Day: February 26, 2021

'New school' accountants have replaced 'old school' bank managers for small businesses - blog

Have ‘New school’ accountants replaced ‘old school’ bank managers?

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We have an increasingly complex financial ecosystem, yet UK businesses feel that they have no one to turn to.  It’s not surprising, since we’ve seen a reduction in bank branches and bank managers over the past 20 years, but what business owners don’t know is that they do have someone. To help SMEs in a way that banks never could, accountants are stepping up to fill this gap. They are bringing back the relationship-driven, trusted advisor role to the businesses who miss it.

Here is how accountants are taking the place of old school bank managers.

The bank manager is dead…

Around 20-30 years ago, life seemed a lot simpler. If you were in business and you wanted a loan or to open an account, you would just head to a high street bank (most likely the same one where you had your personal account, mortgage, savings accounts and even investments). Your efforts usually resulted in an overdraft and the add-on of a relationship manager.

This was a win-win relationship. Business owners had a bank manager who they could come to about anything from finances to providing a better relationship, to their service and growing their business. In return, bank managers had clients who didn’t just come to them for a one-off shop (e.g. a loan). They were loyal customers and did their full weekly shop with them every week (e.g. accounts, mortgage etc).

Fast-forward to today and there has been a massive reduction in bank branches (almost 3,000 branches across the UK closed between 2015-2018 alone). And for the banks that are still operating, they have moved up the ‘food chain.’ Not all banks, but the majority have digitised and have reserved their face-to-face services for the bigger businesses who are bringing in more money.

The result of this is that thousands of SMEs have been left without a trusted advisor. They have been left to make crucial financial decisions based on limited or poor information, and don’t know where to turn. In essence, to smaller business owners, the bank manager is dead.

Long live the accountant!

According to a survey by Capitalise, 98% of business owners said that they had no idea who their bank manager was and that, at best, they have a call centre. This shows that banks are falling short of providing a long-term solution to replace the role traditionally filled by the Bank/Relationship Manager.

Business owners may have lost this relationship element from their banking service, but what many don’t know, is that their accountants can offer this and more. SMEs need guidance across the entire financial landscape, including personal decisions as well as business, and this is where accountants thrive.

Accountants are uniquely positioned to be the new gatekeeper for smaller business owners. They know their small business clients best so can easily step into this role of ‘Trusted Financial Advisor.’ A seemingly ‘old school’ and obvious solution, we know, but accountants have evolved over the years while the banks seemed to have devolved.

Where do business owners go for help?

Long story short, if you are one of the many business owners who miss a relationship-driven service rather than a transactional one…if you need a professional advisor who you can talk to openly and honestly about anything…if you want guidance to come up with the best financial solutions to satisfy your specific business needs…you can turn to your accountant.

They should be your first port of call for any question or query that you have. Do you need a personal mortgage renewal? Call your accountant and they will manage this for you and make the best introduction.

Your accountant can help you with everything that an old-school bank manager would, and more:

  • Very first point of contact as your trusted advisor and someone you can call or sit with.
  • Funding solutions – debt, loans and data-driven finance applications.
  • Cash flow management – accounts, reviews, and forecasting.
  • Business advisory discussions.
  • Quality referrals – accountants connect with people daily and grow their network/client base.
  • Business introductions – insurance, pension advisors, bank accounts, business succession/exit.
  • Personal wealth and finance introductions – mortgages/investments/pension.
  • Business growth – implementing and training for cloud accounting programmes that increase efficiency and facilitate growth.

Next time you need business or personal advice, talk to your accountant first. They can give you invaluable support in the 4 key areas of business (people, sales, service, and risk). Plus, unlike the old-school bank managers, they still put the relationship first. This means that they are in a position to give you the best guidance and support as they know you, your business, and your needs as well as their own.

Laptop with flowers

12 ways to increase profit margins (and thrive in business)

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Your profit margin is how much money you actually get to walk away with after a transaction is complete (revenue – costs = profit). It makes sense then, that businesses who want to grow, focus on increasing this margin. The bigger the margin you have, the more you will thrive and be able to power through challenges like the economic climate that we find ourselves in today.

So how do you do it? How do you increase your profit and master your margins?

