Are you prepared for the collapse of the Euro?

There is no escape from the Euro in the news. Politicians in the Eurozone are still faffing around. If the Euro collapses, commentators say that it will devalue. It could become Euro A (strong countries) and Euro B (weak countries), or countries could revert to their previous currencies.

Time for you to consider what the impact might be on your business and to start taking preventative measures....remember your "if onlys" when the banks got into trouble only a couple of years ago.

If your business is just dealing with UK clients and suppliers don't think that it will not impact you because many of your clients and suppliers will be exposed...so you will be too.

What to consider:

• Assess where your business is most at risk, plan for it and implement.
• Maintain as little cash as possible in your Euro denominated bank accounts.
• Collect from clients you invoice in Euros as quickly as you can - better still bill them in Sterling.
• If you are drawing up new contracts with Eurozone clients insist on Sterling.
• If you have subsidiaries in the Eurozone, repatriate profits back into the UK where you can.
• Talk to your bank manager about hedging.

As a specialist financial advisor to marketing agencies and professional firms I know how easy it can be for focus on cash flow to relax and how quickly that can translate into trouble for these people businesses.


As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

John's website is: http://www.nomizon.co.uk/

His credentials: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johntoppin

Finding free cash for your business

As a specialist financial advisor to marketing agencies and professional firms I know how easy it can be for focus on cash flow to relax and how quickly that can translate into trouble for these people businesses.

I've been asked to look at this by my regular followers.

So, for the next few blogs, I shall be looking at what you should be doing to ensure that your cash flow stays healthy.This applies equally to lawyers, headhunters, advertising agencies, architects etc etc...

Watch this space.....add yourself as a follower.

As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

More on cash: http://www.nomizon.co.uk/cash.htm

His credentials: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johntoppin

Preparing for outside investors?

Raising outside investment for your firm requires careful planning.

You will be familiar with the horse trading that goes on in the Dragons' Den..."I will offer you £500k for 30% of the equity" etc....all very much off-the-cuff sounding stuff.

Most business sectors have been used to involving outside investors and in 2011 outsiders will even be able to buy into firms of Solicitors .

You will doubtless want to raise the most money for the equity in your firm. Getting the best value depends on:

1. Managing the timing of when you are looking to get the money

2. Ensuring the firm is professionally run well before you want to ask for money

3. Making the right strategic choices along the way so that your firm's profile attracts a premium rather than a discounted price.

So what should you be thinking about and planning to improve in your firm?

Which features will set your firm apart from your competitors and increase the value and salability of your equity?

There are various rules of thumb used to value equity in people businesses - in terms of multiples of fees or profits. These give a range of values which are then flexed up or down depending on the state of market and the relative strengths and weaknesses of your firm.

As a specialist financial advisor to marketing agencies and professional firms I am aware that it usually takes months and years to make the sort of lasting difference to your business that will increase the value of your equity so you should start working on this now - even if you are a long way from needing to offer equity to outsiders.

As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

More on cash: http://www.nomizon.co.uk/cash.htm

His credentials: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johntoppin

Do company share schemes work?

Retaining and motivating key employees is one of the most important issues I have dealt with as a specialist financial advisor to marketing agencies and professional firms.

One of the most useful tools, when used properly and balanced with bonus schemes and non financial techniques is some form of equity participation.

Do employees who participate in company equity work harder than those who don't and are they more loyal?

There are plenty of studies that show that staff retention is improved where employees have some form of equity participation but until recently there has been no research demonstrating that equity participation increases motivation.

However,the London School of Economics has now published research that shows that employees with equity participation do work harder and not only that, they are also less likely to tolerate underperformance by their colleagues.

If you already have an equity participation scheme in your business then congratulations. If not then maybe you should be considering introducing one.

Tax approved schemes include:

• SAYE linked share option schemes
• Company share option plans
• Enterprise management incentive share option schemes
• Share incentive plans 

These schemes need to be implemented carefully so that your position as owner is protected, the company can achieve its objectives and so that the tax requirements are met.

As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

More on people: http://www.nomizon.co.uk/people.htm

His credentials: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johntoppin

As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

Is your business a winner?

The creative, marketing and professional services sectors are full of similar businesses with virtually identical offerings, people, technologies and ways of doing things. Despite claims to the contrary.Choosing your attitude will set you apart from the rest of the field.

As a specialist financial advisor to marketing agencies and professional firms my observation is that winners add to shareholder value all the time by:

Thinking from their clients' perspective not their own

Being proactive not reactive

Thinking and acting consistently not add hoc

Being flexible not dogmatic

Focusing on what they do best rather than trying to do everything

Understanding the difference between value and price

For example, when tendering for new business, winners take time to understand how buying decisions are made at that prospect and they structure their proposals around the client's needs and the selection criteria. A successful business allocates resources to the tenders they want to win so that their bid stands out from the start.

In a level playing field, it is all about attitude.

Know what is important and spend your time doing that.

As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

More on profits: http://www.nomizon.co.uk/profits.htm

His credentials: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johntoppin

Are you planning to gamble?

What is the point of the budget you and your staff produced last year?

As a specialist financial advisor to marketing agencies and professional firms I'd venture to argue that for many of you it was a complete waste of time and you would have been better served by using last year's actuals to compare this year's financial performance to and rolled the dice on each decision you faced.

Try it for next year.

A budget is not a business plan..far from it, but you will find that properly written business plans underpin the most successful businesses.So, if you are serious about your business, don't spend any time on the numbers. Instead, think about what you want to accomplish next year, how that can be done and agree who is going to be responsible for doing it, and by when.

Share your thoughts with someone outside the business in case you are losing the plot. Write the plan down. Get the plan out every month and check how you are doing. Don't be afraid to add to it or run the red pen through a line or two.Oh....and when you have written the plan give it to your numbers person and ask them to translate the narrative into numbers.

Now that's how to do a business plan and a budget that is worth having.

As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

More on planning http://www.nomizon.co.uk/planning.htm

His credentials: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johntoppin

Is cash flowing from your clients?

According to Experian's current late payment index, figures are showing a significant increase in the time taken by companies of all sizes to pay their bills with a big deterioration in the last quarter of 2010.

Large businesses (+500 employees) are the slowest payers...no surprise there then. Remember terms are usually 30 days for many businesses so these businesses are taking 67 days on AVERAGE to pay according to Experian.

Have a look at the full survey at http://www.experian.co.uk/ and check the scores versus your clients to see how you are doing by sector. Remember to add your credit terms to the numbers in the survey!

As a specialist financial advisor to marketing agencies and professional firms I suspect that you may see that your clients are performing worse than the survey is leading you to expect. There are a number of reasons for this, but don't lose heart, there is actually a great deal that you can do to improve the speed with which you can turn work done for clients into cash in your bank by improving your internal procedures.

As a first step, why not pick the phone up and call John or email him and arrange to meet up.

More on cash http://www.nomizon.co.uk/cash.htm

His credentials: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johntoppin