UK Unemployment falls - RTA Business Reports

With the news that UK unemployment has fallen to 2.16 million, RTA Business asks this week, what the current trend in employment statistics means for the savvy business owner, looking to sell their company in the current economic climate.

At RTA Business We Know Why Unemployment Numbers Matter

Here at RTA Business, we know that when you decide it’s time to part with your business, you want to receive a return on every last bit of hard work that you’ve put into your company. In order to do that, we have learned in our tenure as a business sales facilitator that if you want to receive the highest return possible, you need a favourable economic environment.

That’s why unemployment figures are key. When the unemployment rates fall, it generally means that companies are hiring; expanding to make more money. Expanding companies often look to diversify their business model, and lift their bottom lines, by buying other companies. Essentally, the lower unemployment numbers are, the more likely you are to sell your company.

An Employment Trend

The last several years have not been encouraging when it comes to unemployment numbers. The recession that hit the country due to the global economic crisis, forced companies to lay employees of in droves. At the height of the downturn, unemployment numbers were staggering.

However most financial experts agree that the UK economy is now in full-fledged recovery, partly because unemployment numbers have gradually been decreasing over the last few years. This month, the trend continues, as the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the number of people out of work fell to 2.16 million, dragging the national unemployment rate down to 6.6%. In contrast, the number of people working saw a record rise of 345,000 to hit 30.5 million; most of these people, according to the ONS, are in full time employment.

More People in Full Time Employment than Ever

David Tinsley at BNP Paribas commented on the nature of the trend to the BBC, highlighting the fact that: "The rise in employment this month is concentrated in full-time employees, not self-employment, which in the past has been used to 'talk down' the strength of the rise."

The fact that less people are unemployed since the recession, and that these people are working full time jobs, really does indicate that employers are hiring more than ever at the moment. They’re looking to expand, and we’d suggest that if you’re thinking about selling your business right now, you jump right on that!

RTA Business, Complaints Effect Businesses in These Five Ways

As part of the RTA Business complaints series this week, we want to go a little deeper into why complaints are so bad for your company.

Complaints Are Really Bad for Business

When you eventually decide that it’s time to cash up, sell your company and move on, or that you want to expand your operations by buying a new business, come to us. RTA Business are business acquisitions specialists, who ensure that you walk away with the right deal for you.

We’ve talked a lot about complaints over the past few weeks – how to avoid them, how to deal with them, why people do it etc. and we’ve told you that they’re really bad for business, especially if a potential buyer finds out about them. This week we want to go a little deeper into that.

RTA Business and the Top Five Effects of Customer Complaints

The reality is that when a customer complains about your business, it has number of ramifications that have the ability to put off a potential buyer when you decide it’s time to sell your business, including:

1)  It Damages Your Reputation: The obvious effect is that it damages your reputation because a complaint suggests you can’t deliver what you’ve promised.

2) It Costs to Deal With: Whether it’s in man hours talking the complainant down, or giving them a replacement product etc. a customer complaint will cost you money, money which you could be using to make your business more attractive to potential buyers.

3) It Encourages More People to Complain: If a dissatisfied customer discovers they aren’t the only one, they’re more likely to be willing to complain; power in numbers and all that, further damaging your reputation.

4) It Has the Potential Generates Press: If a complaint is effective enough, it could generate bad press, which makes your company look far worse to a potential buyer than a single complaint ever could. Case in point: the payday loan industry.

5) It Could Prompt a Boycott: Worse comes to worse, it could spark a campaign against you, which would combine all the previous four effects of a single complaint. Translation; you can forget making any money off the sale of your business.

Just remember, there are a number of ways that a complaint can affect your business and drive away a potential buyer so do everything you can to avoid a customer complaint!

Nestle To Pay All Contractors a Living Wage

Following on from last week’s impassioned RTA Business argument on the living wage, this week, Nestle have agreed to do so!

 RTA Business: The Business Sales Broker You Can Trust

When you decide it’s the right time to sell your business, and if you want to make sure you make as much money as humanly possible, you need to come to RTA Business. We have the expertise, the contacts and the knowledge, to make sure we can attract the best potential buyer to your business.

We’ve often found that a buyer who is looking to purchase your business to expand, factors the quality of your staff into their decision. That’s why we’ve previously argued that if you’re looking to eventually sell your business, you need to pay all your staff a living wage- it’s the most effective way to attract the best talent!

It Seems Nestle Have Been Reading Our Blog

And it seems as if one major company has been reading the RTA Business blog (ok, so they probably made their decision before we wrote the article, but a business sales broker can dream), as world’s largest food producer Nestle has announced that it will become the first major manufacturer to pay all its staff a living wage.

