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The human capital is the most coveted of all business resources. There simply can’t be a value attributed to it (not in the real sense we value assets). Your people represent the ideals you have created as an organisation and as a business. So how does one measure and reward good performance?” I shared some thoughts on performance appraisals and information collected on what large corporations are doing to replace the system. Rank and yank famously represents what employees most resent about this system - the phrase coined from GE's practice around appraisals. Read the full article on - https://blog.talenox.com/rank-and-yank-performance-appraisal/ Thank you to Gordon Ng, Sebastian Kang and Team Talenox that provided an opportunity to share my thoughts. #Startups #Talenox #GE #PerformanceAppraisal #Employee #Employer #Rankandfile

Rod Drury's key note speech in Xerocon South - 2016 at Brisbane was rich with how the accounting industry's foremost software was formed from the basics. Here's the entire key note for your reference. #video #Xero #XeroPartner #RodDrury #Xerocon #Accounting #Industry

I met Ian in Bournemouth in the summer of 2016 and thought, he seems to have wit and warmth. I wasn't mistaken. We caught up with him to share the war stories and how The Big Bright Idea was born. Here's what happened. 1. Tell us about how you came up with the concept for The Big Bright Idea? What's the story? The Big Bright Idea was founded on the 18th January 2013, but I didn't really ’take up the reins’ in a full time capacity until March 8th the same year. At the time I was working in an established and very well regarded local design agency. I’d been there a good portion of my career working on many household names like Barclaycard, Domino’s, IHG Hilton but felt I wasn’t being challenged. Working in agencies for large blue chip clients brings with it a whole lot of kudos and is a great place to cut your teeth, but you can quite easily get pigeonholed or categorised doing the same kind of work. In my case it had got to the point where I could do the job in my sleep — that’s not good from a creative perspective, so one day I just handed my notice in and The Big Bright Idea was born. Since then I’ve been able to use my skills that just weren’t getting exercised, from direction, copywriting, storyboarding, directing video shoots and using Google Cardboard/VR to Big Bright Idea generation. Being able to meet talented local business people has also given me the opportunity to work on projects I would not normally get involved with. As a recent example, we have worked collaboratively with a software architect to help develop an idea for an app and branding for Organicity, an EU project that puts people at the centre of the development of future cities. We’re also currently working on an idea for another app that uses augmented reality to enhance users experiences. 2. Your own company's branding is fantastic and vibrant, how important is bringing culture into a branding idea? Elaborating the question - When you sit down with a client, how do you understand and conceptualise a design that best suits their requirements and culture? Thanks! Self promotion has to be one of the hardest things you can do as a ‘creative’. If I recall, one of the greatest advertising thinkers of our time, David Ogilvy wasn’t allowed to do any self promotion work for 20+ years! The biggest compliment someone can pay you is when they say your branding is a reflection of your personality, which means you’ve done your job. So yes, bringing company culture into an idea is important, but not at the expense of ego. Our culture here is about fun and great design. The two definitely co-exist — if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing great design. I can also honestly say hand-on-heart branding for a client is so much easier than doing it for yourself! When sitting down with a client it's easier to distinguish what is relevant as you are the outsider looking in and your view is unclouded by years worth of minutiae and baggage. We utilise workshop days with clients to discover more about their voice, culture and business. The workshops allow closer collaboration and a 'two-way dialogue' that validates ideas with the right people in the room. We also run these workshops over 2 days with a break — this allows the opportunity for ideas to incubate. Ever had one of those ‘Eureka!’ moments? You can guarantee it will come to you in the shower, driving a car or some other non-work related activity and this short break allows for this. From all this collated information we can then develop a strategy that will align with the brand and it’s customers. 3. You have worked with so many big names and brands, what has been your biggest learning working with larger corporations? I alluded to this just before — it’s getting the decision makers on board or in the room at inception. When dealing with large finance companies there were any number of stakeholders that had to give their blessing including the marketing team, a customer value management team, a legal team and finally the big thumbs up from the marketing director. With so many people having to provide input the proposition could sometimes become watered down. If they are involved from the start then the process becomes a whole lot easier and there are less ‘surprises’ as ideas develop. 4. If you were to do one thing differently in your entrepreneurial journey, what would it be? Making the move from employee to 'own boss’ 10-15 years ago — it really is as simple as that! 5. Bournemouth is a hotbed for creatives and design agencies, or so we hear. How true is that? In a competitive market, how do you differentiate your offering? There are lot of creatives and design agency in the area, I read somewhere there are 400+, that may not be an accurate number though. However that figure probably does not include those 'bedroom coders', or students who also dabble to gain real world experience and earn a little money on the side. To differentiate your offering you need to be genuine and be you! If your brand is an honest reflection of your culture and your business then you will attract the customers you want. We like to form personal relationships with our clients and I would say 90% of our work comes from referrals and word of mouth. Recently we have landed a client in Saudi Arabia — it just goes to show you the power of referrals. 6. Lastly what are the growth plans on the cards? Expansions, new rounds of funding etc? The thought of a 30,000 ft sea view while everyone else does the work isn’t really appealing — rolling up your sleeves and ‘being in the trenches' keeps you focused, ‘real' and your skills up-to-date. One of my greatest inspirations is from this company that grew to a size where account handlers managed the accounts and the business lost it’s ‘mojo’, which eventually became its swan-song. Obviously we need to make money to live and if someone turns up with a wheel barrow stuffed full of money we’re not going to tell them to scarper. However, it has to be aligned with how we operate, so no gambling or risque work would ever be considered. Get in touch with Ian http://www.thebigbrightidea.com/#about #article #Bournemouthstartups #Startups #TheBigBrightIdea #creativedesign #clientengagement

