Business Planning Services
Having a good business plan is essential to ensure your new venture prospers. It’s also an important process for any established company that has growth ambitions. Our business planning services are delivered by experienced entrepreneurs and can help you to define your vision and roadmap to success.
Welcome to Archimedia Accounts, business planning consultants
At Archimedia Accounts, we are seasoned entrepreneurs as well as accountants, so you are in very experienced hands when it comes to business planning.
Our Directors, Chris and Barbara, have a huge amount of entrepreneurial experience demonstrated not only by a successful accounting firm, but by a large property portfolio. We have vast experience in helping businesses to devise strong business plans and to secure business loans, grant funding and investment.
To book a business planning session with us, please get in touch today.
The importance of a good business plan
Albert Einstein said,
“Given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes understanding the problem and one minute resolving it.”
Of the innumerable quotes applied to business, this is our favourite and forms the basis of our approach to business coaching – it’s all in the planning.
Successful businesses are built on solid foundations, and that means creating strong business plans. It serves as a roadmap that details the steps necessary to reach your goals and provides a framework for strategies to overcome constraints and risks.
Without a business plan, you are essentially gambling with your company’s future.
Make no mistake, running a successful business is difficult. Around 500,000 close down each year in the UK alone. It’s not just the fate of start-ups; business is getting much tougher, with rising costs and growing competition.
Your business plan will help you take control of your finances, plan for leaner times, and identify the right times to invest in future growth. With your finances in great shape, you will remain competitive and be in a good position to take advantage of business development opportunities as they arise.
Successful businesses are not born out of luck or talent
Many people believe that business achievement is an art, some sort of talent, thanks to phrases like “gut feel” and “business-savvy”.
In fact, success in business is not an art, it’s a science.
By following certain business principles, you can make informed decisions for the future and put strategies in place for long-term success. As your accountant, it’s our job to guide you on best practice to make sure your venture fulfils its potential.
What is a business planning service?
Our business planning service consists of a 4-5 hour strategy session, in which we take you through the elements that make up a successful business (such as marketing and customer experience) and stress test your business in each area. Together, we will identify improvement areas, or ‘business constraints’, i.e. any weak links in the chain.
At the end of the session, you will have a robust business plan and strategies to help you realise your goals. This is essentially a list of 4-5 action points for the next 12 months, split down into bitesize tasks.
Who can benefit from business planning?
Any organisation with business growth aspirations can benefit from our business planning services. Your business planning session will be tailored to whatever stage of the journey you are on.
A start-up most definitely needs a strong business plan to minimise risk and secure funding; an established company needs to focus on a business plan to ensure its growth is sustainable and profitable.
Whatever your goal – be that to make more profit, ease your workload or spend less time in your business – we can tailor your business plan to help you achieve it.
Our Business Planning Process
Pre-work
First, we’ll send you some questions to help us prepare for your business planning session.
Business planning meeting
The meeting will last 4-5 hours and must be attended by your Directors, management team and any other people of influence in your business (for example, your marketing manager, a knowledgeable office manager who knows your staff well, or a family member you work closely with).
First, we will establish your vision and define what success looks like for your business. We will state exactly:
Your vision – What is your ultimate ambition for the company and for you personally?
Your aims – Where do you want to get to? More profit? Expansion? Diversification? More time with your family?
Present situation – Where the business is now in terms of financial success, operational efficiency, customer satisfaction etc.
Business constraints – What’s stopping you from achieving your ambitions?
Then we will put our heads together to come up with ideas on how to overcome these constraints and create solid business strategies.
Stress testing your business
During your business planning meeting, we will work through the following elements that dictate the success of any venture:
Product and service differentiators (and market research)
Your customer experience
Your marketing funnel
Your sales process
Your operational systems
Staff engagement
We’ll see how your business measures up in each of these areas to help inform your strategy going forward.
Your business plan
At Archimedia Accounts, our business plans are focused, tailored and practical. You will leave our offices with a clear plan, and a set of achievable action points to help overcome your business constraints and move you closer to your goals.
Ongoing business and accounting support
As your accountant, we will keep in touch on a regular basis to monitor your progress. Along with our continued business support, you will have the benefit of our accountancy services, such as tax services, to help you to run your business efficiently and fulfil your obligations with Companies House and HMRC.
Free Call Back
Get in touch with Archimedia Accounts to get your business plans on track
As successful entrepreneurs, we like nothing better than helping fellow business people in the Nottingham area to reach their goals. We like to form strong, long-lasting relationships with our clients and adapt our services to meet the needs of their evolving businesses.
To find out more about our business planning services, please call, email or fill out our contact form. Or, if you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office to introduce yourself. We look forward to hearing from you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is a business plan important?
A business plan can help mitigate risk, help you get a business loan, improve business performance and maintain cash flow.
For small businesses, business plans can help get a new business idea off of the ground and get funding from potential investors. As an established company, it can help you reach the next stage of your journey.
A business plan can also help a start-up secure angel investors (i.e. an individual or entity that provides capital to a startup in exchange for partial ownership and/or a share of the profits). Potential investors and banks will require solid evidence of a good business plan in order to assess the risk.
Is a business plan the same as a business strategy?
A business plan is essentially the same thing as a business strategy. A business plan is a document that outlines your services/products, financial situation and goals. Your business strategy is part of the plan and provides direction on how and when you propose to achieve your goals.
Is tax planning included in a business plan?
Tax planning is not included in the business planning process. As your accountant, we will offer you regular tax planning advice throughout the year to help you be as tax efficient as possible.