But bleak as your situation may appear, help is at hand for both start-ups & established companies that may provide a light at the finish of the credit crunch tunnel.
Are you sweating over your accounts, chasing late payments from customers & on the brink of making staff redundancies? For owner-managers of SMEs, the stress & responsibility of navigating your way through an economic slump can be immense. When the buck stops with you, it is simple to feel isolated; even the brightest of MDs can sink in to denial or become so overwhelmed that it is hard to see how to start to get back on track.
Your first cease ought to be Business Link, a free Government-backed business advice & support service. Its services are available online & by business advisors, who provide personal, confidential consultations from local bases throughout the United Kingdom. This support & consultation service covers all aspects of business management from tax matters to funds flow, with essential guides for managing finances in the economic downturn, redundancy management & advice on how to get funding in order to keep businesses afloat.
Some ten,000 firms have used Business Link's Business Health Check service since it launched in October 2008 - but according to business advisor John Grange some firms are still unaware that such services exist.
Taking preventative action is, as Grange explains, key to maintaining solvency & security.
"We have a responsibility to make more businesses aware of what they can offer & they would like people to take advantage of our services. They have teams in every county in England & they urge SMEs to contact us before they reach the brink."
The message from Business Link could not be clearer: acknowledge that you need assistance - & ask for it
"If you are having issues you have got to face up to the situation immediately. Doing nothing is not the answer as avoiding issues such as letters from the tax office or unpaid bills will only make things worse. Open your eyes & evaluate every aspect of your business in order to re-take control. Explore your options - could you, for example, come to some casual arrangement with creditors? Are you managing your funds flow effectively? Facing your situation in this way stimulates the brain to come up with corrective actions to hold on to your funds & cease wasting money. Our advisors can help you evaluate your situation, run a health check on your business & create a viable plan."
Regardless of the current outlook, continued investment in staff training is critical to increasing your company's competitiveness. The Learning & Skills Council (LSC) - runs Train to Gain, an independent advice service & source of funding for skills development.
This point follows on from the business link message: Don't ignore HMRC. Don't ignore letters from creditors or HMRC, as the situation can quickly escalate. Act early to negotiate with those your business owes money to. In the event you have, for any reason, become embroiled in a legal action (such as being hit with a winding-up order), you must get professional legal advice immediately.
Finally, & you would expect us to say this as a promotion company, but don't neglect your promotion activities. In fact in a recession lots of actually ramp them up. This is because whilst competitors are dropping theirs, you have an idea time slot to leapfrog them in the mind of your prospects. than a "baton down the hatches" approach, push forward & come out of the recession stronger. A great way could be to hire an outsourced promotion company that offers a joined up promotion service on a pay every month, get every month basis now I wonder where you could find of those?
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