Family Businesses Archives - Grunberg & Co

Building an effective business strategy

admin — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 14:07:32 +0000

Building an effective business strategy is a crucial step that every organisation must undertake.

It sets a clear direction, establishes goals and helps businesses navigate the intricate paths of various market challenges.

However, devising a strategy that aligns with your business’s unique vision, mission and core values can often seem like an impossible task.

Understand your business environment

The first step in crafting an effective business strategy involves understanding your business environment.

Start with a SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This analysis will give insights into your organisation’s internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats in the marketplace.

Additionally, a PESTEL analysis (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, legal) can help you understand the macro-environmental factors that could impact your business. Knowledge of these elements provides a solid foundation for building your strategy.

Define your vision and mission

The next step is defining your business’s vision and mission.

The vision statement is a long-term goal that gives your business direction, while the mission statement outlines the reason your business exists and what it hopes to achieve in the short term.

These two elements provide the guiding principles for your entire business strategy.

Set your objectives

Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).

These goals serve as the roadmap to where your business wants to go. They also provide a reference point for tracking progress and making necessary adjustments along the way.

Analyse the competition and identify your target market.

Understanding your competition is vital in crafting a robust business strategy.

Analyse your competitors to identify their strategies, strengths and weaknesses. Competitor analysis will provide insights that can help you create differentiators for your business and spot potential opportunities for growth.

Identifying your target customers is crucial for aligning your products or services with their needs and preferences.

This understanding can be achieved through customer segmentation, which involves dividing your market into distinct groups, based on various characteristics like demographics, behaviour and geography.

Formulate and implement your strategy

Based on the understanding gained from the previous tips, you can now formulate your business strategy.

This strategy should focus on how your business will achieve its objectives by leveraging its strengths, overcoming weaknesses, exploiting opportunities and warding off threats.

Remember, your strategy should be flexible enough to adapt to changing market conditions.

After devising the strategy, the next step is implementation. This involves breaking down the strategy into actionable tasks, assigning these tasks to appropriate teams and allocating resources efficiently.

Monitor and adjust your strategy

An effective business strategy requires constant monitoring and adjustment.

Keep track of your progress towards your objectives and adjust your strategy as necessary. This might involve reviewing internal performance metrics and keeping a pulse on any changes in the external business environment.

Building an effective business strategy may seem like a daunting task, but with a clear approach and careful execution, it can lead to sustainable growth and success.

Need advice about creating an effective business strategy for your business? Contact us today.

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New fines and investigatory powers will help stamp out late payments, says Government

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 08:14:19 +0000

The Small Business Commissioner (SBC) will be given extra powers to help small businesses get paid on time, it has been announced.
The proposals, which include new fines and forcing non-compliant to share more data, come after recent research revealed that £23.4 billion worth of late payments are currently owed to small businesses in the UK.
Under the plans, the regulator in charge of supporting small businesses with late invoices will be handed a raft of new powers, including:

The power to order companies to pay their suppliers when a complaint against them for late payment has been investigated and upheld
The power to fine companies who continue to breach the rules
The power to “compel companies to share information during an investigation by the SBC”
the power to launch investigations into suspected bad payment practice, without the need to have first received a complaint from a small business.

Commenting on the measures, Small Business Minister Paul Scully said the Government is “seeking to create a culture of prompt payment in UK business”.
“Late payments are a terrible burden for small businesses, not only disrupting their cash flow but posing a threat to their survival in many cases,” he said. “We are committed to tackling this problem, supporting small businesses at this critical time for the British economy by helping them to secure payment on time.”
Welcoming the plans, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mike Cherry added: “We know that paying small businesses late is debilitating, and the practice has increased during COVID-19. It deprives small firms of cashflow, holds back growth, undermines productivity and forces many to take out external finance.
“In thousands of cases a year this causes the closure of small businesses. It is therefore more important than ever to wipe out this poor payment scourge. The proposed new powers would give the Small Business Commissioner some teeth to investigate bad practice more easily and punish it more severely, and it is very welcome to see these plans being put forward for consultation.”
The proposals follow news that the Prompt Payment Code – the set of guidelines designed to stamp out late payments – would be reformed to better support small businesses.
Announcing the reforms, a Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesperson said: “Whilst we believe these remain important principles, we also believe that reform could improve the Code.”
For help and advice dealing with late payments, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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HMRC update: regulator to accept legal correspondence by email rather than by post throughout coronavirus pandemic

