Its now a blatant fact that the British Economy is in a downturn and Company Directors interested in their Companies existence must have a plan or they will most certainly go into liquidation
A record number of companies and shops went into insolvency over the Christmas period caused by the really awful trading conditions.
Retailers and Businesses that have already been bore the brunt of the recession and have had to go bankrupt are MFI the furniture retailer, Whittard of Chelsea, the specialist tea and coffee retailer. and Wedgewood the fine China and tableware manufacturer.
One of the most well know victims of the recession is Woolworths that went into liquidation just before Christmas. Its final stores closed on January the 5th, resulting in 27,000 staff loosing their jobs.
A business owner should be thinking how can I survive this economic slump? The Turnaround Management Association says that for a business to achieve a successful turnaround it needs four things; a credible management team, a viable business core, a valid business plan and appropriate funding.
British Business is now facing a Cash Flow restriction caused by the credit crunch and and freeze in the capital markets forcing Companies to search out alternative sources of funding
Company Directors with an eye on survival should immediately have a plan to reduce expenditure within the business. Carefully review expenditure to identify any areas of your business where savings can be made. Meticulously going over the Companies expense to find areas where costs can be cut. You should look at Telephone Charges and Tariffs, Utilities, Trade Suppliers, distribution costs. The accumulation of a number of cost saving can be remarkable.
Cash Flow within a business is vital at any time but even more so in a recession and having access to working capital should be at the top of any business owners list. Funding a business with invoice factoring, which is increasingly popular for small to medium businesses. While not suitable for all Companies, the huge benefit of invoice factoring is that rather than have money tied up in invoices that are yet to be paid, you can receive an initial payment up front, typically 80% – 85% of the gross value, and the remainder when the customer pays the invoices to an invoice finance provider, less the service fee which has been negotiated with them. However, if the customer defaults on payment, then the finance company will recover the money provided to you initially from any further invoices which are factored. This can lead to random cash flow if customers are slow payers or they go into insolvency.