Yellow Brick Road Consulting (YBR)

What can a GOOD Finance Director mean for your business?

2010-11-01T14:20:00.005Z

Quite simply it can be the difference between success and failure for your business.

I am often amazed at some "entrepreneurs" who go into business with the hope and the expectation that everything will be OK but without a plan to back it up. They work so hard - often to the detriment of their family relationships but they end up going nowhere - and often backwards. What a shame as a GOOD FINANCE DIRECTOR could help enormously.

So what does a GOOD FINANCE DIRECTOR help you do? Here are 5 things to look out for.

1. Plan for profitable growth of your business (whatever your business horizons a Good FD should be able to help you see this and visualise it)
2. Set Key Performance Indicators around your profitable growth - this allows you the entrepreneur to not have to worry about all the nitty gritty but to easily pick up when things are wrong. KPI's buy you time to make more money.
3. Make sure the day to day / month to month stuff is right. This is helping you to control your business - you can't rely on your accountant to get this right as they are often wrong! You need control to grow. Without control which you can't take informed decisions.
4. Manage your service providers - what entrepreneur wants to deal with bankers/lawyers/accountants etc - quite simply they are often very dull and get in the way of you making money
5. Help you realise your dreams - At a strategic level it is all about you - the shareholder - a good FD should understand what you are trying to achieve and interact with you that facilitates this. This may be an exit in 5 years or the creation of more income or a legacy.

If you don't have an FD or your one is under performing then please give me a call on 07771 672673 and lets get your business moving in the right direction.

Difficult times for Horse Racing

2010-08-16T12:59:00.003+01:00

It really is a difficult time for the Racing industry at present as last Fridays edition of the Racing Post explains.

Everyone is struggling from Racehorse Trainers/Owners/Bookmakers/Racecourse Managers even the Stud farms. The economic climate is really taking its toll with the Levy board reducing the amount it pays out by 25% this year with perhaps further cuts to come.

Racing for Change is an interesting body but is it really addressing the key issues for the industry? I fear not. Certainly there is a brand issue but the heart of the problem I believe lies in the Financial Operations of Racehorse Trainers themselves.

A less vibrant economy means fewer owners with less money to spend on quality horses. It means in effect that the Racehorse Trainer ends up operating a hotel without fully paying customers. Commercially minded landlords and HMRC pile on the pressure until perhaps the trainer comes under intolerable strain. It is exactly in these scenarios that a trainer may be exposed to the more undesirable elements in our wonderful sport.

My view is that if you help Racehorse Trainers create a more stable financial platform upon which to perform then you lead to an increase in the credibility of racing as a whole. This is the brand issue that Racing needs to address. Those trainers that act in a Financially responsible manner in relation to their business deserve huge credit. Owners should bear this in mind when selecting their trainer.

Now if only there was a standard that Owners and Punters could rely upon .... and what if those trainers were incentivised to take up that standard.....surely that would lead to an uptick in betting turnover.....and everyone would benefit....now there is a thought...

Resellers feeling the pinch

2010-07-16T13:16:00.000+01:00

An IT resellers life is a simple one in a way....

SELL SELL SELL .... I hear you say

I'm afraid its true - box shifting leads to a life of continual selling without the building of a residual income stream into the business (perhaps via a robustly set up services operation). If the selling stops so does the business.

BUT I'M HAPPY SELLING....I hear you say....

That's great but what happens when you lose your enthusiasm in your late 40's for the game. What have you built that you can sell. Have you got a team around you that is "buyable"? What about the brand? Have you got an income stream?

The worst thing that can happen is you don't plan and you don't engage with a decent FD at an early stage. Let them take the pain of the day to day and help steer you to a better future.

Marketing Agencies taking a hammering

2010-06-16T13:24:00.000+01:00

This is the toughest time I have ever seen to be operating in the Marketing sector. The issues are twofold:

Marketing budgets continue to be slashed across all business sectors leading to fewer jobs at lower margins.
In the UK we have sent an unbelievable amount of people to media college who now can't find jobs - so what do they do - they seed pod and start up in their own bedrooms. The effect a dramatic undercutting of jobs for traditional agencies who still have to bear the overheads

It just doesn't work like it used to. Agencies must adapt and get their mindset right now. Robust Financial disciplines must be put in place. Understanding cash flow and product profitability are a fundamental. Practicing what you preach is another - what are Marketing agencies typically very bad at - Marketing themselves! It's not as fun for the Artisan you see.

