Lamont Pridmore Highlights Effective Planning To Combat Financial Uncertainty

Award winning accountancy firm Lamont Pridmore has highlighted effective planning as a tool to combat financial uncertainty.

While business success rarely relies on luck, many SMEs underestimate how important planning can be to aid long term growth.

For a business to be successful and profitable, the value of planning is often understated, especially amidst current economic uncertainty and rising costs.

Graham Lamont, Chief Executive of Lamont Pridmore, is looking to raise awareness of business planning as a buffer against economic uncertainty. Graham said:

“Planning gives SMEs direction because they know where they are going, what they want to accomplish and how they intend to compete in a marketplace.”

He highlighted five areas SMEs should cast their attention: cash flow, tax efficiency, workforce development, operational resilience and succession planning.

Partner and Managing Director, Chris Lamont, agreed:

“Businesses cannot plan for the future if their cash is due to run out next week. Creating a cash flow and profit model is the absolute priority because it acts as an early warning system for crises. This means what-if scenarios can be simulated to help businesses prepare for economic downturns.”

A large part of keeping cash flow healthy is unlocking cash tied up in inefficient tax plans.

Chris warned:

“You might have a lot of cash available, but you’ll never be able to access it if you don’t use your capital allowances, optimise your income structures or effectively plan your expenses throughout the tax year.”

He shifted his attention towards areas businesses should prioritise once their cash flow plans are in place.

Chris explained: “Planning to develop the team of people around you mean staff can handle multiple roles, so businesses can weather sudden labour shortages and budget constraints.”

“Well-trained employees are more efficient and more likely to stick around, so you can boost productivity and reduce the money being spent on ongoing recruitment.”

Once businesses have established efficient operations, they should then look to remain resilient and push for growth.

Using the cash flow modelling your business has in place, steps can be taken to identify whether your business is overly reliant on a small number of clients.

Graham said:

“Having a resilient client base can allow you to plan for innovation, such as launching targeted products and services that solve specific clients’ problems.”

An important aspect of business planning that is often overlooked is the creation of succession and personal retirement plans.

Succession and retirement plans, according to Graham, help to “protect personal wealth if a business was to fail, while making sure your company survives if you were to walk away.”

“Planning ways to extract profits into retirement funds and training successors who might someday take the reins of your business can help secure your financial future.”

He concluded by urging business owners to get in touch with one of Lamont Pridmore’s experts to start planning for long-term success.

“If you want to strengthen your business against uncertainty, contact Lamont Pridmore for expert planning and tax advice.”