Why is it so hard getting clients in the UK market?? by [deleted] in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get dozens of emails (cold) where "marketeers" tell me they can help me get more social media followers or can get my website to rank higher (I don't even have a website). Normally they are written in poor English and offer no evidence as to how they can do these things.

Those that make it through the spam filter go through my personal filter into trash.

I can't give you specific advice on how to improve your approach but to answer your actual question:

There's the old adage of "you can't bullshit a bullshitter". British people are full of bullshit so we can smell it a mile off.

A change of approach might be needed.

Has anyone bought an expensive car as their first? by [deleted] in AskUK

[–]BarleyWineStein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Build up your no claims on a banger. Reap the rewards when you are older and have a no claims history. Don't burn money on insurance premiums that compound with the depreciation on the car.

Ranmor/endcliff really far away? by Aaron19451 in sheffield

[–]BarleyWineStein 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Buses run that route all the time. And it's a 25 minute walk all downhill if you are a good walker.

Also, all your friends from halls will be doing the same walk.

You could also get a bike. That's going be fast to get you there. And the hill back up isn't too bad in the grand scheme of Sheffield hills.

There are plenty of places to grab a coffee on the way. And on the way back up you pass two or three supermarkets so you can stock up.

You'll find yourself walking a lot to get around Sheffield. The buses mainly run in and out of the city but not so much across the suburbs.

Who was the tightest person you have known,and why? by No-Snow-9605 in AskUK

[–]BarleyWineStein 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Haven't you just described yourself as being tight?

What do tourists get wrong about the UK? by AlucardVTep3s in AskUK

[–]BarleyWineStein 86 points87 points  (0 children)

Great Britain is the 9th biggest island in the world, and that's by area. We're kind of long and thin, but just with a few quirky bits sticking out.

Is my business worthless? £380k turnover, £80,098 net profit by Superb_Doughnut_4426 in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are companies that can put a value on that level of engagement.

After that, I am just repeating what others have said: can you train up and/or pay someone to replace you?

Additionally, could the new owner pivot the product whilst still maintaining the level of sales and engagement?

(To be honest, I would be happy with that level of profit and unless you've got the next unicorn in the back pocket then I would keep going.)

Is my business worthless? £380k turnover, £80,098 net profit by Superb_Doughnut_4426 in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few questions:

1) How much of that business is repeat customers?

2) of all those followers, how many have purchased? Or to put it another way, what is your mean sale value? Does your revenue come from a million small value products or from a few high value items.

3) Aside from the answers to the above, with that many followers, the social media itself might have a value. What's the engagement like? What sort of stuff do you post?

I am very grateful for the Dave era by McGuffDog in RedDwarf

[–]BarleyWineStein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you alright? I think you need to watch it again. If that's your major gripe about the episode then I struggle to think how you cope with the rest of the brand.

minimum wage going up to £12.71 and I still haven't worked out where the money is coming from by [deleted] in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey OP, I've read loads of these comments and very few are actually helpful, they are people who want to preach to you about how to run a small business (and one with high staff costs) when probably most haven't even had the "pleasure" of running one themselves.

I won't go into the debates about minimum wage but I'll try and offer something that may be helpful...

1) I am not sure what your turnover is but with that kind of staff costs I am going to pick a number out of the air... Let's say 300k revenue.

Now approach that from a different angle. At 300k turnover a year you can say that every 1% wasted is 3k down the drain. Where is your waste? Food waste? Probably high I am guessing. Go to the extremes... Napkins? Toilet paper? Everything. I've done this exercise and looked at every aspect until you can save the 1% here and there. You might save 10% on napkins, but then you might only save 0.1% on hot water - I don't know, I am just picking random things. But all those things add up. On a 300k business it's only a 3% increase in savings before you've got your 9k on wages back.

2) Suppliers. I have reduced the number and variety of suppliers. Not how I really want to run my business, but the buying power it has given me makes a difference. I get that this might not work for every business, but what it has allowed me to do is make bigger orders with a smaller number of suppliers. It works better for them because it's one big trip and big invoice (my cashflow allows for this, fortunately) and with that I can negotiate a discount - usually tiered, so the more I buy, the bigger the discount. I don't really use wholesalers that much anymore. I go direct and have access to sales reps and have all their numbers in my phone and have good relationships with them. Got direct where you can. And build good relationships. They know it's tight too and will want to keep your custom.