How to connect your Xero and google #video #google #googleandxero #xero

We have put together an explainer video to talk about corporate inversions. It was a very popular subject post the proposed deal Pfizer was to make with Allergan. Due to changes made by the Obama government curbing change of domicile, Pfizer walked away from the deal. Investopedia defines Corporate inversion as "one of the many strategies companies employ to reduce their tax burden. One way that a company can re-incorporate abroad is by having a foreign company buy its current operations." We have explained this phenomenon in what we hope is an easy to understand video log! We are always looking for creative and constructive comments on our videos. Our last video on business performance attracted quite a few comments and we are grateful for those. One of the comments we got was to do the narrative in a less formal sounding voice. I can assure that we are very seriously considering it and would possibly have it rolled out in the next Vlog we do. Look forward to your thoughts. #video #Startups #introduction #corporatetax #corporateinversion #UK #Bournemouthstartups #Bournemouthbusiness #Pfizer #Allergan

What does a business performance engagement do? Here's a few pointers to begin with. We will be discussing this in greater detail in up-coming articles and educational publications #Bournemouthbusiness #Bournemouthstartups #CFO #managementaccounting #clientengagement #resources #video

Sport - an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Well, that is the general definition, but for Jamie Whittle and his team at Sports First Academy, it is a way of life. Combining his love of sport and childrens' enthusiasm to play, Jamie formed this company to do what he truly loves. We got Jamie's thoughts for this month's start-up feature story. Here's what happened, 1. Tell us more about Sports First Academy, how did you come up with the idea? I had been working in football and sports development for over 12 years, picking up qualifications along the way. Some of them are the UEFA B in football and my key stage 1 and 2 in active development for PE. While dedicating myself to football I also had the opportunity to extend and develop my experience and coaching skills to basketball,cricket, athletics, hockey and rugby. Most recently, I worked for a sports company where I was their football development officer in Dorset and Hampshire. This role enabled me to develop relationships with schools and clubs within the area and to create an excellent program for children to grow as players as well as young students. I also worked with primary schools conducting PPA sessions for all age groups as well as taking sessions with their teachers. This was to better equip them for their own PE lessons (CPD sessions). Having had the this experience, we decided that the companies were missing a beat when it came to a personal relationship with schools and clubs. We decided to start our own company and create a much more personal relationship with the schools and clubs we were approaching. So far every school that has come on board has grown from having Sports First Academy run simple sessions to in depth PE development sessions. A combination of high quality coaching and an emphasis on personal relationships has enabled Sports First Academy to grow faster than I expected. 2. What is the goal behind this venture? Surely it can't be just to run a successful business, what you're doing has a direct impact on people's well being. Being a massive sports fanatic myself, I have always taken great pleasure in passing on my enthusiasm to the kids or anyone else that would listen. Enabling myself to coach full time was always the end goal. Spending a lot of my previous coaching years picking and scrounging for hours in the industry that I loved, forced me to find another way to support myself - and do what I love. This formed a guiding principle in setting up the academy, glad that it keeps people fit! 3. Are the programs predominantly targeted at children? What type of adult training programs do you run, if none, are there any planned for the future? There is very little that we currently run for adults as our main target area is within ages 5-16. Perhaps in the future we will look at developing programs for adults. 4. As a business owner, what are the biggest opportunities and challenges that Bournemouth presents in your opinion? As a whole: Bournemouth is a fantastic area for outdoor activities and sport. This is a huge advantage to the company and along with the general push for our children to be fitter, it has become a great spot to start up our company. 5. This is a different take of a usual question - if you were to change one thing about your entrepreneurial journey what would it be? I would have done it a lot earlier. I always believed that I would be happy to be in a regular 9-5 job, taking a wage and being secure in that. Starting my own business has been the most exciting and self motivating process I have ever been through. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Here's how to contact Jamie, http://www.sportsfirstacademy.com/about-us/ #Bournemouthstartups #entrepreneur #introduction #SportsFirstAcademy #FitnessBournemouth #article

