Caught up in the busy-ness of your business?
Are you a small to medium sized business owner trying to be an expert in every single facet of your business? Managing everything from sales and marketing to HR and financing could mean that you’re working ‘in’ the business rather than ‘on’ your business. Every day we see time business owners, caught up in the ‘busy-ness of business’ who could benefit from an external expert to help realign their business goals and their role in it.
Business Advisors can help!
A business advisor works with you to identify pain points and inefficiencies in day-to-day operations with a view to realigning the business with its short term and long-term strategic goals. The Accru Advisory team commence this process by undertaking a business health check to take a ‘pulse’ of your business. This process focuses on 8 core areas which we believe are key pillars of running a ‘healthy’ business:
- Financial Performance
- Strategy
- Sales and Marketing
- Customer Service
- Risk Management
- Personal Finance and Lifestyle
- Retirement and Succession
- Staff and HR
Even if the business owner is of the view that they have covered most of these areas, the few that they haven’t are likely to be preventing them from reaching their full potential. Once the Accru Advisory team have identified the business’ needs they work alongside the owner, providing support and advice in implementing solutions to improve efficiency, performance and profitability. Examples include:
Cash flow forecasting – understanding what drives cash flow and future pressure points. Looking at strategies to improve business cash flow and alternative funding options
Business management reporting – assisting to design and implement a management reporting function. Helping the business owner identify future profit drivers and reporting on these. Identifying issues and opportunities as they happen, and formulating plans to address them.
Budgeting and forecasting – a cornerstone of management reporting – setting short and long term financial goals and evaluating business performance against them
Pricing strategies – recognising that price, more than any other driver, can make an exponential difference to your bottom line.
Business strategy sessions – our experience is that most business have plans, but the majority of them are flights of fancy that never see the light of day. A good strategy turns dreams into reality by breaking them down into achievable steps and setting up measures and accountability to ensure they are achieved.
Management Board committees – many businesses need some external expertise to round out skill sets and ensure the business achieves its long term goals
Analysis of lead indicators for profitability – most businesses focus on too many retrospective measures. This exercise involves understanding the drivers of profit and putting in place simple measures to ensure that the business is striving towards its profit targets
Digital transformation – the business world is rapidly changing. From the way our customers consume and find products, the way we interact with staff, and the way we store and record information. However, the process of digital transformation can be overwhelming and if not well managed, disastrous. We understand the need to embrace the opportunity technology provides and work with business owners to make this happen.
