[ Business advice ]

Details of training schemes are dealt with elsewhere

in this issue of ECA Today (see Mind the gap on page 56), but it’s worth stressing their importance amid recession. This is the province of regional education training manager John Corcoran, who has been with the ECA for 15 years. Some members have already taken advantage of his

training needs analysis (TNA) – ‘which lots of people make out to be science but isn’t really’ – though many may not be aware of it. How long it takes depends on the size and complexity

of the business. But for small operations, going through a business health check document with Corcoran can be two or three hours well spent. ‘It’s all about standing back, looking at where you

are now and where you want to be in five years’ time. Have you got the money...the skills and confidence?’ he says. To get businesses to look at themselves afresh, he

asks the fundamentals and gets operations to assess key areas:

n Do you have a business plan with targets and objectives? Do you want to expand; change direction or consolidate? Scale down, or even close down?

n Find out what external forces affect the business: legislation changes, tax, energy policies, etc;

n Review customers, past, present and future; think about suppliers, debtors, sub contractors, and so on;

n Analyse yourself – your technical and interpersonal skills – and those of your employees. Do they know about your business plan – if you have one – and their part in it? and

n Find out the cost of lost time, production and over-runs; money lost through inefficiency; material loss, waste and scrap.

Many registered members don’t know what services are available from the ECA, Corcoran says. Recently he spoke to one who was unaware of a management development course simply because a junior member of staff hadn’t passed on the information. ‘We can’t offer everyone training but we have lots of

contacts,’ he says. ‘If we don’t do it, we know someone who can.’ Moreover, there should soon be much more guidance online: ECA is developing the business support centre, described by head of regions and membership Colin Mitchison as ‘a family tree... a graphical search engine of ECA services’, offering in-depth practical advice and data.

Outside help

There are myriad bodies and agencies whose purpose is to encourage and support business, whether through giving advice or offering grants. But it’s a minefield that’s hard for the busy contractor to pick through. One body Corcoran rates highly is Business Links, in the

past widely dismissed as ineffectual and unresponsive. ‘They now have qualified people who have been there and

done it, whereas in the early days they didn’t,’ he says. ECA isn’t equipped to give recommendations in terms

of, for instance, the best low interest business deals on offer. ‘Things change so fast and everyone’s credit rating is different,’ says Colin Mitchison, himself a former bank manager. ‘But people certainly need to be aware of what government loan schemes are available. We can give them a steer.’ All the major parties seem committed to extending

their support for small business. It seems reasonable to expect a continuation, in one guise or another, of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), Labour’s £1.3 billion scheme that underwrites loans of up to 75 per cent for SMEs. However, some applicants have found that banks,

either through ignorance or bloody-mindedness, are slow to do their bit and insistent on applying onerous personal guarantees. The Conservative Party promises that its National Loans Guarantee Scheme (NLGS) will be ‘bigger and bolder’, designed to help with ‘historic problems’ many small businesses have faced in financing expansion. Meanwhile, the parties also seem to agree on the continued need for HM Revenue and Customs to show leniency towards struggling businesses by allowing them extra time to pay corporation tax and VAT.

Getting advice

Other sources of help and advice include:

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)

A membership organisation offering many services. Its legal helpline is particularly valued, along with assistance it provides to those facing tax investigations.

www.smallbusiness.co.uk – advice on start-ups, banking, grants, law, employing staff, and more.

SFEDI – the UK Sector Skills Body for Enterprise

A standards-setting body for business enterprise and business support. Researches ‘all that’s needed’ for people planning to become self-employed. Develops national occupational standards to support them.

www.startups.co.uk – As it sounds, another site aimed at fledgling businesses.

www.j4b.co.uk – Grants information database that’s ‘continually updated’. The website offers SMEs a ‘transparent, honest interface’ between grant applicants and providers. This can be a tangled web – each UK county has its own range of grants available. Some areas get extra because of high unemployment; and some may be given by local authorities to help businesses.

Many grants are limited to SMEs, and restricted to sectors defined by the European Commission. Often grants are awarded for a specific purpose such as purchasing machinery, improving offices, increasing employment or developing export markets.

People certainly need to be aware of what government loan schemes are available. We can give them a steer

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