With all the negative news currently in the media and retail sales warnings issued by a few large retailers (who may be using this as an excuse) in the run up to Christmas and New Year 2017. Its a good time to ignore the 'nay sayers' and pro-actively look at what positive steps can be taken to ensure your business sales and profits rise or at the very least stay level with previous years.

So we've compiled a short list based on our extensive experience and industry wide knowledge.

1. Go where the money is - be adaptable and look to see what is selling and sell more of that and stock less that which is in less demand. If its a different product or service that you don't offer consider adding this.
2. Give the customer what they want not what you want - listen to them and understand them properly and give them what they are looking for. Your customer will tell you how to keep things going in your business. Ask them, remember you have two ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion.
3. Make an offer they cant refuse - when things are difficult for a client make sure you have offers and special deals like the supermarket and larger traders do to entice them. This may mean offer something at a low price with the plan to sell another product/service that compliments that item and will make more profit.
4. Keep an eye on competition - make sure your business is not lagging behind on the four P's of the marketing mix - Product, Price, Promotion, Place. All four need to be excellent to ensure growth in a downturn.
5. Give away stuff to entice people to keep visiting - This doesn't mean give everything away at a knock down price, but more specifically could mean a good chance to clear out old stock items and have more space by getting rid of it at cost price. The customers get a good deal and you keep the cash-flow coming in.
6. Don't use bad economic conditions as an excuse - stay focused and think positive, don't listen to negative sources of information, look at the positive sources as well. Many large retailers have a positive outlook, its just  that media outlets like to dwell on negativity as bad news sells better than good. Compare your business to the bigger companies and see what they are doing and what you can do as well. The Director /  CEO that thinks and plans positively is the one that drive their business forward.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting contractors and self employed people throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

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.

If your thinking how to expand and grow your business in 2017. Then your not alone, many entrepreneurs and business owners are paying little attention to the media and hard focused on their business and making it even bigger and better than before.

So below is a helpful list of things that will help you:

1. Market Research
Ask your customers what is good and what is not and improve the not. It doesn't mean making forms and handing them out to everyone only to be disappointed that 99% of people binned it. It means talking and listening to customers and getting the all important feedback about what you can do to improve the business and noticing the opportunities to grow. After all your customer will know what else they need and what you could also offer to increase your sales.

2. Segment your market for increased growth
Ever heard of divide and rule? Well it works, sit down and look at your business and start to split it up into different parts especially your customers. Some splits may be geographic others age or income related etc. Knowing what are your customers key traits and background can highlight triggers to get them to buy more. Look at how the large corporations pour millions into analytics and data analysis. All businesses have this potential info at their finger tips but most small business owners chose to ignore it instead looking at day to day stuff. Plan far ahead and use analysis to get there.

3. Finance for growth
Sometimes you just need more money to open more branches or take on more people or have the infrastructure to take on more business. If your looking to export (due to the GBP pound being lower) then maybe you need better logistics facilities. Therefore look at how you can raise finance cheaply for this. And don't trust the banks they are not really looking  to help you, look at the old school way of borrowing from friends and relatives or crowd funding as these can help you more and leave you free to not worry about a greedy bank knocking on your door when you need more time.

4. Diversify services and products
It sounds like common sense, and we see it every day in the supermarkets - how many different types of products do they have. There is always something for someone when you have enough choice. Well why not stock sale or return items and expand your stock and customer appeal. And if your a service industry increase your types of services or add more parts to your current level of service. e.g. if your a contractor get another qualification and get yourself in demand in another market place that may be more lucrative.

5. Partner with others and align with complimentary brands
Have you seen some services advertised on the payment counter at your local coffee shop? They are partnering with that shop to promote themselves and they probably equally do the same at the their business. Look at what your customer's have in common and where else they frequent so you can partner with them and bring more customers in. And don't be shy what will the other business say at the worst it will be a no. Move on ask some one else.

6. New technology
Try to see how new software and technology can help make things more efficient and cost effective. They say a pound saved is the same as a pound earned. In the old manufacturing days it was more advanced factory machinery that required less workers and produced more output. Today in the UK its more to doe with software and hardware that can do the same for you too in your industry sector.

7. Engage customers with social media
Today increasingly customers are looking online and on social media platforms for service recommendations. Have you seen the size of the yellow pages now? Its like an A5 few page pamphlet , gone are the days people look in this great big yellow book. This means people do not need it to tell them where to look for a service. Post daily updates about your business and what's going on to engage an audience and build trust in your business, so when they make a decision to buy they come direct to you.

