Bringing mothers back after a career break is not just fair it also makes sense to our economy!

Last week the budget announced a £5 million fund for bringing mothers (and fathers) back to work after an extended career break (BBC News). 

In an interview with Mumsnet, Theresa May said ‘Returnships are open to both men and women but we should acknowledge that, more often than not, it is women who give up their careers to devote themselves to motherhood, only to find the route back into employment closed off – the doors shut to them. This isn't right, it isn't fair and it doesn't make economic sense.’(Click here to read the full interview)

Absolutely right. It isn’t fair and returnship funding is very welcome. However, haven’t we somewhat missed the point? We talk about fairness when this is all about our collective ignorance about the incredible expertise and experience that is currently hidden within our economy.  We talk about skills gaps and lack of technical expertise and completely discount parents who have had successful careers in the past and who, with only a little encouragement to build their self-confidence, some refresher training and access to flexible working could pick up where they left off. By not offering different ways of working that allows parents to combine both a job they love with looking after their children we collectively miss out!

We need to stop thinking that providing full-day childcare places and returner schemes to full time work is the only option and is good enough to harness the capabilities that exist in our communities. The reason I started Scirum Ltd was to offer parents and those who have retired a way of working flexibly, to go to assemblies and take an afternoon off to look after a sick child without having to feel the constant pressure from your employer.  By providing a mutually supportive environment for our staff, flexible hours and ultimately by focusing on our clients and delivering their needs it is possible to create a different and more positive working environment. This is not the only option but one of many which we need to explore and make work for us, for our families and for our customers.


In the end we have to realise that we will need different ways of working as we move towards the future and we have to recognise that bringing parents back to work after a career break is good for all of us and the economy and not just ‘unfair’.

Susanne Hasselmann
Director
Scirum Ltd 

To find out more about Scirum and and our services, please visit www.scirum.biz 

Creating a website that achieves results for small businesses - and doesn't cost the earth

If you have never done it before, developing a new website can be confusing. It can be difficult to know where to start and the pitfalls to avoid. Whether you develop your own or pay a company to help you, click here to read our latest blog to find the answer to the following seven key questions you should ask yourself (and your web developer) to make sure your website delivers results.

1. How much should I pay for a new website?
2. What is my domain name and how much does it cost?
3. How much will it cost to host my website?
4. Is your website mobile friendly?
5. Why does content and design matter?
6. How will I get my website out there and improve my search engine optimisation (SEO)?
7. How will I make changes to my website? Who will maintain it?

Social media marketing for small businesses - it makes sense!

There was a time when social media was considered a passing fad. Yet today, with over three billion Internet users and over two thirds of these people having active social media sites, social media channels have become a critical part of the marketing mix for businesses large and small.

1. Why should I use social media?
You should definitely consider using social media if your current and potential customers/stakeholders use it and/or your competitors exploit it. In addition, social media is a relatively cheap way of gaining market presence and reaching out to your target audience.

2. Which social media platform should I use?
Every social media platform is different; the only thing all of them have in common is that they reach large audiences. By understanding your customers’ demographics and buying habits, you can find the most appropriate social media channel. For example, if you have a product that is targeted at young mums you may consider Facebook and Instagram. If you are selling a B2B solution you may think about posting relevant content on LinkedIn. If you are selling a service into local government you may consider Twitter....

For more advice on how to make the most of the vast opportunities that social media could offer your start-up or small business, please click here to read the rest of the blog on our website.

Click here to find out more about the services we offer.

Calling all entrepreneurs - our top tips for start-ups

Top Tips for Starting a Business

Starting a business is a very liberating and exciting thing to do. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a challenge, is resilient and believes in an idea they wish to exploit. I have started a number of businesses and helped numerous people set up a business for themselves. This blog is bringing together some of this experience. I hope you find this helpful.

So, what are my top tips for starting a business? 

Your Idea – You need to be able to clearly articulate your idea – why you think it is good and what difference your product or service will make to your customers. Remember, your idea doesn’t have to be new; it just has to have a uniqueness about it that means people will choose you over your competitors. Test your idea on people you know. Gauge their reaction and adapt your approach if necessary.

