4


What starts-up doesn’t have to come down


Start-up businesses have a high failure rate; in fact, the latest figures show that business failures outnumbered business births for the first time ever.


Andrew Moore, Partner


However, most businesses are failing not because the business idea is fundamentally flawed, but because they don’t have the right tools in place to manage and grow, and this can be easily remedied.


Proper planning can be the difference between success and failure


The latest research by NatWest has revealed that 35% of new businesses don’t have a business plan and a massive 63% have no formal accountancy relationship. These are shocking but not particularly surprising figures.


In fact, these sorts of statistics have been published for as long as I can remember, and over the years, many businesses have scraped by despite a lack of proper planning or management. In the current economic


situation, however, the consequences of not getting things quite right can be far more punishing than in boom times when the market is far more forgiving.


More than a third has no business plan


Having a business plan is absolutely vital to any start- up, not to have one is like setting out on a journey without a map or SatNav and hoping you will arrive at your destination. In some cases it can even be a case of not knowing what your intended destination is! A business plan gives you the chance to consider, with the benefit of thinking time, where the business is going. The business plan looks at the various factors impacting on the business, and addresses the “what if” questions thereby avoiding having to rely on gut instinct all the time. This is vital in start up situations when everything is an unknown and a business plan provides the opportunity to consider alternative scenarios and situations.


63% have no formal accountancy relationship


One of the main reasons why almost two thirds of new business may not think it’s necessary to have a formal accounting relationship is a lack of understanding of what having an accountant can do for your business.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12