At a glance
- Using reliable cash-flow data will provide early information on financial problems, so you can take steps to help avoid closure, or limit liabilities and protect your employees in the event of insolvency.
- Ensuring you meet the legal responsibilities will protect both your business and employees.
- Speaking to professionals such as financial advisors and accountants can help you get a better idea of where you stand, so you can take the best recourse.
Scaling back or closing a business is challenging, but careful planning and consideration of the legal requirements can protect you and your employees.
How to avoid insolvency
Andrew Shepperd, Co-founder and Director of consultancy Entrepreneurs Hub, says good data is essential. “When times are tough, you’ll get peace of mind just knowing where you are. Your data might show that, with some changes, you can make it through in 12 to 18 months and face the challenges with more confidence,” he says.
There could be many things you can do to avoid closure. These include increasing efficiency through automation, cutting non-essential costs, improving credit collection, pushing for better payment terms with customers and suppliers, renegotiating bank loans, reducing supply-chain risks, or selling non-essential assets. If one or two unpaid invoices could tip you into insolvency, consider trade credit insurance, which protects you against non-payments.
Conduct a thorough analysis of profit in each business segment, and make sure cutting back in one segment does not adversely affect another.
Ask yourself tough questions, such as: have you focused too much on pet projects and neglected more profitable areas? Have you kept yourself busy with day-to-day tasks but avoided tackling core threats to profitability? Have you taken on too many low-profit customers and do you need to be more discerning? Maybe you need to focus on improving your customer proposition, and actually invest more in marketing and salespeople?
Face up to these issues, regardless of your emotional attachment to staff or parts of the business. This is where third party advice could help.
“Talk to your accountant and financial planner to get a full picture of your standing,” says Andrew. “Do you have to close, or are there other options? For example, could you sell all or part of your business to a larger firm that could use economies of scale to run it more efficiently and underpin staff employment? Large companies often buy small ones just for ‘team and tech’ – the revenue is so small, it’s inconsequential, but the value of staff and their skills can take years to build, so a larger company may be attracted and, by acquisition, instantly add that skill competency to their business.”
What happens if a company goes into insolvency?
Insolvency happens when your company can’t pay its debts, either because you can’t pay bills so run out of cash, or you have more liabilities than assets.
If you’re planning to bounce back with a new start-up, any new trading name must not imply association with a previous limited company.
Reducing your liabilities at this stage could help you come back stronger. Hopefully, you’re already a limited company, which means the owners’ personal liability for business debts are limited to the amount they invested in the firm. This means you’re not personally responsible for paying the firm’s debts if it closes.
Avoid offering personal guarantees on business loans, as these could make you liable. If you’ve given such guarantees, try to negotiate them out of agreements. Where possible, move family members out of the business, especially if they’re inactive.
Ensure you understand employees’ rights in insolvency, such as around redundancy, and the Protection of Employment (TUPE) rules if selling a going concern.
If making a solvent liquidation, get advice on the tax implications – for example, any remaining profit in the business will be taxable, but you may be eligible for Business Asset Disposal Relief.
Keep good records in all cases.
How we can help
Your personal situation could be a key factor in any decisions you make during this. For example:
- How do you assess your and your family’s health, finances, lifestyle and aspirations?
- When were you planning to retire or semi-retire, and could you bring that forward?
- What’s your personal tolerance for risk?
Speaking to us will help you get a much clearer view of your current standing and help you formulate short and long-term plans for you and your employees.
The levels and bases of taxation and reliefs from taxation can change at any time. The value of any tax relief depends on individual circumstances.
We work in conjunction with an extensive network of external SME specialists who have been carefully selected by St. James’s Place. The services provided by these specialists are separate and distinct to the services carried out by St. James’s Place and include advice on how to grow your business and prepare your business for sale and exit.
Legal services and accountancy advice are also separate and distinct from the services offered by SJP
Where the opinions of third parties are offered, these may not necessarily reflect those of St. James’s Place.
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SJP Approved 04/10/2024