Well it's time for this sector to wake up and smell the coffee. I'm afraid its adapt or die....

Aligning employees interests with a share scheme

2010-05-16T13:32:00.000+01:00

“The use of employee share schemes is soaring, especially among smaller private companies”, says Alex Warren.

Employee share schemes are already commonplace in UK quoted companies. These often take the form of share options or awards of shares which are released to employees over time on the achievement of performance targets. Now, however, smaller companies are using specially designed schemes, such as the government sponsored Enterprise Management Incentive, to help them get through tough times. These schemes not only provide effective incentives for staff members but also offer the potential to save large amounts of tax and conserve cash.

Why every business should have a Part Time FD!!

2009-08-23T10:14:00.000+01:00

It seems to me that business owners often think that their high street accountant is a business guru of some description who should be trusted with their most sensitive financial information and knows how to run a fantastic business.

The reality is that high street accountants are often average business men that "fell" into the profession after realising that there was little hope for them out in the real commercial world. These guys have never run "real businesses" and that is the issue. Don't get me wrong there are some good ones out there - but how often do they ever given great quality commercial advice? The point is that other than a bit of taxation structuring (and most of them are not very good at that!) it is a compliance service and a compliance service only that they should be used for.

To get quality Finance input - i.e. to make you more profit and get more cash in your bank - every business needs a quality go to person as their FD. A quality FD will more than pay for himself by helping steer the MD along the route of quality profitable business (i.e. making more Gross Profit!) and keeping Overheads down (the difference between Gross Profit and Net Profit!)

So if you are sitting there and you don't know the difference between Gross Profit and Net Profit and worse still your accountant hasn't explained this to you then be scared....be very scared... and then pick up the phone and call Yellow Brick Road (08447 706320).

Quality FD skill is available at a fraction of the cost of full time resource so why not bring one into your business for one day a month to see what they can do for you! www.yellowbrickroadconsulting.co.uk

A bit of market research....feel free to join in! (July 09)

2009-07-20T17:15:00.001+01:00

Dear blog reader

Your very kind help is requested to complete the piece of research attached on the following link. I would not normally send a mass e-mail for this type of thing but having read the content I believe it could lead to an additional work stream for blog readers (always welcome I hear you say!). My client has specifically asked that I obtain the views of blog readers given their unique and distinct position in the market place.

There is also a chance of winning the charity draw of GBP 50 which can be donated to the winners designated charity!

http://www.keysurvey.co.uk/survey/265743/15fe/

Should take a maximum of 3 minutes!

Many Thanks

Alex

Do you have a great business idea? (June 09)

2009-06-20T17:18:00.003+01:00

It seems to me that the current economic climate is potentially a great time for new businesses to spring up and evolve.

Firstly less people are working for an employer (i.e. their minds are no longer restrained by the system). This allows people to let their minds think about things that they do not usually think about! Out of this can come great business ideas. The issue is though is that often these people have no structured method of getting their ideas of the ground - this may be due to lack of knowledge or route to market or funding.

I also think that at the moment there is a whole set of people wiling to put the effort in to make these business ideas evolve - yet they do not have the idea in the first place.

Now if I could only get these people together.......

4 networking Farnham - the best new 4networking Group in the country!! (May 09)

2009-05-20T17:08:00.001+01:00

Well I couldn't believe it either - 4networking Farnham has been heralded as the best new 4networking group in the UK!

In fact we were the 3rd best attended in the whole of the UK just behind Taunton and Bristol which both started about 3 years ago.

We have a really good group of people at Farnham and it is an honour to be the team leader - people come and enjoy themselves and do a bit of business too.

It is a formula that has worked very nicely so far and put Yellow Brick Road at the heart of the Farnham business community!

The Marathon is complete!! (April 09)

2009-04-27T05:30:00.001+01:00

So the boy can run. The London Marathon is complete - just over 4 hours so not too bad!

It was a hot hot day on April 26th - but I loved every minute. We also raised a great deal of money for the British Heart Foundation which was magical.

Thank you so much to all my sponsors - you all deserve a special pat on the back!

4Networking follows the Yellow Brick Road to Farnham!! (March 09)

2009-03-16T16:16:00.001Z

On 25th March 2009 at Farnham Golf Club the business networking phenomenon that is 4Networking arrives in Farnham. With 193 vibrant breakfast groups across the UK and nearly 15,000 members, online and face to face, it really is a different way of doing things.

4Networking prides itself on allowing business people to be themselves with a relaxed informal style that is structured for efficient and effective use of your business time.

