Blogs

An electrical contractor needs to demonstrate his health & safetywe can help to put in place better health and safety processes, undertake risk assessments processes.  Several important customers are requesting that he complete extensive audit questionnaires so that he can continue to work for them, and thsi has highlighted some areas where he may need to develop new training and other processes.  He may be able to put in place a single system which will meet all tyheir needs, with less effort, and we can also help him to address the gaps in his processes.

Without financial plans, a business cannot progress.  We have been unable to prepare the financial and business plans for a client for several months so that we can progress a grant application.  We are waiting for last year's accounts and meanwhile the business expansion is on hold.  With another client, there are cash flow problems, but no management accounts so that they can plan and prioritise which debts to chase, and which creditors to seek assistance from.  Whatever the scale and problems business has, maintaining up to date management accounts and cash flow forecasts within the business is always essential. 

A residential activity centre needs finance for a major extension.   Hopefully some grant fundingassistance to present their businesses to banks and grant awarding bodies with our excellent understanding of banks and grant awarding bodies and their procedures will be available.   They need to base their expansion into corporate and personal tourist markets on sound market research and a good marketing planwe can help with all aspects of planning marketing.  Once they are confident that the opportunity is a good one, thorough business and financial plans will be needed.  

14 August - I attend the launch of the new European Fisheries Fund in Aberystwyth.  We will be helping fisheries businesses to prepare project and business plans and to make grant applicationsassistance to present their businesses to banks and grant awarding bodies with our excellent understanding of banks and grant awarding bodies and their procedures.  Typical clients will be businesses and projects which manage the infrastructure of fishing from river and sea habitat management, to improving the processing and marketing chains.  Other projects could improve the coastal fishing fleet, aquaculture facilities, health & safetywe can help to put in place better health and safety processes, undertake risk assessments, and fishing port development.

13 August - France and Germany are out of recession.  This follows on from the good news yesterday about unemployment falling in Wales, and the signs of business recoverywe help businesses to identify what their problems are and then to take steps to cut costs and increase revenues for many of our clients.  This reinforces the need for businesses to keep a tight grip on their financial and performance information so that they can see what is happening as it happens, and then start carefully targeted sales and marketing campaigns to drive renewed business growth.

12 August - I work on a business planto help clients ensure that all aspects of the business have been thought through, and to present their businesses to banks and grant awarding bodies and grant application for a business in the construction sector.  This client subcontracts to a number of national and international companies on prestige building projects.  This sector has been hit hard by the recession as new contracts have been deferred.  The client has kept key staff on which has paid off as the new contracts are now starting.  However, he has missed out on a  series of grant opportunities including the PROACT grants to retain and retain key staff which might otherwise be laid off.   Again, it is important that we are asked early about any potential business or financial support.

10 August - I meet a boat builder to review their business.  Here the impact of the recession is clear with many potential customers deferring their projects.  Whilst the main priority is to see what can be done to get commitments to new orders, there is still time make progress with important projects to improve health and safety and to resolve some environmental issues with discharges and high energy usage.

6 August - A forestry contractor needs a grant to help buy new equipment.  The rules for this sector are complex and he is wise to have consulted us at an early stage.  Given our recent success with two other contractors, we are confident that his project is eligible and should be supported by a Processing and Marketing Grant (PMG).

4 August - An inventor needs help with a grant.  This is a practical forestry business which routinely modifies its equipment to operate better in our extensive Welsh mud and to tackle tough Welsh trees.  Now it has an opportunity to patent and manufacture its own equipment and we will be helping it to get a Single Investment Fund (SIF) grant to assist with Research & Development of its new product.

29 July - A major review is drawing its conclusions.  We have been working to clarify the up to date financial position of a business with no current financial information.  It believes that it has many potential customers, but where are they?  We have contacted the customers to find out what it will take for them to do business with our client.  Our report is setting out a clear view of how the business needs to improve its financial controls, sales, marketing and customer service.  Hopefully, we can go on to help our client to sign more business.

27 July - An electrical contractor needs assistance with improving its premises.  More good news here, as they are re-hiring staff after laying several people off earlier this year.  This is another construction related business which is able to plan for the future again.  Hopefully we can assist them with a business planto help clients ensure that all aspects of the business have been thought through, and to present their businesses to banks and grant awarding bodies and Single Investment Fund (SIF) grant application.

23 July - Is your business sustainable?  Will it survive and thrive economically?  How can it reduce its environmental impact?  Will your staff grow as your business grows?  Are you developing your social community so that it can support your business better?  These are the questions which I am working on with the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) for its WISE project.  If you are an engineering and/or construction business in West Wales, we can help you to think through your sustainability issues, with up to 10 days support without any cost to you.  With the recession continuing, most businesses are focusing on economic sustainability.

