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!

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?

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.