Forget about year-end and tax. This is how we REALLY add value.
We’re fast approaching the year-end for many businesses. And, traditionally, year-end meant getting your accounts in order and your tax return done and dusted (pretty dull stuff, when all said and done).
But we know there’s a whole shedload of other ways we, as business advisers to the creative community, can add value for busy agencies.
So here’s just a scintilla (word of the day, aspiring lexicographers and ‘Countdown’ fans) of the value we can add to help turn your agency into the Kings of Profit or Queens of Cash Flow.
Profitability – Focusing on your profits
We talked about profitability in our last blog. But here are just a few of the ways we can give your profits a swift kick up the balance sheet.
- Revenue generation: We can improve revenues by analysing the number of clients on the books, the number of services procured, the average price of each service and the frequency of your fees – and looking for ways to improve them.
- Cost of sales: We’ll look for opportunities to minimise the cost of sales (COS) to increase your gross profit margin (the only other way to increase the gross profit margin is to increase prices).
- Overheads: We’ll explore ways to reduce your costs and increase net profit. Reducing regular overheads to a minimum will really pump up that net profit.
- Tax: We’ll look at tax planning, tax reductions and the available tax reliefs to increase your overall net profit (by cutting your tax spend).
Sales and cash flow – Getting you paid quicker
Good cash flow is all about getting paid on time. The sooner you can get clients to cough up the folding stuff, the healthier your ongoing cash flow will look.
Here’s just a smidgeon (doesn’t sound as classy as scintilla, does it…) of the value we can add to the health of your cash flow.
- Invoicing: We can update your invoicing processes, get you raising invoices online and speed up how fast you get paid.
- Payment services: We’ll set you up with payment services, like GoCardless, that let you get paid by direct debit or payment gateways, like PayPal, that get you paid online, fast.
- Credit control: We can install Chaser or Satago, both amazing debtor tracking Xero Add-ons, so your credit control and debtor chasing is automated and more efficient.
Purchases – Agreeing better payment terms
- Better credit terms: We can help you agree better credit terms with your suppliers and improve the health of your cash flow.
- Interest-free finance: We’ll suggest ways to make use of secure, interest-free or loan-interest finance on creditors from elsewhere – using interest-free periods on credit cards, for example.
Funding – Accessing the right funds
When cash really is tight, we can help you track down the right funding to get you out of your short-term cash flow hiccup.
- Overdrafts: We’ll suggest talking to your bank to extend your overdraft (bringing cake helps, we find).
- Invoice finance: We can help you set up invoice financing, so you get paid as soon as an invoice is raised (and pay it back once the client pays you).
- Loans: We’ve got a great network that can provide business loans and funding at rates you can afford to pay back.
Teamwork – Getting the teams buy-in
Your creative team are your biggest asset. They might not appear on the balance sheet (well, apart from the payroll) but looking after your people is as important as looking after the numbers.
- Share schemes: We’ll help you keep the team motivated with approved, tax efficient share schemes. This helps to keep key team members committed to the success of the agency, make them feel valued and give them the opportunity to benefit when you’re doing well.
- Bonus schemes: We’ll help you get the teams goals running in tandem with those of the agency. Getting that bonus means making enough profit, so incentivising team members on net profit is a smart move.
It’s not about year-end: it’s about year-round value
This is just a fraction of what we can do for the future success of your creative business (if this is the tip of the iceberg, just imagine what’s lurking under the water, eh!).
But we know that the foundation for adding value is getting to know you and your agency, and understanding what makes you tick as people and as a creative business.
If you’d like to have a chat about sales, profits and keeping your team smiling, why not call us up for a natter.
