Types of Business Finance – Grant Finance

Whether your business is small and new or large and established you will need adequate finance for the majority of projects, purchases and expansions you’re your business makes.

Obtaining the necessary cash to get your business off the ground can be a challenge and few new companies are able to finance themselves on cashflow alone and therefore need to consider gaining finance from other external sources. There are many of these external sources who will be willing to provide you with this start up finance, a few examples of these are stated below:

• Bank loans
• Business angels
• Venture capitalists
• Overdrafts
• Credit cards
• Friends and family

These are just a few examples of some of the places that business start-up finance is available from; however there is another source of business finance available that many people often seem to forget, this is grant finance. Business Grants can however take several months to process so you should always add extra time to your planning so that you get a decision on your grant application before the project is due to start.

A lot of start up companies and small businesses are often put off the idea of applying for a business grant to help them with their finances and because of this many of these businesses are missing out on a great opportunity to gain extra cash for there business; cash that doesn’t need to be paid back.

Few, if any new companies can finance themselves on cashflow alone and therefore need to consider raising finance from other external sources. If your business needs extra cashflow for a specific project or purpose then a business grant could be exactly what you need. This is because business grants are only awarded for specific aspects. So what exactly is a business grant? A business grant is when an organisation or authority gives a sum of money to your business to help you succeed in a particular project these business grants are mainly awarded by the Government at both a local and national level as well as by smaller bodies such as The Princes Trust or The Arts Council.

When you are applying for a business grant there are certain things that you should keep in mind such as a detailed description of the project, an explanation of the potential benefits of the project, a detailed work plan, details of your own experience and if possible a business plan. All of these will help you with your application process and help you to get closer to that business grant that you want.

If you are successful in your grant application the money that you receive is none repayable and you won’t have to pay any interest for it either; however you will need to carry out a significant amount of hard work if you want to stand a chance of obtaining a grant. These grants are also limited so the competition that you will face for them is intense.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, experts in all aspects of Business Finance and Business Grants.

What does your Business Plan need to include?

Your business plan is a document that needs to be accurate and realistic. Your plan will detail everything that your business does, where is stands now, what you hope to achieve with your business, your target market, your unique selling point and all of your financial forecasts for your business. These are just a few of the aspects that you should cover within your business plan so that whoever is reading it can gain a clear understanding of everything that your business is and everything that your business focuses on.

A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about your organisation.

Business plans are decision-making tools. There is no fixed content for a business plan. Rather the content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and audience. A business plan should contain whatever information is needed to decide whether or not to pursue a business goal.

You also need to ensure that your business plan is up-dated on a regular basis as it is a living document, you need to make sure that when something changes within your business that it is documented within your business plan. This will allow you to keep track of your businesses development and will ensure that you know what is happening in your business from start to finish.

Preparing a business plan draws on a wide range of knowledge from many different business disciplines: finance, human resource management, intellectual property management, supply chain management, operations management, and marketing, among others. It can be helpful to view the business plan as a collection of sub-plans, one for each of the main business disciplines.

Within your business plan you should define your business position and your market. You need to outline your competitors and include any market research that you have conducted. You should be fully aware of your marketplace and understand the trends that happen within it. It is also a good idea to know what your competitor’s advantages and disadvantages are and then compare these to your own.

You need to think wisely about how to go about writing your business plan and ensure that you have covered all of the topics that you need to address within your plan. As well as this you should also consider the presentation of your business plan. You need to make sure that your plan is legible and wrote in an email friendly format so that if you do have to email your plan you can do. A cover and content page is also a good idea for your plan, which should include page numbers and section numbers. Once you have wrote your plan you should get at least two people to read through it to make sure that they understand it whilst checking the grammar and spelling.

Your business plan may seem like a complicated task but when you think about it, it is mainly common sense, just take your time with writing it and you will be fine.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, specialists in all aspects of writing and preparing Business Plans.

How to write a Business Plan

A business plan is essential to your business and must be realistic. It is a written statement of intent that describes your business, its objectives, strategies, market and financial forecasts.

