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Displaying 1-30 of 127 results
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Digital transformation: strategies for small and midsize accounting firms
- Article
- 29 Jul 2024
- Brian Trout, Cory Ng
The article focuses on the challenges and opportunities faced by small to medium-sized accounting firms amidst digital transformation. Topics include evolving client expectations for remote access and intuitive digital platforms, strategies for integrating accounting systems with other business tools, and the critical importance of strong data security measures to maintain client trust.
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Generative AI for small and midsized firms
- Article
- 01 May 2024
- Bill Armstrong
Article discusses how small and midsized accounting firms are beginning to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) technology to streamline their processes. It outlines the three approaches to adopting generative AI: out-of-the-box, custom development, and assembling. Each approach has its own advantages and considerations, such as data security and cost.
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Unattended retail options pegged as a secure saviour for small businesses, survey reveals
- Article
- 01 Nov 2023
Vending machines and unmanned retail services are growing in popularity with UK consumers, giving small businesses a lifeline to much needed ancillary revenue, according to the results of a newly released survey. For the consumer, it’s clear that convenience and availability are the primary drivers of unattended retail usage, with consumers increasingly relying on these services to meet out-of-hour or unplanned needs - and also to avoid social interactions.
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Who learns fastest, wins: Lean Startup and Discovery Driven Growth
- Article
- 01 Oct 2023
- Rita Gunther McGrath
Most entrepreneurial ventures and startups fail. Against this backdrop, Lean Startup and Discovery-Driven Growth (DDG) are methods that emphasize rapid learning, resource parsimony, and focus on validating assumptions as ways of reducing the cost and risk of failure. Rita Gunther McGrath looks at the benefits of both methods, suggesting that they are a major advance over traditional planning processes because they both emphasize rapid learning. She also provides a 'flops file' of massive corporate failures and analyses the mistakes made.
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Should companies launch new products in a recession?
- Article
- 01 Sep 2023
A look at the pros and cons of launching new consumer products during a recession. The authors explore how products introduced during a recession perform, examine how the severity of the recession can impact the product's performance, and scrutinize whether the timing within the recession matters. The authors' research included analysing 8,981 product launches in consumer goods categories within the UK from 1995 to 2012.
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How generative AI can expand human innovation and creativity
- Article
- 01 Jul 2023
- Tojin T.Eapen, Daniel J.Finkenstadt, Josh Folk, Lokesh Venkataswamy
Five ways in which generative AI can assist organisations by amplifying the creativity of employees to help them generate and identify innovative ideas - and build on the quality of raw ideas. The article is illustrated with images of potential product ideas created using prompts in Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, two popular AI text-to-image tools.
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Human creativity can be augmented by generative AI
- Article
- 01 Jul 2023
- Tojin Eapen, Daniel J Finkenstadt etc
Article discusses how generative AI can promote divergent thinking, challenge expertise bias, assist in idea evaluation, support idea refinement, and facilitate collaboration among users
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A business continuity plan for leading a Ukrainian start-up during a year of war
- Article
- 01 Jul 2023
- Roman Rodomansky
A Ukrainian software development company co-founder shares lessons learnt around the importance of scenario planning, flexibility, decision-making, and guiding customers and employees through uncertainty.
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China enhances tax relief for innovation and small businesses
- Article
- 08 May 2023
- Lewis Lu
Lewis Lu of KPMG China discusses enhanced tax measures to support innovation and small businesses.
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Startups stung by UK delay in awarding tax credits to innovators
- Article
- 13 Apr 2023
- Aisha S Gani
Some UK startup businesses have been waiting upwards of six months to receive research and development tax credits from HMRC, forcing some to take out loans to plug the gap in funds. The Fintech trade body Innovate Finance said it has member firms worried about lengthy delays that make it difficult to predict their cash flows. HMRC has acknowledged that it had extended processing times.
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UK banks to curb mortgage supply as loan defaults rise
- Article
- 13 Apr 2023
- Tom Rees
British banks expect to curtail the availability of mortgages in the coming months after signs emerged of business and household loan defaults picking up. Default rates on mortgages, unsecured credit to households and loans to small and medium-sized businesses all rose in the first quarter of 2023 and are expected to increase further.
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The Silicon Valley Bank Hangover
- Article
- 03 Apr 2023
- Lizette Chapman
The failure of venture capital’s favourite financial institution, the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), is a sign of more trouble to come for the technology sector. SVB's failure can be seen as a symptom of problems in a venture capital industry hit by interest-rate hikes, says Joshua Brustein. As a consequence, startup companies are likely to have to start taking money on less attractive terms.
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Portugal private clients series, part two: Opportunities on the sale of shares of small and micro companies
- Article
- 20 Mar 2023
- Ana Carrilho Ribeiro and António Queiroz Martins
Ana Carrilho Ribeiro and António Queiroz Martins of Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados report opportunities on the taxation of capital gains arising from the sale of SMCs, in the hands of resident and non-resident individual shareholders.
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A startup CFO used ChatGPT to build an FP&A tool - here's how it went
- Article
- 02 Mar 2023
- Sheryl Estrada
There's been an ongoing debate over the possible uses and pitfalls of OpenAI's ChatGPT. One CFO set out to prove the value of the technology by using it to create a financial planning and analysis (FP&A) proof-of-concept chatbot. The idea is that the bot will respond to your data queries as if you were talking to an FP&A analyst.