The breakfast club is bought to Farnham by Alex Warren of Yellow Brick Road who commented “I decided to bring 4networking to Farnham as I saw the need for a business breakfast club that was 50% social and 50% business. People go there because they want to be there not because they have to. There’s no pressure to refer business to each other as it’s all about doing business with people that you know, like and trust. Oh and getting 3 guaranteed business appointments at every meeting is always useful!”

To register for the event call Alex Warren of Yellow Brick Road on 08447 706320 or click on the 4Networking website www.4networking.biz .

You gotta make some noise!

2009-02-01T23:23:00.000Z

IN BUSINESS, you’ve GOT to make some noise!

Recently, I heard about two people who have become experts in marketing.

One is a man who has attended all the‘boot camps’, read the books and taken seminars from the best marketing gurus around. The other is a woman who told me her personal library of marketing and business books cost over £100,000 in the past ten years.

Unfortunately, neither of them has applied what they know and their businesses have not grown.

These are classic examples of ‘analysis paralysis’. They have studied their market and learned the techniques. They know how to write sales letters and they know the latest in online marketing techniques. They know about using endorsements, about using graphics and colours, about ‘reversing risk’ and identifying their target demographics.

What they don’t know is how to make noise.

They’ve not taken enough action! One business leader recently told me her greatest fear is “making a mistake!” Like, get over it already!

If you’re going to be in business, you’re going to make mistakes. (I suspect that’s true in life; I know it’s true in business.)

The key to building your business is taking action. Of course, it’s good to know what you’re doing. Sure, it’s good to put the odds in your favour as much as you can. But in the end, you’ve got to take a chance and make some noise!

If you want your business to grow, think about what you’ll do differently. What will you expand or contract? How much will you spend on advertising? What new products or services will you offer? Which ones will you cancel?

In the end, growing a business is about taking action. It’s about making the best judgments you can and then taking the plunge.

If you’d like help with this, consider hiring a business coach. Being an entrepreneur means the responsibility is on your shoulders and that can be a lonely thing, so build your team! Get help. Get advice, get support, get someone to (figuratively) ‘kick your butt’ and get you into action.

All you have to do is believe and ask!!

2009-01-26T20:45:00.000Z

When Tulane University Professor Jeffrey Barach ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress, he asked a noted political consultant what it took to run a successful campaign.

The consultant replied, “One word: ask!”

Candidates must have the ability to ask for money, votes and help. “So, also, with leadership,” adds Barach. “Commanding is a form of asking. When a leader personalises a vision, he or she is asking others to share it.”

Yet, asking is hard for many people. For example, some sales people fear asking for an order.

How is the fear of asking overcome? A successful college fund-raiser once advised Barach that people cannot ask for donations if they think the would-be donors are doing them a favour.

Of course, in a sense they are and fund-raisers should be grateful and solicitous. But they also should recognise they’re offering donors an opportunity to do something for themselves.

“The solicitor has to believe that the donors’ gift solves a problem for them,” Barach maintains, “or the tone of voice will not be right.”

The same principle applies to selling anything. A student in one of Barach’s summer courses sold knives, mostly to college girls as part of their hope chest.

His classmates criticised him for hawking expensive knives to young women with low incomes.

He countered that they were great knives,and the smaller sets were a good value, although he agreed that he shouldn’t sell them his big ticket ($200) sets.

Later in the summer, however, that student told the class that he had come to believe that the larger sets of knives also were a good value,that his customers would appreciate them in the long run.

What amazed him, he added, was that as soon as he came to that conviction, his sales of the larger sets increased radically.

Re: Use or Lose your local businesses -Farnham Herald - Friday 9th January

2009-01-10T17:00:00.000Z

I have a huge amount of empathy for those retail businesses of Farnham who are struggling to make ends meet. Walking through the Woolmead today I noted that over 1/3rd of the retail units were empty. As a Farnham man that hurts – I want to see Farnham businesses doing better and trading strongly.

The logical question to ask is why has this happened? You could blame the commercial landlord for not being more flexible as regards rent payments – probably set at a time when trade was booming – but contracts are a two way thing and the retailer knew the value and timing of the payments when they signed the lease.

Unfortunately it is more than likely that it is the business planning that has gone astray. One of three things can have happened here. Either the business failed to plan, or it made a plan but set assumptions that were too bullish for the current economic climate, or perhaps it failed to monitor adequately their trading situation against a well constructed initial plan.

