Methods, scenarios and sources of data for 2021 forecasting The worst is behind us. This statement is contingent on where you are in the world, but with the new vaccine announcements, it’s valid for most countries. All good news notwithstanding, the safe perspective to use right now is to see … Continue reading →

Following on the theme, this article is about the non-essential product and service small businesses that are struggling with their existence. This time we will attempt to frame some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve heard small businesses asking at this point in time, mainly in the U.K. Previously, we … Continue reading →

How to cashflow yourself to the end of the year – tick! This is again about non-essential product and service businesses that are struggling with their existence and we previously outlined how to cashflow to the end of the year. To borrow or not to borrow – tick! If you … Continue reading →

Non-essential B2B businesses need concrete scenario planning This article proposes three concrete scenarios to help you start planning for the medium and long- term future and move out of the lockdown psychologically. And it may help you prepare for the recovery in whatever form it takes. We are aiming at … Continue reading →

When things don’t go as planned for your business, and you cannot do much about your income, be it as a result of a global downturn or a local demand shortage, it’s time to look at your costs. There are two type of costs or expenses in your business that … Continue reading →

Here is a scenario: your last year revenues were 12% less than projected and expenses were 7% less than expected too. Good. You managed to save some margin, no matter how small. However, if this trend continues – revenue going down faster than expenses – you will run into trouble. … Continue reading →

Like in most knowledge-based professions these days, we too get this future-inspired question: ‘What’s the point of you as financial analysts when you (like my accountant) will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence’? Let’s start with perception vs reality First, your accountant is not going anywhere soon, unless you have decided to … Continue reading →

I am glad you asked. You see, big publicly traded companies must report their numbers in detail. It is a legal requirement. But behind the scenes, there is an army of people dissecting, summarising and reporting to the management to help them monitor the course and anticipate the storms. Entire … Continue reading →

The whole point of a business is to make money to cover its costs, including your staff and yourself, and ideally something extra to be reinvested or given back to you, the owner(s). But that does not always happen, does it? Some years the revenues are not enough for the … Continue reading →

Business assumptions and habits are often legacies of the past. You do things the way you do because on day one you had a problem you had to solve and that is how you solved it. They have now become your status quo. Could you change them? Maybe. Should you … Continue reading →

Today’s problems were yesterday’s solutions. Many of the things you do every day in your business, assumptions you make and decisions you evaluate positively, are legacies of the past. You are doing them the way you do because on day one you had a problem you had to solve, and … Continue reading →

You started a small business, or you manage one today. You know everything there is to know about it. Or do you? Let’s explore three aspects of your business that you may have not thought about. These are: who you have become in your clients’ perception, who your real competition … Continue reading →

September is here, things are still looking weird, so now it’s the time to switch to emergency short-termism. In other words, cashflow monitoring on a monthly basis. We spoke about the particular case of the summer 2019 and the need for scenarios and reviewed projections before for UK small businesses. Whether or … Continue reading →

If you are an owner of a UK-based company, chances are you may be spending your summer days worrying if things will take a downturn this autumn. If this is the case, it may be the time to do some scenario planning. Even if you don’t employ others, but you … Continue reading →

I help clients’ businesses become more profitable, using financial and management accounting amongst other things.  I use some principles to guide my advice which I think are valid, no matter who you are, or the type of business you are running.  In my experience, if you bear these principles in … Continue reading →

Scaling up in the right way is the key to the growth of your business. In B2B professional services, your growth capacity lies in your people’s skills. Unfortunately, scaling up through people is the most difficult thing to get right. You are dealing with the most unpredictable and sensitive resource … Continue reading →

In the area of professional services, scaling up in the right way is the key to the growth of your business. Here we refer only to B2B businesses, i.e. when you sell your services to other companies. You won’t find a single recipe for how to scale up, because it … Continue reading →

When you meet a lot of people from the same professional group, you end up hearing some similar stories. In the area of professional services, we have met enough small business owners to be able to identify a number of shared experiences. Their success stories differ wildly – there is … Continue reading →

In collaboration with Jeanne Monchovet (http://www.olystix.com/) Small business selling to other businesses (B2B) do not do regular and consistent client interviews to check their service level and get feedback. The feedback they get is mostly based on a couple of clients’ comments received during account management visits. The assumption is … Continue reading →

As usual, we’re talking here about small businesses in professional services, because we like to help them grow and thrive. Their usual pattern is to start life in the entrepreneur’s own home, then move out to an office, and then to a bigger office. Every step up increases the cost … Continue reading →