8. Merge or buy other businesses to expand rapidly
Buy out another business or to merge with a competitor can be a quick and easy way to increase business and sales. The big companies seem to be doing it all the time, so why can't a smaller business do this to achieve rapid growth too. Maybe you want to sell up and try something else and someone could be interested in your business. Or your competitor is getting ready to retire and you can move in and take all his business.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting business throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

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.

At Tax Affinity Accountants we have a huge spectrum of clients from a multitude of industries and sectors. And all of them are effected directly or indirectly by the the shopping habits of the public during Christmas.

So whether your selling luxury brands such as Aston Martin's or Jimmy Choo shoes or selling personal services such as dental or psychotherapy work. The public's time and willingness to spend time and money on what your selling is effected by both the weather and their holiday spirit (not including if their tooth hurts or car breaks down). That's why large retailers are starting to show Christmassy type adverts and high streets and shops are starting to decorate their premisis to get people in the mood to spend money. Spend on others and also to spend on themsleves. Not every purchase is a Christmas gift.

Granted the late and longer summer has moved the goal posts somewhat. But facts and figures do not lie. And if Coca Cola and a Starbucks are always busy looking at trend analysis to help push sales higher then why shouldnt a small business too. In fact maybe they need to doing it even more so.
 
And so because everyone loves a Christmas list, here's one to help you sell more:

• Review Last years sales and business strategy - change and improve it stock more of the right items and remove the ones that didnt do well last year
• Use Social Media to highlight your business and get people talking about your products - generate the demand and interest yourself
• Give great customer service - who wouldnt recommend a business that they are really happy with
• Create a sense of urgency in the mind of the customer - limited time offers or vouchers will draw people from further away and make them spend more on impulse rather than say I'll think about it
• Loyalty cards - give something back for the faith people show in your business and think of having a loyalty card that gives a shopper something off if they buy so many times
• Increase visibility both online and on the high street - let everyone know your ready for business more so than before - have baloons outside, use pavements signs, have the shop lights on for longer in the dark evenings
• Use pay incentives to motivate staff to sell more - bonuses are a great way to engage employees to sell for you
• Upselling on products and services - if someone came in for a scarf see if they may be interested in gloves too. Think what goes with what they have purchased and gently push the easy 2nd sale.
• Make your environment a happy place where employees and customers both enjoy being - positivity is a very big thing
• Collect all your customers data you can - this will help in the future always plan ahead, have you thought about 2017, 2018 etc
• Understand your target customers and who they are - focus more on this target - too many times a small business doesn't actually know this, that is why collecting the customers data is important
• Demonstrate products and services and let customers touch - as any car salesman will tell you if the customer is touching a product it means he/she likes it
• Give the impression of being there permanently and knowing your product / service inside out - customers don't want to commit if they feel the business may close down or staff don't know much

Over all innovate and update, learn and evolve that's what clever businesses do and its why their businesses improve year on year. Look at trends over previous years and look at what worked and sold well, then look at current conditions (economy/weather etc) and then make a very educated plan so you can optimise sales better than last year.

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and tax advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting business throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

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.

As #TeamGB return triumphant from the Rio Olympics 2016 and the British media celebrate them lifting the nations pride and spirit this could be the right time to motivate more sales in your business.

Coupled with the warm summer weather and long periods of British sunshine, businesses can literally cash in on an increase in consumer confidence and spending in the economy.

Thinking outside of the box, successful businesses have been promoting loyalty cards and coupons and vouchers to increase sales. How and why you may ask? Well read the short list below:

1. Coupons / Vouchers can have the effect of increasing your market and geographic catchment area. Some customers will travel far to redeem a valuable coupon or voucher.2. Coupons / Vouchers can encourage new customers to break the habit of only visiting your competitors and instead to come to you. Consumers can break normal shopping patterns to take advantage of a good offer.

3. Coupons / Vouchers can bring back old customers. Customers that were lured away by your competitors may start buying from you again if you give them a good enough reason.4. Coupon / Voucher marketing gives the seller an opportunity for additional profits by selling other full price items. If you see a special offer to invite a customer, this same customer may end up buying other goods that carry a much higher profit margin.

5. Coupons / Vouchers can increase footfall which can lead on to increase in sales, through good sales techniques or impulse buying.

6. A Coupons / Vouchers scheme is quantifiable and measurable to see its success. Simply count the number of coupons redeemed to work out the success. This valuable analysis will help in creating future offers to increase sales further.

We recommend thinking about the points above to create coupons and vouchers in your own marketing campaigns to help increases sales in normally quiet period of the year. (Please be careful though not to infringe upon copyrights and trademarks belonging to others when making your vouchers and coupons.)

