Small businesses are particularly vulnerable in tough economic times.

When sales are slow, there are still overheads and salaries that need to be sorted. Pre-planning and being proactive can help you weather tighter economic periods and allow you to continue to thrive.

Make sure you have a clear picture of your payroll, and any other planned expenses that will need to be accounted for.

If there’s even a possibility that there could be a shortfall, it’s essential to meet this head-on. Whether this means talking to your supplier or creditors to figure out an arrangement, or compromising on other business outgoings, you must make a plan to ensure that the business, or your staff, won’t suffer.

Looking for something a little different? Check out our free Seven Ways to Grow Webinar on 30th March here

Minimise the stress of cash-flow

Invoice early – Send any invoices that you can, and in advance if possible. Perhaps consider whether you have any regular clients or customers that you could offer a retainer or similar deal to if they book services or make a purchase from you in advance.

Chase payment – Use this opportunity to chase up any outstanding payments. Strong communication and relationships matter – talk to clients and chase invoices.

Talk to suppliers – A little honesty can go a long way. Perhaps they can extend a line of credit for your payments to them. In most cases, a good supplier would rather offer a little flexibility to keep an ongoing business relationship.

Review Inventory – Can you find a cheaper supplier locally to avoid the shipping costs or discuss alternative products that allow you to reduce expenses?

Review your costs – It’s also a good idea to do a general review of expenses. Business costs can creep up, and it’s a great idea to make a time to check on your expenses regularly, no matter what your financial situation. Review all of your regular payments and subscriptions as well as upcoming costs. There may be travel, functions or purchases which you can decide on an alternative approach to.

Talk to the bank or tax department – If cashflow is tight, make sure you have conversations early so you have everything in place to see you through.

We can help you implement strategies to protect your business for the long term and help you alleviate cashflow worries.

Seven Ways to Grow – our free webinar on 30th March

The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, delivered his first Spring Budget on 15 March 2023. Unlike the disastrous September 2022 ‘mini budget’, this budget won’t cause many ripples in the worlds of business and finance. In fact, it was a relatively dull affair, with few headline announcements for the average business owner to be concerned about.

However, there were some incentives regarding capital allowances on equipment and investment in research and development (R&D), to help push the economy forwards.

Summary of the main Budget announcements

Whereas the primary aim of the Autumn Statement in November 2022 was to address the financial instability caused by the mini budget, this budget was labelled as a ‘budget for growth’.

Growth forecast

In 2023, it’s now predicted that the UK will avoid a technical recession (two consecutive quarters of declining GDP). Instead the economy is predicted to virtually flatline, with output shrinking by just 0.2%, compared with the 1.4% shrinkage forecast in November.

In future years, growth is now expected to be:

2024 – 1.8% (previously 1.3%)
2025 – 2.5% (2.6%)
2026 – 2.1% (2.7%)
2027 – 1.9% (2.2%)
So the outlook is better for this year and the next, then falls below the previous forecast.

Inflation (10.7% at the end of 2022) is predicted to be down to 2.9% by the end of 2023. This doesn’t mean prices are coming down of course, as it’s 2.9% on top of the current 10.7%.

Main tax measures

Getting back to a more-normal cycle, most tax measures are announced in the Autumn Statement, so there wasn’t much tax-specific news from the Chancellor.

Fuel – duty Fuel duty will be frozen at current rates for a further 12 months, until April 2024.
Pension contributions – The maximum annual contribution an individual can make into a pension scheme with tax relief will increase from £40,000 to £60,000 from 2023.
Pension Lifetime Allowance – Currently there are tax charges where the value of an individual’s pension pot exceeds £1,073,100. That has now been scrapped, allowing individuals to accumulate unlimited pension funds.
Capital Allowances – For the next three years, the Government is introducing ‘full expensing’ where expenditure on most new plant and equipment will be deductible in full in the year of acquisition. 50% will also be deductible on ‘Special Rate’ assets such as cars with emissions above 50g/km. The intention is to make this change permanent to boost inward investment by UK companies.
Alcohol duty – The duty charged on draught beer and cider will be cut from August 2023 in what was optimistically called a ‘Brexit Pubs Guarantee’.
Research & Development – The proposed change restricting the inclusion in claims of some activities carried out outside of the UK has been deferred for a year. Enhanced payable tax credits will be available to SMEs where 40% or more of their expenses are for R&D.

