When starting a business many
people will think that having the correct type of insurance is the best plan to
have in place in case an emergency strikes. Although having insurance is
essential, a contingency plan is also another vital measure your business must
have as a backup plan. Hopefully your business will never have to deal with
issues such as those affecting heating systems, boilers and other important
equipment; but it’s for these reasons why a well thought out contingency plan
needs to be created.
Unless your business has had to
face an emergency in the past, it’s hard to understand why having a contingency
plan in place is so important. To put this into perspective, the hotel chain
Malmaison, recently faced an issue with their boiler system. The consequence of
this saw the chain lose around £60,000 a night; which goes to show why you need
to have a ‘plan B’, for difficult times like these.
If you’re a business owner and
don’t have a contingency plan, then it’s crucial you start to create one. With
this in mind, Ideal Heat Solutions have put together an
eBook full of all the information you’ll need, to help you get a backup plan in
place, in case your business is faced with an emergency.
How to create a contingency plan?
Although it may sound like a
long-winded task, creating a contingency plan can be a lot more straightforward
than what you may think. To begin with, you want to outline all of the
potential risks which could happen to your business, no matter how small or big
they may seem. Once you have compiled the list, then assess how likely each
risk is and the impact they could potentially have on your business.
For example, it’s important to
consider the lifespan of essential equipment, such as a boiler system. When you
look at domestic boilers, these have an average lifespan of around 10-12 years,
whereas plant rooms can remain working for around 20-30 years. Although you can
use these numbers as a guide, you need to make sure you schedule in routine
maintenance work and create a plan in the event of a more serious emergency,
where you may need to bring in temporary systems.
One of the final steps to include
within your contingency plan, is to outline any parties who will be affected if
an emergency does happen. For instance, your employees should be the first
people you contact, as well as customers, suppliers, banks, equipment suppliers
etc.
Communication is key!
Once your plan is in place, it’s
essential you communicate each step to your employees, so they know exactly
what will happen if the contingency plan needs to be put into action. Another
great way for both you and your employees to familiarise yourself with the plan
is to test it as often as possible. This will allow each member of the business
to understand their role in detail.
We want to know if this post has
helped you and what you thought of the Ideal Heat Solutions eBook. Let us know
on social, using #ContingencyAdvice.
McKinsey is one of the most well-known and prestigious firms on the planet.
Think the Goldman Sachs of management consulting.
Headquartered in New York, McKinsey employs over 27,000 staff, spread across close to 130 offices, worldwide and works with 90% of the world’s top companies.
McKinsey “alumni” also go on to make up a hugely disproportionate fraction of Fortune 500 CEOs.
Not a bad place to work, then!
Whether you are reading this because you want to join the thousands of other McKinsey hopefuls writing up their applications each year or want to learn more about life at such a prestigious firm, you might be curious about what a McKinsey consultant’s career path is like.
The Right Candidate
On the whole, McKinsey’s career path is similar to that at any other high-end management consulting firm.
As a top company, McKinsey attracts the best talent in the market. If you want to keep up, you need a flawless resume and cover letter that earns you the interview.
To build your resume, you need to start early. You particularly should have a standout performance in the core subjects, like engineering or economics, preferably from a top-level college an equivalent ofIvy/Oxbridge level.
Besides stellar performance in academics, you need excellent soft skills and experience from a top company in a related industry. For fresh graduates, internships from a leading management consulting firm or a role at a top affiliated firm will suffice.
McKinsey equally considers entrepreneurial skills or even charitable experiences.
Before you draft your resume, network with McKinsey alumni to learn a few things about it or talk to its current employees. It may prove difficult to come across such people, though, as the company has a discretion culture. But you can learn about the firm and your target position through other sources.
Making the Cut
Excellent papers from a celebrated college, great recommendations in extra-curricular activities, and even internship experience from a blue-chip company alone won’t earn you a straight pass at McKinsey.
Still, your application has to undergo screening. Here, at least half of the applicants fell by the wayside, based on their resumes.
Further, the McKinsey Digital screening test automatically separates the wheat from the chaff, eliminating even more candidates from the race.
So, to settle for the best, McKinsey simulates the open job position in an interview setting. Candidates then face case studies to work out over a limited period. Two rounds of such interviews separate the best candidates.