By Anni Khan at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Worcester Park and Kingston upon Thames they are considered in the Industry to be expert accountants and advisors for small businesses. Helping and supporting business throughout the UK, they regularly help clients grow their business providing tailored advice.

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.

Growth Vouchers Scheme can be invaluable for business to gain the advice and support needed to expand and grow their profits and business.
This government programme is basically designed to help small businesses get strategic business advice on:

• finance and cash flow
• recruiting and developing staff
• improving leadership and management skills
• marketing, attracting and keeping customers
• making the most of digital technology

Some businesses will be randomly chosen to get a voucher of up to £2,000 to help finance strategic business advice for themsleves.

The voucher can pay for up to half of the cost of the advice from a recognised business adviser such as Tax Affinity Accountants can serve as a real helping hand to boost your business.

It is structured in such a way that the supplier will claim this fee from the programme making it easier for the business owner to quickly get the support and advice he/she needs.


There are some simple eligibility criteria as below:
Your business must:

• have 249 employees or less (including any employees of companies that own a stake in your business)
• be registered in England
• actively sell goods or services
• be independent (ie no more than 25% is owned by other businesses or organisations)
• have a turnover of less than €50 million

And then you will need the following things to complete your application, as available by your accountant:

• Companies House registration number or Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) from HMRC
• registered business address
• business turnover details
• VAT registration number (if you’re registered)
• PAYE number (if you have one)
• contact phone number
• email address

A recognised business adviser such as Tax Affinity Accountants will automatically collect this information for you and fill the necessary form as required. You will also be asked to take part in some surveys about the programme by the government body running the scheme.


So how does it work?

Either speak to your chosen adviser and they will make the necessary arrangements for you or sign up on the government’s growth voucher website (open until March 2015).

Once you have received the voucher, simply use it for the advice and support. The growth voucher scheme has been running for few months now and it is growing in success.

However, be careful because the scheme is not intended for company owners seeking to subsidise practical guidance on how to engage in precise tasks relating to running a business. It’s for tactical advice that will lead to growth of the businesses.

The quickest way to get support for the is to call 0800 043 4051 or visit www.taxaffinity.com and speak to one of our experienced business adviser's and growth coaches at Tax Affinity Accountants.

By Tahir Malik at Tax Affinity Accountants

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in business coaching and are based in Kingston upon Thames they are considered to be experts in their field. Helping and supporting businesses and individuals throughout the UK.

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.

The bridge between having a good business idea and implementing such idea into a business model can be wide and daunting. Getting the necessary funding to kick start your business can be a difficult process and different sources of finance may not be appropriate for everyone due to varying circumstances.

Whether you require investment for start-up capital or are looking to expand your business, the cost can be astronomically different depending on a few variables. Here is a list of things to consider when looking for a source of funding for your business:

The “Right” Amount

There are a few questions that should instantly appear on the forefront of your mind when you are seeking finance. 

1. How much money do I need?
2. What time scale am I looking at to pay it off?

Doing your homework from the start will help you avoid many future problems. A shortfall in funding may jeopardise your business in its entirety, you may miss out on that explosive launch you was hoping for or realise that a particular project didn’t produce the desired results because you ran out of cash.

There’s a subtle understanding in business that goes like this; “you need to spend money to make money”. Making big changes in your business requires money and not everyone has that money in their bank accounts. However, funding must not only be sufficient but efficient as well.

There’s no point asking for more than you need, it will just result in more interest and a larger repayment towards the end. Plan out your budget by listing a breakdown of the different components the funding is used for. You may spot areas in which you can forgo and others that you may have missed out. And once you get the funding, you’ll know exactly what to do with it.

Timing is Key

Timing is essential in many aspects of life and its no different in regards to funding. Having a realistic time horizon to pay off your borrowings can make repayments easier and more manageable.

Pacing your repayments can avoid interest payments from siphoning your cash flow.

Tip: If your business is performing better than expected, think about repaying back the debt earlier to decrease the amount of interest accumulating.

The Correct Choice

Here comes the most difficult part when seeking for funds. How do I choose between so many options?

Well unluckily for most, they don’t have as much choice as they think they do when it comes to the selection of finance. The most common for small businesses to get funding is through their own savings. This is, by far, the cheapest source of funding and the only opportunity cost associated is that you lose out on the interest on your savings which quite frankly is nothing compared to the potential interest payments you make for other sources of finance.

However, a lot of the time, the money is not enough to fuel the business which leads to people opting for the next best choice; a bank loan. This may be the most appropriate option for many individuals seeking funding as terms can be flexible and mutually agreed upon by both parties.

