Passionate about business growth, Michael held a portfolio of senior management positions in an international manufacturing organisation establishing a reputation for delivering positive results through the introduction of rigorous procedures and the development of successful teams. He has also held prominent leadership positions in small businesses and has extensive project management experience. Michael has engineering, project management and business studies qualifications.

Michael is a business mentor with the Prince’s Trust and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

“You can be confident that you will successfully generate the robust business growth you crave. Applying an holistic approach we embed organisational and operational excellence.”

BUSINESS GROWTH

Do you have all the skills, knowledge and expertise required to achieve your business growth ambitions?

As your business develops how will you manage the extra workload, the new demands on your time and all the other essential activities? To be successful in today’s demanding market, we all need the ability to seamlessly undertake the challenge of new responsibilities with a clear understanding of what it takes to attain our business growth objectives. How confident will you be managing your finances, marketing, risk, recruitment whilst ensuring resilience to face up to the many obstacles to be overcome.

Robust results and sustainable business growth demand a solid foundation of expertise and capability. Working together we will exploit those opportunities that will enable you unlock you and your business’s potential, successfully achieving your business growth aspirations.

We are here to help, contact us now for your free, no obligation review and chat.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change is not the problem – resistance to change is!

However, it is possible to create a positive attitude to change.

There is much evidence to suggest failure to achieve the stated goals is most often due to transition leadership, the people part, being ignored.

To succeed with Change Management we will enable you master the essential tools and processes. We will help you set goals and apply the metrics that will maintain drive and define what success looks like, sending a clear message about what is expected.

Transition leadership takes a big-picture view of the entire process and seeks out opportunities to enable everyone stay aligned. Most people need a compelling reason to break the inertia that keeps them doing what they’ve always done.

With our support you will create a clear and compelling message coupled with a clear set of tasks that will ensure the positive outcome you are striving to achieve making the difference between success and failure.

We are here to help, contact us now for your free, no obligation review and chat.

RISK MANAGEMENT

Why do so many businesses fail?

The necessity and benefit of applying Risk Management tools should not be underestimated when growing a business. Failure to implement the essential analysis, regular review and necessary actions will have extremely costly consequences and is a key reason why so many businesses fail.

Fundamentally, understanding and managing the need for resilience and the potential risks is far too often overlooked.

As we help you grow your business we will ensure you understand and apply the principles of risk management, avoidance and mitigation, ensuring you successfully meet your objectives in an affordable and timely manner.

We are here to help, contact us now for your free, no obligation review and chat.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

In today’s challenging markets providing excellent customer service is essential.

We will guide you through those processes that will help you and your team grow your business whilst continuing to efficiently deliver quality products and services. It is very common but not inevitable that when companies or organisations grow, they lose focus on quality and productivity with the consequential impact on service and profitability. However, with the proper safeguards and procedures in place, growth can be a positive stimulus enabling you enhance quality and productivity with everyone sharing the benefits.

Given the appropriate tools, you will establish the necessary baseline and benchmark metrics then create and implement the essential roadmap that will enhance and deliver exceptional customer service.

Quality should be an essential criterion for any business not an expensive by-product. We will share with you the processes that enable companies improve quality and enhance customer experience without detracting from the bottom line.

We are here to help, contact us now for your free, no obligation review and chat.

MARKETING STRATEGY

An active marketing strategy is the most effective way to grow your business.

Applying the essential components your plan will drive your business towards

·      Acquiring new customers

·      Encouraging current customers to spend more and do so more often

·      Re-engaging dormant customers

With our support you will define

·      A plan with clarity of budget, resources and timescale

·      Your market niche

·      Your target customers

·      An engaging, compelling, persuasive marketing message

·      A review process that will make the necessary adjustments to keep you on track to achieve your goals

We are here to help, contact us now for your free, no obligation review and chat.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Are you working hard and not making any money?

Your profit and loss account looks good but somehow this is not reflected in your bank balance. The simple answer is cash flow! Cash flow is a true, real time reflection of your financial status. Careful monetary control is an essential element of business management. Using our simple tools you will rapidly realise the benefit of your hard work by creating an effective cash flow regime. With our guidance you will not need to be a financial wizard, but you will very quickly see positive results.

We are here to help, contact us now for your free, no obligation review and chat.

If you need to create a business plan there are numerous templates available but it is the content that truly matters.

Primarily and critically you have to consider why you are compiling a business plan and ensure the content reflects this.

The purpose of a business plan is to ensure you are very clear on the product or service you intend to deliver, you fully understand the market place you are entering and to demonstrate you have the skills and attributes to deliver it successfully.

Especially, it should describe your knowledge and ability to manage all of the tasks required to successfully run a business.

A business plan provides the background and a justification for initiating a new product or service. It evaluates the benefits of the product or service, the target market, costs, risks and provides a rationale for the way forward.

If you are seeking funding, your business plan should clearly state a compelling financial case for potential investors to support you.

Consider preparing your business plan from two aspects;

Unique Selling Proposition

An overview of the problem or market opportunity to be exploited and what specific benefit is to be achieved once your product or service is in place highlighting what differentiates you from your competitors.

Detail

This is the strategic perspective describing the background, the need and anticipated results. Your skills and experience, analysis of the target market and the competition. It must also include financial detail; the cash flow, budget and funding requirements required to launch and importantly sustain the business. You should also consider any regional, geographic or cultural limitations.

What do you need to include in your business plan?

An executive summary

It must be clear and concise, simply introducing the problem to be addressed, the solution, benefit achieved, budget, funding, potential return, an outline time frame, who is to be involved and their skills, knowledge and experience.

Your objectives

These need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound.

A SWOT analysis

Identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats consider both yourself and the business.

Market Research

Explain your target market, defining your ideal client.

What service or product your competitors are delivering and how you differentiate yourself.

Why should potential customers buy from you?

How will you deliver your product/service?

Is your product or service customer facing or on line?

Will it be a home service, pop-up shop, ecommerce, retail outlet, delivered by post or courier service?

Market Strategy

How will you promote yourself? On line (website, social media, podcasts, video, what platforms, etc), offline (adverts in magazines, newspapers, radio, etc), networking?

Financial

Estimate how much money will be needed to launch and sustain the business including predicted turnover, margin, costs and cash flow.

Costs will typically include a detailed timeline of expenses; eg salaries, materials (if a product), travel, promotional materials, bought in services (eg website), rent, insurance, utility costs, taxes, NI, interest payments, etc.

The level of funding and investment required.

How will funding be raised? Self-financed, loans, grants, investors, friends and family, gifted?

The following should be included as appendices

Cost/price analysis

Cash flow projection

Profit and Loss projection

Risk

What are the obvious and less obvious risks of starting and running this business?

What is the cost associated with the impact, eliminating or mitigating each risk?

Does the benefit outweigh the cost?

Evaluation

What will be the measurement criteria, eg, turnover, number of clients, etc?

How will progress be measured eg on line analytics, cash flow, etc?

Equally importantly how often you will review your business plan to reflect any changes.

Regulatory compliance

How will you comply with GDPR, a privacy statement, HMRC, VAT (if required), etc.

If a limited company understanding all the responsibilities of being a director.

Questions you need to consider - is your product or service

Politically correct?

Economically sound?

Socially acceptable?

Technologically compatible with current trends, eg set up for mobile phone use?

Legal?

Environmentally friendly?

We are here to help, contact us now for your free, no obligation review and chat.