Are you ready to be an entrepreneur? Do you have the right personality? I always think that to start a business you have to be an optimist. You certainly need to be resilient and you need to love what you do. You probably don’t like working 9 to 5 in a traditional office environment but prefer to be your own boss, confident about your business idea and the future. All that said, you also need to know your weaknesses and you certainly need to know when to stop, to realise that your original idea doesn’t stack up once you have started developing it further or conducted some market testing. However, remember that most entrepreneurs fail before they succeed!

Business Plan – You will need one. There is no way round this. It is a good exercise although not necessarily an easy task if you have never done it before. It can feel daunting but if you take it one step at a time you will build up the picture and it will help you focus and succeed. If you need a template, just Google ‘business plan template’. Most banks have template plans you can use. The Prince’s Trust has some very useful information which you can access via their website https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/tools-resources/business-tools/business-plans. We also have a template business plan which we use for our clients but in the end they are all roughly the same....

For more tips, please go to our website blog

Click here to find out more about Scirum Ltd's start-up support.

Susanne Hasselmann, Scirum Ltd

The power of ‘words’ helps to grow your start-up or small business

After my usual chaotic start to the morning of herding children out of the door, into the car and off to nursery or school, I breathe a sigh of relief and turn on the car radio as I drive into work – one of the only times I have a choice about what I want to listen to!

One particular morning, I happened to be listening to a programme about the use of words. The presenter gave an example of how her friend had changed career – mid-life – and went from being a lawyer to a mediator. As a prosecutor, the lawyer would use every word as a bullet to knock down the defendant and prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the alleged offence was committed. As a mediator, he would use every word carefully to build bridges between two parties in conflict with each other, with the aim of finding a way forward.

As a business owner, this story resonates with me. While we all have access to the same suite of vocabulary in the English language, the way in which we choose to use it can have a significant impact on the objectives we are trying to achieve and how we are perceived by others. 

From the way in which we answer the phone, respond to customer queries, present ourselves at meetings and networking opportunities, to how we promote our services through traditional, digital and social media marketing, we build a picture in our customers’ minds as to the sort of companies we are. More importantly, many will draw from these experiences and conclude whether we are credible, experienced, reliable and able to deliver a product or service that meets (and hopefully exceeds) their expectations.

So if you are thinking about reaching out and engaging with new and existing customers, suppliers and, if your company is large enough, employees, think carefully about the way you use your words, how they will be interpreted and how your marketing and communications can be used to help deliver your business goals.

If you are planning a new product launch or you are reviewing your marketing and communications plan, why not talk it through with us? We offer a free 30 minute phone consultation to talk through your objectives with one of our senior marketing and communications specialists. We are a friendly and approachable bunch. Give us a call to learn more about our team and what we do. Telephone: 01264 860060 or e-mail us.

Charlotte Welland, Head of Communications, Scirum Ltd

Learning from my experience – top tips for great customer service

This year started with a number of interesting customer service experiences – good and bad. I think that we can all learn a lot from our own exposure to other companies and the way they handle us as customers. After all, news of a bad customer experience is more likely to reach many more ears than a good experience – especially in today’s world where social media provides such an easy way to get your message across.

Large high street consumer electronics retailer

I wanted to buy a new radio/stereo alarm clock and asked for help in the shop. The customer service assistant was annoyingly slow with a vocabulary that did not extend beyond ‘yeah’ ‘neah’ and ‘don’t know’. In the end I gave up and said: ‘OK, if it doesn’t work, I can bring it back?’ The answer was ‘yeah’.

At home, we discovered that we could not get a signal for DAB, so I went back to the shop to return said radio/stereo. I was over the standard 24 days returns policy and frustratingly I couldn’t find the receipt. Thankfully, the customer service assistant was fabulous. Very friendly, bubbly and couldn’t do enough to help me. Even when he got tripped up by the system, he persevered on my behalf, calling the manager, explaining, and being my advocate. He found the sales record on the system, got the manager to extend the returns policy and in that process made me a very happy customer. My faith was restored, I will return!

Lesson 1: Your people are your greatest asset. Unless you select the right people for the job and provide appropriate training and development, you are doomed to fail.

