tips to help make your business better

50 Tips To Help Improve

Your BusIness

The Top 50 Tips Provided By Irish Business Owners And Managers

INTRODUCTIONIrish business owners are an inspiration.

In Sage, we have seen our business

customers face the past four years with

determination and a business intelligence

that has seen them through some very

difficult economic times. Not only that,

but we have seen a whole new range of

businesses coming to the market that are

confident in the future. We wanted to use

this e-book to enable Irish businesses

to share their success and the steps that they have taken to

ensure the longevity of their business. It is clear that some of

them have made changes that have really helped their business.

As Sinead Hayes from Advent said when we interviewed her for

this e-book “Doing nothing is not an option, so I would say keep

trying different things – see what works and then do more of it.”

I would echo this sentiment and encourage any business owner

that is struggling to consider real and serious change in their

business. Perhaps one of these 50 tips can be the starting point

for change in your business.

As another one of our contributors, Carol Tallon of Buyers Broker

advised; “Don’t be afraid to blaze a trail. Recession levels the

playing field for businesses, the best will rise. All businesses are

relative, success is measured in the context of the market.”

Liam MullaneyCEO of Sage Ireland and Sage Technologies

50 Tips To Help Improve Your Business, sponsored by Sage 50 Accounts

Sage. Making Business Better. Call us on 1890 88 20 40 www.sage.ie

http://www.facebok.com/sageirelandofficial

http://www.linkedin.com/company/sage-ireland

http://www.twitter.com/sageireland

http://www.sage.ie/blog

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CONTeNTs

1. STRATEGY 6 - 10

2. PEOPLE 11 - 16

3. MARKETING 17 - 21

4. BUSINESS PROCESSES 22 - 25

5. FINANCE 26 - 30

INTROdUCTION 2

CONTIBUTORS 4

ABOUT SAGE 50 ACCOUNTS 5

ABOUT THE CONTIBUTORS 31 - 32

Doing nothing is not an option, so I would say keep trying different things – see what works and then do more of it.







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

CONTRIBUTORs







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

Sage 50 Accounts is Ireland’s marketing leading accounts software. It is designed to streamline all your accounting routines, reduce data entry and save you time. Sage 50 Accounts 2013 is the best release ever, and we can thank our customers for that.

We listened to over 4,000 customers who provided essential user feedback. From that information and the great ideas put forward we’ve designed the most comprehensive package to date.

Sage 50 2013 will give you much more control over your finances and will ensure that you are up to date and compliant with the very latest legislation.

From streamlined navigation to simplified language and screen layouts, we’ve made everything easier to find and use.

Sage 50 2013, the best just got a lot better.

ABOUT sAge 50 ACCOUNTs

Call us on

1890 88 20 40or try it now for free



http://www.sage.ie/sage-50-accounts







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

1sTRATegy

sTRATegy11. Write A Business Plan Every Year

For anyone starting a business, writing a business plan is a crucial first step. Writing a business plan forces you to consider your business model, your marketing strategy, and commits you to sales forecasts including a cash-flow projection. However, don’t let your business plan gather dust, it should be a living breathing document that you update regularly and every year you should write a business plan for the year ahead. We do this in Sage and it is an essential part of our planning activities for the year ahead.

Avril McArdle digital and Marketing Manager at Sage Ireland

2. Everything You Do, Make It Scalable

Every week and every day our company gets a little bit better. This can be through major initiatives like launching our Wine Club, or just a small process improvement, like improving the design of our delivery boxes to reduce breakages. Everything we do, however, must be scalable to be worth doing. That means a packing process working for 1,000 internet orders as well as it does for 10, or delivering to donegal as quickly and cost effectively as Kinsale. What works in individual cases with individual customers is ultimately worth nothing if you can’t scale that and apply the same high levels of service and customer satisfaction indefinitely.

