‘Green’ Grants for Business

Posted on February 16, 2010 by jwassocs

Green Thinking

 

There’s lots of government legislation in place to ensure that UK businesses meet the minimum standards required to minimize their impact on the environment.

 

 

 

How these regulations will affect you will depend on the size and type of your business, as well as the sector you operate in and the process you have in place.

For more detailed information on how these regulations might affect your business, visit the NetRegs website:  

What to do First

 If you’re not sure where to start with going green, then getting an environmental consultant to come in and spend some time with your business to understand where it can save energy is a worthwhile investment.

It can save you as much as 10% through no-cost measures and generally businesses can save over 20%.

Funding

The good news is that there are various grants and soft loans available to businesses to help you comply with these regulations

One such scheme recently announced is a £4 million loan fund to help South East based businesses improve their sustainability.

Backed with £3.8 million from the European Regional Development Fund, SEEDA’s new South East Sustainability Loan Fund is expected to support around 2,500 companies across the region.

They will be able to lend between £20,000 and £200,000 to reduce waste, develop sustainable technologies, and focus on sustainable procurement.

Participating firms will also undergo training and environmental audits “in order to establish methods that boost profits through energy reduction”.

 To help you to keep up to date with the many different grant schemes available to your business visit www.greengrantsmachine.co.uk.

Need help with funding for your business?

 

 Then please contact me at Janette Whitney & Associates on 01403 733671 for professional, impartial advice & Solutions.

 

     

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Thought For The Day

Posted on February 3, 2010 by jwassocs

 To the  HMRC:

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well

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The Importance of Business Planning

Posted on January 25, 2010 by jwassocs

   

SO WHY IS BUSINESS PLANNING SO IMPORTANT?     

 

where is my business going?

.No-one sets off on a journey without knowing where they are going and having a pretty good idea of how to get there. 

 Business is the same.

 

 You need to plan in the first place, but you also need to check constantly that you are on course. 

There are 3 simple questions that many businesses don’t ask themselves – but should  

1.  Do you really know what your business is good at?  

2.  Do you have a good idea of where you want to be in 3 yrs time?  

3.  Do you know if you are doing well enough to get there?  

 One of the reasons why many business owners fail to plan properly is that they are too close to their business – you are all emotionally involved and your time is taken up with solving the day to day problems.  

As a result you may not have time to step back from the business and take a long look at it.- that’s where an impartial adviser can help you most.  

We’ve all said it – “I have more important things to do than plan”  

But people who say that end up working longer hours for the same profit,  

They chase sales in the belief that turnover is the key to success.  

You know if you are in this trap if your turnover rises and your profit are static or falling.  

  

   Remember Turnover is vanity profit is sanity 

     

Your aim should be to improve profitability by at least at the same level as turnover.  

 You will only be able to do this by planning ahead, analysing your performance and keeping your finger on the pulse of the business.  

 

 So to recap 5 key tips to remember 

   

  1.  If you don’t know where your business is going, any road will do – (so  set yourself some goals)
  2. Be proactive in your planning, not reactive – ( plan longer term not just day to day- business is a marathon not a sprint)
  3. Implementation is key – (a plan in isolation is worthless – put it into action and not in a drawer!)
  4. Monitor performance and effectiveness – in terms of financial/sales/people/ your happiness factor
  5. Adjust your plan as necessary –it’s not set in stone, if markets change then the plan has to change, Seek advisers help.

   

To summarise why Business Planning is vital  

   

A good business owner wants to control the business rather than be controlled by it.  

  If your focus is short-term then you are being controlled by your business.  

  By taking a longer view and having a direction, you have a better chance of controlling your own destiny.  

Regularly ask yourself  

  • Where am I now?
  • Where do I want to be?
  • How am I going to get there?
  • What might get in my way?

   

It is better to use the help of an IMPARTIAL ADVISER to help you answer these questions to give you an objective picture of your business- which means you have to be forward thinking enough to ask for help. Are you?  