When it comes to this issue, Nestle is already ahead; they currently pay their 8,000 employees a living wage. However, the firm has now agreed to extend the policy to their 800 contractors. It will be fully implemented by the end of 2017.

Nestle Cares and Prospective Employees Will Like That

Fiona Kendrick, Nestle UK & Ireland chief executive, spoke out on the announcement. The BBC reported that Kendrick said: "As a major UK employer, we know that this is the right thing to do. Not only does it benefit our employees but also the communities they live and work in." 

Imagine how attractive Nestle will seem as an employment prospect in light of this. They clearly care about their employees and you’d be surprised how attractive a caring boss is as a potential boss. You can be sure that Nestle, in light of this announcement, will have its pick of the best contractors by the end of 2017. 

The moral of the story? There’s a reason a company as gigantic as Nestle have embraced the living wage, and that’s because it makes them more competitive than ever in the employment market. If you want to attract the best talent to make your business look more attractive than ever to an eventual potential buyer, take your cue from Nestle and implement the living wage. 

RTA Business Asks Whether You Should Pay Your Staff a Living Wage

RTA Business asks whether you should be paying your staff a living wage if you want to attract the best talent and sell your business for a tidy profit.

RTA Business: We Secure the Best Deal for the Sale of Your Company

When you want to reap the benefits of all your hard work by selling your business, and walk away with a tidy profit, RTA Business Consultants is here to help. We use our teams experience and skill to ensure you walk away with the best possible deal for the sale of your business.

Our experience has taught us that attracting a potential buyer is nowhere near as easy as just showing them that you’re making money. You need to show them that when they take on your company, they have everything they need to make a sustained profit.

Skilled Workers Want More Money

A company is nothing without its staff. If you don’t attract the right workers with the right skills, you’ll never advance beyond your initial business model, and never make enough profit to make your business truly lucrative. Furthermore, if you’ve got sub-par staff, a buyer will notice, and it will undoubtedly turn them off.

So how do you attract the best talent? To answer this question you need to ask yourself what kind of jobs attract quality staff. The answer; jobs that pay. If someone is skilled and they know it, they’re not going to go for the first position they find, they’re going to wait until they can get the most money for their services. That’s just human nature.

What is a Living Wage?

Naturally, this is why staff in managerial positions receive the big bucks. But at RTA Business, we would argue that you need to take this philosophy and apply it to every single worker, by paying them a living wage.

A living wage, according to the Living Wage Commission, can be defined as: "an hourly rate of income calculated according to a basic cost of living in the UK and defined as the minimum amount of money needed to enjoy a basic, but socially acceptable standard of living."

RTA Business Concludes: You Should Pay Low Level Workers a Living Wage

Basically, it’s paying someone enough to give them a decent quality of life, and we would argue that you should pay low level workers a living wage to make yourself competitive. There are so many low level positions out there, that workers are spoiled the choice. Providing a living wage will make you stand out, giving you the edge you need to attract the talent that’ll take your business to the next level. 

RTA Business’ Top Five Tips For Boosting Creativity

The best, most lucrative businesses are built on creativity, and without it, you’re never going to attract a buyer and make a tidy profit. This is why RTA Business, this week, has decided to list its top five tips for boosting creativity!

The Importance of Creativity

A business isn’t built on knuts and bolts alone. You need a product and that product has to be capable of generating a significant amount of revenue over the long term. That’s why you need to be creative. You need to have the capability to dream up a product so useful that it’s capable of attracting a sustained customer base. No easy task.

It’s doubly important if you’re looking to build up your company, only to sell it off for profit one day. A buyer won’t be interested in a firm that merely stays above water. They want to buy a business that will make them a lot of money; the more profit avenues you can dream up, the more attractive your business will be when you decide it’s time to sell.

The Creative Top Five from RTA Business

However it’s easier said than done to get creative – that’s why writers so often have writers block, it’s all about inspiration, which isn’t something you can automatically tap. However, you can help stimulate your mind along the way with these top five tips:

1      Observe the World around You: How are you ever going to dream up a new product that will sell well if you don’t know the world you’re selling it to? Observe your customer base and let them inspire you.

2      Seek out a Little Help: Other people have fresh life experiences to bring to the table that you don’t. Use that different perspective to spark your own imagination. They may know something that you don’t that makes your impractical idea work.

3       Embrace New Experiences: Get out of your comfort zone. Travel to new places, listen to music you never have before etc. If you open your mind, you never know what you may encounter that will give you that ‘profit margin changing’ idea.

4    Get Imaginative: You need to think outside the box, and to do so, you need to ask ‘what if.’ Take a scenario and ask what the wildest possible outcome could be. You’d be surprised what practical ideas often come from the wildest of situations. Take the internet as an example!

