Improve the profitability of your small business

Statistics show that around two-thirds of small businesses failed to make a profit last year or increase their profit at all. However, people do not realise how much a small change can impact a business. Making a series of small changes can increase profitability more than making one big change. Here are some suggestions you can take to increase your profit.

Revenue and Costs – The Direct and Indirect

In basic terms, revenue minus costs equates to profit. So to increase your profit you can either increase your sales or reduce your costs. Many businesses may have little control over the amount of sales they do but all businesses should have control over their costs.

Negotiating prices with suppliers can be a key factor to reducing your direct costs. Many businesses tend to stick with one supplier and not negotiate prices but being aware of market prices can increase your bargaining power and potentially save you a lot of money. Costs that could be regularly reviewed in your business include insurance, utilities, mobile/telephone charges and Internet.

Ways to decrease your overheads and indirect costs are less obvious compared to direct costs. A good way to lower your indirect costs is to improve your systems. For example, switching from a paper based system to an electronic system to keep important records and manage documents can help reduce your administration costs and minimises the chances for errors. It may be good business practice to review your systems on an annual basis and to seek input from staff from future improvements.

Marketing and visibility

It can be a very difficult task for small businesses to get their name out and having a small marketing budget doesn’t help either. One thing to keep in mind is not the size of the budget but the effectiveness of your marketing. Understanding your target audience is vital to promoting the awareness of your business. For example, as a local fish and chips shop located near a high school, you can offer a meal deal for students. The sales promotion will help attract one of your key target audiences and possibly increase the reputation of your shop through word of mouth.  Also, make sure your advertisements are tailored towards your target audience. Hearing back from 10% of 200 people is better than 1% out of 1000 people.

Certifications and accreditations can help put you ahead of your competitors. With the Internet being such a huge platform for communication, it is definitely to your advantage to go online. Try setting up a user friendly company website or use social media sites to increase the awareness of your business. It is a cheap and effective way of promoting your business to prospective customers.

Managing your Cash Flow

Interests on loans may seem insignificant at one point in time but it quickly accumulates to realisable figures that can put a dent on your profitability. Try keeping a reserve of cash that can be used to cover your current liabilities i.e. short-term loans and interests on long term loans. Having a healthy cash flow can reduce the problems you face if a short-term commitment arises.

Key Performance Indicators

Analysing key indicators can give light to areas of improvement for a business. Common indicators include actual sales figures against forecasts, costs against budgets, gross profit margin and staff costs. Get advice from your accountant to ensure you’re monitoring the right indicators for your business as staff tends to work towards them whether they are critical to the business or not.

The Real Gems of your business

In particular to small businesses, every staff member has the opportunity to spread your company’s message. Everyone needs to contribute: whether that is networking on the web, promoting sale offers or greeting customers with a smile, every small thing matters. Get them to be as motivated as you are by encouraging self-development. Reward employees who make an effort to represent the business in and out of work. 

By Wilson Law at Tax Affinity.

Tax Affinity Accountants are considered in the market to be experts in Tax and Accountancy in the UK. Based in Kingston upon Thames they have clients right across the UK as well as Europe, Middle East and North America.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.

Tips to avoid paying too much tax if you’re self employed

According to Which.co.uk, we paid an estimate of £12.6 billion in unnecessary tax in 2012. People who are self-employed or have their own businesses are particularly prone to overpaying tax. But by doing a bit of research and accessing your tax options, you can maximise your income and safeguard your finances for the future.

Spreading income tax payments among the family

Every individual that is able to work has a personal allowance of £9,440 for the financial year 2013/14. If you are earning over the 20% rate band for income tax, it may be wise to employ a family member to share a part of your workload. Income up to £9,440 would be free of income tax for him or her, and an allowable expense for you. This is especially ideal for any children you have over 16 that can work over the holidays as their wages are also tax deductible. Furthermore, no national insurance is payable if they earn less than £149 per week. Additionally, members earning between £109-148 are entitled to certain state benefits such as building towards the state pension.

Using the personal allowance to its maximum

Rather than one individual holding the bulk of the income and facing a higher rate of income tax, it is of best interest to arrange the finances in a way that lessens the tax burden. This can be achieved by building up a state pension for your partner and/or make pension payments to build up a retirement pot. These contributions are tax relievable at the marginal rate of the payer. On a further note, £3,600 can be contributed per year irrespective of earnings so consider pensioning for any of your children helping out at the business.

Taking advantage of tax free opportunities

Use up you and your partner’s cash ISA limit of £5,760. Gift any surplus funds to your partner if he/she is a lower tax payer than you. Be careful of the liquidity position of the business, it may be troubling to recall back the funds.

The £100,000 ceiling

Try not to exceed earnings of £100,000. For every £2 of income over £100,000, your personal allowance falls by £1. This means that at an income of £118,880 you will have lost all your personal allowance of £9,440. The £9,440 is then taxed at a rate of 20%, and the £18,800 over £100,000 is taxed at a rate of 40%, meaning that your marginal rate of tax on this slice of income is a whopping 60%. You can consider increasing your pension contribution to preserve your personal allowance. Note that the maximum annual allowance is £50,000 but you can use any unused annual allowances dating back three tax years to increase your contribution.

Maximising your tax allowances

Each person has an annual capital gains tax allowance that can be reached before the gain is taxed. This figure amounts to £10,900 for the financial tax year 2013/2014. With sound financial planning, you can get up to £20,340 tax free each year (£9,440 for personal allowance and £10,900 for Capital Gains Tax).

Be well organised and keep good records

The deadline for the online tax return is 31st January (31st October for the paper tax return). Failure to commit to the deadline may result in penalties. Keeping your records in an organised manner can make your life a lot easier especially if HMRC decides to investigate. 


Plan ahead

Good forward financial planning can maximise successful tax strategies. That’s why at Tax Affinity Accountants we make sure to sit with all our clients and run through the options for good financial planning.

By Wilson Law

Tax Affinity Accountants are considered in the market to be experts in Tax and Accountancy in the UK. Based in Kingston upon Thames they have clients right across the UK as well as Europe, Middle East and North America.

For more information visit www.taxaffinity.com. To read more interesting articles like this visit www.taxaffinity.com/blog. Please feel free to comment and share this with your friends.