Donovan

Are you managing your business correctly? 

Managing a small business isn’t as daunting as it seems. However, we all need someone to consult with as a means of having a second point of view. Our small business management consultancy can be especially helpful for startup and contractor companies that are inexperienced or just need expert advice on a new field.

Many small business owners don’t realise the importance of today’s business decisions on tomorrow’s cash flow, how companies can appear to have money in the bank but still be technically insolvent or the importance of thoroughly managing your cash. Management is a critical part of a business’s success and we strive to make sure you understand the long-term impact of decisions you make today.

How we help

TaxAgility are experienced professionals in small business consultancy and have a variety of ways to help you, the business owner. These are just a small insight into what our services include:

• Preparation of annual business plans, forecasts and projections - these plans are designed to keep your business on the right track by planning where your business is going and regularly looking at the plan to see if you’re on track.
• Review of credit control and cash management - TaxAgility accountants will review how you manage your cash, ensuring you have a healthy cash flow. Our accountants will also ensure you’re in control of all your credits as you don’t want to fall into insolvency.
• Attendance at key business meetings - our accountants will attend meetings with you to make sure the meeting results are in your best interests financially and that no decisions are made without our expert advice.

For more on what our services include, read our Small Business Management Consultancy page.

We will provide you with expert accountants to make sure you are getting the best advice to make your business as profitable as possible.

TaxAgility believes in offering advice based on your goals for your business and different opportunities that may come up for you. We do this by having regular review meetings to keep everyone up to date and ensure we’re all working and on track towards the same goal.

We understand how time consuming certain tasks like bookkeeping and yearly reports can be, which result in you having less time dedicated to other - equally as important - aspects of your business. Our expert accountants will take care of the financial decisions so that you can continue to run your business successfully.

Call us now on 020 8780 2349 to arrange a meeting to discuss our small business management consulting service.

by Donovan

Is The Sales Call Dead or Alive?

When was the last time you received an ‘unsolicited’ sales call? Chances are, as a small business owner, the time period will be measured in a day or less. Ask yourself this though: what happened when you realised it was a sales call? Did you firmly (but politely) ask them not to call you again? Did you put the phone down instantly? You probably weren’t interested, it was inconvenient (or annoying) and you only wanted to keep it short. Stepping back and thinking about what just happened, to both you and the person who made the call, one quickly realises that the reason why so many small business owners are reluctant to make sales call themselves is because of fear of rejection.

As Accountants serving small businesses across London, we have helped many clients to expand and grow their business over the years. For clients who want to target new customers, sales calls are still necessary – in fact, many would say picking up the phone is still a better approach then sending out an unsolicited email. So let’s talk for a moment about sales calls and how to make them work for you.

Don’t make it personal

Let’s set the record straight – when people say no to a sales pitch, they are not rejecting ‘you’ as a person. They just aren’t into buying the product or service you’re selling at this moment.

So take the emotion out of the sale (keep the passion though), don’t appear nervous or too eager. Instead, be clear as to exactly why you are calling. Using a clear and well thought through 15 second ‘elevator pitch’, is often a great starting point. Also, have an organised sales process, one that allows you to identify where you are in the sales cycle and where the potential client is in their thinking, quickly. This allows you to prepare and have the most appropriate responses written down so you come across professionally.

Research first

Spend some time researching your prospects before picking up the phone. If you know exactly how your product or solution will benefit them, work that in to your ‘elevator pitch’ to improve your chances.

No strings attached

Even if you have the most fantastic product or service, business clients today are not likely to buy it right away over the phone, so what can you do to get them interested and want to talk to you further? Many successful entrepreneurs give something out for free without any strings attached, such as a one-to-one tutorial, a white paper, a free trial, things that are useful and have real value to the prospects.

Also, as people like to do their own research, give them your website, company Facebook, or twitter username.

Once you accept that rejection is just ‘parr-for-the-course’ and not personal, you can focus on success and with increasing successful sales calls, get more clients, at which point it may mean that you are ready to expand your business. This is when TaxAgility, as professional business advisors, will sit down with you to look at numbers, advise on growth and assist with tax planning, areas which you can get funding (and how we can help), among other things.