Well, if you ever wonder why the application success rate at McKinsey is as low as 2%, then there you have it. The path to becoming part of the company is gruesome. Learn about the company and the position on offer long before the interview.
Climbing the Ladder… And Earning More
As the leading management consultancy firm, McKinsey pays handsomely. But your specific earnings depend on several factors, among them your office geographic location.
Since its employees attract a massive number of suitors, the firm uses big pay rises to make the positions attractive and help retain top talent.
The entry-level at McKinsey is a Business Analyst, which requires you to have an undergraduate or master’s degree. As an analyst, you take home a basic salary of about $80,000 annually, with a performance bonus of up to $12,000. Also, you get $5,000 as a signing bonus.
But you can also join as an associate. However, it would help if you had an MBA, Ph.D., or considerable relevant experience. An associate takes home a basic salary of about $150,000, with bonuses such as signing and performance pegged at $25,000 and $45,000, respectively.
With an up or out policy, McKinsey encourages employees to work extra hard. It takes you about one and a half a year to three years to get to the next level. Of course, the new position comes with a significant pay rise.
From an associate, you climb up to an engagement manager, an equivalent of a project leader. However, you must have worked with them for some time now to take this lucrative role. Its remuneration includes a basic salary of $200,000 and a performance bonus of nearly half this amount.
Still, ascending from an engagement manager, you take the role of an associate principal. Here you are a senior project manager, so you are entitled to up to $300,000 annual income as a basic salary and a maximum of $200,000 as a bonus on performance.
The highest achievable level at McKinsey is the partner, whose basic salary is $300,000 – $600,000, and a performance bonus of not less than $300,000.
Does Everyone at McKinsey Have an MBA?
McKinsey puts a premium on industry experience, but it also values education. Nonetheless, you don’t need an MBA to join McKinsey. An undergraduate or a standard master’s degree is enough for the entry-level.
All the same, an MBA from a top business school like Harvard, can undoubtedly tilt your fortunes. But a degree earns you the same spot as a Ph.D., meaning you may get a straight pass to associate level.
Since consulting requires more specialist knowledge, it is prudent you get an MBA to help you deal with client problems.
The Buttigieg Effect – Exit Opportunities from McKinsey
From famous politicians to leaders in every industry sector, McKinsey alumni consistently go on to great things.
Indeed, the fact we refer to them as “alumni” shows that a McKinsey career doesn’t end when you leave the firm’s employment.
Indeed, this jump-start for a career is one of the primary reasons many people want to work at McKinsey in the first place.
Nevertheless, owing to the gruesome nature of consultancy, a reasonably large number of employees leave when they get great exit opportunities. Most people use the firm and management consultancy as bouncing bags to propel them into excellent career options.
By working diligently at a high ranking firm like McKinsey, you become a darling of many firms and command a higher salary in your relevant field. For instance, an associate in the oil and gas industry would exit for a better position in an oil and gas firm.
Many people would leave consultancy not just for better pay, but better working conditions as well. Some also go for top finance roles that often pay more for fewer working hours.
In a few words
If management consulting is a challenging career, it is twice as tough at McKinsey. The company goes not only for the brightest applicants but also for those who show excellent interpersonal skills. If this is the path you want to take, you should have started like yesterday!
Working at the firm has its rewards, from huge bonuses and handsome base salaries that grow exponentially with rapid promotions and enormous exit opportunities. The company is like a platform to market yourself. Once you are there, your career glitters long after you leave.
Teysha Technologies has entered into a new partnership, with
empowering women in Africa at the heart of the deal. The partnership is with
the Kind Planet Company, which produces organic skincare products. The natural
ingredients for the range of products are grown on 43 farms in Ghana in West
Africa.
Women in the local communities are provided with the tools
and skills required to cultivate the fruits and pick, pack and process them.
These skills ensure that each farm is run as a profitable enterprise where the
women can secure a regular income to help their families.
Matthew
Stone, Teysha Technologies’ Managing Director, commented that this was very
close to the values of the company, which has many female employees in senior
positions. These include inventor and Chief Technology Officer Professor Karen
L. Wooley and Head of Research and Development Dr Ashlee A. Jahnke.
The role of Teysha Technologies in the partnership will be
to produce a range of biodegradable packaging lids for the Kind Planet
Company’s skincare products, using its patented platform to create biopolymers
from natural waste products. The ethical products will then be packaged in
sustainable materials that can be broken down once finished with, leaving no
micro materials or pollutants behind.
