Brexit and Coronavirus have had a considerable effect on thousands of businesses’ operations, restricting their ability to meet their goals and ambitions in 2020.

With the start of a New Year and the end to restrictions in the months to come, now is a better time than ever to ensure you are achieving growth within your business.

Below, we have highlighted how to do just that.

Be adaptable

This last year has taught many businesses the importance of adaptability and the need to learn new skills in response to ongoing changes.

If you can be flexible and respond effectively to things that aren’t going to plan and are out of your control, it will put you in a better position to continue your business operations.

One aspect of being adaptable is having financial records and access to online accounting as up-to-date information enables you to pinpoint what you need to change in this uncertain period.

Invest in cloud accounting 

When you invest in online accounting, it enables you to monitor your company’s financial health by providing you with information to keep on top of cash flow.

Some benefits of cloud accounting include:

• Access to your current financial position, whenever and wherever
• Automatically backed up data
• Dashboards to display essential financial information (for example, any debtors, cashflow and upcoming bills)
• Multi-user access
• Time-saving on data recording

When you utilise cloud accounting, it enables you the flexibility of running this aspect of your business from work, on the go, or from home and provides you with current knowledge of how your business is doing.

Utilise credit control

Another essential way to grow your business is through using credit control, a system used by companies and banks to ensure credit goes to only borrowers that are likely to repay.

By using this system, you minimise the risk of incurring any debts, interest on overdrafts and can help you to improve your business’ cash flow.

Overall, it can help you to sustain a well-managed business.

Focus on customers

Having good cash flow involves building relationships with customers and creating an agreement with them.

By being direct and setting out payment terms and conditions early on, it can help to minimise the risk of late payments and obtaining debts from your customers.

Additionally, getting to know customers, sustaining a relationship and providing an excellent service is vital for growing your business.

When you understand your customer’s preferences, you can tailor products or services to meet their needs.

For existing customers or new ones, staying in contact with them through a newsletter, for example, can enable you to sustain a relationship, and lets them know about upcoming promotional events.

Upon providing exceptional customer service, it will not only make their experience memorable, but it will make them more inclined to either refer you to other businesses or to use your services again.

Plan expenditure with budget reports

Planning investments or payments ahead, such as rent, taxes, daily expenses, repairs etc., is essential for businesses to manage their cash flow. Having budget reports enables you to see how you handle your funding; what you spend it on, and if funding is leftover for new products or services.

Obtain funding

Outside investment is necessary for funding growth within your business.

The Government has designed the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), for example, to inspire private investors to invest in UK companies that are in the early stages of their business.

This scheme is one of four venture capital schemes and helps businesses raise up to £5 million each year and a maximum of £12 million in a company’s lifetime – which includes amounts received from other venture capital schemes.

Companies eligible for the scheme are as follows:

• Those with a permanent establishment in the UK
• Those that not trading on a recognised stock exchange at the time of the share issue and does not plan to do so
• Those that do not control another company other than qualifying subsidiaries
• Those not controlled by another company, or does not have more than 50% of their shares owned by another company
• Those that do not expect to close after completing a project or series of projects

Please note, your business must receive investment under a venture capital scheme within seven years of its first commercial sale.

Additionally, if you fail to follow the scheme rules for at least three years after the investment is made, then tax reliefs will be withheld or withdrawn from your investors.

For more information or guidance on related matters, please contact our experts at R Johnson today.