Other measures

New announcements were thin on the ground in the Spring Budget, but there were some measures that will be of note for consumers and business owners.

Energy price guarantee – The existing annual cap of £2,500 for energy costs for a ‘typical household’ will remain at that level until July 2023. It was expected to rise to £3,000 from April. The additional charges currently levied on people who use prepayment meters will be abolished.
Childcare – There have been several changes to childcare support. Currently, working parents with children three to four years old can claim free childcare of 15-30 hours per week during term time. From April 2024, that will be extended to include 15 hours per week for 2-year olds, from September 2024 that will be extended to children as young as nine months, and from September 2025 the hours for all children will be raised to 30 hours per week. Funding will also be made available to allow all schools to offer pre- and post- school hours care by September 2026.
Investment zones – 12 new investment zones will be created across the UK where funding will be available in designated areas where schemes are developed to foster innovative businesses in cooperation with local authorities and academic institutions. Concerns have been raised from environmental and human rights groups regarding the deregulation of these zones.
Defence spending – Spending on defence will be increased by £11 billion over the next five years, reaching 2.25% of GDP, with an aspiration to increase to 2.5% of GDP at an appropriate point in time.
Leisure centres – Funding will be made available to help local authorities cope with the additional energy costs of heating public swimming pools.
Levelling up – The Government intends to disband Local Enterprise Partnerships and hand their funding and responsibilities to local authorities. Levelling up partnerships will provide £400 million for various levelling up partnerships across the country, an additional £200 million will be made available to fix potholes, and £360 million will be allocated towards regeneration projects across the country.
Energy Security – A new body, ‘Great British Nuclear’, has been launched to identify sites and develop supply chains for nuclear plants. The intention is for nuclear sources to provide 25% of the UK’s energy needs by 2050. Suitable players are being invited to submit proposals for Small Modular Reactors, the development of which, if found to be viable, will be co-funded by the government. This announcement is likely to come under fire from environmental groups who want the Government to invest in renewable energies.
Encouraging investment – To encourage investment in the development of medicines and medical devices, a new regulator will be established to give swift approval to items developed. Meanwhile, more-rapid (almost automatic) approval will be allowed of medicines for use in the UK which have already been approved in certain other trusted regulators such as the US and Europe. Funding will also be made available for development of artificial intelligence capabilities and quantum computers. Rules regarding pension funds will be relaxed to allow them to invest in these and other more risky areas than they currently support.

Talk to us about your concerns following the Spring Budget

In comparison to the fallout from Kwarteng’s economy-crashing mini budget, the Spring Budget has been a sedate affair. There are policies here aimed at growth of UK industry and pushing the economy in a direction that keeps the country out of recession.

However, there’s no escaping the current state of the UK economy and the challenges faced by small businesses. As a business owner, you may well be facing the hurdles of high prices and utility bills, poor supply chains and a prolonged talent shortage.

If you have any worries or concerns following the Spring Budget, please do contact us to arrange a chat. We’ll be happy to talk you through the main business measures.

There are three fundamentals to successfully scale up your business: having a clear organisation structure, having comprehensive systems, and developing great leadership.

Heard the quote, “What got you here won’t get you there”? These are wise words (and the title of a book you should read!) are from Marshall Goldsmith. Choosing to scale your business does not come without risk!

Many leaders focus on their systems and teams when looking to scale, which is important, but they must also focus on scaling themselves.

Looking for some more in-depth help? Check out our 7 Ways to Grow webinar on 30th March 2023

Fundamental three: developing great leadership

Most reasons why businesses fail, directly and indirectly, point to leadership failure.

From poor planning to poor hiring, poor communication to poor process, poor capacity to poor execution – most things can be fixed with great leadership.