Many people only see a business plan as a way of securing external finance for their business when in fact it should be used for so much more. There are so many benefits that a business plan can bring to your business, such as securing external finance but also for more personal business reasons such as helping you to spot potential pitfalls before they happen within your business, structuring the financial side of your business efficiently and focusing your development efforts as well as working as a measure of success within your business.

As well as helping you in many areas of your business your business plan is also wrote for a variety of potential audiences. There are many people that may want to look at your business plan; banks, investors, grant providers, anyone interested in buying your business and potential partners make up just a few of the people who may wish to see your business plan. It is because of this that you need to ensure that you outline everything about your business in a clear and simple manner. Remember the person who is reading your plan may not understand your business and the products, services or processes that your business is offering, due to this fact it is important to try and avoid using jargon and it is also a good idea to get someone who isn’t involved in your business, for example a friend or family member to read through sections of your business plan to make sure that they understand what your business is about and what it hopes to achieve.

Within your business plan you need to set out your vision for your new business, this includes who you are, what you do, what you have to offer and the market you want to address. You also need to include an overview of your business as well as describing your products or services. Some of the key areas of your business that you need to include are:

Your market, which includes its size, historical data about its development and key current issues
Your target customer base such as who they are and how you know they will be interested in your products or services
Your competitors including who they are, how they work and the share of the market they hold
The future, including anticipated changes in the market and how you expect your business and your competitors to react to them

Although your business plan needs to be used for more than financial forecasts, it is this area that remains the biggest within your business plan. In this section you need to translate what you’ve said about your business into numbers.

Your business plan needs to cover the next three years of your business but the first 12 months should contain the most detail.

If you are hoping to start up your own business it is essential that you start work on your business plan straight away to give yourself the best possible start.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, experts in all aspects of Business Plans.

Business Finance – Gaining a Business Grant

Every new business needs finance when they are first starting up. You will need to buy equipment and your workplace will need to be set up as well as all of your marketing costs being sorted out but it doesn’t just stop here; when you are officially set up and your business starts making money you will need to cover all of your businesses bills and your staffs wages.

When it comes to finance needed to establish your business there are a number of options available to you. One of these options is grant finance. So what exactly is this grant finance? Grant finance is some of the money that is given to individuals or businesses for a specific project or purpose.

Grant finance however only covers part of the cost involved in your business project but the money that is given to you doesn’t need to be paid back. Grants are given to businesses to help with specific aspects of business development and they are available from a wide range of sources such as the Government, European Union and regional development agencies. These business grants are only given to businesses for a specific reason and there are a number of factors that may affect whether you are able to gain a grant such as your business activity or your specific business industry sector, some are also linked to certain geographical areas, which are in need of economic regeneration.

Business grants are notoriously hard to gain and there are only a certain amount that are available to businesses every year so the competition for these business grants is strong, which is why if you are hoping to gain one you need to clearly outline what the grant will be used for and how it will benefit your business as well as how it will benefit your local community. You will also need to clearly show that the specific project you want the money for hasn’t already started to take place and that you are able to put the rest of the money needed for your specific project to the grant money because, as mentioned earlier, a business grant only covers part of the money needed for a specific project.

A business grant will cover between 15% to 50% of the total costs involved in your business project so you will need to get hold of the rest of the money. If you gain a business grant when you don’t have the other half of the money available or you have already started the business project then you will be made to pay the grant back in full as you are breaking the terms of your business grant.

If you are hoping to make an application for a business grant then you need to make sure that you check what grants are available. Also there are a few factors that could affect you gaining a business grant such as the size of your business. Some grant providers will only give you access to a grant if your business is a small to medium business, ideally with less than 250 employees. As well as the size of your business you also have to think about your industry sector. This is because funding can often be limited and subject to restrictions in certain sectors, which are defined by the European Commission. Other restrictions include the location of your business and the purpose of your grant.

If you are going to apply for a business grant it is advised that you make your application well in advance of when your grant is needed as the applications can often take a while to process.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, experts in all aspects of Grant Finance.

What is Asset Management and how will it benefit your business?

Asset management is the professional management of various securities such as shares and bonds etc as well as assets like real estate; its purpose is to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of the investors. These investors may be institutions, for example insurance companies, pension funds or large corporations to name just a few. They may also be private investors.

