Welcome to the email newsletter from JFP Strategic Planning. This is the regular communication from JFP which we hope will stimulate at least one thought!

FORTHCOMING EVENT - BREAKFAST SEMINAR

19th October 2010 Seminar - Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS). We will be holding a different style of Breakfast Seminar from the norm. We will be specifically inviting the owners of SMEs to attend and not only learn some useful ideas on how to plan and implement but be shown different ways of “How to do it”. We are planning to team up with The Cranfield School of Management and Orchard Consulting to genuinely inform SMEs what they can achieve.

This will not be a “pitch” by the lecturing parties. We all feel strongly and passionately about what we do and its benefits, and we simply want to inform rather than sell! This will be JFP’s ninth annual seminar and it has always proved to be a popular event attracting 50-60 local businesses.

www.orchardconsult.co.uk/main.html                             www.jfpstrategic-planning.co.uk/

NEW CLIENTS

Since our last newsletter, we are very pleased to welcome three new clients:

• Muscari Recruitment who specialise in recruiting mid to senior level finance professionals.
• Cricket for Change a dedicated Sports Charity using cricket to change the lives of disadvantaged young people.
• MVS Ltd who provide medical management systems software.

We look forward to a successful relationship with them all.

RECENT EVENT - BREAKFAST SEMINAR

Seminar - Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) On Tuesday 13th April, over 60 delegates from local businesses attended our breakfast seminar at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, hosted jointly by JFP Strategic Planning, Avondale Group, a Reigate-based mergers and acquisitions specialist, and David Venus & Co who specialise in company law and company secretarial practice and are based in Pall Mall and Esher.

According to JFP senior partner John Fairley, who has built two companies from scratch with a combined £9million turnover: “A recession is no different from fighting a military campaign. You need clear objectives, a focused plan and the correct resources. You also need the ability to identify the opportunities that will always be there in the heat of battle. You need an effective team who know what they are doing and can identify and take advantage of the recovery opportunities. The “Recovery phase” is the same as the military “Exploitation phase” after the “Battle”. Above all you need the determination to win.” There are many military commanders and business leaders who lose or simply perform badly in the exploitation phase of a Battle or Business campaign, through poor planning and a lack of knowledge.”

RECENT EVENT - RUGBY CLUB LUNCH

On 17th April at the Richmond Athletic Ground, JFP entertained a number of clients at the London Scottish versus Blackheath match. This is the one of the oldest fixtures in rugby. It was an exciting match which ended in a draw and everyone had a very good time.

 

RECENT EVENT - TWIS : WE SPONSORED THIS VERY SUCCESSFUL NETWORKING CLUB

On 19th May, JFP sponsored the TWIS networking lunch (Third Wednesday in Slough). Sixty people came along, and it was a pleasure to see them - on the right of the photo is the winner of the champagne prize draw, Alan Ward from Bang creations, receiving his prize. For those of you who were unable to attend, we hope to see you next time we sponsor the event. This is a monthly networking event with a friendly atmosphere very conducive to developing long-term business links for owners of, and those involved in small and medium-sized businesses. 

People often want to know why businesses need to plan, so we asked all those attending to complete a simple strategic planning quiz - TRY IT YOURSELF

WHAT ACTIONS ARISE FROM A JFP PLANNING DAY?

We are often asked what type of actions arise from a JFP Planning Day. Here is an example:
ABC Limited is a recruitment company owned equally by Mr. X and Mrs. Y, who are also both Directors - turnover is circa £1 million. Six months ago, they attended a JFP Planning Day and here is what happened.

1. Strategic Plan
The Strategic Plan that was prepared helped Mr. X and Mrs Y to understand what they had to do to grow the company in a controlled and profitable manner. The Financial Projections also showed what could be achieved and the likely sales price in five years' time, should they choose to sell. With agreed goals in place, both Directors felt more IN CONTROL.

2. Cash Flow Constraints
Although invoice discounting was in place, the company was experiencing continuous cash flow constraints. A mini-Business Plan was prepared and a meeting with their Bank was arranged with a view to securing a £75k Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) loan. They were turned down. Within four weeks, another Bank was approached, AN EFG LOAN FOR £75K WAS SECURED and the new bank account was in place. The stress of reviewing the cash flow forecasts every day evaporated and such forecasts are now reviewed every month.

3. Board Meetings
Board Meetings tended to be informal, irregular and ineffective. With a JFP Partner in place, acting as a Non-Executive Director, the meetings are now held every month, last around two hours and are conducted in line with an agreed Agenda with Minutes recorded. The whole process has BROUGHT A NEEDED DISCIPLINE to the company and means deadlines are now less likely to slip.
 

4. Sales & Marketing
At the Planning Day, ABC’s Sales & Marketing had been reviewed and a number of actions were agreed as follows:
• With the help of a Marketing Consultant, ALL CORPORATE LITERATURE WAS UPDATED. This included upgrading the website, changing the colours and adding customer testimonials and case studies. Overall, ABC’s promotional material now has a consistent “look and feel”.
• A number of techniques were used to improve the ABC’s search engine ranking.
• More on-line marketing is now been undertaken.
• The activities of ABC’s competitors are now reviewed in a more structured manner.

  www.jfpstrategic-planning.co.uk/presentations/SPT_bus_Presentation95.pdf

RISK MANAGEMENT

Have you considered the risks facing your business? We can help you to explore risk potential and plan to mitigate it. Action and budgetary impact tools help prepare achievable plans. The result of the risk management exercise is an increased sense of security on both a personal and business level.

www.jfpstrategic-planning.co.uk/presentations/RMT_Presentation95.pdf

IMPROVE YOUR PROFITABILITY!

Attend a one day workshop to work through our profit improvement session. The process stimulates action and plans and budgetary implications for your business. Find out more on our website or email sp@jfpstrategic-planning.co.uk to book a one-day session.

http://www.jfpstrategic-planning.co.uk/presentations/PIT_Presentation95.pdf

USEFUL LINKS

The latest monthly summary of business conditions in the United Kingdom, as reported by the Bank's Agents is now available.

Below is a link to the document on the Bank's website.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/agentssummary/agsum10May.pdf