MGBA - Midland Group Business Advisors

Practical advice from the independent experts

0333 444 8522
practical-advice@ukba.co.uk
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
Members Area

Navigation

  • Home
  • Benefits to Businesses
    • General Data Protection Regulation
    • Marketing
    • Business Fundraising
    • Selling Your Business
    • Intellectual Property
    • Sustainability and Environmental Impact
  • Downloads
    • E-books and White Papers
    • Newsletters
  • News
  • Who We Are
    • Business Advisors
    • Local Groups
  • Contact

Why a patent may be more valuable than you think…..

December 2, 2014 By Mushroom Internet

Patents for your innovation, very expensive to many small businesses.

“The problem with having a patent is that if I challenge a multinational in court for breaching my Intellectual Property, then it will cost me a bomb in legal fees. And of course ‘Big Co’ can afford more expensive lawyers than I can afford“.
It is a fairly common comment from Business Owners and Innovators. And of course it is even more expensive if you have cover in Europe, or World Wide.

Of course, Company owned patents are seen as assets when it comes to Company valuations, but this may not be easily reconcilable during day to day business.

The goalposts changed on 1st April 2013, and it is amazing how many innovators and small Business Owners do not know about the Patent Box. Whilst nothing changes regarding the ‘vulnerability of Big Co to try to bypass your patent’, matters have changed regarding the incentives for doing so.

Profits from items with a Patent are now subject to a lower rate of Corporation tax.

So, let us say that 50% of your profits are derived from items with Patent protection, then tax related to this is reduced to 10%. Prior to April 2013, all profits associated to Patents were subject to the higher Corporation Tax rate.

Of course you need to work out the sums in your financial projections to see if it is worthwhile.

If you need help with weighing up the pros and cons, call us, or drop us an e mail. Discretion guaranteed.

0333 444 8522
ian.thomas@sgba.co.uk
peter.johns@sgba.co.uk
bob.francis@sgba.co.uk

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Growth, innovation, sales, tax

Managing the finances of your business more effectively

October 23, 2014 By Graham Hodges

This short paper is intended to help you with being much more effective and profitable in the way you run your business, by keeping better track of your finances and using the financial information you have to better effect.

I am not an accountant and most business owners are also not accountants but we DO need to make use of what the financial figures are telling us. This needs to be done on a regular and ongoing basis. For most of us, most of the time, the practise of accountancy can be gobbledegook. In some ways this is probably as it should be, after all accountants need to go through many years’ of study to get properly qualified, and it can be very complex. We should trust our accountants to “get it right” for us and for the most part, they will. However most will not be managing your finances on a regular week by week and month by month basis.

We must trust ourselves rather than others, to know and understand how to run our businesses. Because we are so close to it, it is only really us that knows what is happening and understands properly the impacts on our business. I will argue two fundamental points:

  1. We cannot run our businesses as well as we should, without an up to date knowledge of what is happening with costs and income, and
  2. It is not hard or complicated, it is common sense.

We will tackle a number of subjects in this paper. When considering them, we will see that none of it is rocket science, but all of it is essential.

Taking Management Action

My main argument is that we need to take action in our business depending on what is going on around us. This includes what has already happened, but much more importantly what we think is going to happen, some examples:

  • Are these customers going to continue to place orders with us?
  • Are our utility costs going to go up?
  • Have we a Sales Drive coming up that will deliver us lots of new orders?
  • Are there some changes in legislation that are going to affect us?
  • Do we have some machinery that is nearing the end of its life and needs replacing?

The list is endless, but is actually the list of things we constantly think about when running our business. They all have some form of financial impact, and we can plan for it, and forecast the impacts.

Forecasting

It is important that we have a forecast of what is going to happen. Most of the time when I talk to business owners, they say that they cannot predict what is going to happen. I’ve lost count of how many times I have heard; “we cannot predict our future business”. I contend that this is actually not true and it is the forecast that will tell us what actions we should be taking. At least then we have a chance of:

Mitigating any potential problems we can see coming, and

Taking best advantage of opportunities there are

Cash Flow

Cash is King, and there are many, many good works that go through this in depth. In fact it is not hard to do a cash flow forecast, but it is vital. Forecasting cash flow need not be an onerous task. There is not necessarily a need to do it weekly, but it is very important to be able to see when the bank balance is likely to dip. You should always have good relationships with your customers, and it is very important to be firm about when they pay, after all the money is owed to you – you are entitled to it.

Monitoring

In most cases, our accountants will do our annual accounts some time after the end of the year. A good accountant will provide some analysis of the differences between these accounts and the previous years’ accounts. I argue that this is all very interesting but completely useless in the day to day running of our business. It is all ancient history. We need to monitor what is happening NOW, and what is going to happen. Only then can we actually do something about it. A simple (monthly) monitoring system is critical.