The term asset management is often used to refer to the investment management of collective investments, whilst the more generic fund management may refer to all forms of institutional investment as well as investment management for private investors. Investment managers who specialise in advisory or discretionary management on behalf of (normally wealthy) private investors may often refer to their services as wealth management or portfolio management often within the context of "private banking".

Asset management refers to the management of physical assets, including their selection, maintenance, inspection and renewal. Asset management, however, often gets confused with financial asset management. In business terms asset management involves maintaining details of a companies assets; so what exactly are these assets? They are anything within the business, for example PC’s, machine tools and desks and chairs are all classed as a businesses assets. The job of asset management is to keep a track of these assets.

The idea of asset management is one that has actually been around a while but it is only in more recent years that the idea has really took off and actually got anywhere. It is only in the past few years that asset management has been recognised as being important in business.

Asset management is important to businesses as it plays a key role in determining the operational performance and profitability of industries that operate assets as part of their core business. Asset Management is the art and science of making the right decisions and optimising these processes.

Asset management makes it easier and more efficient to manage the assets owned by the company or the individual and looks into ways of investing these assets for added returns. Collective investment schemes, pension funds, private banking and wealth management are some of the ways which handle assets that make asset management more efficient and increase your assets.

I highly recommend that asset management is looked into more and that you adapt the concept to fit your own business as it will benefit you. Still not convinced? Just look at all the information available surrounding asset management and you will soon change your mind!

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, specialists in all aspects of Asset Management.

The advantage to good Cash Flow Management

Cash is what enables a business to survive and grow and it is what indicates that a business is healthy. Without cash your business won’t go anywhere. Your business would survive without sales for a while but if it doesn’t have cash behind it you can safely say it is doomed from the start.

In order to keep your business from failing you need to have good cash flow management. You need to keep track of all your business incomings and outgoings and one way of doing this is to choose a good accountant. By doing this it will save you and your business time and money. When you are choosing an accountant you should keep considerations such as the following in mind:

• Whether you feel comfortable and at ease talking to the accountant about the business and any problems you may have
• Getting advice on the best accounting and payroll systems to use
• Are you comfortable with keeping your accountant informed of any changes to your business to ensure you get the best, most up-to-date advice?
• Regularly compare costs to ensure you are getting value for money

Another way of achieving good cash flow management is through the process of monitoring, analysing and adjusting your businesses cash flow. In order to do this you need to perform a cash flow analysis on a regular basis in order to stop cash flow problems from happening.

Cash flow management is essential to keep organisations in business and to help you maintain your cash flow management you should perform what is known as cash flow forecasting. By forecasting the cash flow of your business you are able to predict peaks and falls within your cash flow and it also comes as a help to you if you ever need to approach a bank concerning your finances. This is because many banks require forecasts before they will consider giving you a loan. When you are undertaking cash flow forecasting it is important that you have two cash flow forecasts; one that covers the next twelve months and another showing the actual figures for the past twelve months.

By maintaining the cash flow to your business it allows you to identify the sources and amount of cash that is coming into your business as well as where your money is going and the amount of money that is going to all the different places.

The purpose of good cash flow management is to provide a business owner with projected figures that were calculated to ensure the survival of a business and to achieve business targets.

So what are some of the most important aspects of cash flow management? For small businesses the most important aspect of cash flow management is avoiding extended cash shortages, which is often caused by having too much of a gap between cash flowing in and out of a business. You won't be able to stay in business if you can't pay your bills for any extended length of time.

Cash flow management is key to ensuing that your business succeeds where many other businesses have failed so get a grip on your finances today and get your cash flow management off the ground and in full swing.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, financial experts in all areas of business finance and Cash Flow Management.

How important is Business Process Reengineering?

Business Process Reengineering is known as the secret to a successful business. It plays an important role in today’s business world but what exactly can Business Process Reengineering do for you?

Business Process Reengineering means understanding the processes which are involved in your company. Business process reengineering (BPR) is a management approach aimed at improving your business by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the processes that exist within and across organizations. The key to BPR is for organisations to look at their business processes from a clean slate perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conduct business.

Business Process Reengineering can also be known as Business Process Redesign and Business Process Change Management. Business Process Reengineering has become a viable way of implementing lean structures.