#video #xero #managementaccounting #reporting

You have a newly formed business and all your concentration is on building that — as it should be. Some of us may have a formal accounting degree or people on board who has financial training. Undoubtedly, one of the ​biggest ​factors for business sustainability is streamlining cash flows. It’s a simple term with​ large consequences, if ignored or ill-managed. A lot of early stage businesses go to an accountant at the year- end and get a set of books hastily done for tax filing. That’s really not the best solution to aligning your numbers with your business goals. Ultimately it all comes down to being cash positive (meaning you have a bank balance to run your business the way you want​ to​). I say “cash positive” and not “profitable” simply because profits on the P&L is not your best indicator of business success. A business inevitably has a CEO​. I believe a person looking at your numbers constantly, in a non-emotional way is important. Let me explain, as a founder, you have an emotional connection to the business — it’s your baby and as any good parent, you tend to make excuses for shortfalls. I know — I’ve been there, done that. Emotionally separating yourself from your numbers gives you a measurable metric to gauge your business growth. Your numbers are the fundamental indicators that show the real picture in black and white. Here are a few start-ups hacks for founders/founder CEOs to think like a CFO. (if you have the capacity to get one — even part-time! don’t hesitate). This is at best scratching the surface, nonetheless I hope there are a few takeaways. 1. Managing cash flows — Liquidity is the ability to pay off debts quickly. That’s how I see it. It can be with cash reserves or assets that can be converted to cash fast. Building customers is difficult, time-consuming, hard work that frustrates the best of us. And when we land one — we get over enthusiastic and give them a discount. First off — no discounts. A lot of start-ups get this right. You want to give them a payment plan. Herein lies the problem. You don’t want to lock out those funds for periods longer than when your payments are due. If you are in the services industry, the biggest expense you likely have are salaries. Payable every 30 days. If you fix up a credit term with your customers that is longer than a 30-day period, you’re essentially funding that expense from capital. It’s a diluted explanation, but that’s the crux of the matter. Don’t confuse working capital with being able to pay expenses from revenue. If you have an industry model where advance payments are the norm, go with the flow. 2. Controlling Costs — Positive revenues usually get you a cash surplus — so does controlling costs. When starting up, some costs can’t be done away with. The idea is to control them as much as possible, not being stingy and give a shoddy air around your business. Have a website, spend on marketing and employees. Outsource tasks than getting them done internally at a higher cost . For instance, if you are a social media marketing company, likely you get your SEO work done internally. Gauge the time taken to complete this task. You might surprise yourself at the time your billable staff might be spending on this. Another business might get this done at a fraction of the cost. Time cost is an ignored concept. As a founder, you spend so much time on business branding and client acquisition without attributing a cost to it. You want to measure your own cost and concentrate on areas that are generating repeated value. 3. A look into the future — After the initial months’ of running the business, having a real time understanding of cash consumption is critical. Spend sometime looking at the current revenue and expense make-up. Ask the questions — if we continue on the same path, will the business make more money or stagnate financially? Having targets for yourself and early staff members is a good idea. This doesn’t have to be in a rigid, uncompromising way. It can be an inclusive and logical exercise. Set aside a day a month as a “cash ideas” day — you merely look at the current trend within the company. Compare this with industry standards and see where you can improve. Some products are new — for e.g. a fintech product that’s highly innovative may not have many competitors. So drawing up scenarios against market trends is tricky. In such cases the easiest thing would be to define what percentage of sales should be converted to profits. Perhaps 10% or 20%. So you have a revenue target and a profit target. Now re look at everything in between. 4. Tax is a reality The last thing I should worry about is tax — isn’t it? After all it’ll be a while before my business makes profits. While that might be true, any sort of tax savings now or in the future is a source of funds. Fact — managing funds is a major CFO function. Myth — thinking this means only equity and debt. If your business is incurring legitimate expenses, those should be part of your books. Even if you are the one doing the spending. Any loss you are making in the first few years would have the capacity to be carried forward. Most countries in the world have tax provisions for this. When the company makes profits that will be taxed, any losses from previous year can be netted off against this. Where you would be paying taxes, there could be savings. Apart from this — have some idea of tax breaks you would be able to get as a start-up. Innovation credits, Reimbursements for research and developmentetc are some examples. They are all sources of cash — definitely smaller than a funding round, but cash still! Ultimately it’s the big picture that matters. How do you conduct yourself holistically is the differentiation between a good business and a great business. As a CEO you need to have some CFO insights. At the least, it would tell you when you’re ready to hire that person for your business. Have fun studying the numbers! Credits 1. The article was originally published on Medium.com 2. All pictures used are from the Wix Gallery #article #CFO #managementaccounting #startups #CEO

