Our Top Tips for Advent

Posted by Rachel Flower / December 4th, 2015 / No responses

Here we are during Advent 2015, counting down to Christmas.
Advent is about planning, preparing, expectation. Taken from the Latin word adventus -meaning ‘coming.’
So.
What’s in store for your business in 2016?
How you going to end 2015 on a high – and ready to storm into 2016?
We’ll be sharing a Top Tip each day up to Christmas. You can find them all here on this blog post, which we will update daily.We’re finalising our own grand plans this month.
Wearing our Santa hats, of course. If you enjoy our top tips and find them useful, have a look at our Seren Hub Business Club launching in 2016.

Here we go!

 

If Father Christmas can do it – so can you. You may not have a flying sleigh or a team of elves at your disposal. But plan ahead is to plan to succeed.

Every business needs a business plan, and the more detail you can cover the better. The more visionary you can be, the better, but don’t neglect the nitty gritty whilst you dream up the grand plans. The key to successful, sustainable business is consistency and hard work (and don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise). Get out your 2015 Plan and spend time analysing what worked well, what failed miserably, and analyse the numbers and the detail of your sales figures. Make sure you set some targets for the first quarter of 2016 otherwise those dark January/February days tend to be a time of drift. Teamwork is always key. Involve your team in the planning – and that includes suppliers, partners and your customers. Let’s get 2016 off to a flying start.

So many people leave Christmas shopping to the last minute. Why is that? I mean, it’s the same time every year so there’s no excuse. And frankly, even though Christmas is meant to be the season of goodwill – so many people get grumpy, depressed and argumentative during the festive season. Gripes and annoyances stored up during the year overflow into nasty disputes and feuds. Ugh. So when it comes to business, there is a lot we can learn from the season of goodwill. Confront problems head-on in an open and transparent way. Don’t let issues build up, deal with the little challenges before they become too big to handle. And yes, ask for help if needs be. An objective external view is usually the key to diffusing a situation.

Trust is a really important currency in contracting. But that doesn’t mean you should blindly jump into deals. Trust is built up over time and through solid delivery and reputation. Before you sign any contract, make sure you know who you are contracting with. Knowledge is power. Ask questions, compare quotes with other similar suppliers. Request references and ask around in your industry. Do your research on the company’s background and if it’s a big value deal – you must do financial due diligence. Read the contract and make sure you understand it properly (or get someone to do it for you!). Any vaguely drafted clauses much be clarified. And use your intuition. If facts about a supplier or customer don’t stay up, then chances are something is afoot.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to Santa. You just have to write to him and ask for what you want, then hope for the best.

Oh come on, we’ve all done it. Promised to be there on time and either missed it completely or had to shuffle in late and end up at the back so you couldn’t see anything of poor little Jonny in his donkey outfit. Not this year please. Get in control of your delivery dates and even set some goals around exceeding expectations for some of your favourite customers. If missing a deadline can’t be avoided – be brave and confront it and speak up. You can bribe little Jonny pretty easily with toys and chocolate, but most customers and suppliers will be lost forever if you let them down without any warning.

Who’s been Christmas shopping today?
Did you check the returns/exchange policy for any expensive presents you picked up?

Savvy shopper, well done.

It’s weird that in business many people don’t pay attention to the contract terms. Keen to get the deal done, they skim through the samll print and hope for the best. And once it’s signed, the contract gets popped on a shelf or in a drawer and forgotten about.
Until something goes wrong, of course.

Now listen up. It doesn’t have to be that way, you know. Understanding contracts is really quite easy (and fun) once you know what you are looking for.
Any most importantly, you then get to know your rights and feel confident about the deal.

Remember – most business contracts don’t come with a bow or a gift receipt.

 

Are the Christmas songs getting on your nerves yet?
We love a good Christmas playlist here at Serenwood, but we know plenty of people who detest the tinkly tunes and the ding dong bells.
Each to their own, that’s what makes the world go round.
Which is why, if you hate contracts, if you hate dealing with the legal side of your business, if compliance makes you come out in a rash…get some help.
You need to be on top of your commercial strategy all year round, not just at year end when the auditors come in.
And you can turn the radio off but unfortunately contract disputes don’t go away that easily.

If you’ve landed yourself in a contract which you want to get out of, what can you do?
Well, you could try hiding behind the Christmas tree with a giant bottle of Baileys. Or you could burn the contract on the log fire and hope for the best.
It is usually possible to terminate a contract and extract yourself from the provisions, but it comes at a price.
Often a high price.
(Unless of course you have been clever and negotiated a “termination for convenience” clause at nil cost.)
And sometimes, depending on the situation – and regardless of what the contract says – you can reach a commercial agreement with the other party.
Whatever you do, don’t just ignore it. Just like Christmas, it won’t go away.