The partnership hopes to meet the demands of an increasingly
environmentally and socially aware consumer base seeking products that are
ethically created and sustainably packaged. In this way, Teysha takes
responsibility for the products behind the packaging as well as its own
materials.
The first stage of the process will involve Teysha creating
prototype packaging lids, which once tested can then be moved to full scale
production. Duncan
Clark is Teysha Technologies’ Head of Business Operations. The operational timeline
aims to enter full production by early 2021.
The Teysha platform is fully tunable, allowing
for the development of biodegradable plastic alternatives for hundreds of
potential applications, all derived from landfill waste.
In order to get your project ideas across
and have them embraced by both your shareholders and team you need to create a
visual impact and one way of doing this is by the use of graphs and charts. You
may be tempted to use a large amount of written content but what seems like
endless reams of information can lead to attention deficit and boredom whereas
visual aids such as pie charts create a powerful punch; presenting concise and
quickly comparable data.
Absorbing info
When you are a PM; time is always a factor
as is collaborative working so you need to orchestrate your presentation in
such a way that data can be absorbed quickly and concisely. Courses for
professional project managers can offer you the training to do this and
this learned skill will then be an invaluable asset in your management tool
kit.
Visual tools
Charts and graphs are visual tools that
convey a lot of information quickly in a simple picture. The last thing you
want to do is to make your audience work hard to understand you and the
following 3 aids will help to impress your public and ensure you are a top
notch communicator.
Communication
PM
accreditation teaches that although the written word is important, people
“get” succinct bullet points and pictures much more readily – it’s just the way
the human brain works – so devising visual aids will quickly save you time,
effort and money and gain quicker
results. A greater first impact will lead to less explanation down the line and
the more you create visual aids – the more proficient a communicator you will
be.
So what are the 3 most common aids to use?
The bar graph
Pretty much
everyone is au fait with bar graphs that provide instantly comparable
information. Items can be quickly compared against each other with just a quick
glance and the differences shown in the relative sizes of the different bars.
Bullet lists can present the same information but the eye has to work down the
list to absorb the data whereas a graph will ensure the same information has
much greater impact.
The line graph
This is an
invaluable visual aid when you want to present information that has changed
over time meaning that the audience can literally see the history of the data
and track significant points along the lines. A line graph can present one line
of information or several instantly comparable lines. Additional information
that explains the ups and downs of the graph can also be added to give the full
story.
The pie chart
Everyone loves
this visual aid because it really is as easy as pie to understand! They are
best used when you need to present simple data to show the different
percentages of a whole. However; a series of pie charts can be used to convey
more information gathered over time or for different subjects.
Presenting your
project well is essential to engagement from stakeholders and staff alike. Get
it right and you should have all the enthusiasm you need from those involved to
carry your project along.
For
many people, being a contractor offers a degree of freedom that they didn’t
enjoy in other types of employment. It allows them to concentrate on meeting
the needs of their clients, while being self-directed and finding a work/life
balance that better suits their needs.
Being
a contractor does present a range of challenges, however, when compared to
being employed. You need to be able to
manage your finances, ensuring that you are completely compliant with tax and
invoicing procedures.
While
your business remains small, handling these administrative tasks isn’t too
difficult, but as your operation starts to grow, they can become more
challenging. There comes a point in the development of every contractor
business when they need to consider the next step. Do they become a limited
company, or is there another option?
Increasingly,
contractors are seeing the benefit of working with an umbrella company.
You
might have heard of umbrella companies but don’t fully understand what they are
and what benefits they might bring. Let’s clarify…
What is an umbrella company?
An
umbrella company works as a ‘middle-man’ between employers and
contractors. The umbrella company issues
the invoice for work undertaken by the contractor, which the client then pays.
The umbrella company then pays the contractor’s salary out of the money
received, minus any deductions and their own fee. In effect, the umbrella
company acts as the contractor’s employer.
