Change is an inevitability, and therefore it is crucial that we are prepared for change as and when it happens. At Blenheim accountants it became increasingly clear that to handle change we needed a new office. We are an expanding business with new clients and more staff members, and unfortunately our offices were not expanding at the same rate.

Our current office. A large amount of space that allows us to all work in the same environment without getting in each others way.

The main priority was a bigger office within a relatively local area. After hunting around we found a suitable building at least three times the size of our previous workplace,which is easier for clients to find, more accomodating, and its open plan creates a healthier and more integrated working environment. (New office pictured right)

Yet despite all the benefits moving is not without its pains, these were ours:

• Telecoms: proved to be the most problematic, moving in on the 23rd of May our telecoms wasn’t up and running until 10 days subsequent to the move.
• Time: It takes longer than you think! I had to postpone a holiday in order to make sure I was available, so make sure you grantyourself a generous amount of time to complete the moving process.
• Contact: it is easy to overlook the shear volume of cards, supplies and digital material that hold your address. Not only is it important to update this information, but it is vital that you let your clients know
  where you are and how they can find you.
  

  A comfy accommodating corner for clients to wait.

• Address: following on from the previous point finding out the address of your new building is easier said than done. We found that our new offices had been renamed, but this name was yet to feature on the side of our building. Then there’s the problem of door codes, gate codes and who to go to if there is a problem.

There’s no way of avoiding problems entirely, but there are certainly things you can do to ease the difficulty of moving, so here are my five top tips:

1. Plan: plan, plan and plan again. Trust me when I say that you can never be too prepared. Having every last facet of your move thought out will be hugely beneficial to the process.
2. Read: I understand that reading through old and new leases isn’t the most exciting of jobs, but it is definitely worth it. For example our old lease required us to redecorate which included re-carpeting.
3. Use local small businesses- we were disappointed with a particular large telephone broadband provider, as they simply didn’t seem to care about their level of service. We worked with small local companies including Cannard Computing (http://cannard.co.uk) and environments 4 business (http://www.eforb.co.uk), and I honestly cannot recommend them highly enough.
4. Funding: moving can create all sorts of hidden costs such as new furniture and rent deposits. It is crucial that you understand your costs, and have the necessary funding to cover them.
5. Team: I cannot thank my team enough for all the help and support they offered throughout the entirety of the move. Having a strong team behind you takes away some of the stress that accompanies a complex move.

Finally the most important thing to remember is why you’re doing it. It will be worth it in the long term.

Moving is exciting, enjoy it!

Our new boardroom! Perfect for meetings both within our own business, and with clients.

Now that we’re really coming out of recession, many business owners are looking for business finance to either turn an amazing idea into reality, or to grow the amazing idea more quickly.

Raising finance can be tricky, bank lending remains in the doldrums despite Government promises. However, the business owners I’ve met love a challenge and there are plenty of opportunities out there to raise much needed support to grow your business if you want it.

The path you take ‘just depends: it depends on how much you want; how much you can afford; how much control and independence you want to retain in your business and how long you’ve got. Here’s an ‘at a glance’ picture I paint when I’m first talking to clients about finance options – start at the top for most control and independence, start at the bottom for higher amounts of finance and less personal liability.

The business finance landscape is continually changing and researching funding options can be complex and time consuming. Professional advice can save you time and lead you to the best solution for you and your business – we’re here to help so why not give us a call.

Christmas! Phew!  There’s not one business leader I know that isn’t ready for a break.  But as you kick-back with your mince pie and coffee (or something stronger), it’s a good time to reflect on all your business has accomplished in 2014 while setting goals for 2015.  Here are a few considerations I’d like to throw into the mix.

1. Your Client Portfolio

Take a detailed look at your client portfolio and the % of business each contributes to your overall revenue. Is it balanced? Ideally your biggest client should be no more than 15% of your turnover. Are you really making money from each client or are they pushing you to over-service such that it’s diluting your profitability?  Perhaps 2015 is the time to refocus and make some changes.

2. Cashflow

Christmas is often a time that highlights particular problems with clients who don’t pay on time. The impact on cashflow is exaggerated because businesses often have to pay their staff a little earlier in December. The perfect storm!   Why not tackle credit terms and bring down the average time to payment in 2015 and see what a difference that makes to your business finance.

3. Staff retention

It’s likely that your staff will take time to reflect over Christmas too, it’s often a time when people think about changing jobs.  If there are key staff members you want to retain then utilise the wide range of compensation tools at your disposal, it doesn’t have to be a salary increase.

It’s probably also worth mentioning here that, if you’re not already on top of it, you should also be preparing for the new pension legislation and the auto-enrolment of staff through 2015 (see previous blog post).

4. Pricing

When was the last time you reviewed your pricing policies, systems and proposals?  By systemising your pricing you can gain consistency and efficiency while also reducing risk to profitability.

5. Products and Services

Are all your products and services profitable? If not, then why? Act now to either make the changes necessary or remove the product/service from your portfolio.

The Blenheim business health-check covers all these aspects and more.  Get in touch if we can help your business to a prosperous 2015.