Michael Kane Chief Taster, Curious Wines

What works in individual cases

with individual customers is

ultimately worth nothing if you

can’t scale that and apply the

same high levels of services

and customer satisfaction







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

3. Competitors Can Be An Asset, Watch Them, Know Them

While we had no direct competitors when we started, as ours was the first company in Ireland offering exclusive, nationwide sourcing, our main competitors were estate agents. Our strategy was to educate the market that estate agents work for the sellers. If buyers wish to be represented Buyers Broker could offer that service. As new direct competitors came into the market we kept in close contact, to the point where we do quite a bit of collaborative work. We have now taken over two competing firms and this principal continues to work for Buyers Broker.

Carol Tallon Managing director, Buyers Broker Ltd

4. Consider A Multi-channel Strategy

A multi-channel strategy means using a number of different channels or engagement points to reach a customer. The objective of multi-channel is to make it easy for the customer to purchase in whatever way is most appropriate for the customer. Channels may include selling online, in store, over the phone or on the go using mobile. The ability to offer multiple engagement points for customers in addition to your website has been proven to drive additional revenue for merchants in both increased sales and customer retention.

Sean Wilson Md, Sage Pay Ireland

5. The Internet Can Kill You!

When addressing the Internet, be crystal clear about who your target audience is. Avoid the trap of trying to be all things to all people. The Internet is a rigged game. It is rigged in favour of those who specialise. If you are a generalist the internet will kill you. People search specifically not generally. People choose specialists, not generalists. So when preparing a web strategy, focus ruthlessly and achieve clarity about who you are trying to reach.

Ian Dodson CEO, digital Marketing Institute

1. Strategy

1Avoid the trap of

being all things to all people







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

6. Be Strategic In Your Communication

When you are communicating internally and externally, ask yourself the question ‘Am I delivering the right message in the right way to the right person?’

By being more mindful over how you communicate, you make it more likely that you will impact others with your message. Always consider how your messages make the other person feel and not just what it will make them think. Emotions produce action. Your customers will be more likely to buy and your staff will be more likely to listen if you pay attention to how you affect their feelings with your message.

Owen Fitzpatrick Owner, Owen Fitzpatrick International

7. Include Social Media In Your PR strategy

Social media has been an exciting development for the PR and communications industry. 90% of PR briefs received at Elevate in the last six months have required some element of online and social media strategy. despite all the hype about online PR, it does not live without offline / traditional PR. Social media offers powerful new tools for PR agencies to use and the web can give great consumer insights – both good and bad. The same rules apply, define your objective, set your strategy accordingly and measure outcomes. Listen, engage and enjoy.

Emma Kelly Md, Elevate PR

8. Think Global

Ireland is a market of 3.5 million or 250,000 businesses. The global market is 7 billion, 190 million companies at a rough estimate. Most of these companies are online or are soon to be there. The same time it costs to develop the small Irish market, could be spent on developing a global market, particularly if you consider going on online (which you should). With technology and with the communication channels you now have at your disposal, it is as easy as trying to do local business. The world is a global village now.

Ron Immink Co-founder of Small Business Can and CEO of Bookbuzz

Am I delivering the right

message in the right way to the

right person?

1. Strategy







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

1. Strategy

1 9. Focus On What You Do Best

We focus on what we do best – we are not trying to be all things to all people, so if we don’t do something, we will either partner with somebody who does provide a particular product or service, or we will refer our clients directly to another company.

Sinéad Hayes Sales & Marketing Manager, Advent.

10. Make Decisions

There is true power in making decisions: where you are today is a direct reflection of the decisions you made days, months and years ago, and where you want to be tomorrow will be the direct result of the decisions you are about to make. Here are my decision-making keys:

• havearobustdecision-makingprocess,andincludethesetwo vital ingredients: belief and commitment

• aligneverydecisionyoumakewithyourgoals,milestonesandbig outcomes

• avoidmakingdecisionsbasedonfears,andfocusonmakingdecisions based on faith

• itisnormaltohavefearswhenyouaimatbigthings;donotlet these fear moments control your decisions.

Frederique Murphy CEO, Frederique Murphy Ltd.