5       Be Brave: This is the best possible tip we could give you, don’t be afraid to take risks. Do you think people like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs got to where they are by playing it safe?

Reach for the Sky: RTA Business on the Art of Innovation

The amazing news that Google is attempting to build an honest to goodness self-driving car, only highlights the need for creativity and ambition in business, and this week, the RTA Business blog will explore just why you need to reach for the sky if you hope to make a substantial profit on the sale of your business.

It’s not as easy as showing a potential buyer your profit margins and waiting for them to sign on the dotted line. Buyers want to know that they can use your business to build on profit margins in the long term. If you’ve developed a lucrative, innovative product that fills a gap in the market, they’ll be biting your hand off to gain access to a veritable gold mine. This is why you need to reach for the sky.

Google: A Case Study in Ambition

Google is the perfect case study to highlight the benefits of ambition. They’ve practically constructed their entre brand through sheer ambition. Time and time again, Google have attempted the improbable, or at last the inadvisable (such as introducing Gmail in a saturated market) and they have seen success that has spurred them on to new heights.

They’ve become so popular because they find gaps in the market where they can make the most money - they find the practical opening then ambitiously shoot for the stars to fill it. The numbers back it up. Since it was first created in 1998, Google, according to Forbes, has become worth a staggering $382.47 billion.

RTA Business Asks: Will the Self Driving Car Work?

So is the self-driving car a step too far. It’s certainly an ambitious project; a car that will have a start/stop button, but no controls, steering wheel, pedals etc. If it’s possible, and that’s a big if, we at RTA Business believe that it could be Google’s next highly successful project.

Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin explained why to the BBC, stating that it aims to "improve people's lives by transforming mobility". The amount of people this could benefit is sky high – disabled people, older people, people who can’t drive, blind people etc. There’s so much potential.

This is why you need to reach for the sky if you ever hope to sell your business. Find that gap in the market and truly fill it, and you have a gold mine on your hands, a gold mine buyers will flock to acquire for a tidy sum!

OECD Revises UK Growth Forecast

The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) has revised its forecast for UK economic growth this year, upping the figure to account for a strengthening financial situation. At RTA Business, we recognise that this puts you in a stronger position when you decide it’s time to sell your business.

Various reports have suggested that business leader confidence is stronger than ever this year, due to national economic recovery and expectations that growth will return to pre-recession levels by this summer. This latest report is set to further persuade business leaders that now is the time to buy your business.

The OECD Forecast

This week the OECD released its latest forecast for UK growth, in what was an upward revision of previous estimates. In November, the Paris-based organisation claimed that in 2014 the UK economy would grow by 2.4%. Now they’re suggesting that the country’s economy will expand by 3.2%. This contrasts with an OECD average national estimate of 2.2%.

There are several factors that led to this revision of OECD growth estimates and each individually and collectively suggests an economy in full-fledged recovery. This month the services sector, which has dominated in recent quarters, rose for the 16^th straight month, sterling rose to a five and a half year peak against the dollar, and economic growth rates have continued to impress.

It’s important to note here that UK growth has outstripped forecasts for not only the US and China but every country in the G7.  Furthermore, global growth is expected to measure 3.4%.

RTA Business Comments

These figures suggest one thing - that it could be the right time to sell your business, and here’s why. First, the fact that the UK economy is set to expand this year, means that buyers should have more capital and when they have more capital coming in, they tend to want to spend that to create more – what  better way to do so than to buy your business?

Secondly, these figures should boost buyer confidence in the strength of the UK economy, meaning they’ll be surer that they’ll be able to profit from your business after they’ve bought it. Finally, these figures suggest that UK companies are in a stronger position than their foreign rivals, which further boosts business leader confidence.

At RTA Business we realise that these numbers indicate one thing- you are in a particularly strong position to sell right now.

RTA Business’ Top Five Tips For Effective Market Research

Market research is the lynchpin any successful business is based on, but it’s hard to know where to start when crafting an effective market research strategy. That’s why this week, RTABusiness Consultants thought we’d list for you these top five tips for effective market research.

You need to know your customer if you ever hope to sell your business. Not only is it the best way to actually make money (and show a buyer that your business will bump up their bottom line), but it also shows your buyer who they can target once they buy your business.

A buyer will want to know who your target consumer is, there’s no two ways about it. If you can’t show them that, they will walk away. So what do you need to know to cobble together an effective market research strategy?

A Few Tips from RTA Business

1) Be Broad: Use every avenue available to you – the more information you get, the clearer the picture of your target consumer will be. Use social media sites liberally to gather market data, as they have the capability to reach millions of people with minimal cost.