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 16:19:49 +0000

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will now accept legal correspondence by email rather than by post throughout the coronavirus pandemic, it has been announced.
The notice forms part of new guidance designed to reduce the handling of paper documents and prevent the spread of the virus.
The updated guidance now specifies that new legal proceedings and pre-action letters should be served via email.
Legal correspondence could only previously be served in person or by post.
For new legal proceedings, taxpayers should use the newproceedings@hmrc.gov.uk, while pre-action letters should be sent to the Solicitor for HMRC in compliance with any pre-action protocol to the Civil Procedure Rules, including the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review, via preactionletters@hmrc.gov.uk.
Importantly, any attachments should be included as a common format, such as a PDF or Microsoft Word document, and must not exceed 25mb in size.
“If you are likely to exceed the 25mb limit, please split the contents into smaller emails. If this is not practical, you should serve the principal documents (such as the claim form and particulars of claim) and ask HMRC to contact you to make alternative arrangements to serve the remaining documents,” the guidance states.
Please note that these new protocols apply to the service of new proceedings and pre-action letters only.
Those seeking to request a review of a tax decision by HMRC can do so using the online portal here, while those appealing to the First-tier Tribunal can do so here.
Commenting on the new guidance, an HMRC spokesperson said: “Due to coronavirus, HM Revenue and Customs has requested that, where possible, new legal proceedings and pre-action letters should be served via email rather than by post.
“This is to ensure that, during the pandemic, we can protect our staff by reducing the handling of paper documents where possible.”
For more business and tax support, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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Companies House to launch compulsory identity verification under major regulatory reforms

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 16:28:03 +0000

Directors will no longer be appointed until their identity can be verified under newly proposed Companies House rules, it has been revealed.

The regulator said “compulsory identity verification” is being introduced to clamp down on fraud and money laundering.

Under the proposals, any person seeking to form or be added as a director or as a Person of Significant Control (PSC) of a company will be required to undergo a new identity verification process.

To reduce the burden on companies, it is believed that verification will take place through a “fast, efficient, digital process” and is “expected to take a matter of minutes” to prevent delays in incorporations and filings.

The official register of companies – which was used 9.4 billion times in the last year – said the changes “aim to increase the reliability of the data showing who is behind each company so that businesses have greater assurance when they are entering transactions with other companies, such as when small businesses are consulting the register to research potential suppliers and partners”.

The regulator also suggests that the measures will support law enforcement agencies in tracking suspected criminal activity, such as fraud or money laundering.

Commenting on the changes, Minister for Corporate Responsibility Lord Callanan said: “We are committed to making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business. The reforms we are making to the Companies House register will provide businesses with greater confidence in their transactions.

“Mandatory identity verification will mean criminals have no place to hide – allowing us to clamp down on fraud and money laundering and ensure people cannot manipulate the UK market for their own financial gain, whilst ensuring for the majority that the processes for setting up and running a company remain quick and easy.”

Click here to access the government’s full response to the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform consultation too find out more about the proposals.

For more company formation and secretarial advice, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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New CMA guide to help businesses “stay on the right side” of competition rules

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 16:23:34 +0000

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has this week published a brand-new guide to help business owners “stay on the right side of competition law”.
The updated manual includes all of the information and advice managers, director and owners need to identify potential breaches and avoid costly legal action.
Written in collaboration with the Institute of Risk Management, the guide features “up-to-date case studies that draw out lessons learned”, “provides examples of best practice” and “shines a light on accountability, highlighting that it is the responsibility of directors to ensure their companies comply with competition law”.
The case studies include a landmark ruling involving a director of an estate agency who was banned from running any company for a total of seven years after arranging an illegal cartel with six other estate agents, “denying homeowners the chance of getting a better deal when selling their property”.
As well as disqualification orders, businesses involved in cartels and price fixing can also be handed a hefty fine. In one instance, several water tank suppliers who broke competition law by forming a cartel were fined a total of £2.6 million.
Commenting on the new guide, Andrea Coscelli, CMA Chief Executive, said: “Business leaders must be alive to competition law risk. They should take an active role in ensuring compliance. And the public rightly expects there to be personal responsibility for very serious wrongdoing in firms.
“It’s in the interests of business leaders – as well as their customers – that competition law compliance is clearly on the radar, and that’s what this Guide is about.”
Iain Wright, Chair of the Institute of Risk Management, added: “The challenge is to recognise and address this risk beyond the boundaries of the immediate organisation out into the extended enterprise including the network of customers, suppliers and partners. Having a clear understanding of these risks is a necessary first step, and one which this guide aims to support.”
To access the new guide, click here.
For more business advice, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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Employers now required to contribute to furloughed workers’ wages under plans to end Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

admin — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 14:55:13 +0000

Firms with furloughed staff must now contribute at least 10 per cent of workers’ wages as the Government’s landmark Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) begins to wind down.
The change comes as the Treasury reduces its contribution from 80 to 70 per cent, up to a cap of £2,187.50, in line with plans to end the scheme entirely on 31 October 2020.
It means that from this month, employers are legally required to top up employees’ wages to ensure they receive at least 80 per cent of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, as well as pay employer national insurance contributions (NICs) and pension contributions.
The government contribution percentage will be reduced again in October from 70 to 60 per cent, up to a cap of £1,875, with employers required to contribute at least 20 per cent.
And then on 31 October 2020, the CJRS – which has been used by some 9.6 million workers – will be closed completely.
Business bodies, however, have called on the Government to extend the scheme to save the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Commenting on the closure of the scheme, chief executive of Make UK, Stephen Phipson, said: “The protection of key skills should be a strategic national priority as this will be the first building block in getting the economy up and running.
“Ensuring that those sectors which are at the forefront of technology and will provide the growth sectors and high-skill jobs in recovery should receive the greatest support possible.”
For employment, payroll and CJRS support, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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Important changes to Companies House

