


Game Plans for Growth – which route is best for selling your business? MBOs

Management Buy Outs (MBOs) Key Stages
Here are the key stages of a Managemet Buy Out. Evaluation of the Management Team – Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses to determine…

How do you make your business more resilient?
How do you make your business more resilient? Here are our top tips to make your business more resilient…

Bank Tenders
Bank Business Loans and Financing. What are the lending criteria for Banks? How can you best present your business to a Bank? What are the alternatives?

Strategy – Assessing the risks of Growth
Strategy – Assessing the risks of Growth: Strategic business plans – strategic planning and advice for startup businesses from qualified finance directors

Strategic – Brexit Workshop
Brexit workshop: How will Brexit impact my business? Strategic business planning and advice for startup businesses from qualified finance directors…

Why consider Acquisitions?
Increasing the size of your business can be a significant factor in improving how others will value it. Businesses which are marginally profitable will…

How to retain Key Managers?
The loss of a key manager is always a big event in SME businesses. At the very least it will lead to short term pressure, considerable senior…

What do Buyers look for?
Companies which are seeking to grow by acquisition will be constantly looking at quite a number of ‘possible targets’ at any one time…

How do you manage Recovery?
Many businesses will sail ‘close to the wire’ on occasions as circumstances don’t always turn out as expected. However what is the difference between…

How do you Buy a Business?
All businesses need to grow their sales, so called organic growth, however many business owners may become frustrated at the length of time or the…

How could an up to date Business Plan help you?
If you don’t know where you are going how will you know when you have arrived? You may know that you need a Business Plan, or have an old plan that has…

How good is your Bank Relationship?
In a recent CBI survey of small and medium sized business managers, although only 12% have experienced a tightening in bank credit to date, a further 53%…

Could your business benefit from an MBO
A Management Buy Out (MBO) is simply the acquisition of a business by its existing management team, usually backed by external funding sources and so…

How can you protect your business from a Downturn?
With the CBI lowering its growth forecast for 2009 to just over 1%, and BDO Stoy Hayward forecasting Business Insolvencies rising by 18% next year…

Could a Merger help your Business?
In a contracting market once you have restructured your business to fit lower demand how else can you protect your business for the future? Large…

Where to Hunt for Funding?
You may be contemplating an acquisition or even considering selling your business to your Management Team via an MBO (see our earlier newsletter..

Valuing Businesses – science or art?
There are many reasons why a business valuation may be needed, including buying a business, selling a business or even organising a Management Buy Out…

Share Option Schemes – Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid
How can you align the objectives of key managers with the Business Owners agenda? Most Business Owners strive to build the value of his or her business…

Time to Seize the Moment?
With business confidence at a new low, the temptation is to put off strategic decisions. However your competitors may have been studying the market for a…

Top Deal Breakers to avoid
As Virtual or part time Finance Directors we are passionate to help make deals happen, which is why it is incredibly frustrating when deals fall down…

What is Due Diligence and why does it matter?
Understanding what Due Diligence is all about, when it is employed and what the objective is will help you be better prepared. If you are thinking of…

Why Transform your Finance Function?
vfdnet has progressed a long way since starting out in 2003 and it has been very revealing asking clients what they really value about what we do…

How to avoid Shareholder Splits?
Having business owners with shared vision and values is one thing, but ensuring that your objectives and timeframe are also in harmony is essential to…

Why measure performance?
How do you measure your business performance? Do you have finely tuned measures in place which tell you whether performance is on track? Or do you run..

Acquisitions – How could synergy gains help your business?
With business sellers expectations more moderate today than at any time over the last 6 years, Game Plans for Growth is running a series of 3 newsletters…

How can you protect your business from fraud?
This Game plans for growth we are looking at some of the typical fraud warning signs to look out for, as well as reviewing some basic strategies to…

10 reasons why you might tender your bank facilities?
“If you owe your bank £1m, you are at his mercy. If you owe him £1bn, he is at your mercy” – a quote from John Maynard Keynes in 1947, (updated for…

Top 10 Budget Blunders!
What gets measured gets done. If you don’t have a well thought through plan as to where your business is going you won’t reach your destination on time…

Top 10 Tips for Great Profit Share Schemes
There is nothing like giving your employees a share of profits to attract their attention and motivate them to helping achieve your goals. Well designed…