2) Open Ended Questions: Whenever you question potential consumers, do so by using open ended questions. This allows them to provide the accurate information you need to correctly identify your target market. Close ended questions often lead to gaps in information.

3) Embrace Convenience: Consumers tend to avoid answering market research surveys simply because they see it as a waste of their time, so make it convenient for them. An increasingly popular tactic is to approach consumers by smartphone, as in the modern world, smartphones are practically glued to people’s hands.

4) Political Correctness. Market research efforts have a nasty habit of offending people if questions are framed with language deemed unacceptable. This damages your overall brand. Always be conscientious of how consumers may react to market research methods.

5) Persistence Pays: Again, you’re probably not going to entice a consumer to contribute to your market research efforts on the first try, but you might on the second. Be persistent and they’ll contribute just to get rid of you!

The Benefits of a Profit Boost!

Sometimes in selling your business, milestones mean everything. When you announce major profit gains, it can make your business look so much more attractive to a potential buyer and this week RTA Business Consultants outline why.

It’s an obvious conclusion to reach isn’t it? The more profit you are making, the stronger your business, the more opportunity there is for growth. Even then, there are levels of degree when it comes to how influential profit margins are with potential buyers.

The Differing Benefits of Profit

There are two types of profit boost- gradual and spontaneous. Both have value in any strategy to attract a buyer to your business. A gradual rise in profit margins suggests a long term business model that is perfectly positioned to make money sustainably. This is an attractive to a buyer because it shows them that purchasing your company will provide them with a secure opportunity to grow their own venture.

The benefits of gradual profit rises are obvious, however the benefits of spontaneous profit boosts are not to be ignored either. A company will see a spike in profit levels usually after the introduction of a new product or service that has diversified their business.

There are benefits to this type of profit rise too, and it all relies on timing. Timing is a key issue – when is the right time to sell your business? If you put it on the market just after a profit spike, it shows buyers that now is the perfect time to buy your business and capitalise on your heightened profit capability.

LG Electronics: A Case Study

We can see how this plays out in the case of LG Electronics. The technology company recently reported a profit jump of more than a staggering 300%! Consequently net profit at LG Electronics measured 93 billion Korean Won in the first quarter of 2014. It stood at 22 billion Won the previous quarter.

Notably, this profit boost came at a time of great change for the electronics firm, as strong demand for its smartphones and TV’s were responsible for sales. Plans to expand its product range and introduce its new G3 smartphone later this year are set to keep profits high.

It’s important to remember that because of this news, LG shares rose 2.9% to 71,000 Won in Seoul this week. We see a direct correlation – a bump in profits made the company much more valuable in the blink of an eye.

If this exploration of profit margins should remind you of anything, it’s that timing is everything when you are looking to sell your company. At RTA Business we always suggest waiting for the time you can make the most money from selling your business.

We’ve hit the National Borrowing Target!

News has filtered through and been hailed by economists this week that the UK government has managed to reach its annual borrowing cut target. What benefits could this bring to those who are looking to sell their business in the current economic climate?

National borrowing rates directly affect businesses. This is because, the more the country borrows, the more prices, taxes etc. go up. This effects a company’s bottom line and weakens their position when trying to persuade a potential buyers of the benefits that said company can bring to their own bottom line.

A Victory for the Budget

It has been reported that the nation’s government borrowed a sum totalling £107.7 billion in the previous financial year. This may seem a lot, but in fact it was significantly lower the £115.1 billion borrowed by the country the year before.

So what have the government set as the target for national borrowing rates? In the budget the Chancellor suggested that for the full year, the budget deficit should measure £107.8 billion. This means that not only has the national economy narrowed the gap, but it has done so by £0.1 billion than it expected to; always good news!

Specifically, the numbers quoted on the issue by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggests that leaving out fiscal interventions, borrowing fell from £11.4 billion in March 2013 to £6.7 billion for the month this year. Furthermore February’s data was revised from £9.3 billion to £8.8 billion.

A Psychological Boost

Figures like these have both physical and mental effects for UK economic growth, and one is as important as the other. Howard Archer, chief economist at analysts Global Insight commented on the issue:

"While in reality, it made little difference whether the chancellor just hit or just missed his fiscal target for 2013-14, the fact that he did make it provides a psychological boost for the government and it may support belief that he can hit his longer-term targets."

At RTA Business, we recognise that the psychological effect this will have on buyers will help you in your quest to sell your business. It will further convince them of the sustainability of the economic recovery, which will give them more incentive to expand by buying your business.

How Can You Effectively Handle Customer Complaints?

Customers with a grudge are like a nightmare you can’t wake up from when you’re looking to sell off your business. They’re there, always looking to discredit you, and it makes it that much harder to find a buyer. How can you effectively handle customer complaints so that the problem doesn't snowball?