Don’t let your business plan

gather dust, it should be a

living breatihing document that

you update regularly







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

2PeOPle

PeOPle211. Make Your Customer’s Needs The Forefront

Of Your Sales Strategy

Always have your customer’s best interests at the forefront of your thoughts. If you can understand what their business really needs, you can begin to build a long standing and loyal relationship. Good negotiation is about finding the common ground for both you and your customer and maximising the potential collaboration between both parties. If you understand their business requirements clearly, and they understand how your product or service can clearly help them, you are a long way towards a fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship.

Barry Murphy Sales Manager at Sage Ireland

12. Learn From Your Customers

Take the time to talk to your customers to understand their real needs. Observe how they use your product or service or carry out a survey of your customers to find out what they really think and then use that information to customise your service offering to meet their needs. Encourage your customers to give you feedback and be open to listening. They can tell you what is good and what needs improving but be careful about listening to what you only want to hear. A happy customer can be your best advocate. Not all comments will be positive but you learn more from an unhappy customer than from a happy one.

Nigel Pim director, Pims Business Systems

Get your culture right.

Find out who’s committed

in your organisation

and who’s not. For those that aren’t, find out

why they’re not and what

needs to change to make them

committed...







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

13. Keep Staff In The Loop

Where a business has staff employed and it gets into difficulty, it is important to engage with the employees to communicate the situation properly. Where payroll cuts need to be made it is important to look at all the options with the employees – such as reduced hours, career breaks, unpaid leave, lay off etc., – and not just the obvious choices of wage cuts and redundancy. It may be possible through communication to implement a series of changes to working conditions and methods and achieve the same or even more payroll cost reductions than the more harsh and direct redundancy.

Tom Holmes director, Ballymount Accounting

14. Nurture Your Business Culture

We’ve recently made a statement of core values that represents what Curious Wines is all about. I think above all else this says we want to be open and transparent, and committed to world class service with our customers. To state these values publicly instils a culture in our company as we grow, ensuring we actually deliver on values like service and accountability, and don’t just pay them lip service. Even though we’re small, everyone is committed and highly protective of these values, it sends out a strong message to customers, suppliers and future employees. Get your culture right. Find out who’s committed in your organisation and who’s not. For those that aren’t, find out why they’re not and what needs to change to make them committed. Only when you’ve a unified and committed company internally can you look outside to find success and growth.


15. Hire People Who Are Better Than You

The best piece of business advice I got was “don’t be afraid to hire people who are better than you are.” I liked that. Be humble and you’ll get great people on board who can maybe even teach you a thing or two along the way.

Gavin Duff Amplify Marketing

2. People

2Encourage

your customers to give you

feedback and be open to

listening... but be careful about listening to what

you only want to hear







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

16. Get Out From Behind The Desk And Get Stuck In

One of our key business strategies from the start has been “We will come to you!” We feel that the best way to gain an understanding of your business is to actually be on your premises or in your factory. Too many people in our profession have been reluctant to come out from the office and get stuck in with the client at their business. Our feeling is that the client will be much more comfortable in their own business setting and it will be easier for them to relate to us as their accountants.


17. Invest In Your People

We continuously invest in our people – we have invested heavily in training and accrediting our team and in particular our Support/Implementation Team over the past 12 months. We see training as a vital component in the development of our team.

Sinéad Hayes Sales & Marketing Manager, Advent.

18. Business Is Business, People Are People – Everything Else Is Just Vocabulary

I’ve worked across a range of industry sectors; retail, manufacturing, professional services, tech. They each have their own ‘language’. The trick has been to stay focused on the value proposition to the customer – business and people. I think one of the challenges for owners/managers in adopting new technology is the vocabulary. It can be really off-putting when people are talking about clouds and tribes and yet it’s pretty straightforward with a handy thesaurus of analogies.

Joan Mulvihill CEO, Irish Internet Association

2. People

2The best way

to gain an understanding

of your business is to actually

be on your premises or on

your factory... and get stuck in with the client at

their business.







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

19. Engage Your Team

To remain competitive and prosper in a challenging economy it is inevitable that we will need to change our business processes and ways of working.

Your co-workers can provide a great source of insights, so no matter how busy you get, a weekly update meeting with your team is a great way to access their collective ideas.