Scaling the business will make new demands on a leader’s time and attention and it’s critical that these are both focused on the right things:

1. Planning.
   Setting a clear vision and relevant business goals, regularly reviewing progress, and resetting goals to drive performance improvement.
2. Inspiring.
   Motivating others to achieve more than before; showing them their potential to make an impact.
3. Empowering.
   Enabling your team to find their own solutions by guiding them with your support, trust and encouragement.
4. Culture.
   Demonstrating allegiance to the team and standing for the business’s core values.
5. Innovating.
   Continuous improvement in people, product, and process.
6. Personal growth.
   Developing and supporting your future leaders with mentoring and guidance.

Great leadership is about influencing others in the direction of a common goal.

While there can only be one leader of a business, there are seven operational departments that need individual leaders. People can lead multiple departments initially but, as the business grows, should look to empower others and delegate the leadership of some departments to ‘leaders in training’.

On a scale from 1 to 10, how well do you rate your performance on the above six categories? Where can you scale your leadership? Need help? Get in touch.

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” – Ralph Nader

Looking for some more in-depth help? Check out our 7 Ways to Grow webinar on 30th March 2023

Keeping on top of your cashflow is even more important during tough economic times.

With a global slowdown on the cards, energy prices soaring and supply chain challenges, cash is likely to be tight over the coming year and beyond. Cloud technology and fintech apps, can give your business the best possible control over its cash.

Why is cashflow so important?

To keep your business operating, you need enough money coming into the business to cover your outgoings – with enough surplus cash to live on. When recession begins to hit, this can have a significant impact on your income.

Consumers will have less disposable income to spend on your products and services. Business customers will be looking to reign in their spending on suppliers. As a net result, your business is likely to make fewer sales and will bring in smaller revenues.

Looking to get more out of your business? Sign up for our free Know Your Numbers webinar on 22nd December here

What can you do to improve your cashflow situation?

The more informed you are about your cash position, the more you can do to prepare for any cashflow gaps. It’s this foresight that can make all the difference when you’re battling against tough external economic forces and a downturn in sales.

If you want to safeguard your cashflow, these are some sensible steps to take:

• Switch to cloud accounting – accounting and finance technology has moved on in leaps and bounds in the past decade. The latest crop of cloud accounting platforms all offer a detailed reporting of your cash position. These software tools will generally offer real-time data, giving you up to date cash numbers.
• Plan ahead for the cashflow gaps – when your forecast shows a shortfall of cash coming up, that’s the time to take evasive action. If you can see that there’s a cash hole approaching next month, it’s time to look at ways of raising extra finance to fill that hole. That could mean extending your bank overdraft, taking out a small business loan or taking out an invoice finance facility with a lender.
• Look for opportunities to cut your overheads – one way to even up your cashflow is to cut down on your expenditure. If you can cut back on overheads, expenses and unnecessary costs, this can help you re-balance your cash position, even when cashflow is getting tight.
• Update your prices and your sales strategy – raising your prices is one way to bring in more cash, with the same volume of sales. But it’s a balancing act. Putting your prices up can alienate existing customers and could see you losing customers, but if you can find the sweet spot for your pricing AND also drum up more sales, you can quickly increase revenue and give your cash inflows a healthy boost.
• Review your cashflow reports regularly – it’s important to look at your cashflow numbers and reporting regularly, not just at period-end. This is particularly important when economic times are tough. With the most current cash information to hand, you can make informed business decisions and aim to keep the business operational.

Talk to us about updating your cashflow processes

With your business in a healthy cashflow position, you give yourself some solid financial foundations for riding out the global recession. No business is invulnerable in these conditions, but with liquid cash in the business, you have more flexibility and more capital to play with.

Book a meeting and let’s see how we can improve your cashflow processes.

Sign up for our free Know Your Numbers webinar on 22nd December here

The purpose of a business is to make money, and that means you have to know the difference between profit and cashflow.

Net profit is what you have left after you deduct all your business expenses from all your revenue. You change net profit only by changing the things that affect revenue and expenses.

For example, if:

• You renegotiate with your suppliers, you may get stock cheaper, or carry less inventory
• Your staff engage with customers better, you can learn more about what they do and don’t like – and get more business
• You can roster staff differently, you may be able to run your business more efficiently.

Do you want to learn more about your own business? Sign up for our free Know Your Numbers webinar on 22nd December here

Cashflow comes from various sources. However, it also covers operating expenses, taxes, equipment purchases, repayments, distribution, and so on.

