From startups to long-running family firms, all businesses are dependent on a healthy balance sheet. And as a company grows, its biggest outgoings can change. Perhaps software licences are costly for your SME? Or maybe your work is seasonal and hiring staff for peak periods is tricky?
It costs a small firm an average of £35,000 to take on their first member of staff, according to research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research. Then, retaining talented employees can require investment in their training or attractive work benefits, whether that’s private healthcare subsidies or on-site steam rooms.
With the day-to-day demands of running a business perhaps you don’t have time to consider where you could make savings. Hiring a business consultant could help in the long-term, but it will only increase your outgoings in the short-term. In this live Q&A our panellists will offer their expertise on how you can reduce the costs of running your business, whether it’s accounting tips or pointers on cost-effective tech devices.
To take part, post your questions in the comments section below, tweet us at @GdnSmallBiz, email us at smallbusinessnetwork@theguardian.com or join us live on this page between 12.30pm and 2pm on 23 April to chat directly with our panel.
Panel
David Nash is senior policy advisor for labour markets and pensions at the Federation of Small Businesses.
Chris Barling is co-founder of Powered Now. This is his second startup and he has had experience of the hidden costs that crop up in running a business.
Iain Walker is head of SME sales and marketing at E.ON. Over the last year, he’s been responsible for leading E.ON’s saving energy strategy for small businesses.
Fergus Murphy is a marketing director for client solutions for Dell in EMEA, covering all commercial segments including small business.
Sophie Turton is a writer and content strategist specialising in finance and small business trends. She is the assistant web editor at Crunch Online Accounting.
Clive Lewis is a chartered accountant and head of enterprise at the ICAEW. He writes on small business finance and taxation issues as well as contributing to research on the UK economic environment.
David Swigciski is SME trading director at commercial insurer RSA, and is responsible for RSA’s e-trading platform for SME business insurance in the UK.
Andrew Nicholson is the owner of Nicholson Consultancy, an independent management consultancy and training organisation.
Xenios Thrasyvoulou is founder and CEO of SuperTasker.com and PeoplePerHour.
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