The customer complaint is such a delicate balancing act. If you’re too lax with them, if you don’t address their concerns, they can get angry and angry customers tend to take to social media accounts and blogging sites to vent said anger. If a potential buyer sees that, you can forget selling them your business.

However if you’re too attentive to the customer then it can be just a harmful to your business model. The customer can be too demanding and that uses up valuable time and resources that you could use to increase your profitability in other areas. So how can you avoid either conclusion?

Customer Care: A Balancing Act

It really is a balancing act and there are some steps you can take so that customer complaints don’t hit your ability to sell your business. Start by training up your staff. Let them know what to expect from customer complaints and how you would like to handle it. Run some workshops so they can get a feel for the experience.

It’s also important that you empower your staff. It’s all a self-confidence game and you need to think of it like you would parenting. Kids don’t respect weak parents who let them get their own way – they also don’t respect parents who have to shout to claw back their authority. Complainers work in the same way. Empower your staff so that they deal with customer complaints calmly and collectedly.

The next point to make is clarity. You've always got ask customers to clarify the points they are making. Mistakes are most often made when the staff member and the customer get their wires cross, and this sets the customer off. It’s such an easy problem to address as well, just encourage your staff to ask for clarification on anything they are unsure about.

The final way to effectively handle customer complaints is to make sure that your staff know how to speak to customers. Here are some tips to pass on to your staff so that they minimise the risk of offending customers:

• Be Polite: Be polite at all times, nothing makes a customer angry like an impolite staff member; it makes it look as though you don’t care about their complaint
• Be Respectful: Your staff are representing you, they are professionals and they need to act as professionals. Using slang term, address customers by nicknames, that sort of thing, implies that your staff neither respect the customer or the company they work for. It makes you look unprofessional.
• Be Nice: It may seem insignificant, but it really isn't. Warmth attracts warmth. If your member of staff is nice to talk to, if they’re open and professionally friendly, the customer is a lot more likely to feel as though they can behave in a cooperative manner to address the problem at hand.

Crafting an Effective Business Leadership Style

If you ever hope to sell your business, you need to make it attractive to potential buyers first, which means you need to show its capability for profit and expansion. One of the best ways to foster these qualities in your business is to craft an effective business leadership style. So how can you go about that?

There’s an old saying that applies here; cut off the head and the body will follow. The head of the company is vital to its success; they are its face, its decision maker, its resource provider etc. Everything falls apart if that leadership is taken away.

From this we can also argue that a business has no hope of ever becoming profitable if you don’t craft an effective leadership style. For those people who have never been in positions of leadership before, this can be a tall task. This is why RTA Business Consultants has compiled this list of top tips you can use to become an effective leader.

Delegate

No man is an island and no one can ever do it alone. This is why you need to learn how to delegate. Effective delegation proves that you trust your workforce and that you rely on them to help grow your business. It creates a more positive work environment and increases productivity.

Think About Who You Hire

In order to delegate you need to make sure you are hiring the right people. One person who fulfills the job specification is worth ten people who partially fill it. Look for people who are problem solvers and who you can work with. You can only be an effective leader if you have the right ‘tools’ to work with.

Express Yourself

One of the worst offences you can make as a boss is to present your expectations in an unclear way. It slows down productivity, lowers your profit margins and makes you look like a weak leader who isn’t capable of communication. Always be clear with what you expect from employees.

Foster Respect, Not Friendship

Whilst you want to have a good working relationship with your employees, you don’t want to get too pally with them. At the end of the day, you are the boss, and establishing a certain professional distance reminds your employees of your position within the company. If people think you are a push over, they won’t listen to you.

Open Your Ears

We can’t stress this enough, always listen! Think of it as a creative process. Your employees bring fresh experiences and perspectives to the table that you can use to expand your business. They might know something that you don’t, or they may have an insight that you haven’t considered. 

UK Productivity Is Picking Up but Has Long Way to Go

It’s been a grim few years for the UK productivity rate as the recession has hit every part of UK business, right down to the average worker’s hourly output. Good news then this week for the business community, as UK productivity rates are beginning to show signs of life again. What could this mean for you if you’re looking to sell your business soon?

Productivity refers to, literally, how productive your workers are. Productivity directly affects profit margins, which in turn affects your ability to sell your business. The recession hit productivity because it hit the resources workers had to carry out their jobs with. That’s why the recession wasn’t a great time for the business acquisition industry.

The economic recovery has been such a relief for everybody. A stronger economy means that more resources are available for workers to use to help expands the profitability of your business. However it also led to a rapid rise in the employment rate and one consequence was a sharp decline in productivity numbers.

