The Octempo:RM Blog

After the success in Manchester we have taken SME Connect on the road to Warrington. I would like to extend a personal invitation for all readers of my blog to attend an SME Connect business seminar on Wednesday 7^th October, 2009 at Warrington Business School, Winwick Road, Warrington at 2.00pm. The current recession, whether ‘V’ or ‘W’ shaped, will come to an end. The seminar theme is around coming out of recession, preparing for growth and managing the associated risks. 

The seminar, sponsored by RBS and Forshaws Davies Ridgeway LLP, will be presented by North West based experts from a number of key business areas, giving practical tips and guidance on the following topics:

Banks like lending money

Stuart Finnerty, Commercial Manager at Royal Bank of Scotland Group

www.rbs.co.uk

The secret to using marketing to help generate ACTION!

Stephen Nurdin, Head of Marketing at Kinesis

www.kinesismarketing.co.uk

 Recruitment risk and managing performance

Paul Halliwell, Commercial Manager at the Urquhart Partnership

www.upwebsite.com

Employment policy compliance and process

Sarah Evans, Senior Commercial Litigator at Forshaws Davies Ridgway LLP

www.fdrlaw.co.uk

Closing the sale

Brian Ashley, Director and Founder at Achieve Sales

www.achievesales.net

Turning effort and activity into cash

Julian Llewellyn, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Octempo:RM

www.Octempo.com

The usual cost is £75 per delegate. Attendees are restricted to Directors/Owners of SMEs employing a minimum of 5 people and an annual turnover of £1m+ (or looking at rapid growth), to ensure attendees get the most benefit from the event.  Space is limited and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Your place can be reserved by registering online at www.sme-connect.co.uk, picking the 7^th October event and entering the special booking code WBSO 12.

If you are unable to attend the 7^th October event we are also hosting two further seminars, on 24^th November (booking code WBSN 17) and 10^th February (WBSF 23). Venue and timings remain the same.

Complimentary refreshments will be served. Please arrive at 2.00pm for a 2.30pm prompt start. The event will finish with informal networking and a scheduled close of 6.00pm. I hope you will be able to make it.

Best regards,

Julian

The latest research released by Ipsos MORI, sponsored by RBS, asked a simple question of 250 SME leaders:

"What actions, if any, are you planning to take in the next few months to improve/alleviate your cash flow position?"

Surprisingly the most common answer of all (29%) was that there were no planned actions, even among those who had reported a deterioration in their cash flow situation over the previous months.

The obvious question is why? By far the most effective method of improving cash flow is through pro-active debt chasing, early in the cycle from invoice issue. The same survey also found that 80% of respondents thought active invoice chasing to be very useful, and 56% felt that running credit checks on all customers to be a valuable exercise. 

Given that such activities are proven to improve cash flow and reduce the risk of bad debt, the only conclusion to draw is that businesses are hampered from completing these tasks by a lack of resources. Many businesses perhaps do not have the necessary skills in house to deliver these improvements.

In smaller companies many roles are hybrid in nature and credit control often falls to the bottom of the pile of 'things to do'. In the current economic climate this a reckless approach. Even where an SME has a dedicated resource allocated to credit control, this becomes a single point of failure - what happens if they are off sick for a period?

One solution is to outsource the activity to a specialist. Not only will this save you money, it will also reduce your bad debt risk and improve your cash flow. You can get access to a £45k Credit Manager or a £20k collector on a 'pay as you use' basis, and you never need worry about sickness or holiday cover.    

If this sounds to good to be true I'm delighted to tell you that it isn't. At Octempo:RM we have been providing precisely this service to SME's for the last two years. So, other companies are doing it and getting an advantage over their competition in the battle for their customers' cash. Isn't it time you considered doing the same?