Note that a profitable business does not always have good cashflow. And a business with good cashflow is not always profitable. For example, you can have good cashflow, and loss-making expenses.

To work out how fast you can grow your business, you need to look at your projected cashflow. We can advise you on this.

Keeping cash crowned as King

Your business can’t survive without cash.

The following six takeaways are essential for business success:

1. Protect your cash position, by knowing what it is. Build a cashflow statement and always keep it up-to-date. If you foresee a shortfall, start at once to fix it.
2. Create a cash buffer as an insurance against unexpected difficulties.
3. Protect your cash position against revenue shocks, by maintaining a balance equivalent to at least two months of operating expenses.
4. Be realistic with revenue expectations. Take action now if it looks like sales are not going to get you to breakeven.
5. Credit checking up front will reduce the risk of customer non-payment. Make sure you follow up with clear payment terms agreed in writing. Communicate regularly with customers and automate where possible.
6. Every dollar you spend reduces cash reserves. The best way to protect your cash is to create a budget for the spend you know you need, and stick to it.

Looking to improve cashflow? Make a time to talk to us. We are here to help.

Sign up for our free Know Your Numbers webinar on 22nd December

Once you begin trading, you’re faced with a new challenge – successfully managing the course of your brand-new business and making sure it’s a profitable enterprise.

It’s easier to manage your startup’s sales and finances when you have access to the best possible information and data about your performance. Tracking specific metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) allows you to see how you’re performing against your targets – so you can take action to improve performance, sales, growth and profitability.

But which KPIs should you be tracking?

Sales and conversion rates

An obvious metric to track is the number of sales you’re making each month. You’ll have set a target for these sales in your business plan, so it’s important to record each sale and see how the startup is performing over the first six months of the business.

It’s also important to log and track the drivers that lead to these sales. How many sales enquiries are you receiving? How many of these enquiries are being converted into actual sales? How many customers are being engaged by your marketing campaigns, and is this engagement leading to interest in your products and/or services.

The more detail you can track from your sales and marketing activity, the more forensic you can get with which campaigns are actually delivering the goods.

Looking for more? Join us for our free Know Your Numbers webinar on 22nd December

Sales revenue and other revenues

When customers buy your goods, that creates income (or revenue) for the business. Ultimately, no business can succeed unless it’s generating enough revenue to keep the wheels turning in the business. So, tracking your sales revenue is a vital measure of your financial health.Tracking your various revenue streams over time keeps you in control of your finances and helps you make the right decisions. You can track performance against your revenue targets. You can forecast how much working capital you’ll have at a future point in time. And you can see if there’s enough cash in the bank to fund your projects and growth plans.

Cashflow and ongoing cash position

Good cashflow management is all about balancing the process of cash coming INTO the business and cash going OUT if the business. Recording and tracking your cash position is easy to do with the latest cloud accounting software and cashflow apps, so there’s no excuse for not tracking your cash position.

Ideally, you want the business to be in a positive cashflow position (with more cash coming in, than going out). But to achieve this, it’s helpful to see these cash inflows and outflows in real-time. With up-to-date metrics on your cashflow position, you can make informed decisions about spending, payment of bills and where additional cash and funding may be needed.

Debtor days and aged debt

When customers fail to pay your invoice on time, that creates an aged debt – money that you SHOULD have received but which the customer has yet to pay. An aged debtor report shows you which invoices are unpaid, which customers haven’t paid, and the total size of this debt.

Your debtor days number is a metric that shows the average number of days it takes your customers to pay you. Anything above 45 days is bad news, so you want to aim to keep this number between 14 to 30 days, if possible. A large amount of aged debt will leave a hole in your cashflow – and that can quickly start to impact on the day-to-day running of the business.

Gross profit margin

Generating a profit is crucial to the continued success of your startup. Having metrics to measure your profitability is an important part of managing your finances.

