Skip to Content

Regaining control of your business with the three essential tools

Regaining control of your business with the three essential tools

Business owners often feel like they're not in control of their business. The number of hours they're working starts creeping up, they start experiencing more stress, and it starts affecting their personal life. 

So, how do you regain that much needed control? How do we gain more financial, time and mind freedom? 

There are three essential tools all businesses must have: 

  1. An annual Business Plan. 
  2. An annual forecast. 
  3. Ongoing reporting and accountability. 

The annual Business Plan 

Your Business Plan shouldn’t be a lengthy document living in a drawer. It should be on one page and displayed somewhere highly visible so you can review it regularly. 

Best developed using an independent facilitator, your Business Plan should articulate exactly what you want from your business; the hours you want to work, the holidays you want to take, and the income you need. 

You’ll identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor, vulnerabilities to manage, and opportunities to act upon. You’ll set four key goals for the year, breaking these down into quarterly goals with clear actions to complete in order to achieve them. 

The annual forecast 

Your forecast will record how cash must flow throughout the year to give you what you want from your business. Too often business owners only create a forecast because the bank has requested one. 

The forecast highlights your business's weaknesses, when cashflow problems might arise, and how you need to manage your business financially to achieve the goals in your Business Plan. Don’t wait for your bank to request a forecast; it’s an essential tool to ensure the success of your business every year. 

Ongoing reporting and accountability 

The value lies in the implementation of your Business Plan and annual forecast. Constantly reviewing your progress against your targets is crucial. Ongoing reporting allows you to track actual results against your forecast to ensure progress towards your goals. 

The best way to ensure you don’t fail to implement the plan is to be held accountable by someone independent. Every business owner needs a coach. A great coach will work with you to get a result better than you could achieve on your own. They’ll uncover the root causes of problems in your business and empower you to do better. Most importantly, they’ll hold you accountable to getting the important stuff done. 

There are no magic bullets to business success. All businesses need these three tools. 

Get in touch to discuss how we can work together - to help you gain control of your business and ensure your business delivers on your vision.

“Dreams x Goals x Plans x Actions = Your success.” - Brad Sugars

Moving to Panthera is easy

It’s a big decision to move accountants. We get it. That’s why we have a clearly defined process in place to make it as straightforward as possible.

Step 1: We have a short initial discovery meeting to understand your needs so we can create the perfect service package for your business

Step 2: You receive your tailored proposal with one simple monthly fee and you e-sign the letter of engagement

Step 3: You provide your current accountant with notice – and you leave the rest to us!

We liaise directly with your previous accountant regarding the transfer of information. We request authority from HMRC to act on your behalf. We handle as much of the admin as possible, so you can get on with running your business – safe in the knowledge that everything is going on in the background. And if there’s any action for you, we let you know.

Contact us to find out how we can help you

Panthera will use the details that you have entered into this form to communicate with you on the subject of your message, and for no other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more details on how we manage your data.