Whether you’ve started a business to follow a passion or interest, or you’re set to disrupt an established and competitive market, you’ll likely want to grow and develop your business over time. The good news is that the team at Accounting Clarkes has decades of experience helping businesses like yours grow.
Growth brings its own unique set of challenges at various stages. Some businesses need an injection of cash; others need a strategy to bring in the skills the business currently lacks. Growth rarely happens overnight. You need to have a plan and be prepared!
With that in mind, our team have pulled together the ultimate checklist to help you grow your business. We’ve broken the checklist down into three key areas: business strategy, finances, and market research.
Business strategy
- Where do you want to be in 3-5 years?
You need to have a clear vision as to what you want the business to achieve over the next 3-5 years. It may feel overly ambitious initially, but once you begin to paint the picture of where you want to be, you can then start to break this down into smaller objectives and map out a plan of how to get there. If you want tips on goal setting, check out this blog!
- What non-financial goals do you have?
Growth is typically linked to financial goals, but it doesn’t always have to be. In fact, we recommend that you have some non-financial related goals to motivate you, too. This could be related to spending more time out of the business, or creating opportunities for staff to volunteer their time with a local charity.
- Do you have access to the right expertise?
A common growth obstacle that businesses come up against is a lack of expertise in areas that become strategically important, such as finance, marketing, operations and HR. You don’t have to employ experts in these fields, but outsourcing or having access to the right advisors is something that successfully growing businesses will do well.
Finances
- Utilise your financial reports, especially cash flow forecasts!
If there’s one area we would encourage any business owner to dedicate more time to, it’s taking a closer look at and understanding what the numbers in the business mean. Whether you are reviewing the pre-defined reports in your accountancy software, or an accountant prepares monthly management reports for you, put time aside to interrogate and question the numbers you are seeing. Here’s a blog about how to find those cashflow insights hidden in your accountancy software.
- Review your prices regularly.
You should regularly review your prices and, where appropriate, increase them. How much have your supplier and utility costs increased over the last 12 months? This will impact your profit margin, and you won’t grow as quickly. Diarise the reviews if you must!
- Invest in qualified tax advice
The tax landscape is continually evolving, and there could be allowances that you aren’t making use of. You should have a tax strategy that considers the implications of tax as you grow. For example, once your business reaches a taxable turnover of over £90,000 within a 12-month period, you’ll need to register for and start paying VAT. Being a VAT-registered business will have an impact on your prices and your financial admin, so you need to be prepared for the changes.
Market research
- Are your products/services still in demand?
There are some products and services that will stand the test of time, and others will simply trend for a year or two. It’s important that your business has a demand for what it is you offer. If demand is trailing off, consider other markets you could move into, or pivot your business altogether! Remember what the coronavirus taught us about how habits can change overnight!
- Review your competitors regularly.
Even the most established markets can be disrupted – look at what Airbnb has done for accommodation, and Vinted has done for the second-hand fashion market. There may be competitors that you dismiss based on your knowledge of them, but if your target market considers them as an option to solving their problem, then they’re a competitor you need to be aware of.
- Talk to your customers.
You can gain valuable insights from continually talking to your customers. They already know, like and trust your business; they can be a great sounding board as to what you’re doing right, and where areas could be improved. They are also a captive audience to upsell to, and far cheaper than acquiring a new customer.
Tell us about your growth goals!
Share with us where you want your business to be by 2030. At the time of writing, that’s just 4.5 years away! Will you be doubling your turnover? Expanding into new premises? Thinking about your exit strategy?
We’ve been advising growing businesses for over 40 years. We could bring together that expertise to support your business, too. Book a discovery call with us today.