One common way to do this is to track your gross profit margin. This metric shows the amount of profit made BEFORE you deduct things like overheads and the cost of goods sold (COGS), shown as a percentage. The formula for calculating your gross profit margin looks like this:

Gross Profit Margin = Gross Revenue minus COGS, divided by Net Revenue, multiplied by 100

• Deduct your COGS value from your gross revenue to find your gross profit.
• Divide this gross profit by your revenue.
• Multiply the resulting number by 100 to get a percentage.
• This is your gross profit margin as a percentage of gross profit
• A percentage of 50% to 70% is healthy, but aim for a big a margin as possible

By keeping a close eye on these financial metrics and KPIs, you have the best possible insight into the performance of your new startup – and that’s invaluable as your startup journey unfolds.

If you’re at the early stages of planning out your business idea, please do get in touch. We’ll help you set up a custom KPI dashboard to manage the future path of your business

Still not sure how to get started? Join us for our free Know Your Numbers webinar on 22^nd December.

With the development of technology and social media, distraction is the new normal. A recent study found that a typical office worker gets just 11 minutes between interruptions, while it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to the original task after an interference.

In his book, Deep Work – Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Professor Cal Newport suggests that serious professionals quit social media entirely. He defines deep work as “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit”.

Here are five ways to get into what’s called a “flow state” – where you’re ultra-productive and focused:

1. Limit social media.
If Facebook or another site is stealing too much of your time, restrict your use of it with an app like Freedom or StayFocused – these apps restrict the minutes spent on social media.

2. Give yourself a strict time period to work.
Strict time periods limit procrastination and prevent burnout. The more limits you give yourself, the less time you have for wasting. Deadlines such as ‘I have 90 minutes to finish this business case’. Or ‘I’ll finish work by 5:30 each day’ make it easier to keep yourself on task.

3. Introduce deep work strategies.

• Monastic: isolate yourself for long periods of time without distractions.
• Bimodal: reserve a few consecutive days when you’ll work like a monastic. For example, you go to your quiet space Monday to Wednesday, then return to your usual routine of meetings and taking calls the rest of the week.
• Rhythmic: take three to four hours each day to perform deep work on your project. This strategy might involve blocking your calendar from 8am-12pm each day so you can work uninterrupted.

4. Transition to deep work.
Use rituals and set routines to minimise friction in your transition to depth.

After you decide on your working philosophy, commit to scheduling deep work blocks into your diary and stick to them. Scheduling a specific time of day in advance negates the need to use willpower. Also, know where you’ll work and for how long. Create a zone specifically to perform deep work.

5. Drain the shallows.
Confine shallow work so it doesn’t impede your ability to take full advantage of deeper efforts. Use time blocking to schedule every minute of your day, and group tasks into blocks, such as emailing, printing, scheduling meetings, etc.

Don’t worry if you have to adjust your schedule multiple times. The goal is to maintain a say in what kind of work you’re doing. Deep work improves efficiency -get in touch if you’d like help with other efficiency strategies in your business.

“The (person) who works so moderately as to be able to work constantly not only preserves (their) health the longest but, in the course of the year, executes the greatest quantity of work.” – Adam Smith

Join us on our free Webinar – Reclaiming your Time on 24th November here

If there’s one positive to take from the events of the last two years, it’s the opportunity to consider what’s important. For those of us in business, it’s important to redefine our plan and goals that ensure the business delivers our definition of success. The natural extension, for those with team members, is to revise what the business needs to deliver to the team.

Personal success

Your definition of personal success will be different to what it was before the world was turned upside down by a global pandemic. For example, wanting to be able to travel the world, regularly upgrade the car, and enjoy frequent nights out.

To secure this lifestyle, your profit target might’ve been £50,000 and you might’ve been working 60 hours per week and never finding the time to be with family or doing that much-needed exercise.
Then lockdown happened and many of those goals were no longer possible; overseas travel was replaced with the excitement to just get out of the house. The upgraded car goal was replaced with a bicycle so you could get out and exercise, and a night’s entertainment involved a board game or an evening of Netflix!

As lockdown restrictions were reduced or removed, you emerged with a new clarity about what’s really important.

Let’s say you revise your budget and can get by with £40,000 from the business. Your revised personal definition of success might then be £40,000 income, 5 days’ work per week, and time to be with family and stay fit and healthy.

Business Success

The business should give you the cashflow you need personally AND the discretionary time to enjoy the lifestyle you choose. Using the example above, your previous personal definition of success meant you were working 60+ hours per week, with little time for family or exercise.

