Top 5 tips for productive business meetings

Business meetings are a great way to put a face to a voice or name, and to build relationships with suppliers and clients.

But are your business meetings productive? Poor planning or meetings for meetings’ sake could all be a waste of your valuable time and end up being counter-productive in the worst-case scenario.

Here are our top 5 tips for productive business meetings:

1. Be prepared for your meeting

Always have an agenda outlined and have copies for any attendees to hand – it also helps to email them over to anyone who is coming to the meeting beforehand in case they would like to add something, or if there is something you have missed or would like to research prior to the meeting date.

2. Be certain about your objectives

Do you want to solve problems, build a relationship, sign off a deal or project, sell a company service or network?

3. Time costs money

Once you have identified your meeting objective clearly, you can set about allocating a time slot. Time is money, so have a think about how long your meeting should last and try and stick to it if you can – we all know that meetings can often over-run unnecessarily!

4. Get involved

Be aware of your involvement and contribute and lead wherever possible – at the same time, try and give attendees the chance to participate!

5. Be a host

Of course, it goes without saying that tea, coffee or soft drinks should be offered but remember that small snacks are also usually very welcome; even small acts of kindness like offering biscuits usually help forge relationships.

We speak to many small business owners who don’t value their time nearly enough – an afternoon or day away from the office can be costly and often also involve plenty of stressful catching up!

If the meeting is unproductive, this can only lead to frustration.

Follow us on Twitter @OmnitasTax to keep up to date with our latest blogs specially written with the UK SME in mind – and remember, we are always here to help advice and guide with business matters as well as offering cost-effective, professional accountancy solutions!

You can request a free of charge call-back from our website or call 01902 837 408 today!

OTS summer budget news for the UK SME

The government announced in its Summer Budget that the Office of Tax Simplification is due to review the closer alliance of National Insurance and income tax.

On the government agenda this autumn will be consultation on reforming Class 4 NICs, abolishing Class 2 NICs and simplifying NICs for the self-employed.

Taxation of SMEs will also be reviewed, with a focus on deformations between personal and business tax systems and the complexities that are faced by many small businesses in the UK.

The OTS has been in place since 2010 and will now remain on as a permanent office of HM Treasury.

It is there to advise the government on how to develop and deliver a simpler tax system, including compliance issues and provide independent advice on tax complexity issues.

Financial secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, outlined the plan in a letter to the leaders of the OTS:

“The first is a closer review of alignment of income tax and national Insurance contributions. This is an area often cited as an area of complexity for taxpayers.

“I would like the OTS to look at what the impacts, costs and benefits of closer alignment would be and to set out what the necessary steps would be to achieve closer alignment. This is a new type of review for the OTS, focusing on the issues and impacts rather than on making specific recommendations.

“The second is a review of the taxation of small companies, focusing on the distortions between the personal and business tax systems. This builds on your previous review of small business tax which focused on unincorporated small businesses.”

OTS summer budget news for the UK SME

What do you think about the OTS – will they really simply business for the UK SME? Join in the conversation on twitter @OmnitasTax or like us on Facebook!

Time, money and effort

There is a certain irony in running a small business that does not always become apparent until you actually run one: You are a limited resource and deciding priorities on where to focus your time is key to being productive.

Deciding small business priorities

You are regularly off balance. You rarely have the resources to do the job well, you are always behind in something, there is always an uncertainty to worry about and of course, it takes time, money and effort, to reduce the time, money and effort of running the business.

And its time, money and effort that are in short supply.

But understanding how to break through your current level of business and get to the next level is the most important thing any small business owner needs to learn.

Whether you want your business to remain small and simply grow in profitability or whether you want your business to grow to the next stage, the business you run will need a step change in order for it to happen.

Step change for small businesses

A step change, by definition, is one that makes a significant change.

It is when the line on the graph stops looking like a gentle incline and begins to resemble a staircase. Whether the staircase is a step up in profitability or revenue or a step down in costs, it is a discontinuous change and these changes don’t happen by themselves.

Why not share your own experiences and help someone who is currently in that cycle of uncertainty? Whether you sell a service or a product, what worked for you?

At Omni we are great believers in sharing and helping, it really is amazing what you can achieve when you don’t mind who gets the credit!

At Omni we see many business performances, and what is certain is that if you want to make a step change in your business, the first thing that you have to realise is that it may somehow involve the internet.

It may be about marketing or ecommerce. Or it may not. It could as easily be about productivity, customer happiness, new sources of goods, new type of distribution, enlarging your catchment from local to global. It could be discovering partners, new routes to market or outsourcing core activities.

In truth it could touch any part of your profit and loss statement.

Call us today to discuss your plans for the future of your business – we are here to guide and advise you to make the changes that could help take your enterprise to a whole new and exciting level!

What is a shareholders’ agreement?

A shareholders’ agreement is, as you might expect, an agreement between the shareholders of a company.
It can be between all or, in some cases, only some of the shareholders (like, for instance, the holders of a particular class of share).

Its purpose is to protect the shareholders’ investment in the company, to establish a fair relationship between the shareholders and govern how the company is run.

A shareholders’ agreement will:

• Set out the shareholders’ rights and obligations
• Regulate the sale of shares in the company
• Describe how the company is going to be run
• Provide an element of protection for minority shareholders and the company
• Define how important decisions are to be made

The shareholders’ agreement will contain specific, important and practical rules relating to the company and the relationship between the shareholders.

How will a shareholders’ agreement help me if I am a minority shareholder?

Without a shareholders’ agreement, a minority shareholder (one owning less than 50% of the shares) will on their own have little control or say in the running of the company. Indeed, the control will often rest with one or two shareholders.