We had a call from a potential new client yesterday. An app developer who shared his technology and ideas with a funder and a buyer earlier in the year. They didn’t like his ideas and sent him away.
Lo and behold, this month a very similar piece of software has been released for sale by the “buyer”.
Of course, the first question we asked….did you get a confidentiality agreement signed at the time of disclosing your ideas?
Sadly not.
It’s going to be a whole lot harder to prove any wrongdoing without this in place.
Now then. We all want to trade with trust and in an ideal world no-one would need confidentiality agreements.
We’d all trade with integrity and honesty and the world would be peaceful.
How lovely.
But until we get peace on earth, please take some simple steps to protect your ideas and your developing products.
Use a confidentiality agreement. If you don’t have one, ask the Serenwood elves to get you one. No excuses.

Yep, let’s talk about OVERWHELM.
So many people complain of feeling overwhelmed at Christmas.
Too much to do and too little time.
Which is funny really, given Christmas is the same time every year and we have a whole year to prepare smile emoticon
OVERWHELM is a big problem for small business owners.
Trying to do too much, on too little budget, with too little time.
We get told by our SME clients all the time that they feel overwhelmed by their lack of legal knowledge. They turn to downloading random stuff off the internet or asking a mate for advice. Or just ignoring it all and hoping for the best.
We say….commercial advice is one area where you cannot afford not to go get help. It can make or break the future of your business growth.
Delegate, get help. Just like Santa and his elves.

Tip number #10
Why do you do what you do?
Are you in business for the right reasons?
If you can’t answer this straightaway – perhaps you have lost sight of your vision temporarily.
Just like we forget the true meaning of Christmas, business owners don’t spend enough time focussing on this.
And really, it should be key when setting commercial strategy. Your overall business vision should be clearly linked into WHY you are doing what you do.
Understanding your WHY will drive your impact, your contribution, motivate your team, and ultimately power up your revenue and profit.
Think about it over a glass of mulled wine, and let us know.

So many supply chain contracts just roll over from year to year. There are hidden costs in there, savings to be negotiated, better value and better service just waiting to be nudged into place. Either through lethargy or lack of time, too few business owners take opportunity to review their supply chain costs and go and ask for a better deal. Indeed, the opposite occurs – initial pricing deals expire and businesses roll onto standard tariffs or increased rates.

It’s such an easy win. Just take a closer look (or get us to do it for you) and spring clean your supply chain costs. You can do the same for core procurement costs too – you’ll be amazed how much cash is being wasted.

Get savvy. Look after the pennies….

How lovely to share your Xmas pudding recipe. There may well be a coin in the middle too

When it comes to IP assets, you mustn’t be so generous. In today’s Technology Age, IP is one of the most valuable assets within a business, yet we’re constantly amazed by how many business owners don’t know how to protect or exploit it.

If you only listen to one tip this Christmas, make sure you take the steps to protect your IP. Before it’s too late and someone steals all your pudding.

Be careful with the blow torch this Christmas, people. Especially if you’ve had a few too many festive tipples by the time dessert is served.

When it comes to business, there are many things you can do to protect yourself. We all have a different threshold when it comes to risk. Insurance is mandatory in some areas so keep your policies up to date. Make sure you’re complying with regulation and stay on the right side of business law. Keep your contracts up to date and comply with their terms. Pay your bills on time and be careful what you say about others.

Yes, we know. It’s not the most glamorous of topics, but seriously – risk and compliance makes or breaks a business. If it bores you senseless then get someone else to do the checks.

Then you can get back to your blow torch and your tipples.

We’ve no idea what happens to the Christmas lights up in the loft. No matter how well you package them up they find a way to get tangled and bulbs go missing.

It’s the same with contract documentation. Our clients go looking for the documents, and there’s pages missing (oooh missing signature pages…that hurts), change notes unsigned, critical Schedules gone travelling, not to mention the elusive “we can’t find it anywhere” disappearing Contract. So-and-so used to work here in 2013 and he kept everything on his hard drive….

Just do your best in 2016, guys. Use a filing system to store your documents properly. There will always be a few bits which go walkabout, but it’ll make your business way more robust if you keep everything to hand for when you need it.

MORE TIPS TO FOLLOW AS WE COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS!

Rachel

hello@serenwood.co.uk

#hoholawyer