A poll carried out among owner-managed businesses across the country by Clifton Asset Management has found one third of UK companies believe the media is in danger of “talking the economy into recession.”

The survey, also found that almost three-quarters of SMEs would not trust Alistair Darling with their own company finances by appointing him as their FD.

The majority (65 per cent) said the Chancellor showed no signs of being “business friendly”, and not a single one believed that Gordon Brown’s government acknowledges the value to the UK economy of the small business sector.
The research also found that the majority of owner-managed businesses (56 per cent) feel totally neglected by their bank since the onset of the credit crunch.

Ellis Organ, financial director of Clifton Asset Management, said: “While there can be no denying the gravity of the situation facing the UK economy, many businesses – 33 per cent - clearly feel that media commentators seem determined to talk us into a full-blown recession, with only 15 per cent of respondents to our survey agreeing with the view that a recession is imminent.

“Only 11 per cent told us that they are seeing the symptoms of a major downturn, with approaching half of those who took part in our survey highlighting strong order books and no noticeable increase in problems over issues such as late payment.”

“Only one in five owner-managers in our survey said they would consider employing Alistair Darling as their FD – but not without references and a thorough interview process, leaving just 6 per cent who have real confidence in his ability,” said Ellis Organ.

Credit Crunch
The survey found that reaction to the credit crunch by banks is causing problems for some businesses. Of those surveyed, 14 per cent said their existing facility had been reduced, or that higher interest rates and collateral security had been imposed. Although, 28 per cent said their bank had been happy to extend facilities with no change in interest or security arrangements.

Ellis Organ stated: “While 15 per cent of our survey sample said they had seen a noticeable upturn in the amount of contact they received from their bank, eager to check on their exposure and solidity, some 56 per cent felt that they may as well not even exist as their bank is concerned.

There is a widespread feeling that Gordon Brown’s government does not appreciate the contribution that SME’s make to the economy.

Only 4 per cent of firms said decisions such as the recent U-turn on capital gains tax were proof that their contribution is recognised by government, while 9 per cent say there is some element of appreciation, notwithstanding a reduction in tax benefits for owner-managed businesses.

Ellis Organ concluded by stating: “This leaves 85 per cent in our survey effectively feeling snubbed by this government.

“The people who responded to our survey, and countless others like them across the country, form the backbone of our economy. Our survey highlights once again that these individuals continue to feel ignored by… a government which only appears to pay attention to the concerns of big business.”

The survey was commissioned by Clifton Asset Management, the country’s leading alternative to banks for owner-managed business finance and strategic planning.

written by admin \\ tags: credit crunch

Any meeting or negotiation can be won or lost before you even step foot inside the meeting room, by good forethought and planning.

To feel in control of any scenario, you must plan, this is the difference between success and failure.

Here are some tips on how to successfully plan a meeting:
1. Ask yourself if a meeting is really necessary
Often the same things can be accomplished via the phone or e-mail etc.

2. Pick someone to chair
If it’s not you then arrange for someone to chair the meeting.  Somebody has to be in charge of a meeting to ensure that it accomplishes what it’s meant to accomplish.  Agree this up front.

3. Have a plan
Create an agenda for the meeting and distribute it in advance, to everyone who is going to be present.  Then ask them to provide you with any changes or additions to the agenda, again, do this in advance of the meeting.

4. Have the meeting somewhere that is easy to find and get to
Pick common ground for most of the attendees.  If a meeting will be held off-site or involves getting clients to your location, always provide clear directions.

5. Arrange the meeting at an appropriate time
Too early in the morning and you risk people being late because of traffic.  Too close to lunch and they’re thinking of food.  Too close to the end of the day and they’re thinking of going home.  Normally in the mid-mornings/afternoons is best.

6. Stay with and follow the plan
You will have drawn up an agenda and everyone at the meeting has seen it, so stay with it.  If it’s not appropriate for the meeting, file it away for another time.

7. Stay focused
Anecdotes or irrelevant conversations will always crop up, especially as the number of the people attending increases.  Have the chairman stay in control of the meeting and keep everybody focused on what the outcome is.

8. Create an action box for other issues
Some issues may need to be dealt with but it may not be an appropriate time to do so.  When these issues come up, note them down and place in the action box and deal with them after the meeting.