21 July - An urgent call from a customer who is unable to pay wages, VAT and PAYE at the end of this month.  We need to contact them to keep them on-side whilst we develop a solution, but this planning is taking place too late and this is almost a case of business survivalwe help businesses to identify what their problems are and then to take steps to cut costs and increase revenues now.  This client could have avoided the problem by forecasting cash flow and taking remedial action earlier.  Now we will look at refinancing the business and a Business Support loan from Carmarthenshire County Council, as well as putting in place a weekly cash flow forecast, better debtor and creditor controls, and using all this information to make better decisions more quickly. 

16 July – Another specialist equipment supplier to the construction industry needs bigger premises.  This time, as well as using our commercial finance brokinginclude mortgages, asset finace (such as leasing), invoice finance (or factoring), and other financial services and grant application skills to fund the project, we are also helping them with developing a plan for multi-site operations as they will need at least 2 bases to give them a good coverage across Wales and the South of England.

14 July – The construction sector has been through a bad time, but there are signs that recovery is under way.  An electrical contractor needs help with building a proper office in its yard.  It chose to make several people redundant earlier this year, rather than using the Welsh Assembly Government’s ProAct scheme to retain and retrain key people.  Now that it can re-employ some of them, it also has the confidence to invest in improved premises which will make its management and administration more efficient.  Hopefully, we can help them to secure a Single Investment Fund grant for premises improvement and fitting out, as well as some IT, web and telephone equipment.  As always, they cannot start work or re-employ staff until the grant is approved, so our work to prepare a business planto help clients ensure that all aspects of the business have been thought through, and to present their businesses to banks and grant awarding bodies is urgent.

10 July – A specialist company in the construction sector has had some major projects deferred.  Wisely, it has avoided making staff redundant and has retained their loyalty and the scale of its business capacity by extending its scheme to pay reduced wages when there is insufficient work.  Now that business is picking up again, it has used its cash reserves to keep on paying its staff, and its bank is unwilling to increase its overdraft as its working capitalAssisting Businesses to gain essential working capital needs increase again.  We plan to apply for a loan from Carmarthenshire County Council under its new Business Support for rates, rent and hardship scheme.  This is a really good initiative from the Council which is unique as far as I know.

8 July – We are working with a small farm which needs to generate more income for its owners.  They are looking at opening a farm shop and/or going into free range hen production.  As always, undertaking a sound feasibility study is important before starting a new business or making a large investment of time and money in a new project.

6 July – A social enterprise which operates a craft manufacturingManufacturing businesses business needs help. They can see sales falling off and are concerned to make sure that they can keep all their skilled craft and other staff employed. We plan to improve sales and marketing, as well as assessing the growth potential of their products and how to improve the profitability. We will build some contingency planning into our work so that the business can reduce its risks and their effects, just in case sales and performance do not improve.

2 July – Our work for the FoodFood businesses Business Development Advice service of the Welsh Assembly Government is picking up quickly as word spreads that funding and support are available again.  I visit an egg producer with our specialist consultant, Alex Warlow, to discuss building a new processing facility.  Having advised 15 similar projects, Alex has lots of practical advice to give our client, as well as a track record of many successful applications for food Processing and Marketing Grants (PMGs).

24 June – I am working with a client to understand demand for a major investment in his business. He knows that if he builds new facilities, customers will come to use them, but his financial backers are less confident. This really interesting piece of work is a mixture of customer satisfaction and business development. I am calling existing customers to find out more about their needs and perceptions. I am asking the same questions of potential customers and also getting to understand what it will take to get them to come to use the new facilities. Hopefully this will lead onto helping to close some major deals, and to put in place better customer relationship, sales and marketing processes.

18 June -  We helped a wholesaler start up last year, exploiting a gap in the market where national distributors are failing to serve their rural Welsh customers well.  Now, the closure of another local depot opens up a major opportunity and our client needs to recruit sales staff and invest in creating better storage facilities.  We advise on the financial implications of running at a loss until the new sales people have covered their costs.  The client had an Assembly Investment Grantassistance to present their businesses to banks and grant awarding bodies with our excellent understanding of banks and grant awarding bodies and their procedures (AIG) when he started.  Once again, he does not have enough money to do exploit the opportunity quickly and we discuss his eligibility and the application process and timescales for a smaller Local Investment Grant and an interest free loan from Pembrokeshire Lottery

10 June - An old client contacts us again about launching a new business.  He has been thinking about this for at least 5 years now.  Entrepreneurs who succeed, try, try and try again until they succeed and the effort often takes over their whole life whilst they struggle to start their business and to make it a success.  We agree that he needs to make a clear decision that he is going to put all his effort into starting his business, or recognise that he is not going to start.