While
it may seem that the contractor is giving up a degree of autonomy to work with
the umbrella company, they are in fact gaining greater freedom from
time-consuming and complex financial administration. The contractor’s business
has grown to such a point where that administration is taking them away from
their core business. Working with an umbrella
company allows contractors
to re-focus their work back on their core business and better manage their
time.
Here’s
five of the top benefits of working with an umbrella company.
Help with your finances
Few
people get into business to spend time managing financial affairs unless
they’re an accountant. Working with an umbrella company takes away the onerous
task of managing your taxes and National Insurance each month. There’s no
possibility of unpleasant surprises when the tax bill lands, as your taxes will
be deducted every time an invoice is paid. What you receive into your bank
account is all yours.
IR35
will no longer apply to you if you opt to use an umbrella company. If you’re a
contractor confused by the ever-changing legislative and taxation laws, this
can be a great relief. Contractors who opt to work with umbrella companies
regain time to take on more work or to relax.
Gain employee benefits
Working
with an umbrella company effectively gives you the same status with HMRC as an
employee, while retaining the freedoms of being a self-employed contractor.
Your wages will be paid through PAYE and the money you receive will be your own
with no need to budget for future tax and NI liabilities.
Research
by the Freelance & Contractors Services Association (FCSA) discovered that over three
quarters of all contractors do not have any means of paying themselves sick
pay, maternity/paternity pay, holiday or redundancy pay.
You
secure all these benefits when you work with an umbrella company, giving you
extra levels of security and valuable peace of mind.
Simplify your working life
One
of the most important benefits of working with an umbrella company is the
simplicity it provides. People often set themselves up in business with the
intention of regaining control of their working lives. They hope to be able to
determine their own working hours and improve their work/life balance. As the
business grows, the administration starts to take up more of their money.
There’s more bureaucracy to cope with and before they know it, they’re working
more hours than ever before on time-consuming paperwork.
Working
with an umbrella company radically simplifies a contractor’s working life.
Whole areas of administration are taken care of. There’s no more compliance headaches either.
Your
payslip will show you all the money you’ve earned, and any deductions taken for
tax, the money will then be paid into your bank account. It’s the perfect
option for busy contractors.
Claim business expenses
As
long as you can prove you’re out of the Supervision, Direction &
Control (SDC)
of your clients you will be able to claim back business expenses you wouldn’t
normally be entitled to. This might include expenses for tools, travel and
equipment, and the umbrella company will manage all of this on your behalf.
Your
umbrella company will have clear, well worked out procedures for dealing with
business expenses, and will know precisely what you can and cannot claim. This
means you don’t end up incurring costs you don’t need, or don’t inadvertently
claim for something you’re not entitled to, resulting in administrative
headaches. Typically, you’ll need to upload any expenses claims weekly or
monthly.
There
may be some administrative tasks still required to claim expenses but with an
umbrella company these are radically reduced. You also have the support of the
umbrella company behind you to ensure that you’re doing everything correctly.
Flexibility
As
well as being a great option for growing businesses, umbrella companies can be
a great way to test the water as a contractor. If you’re used to working for an
employer, then the shift to self-employment with an umbrella company can be a
lot easier. You avoid the financial demands of running your own limited company
and there’s hardly any paperwork involved. You have the flexibility to opt in
and out of self-employment, and if you feel that it’s appropriate, you can opt
to become a limited company at a later date.
Umbrella
companies act as a valuable ‘halfway house’, between employment and other kinds
of self-employment giving a degree of security while extending flexibility.
Working
with a PAYE umbrella company such as One Click Group brings a range of benefits
for contractors. Autonomy and security combined make it a great way to work for
increasing numbers of people.
Small
business bookkeeping is regularly listed as one of the biggest headaches facing
the self-employed. Unless you’re an
accountant, it’s unlikely to be your passion for numbers that led to you
setting up your own business. Business
bookkeeping can’t be avoided however, so finding ways to better manage your
books can make a real difference to your working life and overall efficiency.
In
no particular order, here’s our top ten tips to help keep your business
bookkeeping stress-free.
1.Keep your personal and business finances separate
It
sounds obvious, but you should always try to keep a strict divide between your
personal and business finances. Many people drift into self-employment over time, setting up
part-time businesses or taking on extra work on the side. Having separate
business bank accounts doesn’t always feel like a priority early on. As the
business grows it can then be more difficult to extricate business finances
from personal ones. Even if you’re only running a part-time small business to
earn extra income you should open a separate business bank account and get a
business credit card. Make sure you
always properly record your business expenses.