Use the team meeting it as an opportunity to celebrate success as well as ensuring everyone is engaged and aligned to your objectives and are clear on how they can contribute to the success of the business.

Krishna De Biz Growth Media

20. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Everything that you desire, wish for, dream of, everything you want is outside of your comfort zone, so you need to step out to get it. Here are the keys to stepping-out:

• accept,face,embrace,andpushthroughyourfearstobreakthrough your comfort zone,

• learnhowtoembracetheuncomfortableeverydaywithdailyactions,

• everytimeyouwillstretchoutsideofyourbox,youwillgrow(itis a never-ending process),

• ittakescouragetostepoutofyourcomfortzone,sohavesomeone to stand by your side as you do.

Your ability to move forward depends on your ability to make decisions and on your ability to step out of your comfort zone: take actions and make it happen.

Frederique Murphy CEO, Frederique Murphy Ltd.

2. People

2Your

co-workers can provide a great source

of insights, so no matter how

busy you get, a weekly update

meeting with your team is a

great way to access their

collective ideas







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

21. You Can’t Beat Experience

Over the past 10 years we have “kissed many frogs”, researched, tried & tested many products and when it comes down to awarding contracts it is this experience that wins over. Understanding what works and what doesn’t and the ability to learn from our mistakes is key to our business.

Naomi Sharpe Marketing Manager, FibreLEd Ltd

22. Recruit Fairly And According To The Law

Interviews are daunting for the person being interviewed, but can also be intimidating for the interviewer. There are currently nine grounds under Irish legislation that you may not discriminate against existing or potential employees. These are marital status, family status (children), race, religion, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation and membership of the Travelling community. As an interviewer you have to tread the line between assessing and getting to know the potential employee with ensuring you don’t ask any question that may be deemed inappropriate. Asking question directly related or indirectly related to seeking information on these nine grounds means you could immediately fail any complaint made by an unsuccessful candidate under the Irish Equality Act. The best way to protect your business is to ensure anyone involved in making hiring decisions is properly trained on how to select candidates while staying compliant.

Katie Craig Head Of People Services, Sage Ireland

2. People

2Your ability to move forward

depends on your ability to make decisions and

on your ability to step out of your

comfort zone







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

3MARkeTINg

3MARkeTINg23. Access Competitive Intelligence

A recent global study of CEO’s conducted by IBM identified that within the next three years, aside from face to face engagement, social media will be the most important way for businesses to connect with customers.

If you are looking to use social media start by being clear about what your objectives are for using social media and define how you will measure your success. Even if you are not planning to use social media at this stage, you can access useful data to help you be more effective with your marketing and customer service by evaluating the online reputation your brand, product and services on forums and social media sites.

Krishna De Biz Growth Media

24. Make Sure Calls To Action Are Clear On Your Website

A call to action is the part of a web page that solicits an action from a user, the most popular call to actions includes “buy now” and “learn more”. Ensure call to actions are prominent on your website by drawing attention with a sufficient size of message, a colour that stands out and sufficient use of white space surrounding the message. Also ensure it’s above the “fold” of the webpage, so the user doesn’t have to scroll to notice it. Effective call to actions are one of the most important elements of converting a visitor to a buyer or encouraging a user to take the next step, compelling call to actions can have a dramatic impact on sales.

Sean Wilson Md, Sage Pay Ireland

We invested in re-branding

- despite tought market

conditions, we realised

the potential cost of “doing

nothing”...







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

3. Marketing

3 25. Use Online To Build Your Business Offline

For retail, getting your store online helps but getting more foot fall to your brick and mortar business using online marketing is often forgotten. We are frequently surprised at the number of retail firms who fail to collect customer email at POS and fail to follow up with getting feedback about products purchased.

Chris Byrne Founder of Newsletter.ie

26. Use Social Media To Convey Your Brand Personality

We’ve relied on social media to promote our business and communicate with existing and prospective customers since we started in 2008. It’s an invaluable tool, not only to get your name out there and be recognised, but to listen to consumers, position your products and your messaging accordingly, and to get your brand personality across. I believe social media is most effective when it’s unfiltered and without hidden motives. Be yourself, show the world what you’re about, and listen to what people have to say.