TaxAgility are local London small business accountants, dedicated to making your small business a real success. Give us a call on 020 8780 2349.

by Donovan

Protect your business from ransomware

The latest ransomware attack which infects more than 300,000 computers in organisations across 150 countries, including the NHS in England, has left people worried about their work and personal computers now.

Are you at risk?

Let’s briefly mention what ransomware is – it’s a computer virus which encrypts your files (documents, videos, photos, databases) and won’t release them unless you pay a ransom in the virtual currency Bitcoin and within the time duration given. Tricking you into installing the virus unknowingly from an innocent-looking email is a common way which the virus gets into your computer. Another way is by exploiting a security hole in software on your machine.

Usually ransomware targets machines running Windows operating systems, in both big corporations as well as small companies. Home users are believed to be at lower risk to this particular virus. However, that doesn’t mean you should lower your guard.

There are few immediate steps to protect yourself:

• Backup your files now – on the cloud and offline (like an external hard drive that isn’t connected to the Internet).
• Open and read your email with great care. Do not read any innocent-looking emails that make you pause, like an email titled ‘Lindsey sent you an invoice’ which doesn’t fit into the pattern of Lindsey or your financial practice. Do not click on the links within this type of email.
• Update your Windows operating systems to the latest version, or install the latest patches.
• Install firewalls.
• Install/ update your anti-virus software.

Use Cloud Accounting

Considering the constant threat from ransomware, it’s a good time for small business owners to switch to cloud accounting – which basically means the accounting system is hosted on remote servers, rather than the software in your computer. The two main benefits of cloud accounting for small business owners are:

• It allows you to access your accounts anywhere, as long as you have internet connection.
• It keeps your data safe. You don’t have to waste time/money trying to recover any lost data in your work machine.

To find out more information about cloud accounting and how we can help, visit the post titled ‘Why so many SMEs are switching to cloud accounting’.

Liked this article? Then you may also like “Small business: make cyber security a priority”

by Donovan

Are You Geared Up To Embrace A Connection Based Economy?

The first question of course is “What is a connection based economy?”

It stems from the growing impact of people not liking being sold to, though they love to buy. This in itself is not a new idea. But the truth is, we live in a world where communication is largely-funded by advertising, and we are overwhelmed by flood of promotional materials constantly. So it isn’t surprising to see that we are becoming more and more unresponsive.

The Millennials, the group of people born between the early 80s and mid to late 90s and early 2000s, are particularly sensitive. They can spot when they are being sold to a mile off and it is a huge turn off for them.

This ‘problem’ has given birth to a new way of doing business, which is the ‘connection based’ model, which many businesses, or any size, can adopt and adapt. In an odd sort of way, it’s not really a way to do business, it’s a way to facilitate business.

Humans are connection machines

Humans are very good at communication, it’s essentially what we are built to do. As part of that, we are very good at connecting things. The idea of a connection based economy is one where the effort is focused on helping your customers connect with one another.

Take Uber for instance. Their business model has no physical assets, it relies on providing a service where two groups of people come together to do business - people who want to get others from A to B and those who need to get from A to B.

The online take-out food services are another example - companies like Deliveroo and Just Eat. These services allow you to connect two groups of people to each other. It connects people who want restaurant food without going out for it and the restaurants who want their food to reach more people.

This is one reason why the market for smartphone applications has grown exponentially over the past few years; Candy Crush acknowledged of course. Smartphone applications are an easy-access, convenient way of communicating and connecting with others without location or time being an issue.

Food For Thought

Our business world and the ways people do business is evolving at a rate which few can keep up with, but those that do stand to reap huge rewards.

The challenge is to step back and reassess your own business and how it interacts with customers. Look closely at how your market is evolving and in particular how the technologies your customers are using can lead to new ways you can do business.

This may open up opportunities where developing an environment based on your particular market expertise can lead to you benefiting from simply facilitating other people’s businesses.

So embrace the connection based economy.

by Donovan