Small Business Planning Lytham St Annes
01253 788181
Lytham St Annes
Small Business Planning
Planning is one of the key requirements to make a successful business. It’s very important to get your business set up right before you start, so that when you start trading you can focus on that and not infrastructure problems.
Given that you are starting with a blank piece of paper, can I suggest you focus on what I call the four C’s: customers, cash, control and consultation.
It sounds so obvious that it hardly seems worthwhile saying, but surprisingly it is one of the major causes of failure: if you don’t have any customers, your business will be a flop. Your first major planning task is to work out who your customers will be, what they want to buy and how much they will buy.
Cash - or lack of it - is also a prime cause of failure. You need cash to set your business up, buy the equipment you need and sort out your premises. You also need cash to help keep your business operating once it is up and running. This cash is known as working capital. Working capital can get all tied up if your customers are slow in paying, you have to pay your supplier promptly or you hold too much raw material or finished product in stock. For your business plan, you need to work out how much you will need.
Keeping control of your business is crucial. You need proper accounting systems and ways of getting information about your business from the figures and it must be prompt information. Control means knowing what you owe and what you are owed. A budget is required to help you plan where you are going - a cash flow forecast is the most important aspect - and you need to check how your business is going against the budget.
Finally, consultation is important because you should seek advice from whoever you can - your bank manager, the local Business Link (contact www.businesslink.org or 0845 600 9006 to find your nearest one), friends who run their own enterprises. In the case of a cake decorating business, you will need to consult carefully with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to ensure that your premises and work practices maintain the appropriate hygiene levels. You can contact the HSE on 08701 545 500 or on www.hse.gov.uk.
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