27. Blogging Can Drive Your Business

Social media has been our greatest asset to date. It launched us into the media, with regular TV/radio/print exposure. Our blogging in particular really drove the business and helped me to find a publisher for my first book in 2011, the Irish Property Buyers Handbook. I have since had the 2012 edition published in print and digital format, together with two business e-books on Competitive Intelligence and Pre-negotiation.

Carol Tallon Managing director, Buyers Broker Ltd

Social media is an invaluable

tool, not only to get your name

out there and be recognised, but to listen to your

consumers







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

28. Show And Tell

Telling and showing people what you do is the best form of business promotion. Consider speaking at conferences, provide business education and training and become active on the networking scene. You can then demonstrate your knowledge and expertise and even your products to your audience.

John Crawley Owner, The Finance Expert

29. Get The Right Domain

If you have a business idea, but are not yet ready to go live, make sure you claim the domain name for your business as early as possible. Choosing a domain name is one of the most important branding decisions you will have to make. Whenever possible, register your company name as your main URL because it is what people enter first when searching for your website, but do some research to ensure that your URL does not infringe on any registered trademarks. You should also consider registering your product/service names as additional URLs.

Sally Tomkotowicz Marketing Manager, Register365

30. Establish A Brand For Your Business

We invested in re-branding – despite the tough market conditions, we realised the potential cost of “doing nothing” when it came to investing in our brand. This investment has been invaluable – we now have a clear, concise and consistent message that enables us articulate our unique selling points to prospective clients.

Sinéad Hayes Sales & Marketing Manager, Advent

3. Marketing

3Telling and

showing people what you do is the best form

of business promotion







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

31. Test Your Business Brand

Carefully establish your business identity and test it at each of its delivery touch points. Here are some simple questions for you to ask about your business brand. does your company image properly portray your company offering? Is your company image capable of communicating effectively to your target prospects? What does the word “Brand” mean to you and your company in terms of generating incoming business, referral business and return on marketing spend investment?

Vincent Scanlon Owner B2B Signs & B2B Print & director at Marketing Institute of Ireland

32. Invest in SEO

There are users all over the country on Google.ie who are actively seeking your brand, product or service. Capture them and convert them. Ranking well on Google is not optional, it’s a must, particularly if one of your main revenue streams is online. Be wary of agencies who will promise you a number one ranking on Google as this is not ethical. In short: invest in SEO now before it’s too late because your competitors probably are.

Gavin Duff Amplify Marketing

3. Marketing

3Within the next

three years, aside from

face to face engagement, social media

will be the most important way for businesses

to connect with customers







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

4BUsINess

PROCesses

4BUsINess PROCesses33. Optimise Your Customer Acquisition Process

Examine your customer acquisition funnel and identify any points in the process where potential customers are falling off. Perhaps you are struggling at the beginning and not getting enough customers to your website or perhaps your problem is further down the funnel. By examining your process you can identify what you need to improve.

Robert McNamara Senior Account Manager, Sage Ireland

34. Use Cloud To Enable A Mobile Workforce

In a drive for efficiencies, we have migrated many of our company processes to the Cloud. Our company database is Cloud based, and can therefore be accessed from anywhere. This means that our consultants can pull up vital information from anywhere in Ireland, or the world for that matter. We have also migrated all of our communication to the Cloud. This allows our consultants to pull up mail on their smartphones, tablets, laptops, work stations or home computers. As many of our consultants are often travelling to and from meetings, this allows transit time to become work time.

Gary Mullan Owner, Prosperity Recruitment

35. Get The Right Tools To Support Your Business Processes

We put a lot of effort into our support and finance process. Having the right tools to respond to customers quickly has helped grow our reputation for being responsive.


