Overheads Overheads are the things you have to pay for just to open the business, whether you sell anything or not. T is could be rent, software, certain members of staff , etc. Review each of your costs carefully. Are they money well spent? Are you getting the value from them? Are you using all the phone lines or software licences? Chances are there will be some costs that can be stripped out to put more cash in the bank.


Staff Staff are often the biggest overhead or cost to a business (particularly service based, such as a creative agency). I know it’s not nice, but each member of staff should be reviewed carefully and dealt with if changes need to be made. Are they right for the role they’re in, as well as the


business as a whole, or are they a weak link that will stifl e your growth? Are they paid the correct amount, or does it


need to be amended, or hours changed to make them more suitable for the business need? A good place to start is to put together an ideal


organisational chart. This ignores your current structure, but let’s you plan what you want the structure to look like. T en for each of the roles, put together a job description with roles and responsibilities. Once you’ve done that, take your current team and plot them into that organisational


chart based on their strengths, weaknesses and personal goals. T is allows you start thinking about their training needs, move people around if necessary, and get rid of the ones who maybe aren’t right for the future of the business.


Systems and Processes If you’re ineffi cient in what you do, but your staff are working to capacity, you’re throwing time and money down the drain. Effi ciency is key for business growth. Review your systems and processes. Do your systems talk to each other? Can you get the data you need to make decisions from your ways of working? Do they make yours and your staff ’s lives easier? Are you still doing everything in books or on paper (you should not be doing this in 2021!)? T ere really is no excuse for not using automation anymore and it can be the key to profi table growth of the company.


Cash Sorting all of the above will result in an increased cash balance over time. However, in the short term, there may be funding needs while you implement and carry out the turnaround. Just reviewing your costs and overheads and stripping out the dead wood may be enough, but if not, then you want to make sure you’ve got the funding in place before you start making changes that will need to be paid for. Creating a cashfl ow forecast, showing all incoming and outgoings, and understanding the cash position is imperative, otherwise you could run out of cash before you’ve even got started building a better business.


To fi nd out more about Cornerstone FD, call 01908 429294 or visit the website www.cornerstonefd.co.uk


ALL THINGS BUSINESS


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