Making your business work for you: the big goal

Anna Stubbs • March 18, 2025

You spend a lot of time making sure your business runs like clockwork. But is your business delivering for you personally, as the owner and/or founder?


In this series, we’ll look at the core ways your business can be structured to deliver on your own personal, family, philanthropic and leisure goals.



A business that supports your personal vision and life goals


When you started your business, you’ll have had a clear idea of how this new venture would provide for you and your family. But, over time, your attention can become focused on the day-to-day operations, with less awareness of how the company is delivering on your own personal and entrepreneurial goals.


In this series, we want to reverse that flow. We want you to think clearly about what you want from life, your business and your wider position as an entrepreneur.

We’ll look at:


Maintaining a healthy work/life balance


Think about how you structure your business to allow for flexibility and time for your own personal pursuits. This could involve working remotely to spend more time with your family, flexible working hours or having the right team to delegate work to.


Securing your lifestyle


Make sure your business generates enough income to support the lifestyle you’re aiming for. This may mean reviewing your budget and expected income, setting financial goals and developing a business model that delivers the revenue you need.


Making enough to retire


If the end game is to retire, you need a nest egg to do this. Funding a comfortable retirement might mean reinvesting dividend income into a pension, exploring tax-efficient strategies and developing a long-term financial plan.


Investing in your passions


What gives you joy outside work? You can use your business as a platform to pursue your passions, whether it's supporting local charities, promoting sustainability or creating products that reflect your personal and ethical values.


Passing the business to the next generation


Before you retire, it’s important to plan for a smooth transition to the next generation, whether those successors are family members or other members of your existing team. This will mean putting serious thought into succession planning and training.


Helping you set and track your personal goals


Over the course of this series, we’ll explore each of these five goals in more detail. In the meantime, we’re here if you want to track how you’re performing against your personal goals.


Come and have a chat about what you want from your business.

Basic strategic advice: why your business needs an evolving strategy

By Anna Stubbs • June 2, 2026
“Q: Why do I need an evolving strategy for my small business?” You’re a business owner or CEO. And that means it’s your responsibility to take care of the business, invest in the right places and make the company a success story. However, to do this, you need an agreed business strategy that lays out your goals, your mission and your plan for taking the company to the next level. So, why does this need to be an evolving strategy? “A: Your business strategy is not a static document – it’s a plan and mission that should be fluid, agile and able to react to change.” We’re trading in uncertain times at present. Each day presents a new challenge for small businesses, and having a plan that can react to change is a major competitive advantage.

Cash flow and cost control

By Anna Stubbs • June 2, 2026
More than ever, cashflow is a vital part of staying afloat, whether your business is in recovery or growth mode. Revenue, profit and your bottom line all deserve your attention. But keeping everything running is the baseline. Regular cashflow forecasts help you keep that in focus. Here’s why: Cost control - If you can't reach your targets for income, reining in your costs may give you a little extra head room to manage cashflow while you plan your next move. Visibility on outgoings - Cost control can be a challenge when it’s hard to pinpoint hidden costs or where established ways of doing things cost more money than they should. You may also have been coping with unexpected expenses, as you’ve adapted your business for unplanned circumstances or increased costs. Improving business practice - It's more than only keeping an eye on outgoings (though that's important). It's about looking at each aspect of your business and business systems (or the gaps where there should be business systems) to see if poor practice is driving costs up unnecessarily. It can be useful to break it down - You can look at cost centres such as office supplies or freight. Or you can look at what those costs do for your business. It can help to analyse costs in terms of cost of sale and overheads.

Basics strategic advice: how do accountants support your financial performance?

By Anna Stubbs • June 2, 2026
“Q: How does an accountant support my financial performance?” We’re all used to the idea of a business needing an accountant. But have you ever stopped to think what a good accountant and business adviser can actually bring to your company? Advances in technology, software and AI are changing our expectations of what a basic accountant/business owner relationship can offer. So, it’s important to reassess your expectations and to find out where we can add real, additional value. “A: Your accountant is now a full-fledged business adviser, ready to help you review, manage and transform your finances and strategy.”  In previous decades, your accountant dealt primarily with historical data – the transactions and cash inflows/outflows that had happened in the past. Today, with access to so much smart forecasting, data analysis and forward-looking scenario-planning, we can tell you far more about the future of your business.