With your revised personal definition of success of £40,000, you can reduce the pressure needed on the business to deliver that old level of profit. If all business costs remain constant, it could be that sales can drop by 10% and you’ll still achieve what you need from the business. Lowering the sales target could free up your time to make a better plan for a smarter business, perhaps with higher margins and reduced overhead costs.

That plan is your revised definition of business success which will give you certainty that you’ll achieve your revised personal definition of success.

Team success

If you have employees, the achievement of your business success is highly dependent on how well your team performs. It’s likely your team members have all reflected on what success looks like for them, just as you have. Studies show that a happy and engaged team with a strong workplace culture will out-perform a team driven using the carrot and stick method.

Redefining success for your team should include things like:

1. Creating and living into an agreed set of Core Values.
2. Regular performance reviews and goal setting (i.e. the team defining their version of success in their role).
3. Flexible working arrangements.
4. Reviewing roles, responsibilities, and progression opportunities.
5. Reviewing remuneration, holiday, and perks.

This will give you a clearer understanding of the revised definition of success for your team.

Next Steps

Follow these steps to pull these three definitions of success together:

1. Create a revised personal budget and define your personal definition of success.
2. Update your Business Plan, setting out the minimum viable sales needed to achieve the income you want and the goals and actions to ensure you get there.
3. Update your annual financial forecast.
4. Set up a system for ongoing reporting and accountability.
5. Ask your team to complete a reflection questionnaire, then hold a performance review and goal setting meeting with each team member.

There is no magic here. These steps have always been important. They’re likely to need a review in the current climate.

Get in touch with us if you need help redefining success or implementing strategies to achieve your definition of success.

Check out our free webinar on Redefining Success on 29th September

As your accountant, we won’t just look after the financial side of your business, we can also advise you on the strategic side of your company, including the importance of business development as vital part of your growth plan.

Business development (BD) is what helps your company move from slow, organic growth to fast-paced, hypergrowth. And it’s only by putting the right drive and expertise behind your BD that you can turn your strategic ideas into real success stories.

So, how can we help you achieve this?

Talk to you about your strategic goals

The starting point for any kind of BD activity is to pin down your goals and aims as a business. When you know what you want to achieve over the coming months, it’s far easier to define a strategy for success. And that’s easier to do when you talk to an objective adviser, like us.

We can sit in on your board meetings, talk to your executive team and get a real handle on what makes the business tick. And, armed with this knowledge, we’ll work with you to drive the direction of your BD and find the best opportunities for you to focus on.

Help you create a clear BD strategy and plan

Having a defined set of BD goals is a good starting point. But to put this all into action in a productive way, you’re going to need a comprehensive plan for your BD projects.

Our years of experience advising business leaders and their teams really comes into play here. We know the best routes to take, the budgets that will be needed and the right tactics for bringing in more contracts, sales and partnerships. By putting these strategies into a clear plan, and linking this to agreed timescales, you have a BD route map to follow and action.

Introduce you to a broader network of business partners

We work with a wide range of businesses across many different sectors, industries and niches. By introducing you to our network of clients, we welcome you into a supportive community of like-minded business owners. And that’s excellent news when looking for new partnerships.

Whether it’s attending a local conference, an online webinar or one of our in-house client events, you’re going to meet new people, share new ideas and make the right connections. This is a great way to build alliances and work together with other local businesses. And when you’re well-connected, you set the very best foundations for your future BD activity.

Provide better routes to funding and investment

Whatever goals you’ve set for your BD projects, it’s likely that you’re going to need additional funding to finance this activity. Investing in your expansion, or new partnerships, is vital to getting a good return on your BD, so great access to finance is a definite bonus.

We’ll advise you on the most appropriate funding channels and how you can use these facilities to finance your BD plans. And we can also link you up with banks, lenders and business finance specialists – so you get the advice and finance you need to bring your BD to life.

Help you track and measure your BD performance

Meeting your BD targets takes time – and a whole lot of dedication. Measuring your BD performance over time, helps you stay on track and gives you a good indication of how well you’re tracking against your planned progress.