We have migrated all our communication

to the cloud. This allows our

consultants to pull up

mail on their smartphones,

tablets, laptops, works stations

or home computers







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

4. Business Processes

4 36. Apply Technology

Technology used to be a barrier to entry. No small company could afford investing in mainframes, software development and super computers. No longer. Cloud, open source and Moore’s Law have changed all of that. Technology is a commodity and as a result is a must have. Apply attribute listing to your business process (breaking down your process to the smallest parts possible) and see where you can apply technology and/or outsourcing. Anything that is routine can be digitized. Stick only with the core of what makes you unique, special and different. Focus on data capture and learning everything about your customers. It will cut costs, make you scalable and your work will be much more enjoyable.

Ron Immink Co-founder of Small Business Can and CEO of Bookbuzz

37. Embrace Change

Change is never easy and no one really really likes it but it’s a question of deciding to go for it, committing to the newness of it all and trusting that it will work out for you. It’s not just about buying the technology, it’s about buying into it, dedicating the time to learning new things (digital marketing, online sales for example) and sticking with it. There are so many great case studies of inventive businesses that have invested more time than money but are now realising the benefits and standing out from the competition.

Joan Mulvihill CEO, Irish Internet Association

38. Measure Your Customer Service Quality

It is up to management to lead the way and coach their team as to why giving excellent customer service is important and ensure measurement of customer service quality is part of business processes. Although you might think you are giving excellent customer care, if there is no way of recording and measuring this then you can’t really be sure or have a level from which to improve.

Michael Thompson Accounts Production Support Team Manager at Sage Ireland

word of mouth and the

maintenance of our good

reputation is of vital

importance to the continuation of our business







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

4. Business Processes

4 39. Build A Good Reputation

In our business you are only as good as what your last client says about you – word of mouth and the maintenance of our good reputation is of vital importance to the continuation of our business. The cultivation of a good reputation and the provision of a good service is of vital importance. We have found that doing someone a “good turn” will pay back at least ten fold in goodwill and referral business in the future. We have helped people that have been in trouble with the Revenue, we have helped our local school keep their books, we have helped charities – all of this work was done “pro bono”, but we do it because it builds our reputation.

Tom Holmes Ballymount Accounting

40. Build Efficiency

Is your business operating with maximum efficiency? Could one person do the job that two people are employed to do? Is there time being wasted doubling up or doing manual processes that could be automated?

We have developed our own sales methodology, which has proved successful. We have adapted our CRM system in-house to reflect the process we follow. This gives sales people a clear direction and gives management the necessary view of what’s happening. Knowing that processes are followed consistently means that it is easy to measure performance and it also means that it is easy to “tweak” something if it is not working.

Sinéad Hayes Sales & Marketing Manager, Advent

It’s not just about buying the

the technology, it’s about

buying into it, dedicating the

time to learning new things and sticking with it







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

5FINANCe

5FINANCe41. Cash Flow Is King

It’s vital that a business keeps the cash flowing throughout the good times and the bad. You need to understand how and when the cash will flow. You can do this by preparing cash flow projections to understand how your cash flows are going to change in the coming months. By doing this you can prepare in advance. You should also be trying to accelerate inflows and slow down outflows. You can do this by examining ways of converting debtors’ balances into cash by way of early payment discounts, invoicing promptly or reviewing credit terms. You can also reduce your stock levels by pricing slow moving stock at a discount. To stem outflows, investigate extending credit terms with suppliers or renegotiating a lease agreement.

David Merrigan Commercial Finance Manager, Sage Ireland

42. Volume For Vanity, Profit For Sanity

Our business is typical of one that has a relatively small number of high value customers and we are always seeking to grow our customer base. A lot of managers focus on growing the volume of their business, even at the risk of margin. If every deal does not have a value proposition on it’s own merit, you are doing the wrong deal. don’t discount to win volume.

Robert Baker Founder & CEO, Baker Security & Networks.

we added a freemium model to the business

with online payments and

our business jumped to more

than 5,000 customers in

that year alone







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

5. Finance

5 43. Compliance Is Important

It is a basic requirement of all tax payers (individuals and companies) to ensure that they are aware of the relevant tax deadlines and ensuring that they are meeting the compliance deadlines for the relevant taxes that they are registered. With the implementation of Revenues Online Service (ROS) the interaction between the tax payer and Revenua has improved considerably and it is important that both your tax agent and your business are registered for ROS. This will allow you to view your deadlines, liabilities and tax history in real-time and also allow you to receive important notifications from Revenue.

