Author
Mark Roe
Director
