One of the main reasons businesses fold
is because the proprietors fail to move with times and they
lose their traditional markets - for most of the last
century, and for most of the UK’s businesses, it was
business as usual for most of the time. But in the past 20
or so years we have seen more changes than ever we could
have envisaged.
The effects of the Internet and the development
of the global economy have had a dramatic effect on businesses
as buyers and sellers at all levels source goods and services
from any part of the globe at a lower price. Add to that,
a major shift in consumer spending as people embrace a celebrity
culture, seeking life style experiences in a world where
plastic card spending is more important than setting up savings
plans for their future, and you then have a very major economic
change.
Many will argue that these changes have
not brought any real benefits - and for some maybe
not - but we now live and work in an ever changing world
and stopping
still is not an option. I’m told that foreign owned
businesses set up a manufacturing capability in China in
the past year, every 26 minutes - China now makes 90%
of the worlds underwear, whatever is on the label - they
also make 50% of the worlds computers and cameras; India
is now the worlds largest steel producer - houses 50%
of the worlds call centres, I could go on. So whilst the
Europe and the USA enjoyed the best of the world’s
economy for most of the 20th century, we are now seeing a
major economic shift to the East faster than you might have
imagined.
So unless you are a plumber, electrician
or a hairdresser it’s a good time to think seriously
about the future of your business - adding value to what
you do by selling
experiences and solutions rather than products would be a
sensible start.
The business of P&A was founded in
the 1880’s, and for the first 100 years we specialised
in liquidations and bankruptcies - in recent years
we have broadened our activities and now save more businesses
than we close down - specialised divisions now provide
a whole range of added value solutions to businesses who
require assistance in managing their finances, from getting
their money in quicker, training their staff in cash collection,
getting back assets, protecting them from fraud, finding
them new sources of finance to expand or to weather the storm.
But that won’t be the end of the
story - being in business is rather like being on a journey – only
by changing the way we work and the solutions we provide
to meet the changing needs of the market, will we be able
to provide our clients and those businesses we help with
the best and most professional service.
At P&A we are
much more than an Insolvency Practice!
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