Mark Ryan director, Quintas

44. Offer Your Customers A Pricing Structure With Regular Payments

One thing I’ve felt since 2008 is that it’s becoming more difficult to keep a consistent cash flow and this is mainly due to customers/clients feeling the strain of lump sum payments. Within every proposal I set a pricing structure with regular payments, broken down by month. This helps your own cash flow and the smaller amounts are much easier to accommodate for customers.

Offering to break down payments shows a client that you are responsive, flexible and understanding. It also has a positive effect on your relationship.

Christina Giliberti Owner, CG Online Marketing

45. Do Not Accept Everything As It Is

design it as it should be, plan then implement to make it happen. For example, we could not afford the payment terms and conditions that were standard in our industry so we designed our own. New entrants to the market adopted ours, and ours then became the industry norm for buyers agents.

Carol Tallon Managing director, Buyers Broker Ltd.

It is important that both your tax agent and your business are registered for ROS. This will allow you

to view your deadlines,

liabilities and tax history in

real-time







http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

5. Finance

5If every deal

does not have a value

proposition on it’s own merit, you are doing

the wrong deal. Don’t discount to win volume

46. KCD (Keep Costs Down)

Even if a company isn’t struggling it should be in a constant root and branch analysis of costs. People forget that even in the boom years, many businesses went bust because outgoings exceeded incoming revenue.

Gary Mullan Owner, Prosperity Recruitment

47. Cut Costs At The Back-end

There has never been a better time to become leaner and more efficient. This does not mean you cut quality at the front-end, that is what customers still want. Cut costs at the back end. You would be surprised the number of non-IT companies, who end up running IT departments they don’t need, or paying external consultants to keep servers going. These costs can be cut by moving to the cloud.

Robert Baker Founder & CEO, Baker Security & Networks.

48. Make It Easy For Customers To Pay You

Too often this is an area that is least optimised in a business, often to its detriment. A few years ago we added a freemium model to the business with online payments and our business jumped to more than 5,000 customers in that year alone.








http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

5. Finance

5 49. Make Every Cent Accountable

When dealing with vendors and suppliers ask if they can make the proposed spend measureable and accountable. The same applies to businesses offering a service. Companies need to measure the benefit of their investment. data analysis and accountability need to be the heart of all communication planning as real, tangible results should be delivered from all activity.

Jason Nebenzahl Managing director, PHd Ireland

50. Engage With Creditors (especially the Revenue) As Early As Possible

It is important that where a business finds itself in difficulty over paying its creditors (to include trade suppliers, banks and Revenue etc.), that it seeks to engage and talk to the creditor(s) as soon as possible about the situation. From our experience it creates a good amount of goodwill with the creditor if this engagement is initiated first by the business in trouble rather than the creditor finding out elsewhere that there is an issue. From our experience once the initial problem is communicated to the creditor, it is usually relatively straightforward to get an agreed deferred payment arrangement with the creditor.


It is important that where a business finds itself in difficulty over paying its creditors, that it seeks to engage and talk to the creditor(s) as soon as possible about the situation







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AdventA Sage Gold Partner, started up in 2003 with a small team of five people and now employ 15 people. Advent specialises in software development services for Sage 200 Accounting Software and Sage CRM.

Amplify Search MarketingAmplify is an Irish search marketing agency owned by digitalworx Ltd, the online group of The Irish Times and was founded in in January 2011. They specialise in search marketing and help businesses effectively reach their customers through a variety of digital search touch points.

Baker Security & NetworksBaker Security & Networks was founded in 1995 and employees 15 people. They are Ireland’s largest Google Apps reseller. They have over 120 Google Apps Customers and support over 90,000 Google Apps.

Ballymount Accounting Ballymount Accounting was incorporated in June 1998 and specialises is in the provision of part time financial control to small and medium sized businesses. The company has access to specialist business services such as Auditing, Insolvency, IT and HR etc.

