Insights

04/06/2020 Owners and managers of privately owned businesses are no strangers to overcoming challenges, but Covid-19 has created unprecedented issues that even the most experienced leaders are unsure how to handle. One of the most frequently asked questions in recent weeks has been, “What happens if I am suddenly unable to manage the business for a period of time? And how can I ensure business continuity during my absence?

19/03/2020 As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic is a very serious threat to the health and wellbeing of people throughout the world. The spread of the virus, as well as efforts to contain it, are now significantly impacting our daily lives. The priority must be to take all actions required to mitigate the effect of the pandemic and protect our people. We must also acknowledge the inevitable knock-on effect of major economic uncertainty, which hugely impacts privately-owned businesses.

As Millennials, or Generation Y, grow into the founders, directors and managers of today’s workplace, focus is now shifting towards the new cohort coming through: Gen Z. Born between 1995 and the early 2000s, Gen Z are either just entering employment, or starting to think about what they want from their careers. They are the future leaders for growing businesses and the race is on to attract and retain them.

In today’s complex business environment, developing a consistent approach to measuring and improving financial performance can be challenging. However, by ensuring measures are in place and in line with the business’ strategy, it can help enhance financial standing. Without sufficient transparency, important strategic decisions and respective measures are basically not possible. As they say, “you can only manage what you can measure!”

Despite the strong entrepreneurial drivers that can be a force behind many businesses, some still face challenges when it comes to achieving sustainable value.

Running a business comes with many demands, big and small, and requires focus and attention on various areas. As a result, focus can be heavily placed on the day to day tasks while the long-term planning is pushed to the side.

As an owner, selling your business is one of the most important decisions you will make. Having invested energy, time, effort and money building your business, you want to make sure that when the time comes, you receive the maximum return.

Joe Carr, Privately Owned Business Partner at Mazars, outlines the five top tips for growing your business and improving sales for sustainable success.

The Economist Intelligence Unit wrote a series of articles sponsored by Mazars focusing on five challenges facing SMEs venturing abroad for the first time. Indeed, the challenges of operating in an unfamiliar environment are daunting, but offer tremendous potential.