One of the UK’s best known phone and broadband providers

How would I describe this customer experience? In a word: Exasperating!

This company decided to single headedly change my contract and restrict my business to 1Mb/s download speed. I ask you – how can anyone run a business that way? I have now probably spent over eight hours on the phone to the company, and talked to four different people in contracts and 4 people in the technical department. I even had an engineer come out. The engineer and the technical team say that the contracts team has to change their system to unlock the line and the contracts team say it is a technical problem. So, I’m going round in circles! What is even more frustrating is the fact that every time I call I have to explain the whole story again....exhausting. This company does not appear to keep any records of my calls.

Lesson 2: Listen to your customer, understand their problems, take ownership and resolve them. This may sound very simple but you need to ensure that you keep your customer updated until the case has been resolved to their satisfaction. Make it easy for your customer to contact you.

Nationwide vehicle glass repair service

My windscreen had a crack (I know, the year is really not starting well). I went online and booked my appointment. I received a voicemail to say they needed more information and could I please call them. It was the weekend and I thought it could wait until Monday. - My appointment was not booked until Wednesday anyway. When I called on Monday morning it turns out that my appointment for Wednesday was cancelled because they were not able to complete my booking (they didn’t say that in their message nor did I receive an email advising this when making the booking online!). The repair would therefore be delayed for a week. In addition, they asked me to check my car (parked down the road), make a new date (my diary was in a different building) and then pay the excess on my insurance (my credit card was also in a different building). I therefore ran around from building to building, up and down the road. A call that should have only taken five minutes took longer than 20 minutes. This can’t be good for the company’s productivity or my nerves!

Lesson3: Be clear about what you need from the customer and manage their expectations. When you ask a customer for supplementary information, tell them what you need and give them a deadline. Tell them clearly about the consequences of not receiving the information.

And these are my thoughts on good customer service for 2016!

Susanne Hasselmann

Director, Scirum Ltd

Top ten tips for entrepreneurs

Top ten tips for entrepreneurs

Top ten tips for entrepreneurs by Susanne Hasselmann, Director, Scirum Ltd. 

Starting a new business is not an easy task, but a challenge that can be extremely rewarding, frustrating, stressful and fun! Above all, be prepared to adapt as your new business evolves - things often work out differently to the way you expected!

Over the years I have been involved in a number of start-ups, I have helped to re-shape businesses and have had to adjust by downsizing or closing operations. During this time I have myself learned from my mistakes, re-shaped my expectations and celebrated the successes.

Above all, I have tried to learn from others through observation, research and by talking to people who have been through similar situations. The following TOP TIPS are my summary of what I have learned. I hope these are helpful to you entrepreneurs out there!

1. Optimism rules!
2. Know where you are going – have a vision!
3. Know why your business is different - your unique selling point
4. Be flexible
5. Keep focused on your plan
6. Enjoy what you do – and thus do it well!
7. Sell yourself in the right way!
8. Know what you don’t know
9. Know when to stop!
10. Control your cash flow and start small

1. Optimism rules!

What makes a good entrepreneur? Optimism, determination and resilience! When you are let down by a partner or customer or when things don’t turn out the way you expected, you have to get up, brush yourself off, adapt and try again. I guarantee you that this will happen often. I always think that being an entrepreneur is like being a bulldog - hang on in there until you have exhausted all the options. Stay positive!

Don’t hang on until the bitter end though... – but we will come to that later.

2. Know where you are going – have a vision!

Always have a vision when you start. You need to know where you are going – visualise where you want to be in three/ five/ ten years’ time, set realistic financial goals, then think about how you will get there. Why are you different to other companies? What resources do you need? How will you design and manufacture your products/ service? How will you distribute? Who are your customers (describe them)? How will you let them know you and your product/ service exist? How will you service your customers? What are the barriers you can foresee that could stop you from realising your plan and how would you overcome these?

3. Know why your business is different - your unique selling point

What makes you different from others? What is your unique selling point (USP)? This could be the skill you have, the unique features of your product or the positive impact you have on other people’s lives. You need to make sure you know your USP, you test it in the market to ensure it is unique and you can describe it in one or two sentences – a strap line is useful in that respect.

