Unexpected Expansion of A Family Business

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Seeing the profit come in for any small or family run business owner is both exciting and demanding for key workers within the business. The many hours of hard work have finally come to fruition, but the workload has undergone a series of dramatic increases. As the product or service that is provided starts to attract further interest, and subsequently sales, there are important decisions to be made by the company head in order to ensure the mounting paperwork and extra tasks are adequately covered.

It is common for a family run business to have a family member organising accounts and billing clients. This can become overbearing when the business takes off, and expansion can prompt the need for outside help in the form of extra staff or by considering an umbrella company to deal with the specialist areas of payroll and employment taxes.

Employing outside staff can be a costly and unpredictable course of action, and many employers have had negative experiences when taking on staff from outside of the family business framework. Bad timekeeping and a low work rate are two of the main factors that employers experience when taking on new staff.

Professional services

Many small businesses and independent contractors cannot realistically afford to hire an accountant to deal with the ever more complex field of taxes. Using an umbrella company carries an obvious cost implication, but the vast array of administrative, accounting and client billing duties that are included in the services outweigh the cost.

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Streamlining the company budget is also important for unexpected expansion of a family business. When the profits start to come in, the last thing a company will need is a significant increase in outgoings. Avoiding hiring new full time staff will keep the budget under control, and when using extra materials in order to keep up with the demands of expansion it is advisable to discuss cheaper bulk orders with the supplier in order to reduce overall expenditure.

Unexpected obstacles

Any small business owner or freelance contractor will know full well that illness within the ranks can have an undesirable effect on profits. When the company itself has maybe three or four key staff, one member down can result in productivity being reduced by a full third or a quarter. Illness also affects the income of the unfortunate staff member affected.

Making sure this eventuality is covered by sick pay is something that an umbrella company specialises in. With the increased workload that expansion will bring, it is of great advantage to put in place safeguards to protect the company against unexpected drawbacks. Having a sensible and structured strategy in place for the inevitable hiccups that arise in day to day business gives the business owner peace of mind, and lets them concentrate on doing their own job without undue distraction.

Making the right decisions for business expansion will ensure that the transaction from a small business to an up and coming company is as seamless as possible. Browse the options, investigating the benefits of an umbrella company and weighing these against the current circumstances of the business.