Companies are generally run by majority decision and even if the articles of association include provisions that protect the minority, these can be changed via special resolution by holders of 75% of the shares.  There are laws that provide limited protection to minority shareholders but these can be costly to enforce and may not achieve the required redress.

Protecting your rights as a minority shareholder

Being a minority shareholder and having a shareholders’ agreement that includes the requirement for all shareholders to approve certain decisions ensures that you have a say in the important decisions that impact the company.

This could be decisions on the issue of new shares, appointment or removal of directors, taking on new borrowings or changing the main trade.  However, if the shareholders’ agreement requires all decision to be unanimous this could cause problems and ultimately prevent your company carrying out its business.

As a minority shareholder, you may want a provision included that if someone is willing to buy the shares of a majority shareholder, that shareholder can only sell the shares if the same offer is made to all shareholders including you as a minority shareholder. This is often referred to as a “tag along” provision. This should then ensure that you receive the same return on your investment as the other shareholders.

How will a shareholders’ agreement help a majority shareholder?

If, as the majority shareholder, you want to sell your shares but a minority shareholder is unwilling to agree then including a provision forcing that shareholder to sell their shares is important.

This is often referred to as a “drag along” provision.  This will then allow you to realise your investment at a time and price that you feel is appropriate.  Obviously the price and other payments for the sale will need to be fair for all shareholders, including the minority shareholders.

In addition you would want to prevent minority shareholders passing on confidential company information to competitors or setting up rival businesses, each of which can be included as a provision within a shareholders’ agreement.

Another concern is where one of your fellow shareholders could transfer their shares to anyone.  This could cause problems for you and the other shareholders, especially if the sale is to a competitor or someone else you do not want involved with the company.

Conversely, however, to force an unhappy shareholder to stay may cause more problems than having a new unknown shareholder who is interested in the company being successful.  You and your fellow shareholders need to get on with each other for the business to thrive.  To overcome these problems, shareholders’ agreements will often include rules around share sales and transfers – who shares can be transferred to, on what terms and at what price.

In our blog tomorrow, we will discuss when the best time is to put a share agreement in place. In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your situation in more detail, request a free of charge call back from our website or click here and we will contact you by return.

Do you need a shareholder agreement?

When setting up a company with family or friends it is easy to assume that nothing can go wrong in the future.

You might assume that - as you trust one another - you do not need to put in place something like a shareholders’ agreement. 

In fact, you might think that asking for a shareholders’ agreement will make it sound like you don’t trust or respect your new business partners.

Hopefully, nothing will go wrong in the future – after all, nobody sets out expecting it to! However, even family members and best friends fall out and, unforeseen circumstances can occur.

If the worst should happen, you could then end up with nothing. Or you might face the breakdown of a friendship alongside a costly and acrimonious legal dispute related to the business.

Why do you need a shareholders’ agreement?

Although the company’s articles of association will help to some extent, a fully considered and well drafted shareholders’ agreement can act as a safeguard and give you and your fellow shareholders more protection against these types of scenario.

Although some people with a shareholders’ agreement will never need to rely on its terms, there will be many more cases where shareholders wish they had taken the time to put a proper agreement in place.

If you are going into business with others and are looking for confidence about your future relationships with them, you should carefully consider putting a shareholders’ agreement in place to protect both the business enterprise and your own investment in the company.

Our next blog will explain what a shareholder agreement is – in the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your situation in more detail, request a free of charge call back from our website or click here and we will contact you by return.

EU accounting directive could be threat to UK economy

A radical new accounting regime set to shake-up the UK's small business reporting landscape could pose a risk to the British economy as an unplanned by-product of an attempt to slash red tape.

That's the stark warning from Nigel Sleigh-Johnson, the ICAEW's Financial Reporting Faculty head, as the government publishes its final recommendations on how the new EU Accounting Directive will be implemented in the UK.

Sleigh-Johnson said;

"Only time will tell whether the reduction in the information required in small company accounts is a sensible reduction in red tape or a source of risk to the UK economy.

“ICAEW for one has persistently warned against the potential risk that over-simplifying reporting requirements can have on the ability of small companies to secure credit."

What are EU Accounting Directive recommendations?

Under the BIS proposals, set to be enshrined in company law by July 2015 and become effective for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2016, the most profound changes relate to small businesses.

A legal restriction will be placed on the amount of information required in small company accounts, while small businesses will be denied the option to file so-called abbreviated accounts at Companies House. But they may be allowed to both prepare and file a new simplified form of ‘abridged' 

accounts.

Accounting thresholds for SMEs due to rise

Accounting thresholds for small companies are also due to rise, meaning more businesses will have access to the simplified reporting regime.

Sleigh Johnson said he was encouraged that BIS had listened to some of its key concerns, especially that access to the proposed abridged accounts regime for small companies will be restricted to companies that have secured shareholder buy-in first.

But he expressed disappointment that the introduction of the new accounting regime for small companies, especially at an EU level "has overall been an exercise in damage limitation rather than one of well-considered, proportionate simplification, and that subsequently the time available for debate about UK implementation has been so restricted".

Small businesses, their advisers and lenders would be well advised to prepare for implementation of the new accounting regime, irrespective of the outcome, he added.

The Financial Reporting Council is expected to consult shortly on detailed proposals for revised accounting standards for small and micro companies, also due to come into force on 1 January 2016.

Have your say about the EU Accounting Directive proposals on Twitter @OmnitasTax or Facebook. Omni Chartered Accountants are here to help guide you and provide affordable accounting solutions for your company – contact us now or of course, you can request a free of charge call back.