Remember to fail to plan is to plan to fail

   

   

“contact me at Award Winning Business Consultants Janette Whitney & Associates”    

   

  

   

 

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Boost your Business in 2010 ……….or Bust?

Posted on November 22, 2009 by jwassocs

Boost your Business Results

With 2010 fast approaching and the recession still biting, ensuring your business is set for recovery has never been more important. 

 For some 2010 will still be make or break so to ensure your business is on the road to recovery here are some key questions  you should be asking yourself.

1. Look at your Business Plan. Consider your vision or long-term goal for your business. Is it still relevant for the challenges you are likely to face in 2010? Do you have a vision? Do you really need to do business the way you do, or is there a better, faster, leaner way for you to achieve the same objectives?

2. Are you selling what your customers need today, not what they needed yesterday? Have you kept up with the changes and advancements in your industry or sector? If not then what do you need to do to get back on track?

3.When did you last take a long hard look at your costs? Are you missing possible savings on utility bills because you have not shopped around? Make sure you get 3 quotes for any large purchase and be prepared to negotiate.

4. Are you spending enough on marketing? This can be an easy expense to reduce but research shows that companies which spend more in the long-term do better than their competitors.

5. If you employ people do you employ too many or too few? Have you become complacent in the way you recognise and reward them? Are you doing enough to ensure they don’t walk to your nearest competitor?

Take time out to work on your business, not in it- get help in the form of an independent strategic review from an experienced professional adviser. It will probably take you longer and cost you more in terms of lost revenue if you try and do it on your own.

To kick start your business in 2010 with guaranteed results invest in a ’Business Health Check’ with me. – A strategic business review that will show you exactly what you need to do to drive up your profits and sales and put your business firmly on the road to recovery.

 

 Contact me at Award Winning Business Consultants, Janette Whitney & Associates 

            Tel: 01403 733671         E: jw@whitneyassocs.co.uk

           Making Your Business Work Harder For You

 

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Thought For The Day

Posted on November 5, 2009 by jwassocs

 

“Success is getting what you want – happiness is wanting what you get.” -Dale carnegie 

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Business plan re-think for RBS

Posted on November 3, 2009 by jwassocs

We all know we should have a business plan to guide our business along the route which we want to take and which will deliver the returns that we /the owners need over the medium term – at least 3 years.

Obviously Royal Bank of Scotland’s Chief Executive Stephen Hester forgot  to take account of market forces and undertake a robust S.W.O.T analysis before finalising his Business strategy as he is having to re think his Business plan for RBS only 8mths after it was formulated!

- But then this has been one of the problems which helped cause the Banking crisis – short term thinking and quick gains rather than looking at the longer term with prudent planning.

This article from the Guardian Newspaper  says it all.

What do you think as a small business, especially if you are trying to raise finance  for business development?  Comments please.

 

Contact me at Janette whitney & Associates, Business Consultants for professional  impartial  advice & solutions.

 

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Growing in the Recession

Posted on October 17, 2009 by jwassocs

Which direction ?

Running a successful business in a recession requires an appreciation of two distinct roles, managing the day to day operations and building for the future. Every business person needs to know the importance of both ‘hats’- and when they are wearing each one.

Some companies do well, both in good times and bad. They not only withstand the onslaught of economic recession, but they emerge stronger and fitter. Unsurprisingly, they also make the right choices when economies are growing.

HOW DO THEY DO IT?

 Irrespective of the state of the economy, companies which regularly beat the competition have an ingrained ability to do two conflicting things at the same time. They run the day job effectively and efficiently and they make the right choices on how to grow. These require different, conflicting management styles: relentless detailed operational control, as well as having an eye for the main opportunity. Being great at both things is essential to long-term managed success.

Without clear growth management, companies often end up doing the urgent and forgetting the important. This is most true in a recession, when the extra focus on cash drives aggressive cost control and revenue chasing. But while there is a major focus on running the day job, successful companies also know how to build for the future.