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When best to scale up
- Article
- 01 Mar 2023
- Hamdi Ulukaya
A new study sheds light on the debate into how fast a high-growth company should scale up. From examining job postings from 38,000 start-ups, the researchers found those start-ups that had scaled up in the first year were 20-40% more likely than others to have failed. They also found that using A/B testing software significantly raised a start-up's odds of success.
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Feature: the pros of the Hybrid Start-Up
- Article
- 01 Mar 2023
- Nathan Furr, Kate O'Keeffe
How established companies can create a 'Hybrid Start-Up' - a new model that combines the best of people, processes, and resources from both inside and outside the company. Evidence suggests that it is two or three times as likely as an independent start-up to succeed.
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Will late payment ever be resolved, or is it a fantasy?
- Article
- 01 Mar 2023
- Sean Feast
Which Government measures to support businesses suffering from late payments are most likely to work? The article looks at the options, from beefing up existing measures (the Prompt Payment Code, the role of the Small Business Commissioner), to using a combination of carrot and stick to encourage prompt payments. The potential advantages of using solutions such as automatic invoicing software, online dispute resolution platforms and debt management companies are discussed.
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Adopting climate change
- Article
- 01 Mar 2023
- Muhammad Azmat, Syed Yaqzan
Despite the UK’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, a recent report reveals that 46% of businesses have yet to take action to address climate change. Examines why UK SMEs are slow in taking action and how to overcome the barriers and uncertainties they face.
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Developing an entrepreneurial small business strategic plan
- Article
- 01 Mar 2023
- Hakan Butuner
Feature explaining how to use shortened Systematic Strategic Planning (SSP), a tool particularly suitable for developing strategic plans for SMEs. The article uses a case study of an entrepreneurial new business to demonstrate how the first four steps of a shortened SSP strategic plan can be applied.
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The key to a successful business scale-up
- Article
- 01 Jan 2023
- Martin Kupp, Jeffrey F.Rayport, Davide Sola
How to master the “extrapolation” stage, when business start-ups begin to focus on profitability, not just growth. The authors share their advice, based on their experience teaching business school courses on scaling up enterprises and their analysis of dozens of rapidly growing start-ups.
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Government's late payment review needs to get back to basics
- Article
- 01 Jan 2023
- Sean Feast
An update on the Government's launch of a review into tacking late payments to small businesses. Its scope will include existing Government measures, including the Prompt Payment Code and the role of the Small Business Commissioner. Industry experts give their views on which direction the review should take.
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The ideas that inspire us
- Article
- 01 Nov 2022
- Roz Brewer, Stephane Bancel, Anish Shah
Harvard Business Review asked eight current and former CEOs from some of the world’s top companies to describe the innovative ideas that have propelled their own careers and organizations. Two themes emerge: first, the need for constant innovation and out-of-the-box thinking as markets become more dynamic; second, the importance of purpose and a vision that encompasses all stakeholders.
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Navigating the perfect storm
- Article
- 01 Oct 2022
- Marcine Johnson
Businesses have faced many unforeseen issues for the past few years and survived. Now all sectors of business face a new challenge: inflation. Marcine Johnson suggests some strategies to help small businesses cope with the evolving circumstances.
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Building better revenue management
- Article
- 01 Oct 2022
- Jodie Moll, Ogan Yigitbasioglu
Improving revenue management efforts can help SMEs weather the challenges that arise in times of unexpected change. The authors have carried out research into revenue management in SME hotels by interviewing hotel revenue managers and hotel industry consultants in Queensland, Australia. Based on their observations, they identify ten ways businesses such as hotels can unlock their revenue management potential.
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The many hats of the small-business CFO
- Article
- 01 Sep 2022
- Stephen J.McNally
Advice on successfully navigating the transition to becoming a CFO in an SME: the attributes you are likely to need and tips to increase your odds of success.
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Startups that grew fast learn shrinking can be just as hard
- Article
- 15 Aug 2022
- Aggi Cantrill, Olivia Solon
Lessons from dismissal methods chosen by downsizing companies - there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. Some start-ups try to make redundancies exceptionally quickly, but find employees who stay lose a lot of trust.
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Q&A: Four business leaders on their 4-day workweek pilot plans
- Article
- 22 Jun 2022
- Matthew Finnegan
Seventy UK SMEs are experimenting with a four-day work week, as part of a six-month trial coordinated by the non-profit 4 Day Week Global and think tank Autonomy. Executives from four of the firms talk to Computerworld magazine about their aims, how they will manage the change, and potential challenges they expect to face.
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A 'radical' market data approach to startup valuations
- Article
- 01 Apr 2022
Valuation professional Michael Blake has issued a challenge to appraisers of early-stage companies: add rationality to valuing startups by relying more heavily on market inputs. The article covers some of the non-standard sources of market data recommended by Blake for valuing startups.
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The strategic risks facing start-ups in the financial sector
- Article
- 31 Mar 2022
- Patrick McConnell
The majority of start-ups fail. But some succeed, and a very small number succeed spectacularly. However they all face enormous risks.
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Rethinking how to grow a small business
- Article
- 01 Jan 2022
- Christopher Johnson
The right finance strategies will help your business be more resilient in the face of challenging market conditions. Christopher Johnson notes some possible adjustments, including rethinking your working capital, protecting cash flow, diversifying your sources of lending, asking your lender the right questions and considering equipment financing.
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