So what are we dealing with here? This week productivity started to grow again, as the rate of output per hour grew by 0.3%. This figure highlights the fact that Britain has faced a productivity problem for years; rising employment in the wake of the financial recovery has led to a rapid decrease in productivity. However we could be clawing our way out of it.

The issue is that productivity is still 3% below 2008 levels and 21 percentage points below the average recorded for other G7 countries. The widest gap since 1992, the slight recovery of output numbers disappointed many in the finance industry and highlighted just how much work we have left to do.

The Financial Times reported Philip Rush, an economist at Nomura, commenting on what the figures mean. Rush said that “It was a small pick-up in productivity, one that disappointed even my pessimistic expectations.” In fact the economy expanded slightly faster than the rate of UK productivity and this is a problem we need to address if we wish continue to recover from the ravages of the recession.

So RTA Business Consultants asks, what does this mean for you if you are looking to sell your business? Productivity is essential to any business model, and you can’t grow your business without it. These figures show that, yes, productivity is picking up, but there’s a long way to go. If you are thinking about selling your business right now, productivity is something you need to be thinking about. 

Can You Predict a Financial Crash?

A key component in selling your business is deciding when the right time to do so is. This means you need to know when the economic climate is right to sell. Saying this, is it possible to predict a financial crash?

The 2008 financial crash was devastating; markets plunged, companies went bust, loans were called in. It’s a nightmare that we’re only now just recovering from, and most people didn’t really see it coming. It was pretty bad for business acquisition.

This was simply because nobody wanted to buy a business after the crash; everybody knew a recession was coming and that it would do them more harm than good to buy a business at that point. This is why it’s useful to be able to predict a financial crash; if you don’t then you might leave it too late to sell.

So is it possible to predict a financial crash? Not really; there are too many variables and too many opinions out there that could lead you to make a fatal misstep. However there are several steps that you can take to make yourself aware of trends that could lead to a financial crash.

To begin with, you have to keep track of markets. Obviously, the world’s economy depends on the markets. When we talk about a crash we talk about the markets crashing, so when they do, if you don’t know about it you’re going to be caught off guard, which could disadvantage you in a number of ways.

It’s also essential that you keep track of current affairs. What’s happening in the world effects market prices. For example, the current Ukraine crisis is affecting Russian stocks. Therefore if you have business dealings with Russian companies, it could affect your profit margins. It’s useful to know what the ramifications of current affairs may be ahead of time so that you can act to limit the damage.

It’s also useful to keep market bubble and bursts- when a product saturates the market and ends up losing value - in mind. Take the tech boom early last decade as an example. So many people were buying into tech that it flooded the market, no one needed it anymore and it lost value almost overnight. If you trade in a product that is part of a bubble market trend, keep track of when that bubble might burst.

At RTA Business we realise that predicting financial crashes is an inexact science at best, a nightmare at worst. However it is possible to at least recognise common trends that may lead to a market crash; it’s all about keeping yourself informed; a key principle in any business model.

What Should You Look For in an Employee?

A business is nothing without the employees on its payroll; it sinks or swims due to the people who engage in running said business. This is why it’s essential to have the best possible team running your business. So what should you be looking for in your potential employees?

When you interview for a new position it can feel as though you’re lost in a sea of applications. You’ve sifted through the CV’s and weeded out everybody who’s made a spelling mistake or obviously lied about their experience, and you’re left with a talented crop of interviewees.

With more people than ever trained to degree level or equivalent, you have a whole host of potential employees to pick from. You don’t know where to start, but you know you have to get it right if this employee is going to be an asset to your business.

This is why you should be looking for personality traits. You know what experience the applicant has, however you can only assess whether their personality will be a good fit for your company face-to-face. So what personality traits should you be looking for?

The first is obviously intelligence; however this intelligence should be tempered with common sense. You need an intelligent employee to handle the work, but with the common sense to recognise when they should take things on their own initiative.

Measure this by talking about current affairs and seeing what insights they provide. This not only allows you to measure their intelligence but their understanding of the way in which the world we live works; therefore you get a fair measure of their common sense too.

Another key trait is ambition. Ambition may eventually prompt that employee to leave your company, but it will drive them to do the best job they can whilst with you. Measure this by asking them about their future ambitions. It’s also a great measure of honesty, as this is a notoriously difficult interview question and those with less integrity are more likely to deceive.

Kindness is another personality trait that you need in an employee.  It may seem an odd one in business, but it works in relation to office dynamics. This person is going to be in your office all day, every day, and if they’re the confrontational sort, it will have an effect on office harmony; which will in turn drive down office productivity.

The interview process is one of the toughest parts of owning your own business; however it’s also essential to growing your own business and attracting buyer. At RTA Business we really do know that any company is the sum of its parts, or in this case, employees.

