Your Great Finance

Its now a blatant fact that the British Economy is in a downturn and Company Directors interested in their Companies existence must have a plan or they will most certainly go into administration

A record number of companies and shops went into administration over the Christmas period caused by the really awful trading conditions.

The following stores and Companies, to name a few, have gone into administration. Wedgewood the fine China and tableware manufacturer has gone along with Savvi, USC the Fashion store and MFI the furniture retailer.

Another victim of the recession has been our beloved Woolworths that went into administration just before Christmas and saw its final stores close on the 5th of January 2009, which has left 27,000 people facing redundancy.

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.

The credit crunch and lack of liquidity within the financial money markets has restricted traditional forms of lending from Banks into Businesses to very dangerous levels. This limitation of funding has implemented a Cash Flow Squeeze on British Business.

As an economy enters into recession one of the first thing a business should start consistently doing is keeping a tight rain upon costs. A firm hand upon expenses can save a business. Look at distribution costs, promotion and marketing, office location and even the simplest things such as turning off the office lights at the end of the working day.

Business owners interested in surviving a recession should look for alternative and appropriate sources of finance. The old clich of cash is king has never been more important than at the present time, although most businesses nowadays rely on some form of third party funding whether it be bank overdraft or business loans. Now may be the time to consider alternative sources of finance such as invoice factoring, which is increasingly popular for small to medium businesses. While not suitable for all businesses, 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 factoring provider, less the service fee which has been negotiated with them. However, if the customer defaults on payment, then the factoring company will recover the money provided to you initially from any further invoices which are factored. This can lead to random cash flow if customers are slow payers or they go into insolvency.

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