9. Good time keeping is essential
Never let a meeting run on longer than anticipated.  Keep to your original plan.  If you find you can’t get everything done, simply schedule, there and then, another meeting.  If you don’t finish on time it’s either because you didn’t stick to your agenda (so why should the attendees suffer?) or the issue really needs the extra time and attention a second meeting will bring.

10. Make a quality action plan
There is nothing more frustrating than sitting through a meeting, hearing lot’s of good ideas and dealing with quality issues, only to find that nothing will be done about it.  Give the meeting the importance it deserves and make an action plan giving clear instructions of what is needed to complete the next steps and gain buy-in to these actions from those present.  Let the attendees know that what has been produced in the meeting was, indeed valuable, and worth their taking the time to attend.

written by admin \\ tags: Meetings

For those who haven’t experienced a disaster first hand it’s difficult to imagine, even from the graphic images fed to us by the media, the realities of the situation. What pictures cannot convey is the frustration of an owner watching their business suffer through the several days or weeks during which power is unavailable, transport facilities are out of operation, communications are down and access to the premises is prohibited. It’s exactly those restrictions that can spell the death of a business caught up in a disaster and unprepared to deal with the consequences.

Are you prepared? Ask yourself these questions, they cover some of the most critical aspects of keeping the business afloat after a disaster.

1. Have you audited your premises to assess how well they would stand up to the type(s) of disaster most likely to occur in your region?

2. Do your premises have emergency backup power and lighting sources?

3. Could you quickly obtain temporary equipment and replacement stock to keep your business going?

4. Do you have access to a secondary site from which to operate your business if your primary location was damaged?

5. Do you have an alternative source of supply if it is your supplier who suffers a disaster?

6. Are your vital records (accounts, customer data, inventory records etc) backed up with a current version stored in a safe place? Consider internet back up software - set it and forget it, anything you change or add gets backed up for you.

7. Do you have current and multiple contact information (e.g., home and cell phone numbers, personal email addresses) to communicate with your employees if a disaster prevented them from coming in to work?

8. Have you consulted with an insurance professional to determine if your insurance coverage is adequate to help you get back in business following a disaster?

With disasters, both natural and man made, now very much in the spotlight, numerous government agencies and business organisations have developed information brochures and programmes advising SMEs on how to mitigate the effects of a disaster and speed recovery.

In developing a disaster plan and dealing with the aftermath your accountant should be one of your most valued partners. The weeks and months following a disaster can be confusing and difficult with numerous financial issues and personal concerns to address. People who have been through a traumatic experience often have difficulty making sound decisions. Your accountant can help you develop a financial recovery plan for regaining your financial footing following a disaster by reconstructing lost records, documenting income lost as a result of the disaster, preparing and defending insurance claims, acting fast to apply for loans and grants and applying for tax relief concessions.

Many businesses that are forced to close after a disaster never reopen at all. SME owners who educate themselves in disaster management and have a planned process for returning to normal operation maximise their chances for recovery.

written by admin \\ tags: Disaster management

The difference between working with engaged people and a group of alienated, uninterested ones isn’t just the difference in productivity you can expect from each – it gets right down to making the difference between feeling you want to go in to work or stay away to avoid becoming depressed by the unenthusiastic atmosphere.

Managers can’t force employees to be motivated but they can contribute to creating an environment that encourages and promotes them to feel self-motivated. Motivation is getting people to do what you want them to do because THEY WANT to do it. The right sort of environment can be summed up in 4 words: security, involvement, responsibility and appreciation.

Making employees feel secure

If you think you can motivate people by instilling fear in them then think again. Over the short term, fear can keep people at a task, if not exactly ‘motivate’ them to do it. But all the while they are being fearful they are plotting how to get back at you. And that doesn’t make for a productive workplace.

The boss who openly threatens to fire employees when they make a mistake or blames individuals when things go wrong is creating a fear culture. On a less obvious level, tolerating things like sexist behaviour or racist slurs in the workplace equally creates a sense of fear in the target.

The workplace should be a level playing field where every team member is treated fairly and respectfully so as to build a constructive atmosphere free of fear. You can go a long way towards creating that sort of environment by clarifying your expectations about how people are to behave (including yourself) in a written company code of conduct or through clearly defined policies about ‘how we do things around here’. Clearly defined expectations also form the basis for consistent decision making in other areas of importance to your employees such as fair performance appraisal for deciding promotions.