Tip: Try browsing through the different types of loans you can apply for, you may believe that there is some standard rate banks tend to charge for certain loans but be very surprised that the conditions of such loans can be as different as night and day.

Take every percentage point at face value; there may not be much difference between 7% and 8% but over the long term you’ll end paying back significantly more in aggregate.

Borrowing money through a loan or equity share from family and friends can be a good source of financial investment. Loans offered in this fashion tend to have a low interest rate compared to traditional loans and possess more lenient terms. Offering a piece of your business via equity distribution can motivate your family and friends to help grow your business.

Be warned though that any business problems don’t end up trickling down to family matters. Also, make sure any loan agreement is in writing just to avoid any legal problems that may arise in the future.

Another alternative of funding is through an outside investor. This is usually not a loan but an equity investment. This means that the investor becomes a shareholder in the business and is entitled to a percentage of the business profits (depending on his/her equity share percentage).

Furthermore, the investor may have some degree of control in your business. Depending on the investor, this could be advantageous or disadvantageous. The outside investor could bring new ideas and contacts into the business which would help accelerate the growth of the business. On the contrast, the investor could be in disagreement with any business decisions made and hinder the progress of the business.

It is up to the business owner to make sure the interests of both parties are aligned. One thing to note is that debts can be paid off but equity is fixed for the lifetime of the business which could result in equity being much more expensive if the business grows rapidly.

At Tax Affinity Accountants we provide free tailored advice to help grow our clients business.

By Wilson Law at Tax Affinity Accountants.

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Kingston upon Thames they are considered to be small business experts helping and supporting business in the UK. They regularly help new business start up and provide valuable support for new businesses.

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.

Keep your Business Cash Flow in check.

The success of your business is dependent on the way you manage the cash flow of the business. A business could be highly profitable but still default if it does not meet its short term debts. There may be times when it is unavoidable to experience cash flow reductions, such as spending your reserved cash on new capital or suffering from unexpected weather conditions that forces the business to close for a while. However, it is definitely unhealthy for the business to suffer cash flow problems on a regular basis and it may cause harm for the business in the long term. Good cash flow management and contingency planning will allow majority of these problems to vanish.  Here are a few ideas on how you can improve your cash flow cycle.

Operating at a Loss

Many new businesses may operate at a loss in their first few years of trading. The costs of starting up a business normally exceed profits. However, if the business is over 3 years old and still making a loss, it may be of your best interest to carefully monitor your expenditure to ensure that money is not spent needlessly or on the wrong things.

Having a Clear System

A good system can ease out any fluctuations in your cash flow cycle. For example, a service provider can think about taking an upfront deposit of any project it undertakes or charging on a completion basis. Not only will it keep money available for short term use but allows more effective tax planning as profits is smoothed over periods.

Keeping Up-to-Date

It is good practice to review your credit control on a specific day every week. Keeping a routine check-up allows you to clearly identify what has been paid, what is pending and what is late.

Paying your Bills by their Due Date

You should always pay your bills on time. However, it is better to pay your bills as close to the due date as possible. It is advisable to pay around 3-4 days before the due date so that any issues arising in regards to the payment can be rectified in time.

Giving Customer Incentives for Early Payment

Offering discounts to new customers to encourage prompt payment can be beneficial for your company cash flow. Bear in mind that discounts should not be too deep otherwise it will eat into your profit margins. You can also offer discounts to recurring customers that make large payments in order to reduce the risk of cash flow problems arising from delayed payments.

Penalties for the Late

Often people do not react to rewards quite the way they react to punishments. Giving customers a penalty fine for any late payments will likely grab their attention and prioritise you on their payment list. Don’t be too harsh on late payments though as others may have temporary issues with their cash flows and imposing a penalty may end up hurting business relations. 

Saving for a Rainy Day

Unexpected occurrences and accidents can happen out of the blue. Make sure you put aside some reserves for one of those “emergency” situations. Not all situations can be accounted for but having enough funds to deal with the likely ones can let you breathe a bit easier.

Seeking Professional Help

Many businesses struggle to keep their finances in check. The unfamiliarity of running a business and being unable to cope with numbers can be a grinding headache for business owners. An easy way to relieve the ongoing stress is by hiring an expert bookkeeper like Tax Affinity. They can advise you on managing your costs, list strategies to improve your revenue and also handle your tax affairs all. You can now focus on driving your business forward rather than being worried about the upcoming loan repayment. Take note on how the company finances are handled so that you are able to step in if needed.

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 are 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.