Alarm bells ringing in your business? Take positive action now
Running a business over the last few years has not been easy and one thing that we are certain to see in the next quarter is an increase in the number of businesses going into administration – writes Richard Murray.
Being under pressure financially is one of the most stressful experiences that can be faced by a business owner will face. Concerns about staff, customers and suppliers can easily get on top of you, even without the worry of what will happen to your own family if the business ceases to trade.
A business becoming insolvent should not be seen as a personal failure or a badge of shame. You only have to read the biographies of most of the entrepreneurs that we all aspire to be to know that most of them have a least one failed business on their C.Vs.
The really important thing is how you react to the alarm bells that your business might be in distress.
Burying your head in the sand never ends well, nor does holding out for that big deal to come in and ease the cashflow issues. NeEither course is not good for your mental health and the latter can often be a case of throwing good money after bad.
Our advice to clients is to always take positive actions to assess the true position and create a plan to work through the situation. Indeed, taking professional advice from an insolvency practitioner is your duty of care as an officer and director of your business, under the Companies Act 2006. In short, it is good business practice and the right thing to do. This does not mean that you need to put your business into administration, – more that you fully understand and appraise all of the options.
Sometimes there will be no alternative to going into administration, but with early intervention, this may be avoided, and the business could continue to trade.
We have years of experience assisting businesses in financial trouble and we work with a number of excellent insolvency practitioners throughout the U.K.
So, if you are worried about the health of your business please get in touch. We will be able to help you to find a solution and relieve some of the anxiety that these situations cause.
How we can help
We recently met a business owner who was anxious about the six figures debts he had with both the bank and HMRC. Business had slowed down during the pandemic and profits were down.
We made the decision that he should speak to an insolvency partner of ours to properly assess the situation and explain his options.
Within 15 minutes of speaking to us he had met that trusted adviser and they now have an agreed route forward.
Things are usually never as bad as they seem and getting the right advice has proved invaluable in this situation.
If anything in this blog has resonated with you then please get in touch for a confidential discussion about your options.