B2B SignsB2B Signs was established by Cork businessman Vincent Scanlon over ten years ago. B2B Signs provides a complete range of signage solutions for businesses and organisations all over Ireland.

Buyers BrokersBuyers Brokers was started in 2006 to help buyers cope with the changing market. They advise clients on current market trends, source a selection of potentially suitable properties, presenting the best to property buyers. .

CG Online MarketingCG Online Marketing; a digital support and consultancy agency based in Cork that launched in 2008, covers a range of custom services including SEO, marketing/content strategy planning, copywriting, website project management, advertising and analytics.

Curious WinesCurious Wines was founded in 2008. They import their own wines from all over the world, retailing through an innovative wine warehouse concept on Cork’s Kinsale Road and wholesaling to a range of commercial customers including bars and restaurants. After growing turnover by 25% from 2010 to 2011, they are now running 40% ahead in 2012 for the same period in 2011.

Digital Marketing InstituteThe digital Marketing Institute was founded in 2008 and has established itself as a key support to the digital Marketing sector in Ireland, offering diplomas in digital Marketing and Social Media.

Elevate PRElevate is a medium sized PR agency with a client portfolio of leading brands, organisations and owner entrepreneurs. Elevate PR was established in 2001 by Emma Kelly and currently has 11 staff.

Frederique Murphy LimitedFrederique Murphy is a mind-set strategist, who founded her business to focus on her passion: transformation! Frederique’s business acumen stems from having been a communications and change management consultant for over ten years, working on multi-million dollar programmes around the world and running a successful business.

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http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

Krishna De Krishna de is an award winning communications strategist, commentator and mentor. She guides business leaders on how to integrate digital and social media communications into their business strategy to boost their visibility, reputation and profits.

Irish Internet AssociationThe Irish Internet Association is the professional body for those conducting business via the internet from Ireland. Established in 1997, the IIA is a strong voice for over 300 member companies.

The Finance ExpertThe Finance Expert’s was started in 2003 by John Crawley after 23 years with the Ulster Bank Group (owned by RBS). They offer the services of a seasoned businessman with significant banking, business, marketing and strategy experience.

Newsletter.ieNewsletter.ie provides an online platform that makes it easy for any business to create email newsletters which get delivered. It’s free for 2,500 contacts. Newsletter.ie was started in 2002 and now has ten employees with offices in Ireland and San Francisco.

Owen FitzpatrickOwen Fitzpatrick is an author, speaker, psychologist, trainer and broadcaster. Owen was the presenter and expert of the RTE primetime show ‘Not Enough Hours’. Owen is also the co- author of ‘Choose Freedom’, an international bestseller, which has been translated into 6 languages.

PHDPHd is part of Omnicom Media Group, which is made up of PHd, OMd, M2M and a number of specialist media companies.

Pims Business SystemsPims Business Systems started in 2001 helping business prepare for the Euro and currently employs 10 People. Pims sell support and train Sage Software, specialising in maximising the benefit businesses get from Sage software.

Prosperity RecruitmentProsperity is Ireland’s only specialised digital, creative, media and marketing recruitment agency. Incorporated in 2001, they currently have a team of ten specialist consultants.

QuintasQuintas is one of Ireland’s leading accountancy firms, offering clients market leading business and personal financial solutions. Quintas are based in Cork and with a team of over 60 dedicated staff, they specialise in all areas of audit, tax, advisory and wealth management.

Register 365Register 365 offers domain names and web hosting as well as Ecommerce solutions and dIY website building tools. Register365 is part of the dada Group, an international group of companies who specialise in providing professional Internet services.

Sage PaySage Pay is Ireland’s leading multi-channel payments provider. Every year, Sage Pay processes billions of Euros worth of secure payments for its 40,000 customers and makes the process of accepting payments online, in store, over the phone, or in person simpler, faster, safer and more profitable for businesses of all sizes.

Small Business CanSmall Business Can started with a year of research and preparation and was launched in April 2009. It is now a brand in its own right, has 15,000 members with Ulster Bank confirmed as a partner for another five years.

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http://www.sage.ie

http://www.sage.ie

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