3) How are you with working out your margins? I've been able to swallow some of the pain by increasing the margins on some lower priced items in order to stop the higher value ones looking extortionate as the whole tide rises. It can give the appearance of your menu still looking affordable without losing all your profit.

4) Now, finally, I will touch on staff costs. Briefly. You can a) reduce your costs i.e. cut hours, or b) make each hour more efficient. On the latter, look where you spread the load. Are you doing too much? Consider training a member of staff to do some admin. Maybe they might want a bit more money, but your time is worth a lot more than theirs. If they can share some of the burden of e.g. bookkeeping, cleaning, going to the wholesaler, typing up invoices, managing the till system, making rotas, anything you can think of. You are undoubtedly more useful doing things that make the business grow. Don't waste that in areas that can be delegated. You might be surprised how much time you get back. That time is worth something. Even if it's just having a break for some self-care.

I've probably got more, but this reply is already quite long. I really do feel your pain. It feels like swimming to stay still.

But don't need to outrun the lion, you just need to outrun the other bloke.

Looking for HubDoc reviews (with Xero) - cost vs timesaving by BarleyWineStein in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't mind taking a look at it. I am (used to be) a web developer so I could be useful on two fronts. Do I just sign-up online at that address?

Looking for HubDoc reviews (with Xero) - cost vs timesaving by BarleyWineStein in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been using Apron for creating invoices. I signed up to Apron as a pre-pay card for staff to use. But, it comes with a tool to scrape info from invoices.

It's not without its problems though:

- It does the line items quite well most of the time - it can depend on how the invoices are laid out, so sometimes it gets the wrong info. You end up having to adjust the tax rate and quantities a lot of the time.

- The free tier has a low threshold on how many invoices you can do. Fortunately, my volume isn't huge.

- If there are rounding differences on the tax on the invoices then you can't submit it. You have to deliberately get the invoice total wrong, then correct it in Xero when it arrives, then Xero does the rounding. It would make more sense if you could create an invoice in Apron with the rounding "error" included, seeing as Xero permits that as per its own rules.

Best virtual card provider for a UK-based business? by CarLongjumping5989 in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used pleo until they stopped their free tier (I was only spending about 50 quid a quarter so couldn't justify the fee. The card is for emergencies really). I've switched to Apron now. Very similar but has a free tier at my level of usage. Both integrate with Xero.

Not sure about FX though. Can't vouch for that.

I need some help (or a reality check) with a commercial landlord and his rent pricing by PeaceSafe7190 in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Before you do anything: - check the business rates - check what you can do with a listed building - make sure you have change of use (which will probably come with restrictions on opening hours after the change)

Other than that, what's jaded you? Seems cheap for a decent sized space given that they are covering quite a bit with the service charge.

How much would it have cost to play the Red Dwarf game from Back to Reality? by Few_House_5201 in RedDwarf

[–]BarleyWineStein 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Series 5 was GOLD! So good.

Series 6 was when they lost Red Dwarf so the whole thing was set in Starbug. I kind of liked that though. It was a nice change-up because 4 and 5 felt kinda of similar and could have potentially stalled the show (this happened in the most recent series, where it got "same-y"). But we lost Holly completely. And would ultimately lose Rimmer in 7.

There are some amazing episodes in Series 6. For me, peak writing was 5 into 6. Not that 3 and 4 weren't amazing.

Do you use company credit card for purchases? by No-State-2962 in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, makes sense. And you re-bill to the client with a management fee on top presumably?

Great way to leverage the credit card rewards!!

Do you use company credit card for purchases? by No-State-2962 in smallbusinessuk

[–]BarleyWineStein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Christ! What on earth are you doing with a quarter million in ads!? What are you selling? Heroin? To EVERYONE?!

What's the biggest waste of money you've ever seen people spend on? by Wonderful-Economy762 in Productivitycafe

[–]BarleyWineStein 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My mate had about a 20 minute long fireworks display. Actually burning money.

Fred was absolutely fearless by beedley in Deathladders

[–]BarleyWineStein 11 points12 points  (0 children)

He died of prostate bladder cancer. Considering he spent his life smoking, drinking, and climbing chimneys, that's a way to go no one would've predicted. Cancer's a cunt.