Everything in life is contingent upon its position in the world. The personal, political, scientific and natural worlds all depend on their location and the other elements operating around them. The same could be said about the corporate world, which is dependent upon the external environment within which it operates. This includes everything from local […]
The bank lending paradox and its effect on demand for business finance
Bank funding is still proving elusive, particularly for the SME market. The consequences of the 2008 credit crisis and the effects of the ongoing Eurozone situation continue to be felt in our domestic lending markets: the banking sector remains deeply unpopular and under attack from all sides. A never ending string of operational and cultural […]
Growth: Are business funding solutions the key to improving the economy?
There is an increasing clamour for growth in the UK economy from an ever wider range of interested parties. GDP in 2012 has been disappointing. Negative growth in the first two quarters threw us back into the dreaded ‘double dip’ recession, followed by a significant rise in the third quarter, which many commentators believe to […]
The Eurozone – The biggest Turnaround of all
In the late 1950s the leading European nations started developing the concept of a strong Euro trading region to compensate for the waning global power of the area. Their ideal scenario for the Euro project was firstly to establish close trading partnerships between European nations unburdened by borders and tariffs, followed by a common currency […]
Supply Chain Finance – a panacea for cash flow problems?
The background Supply chain finance has come to mean many different things to many different people. It can be a simple catch-all term for a Trade Finance facility linked to an Invoice Finance facility. If you search for Supply Chain Finance on Google, you will see there are many alternative definitions. The Wikipedia entry is […]
Cash flow solutions: Go back to basics with Debtor management
Working capital is the life blood of business. However good your business strategy is, it is very difficult to make it work without cash to pay the wages and other running costs. Whilst we often hear about businesses taking longer to pay their creditors in order to increase their working capital, this is obviously a […]
Business strategy 101: Trust. How to build it – and keep it
Whenever I have needed to make any significant changes to any of my businesses, I have invariably reached out to a trusted colleague or friend to get some unbiased third party input. The value of these trusted relationships cannot be under estimated, and, as the saying goes,’ if only you could bottle it….’ Setting aside […]
Cash flow issues? More money might not be the answer
Business owners experiencing cash flow issues will often say, …’if only I had another £xxx – I could really make this work’. Throwing money at a problem can hold off decline, but cash flow often isn’t the root cause of the problem. So, before going to see your bank manager, or re-mortgaging, or borrowing from […]
Business funding solutions: the alternatives to bank finance
The financial crash of 2007/8 has changed the banking landscape for the foreseeable future. The banks are being told to slim down their balance sheets, lend more, increase their share price – all with the spectre of the break-up of their Retail and Investment arms, not to mention a possible new government owned ‘Business bank’. […]
Business strategy 101: What does your Brand say about you?
In our new world of global communications, brands have become ever more relevant to our everyday lives. We use brands constantly to help us speed up the buying process. Whatever it is we are looking for – quality, consistency, service, value for money, no frills – it is there in the brand. Companies spend a […]