My six-week-old daughter is refusing to sleep. She is having a good old scream, and resolutely defying all my best efforts to help her drift off into the Land of Nod. As the minutes tick by, it strikes me that in some ways, new babies and businesses have a lot in common.
The birth (aka incorporation)
Before your company is born, you have to think up a name for your business. Just as you may not want to give your baby a name that is shared by one of your close friends or family, you will want to avoid the same pitfall for your new company. There are some restrictions when it comes to picking the name of a business and Foxley Kingham can advise you on corporate identity. We can even help you to change the name of your company should you change your mind. We can incorporate your company on your behalf and advise on structure, finances and a range of other issues that you will face.
Early days (aka settling the business)
So, you’ve picked the perfect name for your baby (or company!), and things are settling down. Having a baby is a constant learning curve and whilst it can be stressful, is also very rewarding. The same can be said of running your own business. You have issues to tackle with both businesses and babies. With a baby you ask yourself; “What is the problem? Is it wind? Hunger? Tiredness?” In these situations, you try everything and persevere to get through it.
Perseverance and imagination can also help in business. If you have a problem, you look at all your options, then try to resolve the issue. If that does not work, you try something else. And if you’re lucky, you sit there gently thumping out the problem and ‘Bam!’ The (nice warm) ‘formula’ falls straight in your lap. But as any parent or business owner knows, just as you think that you have solved a particular problem, your solution can stop working. So what do you do? This is where Foxley Kingham can help. We have a huge amount of experience and offer tailored advice and support.
Setting boundaries (aka regulatory changes)
As your baby grows up, your responsibilities expand. Suddenly your baby can crawl, walk, run, and you have to keep up! And as your company grows, there are laws and regulations that you must be aware of. For example, recent changes include auto-enrolment, confirmation statements and amendments to UK GAAP. Do you apply FRS102, 1A, or micro accounting? All this can seem confusing. At Foxley Kingham we keep up-to-date with developments and will contact you with any changes that will affect you in a significant way.
Milestones (aka business meetings)
As your child grows they need various appointments to ensure they are developing nicely. Your business also needs to be outside input in the early stages. This means meetings with the bank, accountants, customers, suppliers, and other business services.
Again, Foxley Kingham can help you through each year, or the many sleepless nights! We can offer a professional and impartial view and have a range of contacts with banks and finance companies should you require assistance.
The big check-up (aka the audit)
Just as your baby will need a medical check-up, some companies may require an audit. This is your external scrutiny, your audit, or independent examination, and you should strive to achieve an unqualified audit report and a clean bill of health. Foxley Kingham has an experienced audit team who will work with you and your staff to make this as painless a process as possible.
And finally…
Having a baby certainly has its challenges but can bring great rewards; the same can be said for running a business. There’ll be good times, there’ll be stress, but just remember; you can sell or disincorporate your business. You can’t say the same for kids!
Sam Brown is a Client Manager in Accounts & Audit.