NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2014

SERVICES WE OFFER:

· Auditing

· Tax planning

· Due diligence

· Special investigations

· Accounting

· Registration of trusts and companies

· Management and financial advisory services

· Planning and installation of information systems

1

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Taking Stock

As 2014 draws to a close, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the year past and more

importantly the year ahead. There is no doubt that the sluggish economy, coupled

with a turbulent year of politics, has created a scenario where astute planning will

play a vital role going forward.

Here are some key areas that you should reflect on over the festive season:

1. Estate Planning - Your estate plan should be reviewed annually. Take some

time out to reflect on your wishes and make sure that your estate plan

properly reflects them.

2. Business Planning or Succession Planning - Make sure your business is on track

with your strategic intent. A three to five year view should be updated

annually.

3. Budget Review - One way to increase your bottom line is to cut unnecessary

costs. This applies to both business and personal. Spend some time reviewing

your personal or business overhead to identify where you can cut costs.

4. Tax Planning - Government Revenue is not meeting forecasts. The budget

announcements in February 2015 will in all likelyhood contain some

expenditure cuts. But, the Minister of Finance will certainly be looking for

increased revenue from the tax base .Take some time to ensure your tax

profile is as efficient as possible, and get to understand the impacts of the

forthcoming budget announcements after the budget speech.

5. New Opportunities - Do some brainstorming to look for new opportunities or

fine tune existing ideas. Create a step-by-step action plan to implement these

ideas.

These are just some key areas to reflect on. While they may seem obvious sometimes

one is just too caught up in the day-to-day affairs of life.

We are well qualified to assist you in these areas so should you require professional

assistance please do not hesitate to contact us in this regard.

2

What Are The Risks Of Growing Too Fast?

Growth is an almost universal objective among businesses. Done right, growth can

mean more sales, greater market share, and a healthier bottom line.

But those two words, "done right," cannot be overlooked.

Growth presents its own set of risk management challenges, especially in today's

environment. There are so many overseas opportunities beckon, and failure to meet

them can result in dire consequences. The most dangerous and apparent risk from

too-rapid growth is bankruptcy.

Growth brings increased spending on things like inventory, staff, and sales and

marketing, often creating a strain on cash flow. This can happen even with

profitable growth, especially if it's rapid. Firms must typically increase their working

capital to serve increasing customer demand. Funding the float between billing and

getting paid can easily result in a cash crunch during rapid growth, which can also

put a strain on the business’ ability to serve its customers. Too rapid international

growth can bring new regulatory and financial risk-management challenges.

Businesses can "hit the wall" and become less able to delight their customers. Failure

to adapt to the new level of sales can cause growth to reverse itself quickly.

Managing growth is one of the main factors in business success. Adopting the right

risk-management strategy in this area can boost your ability to deal with other risk-

management concerns, such as economic uncertainty, and people and

technology issues. These can all be managed if a company knows how to maintain

a healthy rate of growth.

Managing growth risk with a strategic plan

Having a realistic and supportable, strategic growth plan in place is extremely

important, and that applies no matter where in its lifecycle a company happens to

be. The plan should include, among other things, five critical elements:

• a clear objective with periodic goals and targets to achieve it

• a common set of facts about the business, its markets and its customers

• a set of investment alternatives and a sense of the value of investing in each

• a resource plan to align the business towards achieving specific goals

• an operating system that allows the management team to monitor and react

to changes along the way

A business that has a solid plan can control its own destiny. A business that doesn't

have a plan is banking its fate on chance.

3

3 Must - Have Customer Service Tools

When your business is small, customer service seems easy.

With not many customers to begin with, service is usually merely a matter of

delivering the product and sending the customer on their way. However, you will

eventually reach a certain point in your business, where you won't be able to

manage your customer service by yourself or by using a simple spread sheet.

Growth is a game-changer. Suddenly there are thousands of customers to deal with.

You need a strategy for handling all of the calls, tracking all of the orders, and

dealing with the people who aren't happy with their service. Failing to properly plan

out your customer service strategy now can put you out of business later.

Protect yourself with these three essential tools every start-up should use:

1. CRM Software

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software tells you what your customers

have ordered, when the purchase was made and, perhaps most importantly, the

content of the conversations that they've had with your company. This helps you,

and anyone else answering the phone or an email, to act in an informed way. You

won't be fumbling around, trying to remember what this customer bought, what

price they were quoted or when delivery was supposed to happen. Your customer

won't feel frustrated because they'll feel like they are dealing with someone who

knows what they are doing.

2. A Help Desk

A good help desk software package serves several purposes. First, you give

customers the power to learn the answers to simple questions, which frees your

customer service staff to address the complicated issues. Staff often get asked the

same questions over and over again. You can include the answers to these

questions in your help desk library.

Help desks can also help you funnel requests to the right department. It can also

create tickets for your team to follow up on.

3. Survey Software

An online survey platform can be a godsend on the day that you have to start

managing your customer service staff from a distance. Survey software will tell you

whether these staff members are treating your customers as well as you would treat

them. You can use results to make improvements in your customer service

department.

Start now!

Customer service is not the most exciting or attractive part of running a business, but

it's certainly one of the most important components of growing a successful

company. Start acquiring and using these tools now so that you can develop the

infrastructure to handle your customers as your company grows.