Small Business Matters

Financial fitness test finds entrepreneurs are in need of a workout

In lean times, businesses need to be on top of their game, but when testing the financial fitness of 155 entrepreneurs recently, Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks accounting software, found many in dire need of a workout. 

Intuit tested entrepreneurs thinking about starting or already running a business and found many are:

• Without a plan. The research found that 20% of aspiring entrepreneurs and 15% of existing business owners do not have a plan or expect to have one by the time they start their business.
  
  
• Baffled by accounting speak. Entrepreneurs aren’t always financial experts and many find even basic accounting terms confusing. Almost half (47%) do not know the correct definition of gross profit and 31% do not know what turnover means. 19% of respondents do not know what margin means and 16% do not know the correct definition of cash flow.
  
  
• Confused by compliance. Only 61% are aware that the VAT threshold is £73,000 and more than one in five (23%) do not know the correct definition of VAT taxable turnover. Tracking, recording and reporting VAT is one of the biggest headaches for small businesses and getting it wrong can have a negative impact on cash flow and leave a business vulnerable to a penalty from the HMRC.

Five practical tips for improving your business’s financial fitness

The financial side of running a business can be stressful if you don’t have a good system in place. If you’re constantly forgetting to invoice, running low on cash or finding essential receipts in random pockets, it’s time to take action.

First, why not take our short quiz to find out how financially fit you actually are.

Get your finances in shape

These practical steps will quickly see you go from bronze to gold in terms of your financial fitness.

Find out how financially fit you are

Are you ready to set up a financially sound business?

Reckon you already know all about the books? Find out with the QuickBooks Financial Fitness Test.

You’ll be asked a series of short multiple choice questions and then given a final score and details of whether you should be awarded a bronze, silver or gold medal. You’ll also get some tips on boosting your financial fitness.

Take the test now.

Visit us at the Business StartUp Show

The Financial Fitness workshops Intuit is running as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week this week are now fully booked. However, if you’re attending the Business StartUp Show (it’s free!) please come and visit us at stand 246 where you can meet product experts, pick up literature, get a demo and find out how you can improve your financial fitness.

Missed out?

If you were interested in our Financial Fitness workshops but couldn’t get a space, don’t worry - Intuit has announced a nationwide series of business boot camps which will support the new Finance Fitness campaign announced by Vince Cable last week.

Intuit will run events in six cities across the UK, assisted by the new government campaign to get SMEs the advice and guidance they need to access and manage finance. The cities will be announced on 17 November so watch this space.

So, how did you score on the financial fitness test?

Book-keeping basics – the records you need to keep

Few business-owners would say that book-keeping is their favourite part of running a business. However, it's an essential task if you are to comply fully with legislation and keep your cashflow healthy.

It’s also especially important to know what records you need to keep and to get a good system going in the light of the ongoing HMRC business records checks.

As poor record keeping is one of the top five reasons why businesses fail, getting your books in good shape will not only keep you compliant, but will also help you run your business better.

Records you need to keep

The following is a brief guide to the basic records that you need to keep when you’re running a business:

Three key reasons that start-up businesses fail – and how to avoid them

Starting a businesses is a brave thing to do but you have to be realistic. Entrepreneurs are often full of ideas but if you don’t pay attention to the nuts and bolts of being in business your company could fail before your product or service has had chance to reach its full potential

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that one in three businesses fail in their first three years of business. Here are some of the issues to avoid to try and make sure you don’t become one of them.

Don't forget to check out the end of this post for the opportunity to get some face-to-face help too.

Class is about to begin: Book now for your free financial fitness workshop on 17/18 November

For many new business owners, managing their finances is one of the most difficult and challenging aspects of starting up. Getting the finances right early is key to long-term success, so it is vitally important for start-ups to know their finances inside out. 

As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week next week, Intuit, makers of QuickBooks small business accounting software, will be running Financial Fitness workshops, offering practical training designed to help small business owners get organised and on top of their finances from the start.

They’ll cover:

Putting financial fitness first: BIS and Intuit partner to deliver new financial skills programme for British business

Intuit has announced a nationwide series of business boot camps which will support the new Finance Fitness campaign announced by Vince Cable today.

Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks small business accounting software, will run events in six cities across the UK, assisted by the new government campaign to get SMEs the advice and guidance they need to access and manage finance.

The cities will be announced during Global Entrepreneurship Week on 17 November. The events will be run as business boot camps providing practical training and will also include opportunities for business owners to speak to Intuit pro-advisors, as well as leading entrepreneurs.

Size doesn’t matter in the global marketplace

This post is written by Linda Kozlowski, Director of Global Marketing and Customer Experience for Alibaba.com. 

With many businesses feeling the impact of the current economic uncertainty, it’s no surprise that the outlook for 2012 is less than rosy. Without a positive change in economic conditions, many small and medium businesses, particularly those that operate with small teams and limited resources, could cease trading altogether. More than ever, reducing operating costs and driving revenues are essential to survival. It will be the savvy businesses who are willing to adapt their approach that will come out on top.  

Are you ready to go global with your small business?

Over 65% of businesses are going global within their first year of trading, according to a survey carried out by small business support company Enterprise Nation and international trading platform Alibaba.com. 

 Below Emma Jones, Enterprise Nation founder, reveals a few headlines from the survey and presents a call to action for start ups and small business owners to attend the upcoming series of Go Global events during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Headline results

In October we carried out a survey to find out how fast and well companies were going global. Here are the key findings:

A royal business opportunity

The big news announced this week was that Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry next spring or summer in London. And while many in the nation are celebrating, there are sure to be plenty of business owners of all sizes from around the world considering how the news will affect their companies.

In fact, the marriage could give a 620 million pound boost to the economy, retail researchers Verdict said on Wednesday (Reuters).

Asda has admitted that it had already produced thousands of mugs to mark the couple's engagement which will be in stores this week.

Looking further afield, in Sweden earlier this year an array of Royal wedding products were launched to capitalise on the royal wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling, from coffee and cakes to umbrellas and porcelain vases (Sweden.se).

But even if you don’t have the purchasing power of Asda, there are still ways that smaller companies can benefit from the news. Alisa Donohue, owner of boutique stationary firm Creatively Engaged, notes that the “inspired by” concept is sure to be huge. She is already planning a special discount of royal-wedding-themed invites for her Facebook followers – “The key thing is to put your own spin on it so you can bring value to the product or service” (ThePortfolio.com).

Whether it’s through new products or special offers, we’d love to hear about your creative ideas on how to get the most out of the royal nuptials. Feel free to share your comments below!