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Successful business owners recognise very early on that identifying and managing the risks facing their business is an essential survival skill. Risk can mean many things, from an increase in competition to disruptive weather, and the trick is to put measures in place to ensure that the risks you can’t control don’t derail you completely.
Exploring new markets is one way to mitigate the risk of falling sales. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, only 23 per cent of its members nationally currently export, which leaves plenty of opportunities for SMEs to explore overseas trade for the first time.
The organisation argues that an exporting led recovery would be helped by ‘more effective and targeted promotion of the support available and tailor-made information for small businesses.’
Managing the risks and barriers to exporting
That’s why at Lloyds TSB Commercial we’re dedicated to providing suitable guidance and support to small business customers to provide tailor-made information and ensure they have the right strategy in place to overcome the barriers to exporting.
We can introduce you to our Financial Markets team, which specialises in working with businesses to manage the impacts of movements in foreign exchange and interest rates on their businesses, helping them to protect their profit margins and plan for the future. This support helps companies create a business plan which doesn’t just focus on the opportunities but also takes an honest look at the hurdles.
It may be that you are importing raw materials from overseas or have identified a great foreign market for your end product. Either way, a small adverse move in the exchange rate could write off the profit on your sale or increase the cost of your purchase if you haven’t anticipated it.
Not all risk relates to overseas markets – bad debt is an ever present issue for small businesses wherever you trade.
The Experian Late Payment Index issued earlier this year shows that businesses in the UK are seeing customers pay their bills an average of 22.58 days late.
Mitigating the risk of late and non-payment of invoices
To help mitigate the risk of late or even none payment, we can offer a stand alone debtor insurance product to give you an important safety net.
It makes sense to have an early discussion with your bank so that we can understand your appetite for risk and give guidance on lending and financing solutions. These may be in the form of a loan or it could be that factoring and invoice discounting, backed by an optional Debtor Protection facility, provided by Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, is more suitable.
This flexible option allows you to release the value of your invoices and can help bridge the gap between supplying services or products and receiving payment, helping stabilise cash flow and manage the impact of late payments.
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