Over the past week, you might have seen some headlines about the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). If you were tempted to skip over those items because it has very little to do with you, I understand. Still, there are a few lessons that business owners in the UK can learn from this […]
Tag archives: planning
How Amazon decides whether its products are viable
Here’s something new I’ve learned… When Amazon decides which products or services to develop, it follows a process it calls “Working Backwards”. The idea is that before they go develop something new, they picture the moment of the launch. Their marketing department drafts a press release announcing their new product. The details include the (as-yet […]
Reason #3 your accountant isn’t proactive
If you were trying to figure out whether you could afford an extension on your house, what kind of information would be more useful to you… A summary of how much money you made and spent around 12 months ago? Or a carefully calculated forecast of how much money you’re going to have over the […]
I’m a grandad!
It gives me huge pleasure to interrupt my regular blogs on financial management for an important announcement… I’ve become a grandad for the first time! Baby Eve Rosemary Mumford arrived a few days ago, and mum, dad and baby are all doing well. Nana Thelma is in her element cooking, helping and knitting blankets and […]
7 clues your in-house accounting is broken
Years ago, we were invited to help rescue a distressed business, whose finances were extremely messy. Amongst other problems, we discovered that every time they wanted to raise a sales invoice, they had to go through 21 separate steps. They’d been working this way for years, and it didn’t seem at all strange to them… […]
The devil’s in the details. So are the opportunities
One year, we had a new client who wanted us to work out in a lot more detail which parts of his business were profitable over the past 12 months, and which weren’t. It was a wonderful idea, because you need to understand where the profit lies in your business in order to grow faster. […]
What if…?
If you have an IT guy, he’s probably suggested at some point that you do a vulnerability assessment. This is a test the tech guys run on your computers, to figure out where all the holes are… …For example, where a hacker might be able to access data, whether you have passwords that are guessable, […]
2 cost-control systems every company needs in place
How do you create habits that stick? James Clear, author of the classic Atomic Habits, says that most people make a critical mistake. Whether their aim is to eat more healthy food, exercise regularly or save more towards their pension, they spend too much time focusing on their end goal. They believe that reminding themselves of […]
Meet future you
In an experiment at UCLA, researchers put pictures of their subjects through age-progression software, making them appear elderly. They showed half the subjects pictures of their older, more wrinkly, saggy selves. Then they gave everyone in the experiment a chance to put aside some money for their pension. Without exception, those who had seen the […]
Your business plan for 2030
In 2018, BP decided it no longer wanted to be an “oil giant” – associated with greed and pollution. Instead, according to its new mission statement, it was dedicated to “reimagining energy for people and our planet. We want to help the world reach net zero and improve people’s lives.” These weren’t just words. BP […]