2 June -  We discuss development of an innovative software product by a website and IT services business.  There may be potential for a SIF grant similar to the old SMART Cymru grant

22 May -  We are helping a client with a new product access funding from Wales Innovators Network (WIN).  This will pay 50% of the cost of professional fees.  We are not convinced that he will be wise to invest heavily in more patent protection as he already has an application pending in the UK and a European Registered Design.  Instead we design an application to support sales and marketing planning which will yield more immediate benefits.  He is also concerned about the quality of his suppliers’ products and we also include work to develop a quality management

The International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9001:2008 series describes standards for a QMS addressing the principles and processes surrounding the design, development and delivery of a general product or service

19 May -  We discuss support for a farmer looking to install a wind turbine on his farm to reduce electricity consumption.  As a dairy farmer this could give substantial savings.  He needs to go through the planning process and we suggest that a feasibility study is done first so that any obstacles can be identified, so that he can size and cost the equipment, and find out whether there really will be cost savings.  Our work can be 50% funded by FarmingFarming businesses Connect as part of his Whole Farm Plan.  We will be working with another client who is one of the very few businesses in Wales with experience of installing wind turbines so that we get the technical design and cost correct.

13 May - Yesterday’s event reminded me that the new Local Investment Fund (LIF) grant is fully operational now, providing grant fundingassistance to present their businesses to banks and grant awarding bodies with our excellent understanding of banks and grant awarding bodies and their procedures of up to £5,000 for many small capital projects which are too small to qualify for the Welsh Assembly Government’s Single Investment Fund (SIF).  We will also continue to refer small businessesSmaller businesses in Pembrokeshire to the Pembrokeshire Lottery which provides an interest free loan of up to £25,000

7 May -  One of our clients is on The Apprentice.  I usually advise against participating in these kinds of TV programmes which seem designed to humiliate the participants for public amusement, rather than bringing out how real businesses work and how they solve their problems.  We are relieved that the contenders did not choose to work with our client as this programme’s contenders are making a real mess of everything else which they are doing

30 April - We reviewed progress with the Welsh Assembly on delivering its Workforce Development Programme.  This has started really well with over 50 businesses in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire making good progress on developing their training plans.  Our support is free and most of them will be ready soon to receive up to £1,000 to subside the cost of the training recommended by our work.   Once they have good training plans and development processes in place, some of them will work with us to gain Investors In People (IIP) accreditations.  This is particularly important for businesses which need well qualified staff

22 April - Another meeting with The Welsh Assembly Government.  This time it is the launch of the FoodFood businesses Business Development Advice programme.  Again, West Wales Consulting has been selected to provide business advice to food, drink, fish and forestry businesses.  The advice we can give will be wide ranging and our specialist team will allow us to give some really technical advice on food and drink processing.  We will also be helping clients to access the new food Processing and Marketing Grants (PMG), Supply Chain Efficiency (SCE) grants, and European Fisheries Fund (EFF) grants.  The good news is that our work for eligible clients in these sectors will be 100% grant funded

20 April - Up to Aberystwyth today to meet the Welsh Assembly Government.  We deliver the FarmingFarming businesses Connect programme and the new scheme has few applicants.  We help farms to diversify and now is the time to think about doing so, when lamb prices are high and there are surplus funds available.  We agree a streamlined application process so that we can help farms access grants quickly to cover the cost of our support.  Most of our work will be 50% grant funded, and 80% for young farmers.

16 April - An entrepreneur is looking at setting up a wine import business.  We went through the mechanics of the import processes and alcohol sales legislation before focusing on the key issues:  what wines, for which customers, and how is he going to sell to them.  So often, businesses focus on production and supply.  A muc h stronger focus on the marketplace and selling to customers is needed here.

14 April - I didn’t know that impressarios still exist, but they do in Wales.  An entrepreneur has just run a successful major event with a cast of internally known performers.  Our challenge is to help him to improve the profitability of his business model, and to help him to raise enough working capitalAssisting Businesses to gain essential working capital to repeat the events on a regular basis

8 April - A landmark hotel is up for sale and a local businessman is bidding for the prime site.  We work out what his target market should be and how the hotel should be integrated with his existing bar and leisure business.  We think through marketing and cross selling opportunities, sketch out a financial planto forecast cash flow, profitability and funding requirements and look at how a refurbishment of the hotel could be funded by a bank loan and grant.  The key issue is making sure that there is a viable business casewe can help to develop a business case to meet key business requirements and that the project plans to meet key criteria for grant eligibility

6 April - A few months ago, we helped a manufacturingManufacturing businesses business do design a new product and now they’ve asked West Wales Consulting to repeat this.  This time we will make sure that we help them to undertake the product launch themselves, as well as advising them throughout the process