PLAN YOUR FIRST STEPS TO SUCCESS

Locate East Sussex is a business support and inward investment agency for East Sussex, funded by East Sussex County Council, the five district and borough councils and the European Regional Development Fund. Its purpose is to help businesses in, or looking to relocate to, the county to develop and grow, providing 12 hours of free business support.

It has helped over a thousand businesses to fulfil their growth ambitions, expanding into new premises, accessing business loans and grant funding, and providing impartial advice on strategy and financial plans.

Something that comes up in discussion more often than not is the necessity for a five to ten-year business strategy; a vision for where you want your business to go, what you want it to achieve and how you plan to get there. It is said that business owners with a business plan see growth 30% faster than those without one, and 71% of the fastgrowing companies have cited following a business plan.

❛❛ Many small business owners get so caught up in the day to day operation of their business they lose sight of their initial aims. Planning for growth is vital to ensuring a sustainable and successful business ❜❜

Having a business strategy is crucial as it can help with:

Strategic planning Assessing how your business could grow and develop can help you stay focused so that you can achieve your business goals more quickly.

Strengths and weaknesses Taking a step back to consider what your USPs might be and what weaknesses may need attention to improve. Use your strengths to stand out from your competition.

Efficiency Are you utilising your resources most effectively? If not, you can set milestones for achieving this. Control A greater understanding of what is going on in every area of the business provides you with a clear path forward with your managing each step along your timeline.

So what are Locate East Sussex’s top tips when putting together your business plan/strategy?

1 Plan Short Term And Long Term Goals

Planning for what you want to achieve in the next 12 months is important, but so is where you plan to be further down the line. Your long term plans may affect how you approach the next 12 months, as you make small steps to achieving your end goal. This is particularly important when you consider where your business is based, which leads nicely onto...

2

IS YOUR BUSINESS SPACE SUFFICIENT?

Something that often gets overlooked is whether your existing business space is going to be sufficient to manage your business growth as you carry out your plan. Is there possibility to expand or take on more space close by? Or might you have to look at moving your entire business to a new premises. This is an area where Locate East Sussex can help, and urges businesses to start having those conversations as early as possible.

Locate East Sussex has close relationships with local planning authorities, property developers and commercial property agents and is therefore at the forefront of commercial property in the county. The experienced business advisors can provide advice on potential planning applications, commercial property coming to market and new developments on the horizon. They can also help make connections for you with relevant professionals to help you find your perfect space.

Having these conversations as early on as possible is crucial, as decisions on what businesses might need in terms of workspace are made as part of the district’s Local Plans, which can be years ahead, so knowing what our local businesses are hoping to achieve can help us to guide those conversations.

3

Getting The Right Business Funding

Firstly, having a business plan is vital to securing business finance. Lenders need to see that you have a clear and viable plan for ensuring your business’s success and sustainability. There are many different types of business finance available, and sometimes this can be crucial to give you a little leg up to getting to where you want to be. There are also several grant programmes available depending on what you are looking to spend the money on, that can be tapped into to help. Locate East Sussex can help you navigate the opportunities available to you and help you discover what options might be best for your goals.

Some commonly used funding includes:

East Sussex Invest (ESI) ESI8 fund is an East Sussex County Council and Regional Growth Fund (RGF) programme to support the local economy and create jobs. It is delivered by East Sussex County Council in partnership with Locate East Sussex. The fund offers grants from £10,000 to £25,000, and loans from £10,000 to £100,000 for capital investment to stimulate business growth and job creation in the county. Loans and grants require match funding.

Recovery Loan Scheme The Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) from British Business Bank, but delivered through accredited lenders, supports access to finance for UK businesses as they recover and grow following the Covid-19 pandemic. Eligible businesses can borrow up to £2m over a maximum period of six years which can be used for managing cashflow, investment and growth.

Growth Loans You can access a business loan through your bank, or other finance lenders such as Let’s Do Business Finance. Let’s Do Business Finance works with businesses who often struggle to get finance through mainstream lenders and can offer loans £25,001 - £100,000 up to a maximum of seven years.

Have you got big plans for your business? Let’s start a conversation and work together to get you to your goal. www.locateeastsussex.org.uk enquiries@locateeastsussex.org.uk

Staff recruitment, engagement and retention provide some of the biggest challenges faced by employers at present. Quiet quitting is becoming a significant issue.

By Pam Loch, Solicitor and Managing Director of Loch Associates Group