NO COMPANY IS immune to financial difficulty, all have their ups and downs. However these days many companies and individuals are finding it increasingly more difficult to survive and grow their business.

My business partner Tommy Murphy and I love business passionately and want to help these people to help themselves. Our goal is to remove the financial “ball and chain” from around the ankles of the business owners and let them return to doing what they are good at.

Our company ACT brings extensive experience in corporate restructuring, financial analysis, business planning and managerial development, using a team of industry specific experts, accountants and book-keepers.

Our clients are a mix of SMEs, individual and large organisations, spread across all industry sectors but our goal with each of these companies has a common thread:  business survival and business growth.

Here are some basic steps for anyone that any struggling business can take to turn things around:

1. Face up to and manage debt: The worst thing to do is to bury your head in the sand. Talk to the Financial Institutions and prepare a plan for them. In this environment, people are paralysed with fear but there’s no point in hiding from the facts. Often the burden of debt is over shadowing a viable business and a successful owner/manager.
2. Get help: Talk to someone that you trust and whose opinion you respect. Ideally a person external to the business. Being the owner/manager is the loneliest place to be but others have been through similar circumstances. When people feel vulnerable, especially men, who are not the best at talking about their problems, pride becomes an issue. But as the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved.
3. Communicate with all stakeholders: including suppliers, revenue and employees, and keep them up to date. Avoid giving any surprises. When you’re struggling this can be hard to do but people can be accommodating if communication lines remain open.
4. Use weekly rotating cashflows: Micromanagement is crucial. Update these on a weekly basis. This way you can predict what money is coming in, what commitments they have and what money is left over to settle loans.
5. Be as creative and innovative as you can: Start with one item to focus on. Refocus on the things that are in your control, rather than the things that aren’t. This can be extremely difficult when your self confidence is on the floor. Try and find passion for your business again. Look for ways to do things differently.

Sean Dunne, partner at ACT, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and has over 24 years commercial experience in a wide range of companies and in both national and international markets.

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