December 19 Newsletter

 

6 top tips for getting your business ready for investment

1) Understand your market

Do you know who you are selling to? Are these people likely to continue to want your product/service in the future? Who benefits the most from your product/service? The best way to have proof of market demand is through market research. Research your competitors too and understand how your company is different from your competitors.

2) Know your numbers

Most investors will be looking for scalable business models. Numbers that potential investors are likely to want are; targets and trends to date, trading to date, gross and net margins and balance sheet. This is something we can help with, providing the right reports, ensuring your information is up to date and explaining the numbers to you so you feel confident to answer any questions.

3) Prove your worth

Demonstrate strong sales and testimonials from existing customers. These prove that there is a demand for your product/service.

4) Have a strategy

Do you have a business plan? What is your vision for the company pre and post investment? Investors will want to know what your plans are for the business.

5) Build the right team

Demonstrate that you have the right team around you that will help the business to succeed. A team of people with different skills and experience all help to evolve and develop the business.

6) Know what type of investor you would like

Cash injection or business partner? What kind of relationship would you like with your investor? How much equity are you looking to give away? It is important that you know exactly what you would like an investor to bring to your business.

If you would like any help getting your business ready for investment, please contact us.

XEROCON UPDATE

 

Xerocon London 2019

There are lots of accountancy conferences every year, but one that we also make sure we attend is Xerocon. It gives us an opportunity to find out about the developments in Xero and new apps or enhanced features from existing app partners. And, where else would you be able to get face lasered on top of a cup of coffee...! There were 3 major announcements that we think will help to make our clients' lives easier.  

Pay with Transferwise

 

This is a new way for UK small businesses to pay bills, through Xero, no matter who you bank with. You will be able to set up and approve payment runs using your outstnading bills payable and then process a bulk payment through a Transferwise integration. Meaning that you will no longer need to make individual payments to suppliers and key in bank details in your online banking to make a payment. Reducing time and increasing accuracy. This function is still in beta, we will keep you updated when it is released.

GoCardless instalment payments

 

It is now possible to raise one sales invoice in Xero and set up instalment payments via GoCardless, rather than taking the whole amount at once. There are now also foreign currency options via direct debit.

 

Business Snapshot

This is a new dashboard that Xero are currently working on that will give you a snapshot of your financial metrics. It will display year-on-year revenue, cost of goods sold, and debtor days in a series of charts, tables, and at a glance figures. It's all on one page to give you a high-level view of how your business is performing. This feature will go into beta testing early next year, we will let you know as soon as we have a go live date.

In the meantime if you would like any more information, please get in touch.

TEAM NEWS

 

Our new website has just launched!

We would love your feedback, so please look around and tell us what you think via our Contact page.

Finally, we wish you a very Happy Christmas. Thank you for all of your support this year, we really appreciate it and look forward to keeping in touch with you during 2020.

Until next year,

David & Katherine