2. Investigate online bookkeeping
Using
cloud-based software you can easily adopt online bookkeeping. It can save an
awful lot of time and energy, syncing your bookkeeping
software like Xero
or FreeAgent with your business bank accounts. You can always have up to date
records and your critical financial data is automatically backed up.
3. Master the lingo
You
don’t have to become fluent in the more arcane aspects of financial terminology
but understanding the basic terms will make things much simpler. Try to get up
to speed with basic bookkeeping and accounting terms such as liability, asset,
revenue, etc. Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know some of the more technical
terms. You’ll pick those up naturally over time.
4. Keep hold of important bookkeeping records.
Every
time you or your staff get a receipt or an invoice it’s important that it’s
kept and stored correctly. Keep hold of your bank statements, cheques,
receipts, invoices, deposit slips, bills, tax returns, etc. safely. You should scan
and save everything for at least six years, because you never know when you may
need to refer back to them or if they will be requested by HMRC.
5. Filing and invoicing
Always
keep incoming sales payments and invoices separate. Sales invoices should
always be raised and filed in a sequential order. There’s a number of different
ways to file purchases but keep everything thorough and logical and you won’t
go far wrong.
6. Keep up to date
As
with so many things in life, the best way to manage your small business bookkeeping is do it little
and often. Keeping up to date with your books and making it a regular part of
your working week will save you a lot of hassle further down the line. Staying
organised reduces the risk of paperwork being lost. Reconcile your bank
accounts on at least a monthly basis to ensure every item has been accounted
for.
7. Keep track of petty cash
Many
business owners, particular in the early days, can be nonchalant about their
petty cash. Every time you dip into the petty cash, even if it’s just to pay
for a stamp, you should keep a record of the amount being spent. You should
reconcile your petty cash regularly, perhaps once a week, to ensure that there
aren’t any inconsistencies. This helps you keep track of where your money is
going and helps prevent theft.
8. Keep your accounting statements up to date
Issuing
invoices is one thing, but they don’t count for anything until they are paid.
That’s why it’s important to accurately track cashflow. It’s the lifeblood of
your business so keeping the payments coming in is important. It’s easy be so
busy with work that you forget to chase up payments, but the bills keep
arriving. Keep an eye on your invoices
and have a regular day of the week to chase up unpaid ones. The future of your
business really could count on it.
9. Be prepared for emergencies
As
well as keeping track of invoices and cashflow, one of the surest ways to
fireproof your business against future shock is to build up an emergency fund.
Surprise bills and sudden expenses can completely derail the best laid
financial plans, and in some cases can even endanger the future of an otherwise
viable business.
Open
a separate savings account purely for business emergencies. This should give
you enough money to manage your business for a few months if you’re unable to
work. Your emergency fund should also be there if you have a sudden expense. If
you’ve unpaid bills that are waiting on invoices being settled, the last thing
you need is a computer breakdown. If you have emergency funds you can easily
cover unexpected expenses. This means you’re less likely to be forced to go
into debt to try and keep your business trading.
10. Consider hiring a bookkeeping or accountancy professional
for small businesses
If
you’re keeping business books for the first time, and perhaps trying to get
your head around different software, you’re likely to make mistakes. These are
all but inevitable when you’re a novice and, in most cases, will be of little
consequence. There are mistakes you can make however, that can have a serious
knock-on effect with your business record keeping. Putting them right can be
costly in terms of time, and sometimes money.
Most
accounting software packages come with some form of support, but most of these
are of the operational and technical kind. They can tell you how to keep the
software running, but they’re unlikely to tell you how to manage your business
accounts.
One Click Accountant provides online bookkeeping
services to small businesses which gives tailored support to business owners in
managing their taxes and accounts. An online bookkeeping service can give you
greater clarity on your business finances, helping you to better manage your
business cashflow as well as free up your time.
Bookkeeping
can be a chore, but it doesn’t have to be a huge distraction. Outsource
specific financial tasks to a accounting or bookkeeping professional who is
experienced in handling business accounts.
