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| Business Continuity Plans |
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All you need to make your plan happen - for £50. Plus VAT, of course...
Although I think you should be contacting Oakview for help with your BC planning, you can of course tackle this project yourself. After all, it's your plan!
The challenge is knowing where to start, and having the complete set of documentation ready for completion, along with easy-to-follow instructions, allows you to 'do-it-yourself'.
So, get started with your own protection from as little as £50. Call or contact Oakview Consulting TODAY. |
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ibd |
ibd is an international network of business advisors offering a wide range of skills, giving you access to a huge business support capability. it means that whatever your business needs, someone qualified and quality-approved will be able to help.
Oakview Consulting is proud to be part of the ibd group. Visit ibd for more details. |
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Taking time...or making it count? |
Greetings!
So, last weekend, the clocks went back - an annual ritual based on work and theories first suggested at the beginning of last century. Still relevant today, or perhaps not...
Whatever those arguments, the question for you this month is whether you took advantage of the additional hour 'given' to you last Sunday morning. Or, did you fritter it away by taking an extra hour's kip? Would be interesting to hear from people...but keep it clean...
This month's newsletter is dedicated to taking action. Now. Before you regret having prevaricated again, or put off those difficult decisions, or reviewed where exactly your business was going.
Or, have you determined to tackle the roadblocks to your success? It's down to you...but crossing fingers won't do: and with time travel a pipe-dream unless you fancy the LHC as an option, you have to think about whether you'll let another month go by, before making some changes in your organisation. |
Taking credit...if it were there...
Interesting discussion on Radio 4 last week on the problems caused in the UK because of a lack of available Credit Insurance. A lack of capacity, and the wholesale withdrawal of facilities last year, has left many businesses scrabbling for cover.
And when they can't get it from insurers, many business simply take it from creditors by paying much later; or negotiate with suppliers, meaning lower orders and increased need for banking facilities. If they were available...
It's a complex subject, but Oakview has connections with innovative Credit Insurance suppliers - contact us for details of who might provide Credit Insurance knowledge and capacity currently denied. Or, if you have it, maybe you can find it supplied in a more cost-effective manner.
Else, you'd better ensure your Business Continuity plans are up to date. And tested... |
 Oakview Consulting has access to the UK's largest Business Angel fund specialising in distressed companies in need of urgent turnaround funding, or help in negotiating with creditors such as VAT and PAYE.
This is more relevant than ever in today's financial climate - see the article above for at least one reason that businesses are finding financial assistance a challenge.
The fund is actively looking for good companies that have hit hard times for genuine reasons that can be explained. Even the most serious cases will be considered. These types of companies can often be helped with an injection of additional capital and new ideas.
If your business is experiencing difficult times, but has a success history to tell and a track record to match, please contact Oakview Consulting, to discuss your story and options. Before it's too late... |
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A cunning plan...
 ...but like Baldrick, can you make it work? Do you even look at it when it's been finished. If it ever is... and who in your business is accountable for it's implementation.
Where does the buck stop? Or, like President Truman, does it stop...with you?
Business owners drown daily - in a sea of regulation and the mire of operational and tactical problems that face any decision-maker, especially in small or medium-sized enterprises. Disregarding my mixed metaphor is much easier than finding the time to make those plans happen. Yet, we know that if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you (courtesy of an erstwhile colleague!) - and if you don't plan for you, someone else will.
It's a challenge, which if taken can help provide the direction you and perhaps your staff seek. My blog has some thoughts about implementation, and the 'Knowing-Doing' gap so well explained by Messrs Pfeffer and Sutton.
So, if you carry on doing what you've always done, don't be surprised if you keep on getting what you've always got. Which in these changed times might not be enough... |
...might be just the thing you thought would strengthen your business. Yep, outsourcing non-essential tasks or processes to third-party suppliers has been seen as a way of reducing headcount and cutting costs. And, often it does...
But. Although many do not realise it, there is a but, and it's around these issues:
- You can outsource the process, but not the risk. Whether regulatory or reputational, procedural or supportive, if your outsourcing partner fails to deliver, those suffering the outcome will get back to you. If it's your payroll supplier, you'll be telling your staff, then. Or like Zavvis, telling its backers about Woolworths;
- Total exposure - taken individually, the number of outsourced activities might not seem much, but the cumulative effect of failure might impact heavily on the core business. Like the banks when they hadn't picked up systemic failure of their counterparties...
- Contract effectiveness - you might think it covers you, but if there were a problem, can you be certain that your business will get the attention you think it deserves, or are you being shoehorned into something not quite right, in the interests of cost-effectiveness. Small may be beautiful, but this is where things can turn ugly...
The answers is rarely simple, but a few basic checks:
- Make sure your Business Impact Assessment is robust - and regularly checked for ongoing validity;
- Ensure your contracts include a requirement for Business Continuity Planning...and ask for proof it is actually carried out. Think about your own procedures...and testing;
- Make sure your supply chain is robust, and include failsafes - and alternatives.
Outsource your processes. Manage your risks. And Business Continuity. | |
...in closing...
This November - create your own fireworks, and build a bonfire of your hurdles.
Get your credit sorted; be sure you can get finance if necessary; make your plans happen; and look out for your wider risks.
Look after your livelihood.
Regards
John Wade
John Wade
Oakview Consulting Ltd |
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