Its official the British Nation is now in financial recession and businesses need to have a robust map to navigate this economic downturn or they are destined to go out of business.
The challenging trading conditions over the Christmas and New Years holiday season saw a record level of shops go bust
Stores and Companies to be effected by the recession are Savvi the music retailer formerly Virgin Megastore, Adams the Independent childrens clothes retailer, USC the Fashion store and Whittard of Chelsea, the specialist tea and coffee retailer.
Possible one of the most high profile causalities of the economic collapse has been woolworths that went into liquidation in December 2007 and finally closed all retail outlets in January which has put 27,000 out of work.
How can a business survive this recession? Well Alan Tilley of the Turnaround Management Association says that for a business to achieve a successful turnaround it needs four things; a viable business core, credible management team, a valid business plan and appropriate finance.
British Business is now facing a Cash Flow pinch caused by the credit crunch and and freeze in the capital markets forcing Companies to search out unconventional methods of finance
Company Directors with an eye on survival should immediately have a plan to reduce expenditure within the business. Carefully review expenditure to identify any areas of your business where savings can be made. Meticulously going over the Companies expense to find areas where costs can be cut. You should look at Telephone Charges and Tariffs, Utilities, Trade Suppliers, transport costs. The build up of a number of cost saving can be remarkable.
Cash Flow within a business is vital at any time but even more so in a recession and having access to working capital should be at the top of any business owners list. Funding a business with invoice factoring, which is increasingly popular for small to medium businesses. While not suitable for all Companies, the huge benefit of invoice factoring is that rather than have money tied up in invoices that are yet to be paid, you can receive an initial payment up front, typically 80% – 85% of the gross value, and the remainder when the customer pays the invoices to an invoice finance provider, less the service fee which has been negotiated with them. However, if the customer defaults on payment, then the finance company will recover the money provided to you initially from any further invoices which are factored. This can lead to erratic cash flow if customers are poor payers or they go into insolvency.