Getting them involved

People are more motivated when they feel ‘in the loop’ of what is going on. The key here is good communication. Employees can’t work to achieve the business’ goals if they don’t know what those goals are. You need to communicate your vision and goals for the business to them so they don’t feel like they are working in a vacuum. Better still, provide opportunities for them to actively contribute to the business through regular team meetings and promote the contribution of suggestions that could help improve the business. Suggestion schemes encourage engagement and can result in valuable ideas for everything from improving operations and developing new products to providing better customer service.

Empowering your people

If you find yourself micromanaging your employees by constantly telling them what to do you can be certain that you are having a detrimental effect on their motivation. Being given responsibility for something is an important motivator for humans. Your intentions may be good but your ‘help’ is likely to be perceived as lack of trust.

Managers interested in keeping their employees motivated should set the ground rules and expectations and then allow them to get on with their job. Shift your focus from making sure that specific tasks are completed correctly to establishing standards and expectations. Where the standards aren’t being met, the way to fix the situation isn’t to constantly look over their shoulder and direct them, it’s to help them improve their performance through a coaching or training programme. Most employees actually want to learn new skills, gain new experience, build their personal attributes and take on new challenges, all of which improve motivation.

Showing appreciation for effort

Public and private praise can work wonders in keeping people motivated. Achievement in any area considered important by the company, such as an outstanding sales record, contributing a valuable suggestion or providing great customer service, should earn some form of appreciation. And don’t overlook opportunities to build morale by celebrating the business’ wins, like getting that new contract. These only happen because of the combined effort of your many individual employees.

While some employees will be innately more passionate about their jobs and careers than others, organisational structures and management styles that deliberately foster engagement with their work play a key role in raising the motivational barometer.

written by admin \\ tags: Motivating

Paying on phony invoices is an occupational risk for small businesses. They are regularly the target of scammers hoping to take advantage of sloppy bookkeeping, inattention on the part of employees and poor communications between the people in the firm ordering goods, those receiving them and those approving payment. All too often they are paid unwittingly along with a number of other routine bills.

Scammers have fake invoice production for such things as stationery or cleaning services, down to a fine art. Their invoice will include names (perhaps established by a prior phone call to the business for some innocuous seeming information), figures, and other details that add up to an authentic looking invoice. And they have a range of scams other than fake invoices - solicitations for the purchase of goods or services carefully designed to look like invoices for items already received; payment for listing in a directory of some sort you never agreed to; asserting that there is a government requirement for the services offered when no such requirement exists, and phony advertising to renew an ad allegedly placed ‘last year’ … to cite just a few. Scammers are business smart in other ways and will often send bogus invoices in the summer when many permanent employees are away and temporary personnel are covering operations.

The best protection against invoice scammers is knowledge and vigilance.  Your company’s accounting department, or the individuals responsible for paying accounts, should be made aware of the different types of scams and how they work and you need to have a set of internal controls in place that will pick up fake invoices before payment is made. These include:

• Not placing orders over the telephone unless there is no doubt that the firm you are dealing with is reputable

• Always ask for a phone order to be followed up with the offer in writing

• Check your records to confirm claims of previous business dealings

• Channel all invoices through one department

• Read your mail carefully. Warn employees to be on the alert for any unusual invoices.

• Use pre-numbered purchase orders for every order placed

• Check all invoices against purchase orders and against goods or services received

• Verify all invoices with the person who gave written or verbal authorisation for purchase

• Limit the number of people who can pay invoices to just one or two

• Never give out or clarify any information about your business unless you know what the information will be used for

In many cases the amount of the invoice is just small enough to slip by the cheque writer’s attention. Invoice scammers build up considerable experience in calculating the most effective amount to place on the invoice, depending on variables such as the size of the firm and the control it seems to have over its management system. Thousands of mass-mailed invoices, each for a small sum, may prove more lucrative for the con artist than several large invoices. It is believed that invoice scammers succeed in collecting a significant percentage of all the bills they mail. While it’s impossible to put an exact figure on it, business bureaus speculate that scam invoices cost the SME sector millions each year.

written by admin \\ tags: Fraud

Marketing wisdom has it that to develop products with good sales potential you need to first appreciate your customer’s needs and then build a product that answers those needs. Customer needs analysis is the process of unearthing information about just what it is customers would really value in a product. The activities most commonly associated with this process are running customer surveys or focus groups and undertaking market research.

One group that sometimes gets left out of the loop is the company’s employees yet these people, particularly those facing customers, aggregate a huge amount of knowledge about what customers think of a product and about how customers actually use them. A brainstorming session with employees can be a very profitable source of ideas for product innovations that will answer to real needs customers have discussed with them.