Yes, we literally had to change the name of our blog post this month from "start-up" to "business". We feature a versatile, long standing and highly reputed law firm - Laceys. I have met many lawyers in the course of a decade long career. Most of them were friendly and approachable. A lot of them had sound judgement and integrity, some even had a good sense of humour. In Laceys, I found all these virtues in one place. We had a chat with Sam Freeman, who heads the firm's corporate practice. Here is what happened. 1. Laceys is a 100+ year old firm - first of all wow! certainly built to last! In this time how has the services of the firm evolved? For. eg. digital has become a reality in legal services. How has that impacted the service suite? Many years ago solicitors used to be general solicitors who did not specialize in anything particular but could assist you with most of the more common areas of advice the were required. These days this is simply not possible. Solicitors have to be specialists in what they are doing. Clients expect, and deserve, someone that really know what they are doing. As such, our firm has evolved over the years from several solicitors looking after their own clients regardless of what they needed, to a firms of specialists where the advice a client requires is always given by a true expert in the relevant field. In more recent times the digital world in which we all live has also had an effect on the way the firm operates. Advice and documents can now be delivered in a variety of methods and meetings can take place via the internet. Having said all of this, for most clients there is still a real benefit in, at least the occasional, face to face meeting, and I feel that this is essential to developing the relationships. 2. Laceys as a group would be founded on certain guiding principles and values. In a changing world, how do you keep yourselves true to the roots? And how do you instill a sense of these values in your people? The firm’s values are all about client service. It is easy to say and not so easy to deliver! Our approach has always been to ensure that the client not only gets the best possible advice, but also that it is delivered in a timely and understandable manner. In a changing world these values do not alter, the methods for delivering them may do, but the values themselves do not. The most important part of ensuring that our staff buy into the service levels we want to provide is firstly to ensure that we recruit the right people and then that we reinforce this with continual training. We look for more than people that can just do the technical side of the job, they also have to believe in the way we want to provide services to our clients. 3. I know that the firm is active with start-ups. If you were to tell a start-up 3 things that founders ignore but ideally shouldn't what would they be? 1. Make sure you own your intellectual property. 2. Make sure you are trading via the right structure. 3. Have thorough terms and conditions of business. 4. What were the biggest factors leading to a merger with Horsey Lightly Flynn (HLF)? In your opinion what makes a merger easier on the people involved ? Our strategic goal was to grow in size to be able to deliver more specialist practice areas and also to have greater strength in depth. The merger with HLF allows us to achieve both of these goals. It was also important that their culture and values were very similar to ours. Open and regular communication and good planning makes a merger easier on everyone that is involved. 5. What are the growth plans in store for Laceys? An overseas office perhaps? Although I would be very happy to head up an overseas office for the firm, perhaps in the Maldives, it is not on the cards at present! Our growth plans do not stop with the recent merger with HLF; but it is right to ensure that there is plenty of time for this to settle down. We have also to maximise the new cross selling elements between our departments, ensuring that clients have the fullest possible service range. Further growth will not doubt not be too far away! Details and Attributions 1. Laceys Corporate Website - http://www.laceyssolicitors.co.uk/ 2. Laceys Corporate team photograph - (Left to right) Luke English, Jeremy Channon, Ella Gould, Sam Freeman, Edwina Young and Natasha Duffy-Jones. 3. The picture of law books - Law by Woody Hibbard on flickr 4. Maldives: Mohmed Althani, Kurmba Resort - Maldives #article #Bournemouthbusiness #legal #law

An introductory webcast from Spotlight Reporting about the perfect advisory relationship #video #Startups #XeroPartner

From global search to a host of awards, Xero went through some amazing milestones and changes for the year 2015. Here are the updates from 2015 - an annual review from Xero's videos. #Xero #Annualupdate #XeroPartner