- "In the last 20 years our business has changed considerably…and as the focus of our business has changed, Bird Luckin have moved with us."
Alex Tanner, George Tanner (Shalford) Ltd - "Bird Luckin has looked after us incredibly well for over 60 years, they are pro-active and innovational - meeting all our needs to help us achieve our aims."
Richard Stubbings, Cliffords Limited - "I can honestly say that Bird Luckin are the best firm of accountants and auditors I have ever dealt with - and I don't say that lightly!"
Colin Webb, Walthamstow Stadium - "It's important for us to know that we will always be able to contact the right people to give us the right advice and support."
Jane Bennett, Bennetts Funeral Directors - "Although we deal mainly with one Partner … we also know that if we need to contact someone else who is a specialist in another area, we can get the advice we need quickly and easily"
Jeremy Ruggles, J.S. Wright & Sons Ltd - "Bird Luckin got us to a stage which would have taken us months - if not years - to reach on our own, and they got us there in a matter of weeks"
Matthew Sullivan, SNC Ltd - "You can be a good accountant, but if you don't have an understanding of the industry it can be very difficult. "There are two or three people we have regular contact with at Bird Luckin who know our business well, and it makes a difference.""
Robert Church, W A Church (Bures) Ltd - "The work which Bird Luckin has done for Boddingtons over the past few months has helped shape our future direction for the better."
John Warner, Chief Executive, Boddingtons Ltd - "Bird Luckin has acted for us since our inception 10 years ago. They have a very 'can do' yet highly professional attitude - we are very appreciative of their support and advice over the years."
Marlon Fox, Outlook Property Ltd
Small can be beautiful
Growth is not, as many believe, the only criterion of success in business. Indeed, it is perfectly possible to remain a small business and still be successful.
Equally, it is possible to experience growth in your business and to fail - or at least to be so beset with problems as to have little opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your 'success'.
This is especially true if you take personal as well as business matters into consideration.
- Cash flow problems: - Often for rapidly growing businesses a steep increase in sales leads not to more cash in hand, but to less. If this process remains unchecked eventually the reduced cash flow will undermine profitability and in extreme cases lead to insolvency and business failure.
- Increased borrowings: - Cash flow problems can be further exacerbated if the growth requires extra short-term funding to pay for more office-space, extra computers, more stock, and so on.
- More people skills: - As you start to take on more and more employees you will need to develop a whole range of people skills. You will have to learn how to hire and how to fire, how to motivate and how to delegate, how to reward and how to discipline - and you will need to find the time to do all this!
- More bureaucracy. - As the business grows, so does the paperwork, compliance requirements, etc. You might need to invest even more of your scarce cash in bigger and better systems to deal with it - and find the time and expertise to master the new systems!
- No free time: - Rapidly expanding businesses make great demands on your time, and you might find yourself working much longer hours than you want to.
- More stress: - Add to all of this the problems associated with personnel issues, poorly paying customers, crashing computers, etc. and it all adds up to a lot more stress.
When you weigh your personal ambitions and lifestyle objectives against the added challenges of expanding your business, you might decide that the old saying, 'Small is beautiful,' has more than a grain of truth in it!