Summary

Simple, practical and straight-forward basic financial forecasting is the real key to a successful business. Monitoring the finances and making changes does two things:

  1. It means you don’t leave tackling issues until it is too late
  2. It enables you to be positive and pro-active with making the most of business opportunities

If you would like to find out more about how we can help you to be in control of your business and manage it more effectively, contact us at:

info@swba.co.uk

Tel: 01225 580103

Filed Under: Managing your business finances, News

The Changing Pace Of Advertising – August 2014 UKBA newsletter

July 30, 2014 By

The Changing Pace Of Advertising – The August 2014 UKBA newsletter is now out

See other 2014 newsletters

Filed Under: News

The Entrepreneur’s Checklist – The June 2014 UKBA newsletter

June 2, 2014 By

The Entrepreneur’s Checklist – The June 2014 UKBA newsletter is now out

See other 2014 newsletters

Filed Under: News Tagged With: The Entrepreneur's Checklist

The Entrepreneur's Checklist – The June 2014 UKBA newsletter

June 2, 2014 By

The Entrepreneur’s Checklist – The June 2014 UKBA newsletter is now out

See other 2014 newsletters

Filed Under: News Tagged With: The Entrepreneur's Checklist

Training Needs – Choosing Digital Solutions

May 11, 2014 By June Beddows

Are you about to select a digitally based solution for your organisation?

For making the best choice, make sure you have done your homework before talking to any of the potential suppliers.

Packaged solutions are perceived as the most cost effective solutions  – but very few people appreciate the pros and cons of bespoke v’s package solutions. Simple, bespoke solutions are often better and more efficient. Too many buy complex Accounting Packages that then limit their subsequent digital progress.

List aspects of the solution that you consider are absolutely essential. – Some parts of the solution will be “Must Haves…”, others are “Nice to Haves…” make sure you have really thought through what you need from the solution, and what can wait till next time if budgets prohibit their use this time.  What information do you need to hold, what processes and reporting outputs are needed? 

What types of changes need to made and how are these undertaken?  eg. VAT rate is 20% at present, how is this changed to a new and different value when this need arises?

Don’t forget Security.  Who will use the system, how is access managed and restricted? Is this suitable for your needs?  Data Protection and Data Integrity issues?  Backups and Service Continuity? 

Review Suppliers and their ability to support your needs, initially and in future. What will be the impact on your business if they cease trading or become unable to support you for the time you expect to utilise their solution?

What happens next?    Your business needs and the market will not stand still.  Good Business Planning will indicate some of your more predictable future needs, new inventions and legislation changes will happen too.   How flexible is your proposed purchase?  You will not want to change it too often so consider your needs to be able to adapt in future.

Failure to consider the specific digital handling requirements – Leads to project overruns, waste, inappropriate purchasing decisions, disruption and sometimes even worse business and service failures.

Each of these listed aspects of choosing and buying are big subjects in their own right. Make sure you or a member of staff has sufficient skill to make the decisions effectively on your behalf.    In some cases you may feel adequate coaching and training will meet your needs.  For the much bigger purchases, if your team are not experts in this aspect, consider hiring an independant expert to assess any or all of the proposed solutions for you.  This will ensure that you are well informed to make appropriate assessments of the risks and benefits of each solution, helping your decision making and overall management.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Management, Strategy

What’s Your Personality Type? – May 2014 UKBA newsletter

April 30, 2014 By

What’s Your Personality Type? – May 2014 UKBA newsletter

Filed Under: News Tagged With: May 2014 UKBA newsletter

What's Your Personality Type? – May 2014 UKBA newsletter

April 30, 2014 By

What’s Your Personality Type? – May 2014 UKBA newsletter

Filed Under: News Tagged With: May 2014 UKBA newsletter

Employment Allowance reduces NICs for Employers

April 10, 2014 By Mushroom Internet

From 6th April 2014 employers are able to claim Employment Allowance. This Allowance reduces the NIC Class 1 payable by employers by up to £2000 per year. The aim of this allowance is to make it easier and less of a financial burden on small businesses to employ staff.

Employment Allowance

Not all businesses can claim the Employment Allowance however. Employers that cannot claim this allowance are those that:

  • employ someone for personal, household or domestic work, such as a nanny, au pair, chauffeur, gardener, care support worker
  • already claim the allowance through a connected company or charity
  • are a public authority, this includes; local, district, town and parish councils
  • carry out functions either wholly or mainly of a public nature (unless you have charitable status), for example:
    • NHS services
    • General Practitioner services
    • the managing of housing stock owned by or for a local council
    • providing a meals on wheels service for a local council
    • refuse collection for a local council
    • prison services
    • collecting debt for a government department

The allowance can be claimed through your payroll software by automatically reducing the Employer NICs payable up to £2000. HRMC will automatically carry the claim forward for succeeding tax years.

Further information is available from the Government website at Employment Allowance.

Our experienced business advisors are available to help with any aspect of business and many of them are registered Growth Coaches. For a no obligation discussion contact us or call 0333 444 8522

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Employers NICs, Employment Allowance, HMRC, NICs, SMEs

Why Smart People Don’t Know How to Market – April 2014 UKBA newsletter

April 2, 2014 By

Why Smart People Don’t Know How to Market – April 2014 UKBA newsletter

Filed Under: News

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 6
  • Next Page »
  • Home
  • Benefits to Businesses
  • Downloads
  • News
  • Who We Are
  • Contact
Registered address: 4 Old School Close, Tideswell, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 8NG - Registration No: 05288512
Copyright © 2019 UK Business Advisers Limited - No unauthorised use of any of the contents of this website is permitted - All Rights Reserved
practical-advice@ukba.co.uk
0333 444 8522
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Necessary Always Enabled