The Importance of a Credit Report

When it comes to selling off your business there are few things that are more important to the process than conducting a credit report. Why do you need to do this and what can it bring to a business sale?

At RTA Business Consultants, one of the country’s leading business acquisition services, we recognise that confidence is key on both sides when you are selling a business. You have to be confident that a buyer has the funds to go through with the purchase and they have to have the confidence that your business will benefit them financially.

This is why you should not only carry out a credit report on your own company, but on theirs too. A credit report is a report that you can obtain which details your credit history. It details accounts, loans, missed payments, jointly held financial agreements, publicly available financial records etc. Normally they are used to ascertain how likely a company is to uphold financial agreements.

There are several services that provide a credit report. Prices for such a service often vary, but usually it clocks in at around £15. However depending on the price the level of service you are provided varies. Look around and conduct some internet researching to find the service that most suits your needs.

It’s easy to see you would want to request a credit report for a potential buyer of your business. You are depending on the buyer to uphold their end of the bargain and a credit report tells you whether they have a history of doing so or not. It provides security and shows that they are trustworthy. It’s insurance.

However it’s not always  so easy to see why when you are selling your business you would conduct a credit report on the business itself, as you might not have a perfect credit history, which is common for small businesses as they’ve gotten started.

However you have to think about it from the buyer’s perspective. They know that no business is perfect and they don’t want to be lied to. Providing a credit report shows them the true state of the business and shows them that you re honest and that they know what they’re buying.

At RTA Business we recognise that when you are selling your business you need to be prepared. Investing in credit report means that you know what you are dealing with and how to proceed. 

How Can You Grow Your Profit Margins?

When a buyer is looking to but your business the first thing they look at is your profit margins. So how can you attract a buyer by growing your business’ profit margins?

It’s business acquisition 101. If you want someone to buy your business, you have to show them how it can benefit them. This is why they look at the profit margins; they want to see how much money they’ll be able to make from the business they are buying and the best way to do so is to see how much it is already making.

Therefore before you even think about putting your business up for sale you need to make sure that your profit margins are suitably wide. If you need a little help getting there then follow these RTA Business tips on increasing your profit margins.

The first is to diversify the leads you have on your roster. Leads are the people who have been or who have contacted the business over the course of a year. You can’t conduct a business without contacts and the more contacts you have, the greater chance there will be to seize on an opportunity to expand your profit margins. Its why people network!

You also need to conduct some analysis. You need to identify where you are making and where you are losing money. What’s your strongest asset and what’s your weakest? Where do you have room to expand? Focus your efforts on your strongest areas to increase profitability.

Also take into account the current costs of your business. Where can you streamline and make your operations more efficient. It’s important to work with balance here. Only cut costs where it is appropriate, don’t cut corners.

Also examine you and your employees’ time management. There’s a saying that ‘time is money’ and it really is the case. Where are you spending your time in concerns to business operations? Think about how much time you need to allot to each area and where excess time may be more efficiently spent.


At RTA Business we’ve seen how profit margins affect the likelihood of a buyer’s intentions to carry through a business sale. Profit margins are essential because they show how said buyer can use your business to expand their own.

The Construction Sector is Growing

If you’re in the construction business, now might be the time to sell and make a profit as this industry is booming in 2014. Why is it booming and what does it mean for buyers that would make them want to purchase your business?

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) released data this month that suggests that in the last month of 2013 the UK construction industry finally returned to growth. This growth was attributed to the increasing recovery of house building that is a result of the housing market recovery.

The ONS recorded that construction output rose by a rate of 2% in December from the month before. It fell by 4% in November. This indicates that an industry that was hit by the burst of the housing bubble pretty hard back in 2008 is experiencing growth, even if it is unsteady. Furthermore construction output in total rose 1.3% throughout 2013.

Specifically private sector house building saw a surge of 5.1% as 2013 closed. This indicated that this particular sector saw a massive jump of 21.6% from the same time a year earlier. Other areas of the sector saw growth, even if on a smaller scale.

These figures indicate that that the construction industry has finally gathered the momentum it needs to recover from the ravages of the housing bubble burst. This is because according to the ONS they indicate three consecutive quarters of growth. A phenomenon like this hasn’t been recorded in the construction industry since 2010, the height of the recession.

House building has been cited as a major reason for this revival. House building itself has been aided by government schemes such as Help to Buy, which were introduced to help first time buyers onto the property ladder. Also the holding of interest rates at 0.5% by the Bank of England is thought to have contributed to sector growth.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight has commented on what these figures mean. He said that "improving house building is particularly welcome news, given that a shortage of properties is a major factor, repeatedly putting upward pressure on UK house prices." This indicates that in order to hook in new buyers, construction is only going to increase further in 2014.