Business Process Reengineering is important to businesses for a number of reasons such as it is the organisational process, which is required to align people, processes and technology with strategies in order to achieve business integration. Business Process Reengineering can also be thought of as taking a business in its current state and forming an organisational and operational blueprint in order to redirect skills policies, information or data, cultural values, organisational skills and processing as well as incentives towards making targeted improvements to the business.

Below are some quotes from the best and most experienced people surrounding Business Process Reengineering:

Hammer and Champy (1993) define Business Process Reengineering as
• "... the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed."

Thomas H. Davenport (1993) is another example of how well-known Business Process Reengineering theorist uses the term process innovation, which he says:
• ”encompasses the envisioning of new work strategies, the actual process design activity, and the implementation of the change in all its complex technological, human, and organizational dimensions”.

Additionally, Davenport (ibid.) points out the major difference between Business Process Reengineering and other approaches to organization development (OD), especially the continuous improvement or TQM movement, when he states:
• "Today firms must seek not fractional, but multiplicative levels of improvement – 10x rather than 10%."

Business Process Reengineering, if implemented properly, can give huge returns. BPR has helped giants like Procter and Gamble Corporation and General Motors Corporation succeed after financial drawbacks due to competition. It has also helped American Airlines to get back on track from the bad debt that was hanging over their business practice. Business Process Reengineering is about the proper method of implementation within businesses.

So where is the best place to approach in order to gain full benefits from Business Process Reengineering? I recommend that you talk to a finance business, such as an entrepreneur and investor business who will be able to help you with your Business Process Reengineering.

For more information about what Business Process Reengineering can do for your business get in touch with an investor today and start gaining the benefits of Business Process Reengineering as soon as possible.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, experts in all aspects of rocess Reengineering.

Get Business Finance through a Small Firms Loan Guarantee

Ensuring that your business has an effective funding solution is key to your business success. Before you can do anything with your business you need the finance to be able to fulfil your business needs. So how do you go about gaining the business finance that you need?

There are many avenues that you can approach when it comes to gaining your start up business finance such as bank loans, investors and credit cards as well as overdrafts; however in order to gain any form of business finance you need a well thought out and structured business plan. On the other hand there are occasions when you may have a viable business plan but you are still struggling to get finance in order to expand or start up your business; this is where a Small Firms Loan Guarantee can help.

Small Firms Loan Guarantee is also known as SFLG and is a joint venture between the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) as well as a number of participating lenders. An SFLG was put in place for people who have tried and failed to get a conventional loan. They are available for most types of businesses and business purposes but it should be noted that there are still some restrictions and exclusions, which is why it is important that you check these against your business before making an application for a SFLG; this can be said for any form of finance. You should check that your business is able to apply before applying for any form of finance to save yourself time, money and effort.

A Small Firms Loan Guarantee is most suited for small to medium businesses that have trouble trying to gain a conventional loan. They are extremely helpful to small and medium businesses as you won’t have to offer assets as security. But before you apply for a SFLG you should take a good look at your business and carefully think about the needs of your business. When doing this you should keep questions such as the following in mind:

• What is the money needed for?
• How much money do you need for your business?
• Have you investigated all of the forms of finance that are available to you?

I suppose you are now wondering what exactly a Small Firms Loan Guarantee offers you, well the main features and criteria of a SFLG are as follows:

• A guarantee to the lender covering 75% of the loan amount, for which the borrower pays a 2% premium on the outstanding balance of the loan, payable to BERR
• The ability to guarantee loans of up to £250,000 and with terms of up to ten years
• Availability to qualifying UK businesses with an annual turnover of up to £5.6million
• Availability to businesses in most sectors and for most business purposes, although there are some restrictions

So if you are a small to medium business in need of finance then keep the idea of a Small Firms Loan Guarantee in mind, you never no it could be just what you are looking for.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, financial experts in all areas of business finance, contact them today for more information about a Small Firms Loan Guarantee.

Does your business need some extra cash? Have you thought about Grant Finance?