Trouble is, traditional brainstorming sessions based on throwing up any and all suggestions for consideration often create more hot air than good ideas. In the real world of business not all ideas are good ideas. One reason is that many blue sky ideas are simply not feasible given the practical constraints imposed by the business’ capabilities. A brainstorming session that ends up with several hundred ideas on the butchers paper may be considered successful in terms of quantity but there’s no guarantee of any quality. Searching through this grab bag of ideas, how can you determine which of them really do address an unmet customer need?

A lot more useful ideas are likely to come up if the thinking is focussed in some way so as to keep it within the zone of what customers need. One way to create this sort of focus is to work to a set of preplanned questions that work off your employee’s knowledge of actual customer needs (or behaviour) rather than to ask for off-the-top-of-the-head thoughts. A set of good questions will restrain thinking to sensible product modifications, or even new versions of a product, that could represent valuable innovations.

There’s no such thing as THE list of right questions to ask and you’ll want to develop your own related to your individual business, its capabilities and its area of operations. However, some generic examples will give you an idea of how this approach works and provide a start for your next brainstorming session.

• What modifications have customers asked us about? Customers will often discuss the features of a product that would be just right for them. If it would be just right for a group of customers, then it could be worth developing.

• Are some customers using our product in a way or for a purpose we never expected or intended them to? For example, iPods are being used as flight data recorders in light aircraft.

• Do any customers invest significantly in modifying your product to get it to do just what they want it to? The most zealous windsurfers who get new boards first and modify them, the most advanced builders experimenting with new materials like stressed-skin panels often suggest or even create useful innovations that manufacturers subsequently adopt.

• What minor modifications do customers regularly make to the product? Do left-handers have to modify it to suit their handedness?

• Is there one modification that would open this product up to a new customer segment such as providing instructions in another language or in braille or developing a ‘green’ version?

• Do customers report a consistent difficulty with using a product? Employees are often well situated to hear about, or even anticipate, customer problems with a product.

Using known unmet needs to guide brainstorming removes the unrestrained speculation that leads to impractical suggestions to meet unproven customer needs. Rather, it allows for creative suggestions on how to devise valued solutions that meet real needs. This approach can be a powerful way of coming up with new ideas ranging from minor product modifications to an entirely new product.

written by admin \\ tags: Innovation

Let’s face it - the customer is not always right. What is always right is to treat them as if they were, because a customer will likely tell numerous people about their bad treatment at your business whereas they rarely pass on the good treatment experiences they have. After all, as customers they expect a good experience. No matter how much customer care training you conduct, some customers will end up dissatisfied with something. They may become so irate that they decide to confront you face-to-face to take the opportunity of venting their frustrations - at times rather abusively.

It’s hard to take a dressing down patiently when the customer is obviously in the wrong. But by and large that is the approach you should train yourself, and your team, to take with complaining customers. Here are six practical tips to keep in mind when talking through a complaint with a customer ­­- if you want to keep them as one.

1: Establish Exactly What The Customer Is Upset About

Listen carefully - actively - to the customer’s complaint before trying to resolve it. Never let the customer go without getting enough information to make a sound decision about how to resolve the problem - calling them for more details will annoy them even further. Allow the customer to explain the situation, then, if necessary go back to ask further questions, clarify issues, or politely disagree. This phase also allows them to let off steam and nine times out of 10, just doing that has a calming effect.

2: Accept Ownership Of The Problem

Avoid getting involved in a point–by–point debate over the rights and wrongs of the situation. Nothing is more guaranteed to enrage a customer who already feels badly done by. Use ‘I’ language - “I will do whatever I can to help you.”, “You are an important customer and I would like the opportunity to resolve this situation and make you happy.” ‘I’ language shows the customer that you are taking responsibility to resolve the situation.

3: Take Complaints Professionally And Not Personally

Do not take a customer’s anger personally. Remain objective and remember that they are upset with the situation, not necessarily with you. A professional demonstrates that they value complaints as a way of assessing where things have gone wrong in customer service and as an opportunity to win back customer loyalty.

4: Maintain Open Body Language And A Helpful Attitude

Your body language will express more than your words will as to what your real feelings are. It needs to be just as reassuring to customers as what you are telling them - that you are concerned, you want to hear their grievance, and that when you have all the information, you’ll try to rectify the situation.