We’ll help you create the reporting and metrics you need, so you have clear data to track your progress over time. You can log your activity in your project management system, or your client relationship management (CRM) software, and keep clear notes on contacts made, relationships built and targets converted etc.

If you want to get more from your BD, please do get in touch. We’ll partner with you to put some real drive, experience and impetus behind your BD strategies.

Sign up for our Redefining Success webinar on 29th September. It’s free and could make a big difference in your business and in your life.

Successfully implement change in your business

Research by Kotter International found that more than 70% of change projects within a business fail. Why is this?

The research findings show that employee engagement is the biggest factor. Whether it is a small change to one or two processes, or a company-wide change, it’s common for staff to feel intimidated by it.

So what can you do for successful implementation of change? Here are the principals from Kotter’s 8-Step Program:

1. Get the team onboard

Build support and create momentum behind the changes you are making by communicating the benefits with the whole company early on.

• Start honest discussions with your team and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking and thinking about the change.
• Demonstrate what would happen if you didn’t make the change and what else it could affect in the future.
• Request support from customers in this instance who may love the product, outside stakeholders and others known in the industry to strengthen your argument.

Kotter suggests that 75 percent of a company’s management needs to support a change in order to succeed.

2. Form a powerful coalition from all areas of the business

Share the support you have from all areas in the business (not just the leadership team). Visible support from key people within the organisation will bring others on board and create a sense of urgency. Give these people key roles in the change process to help progress it.

Once formed, your “change coalition” needs to work as a team, continuing to build urgency and momentum around the need for change.

What you can do:

• Identify the influencers in your organisation for this change, as well as your key stakeholders.
• Ensure that you have a good mix of people from different levels within your firm.
• Ask for a commitment from these key people.
• Work on team building within your change coalition.

Sign up for our free webinar – Redefining Success on 29th September

3. Create a vision for change

Create an overall vision that helps everyone understand why you’re asking them to do something.

What you can do:

• Develop a short summary (one or two sentences) that captures what you “see” as the future of your organisation.
• Create a strategy to execute that vision.
• Ensure that your team leading the change are all on the same page.

4. Communicate the vision

Embed this in everything you do so it is not lost in the day-to-day operation but a powerful part of this.

What you can do:

• Talk often about vision and change.
• Make sure the vision is applied to all aspects of the operations. For example, ensure it’s added to the training and induction program and is encapsulated into the relevant job descriptions and evaluations.
• Address people’s concerns and anxieties about it openly and honestly.
• Lead by example.

5. Remove obstacles

Check constantly for processes and structures that need to adjust to allow you to execute the vision and help the change move forward.

What you can do:

• Look at your organisational structure, job descriptions, and performance and compensation systems to ensure they’re in line with your vision.
• Recognise and reward people for making change happen.
• Identify, or hire, change managers whose core role is to deliver the change.
• Identify areas or team members that stand in the way of change, and find solutions.
• Take action to quickly remove barriers rather than letting them fester.

6. Create short-term wins

Create short-term targets – not just one long-term goal. Each “win” that you produce can further motivate all the staff especially if it’s a big change requiring a longer process and help keep them on task.

What you can do:

• Reward people who help you meet the targets.
• Look for sure-fire projects that you can implement without help from any strong critics of the change.
• Don’t choose early targets that are expensive. You want to be able to justify the investment in each project.

7. Build on the change

Keep looking for improvements to the system to ensure the long term goals are achieved.

What you can do:

• After every win, analyse what went right, and what needs improving.
• Set goals to continue building on the momentum you’ve achieved.
• Develop a culture of continuous improvement.
• Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new people to lead the change.

8. Anchor the changes in your culture

Finally, to make any change stick, it should become part of the core of your organisation. Make continuous efforts to ensure that the change is seen in every aspect, giving it a solid place in your organisation. It’s also important that your company’s leaders continue to support the change. This includes existing staff and new leaders who are brought in.

What you can do:

• Talk about progress every chance you get. Tell success stories about the change process, and repeat other stories that you hear.
• Include the change ideals and values when hiring and training new staff so it is enforced from the start.
• Publicly recognise key members and enablers of the change.
• Create plans to replace key leaders of change as they move on. This will help ensure that their legacy is not lost or forgotten.