Many people don’t seem to realise the difference between what a grant is and what a loan is. Well as a brief explanation the main difference between the two is that a loan must be paid back with interest whereas a grant doesn’t have to be paid back, sounds simple enough and too good to be true; so how do you go about obtaining a grant?

The biggest price that you have to pay when it comes to gaining a grant is a lot of research and a lot of paperwork. It should also be noted that grants are only available for very specific and targeted endeavours and because of this your business proposal needs to fit perfectly within theses. The reason that the restrictions are so high and important when it comes to gaining a business grant is because these grants are limited.

Grants are available from a different variety of sources such as the Government, European Union and local authorities. These are just a few examples of the places that you are able to apply for a grant. These grants are a sum of money that is to an individual or business for a specific project or purpose. The most common awarding body for grants is the Government. These Government grants are usually always linked to a specific purpose or business activity and you will only be considered for a Government grant if this proposed business idea hasn’t already started to take place. Also it is important to remember that Government grants are more likely to be awarded if your business idea benefits the community, creates more jobs and generally helps to improve the industry sector and geographical area.

Getting a grant however is hard work and there is a lot of competition for the limited grants that are available. There is also a lot of information that you should be aware of when it comes to getting a grant such as they will only cover a portion of the total costs involved in your specific business idea, meaning you will have to put the rest of the money forward that is needed to complete the project. If you don’t have this money when you are applying for your grant you will be turned down for your business grant.

Another restriction placed on the application of a business grant is the fact that in order to apply for one your business needs to be a small or medium company. This is measured either by the turnover that your business makes or by the amount of employees that your business has. A business with fewer than 250 employees is considered to be a small or medium sized company.

Before making an application for a business grant it is important that you read through all of the restrictions that surround these grants to be totally sure that your business is eligible for a grant. The reason that this is so important is because if you are awarded a business grant and it is then found out that, for example you can’t put your half of the money towards your project you will have to immediately repay the grant. If you break any of the restrictions or conditions of a business grant you will be made to repay the grant.

A business grant could be the difference between whether you are able to advance or start up your business so for anyone hoping to gain one my main piece of advice to you is do your research; make sure that you fit the restrictions of a business grant and go for it.

Helen is the web master of Angel Start-ups, financial experts with the power to help you gain your Business Grant.

What is Business Software?

Business Software has become an essential part of every business that competes in a competitive business environment. There are few businesses now that have no business software so its very clear that business software is a much for every business.

There are many different types of business software but they all do one thing and that’s to help maintain and control the business. This is done by having more than one piece of business software but every different software package is linked up to another business software package through the business.

Some businesses buy there business software from an outside company but some also create their own software packages. There needs to be software developer within the company who has a wide range of knowledge. The developer is told exactly what the business requires in the package and how the software should supposed to be used.

The pointers to consider in deciding what business software you require are:

• What are you specific needs for the software? Do you require an entire system that supports all the functions of your business or just one specific area?

• What features and abilities do you require in the software package? Will there be any services provided as well what level of expertise with the package offer you?

• Maintenance how is this going to be carried out, will there be help desk facility for all your employees and who will install this help desk?

These are all important points to consider, you will need to take the time and decide what your specifically need from the software package.


The different types of business software are as follows:

• Spreadsheet Programs – enables you to track orders, profits as well as your incomings and outgoings, an example of this is Microsoft Excel.

• Accounting Software – if you’re not very good at numbers and figures an accounting software package will help a lot. They can track your spending and profit, enables you to create invoices for your customers and suppliers instantly and then send them as well as accessing bank statements easily to check your accounts.

• Auto responder Program – this program saves time, if you want to send out a special offer to your customers instead of taking the time to write the same email over and over again. You add all your customers addresses into the program and the offer will be sent to them all in one email.

• Desktop Publishing Program – this is used to create newsletters, business cards, brochures and other marketing materials.

• Web Design Program – there are many different software packages for web site design, these include Dreamweaver and FrontPage. They let you build the website using HTML without learning the language.

Having the right business software for your business can help make your business more profitable and successful. Many businesses start off with just a computer and access to the Internet, but once your business takes off you will need to be able to track your customers orders, hold account information including profits and expenses as well as marketing your product or service.


Jene Pedder is the Webmaster of Synergy Technology who specialise in Business Software.