Who’s the teacher’s pet?

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Renée Wallen

We’ve mentioned before that Mark gives lectures to students at the London College of Fashion. In case you didn’t believe us (based on Mark’s up-to-the-minute fashion sense….) here he is in action!

Students ask him questions and he knows all the answers. Or, if he doesn’t know the answers, he refers them on to those of us in the office who do know. We’re highly trained in specialist areas, so if you have a question about payroll, for example, you’ll speak to Sharon. Kirsty magics away VAT problems and Lisa handles anything company secretarial. Click here to see the whole team!

The person who looks after your accounts and tax dealings (your client relationship manager) will always be happy to introduce you to other members of the team if you don’t already know them. And if you don’t know who your client relationship manager is… oh dear… we owe you a coffee and a doughnut! Call us on 0208 5300730 and let’s chat!

Are you hungry for success?

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Renée Wallen

The Apprentice burst back onto our TV screens last week with sixteen ambitious contestants battling it out to win a business contract with Lord Sugar, one of the country’s biggest entrepreneurial success stories.

Lord Sugar’s opening speech reminded us that in a tough economic climate, people with the seed of a commercial idea find it difficult to engage with banks and financial services. Those organisations are reluctant to lend money to start-ups because they’re looking for collateral and assets to protect their loans. This blinkered thinking is unhelpful and stifles creativity in business.

Most struggling start-ups would welcome the idea of an investment partner ploughing £250,000 into the business. As Lord Sugar pointed out, if you have the idea and are hungry for success, YOU are the collateral; YOU are the asset.

So if you have the idea, you’re hungry and you recognise that you’re the asset that can move your business to the next level, give us a call. We offer far more than simply a tax and accountancy service; we can tell you about alternatives to bank lending and introduce you to our strategic business partners who may be able to help you. Ring us today on 0208 530 0720.

Expert advice to help grow your business

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Renée Wallen

Do you run a business? Would you like to see it grow larger, faster or simply more profitably – at no cost to you? With the right guidance and realistic planning, there are several ways to ensure your business can thrive, starting now!

Grow your business from a little seed to a strong tall tree

As a business owner, it’s your job to make your business successful. Our job is to show you how. So we’re offering some valuable advice that could boost your income immediately. A free business advice session with a qualified member of our team will look at practical ways to increase your bottom line. We can talk about things like your business activities, staffing and ways to save tax. Or if you prefer to focus on your current finances with advice on debt management, that’s fine too.

We’ll work together to create a plan for long-term, sustainable growth. A plan that works for your business, and works for you! We have the knowledge and experience to help your business grow, and we understand what you need to succeed. Call us on 0208 530 0720 today!

Advice from some celebrity Thought Leaders

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Renée Wallen

Mark attended a seminar on how businesses can reconnect to the ‘beneficial flow of money energy,’ deepen their fulfilment in doing business and gain practical help and advice on ways to gain financial freedom.

If you think that sounds a bit airy fairy and mystical, consider this…

We all know that running a successful business is about more than simply making money. Providing a service that delights customers, is sustainable and adds value is of primary importance in this ever competitive market. Yet success rarely happens spontaneously; we all need an example to follow.

Seven ‘thought leaders’ provided those examples at the seminar, including Sir Tim Smit, creator of the Eden Project, Lynne Franks, fashion PR guru and Rachel Elnaugh, Dragons’ Den dragon!

If you’d like to know the inspirational topics they spoke about, you can read the full article here. Or, if you’d like a one-to-one with Mark to chat through tangible ways of making your business more profitable, call him today on 0208 530 0720. Or email mark@nordens.co.uk.

Yellow lines? That’s the ticket!!

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Renée Wallen

All around our office someone has come in the night and painted yellow lines. It’s outrageous! It was hard to park before, now it’s ridiculous. There’s been much argument in the press about how local businesses are adversely affected by parking restrictions, and we can see their point.

Fortunately it doesn’t affect us much, as our business comes mainly through recommendations. But it’s an annoyance when clients have to park and walk round the corner. (Or skip round, if the sun’s shining…)

Are you a business that’s missing out on trade due to over-zealous parking problems? If you feel you’re losing money as a result, we can work with you to identify alternative ways to raise your income. Using innovative strategic planning methods we’ll define areas you can capitalise on to make up for the yellow lines, and show you how you can increase your earnings even more! Call Andy to find out about strategic planning, on 0208 530 0720 or email andy@nordens.co.uk

Golf golf golf!! Driving your business forward

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Renée Wallen

As you probably know, some of us here in the South Woodford office love playing around. Golf, that is. So obviously we really enjoyed watching The Masters and discussing it each day during the tournament. (Not that we’re busy talking about sports when we should be doing accounts – we can multitask…)

Some people (mentioning no names) are now recklessly swinging their clubs about, narrowly avoiding heads and filing cabinets. Others here are getting busy shining their irons and counting their tees ready for this year’s Nordens’ Golf Day.