From Simon Sinek to Eric Ries, effective leaders have the ability to inspire audiences and empower their employees. They are visionaries who can drive innovation by motivating people to reach their top performance. Majority of the time, this is done through the creation of shared visions that foster cross-team collaboration.
However, despite knowing the impact a successful leader
can have, many businesses still think that if given the opportunity, their
leaders wouldn’t be ready to guide their organisations into the future. This
less than promising fact has caused a lot of leaders to rethink their methods
and adapt their approaches to become more inspirational and effective.
This, in turn, has caused a big uplift in leaders taking management training
courses to ensure they’re up to date with all the modern management
techniques.
Always Lead by
Example
One of the largest challenges that leaders face is
managing innovation and positive change. Effective leaders are able to train
and motivate their teams and drive their organisations forward. They do this by
embracing changes and promoting them in the workplace.
If you’re faced with a situation where positivity isn’t
an option, you need to make sure that craft your response before you address it
to your workforce. This approach will allow you to set the standard for how
your employees should react and will allow you to steer them towards embracing
the change themselves.
Put Your
Employees First
The majority of leaders are aware of the benefits of approaching their work in a people-centric way. By taking the time to understand your team and how they work means you’ll be able to develop a better management strategy. Additionally, you’ll be able to forge relationships that are built on trust.
Respect Your
Employees Opinions
The more diverse that your workplace is, the more
innovative your business will be. Your employees may approach certain
situations with a different perspective, so it’s important to respect their
opinions and points of view. Effective and well-respected leaders achieve this
by encouraging their employees to give them feedback and keeping lines of
communication open at all times.
Encourage
Personal and Professional Growth
Acting as a type of cheerleader is a crucial part of
being an effective leader. So, you should also be fully invested in their
successes and growth. When leaders genuinely believe in their employees and
provide them with opportunities to grow, they’ll be surprised at just how much
they can achieve.
Set Realistic
Goals and Expectations
Setting realistic goals and expectations is the key to employee success. When setting these, you should encourage employee feedback and questions to see if they are happy or have any concerns. Including them in the process is an excellent way of increasing engagement which in turn can have a positive effect on productivity.
You Should
Welcome Failure
Nobody likes failing, especially when it comes to their
work. But failure is an important step towards being successful. As a leader,
not every decision you make will result in a positive outcome, so it’s
imperative to acknowledge this early on in your career. To key to growing from
an aspiring leader to a great one is learning how failure leads to bigger
success.
Understand What
Motivates You As a Leader
If you’re currently in a leadership position and you view
your career as “just a job” that earns your money, then it’s going to
show. To be an effective leader, you must possess the right motivation. Do you
want to inspire people to do their best or is money all you care about? In
addition to knowing what motivates you, you need to also be aware of what
decreases your motivation and energy.
Always Explore
Further Development Opportunities
If you’re looking to embrace what we’ve covered in this
article and then you should always consider further development opportunities
in the form of education. Certain courses like a master’s degree offer
mid-level leaders to come together and develop their skills to further their
careers.
Remember, becoming an effective leader takes time.
Although some people naturally have the skills required, it’s something anyone
can learn throughout their career. With hard work and dedication, you’ll be
able to lead a team to success.
The technological
advancements achieved over the years has changed the way business is conducted
and for the better. As a business owner, you have the liberty to manage and
administer streamlined dashboards, with access to information in real-time
across teams with direct access to your target audience via digital channels
and platforms.
The market is
rife with competition which makes gaining an edge over your competitors a
priority. In a tough economic environment, making the most of the latest
technology will help accelerate business growth as you establish a firm
standing in your niche.
Why Leverage
Technology?
When you leverage
technology to automate your business processes, it will free up resources and
headspace to focus on core business activities and services which will further
boost your growth and profitability.
Speaking of
business scalability, the smallest tweak can go a long way in enhancing your
operations. You can benefit from the best of tech and innovation in the most
unexpected ways to take your business to the next level, be it managed IT services,
installing renewable heating solutions or automatic
business doors!
With that in
mind, let’s take a look at how you can accelerate business growth with the help
of technology!
1.
