Other Services
In this section:
- General Commercial Advice
- Raising Funds
- Business Valuations
- Purchase or Sale of a Business
- New Start Ups
General Commercial Advice
Any business owner will tell you that running a company isn't easy. There's a lot of pressure involved - after all, the decisions you make can affect people's livelihoods.
So when things are difficult, who can you turn to for seasoned advice and support?
The answer is simple. As your accountants, Jones Harris are in the best position to offer financial advice and help you to develop business strategies that work for you. Our years of experience have shown us in no uncertain terms what does and doesn't work in various businesses. In fact, we talk to over 1200 businesses a year, so no matter how horrendous a situation may seem to you, you'd be hard pressed to shock us.
We'll help you to understand the problems facing you, and highlight a solution. This may be available in-house, or we may refer you to our tried and trusted network of specialist contacts. Even if we can't offer a solution directly, we're always here to act as a sounding board, or to suggest ideas and recommendations. In the cut-throat world of business, sometimes you just need someone to talk to.
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Raising Funds
Picture the scene - your hard work is paying off, your company is a success, and you're setting your sights ever higher. But in order to take that crucial next step and expand, you need an injection of cash, some extra funding to give you a leg-up. What do you do?
Simple, really. You ask us. Whether you're looking to expand, or to reorganise your existing borrowings, it's worth meeting with us. We'll explain the pros and cons of each available funding source, recommend the most appropriate one, and help you to secure it.
Funding might come in the form of an overdraft, bank loan, personal or commercial mortgage, factoring system, grant, or any combination of these, as well as many other options. Some of these are covered on our factsheet. Our extensive experience of helping companies to organise their finances, not to mention our long-established relationships with banks and other lenders, increases the odds of you securing the funding you need.
Your funding application is hugely important; if you need us to, we can prepare business plans and projections to support it. The amount of involvement we have in your application is entirely up to you; if you're happy with an initial review, that's fine, but if you'd prefer us to provide a full proposal and negotiate with your lenders, we can do that too. It's your funding, after all, so we'll do our best to help you get it.
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Business Valuations
At some point, you might want to know just how much your company is worth. Perhaps it's just curiosity, or narcissism, but it might also be for a legitimate business reason - you might be considering selling up, for example, or planning your retirement.
Whatever the reason, the experienced and knowledgeable staff at Jones Harris can prepare detailed valuation reports and recommend ways in which the valuation can be improved. It's your company, and you've worked hard to build it up, so you really ought to make the most of it.
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Purchase or Sale of a Business
If you're considering buying or selling a business, it's worth talking to us first. We'll let you know the tax implications of the transaction, the best ways to structure it, and advise you of any improvements which could be made.
As well as all this, we'll flag up any areas of the proposed transaction which concern us. If you're looking to purchase a business, this might involve negotiating a reduction in the price; if you're selling, our involvement might end up getting you more profit for your company. We'll liaise with bankers, accountants and solicitors throughout, saving you a string of time-consuming, confusing and jargon-laden phone calls and meetings. More profit, less jargon - sounds good, doesn't it?
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New Start Ups
Starting a business... isn't it exciting? It's also a bit scary though, so you might need someone to show you the way as you take those first tentative steps. Even at the formative stage, Jones Harris can play a pivotal role in the life of your business. Here's how...
Fine, so you've got an idea for a company, but will it really work? You may well be too close to it to be objective, and that's where we come in. Our honest, independent opinion on your proposed business plan gives you a chance to evaluate just how possible it is for your venture to be a success. Even if you've already made extensive plans about the business structure and where your funding is coming from, it's best to bounce ideas off somebody before you get your business on its feet.
As well as evaluating your business plan, we can provide you with specialist support and training (some of which will come through our sister company, Business Support), and take care of many of the time-consuming basics. These are as diverse as registering with the Inland Revenue and Contributions Agency, setting up a PAYE scheme for employees, registering for VAT if you need it, and clarifying the accounting and compliance issues that come as standard when you're running a business. It sounds daunting, and it's easy to miss something important, but with our help you'll be up and running before you know it.
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