4. Be flexible

You set out believing in an idea. You have a plan. However, when you start taking it to market you suddenly realise that the format or design is not quite right. In this case, be flexible and learn. Adapt to market needs. Be flexible enough to change your plan in order to achieve your ultimate goal and vision.

5. Keep focused

Whatever you do, ensure you keep true to your vision and where you want to be in three to five years’ time. You may have to adapt your plans but only because you are staying true to your final goals. Keep focused on your customers and your finances! Make sure every decision you take gets you one step closer to your ultimate goal.

6. Enjoy what you do – and thus do it well

Being an entrepreneur is not a 9 to 5 job. It is a lifestyle. You will spend evenings and weekends working on your ideas, making sure the finances are stacking up and the product is perfect. Therefore, in order to do this you really need to love it. You will only succeed if you enjoy what you do!

7. Sell yourself in the right way

Start-ups are based on an idea that you have generated. You will need to sell it. You need to be credible, realistic and not over the top. If you don’t have a large company behind you with a brand people recognise, selling becomes more difficult. As a result, you are in the first instance selling yourself – remember that. Networking is the most important activity for you now. Use all the contacts you already have to let them know about your venture, make new contacts through social media, join local business groups and attend business networking meetings or speak at conferences (that way you usually don’t have to pay).

8. Know what you don’t know

To be able to enjoy what you do and to channel your energies into the areas of business where you can have the most impact you need to think about the areas of business where you do not have the relevant expertise. Make a list and think about how you can enlist appropriate help. You might like to ask a number of people to mentor you or you might think about outsourcing some of your functions to a company such as Scirum Ltd www.scirum.biz who can help. Plan how to fill the knowledge gaps you have.

9. Control your costs and start small

Finding investors is always difficult. You can go to your bank but unless you have a well thought out idea you are not going to get very far. The same is true with grants that are available for start-ups and other funding sources. I always think that you need to prove your concept first which means you need to get out there and test the market. My rule is never to spend more than £5,000 on an initial proof of concept and never to lose more than £20,000 in a business idea. Suffice to say, I have never lost any money so far – and this is where we get to tip number 10.

10. Know when to stop!

The most important thing to know is when to stop. Make sure that when you draw up your plans you include a list of things that will tell you ‘you need to stop now.’ Think about how you would define success and failure and develop some lines you will not cross, i.e. need to have first order by month X and will not spend more than Y on this idea. What happens if market conditions change dramatically - a recession or changes in exchange rates?You will be tempted to overstep these lines because the next contract is just round the corner, but DON’T. Get out before it gets you! Most successful entrepreneurs have to fail before they win big.

Scirum Ltd offers help to start-ups and small businesses. Please see our start-up web page or page for small business. .

To contact us please go to www.scirum.biz, call Tel: +44 (0)1264 860060.or e-mail us.

Join us on Twitter for more updates.

Do as I say, not as I do – the pit of doom for regular blogging

What is my New Year’s resolution? To follow my own advice. When I sit with a client  and develop their social media and marketing plans I always say: “Whatever you do, when you start a Twitter account, Facebook page or blog, make sure you update it regularly.  Include thoughts that are personal to you, maybe talk about an interesting article you’ve read recently or some new research that’s relevant to you and your blog readers. It’s all about making your page interesting and informative.”

 

What has happened to me in the past? I failed miserably. Client work took precedence, staff changed and all my time was taken up with the day-to-day operations of running my business. Consequently, I ran out of time and I stopped writing blog articles. Shame on me! I’m not the first or last person to have fallen into this trap. But not anymore!

 

So, what will I do in future to ensure this doesn’t happen again? My New Year’s resolution is to set aside just a couple of hours every month to update my blog. It won’t be long. It won’t always have to be full of statistics, quotes and research. The idea of a blog is to impart thoughts, based on interests and experience. With this in mind, I’m sure we all have something useful to say – and even I can probably stick to that. So, watch this space!

Susanne Hasselmann
Director, Scirum Ltd

www.scirum.biz
@scirum

Financial Management for SME's

Congratulations! You have turned your idea into a business. You have a plan for the business today and how it will develop in future. You may even have had a few years of business experience behind you, but, whether you are a start-up or an established business there are still a number of considerations anyone managing business finances should know about.  

