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!

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. 

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. 

What Does the State of the Union Mean for The Economy? - RTA Business

Tuesday 28^th January saw US President Barack Obama give his annual State of the Union address to the American people. Considering America’s role as the lynchpin of global trade, what does the State of the Union mean for the global economy?

The State of the Union speech was a tradition started by American founding father George Washington. Although it has been dropped and revived, the State of the union speech is now an American tradition. It acts to lay out the President’s agenda for the year. It acts in a similar way to the Queen’s speech at the opening of Parliament.

So what does Obama’s speech tell us about the global economy? Critics and pundits are already commenting on how Obama’s speech was one that was politically charged. It certainly was; Obama made it quite clear that he is going to bypass a Republican House of Representatives wherever he can to get his agenda passed.

This was the key overarching theme that we should be interested in. Obama has had enough of being blocked at every turn. His anger has been ignited particularly by the House’s reluctance to raise the national minimum wage.

This was the central issue as far as global economy was concerned and it played out in several ways. It is a key issue because a higher minimum wage would increase American spending power. America as the world’s largest economy is crucial to helping the global economy expand by injecting money into it. More spending by America leads to more room for business growth; strengthening economic activity around the world.

This played out directly and indirectly. Directly Obama raised the minimum wage for federally contracted workers to $10.10 an hour; a significant increase that will broaden the spending power of numerous low level government workers. It gives the American economy a cash injection.

The indirect approach was used by Obama to urge Congress to raise the national minimum wage and to urge state legislatures to do the same. He’s unlikely to get anywhere with this message with the Republican controlled House, however he could with the states. 20 of them have already done so off their own backs and with a crucial election year coming up, more may do so.

At RTA business we reckon this has a direct effect on business acquisition. A stronger global economy means more room for growth, which traditionally leads to both an expanding pool of potential buyers and rising values for business’ on sale.

UK Economic Growth Forecast on the Rise

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply raised its forecast for the rate of UK growth this week. What does this mean for the industry of business acquisition?

The IMF released its current forecast of UK growth this week and it significantly outmatched previous expectations. It has now stated that it expects the UK economy to grow by 2.4% in 2014. The previous figure suggested was 1.9%, meaning a rise in expectation of 0.5%.

This wasn’t the only figure on the forecast of UK growth the IMF released. They also released an expected figure of 2.2% for 2015, which if these figures prove correct would only be a drop of 0.2%.

Notably the organisation put global economic growth for 2014 at 3.7%, slightly higher than it has previously predicted. It also released its figures for the world’s largest economy, the US, 2.8%, which is a 0.2% improvement from the figure it quoted back in October.

The report also provided figures for two key economic areas; the Eurozone and China. The Eurozone together is predicted to grow by 1%, a significant figure considering the trouble the continent has faced over its finances in the past few years. It measured China’s economic growth at 7.5% a figure that’s expected for the world’s largest growing economy.

These figures are telling. The whole world is set to grow this year, however the rate of British economic growth is particularly strong. An article for the BBC on the subject reports a statement made by the Treasury on the news.

It said that "[The IMF] report provides further evidence that the government's long term economic plan is working." However the spokesperson also noted that the job is “not yet done” and that “the government will go on taking the difficult decisions necessary to deliver a sustainable recovery for all."

This rising confidence in the expectations of the UK market has come from several factors. Unemployment is decreasing, the manufacturing and retail industries are enjoying strong growth and inflation has fallen into line with the government’s 2% goal.

At RTA Business we see this as a sign that buyers will be much more hospitable to the idea of buying a business. After all, more economic growth means more opportunity. When you’re looking to capitalise on that opportunity, you look to see how buying a business would help you do so.

Global Economy Hits Turning Point

The World Bank has announced this week that the global economy is at a “turning point” in the face of stronger global growth forecasted for 2014. What does this mean for the industry of business acquisition?

RTA Business has learned that this week the World Bank, the overarching global banking regulator, released a report on the state of the global economy. Specifically it highlighted forecasts stating that richer countries are “turning a corner” in the wake of the damage caused by the financial crisis.

This is expected to have a knock on effect on developing economies, as strengthening western finances should facilitate stronger investment.

However the World Bank warned that growth prospects in such economies “remained vulnerable“ to the expected ramifications of the withdrawal of the economic stimulus package by the US Federal Reserve.

The stimulus package was a programme set in place by the US Federal Reserve to shore up the country’s economy in wake of the 2008 financial crisis. It involved bond-buying and aided in the development of emerging economies such as India and Brazil.

However, stronger US job growth saw months of speculation on when the scheme would be tapered back; this had ramifications on markets across the world. Now the Reserve has started scaling back its monthly bond-buying scheme, which was formerly set at $85bn (£52bn) a month. This has caused fears that it could see global interest rates rise, which could alter the flow of money in and out of emerging markets.

In an article for the BBC World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim commented on the affects this could have. He commented that "growth appears to be strengthening in both high-income and developing countries, but downside risks continue to threaten the global economic recovery."