Automate Business Finance
Finance lies at the very core of every business. The numbers have to add up and remain in sync with your balance sheets and profit and loss statements to make sense. If that’s not the case, your company is in trouble and is likely to fail. This is where you can benefit from cloud accounting software that will accurately crunch numbers automatically. With cloud computing solutions, you can take control of your finances as you access critical financial information with just a few clicks.
You can integrate
your business bank account with the software at hand and learn about monthly
incomes and debts you have incurred. You can also benefit from digital
invoicing meaning you can be sustainable and green with your business
activities.
With cloud
solutions at your fingertips, managing company finance and profitability has
never been easier. Consult your managed services provider and access cloud
accounting tools like Xero to automate business finance which will further
enhance your decision making.
2. Track Your KPIs
The only way to
ascertain that your business performance and output has increased is to measure
it with previous figures and numbers. You can use technology to track these
metrics and work upon them to improve in areas where you lag behind. Leverage
cloud dashboards to integrate financial data, live sales reports and payroll to
highlight core KPIs. Set up clever dashboards to record, track, maintain and
improve both financial and non-financial KPIs. This way you can make
improvements in real-time and influence business performance with surgical
precision.
3. Create Brand
Awareness By Leveraging Social Platforms
While social media might not exactly be the new ground breaking idea that will change the face of your marketing campaign, it doesn’t mean that its not an effective marketing tool. Your social media could be a powerful aggregator of stories revolving around your brand awareness, look for a social media agency in London. Optimise your social media footprint with tools like Hootsuite that assist in planning and scheduling posts across platforms and channels. This way, you can steadily build and instigate audience engagement.
Ensure that you
continuously improve your efforts by tracking the analytics on every platform
you use. Leverage the power of videos and podcasts as you get your brand story
across and communicate with your target audience.
4. Streamline Sales
and Lead Generation
Business growth
is directly proportional to new business and leads you acquire. You have to
come up with ways to attract new customers in order to improve your bottom
line. The amount of quality leads you engage with and out of that, the number
of leads you convert into paying customers is the baseline for new clients and
business. If you fail to keep a track of all the details and conversations you
had with potential customers, you will surely lose business from prospective
paying clients.
Tools like
Hubspot and Salesforce are handy to fully automate the sales process as you
ensure that nothing slips through the cracks as you maximise your marketing
efforts to convert leads and add to your revenue.
You can also
adopt a green business approach as clients today place emphasis on
sustainability practices of a company. Install heat pumps, solar panels or
biomass boilers to improve your carbon footprint and further green your
business.
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5.
Create a Cloud Company Culture
While technology
can simplify many things for you, nothing can replace the element of human
touch that’s conducive for a collaborative business environment. Thankfully,
there are tools available that help bridge the gap, using technology to keep
team motivation and productivity at an all-time high. With tools like Office
Vibe, teams continuously receive feedback from their colleagues and managers
and act on them accordingly to improve their deliverables. You can also use
Hi5, which is a staff recognition tool that ensures peer recognition and
appreciation for work well done.
Simple tools like
these can go a long way in building and promoting a healthy and happy company
culture that works for everyone. You can also use Google Suite to work on
documents and files with the whole team at the same time which bolsters
productivity and reduces delays and frustrations.
The Bottom Line
As a modern-day
company, its important to not miss out on the latest tech trends that can help
you redesign and automate your business and its scalability. It is an exciting
time to build a business and take it to the next level with all the
technological means available at your disposal!
Ensure that you
make the most of it as you successfully grow your business and make it more
profitable!
Having
suffered the full throttle of lockdown for months on end, the UK automotive
industry (worth £82bn
in turnover) has been crumpling with showrooms shutting and factories laying idle.
Here
in the UK, Nissan, Vauxhall, BMW, Toyota, and Honda closed some or all their
factories due to falling sales and lack of parts, all due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
But
what does the future look like for the industry as a whole? When restrictions
are finally entirely lifted, will people be flocking to buy new cars, opting for
second hand or simply purchasing a new number plate to
revamp their existing motor?
Supply of parts
The problem when it
comes to manufacturing new cars is the constant need for parts. They need to be
made and then delivered to plants. But with COVID-19 rife, every stage of the crucial
supply chain has been majorly disrupted.
And of course, many cars created here in the UK are exported abroad.