We at Scirum have therefore put together a series of financial blog posts that will give you some of these basic tips and tricks of the trade. Of course, if you need any more detailed information and help, just give us a call on 01264 860060.

       1.       Financial & Management Accounting – what is the difference? Why do I need it? (Click here)

       2.       Record-keeping - Record your income and expenditure (Click here)

       3.       Cash control – Develop good cash management practices (to be published)

       4.       Planning – Make a budget (to be published)

       5.       Processes – Determine how you are going to organise your office (to be published)

       6.       Controlling – Controls for when you have other people working for you (to be published)

The best advice we can give you is not to ignore your finances.  You may have some of the skills necessary to keep track of your income and outgoings and you may even decide to do your own tax computation at the end of the financial year when HMRC deadlines approach but you should always consider the following:

1.       How much time do you spend doing your finances? Could you spend it more wisely by networking and selling your products?

2.       Do you know what value an external view and some experienced hands can bring to your business? Have you tried it?

At Scirum, we have a dedicated team who take care of our clients' social media planning and digital presence. If you are thinking about increasing your social media activity, why not give us a call (01264 860060) or email us?

Mary Proctor, Commercial Financial Controller, Scirum Ltd.

For more useful tips and answers to common questions from SMEs, visit www.scirum.biz or follow us on Twitter and Google+, like us on Facebook or join our LinkedIn group.

  

Financial & Management Accounting – what is the difference? Why do I need it?

            Let us first of all consider the two types of accountants.  Not everyone knows that there are Financial and Management Accountants and they offer very differing skills.

            Financial Accountants are chiefly involved in a business’s legal entity set up (eg. Limited company, partnership, sole trader or self-employed, etc) as well as their tax computations.  They can audit the business’s accounts to ensure compliance with accounting laws and to test that financial controls are rigorous enough to avoid fraud, for example. They also advise and assist business owners with the submission of forms required by HMRC and by Companies House (if registered).  They can provide advice on which expenses are allowable for Tax, thereby decreasing the annual tax bill.  These are some of the skills for you to consider when deciding whether you need a Financial Accountant. 

            Financial Accountants are usually external to the small company and have offices on the high street. They will provide you with a quoted cost. To ensure you keep your costs to a minimum you should regularly test the market by asking other local firms to quote. If you change your Financial Accountant make sure you do this at your year-end, so transferring the accounts becomes a relatively simple task. You should also consider the type of work that is done - the more you can employ someone to carry out routine transactions (from a trained admin assistant, to a bookkeeper) the more you are in a position to reduce your bills.

            The alternative is to do it yourself and take advice from HMRC websites and run the gauntlet with them as to whether you are actually compliant with tax and accounting laws. With a small number of transactions to process and little complexity in the business, there are lots of small businesses doing this! However, you need to weigh up the time you need to spend learning the tax rules and keeping up with latest legislation against the time required to grow your business.

            Management Accountants, in contrast, are generally internal to a company.  They process the weekly and monthly results; provide analysis of cashflow and profit; forecast financial outcomes and provide analytical insight on a product, a service or on a customer level.  The Management Accountant effectively provides ‘a second set of books’ that you use internally to drive your business.  The overall figures stay the same, but the Management Accountant uses models to extract parts of the financial data. For example, you might wish to understand the strategic implications of making certain capital investments or expanding a product line. The Management Accountant would be able to draw out the relevant costs and model different scenarios for you, analysing product profitability or business unit profitability as well as cash flow, thus giving you a better understanding of your business and helping you to make the best strategic decisions.

            If you are too small to be able to afford a full-time Finance Director post, Scirum provides part-time support to its clients in book keeping, management accounting and strategic financial planning. Please call us on 01264 860060 or send us a message. We are a friendly bunch and happy to help and talk through your requirements.

For more useful tips and answers to common questions from SMEs, visit www.scirum.biz or follow us on Twitter and Google+, like us on Facebook or join our LinkedIn group.