He elaborated on this, saying that "the performance of advanced economies is gaining momentum, and this should support stronger growth in developing countries in the months ahead. Still, to accelerate poverty reduction, developing nations will need to adopt structural reforms that promote job creation, strengthen financial systems, and shore up social safety nets."

So what does this mean for the industry of business acquisition? A strengthening economy naturally means that more people will be willing to sell their businesses as prices rise. This will lead to a stronger, more robust market. These suggestions, if governments decide to set them into place, could also foster a more beneficial environment for business acquisition.

What has been clear for a while is that the world is moving out of the Great Recession and into sustained recovery. However in order to sustain this recovery we need to be cautious.

Is The Source of Retail Economic Growth Shifting?

A survey released this week suggests that the UK experienced a record amount of online shopping this Christmas. At RTA Business this has made us question whether the source of retail economic growth is shifting online.

Retail has always formed a major element of economic growth. This is one of the key reasons politicians give when they attempt to slash taxes; that more income means more spending which means more cash injected into the economy.

Furthermore this is a tactic governments and big business themselves use when attempting to shore up the economy and rescue their profit margins. Following the 2008 economic crash the government developed several schemes such as Help to Buy and the Green Deal designed to inject fresh cash into flagging markets.

Christmas is the Superbowl of shopping. The commercial nature of the season, the idea of gift giving, inspires the general public to shop. Businesses know this, and as such ad campaigns and special offers are put in place like never before.

However this last Christmas revealed some surprising details. Retail giants such as Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and Tesco sold significantly less than usual during the lucrative season. Considering that many of these large retailers make a significant portion of their profits at this time, this is a somewhat worrying conclusion.

However online sales were stronger than ever this Christmas. Overall there was a 19.2% growth in the rate of internet purchases over the Christmas season. In contrast UK retail sales rose by just 0.4% on a like-for-like basis.

In more detail; online shopping accounted for 18.6% of the total of sales not involving food in the closing month of 2013. This was an almost 2% increase from 16.5% in 2012.

The survey was conducted by the BRC and the group’s Director General Helen Dickinson spoke to the BBC on what their results could mean. She said that "this Christmas we've seen innovative retailers using click and collect and other approaches to make a virtue of both their website and their physical shops. And that's something we see growing in importance."

At RTA Business we understand the point Dickinson is making, business growth in the modern world happens online. Online sales platforms are emerging in importance; customers appreciate the convenience. It is likely that as online platforms evolve in sophistication, it could affect the very way we measure business growth.

For more information about RTA Business Consultants, visit our website or follow us on Twitter.

Tips for a Successful Sales Strategy

Here at RTA Business Consultants, we understand how important it is for companies aiming to sell goods and services to have a strong sales strategy in place. As the UK’s most successful privately owned business agency, we thought we’d bring you a few top tips to make the most of your sales plan.

·         First of all, planning is key. Start by mapping your client journey. If you can tap into the process of buying your product, you will be able to iron out any needless creases. Focus on both pre and post-sale processes, paying careful attention to how a customer might feel at each point.

·         Write down all the ways in which you can reduce cost and increase satisfaction. While you shouldn’t sacrifice your profit margin, a lower price usually means a happier customer. You don’t want to give them a reason to look at what your competitors have to offer.

·         When your sales process is in place, it’s time to think about marketing. What’s your unique selling point? How can you attract your target customers? It’s best to invest as much time as possible into your marketing plan as it is this that will (hopefully!) attract your ideal customers.

·         Be careful in assigning resources and be sure to monitor these processes on an ongoing basis. This may involve regular sales meetings or team briefing sessions to ensure everyone is up to date with the project and its progression.

·         Involve your whole team and have them complete regular records so you can stay ahead of any changes in activity.

Successful business practice doesn’t come over night, but with careful planning and monitoring, and a confident, committed team, sales growth will come!

For more information about RTA Business Consultants, visit our website or follow us on Twitter. 

Economic Growth Higher than Expected

The team at RTA Business Consultants were pleased to see that economic growth in the UK is increasing at a higher rate than previously expected. Great news all round for businesses, buyers and sellers!

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures that indicate a 0.8% increase in gross domestic product from July to September. This is a significant increase on the figures from the previous quarter. Estimated annual growth has increased from 1.5% to 1.9%, which suggests the long term economic plan for the country is working.

However, further reading of the ONS data reveals that the trade deficit has increased sharply from £6.2bn to £20.7bn in the third. November also saw a significant increase in public sector borrowing from £15.6bn to £16.5bn since last year. These figures call into question whether or not the government’s current recovery strategy is entirely sustainable.

On the other hand, unemployment has fallen to 7.6%, which is the lowest it’s been since 2009. This means there are now 30 million people in work. Similarly, the housing market has begun to revive, which in turn improved the country’s earnings on stamp duty.

Retail spending has increased by 2% since last year thanks to an increase in shoe, clothing and textile purchases. Interest rates are likely to stay at their 0.5% record low however, since inflation is currently holding steady at 2.1%, just 0.1% higher that the Bank of England’s 2% target.

While this is quite a mixed bag of figures, RTA Business Consultants are pleased to see a modicum of positive growth. For more posts like this, follow us on Twitter, and for a full range of our services, visit our website.