SME success in 2025
Happy New Year to you all! Wishing you the very best for 2025. Our CEO, Martin Brown shares his reflections on 2024 and looks ahead to how SMEs can achieve success in 2025
Why business valuations have dropped after the 2024 Budget and what you can do about it
Many business owners are already grappling with the recent budget changes, including increases in minimum wage levels, National Insurance (NI) contributions, and Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on business sales. However, for those considering selling their business soon—or even those currently in the process—there’s a further consequence to consider. It hasn’t made as many headlines but: the value of your business may have just taken a significant hit.
Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Your Next Move as a Business Owner Post-Budget
The much-anticipated Budget landed, and with it, a series of changes that have business owners assessing their next move. Minimum wage rises, National Insurance contribution changes, and shifts in Capital Gains Tax all add up to a worrying time for business owners. If you’re an SME owner, you may find yourself mulling over The Clash’s eternal question: Should I stay, or should I go now?
Teamwork will make your dream work
Tell-tale signs of a weak or untrusted management team are when you get embroiled in the day-to-day operational minutia, where everyone looks at you to solve problems and your role is mainly answering queries and fixing the mistakes made by others.
Juicing It
One of the simplest ways to win new business is to sell more to people you know - a process affectionately known as juicing or squeezing the lemon1. You already have a relationship with these people, they know that they can trust you, and they value your work. So, what are your options? Geoff Gwynn, one of our Business Growth Advisors has some advice for you.
How to recruit and retain staff in a candidates’ market
Recruiting and retaining staff is a challenge for many businesses at the moment. Candidates can be choosy about what they apply for and which role they accept. It’s particularly difficult for businesses who don’t recruit regularly.
How much will a 1% price increase boost your profits?
Pricing a product is a combination of both an art and a science. It requires a balance of financial considerations and personal values. A business owner must consider how a product or service contributes to overhead and how that will drive profitability, as well as how their pricing strategy will impact their marketing and competition. Prices can be set based on cost, or those of your competitors or the value you can create in the eyes of the customer - value based pricing. Steve Bird, one of our Business Growth Advisors explains the benefits of focusing on value.