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 16:41:09 +0000

Companies House has made a number of changes in recent weeks that could affect your business.
Here’s what you need to know.
Banking details
Customers wanting to make a payment to Companies House must use the regulator’s new bank account details from February next year in order for it to be processed.
The change comes after the registry switched over from a trading fund to a central government organisation, meaning it must also change to a different type of bank account.
Customers required to make a payment will need to use the new bank account details published on Companies House paper or online correspondence or guidance.
The changes will come into effect from 01 September 2020, but the old bank account will stay in operation for six months to ensure the seamless transition to the new bank account.
Voluntary strike off process to resume
From 10 October 2020, the temporary measure suspending compulsory strike off action will be lifted.
From this date, the regulator will resume the process to remove a company from the register if there’s reasonable cause to believe it’s no longer carrying on business or in operation. This could include if company documents are outstanding and there has been no response to letters, letters sent by Companies House are returned undelivered, and/or the company has no directors.
Commenting on the announcement, the registry said: “You must file your outstanding documents or contact Companies House urgently. Otherwise, we’ll resume the process to remove your company from the register on 10 October 2020.”
The change comes after temporary easement measures were introduced in April 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
For more company secretarial support and advice, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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Four in five SMEs are confident over their coronavirus recovery

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 12:16:42 +0000

Four in five UK small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are confident that they will recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest research.
The data indicates that 75 per cent of business owners are feeling more confident than they did in July as lockdown measures ease.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has presented several challenges for SMEs, with one in five considering closure, many have changed their business model to adapt to the changing business landscape.
In total, 39 per cent of firms say that they’ve changed their line of business, with many either shifting to an online business model or prioritising digital products and services.
The research asked 314 SMEs in the UK a number of questions on their current business confidence, and found that two-thirds of business owners believe that they will either return to or better their pre-coronavirus performance by the end of 2021.
Experts have praised the innovation, tenacity and determination of SMEs to adapt to the challenging circumstances to ensure that they can recover and rebuild their business.
Anne Boden, Founder and Chief Executive of Starling Bank, said: “Small businesses are essential to the nation’s efforts to build back the economy as we emerge from the coronavirus crisis.
“Despite the challenging conditions they face, it’s heartening to see that many are proving so adaptable and resilient.”
For help and advice, contact our expert team today.

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Thousands of small businesses yet to claim Covid-19 support, study reveals

admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 16:17:28 +0000

Business groups are urging the Government to redistribute billions of pounds of unredeemed coronavirus cash sitting in local authorities’ bank accounts.
The call comes after research revealed that local councils are holding approximately £1.5 billion in unspent small business grants, which will be returned to the Treasury at the end of the month if left unclaimed.
The cash was initially made available to support small businesses affected by Covid-19. This includes the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF), the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF), and the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund.
While around 92 per cent of the £12 billion fund has now been distributed across 900,000 small firms, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is now calling on the Government to ensure that the remaining cash reaches struggling businesses.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has also warned that councils “need more time and flexibility” to ensure they can fully distribute the fund.
Commenting on the figures, FSB National Chair Mike Cherry said: “Many councils have already handed out more than 90 per cent of their Small Business Grants which is good to see, but that means that more money remains which needs to be handed out.
“We want to see this £617m fund issued to councils so that they can help small businesses that may have missed out on initial funding or may not qualify for other grants. This will go some way to helping councils safeguard the future of the local businesses and communities.”
For help accessing financial support, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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Government launches small business training package as part of Covid-19 rescue plans

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 16:10:22 +0000

Small businesses affected by Covid-19 can now register to participate in training, management and productivity sessions to help them overcome the impact of the pandemic.
The £20 million Small Business Leadership Programme forms part of the Government’s national rescue package, which also includes affordable finance and grant funding, business rates relief and sector-specific initiatives.
According to the report, the new scheme will focus on “strengthening” decision-makers’ leadership and management skills, so they can better address Covid-19 related challenges, such as remote working and improving productivity, organisation and efficiency.
Delivered by leading experts from university business schools, the 90-minute virtual sessions will be rolled out over a 10-week period alongside periods of independent study and peer supported learning.
Participants will also be invited to take part in group sessions to help solve common coronavirus related business challenges – such as finding new customers and using technology, including customer record management and websites, to adapt a business model.
Welcoming the announcement of the new scheme, Anne Kiem, CEO of Chartered Association of Business Schools and Executive Director of the Small Business Charter, said: “The effects of coronavirus have been particularly damaging for small businesses and providing their leaders with the experience and knowledge to survive and thrive will be essential for the future success of the country.
“While cash injections are important, for the long-term, business leaders need the skills to ensure they and their businesses are resilient and can grow throughout this period and beyond. Accessing experts from the world-leading business schools we have in this country will be an essential resource for businesses in the months and years to come.”
Spaces are limited, so please register your interest in the scheme here.
For more business advice specific to your sector, please get in touch with our expert team today.

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