It then begs the question what kind of advice are these businesses getting? From my experience business owners need good advice from someone they can trust and perhaps the current professional advisors were just not up to scratch or were not listened to. Perhaps the business owner did not even ask for advice on the assumption that “they knew best” or they were too frightened to ask.

Now is the time to make a business as efficient as possible with a robust plan to beat the downturn. If a business gets the basics right now it will emerge a much stronger beast on the way back up. And guess what the best way of getting the business basics right is… getting some good advice!

Alex Warren – Yellow Brick Road Consulting Limited

2009-01-05T09:42:00.000Z

Credit Insurance for the New Year?

What is Credit Insurance?

The consequences of one of your customers becoming insolvent and you suffering a bad debt can have serious financial impact on your business. Credit insurance companies not only advise you on who it is safe to deal with on credit terms and up to what level, but also in the event of your customer becoming insolvent, or you suffering protracted non-payment , they typically indemnify you for 90% to 95% of the amount of loss, depending on the cause of that loss, but this percentage is negotiable in many cases as you can chose to take on more of the risk.

Other Benefits of Credit Insurance

There are numerous other benefits of taking Credit Insurance from one of the many Credit Insurance Companies amongst Yellow Brick Roads' connections. One of our providers has 160 offices in 40 countries and 4,000 experts in all aspect s of credit management. This global network has constantly updated information on over 52 million companies worldwide. Their expert risk underwriters, who will be based in or near your customer’s home country use that information to establish an advisable line of credit and to alert you to any changes that may affect that cover.

Many Credit Insurance companies also seek to recover the amount of your loss, and contribute to the cost of that recovery in proportion to their liability for the loss. To help recover the loss the major Credit Insurers have a worldwide network of collectors, lawyers and insolvency practitioners each well versed in local law.

What does Credit Insurance cost?

This will vary widely on a case by case basis. For ballpark figures you can expect to pay between 0.1% to 0.6% but these figures will change with the economic situation.

Why use Yellow Brick Road?

Yellow Brick Road works effortlessly for its clients. It has connections within leading Credit Insurance Companies as well as specialist brokers.

Yellow Brick Road Consulting Limited

13 Jubilee Lane

Farnham
Surrey

GU10 4SZ

08447 706320
http://www.yellowbrickroadconsulting.co.uk/

Yellow Brick Road sponsors 10th Annual Christmas Cup!!

2008-12-24T11:39:00.000Z

10th Annual Christmas Cup – Farnham Park Golf Club

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Christmas Cup – a fun golf event held for all Farnham people returning home from work and University to the area for the Christmas period.

The event, to be held at 12pm on Saturday 27th December at the Farnham Park par 3 course, has been a great success and largely informal gathering normally collecting between 10 and 20 players.

“We set the handicaps on the first tee – and generally make it much easier for the new players to win. In fact no player has ever won the competition more than twice – it’s a great opportunity to catch up with old faces whilst having a bit of fun at the same time! It can of course be a little cold, but that doesn’t stop us!” - Cup stalwart – Robert Stoker

To mark the 10th anniversary the Cup organisers are to do things a little differently – they have attracted sponsorship from new local business Yellow Brick Road Consulting, a celebrity to hand out the prizes, Jon Tickle of Big Brother and Brainiac fame, and will be attempting to raise as much money as possible for the designated charity the British Heart Foundation.

“It was time to give the event a purpose and we thought raising some money for charity at the same time as meeting up with old friends over a game of golf seemed a great thing to do. Unlike the Augusta Masters where the winner receives the famous green jacket the winner of the Christmas Cup will receive a Yellow Jacket courtesy of our kind sponsors Yellow Brick Road” – Last years winner – Duncan Drummond

“Players will be fined on the course for any poor shots played and also shots deemed to be too flashy will come under fire. Of course any breaches of course etiquette will be subject to the severest punishment! We hope to make a lot of money for the British Heart Foundation – Cup Sponsor – Alex Warren of Yellow Brick Road Consulting.

Notes to Editor

Yellow Brick Road Consulting Limited (YBR) helps the owner managers of small and medium sized businesses increase their profits and improve their cash-flow. For more information please follow the link below.

www.yellowbrickroadconsulting.co.uk

Office: 08447 706320
Mobile: 07771 682673

Don't let the Decrease in VAT Increase your costs

2008-11-25T17:00:00.000Z

Yellow Brick Road Consulting – Press Release 25th November 2008

Don’t let the Decrease in VAT Increase your costs

So how will the recent cut in VAT affect local small and medium sized businesses? Will the impact have a positive effect or not? A recent release from Wise & Co states the following:

“In a move that will affect all businesses registered for VAT, the standard rate of VAT has been cut from 17.5% to 15%, effective from Monday 1 December 2008. The rate will remain at 15% until 1 January 2010 when it will revert to 17.5%.

