Market Development

This approach involves the promotion of existing products into new markets. These could be industry sectors or geographical territories. This approach requires the firm to invest in market research to define which markets are best to target. There is an element of risk to this strategy, as it requires both time and money in order to conduct the research and to develop appropriate marketing campaigns.

LIRIC can help look at some of the basic concepts and financial drivers to increase sales and profit – contact LIRIC to find out more.Most businesses want to grow, but with little bank finance available these days it’s not easy to buy out a competitor. If you can’t grow by “mergers and acquisitions”,  you need to develop a strategy to grow your business organically which can prove a much slower process.

Organic growth is especially prevalent during the early stages of a company’s commercial llife, but opportunities continuously present themselves if you listen to the market. If your business is committed to meeting the needs of its customers and is commercially driven with you having a good control over costs, you can use the following strategies to develop business growth.

 

Product Development

A product development strategy focuses on creating new products or services and introducing them to existing customers. If your business is good at creating new innovations then it is probably well positioned to use this strategy. The key is utilising market research in order to identify a need or gap in the market for a new product or service. If there is potential demand and you launch the right product or service, then you stand a reasonable chance of success. There is an element of risk inherent in this strategy, as developing new products requires investment from the business.

Market Penetration

Also known as the “Protect and Build” strategy, this conservative approach sees a company consolidate and stabilise its position in the market by selling more of its existing products to established customers. To make this cross-selling approach work, your Company will need to leverage existing resources and capabilities; this will allow your business to capture a larger share of existing markets. This strategy is low risk as you won’t need to launch new products or services – instead, just focus on selling more to those existing clients and contacts.

Organic Growth Strategies

Most businesses want to grow, but with little bank finance available these days it’s not easy to buy out a competitor. If you can’t grow by “mergers and acquisitions”,  you need to develop a strategy to grow your business organically which can prove a much slower process.

Organic growth is especially prevalent during the early stages of a company’s commercial llife, but opportunities continuously present themselves if you listen to the market. If your business is committed to meeting the needs of its customers and is commercially driven with you having a good control over costs, you can use the following strategies to develop business growth.

steeple chase

Steeple Chase

Continuing her quest to run and run, LIRIC principal Lisa Compton and new recruit to the Customer Support team Natalie Allen took part in the inaugural “SteepleChase”  10k run on 28 Sept – entry money went to funds to help the village  Primary School and the organisers hope to make this an annual fixture.  Also running in Team LIRIC colours were Lisa Compton’s daughter Chloe (following in her Mothers footsteps – literally!) and Chloe’s friend Harriet.

Since the Steeple Chase Lisa has continued in other events, entering the Stevenage half marathon achieving a personal best  in wet and muddy conditions.

The Belle Of Bassingbourn

LIRIC are also proud to be a sponsor of The Bassingbourn Belle 10 Miler to be held  on Sunday 7 December,  organised by Fit4the Challenge.  If you are keen to be a runner click on the link below for details of how to enter.

Alternatively,  you may be interested in volunteering your services to marshal in some way.  A percentage of the entry money will be donated to Toms Trust, a children’s brain cancer charity.

LIRIC staff will be both taking part and helping at this worthy cause, and hope to see many of you there!  Further details of the day and a link for the entry form can be viewed by clicking here.

Ashwell Business Club Seminar – How To Get The Best Out Of LinkedIn

LIRIC were able to use their new meeting room to host a presentation on behalf of Ashwell Business Club about LinkedIn and how it works.
You’ve seen the logo on our email footers but do you know how to get the most out of LinkedIn?

Hosted by Steve Windsor from Netlinked, we learned how effective use of LinkedIn can be used to generate business leads as well as increase traffic to your website.  Networking from your desk, saves you time and money  and enables you to connect to literally thousands of others, at a time to suit you – that’s got to be the way to go.

It also has the power to allow you to carry out targeted searches – ie “list all architects within a 20 mile radius” – so you can have a targeted marketing campaign – and because the people you are contracting are already on LinkedIn they are more likely to welcome contact from you.  The use of groups and discussions can also be useful.  Steve said “you don’t know who you don’t know”

LIRIC will be looking at putting on similar seminars for our clients in the future – if there is a particular topic that you think would be of interest then please let LIRIC know. You can find Liric on LinkedIn here.

Xero Certified Advisor

Liric Obtain Xero Certification

LIRIC’S  Natalie  Allen has successfully completed training on Xero and so we are now an accredited Xero  adviser.  Xero is a cloud based book-keeping solution which we are successfully rolling out to clients who want to move away from the more traditional PC based programs.  Being a Cloud program it means that your data can be accessed from any PC and LIRIC  can view it without the need to keep transferring backups.  Other benefits include:-

  • Easy to format and personalise your sales invoices so that they will look really professional and can be seamlessly emailed to your customers
  • Quotes can be instantly produced in front of customers and then converted to a sales invoice.
  • Options for customers to then click on the invoice and “pay now” using PayPal or similar.
  • Automated reminders to customers who have overdue invoices
  • Bank data feeds meaning you do not have to spend time inputting all the bank transactions – these are automatically matched to the relevant customers and suppliers invoices

All this leaves you with more time to look at the actual results, see your profit for the year to date in real time and help you plan for the future.

If you are interested In a free 30 day trial then contact LIRIC and we’ll send you the link.

New Intestacy Rules If You Don’t Make A Will

Many people die intestate (That means without making a legal will) because they think their estate will automatically pass to their spouse free of Inheritance Tax (IHT). This is not necessarily correct. Moreover, having a Will in place makes it easier to get a grant of probate and avoids the Statutory Intestacy Rules governing how the estate is distributed.

From 1 October 2014, if an individual is survived by a spouse or civil partner (but no children or more distant relative), the entire estate will go to the surviving spouse or civil partner. Previously, the spouse would only have received the first £450,000 (and half of the excess over £450,000); the other half of the excess would have passed to parents or siblings.

If the deceased individual is survived by a spouse/civil partner as well as children or a more distant relative or relatives, the surviving spouse or civil partner will only receive the first £250,000 (and half of the excess over £250,000). The children will receive the other half of the excess equally between them. Having a Will is thus important for IHT planning, as only the first £325,000 is exempt unless the assets pass to the spouse. Making a Will is also important when couples divorce and there are former partners and children of previous marriages involved.

movember

Ben is in the pink

Supporting the Movember Charity appeal – LIRIC staff member Ben Burtenshaw is sporting a rather fetching pink moustache this month –  which helps to promote men’s health.  If you feel his moustache is worthy of a donation, please visit his JustGiving page!