  1. Identify what is not working – before you can fix something, you need to know what’s broken. Take an objective look at your business and your processes and identify the gaps.
  2. Streamline your processes – the faster you can provide a service, the faster you can generate revenue and increase your profit margin. Where can you speed up your processes to trim costs without impacting quality? I.e using cloud accounting software.
  3. Discover any areas where there is waste – where does your business spend money? Are you losing money through inefficiency or waste? Can you reduce your expenses?
  4. Market those higher-end services – what services sell best and deliver the highest profit? Prioritise these in your marketing and focus your efforts on pushing these more.
  5. Aim for incremental growth – try not to get ahead of yourself. Set yourself small goals and you’ll find that you’ll make consistent, and more importantly, sustainable progress.
  6. Focus on building your team – a happy, motivated, and productive team, one that supports your growth goals, can make a world of difference to your profit margin.
  7. Be innovative in your strategy – if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s how to strategically innovate our service. What are you not offering your target audience that they really need? What can you replace in the service that you’re offering now?
  8. Cross-promote to increase your credibility – if you get a good response from running webinars or writing content, think about ways you can cross-promote with someone influential in certain topics. Not only does this increase your credibility, but it capitalises on the other person’s time, money, and resources too.
  9. Identify other pillars for revenue – is there a service that brings in the majority of your revenue? If there is, try to see what other areas you can focus on to build another revenue-generating pillar. You don’t want your strategy to be dependent on a single pillar (what if that pillar fell down?). Your aim should be to strengthen another area or two and this will increase your margin too.
  10. Create a loyalty programme with your clients – your clients know, like, and trust you, and they are your best advocates. They are your free sales team, so help them spend more with you and tell others about your services. How can you create a loyalty programme to reward them?
  11. Raise your fees – if you haven’t had a rate increase recently, you have an easy way of increasing your profit! Just make sure to approach this right, conveying your increase in value rather than your profit margin.
  12. Outsource certain tasks – a great way of increasing your profit margin is to outsource some lower-value tasks to freelancers or contracted workers. You can use them only when demand is high or part-time.
Alarm clock

How to be productive when you feel restless or run down

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The changes and stresses caused by the pandemic are taking their toll on all of us. It’s been almost a year now of being stuck indoors, working from home, juggling priorities, and potentially having to home school the children at the same time. I don’t know about you, but is it any wonder that we feel tired and run down?

This ‘new normal’ has a lot of us feeling run down, but at the same time, restless. It’s a horrible combination and it’s affecting our productivity. To help you get back some control and normalcy in your life, here is a quick guide.

Identify if your body needs a reset

Yes, sometimes, we can all procrastinate; we can all feel a bit fed up and tired every now and then. This is normal. What isn’t normal, is if you’re feeling this way every day. If you’re feeling any or all of the following as soon as you wake up and throughout the day, every day of the week, these are signs that your body is run down and in need of a reset:

  • Your energy is low
  • You’re not eating very well or healthily
  • You’re having digestion issues
  • You’ve got cravings (typically for high-sugar snacks)
  • You’re moody, anxious or irritable (more than normal for you)
  • You’re not happy with your weight
  • You feel like you need to make a change

How to reset your body so that you can be productive again

Make time for self-care – this should be your absolute priority when you feel run down, exhausted or restless. It may be really difficult to prioritise yourself when you feel so overwhelmed, but be tough with yourself and do it anyway. Without properly managing your physical and mental health, you simply can’t perform at your best. Get more sleep, exercise more, eat healthier, and dedicate some time to activities that ground you (e.g. meditation, journaling, meal planning etc).

Shift your mindset – productivity should be any ‘task’ that requires your time, energy, and attention. This includes any ‘chores’ that need to be done in the house and even exercise. Schedule these into your day and you’ll find that you’ll feel much better and more accomplished when you come to the end of them.

Prioritise and time-manage – first, start a time diary to figure out where your time is actually being spent. Do this for a week and it will help you be more mindful about how you spend your time. Once you have done this, you can establish an ideal schedule for yourself. Maybe you work best early in the morning, so start early and finish early. Once you have a schedule, prioritise your tasks. What are the tasks that are urgent AND important? What tasks will give you the most bang for your buck? Do these first.

Focus and take regular breaks – sitting down and focusing for long periods of time are not good for us. After all, our concentration is limited! To stay productive, try to use focus periods. Try the Pomodoro Technique where you work for 25-minute blocks followed by a 5-minute break. This will help you maximise your focus time and will force you to take repeated breaks. This technique is a good one for when you feel run down or tired as 20-25 minute blocks are easier to tackle than thinking you have the whole day to get through!

Avoid distractions and things that deplete your energy – distractions kill our productivity. It’s true – every distraction (no matter how small), causes us to spend the next 20 minutes trying to get back into the task we were doing in the first place. Turn off your phone notifications while you work and create an office space at home that is away from family members so that you can focus. It’s also a good idea to identify what drains your energy. Maybe it’s scrolling on social media or listening to friends rant about their situation or all the negativity that’s on the news. Whatever it is, avoid it so that you can use what little energy you do have on what matters.

Engage with people and get help if you need it – even if your team is working virtually right now, engage with them. Tell them that you’re struggling and converse with them. Conversations can boost mood and productivity so try to socialise even if you don’t feel like it. Sometimes, just sharing your worries or hearing that others feel the same is enough for you to feel better, but if it’s not, consider seeking further help. Whether it’s a business coach or a therapist, they can help you develop a plan and take back control again.

Don’t be too hard on yourself

We have all gone through or are going through this, as we speak. It’s a difficult time and a truly unique time, so don’t be too hard on yourself. If you’re feeling restless and run down and worried about work and your productivity, the first thing you need to do is take care of yourself and talk to someone. This is the most important thing to do. The rest comes later. Only when you feel better can you start to work better, so prioritise you.