Retaining an eye for the opportunity in the good times is relatively easy; keeping it when it gets tough is vastly more difficult.

Successful companies operate with two ‘hats’. One hat – the operational hat- focuses on delivering immediate needs, driving revenues, costs and margins to meet cash and profit targets. The focus is on the known- we know what the market is, what customers want, what competitors offer. The other hat – the strategic hat- focuses on growth, driving long term sustainable business that predicts and responds to customer trends and opportunities. Here the management style tends to be openness and analysis of opportunities.

Critically, running the day job and delivering sustainable growth requires that both these different styles of capability and approach co-exist in the same organisation. In essence a succesful business must be able to wear these 2 hats comfortably.

The challenge comes when you are a small business and you are the sole owner/director and have the skills & aptitude of one of the ‘hats’ but not necessarily the other- this is when the input of a professional adviser is vital to help give you the perspective of the other ‘hat’.

 Would your business benefit from a Professional  business review? Then contact me at Award Winning Business Consultants, Janette Whitney & Associates ,jw@whitneyassocs.co.uk

 

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Is Your Website Legally Compliant?

Posted on October 14, 2009 by jwassocs

 

 

Much press coverage has been seen regarding the amendments to the Companies Act which came into force at the beginning of 2007 relating to your website and emails and the risk of £1000 fines for not complying with disclosure of the required information.

 

This caught the attention of limited companies and limited liability partnerships as this new piece of legislation only applies to them. However, most business owners (over 50% according to the Dept.for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform – formerly known as the D.T.I), do not realise that there at present 6 pieces of legislation which your website needs to comply with whatever form of business you trade under- , whether that is as a sole trader, partnership, Limited company, Limited liability partnership or franchise etc.

 

Which legislation affects your particular website will depend on what its pages contain, but the need to comply is vital as the fines and policing of internet operations are becoming more and more stringent, just in the same way that as a retailer with a high street premises you would have to comply with certain regulations – your website is your online shop window and the more complicated it is the more rules it needs to adhere to.

 

We have a quick and cost effective solution for you- our Website Compliance Check service.

 Our Website Compliance Check :

  •  Identifies which pieces of legislation your website needs to comply with
  • Provides the necessary legal wording directly to you via email 
  • Identifies general amendments required to your website to comply with the new legislation

 

To start your website compliance check  - simply fill out our easy form and we’ll return all amendments & legal documentation for you to upload onto your website, within 5 working days.

 

  Our service costs just £100- a small price to pay to keep the right side of the law.

 

 For more information or to start your website compliance check please contact me at Janette Whitney & Associates, Business Consultants email jw@whitneyassocs.co.uk   

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Thought For The Day

Posted on October 11, 2009 by jwassocs

“Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don’t have film.”

Janette Whitney & Associates

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Increase in the national minimum wage- 1st october 2009

Posted on September 29, 2009 by jwassocs

 

 From 1st october 2009, new National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates will come into force. The NMW applies to nearly all workers in England, Scotland & Wales and sets hourly rates below which you must not allow pay to fall.

For pay reference periods beginning on or after 1st October 2009, you will have to pay all eligible workers the following:

  • £5.80 an hour to workers aged 22 and above
  • £4.83 an hour to workers aged 18-21
  • £3.57 an hour to workers aged below 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age.

The daily accomodation offset.

You will be able to offset from the NMW an amount of £4.51 per day for each day that you provide a worker with living accomodation.

What happens if workers are underpaid?

From April this year employers who do not pay the correct minimum wage will be issued with an automatic penalty of up to £5000. You will have to pay this even if the underpayment was a mistake !

The most serious cases could be subject to an unlimited fine.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for enforcing the law on the national minimum wage and they will follow up complaints from workers and other sources.

 

For professional & impartial Business advice contact Janette Whitney at Award Winning Business Consultants, Janette Whitney & Associates on 01403 733671 or email jw@whitneyassocs.co.uk

 

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