 
As the nation’s recovery roadmap out of lockdown is well underway, now is the time for start-ups to get ready and seize new opportunities. For your small business venture to work successfully, however, it is important to be aware of the main pitfalls that many business owners face in the early stages of their journey. One of the biggest challenges start-ups and small businesses face is poor cashflow. This is an age-old problem which was present before and will continue to be long after the effects of the pandemic are a distant memory. The past year has forced many organisations to adapt to more remote and online ways of working, providing an opportunity to make the leap from desktop software to a cloud solution. Making the transition may seem daunting, but cloud accounting solutions are increasingly necessary and can provide an intuitive system for understanding and managing your cashflow as well as providing an effective overview of your business. Repeated admin tasks around companies’ financial affairs takes time, are prone to human error and detract from core business. By integrating your finances with cloud accounting software, you can increase efficiency, streamline business management and easily access real-time information online from anywhere, whether you are in the office, working from home or on the other side of the world. Having data available at your fingertips and knowing how best to utilise that data, will be instrumental as you make decisions for your business, both in the short-term and looking to the future. It is also important to understand the financial drivers in your business, in particular your gross and net margins and your breakeven point, which should help guide decision making being based on timely, meaningful, and relevant information. Some of the key areas to get to grips with include: The importance of capturing data, how to keep records and the timeliness of record keeping, as well as the benefits of live bank feeds. Understanding how data can help you, including better decision making and improved credit control. The software available that can help data capture and interpretation, from Hubdoc through to Fluidly. Knowing how best to use your data to add real value, such as establishing breakeven points, identifying most/least profitable sales lines, and industry standard KPIs. To find out more, take a look at our webinar series, ‘Overcoming the pitfalls of start-up businesses’, here: https://bit.ly/3xjXnwZ. In this series, our experts discuss a range of topics, including effective cash management, decision making with data, appropriate KPIs and business planning. For further advice, contact Hazlewoods Director, Rhiannon Hooper, at rhiannon.hooper@hazlewoods.co.uk or call a member of the Accounting Solutions team on 01242 680000. |