Car sales have also
been badly hit as people haven’t been allowed out to browse what’s on offer at local
showrooms. The impact in European countries has been negative too
Mounting pressure
The industry has
already felt increasing pressure to produce lower emissions vehicles in a bid
to avoid hefty fines. Car makers cannot afford to divert funds away from
alternative-fuel technologies at this time.
With many
manufacturers having invested millions into electrification, they are too far
gone in terms of time spent, capital and effort to turn back.
And with Brexit, manufacturers
in the UK are still uncertain about the future.
Driving the future
Assessments of
autonomous technology also needs to take place in light of COVID-19. With
social distancing still in place months after it was made essential,
self-driving systems would seem an excellent idea but again, balance sheets
need to be considered.
With everything
hanging in the balance for manufacturers, it is incredibly difficult for them
to map out any kind of future plans.
Looking forwards
Thankfully, since
July, the industry has started to see a rise the number of new car
registrations in the UK (up 11.3% year-on-year) due to pent-up demand after
months of dealership closures.
According to the Society
of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, despite recovery and dealerships fully
reopening, the year-to-date figures are down by 41% with just over 820,000 new
cars registered in 2020, compared with 1.42 million by this time last year.
With potential buyers hoping that car
prices will drop before returning to pre-Covid-19 prices, there may be very
short term deals available just now. So, it may be a good time to invest in a
new car as dealerships have just re-opened.
A recent report by Auto Trader found that half of driving licence holders they surveyed who did not own a vehicle, said they were considering buying a new one to avoid having to use public transport wearing a face mask.
But as with everything, as demand begins to increase and
people get back to work, prices will creep up.
In general, the industry can expect to see mergers and
acquisitions, and companies sharing platforms. There may be a need to localise
supply chains where possible – hopefully paving the way for some positive news
for small UK firms.
What about the number plate industry?
With a global
shortage of acrylic, number plate manufacturers have also struggled to keep up
with growing demand.
But many people are seeing a new registration plate as a
great way to revamp an old car, particularly if they can’t afford to buy a new
motor in these unprecedented times. A new registration plate can be a great way
to advertise your business, personalise your motor or just make it stand out!
As the world deals with the
effects of COVID-19, it is more essential than ever that your business projects
a strong image that tells prospective clients and investors the story you want
them to understand.
Whether you want your company to
seem slick and efficient, or straightforward and approachable, there are some
choices that will always make your presentation better. Here are our top
suggestions for ways to smarten up your company’s image in 2020.
Change up your phone system
If your business can run while
people work from home, you have probably already dealt with some changes to
your phone system, as office-based landlines became less practical. However,
with the future still uncertain, it can be worth taking the time to make this a
proper investment.
Changing up your phone
architecture by using a hosted phone system will allow you to tailor your
communications to your company’s particular needs. This can include a more
flexible and professional setup for receptionist hosting, as well as giving
every employee the chance to connect their work phone to their preferred
device, which could prove especially useful should there be another lockdown.
Work with your employees to
create the COVID-19 support systems they need
Working remotely, which will
become more common in the very near future, offers a range of personal and
environmental advantages, with many people finding it preferable to office
work. However, it comes with many new challenges that must be adapted to.
One essential step is ensuring
that your employees have the technology and equipment necessary to do their
jobs remotely. However, on top of this there is a need for your business to
have frank discussions with employees about what they need to be able to
function well in this new normal, since home working is now here to stay. In
some cases, this may be flexibility with when work hours fall within their
existing work week, to allow for childcare commitments. Or perhaps the response
from a large number of employees might inspire you to invest in better access
to remote mental health services?
Listening to employee concerns
will help you choose the right measures to meet your employees’ concerns head
on and make sure that you have the happiest, most productive workforce
possible. Having a reputation for caring about your people translates into
trust from potential clients, as it shows your business has integrity.
Restructure your website with a
minimalist look
Website design should never
detract from your potential client’s experience of your business – but so
often, exactly this happens. Whether webpages are too bright, too busy, or too
old-fashioned, it can be hard to strike the right balance.Knowing your audience is the most important thing – knowing the demographic
you are appealing to can shape what fonts and styles you use, to be nostalgic
or welcoming for that part of the population. A minimalist look can be a great
advantage because it will load quickly for people with slower Internet
connections, and work well on mobile, which is increasingly essential these
days.