5: Apologise Even If The Matter Is Not Your Fault

Marketing research done by major companies tells us why it is important to take the attitude that ‘the customer is always right’. A customer who has a bad experience generally tells 10 other people about it. Simply saying, “I’m sorry. What can I do to make you happy?” can stop the complainer in their tracks and prevent the spread of bad PR.

6: Be Able To Say “No” To The Customer (In A Tactful Way)

On occasion a complaint may be clearly spurious and it will not be possible to give the customer the sort of satisfaction they are seeking. If you cannot give the customer what they want, explain exactly why. Saying “No” requires tact and diplomacy.

Ultimately, customers will assess your response to their complaint, and judge you accordingly, using three criteria: how they were treated (the politeness, empathy, effort, and honesty of the personnel who dealt with them); the process they were put through (how responsive your people were to their grievance, as well as how fast and simple the overall process was - the longer customers have to wait to get answers, the more dissatisfied they are); and the complaint outcome (has it left them feeling satisfied with the way you handled things). Curiously, a well handled complaint can be a powerful driver of customer loyalty.

Davies McLennon are Stockport Accountants

written by admin \\ tags: Customer care

Business owners know that workers who aren’t using their time and resources effectively are costing the company money. Declining productivity means falling profits and sliding competitive position. That makes the findings from this year’s Proudfoot Productivity Report a cause of concern to employers.

The 2007 report covered businesses in the U.S., Australia and Europe. It reports a disturbing average of 18% of working time wasted among the surveyed businesses. The U.S. came in as most efficient with ‘only’ 14.1% of working hours wasted while Australia topped the charts at 19.4% wasted.

Analysis of contributory causes revealed that more than three-quarters of inefficient working in 2006 could be attributed to just three causes:

• Inadequate workforce supervision (31% of all wasted time)

• Poor management planning and control of work (30%)

• Poor communication (18%)

The remainder of wasted time recorded was the result of IT problems, low morale and a skills absence or mismatch.

When managers were asked to select from a range of actions they considered could increase workplace productivity the top 2 they chose were investment in workforce skills and investment in management skills. But this may be putting the cart before the horse.

The interesting thing is that all three major contributors to time waste are directly referable to internal management practices.  Wasted time may be up, but as the report recognises, the root cause for that is inadequate management supervision, disjointed planning of production processes and inadequate communication of the information employees need to work at their most productive level.

Managers can’t dodge their share of responsibility for the amount of time wasted each year by under-producing employees. When it comes to improving productivity the first area to attend to should be reforming poor management practices and getting managers up to speed in some basic skills.

Workforce Supervision

How to supervise a group of people effectively is a basic HR skill for anybody in a position of leadership or management. Managers should have at least some training in critical HR areas such as employment law, selecting people with the right workforce skills, setting compensation packages, training and developing employees and carrying out performance reviews. These HR skills underpin your ability to get the best out of your employees and improve organisational performance.

Management Planning

The ability to work to a business plan that sets out the broad goals to be achieved in a given period of time, organise all the inputs required to achieve the goals, coordinate the activities and monitor progress towards them are all essential managerial skills necessary to achieve business growth, yet the ability of many managers in these areas is problematic.

Inefficient practices are rarely improved by simply automating them. Introducing technology before optimising the process it is intended to improve merely results in automated inefficiency. But how many managers take the time to analyse just how efficiently their key processes, such as supply chain operations, are working? How many take the effort to develop procedure manuals to ensure employees do things in a consistent and approved manner?

Communication

Managers often have issues with formulating and delivering clear verbal instruction. This can be addressed to a large degree by having the right support resources in place: a clear organisational structure; well defined job descriptions to avoid confusion about responsibilities; policies and procedures manuals to provide a definitive answer on the approved method of doing things; and investing time in inducting and training new employees. Implementing measures like these will reap huge long term productivity benefits.

Employees do usually try to achieve what they think the job requires of them. To get them achieving the right things you need to be very clear in the instruction you provide, whether that be at the level of explaining how to perform a process or what goals the business is trying to achieve and their role in contributing to their attainment.

Poor productivity can be the result of just plain time wasting by employees but more likely it’s the result of poor planning, inefficient practices and an inability to clearly communicate what needs doing. Whether through coaching, talking to a business advisor or putting themselves through one of the many SME management short courses on offer, a manager has a responsibility to make themselves the best they can be before laying problems of poor productivity at the feet of their employees.

written by admin \\ tags: Productivity