Zero-rated supplies, such as basic foodstuffs, children’s clothing and books; exempt supplies, such as education and health; and supplies subject to VAT at 5%, such as domestic fuel and power are not affected by this change.”

There are other small changes to the legislation detail but the key point is whether any potential benefit from increased sales from non VAT registered customers will outweigh the incremental administration benefit for business. Probably not is our view. Customer activity is unlikely to be radically changed by this small reduction in the cost of products and the increased administration is a pain.

In this market businesses are much better off looking at the bigger picture. Are they doing the business basics right? In business we are no longer order takers as we have been for the last ten years. We have to work much harder for our sales and ensure that the sales that we do make contribute fully to the bottom line. Only the most efficient businesses will come out of the current economic situation on the front foot.

For more information on how Yellow Brick Road can help your business get the business basics right call the contact numbers noted below.

Alex Warren
Yellow Brick Road
www.yellowbrickroadconsulting.co.uk

Office: 08447 706320
Mobile: 07771 682673

Alex Warren gets his IIB accreditation!

2008-11-08T17:00:00.000Z

On 7th November 2008 Alex gained his accreditation from the Institute for Independent Business (IIB).

To gain the accreditation Alex had to prove that he had held senior executive positions in business over a number of years. Having proven that Alex was put through a number of assessments to ensure he was fully entitled to talk business to owner managers of small/medium sized businesses.

"It was tougher than I thought to get the accreditation, however it confirmed to me that the quality control processes within the IIB were tough - they don't just let anyone in!"

Now Alex has the benefit of over 5,000 senior executives worldwide to use for the benefit of his clients.

"It's great, now I can deliver benefits to my clients via experts in Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, IT and Operations. The owner manager now has all this resource available to him which he couldn't otherwise obtain. My role is to co-ordinate that resource to create maximum value!"

To learn more about the IIB please follow the link below:

http://www.iib.org.ws

YBR logo - CSR at the heart of what we do

2008-11-01T16:00:00.000Z

Do you know how the YBR logo was devised?

Well we ran a competition with the University of the Creative Arts (UCA) whereby the winning student got a small fee earning contract to design the company letterheads, business cards, imagery for the website and the first brochure.

The winning student was Dave Lawrie who performed superbly and the least I can do is attach a link to his website and his blog below.

http://www.davelawrie.com/davelawrie/home.html

http://www.thecreativepilgrimage.blogspot.com/

Dave and I are still working together on various projects and it was great to know that there is this fantastic pool of skills available at UCA.

It is also a great example of how YBR seeks to work in partnership to create value. Yes YBR got great value for design but Dave also gets a leg up by kicking off his portfolio with a live piece of work. A perfect example of Corporate Social Repsonsibility in action.

You can check out Dave's imagery on the following link

http://www.yellowbrickroadconsulting.co.uk/

What is the purpose of this blog?

2008-10-12T17:00:00.000+01:00

Well as the newest and certainly most innovative consultancy firm in Farnham, Surrey I believe it is important that Yellow Brick Road has the opportunity to communicate with as many people from the business community as possible.

Why is that important? Well lets have a look at Yellow Brick Road's Mission Statement.......

"Yellow Brick Road Consulting understands that small and medium sized businesses do not always have the expertise available to effectively manage complex business situations but also appreciates the financial constraints governing the taking of this expertise into overhead. Yellow Brick Road provides the expertise be it Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations, IT, HR, or General Management for a fraction of the cost compared to full time head counts. We do this by supporting businesses via our highly esteemed and qualified consultants who act with the utmost integrity and ethics in all their actions. We pride ourselves on giving the best and most practical advice to our clients."

So Yellow Brick Road is about helping Small and Medium sized business increase their profits and improve their cash flow in a practical cost effective manner. A great model for the owner manager of an SME in these turbulent times!

This blog will provide a series of practical advice articles on issues affecting businesses today. It will be fun to write and will also help business on the way! You can find out more in relation to Yellow Brick Road on the following link:

http://www.yellowbrickroadconsulting.co.uk/

Bye for now - We'll speak soon!