Record-keeping

Receipts and Invoices: 

When you start your business you will start spending money before you make any.  That is a fact for all but very few businesses.  For several reasons you will need to keep a record of those outgoings and keep track of all of your receipts.  You will need to keep them to support the tax computations you (or your accountant) will make at the end of the business year and you will need them to refer to should you have payment queries or you need to contact your suppliers.  You really must get organised from the start.  The old fashioned idea of collecting your invoices and receipts in a shoebox is a good analogy to start with!  If you are going to keep your own ‘books of account’, this is a good way to start... at least you can find them all in one place!  Alternatively, you could file these and divide them up either a) alphabetically: so you can find what you are paying by supplier name or b) by month: so you can input (and later trace) them to your accounts on a month by month basis.  You have now got a system for storing your paperwork.  As you grow, you can develop more sophisticated systems with the help of a bookkeeper. For example, you may use a numbering system that is stamped onto the incoming document and logged on your ledger.  In that way, you build your filing system and you trace those documents using the sequential numbers stamped onto them.

Ledger book, Spreadsheet or Accounts program: 

At first, for a small start-up, this is not a major consideration.  If you are computer literate and have a version of Excel, you can open a new file and set up three tabs (i) Income (or Sales) (ii) Expenditure (or Costs) (iii) Summary Income & Expenditure (Profit or Loss) Statement.  I have shown a screen shot example of each below.  The Summary uses links to the other two pages to calculate Income less Expenditure (Sales less Costs) giving you a figure for profit or loss.  You can list items in a long column or you can try to track the type of sale or type of cost by using headings across the top of the page, in columns, with the Supplier or Customer name down the left hand side, alongside the date and cheque/invoice number. For some micro businesses, an accounting ledger book is sufficient and they are more comfortable with this method. The layout is approximately the same as the spreadsheet layout shown below.

The first example is showing a suggested breakdown for Income (or Sales).

The second example below is showing a suggested breakdown for Expenditure (or Costs).

When you hand over your metaphorical shoebox of invoices to someone, this is an example of what they will do with them in order to produce a Summary for you for the period under review.  An example of the Summary Income & Expenditure Statement is below:

If your invoices remain in the shoebox you are missing out on summaries and analysis that will positively influence you in decision-making for the future of your business. “I know what my costs are, even if they are in a shoebox.  I know what I have spent”… this approach does not separate out the true costs of your product/service going forward.  The figures you have in your head could well include the costs of your business cards, the deposit on your office, the cost of your website set up and your hosting costs.  How you apply those costs to your product/service will greatly affect your pricing and your expectations of profit.  This is exactly where a few hours with a management accountant offering decision support would be beneficial as that insight and coaching would serve you well for the future of your business.

Inevitably as your business grows, the range of products/services you offer may become more extensive, or perhaps you may reach the VAT threshold (currently £81,000) and you feel that you need to have more in-depth financial analysis and greater financial control.  In this case you would consider accounting software packages.  There are a number of well-known brands out there:  Sage and Quickbooks, for example, have been very dominant in this market over many years and traditionally have been set up on a standalone computer. But with the growth in cloud accounting, others like Xero have risen to prominence.  Entry prices for cloud based packages start at £6 to £9 per month. Each package will have their advantages and disadvantages and some of the features will be useful to you and easier to use whilst some provide a Rolls Royce when a Mini will do (a common expression used by accountants!).  You may have specialist needs such as multi-currency or stock control so you have to choose wisely, as not all packages are equal. Of course, if you need help with choosing the right package, the Scirum team is here to help!

Our aim in this article is to demonstrate to you that you can get on with developing your business whilst spending very little effort setting up and running adequate financial ‘systems’.  Always remember that sophistication comes at a price, so make sure you cut your coat to fit the cloth but remember also that with good financial analysis and control you can recoup those costs through improved financial management and decision making.

The next article in this blog series on Financial Management will look at the challenges of controlling your cash.  Keep following the blog for further useful articles on the essential aspects of financial control or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn. If you have any questions, just call us on 01264 860060 or send us a message. We are a friendly bunch and happy to help and talk through any challenges you may be facing.

Mary Proctor

Commercial Financial Controller

For more useful tips and answers to common questions from SMEs, visit www.scirum.biz or follow us on Twitter and Google+, like us on Facebook or join our LinkedIn group.