This is one of the highlights of our year, even for the non-golfers. The team and some clients battle it out against the tranquillity of rolling green lawns and blue skies: birdies, snowmen, mulligans and mashie niblicks. (This blogger foresees a lesson in golf terminology and etiquette coming her way…)

If your business is a bit under par, ask us for an informal review to see how we can help you DRIVE it forward! Call Joe on 0208 530 0720.

Tax relief for helping those in need

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Renée Wallen

Many of our accountancy clients are involved in charitable activities, so we thought today that we’d tell you about a member of our own team who is passionate about a local project. Heather, our friendly credit controller, is the voluntary manager for a new charity based in Loughton. Foodbank is part of The Trussell Trust , tackling poverty in the UK. It has two main aims: to help members of the community who find themselves in real crisis, and to help prevent hidden hunger. In times of need, the charity provides three days’ worth of emergency food.

Loughton’s Foodbank will launch in June, and Heather says, “No one should be skipping meals or going hungry.” While the charity is setting up, they’re keen to receive practical donations, such as large industrial scales, shelving racks, filing cabinets, marketing materials and, of course, non-perishable food.

Your business can get tax relief if it makes a gift of equipment or trading stock to a charity. You can reduce your taxable profits by the cost of the gift made, so you’ll pay less tax. You can also get tax relief for the costs of temporarily allowing an employee to work for Foodbank, if they’d like to give Heather a hand setting up.

If you would like to know more about Foodbank, please call Heather on 0208 530 0720 or email Heather@nordens.co.uk.

Getting a leg up from our own celebrity…

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Renée Wallen

Our own home grown celeb is in the news again! South Woodford accountant Mitch features with Katie Piper in this week’s Now magazine. Katie presented an award at the Soldiering On Through Life Trust awards ceremony a couple of weeks ago – you might have read about that here?

As an award winner herself (Woman of the Year, 2007), Katie inspires thousands of injured people to live proudly and successfully. This ethos translates into a winning business philosophy: When things hit rock bottom, you have a solid base from which to work your way back up.

One of our specialities is helping businesses to aim high and achieve their goals. There’s nothing wrong with needing a leg up, and we love to be the springboard that lets you bounce ideas around, providing inspiration to get your business right on track. If you would like to arrange a session with us to chat through ideas and gain the inspiration to move your business to the next level, call us today on 0208 530 0720.

PS: don’t mention ‘leg up’ to Mitch – he was still on crutches in that pic!!

Sod the recession! Let’s be disruptive!!

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Renée Wallen

All this talk of triple dip recession…
It’s getting me down my friend, like a cat in a bag
waiting to drown
This time I’m comin’ down!

What does the recession really mean to us as business owners? (that we have more time to write poetry…?) Some of us thrive during good times and others flourish during bad times. So how can we be great whatever the economy’s doing around us?

Here’s an idea… Business owners are more likely to succeed during a recession if they become ‘disruptive’ in their industries. Disruptive? What does that mean? (Note to the accountants in our South Woodford office: it does NOT mean chucking doughnuts at your colleagues!)

It means not conforming to expectations. Ignore what everyone else is doing! The 5% of businesses that succeed have disrupted the ‘norm’ by turning their service or product into what the customer really wants.

“Blue Ocean Strategy” is a fantastic book that defines an ‘unbeatable strategy’ to generate growth and profits. It says we should create new demand in an uncontested market space (the Blue Ocean) rather than compete head-on with existing suppliers in the current industry (the Red Ocean).

So would you rather be one of the flailing 95% battling it out in the deep red sea or will you disruptively dive into the blue ocean to swim with the successful 5%? The strategic business advice we provide will place you in the blue ocean – are you ready to make a splash? Read the full article here.

Reconstructing businesses… and legs!

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Renée Wallen

Mitch has finally had the operation to reconstruct his cruciate ligament. With a bit less fuss than we expected, he has heroically cast aside his pain and suffering to make sure all clients with a March 31^st year-end are on target with their accounts info.

Part of Mitch’s role as Business Development Manager is to reconstruct businesses to help them run better and increase their profitability. We can, of course, take the weaker parts of a company and develop ways to strengthen them. Or, just like his leg, we can look at removing those weaknesses to completely eliminate the difficulties they create.

Sick? He looks alright to us!

Mitch’s ligament was removed and a graft inserted, created from tissue harvested from somewhere else on his body and shoved in through a ‘single hole punch.’ (Hope you’re not reading this over lunch!) Likewise, we can harvest new business growth by building on the stronger, more profitable areas. Working together with business owners, we provide clear strategic planning and set realistic goals to ensure the business moves forward in the most lucrative way.

If your business needs a punch, call Mark or Mitch on 0208 530 0720.

If it’s your year-end and you’re panicking, call Sam or Sophia on the same number!

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