At RTA Business we see this as evidence that if you are in the construction industry it really could be the right time to sell. These figures are better than they’ve been for many successive quarters and there’s also a large capability for expansion. These are two things that lure buyers into purchasing your business. 

Eurozone Economic Momentum Gathers Pace

Reports have surfaced this month that suggest that the momentum of economic growth in the Eurozone is gathering pace. What does this mean for the UK economy and business acquisition as 2014 unfolds.

Eurostat, The EU’s office dedicated to statistics released figures last week that suggest that in particular Eurozone GDP growth is speeding up, aiding in economic recovery. These figures specifically show that the Eurozone economy experienced a growth rate of 0.3% in the final quarter of 2013.

This growth rate saw a jump from the 0.1% recorded in the previous quarter, and together they signify the longest period of economic growth since the onset of the recession, which lasted 18 months. The recession was in fact the longest period of economic contraction in the EU single currency era.

What added to this news that December alone stood at a higher rate of growth than the entire quarter. The Eurozone measured together, including the UK which has recorded stronger rates of GDP growth than most EU states, a growth rate of 0.4% in GDP for December.

However there’s a mixed message as Eurostat recorded a contraction of 0.4% for the Eurozone for the entire year. However Europe as a whole, including non-Eurozone countries recorded a total GDP growth rate of 0.1% for 2013.

Chris Williamson, chief economist of Markit was reported by the BBC to have given his thoughts on what these figures mean. He said that they indicate that “the Eurozone's recovery has moved up a gear." The Eurozone has been thought to be in recovery for the last year.

He then elaborated on what this means, saying that "not only has the pace of growth picked up to the fastest since the second quarter of 2011, but the recovery is also becoming more broad-based, encompassing core and so-called 'periphery' countries alike."

What this means is that not only is the economic recovery getting stronger, everybody is recovering. It’s not just affecting traditionally strong economies such as the UK, France and Germany. Those such as Ireland, Italy and Greece that suffered severely from the recession are recovering as well.

This all underscores the fact that the British economy is finally in sustained recovery. Not only is GDP stronger, indicating a greater flow of money that can strengthen the nation’s economic power, but the UK’s trading partners are recovering as well, providing a greater scope for business opportunity.

At RTA Business we understand the importance that the strength of the UK and EU economies has for buying businesses. The stronger the economy, the more likelihood there is of expansion, meaning the more likely you are to be able to sell your business to someone looking to expand for a profit.

2013 Sees Shop Vacancy Rate Fall

Shop vacancy rates saw a slight fall throughout the country in 2013; however these numbers vary drastically from region to region. What do the latest figures on shop vacancy rates indicate about the rising number of small retail businesses?

This month the Local Data Company (LDC) released its latest figures concerning retail store vacancy rates and these figures showed a slight fall in overall vacancy rates across the UK. However this fall has been somewhat concentrated in certain regions.

According to the LDC shop vacancy rates slipped to below 14% for the first time since July 2010, the height of the Great Recession. The rate in for December of last year stood at 13.9%, up from a high of 14.6% measured in February 2012.

Economic experts are citing an improving economy, along with collective government efforts to aid shopping activity in town centres for these positive numbers. These conditions have actually seen the national average for shop vacancy fall to 12.2%.

Despite the average some areas are still suffering heavily from shop closures. The North West recorded the worst figures, standing at 17.3%. Areas in the North West including Morecambe, Bolton and Bootle were measured as the worst in the nation.

In contrast London recorded the lowest rate of shop vacancies with the capital’s figure standing at 8.1%. Other areas in the South also saw falling shop vacancy rates.

The Guardian reported that Matthew Hopkinson, director of LDC labelled 2013 a “pivotal year” for the nations shopping districts as vacancy rates finally held steady. He also noted that it is "clear from LDC's latest report is that there is a significant and growing divide between the north of the country and the south.”

Government backed schemes centred in small town have aided in the fall of overall UK vacancy rates. Schemes such as Future High Streets Forum and revival efforts under the Portas Pilot scheme have channelled funds and resources into town centres to aid the growth of small businesses and this is what has caused the vacancy rate, alongside economic growth, to fall.

A fall in shop vacancy rates suggests by its nature a rise in the number of successful small business we are seeing on Britain’s high streets. This is no surprise, as in order for a shop to stop being vacant, it needs business to fill it; the government backed schemes were designed to foster small business activity.

At RTA Business we believe that these numbers suggest that small business growth is leading to a stronger business acquisition market. After all more small businesses and economic growth lead to larger businesses looking to expand. It’ll be interesting to see how vacancy rates continue as the year unfolds.