During this period, I collaborated closely with a client in the Energy sector on how they were going to penetrate the market with their new product/service. We met and formulated a business strategy. Their product/service had a target market of individuals and companies in the building trade who often had offcuts of materials that would be disposed of with no regard for the environment. 

Our business strategy focused on highlighting the need to pay attention to the environment as well as getting a better price for their scrap metal. My client’s objective was to be the go-to company for everyone’s recyclable material. 

During this meeting we ran a SWOT analysis to evaluate the company's capability of achieving their strategic business objectives. Strengths included: being environmentally friendly, providing a better price than scrap dealers and the delivery and collection of a bin or skip to required areas without the client having to move. 

This was a unique offering; therefore, we did not feel there were any external factors, such as competitors, which would affect my client being successful in this space. We did recognise the need to raise funds for an investment in plant and machinery, so this was built into our business plan. We discussed and I decided that it was a fantastic opportunity to leverage this new concept across our team and to our clients for marketing reasons and also to promote themselves. 

Another objective of my client was to own a property to house their team, plant, and machinery. We subsequently formulated a plan to aid the purchase of a property within 2 years. I advised on different finance options, dependent on the company's credit facility, and devised a growth strategy to seek finance to aid this acquisition. 

As part of the process above, I met with the Directors to devise a clear business plan. I initially wrote all the objectives of the Directors then organised into short-, medium- or long-term goals. After placing them into the different time frames, we discussed how we were going to achieve these targets.

The we focused on Marketing in the short-term splitting into paid marketing and free marketing (offered by myself to leverage across our network). For the paid marketing, we discussed: Budget, £1,000 p/m was decided.

What metrics we could use to measure ROI (leads generated from marketing materials, leads converted to sales etc).

The benefits of formulating a marketing plan (increased exposure, new leads, convert into sales and cash). 

The risks involved (ROI is poor, not enough leads being generated, etc). 

For the marketing leveraged across our practice, we really did not see any risks involved to the company and therefore only saw this as a benefit. 

It was decided we would review after 3 months to ensure targets were being met and resources were not being wasted. We also accounted for the effect on lead generation due to COVID-19. We were confident that the service was superior to our competitors, and that it would prove profitable. 

Collectively, we then addressed the medium-term goal - sufficient team, plant, and machinery to fulfil the requirements of meeting £25K in sales each month. Although, a medium-term goal, I believed that we could secure funding for the plant and machinery and bring this forward. I confirmed with the bank on what was required and that we would revisit in 4 weeks.

During this time, I consulted with the bank which provided assurance that this could be something they could work with and required up to date management information to support the plan and projections.

We gathered and confirmed what was needed to support the funding. One Director was tasked with financial projections for the company for the next 12 months and I was to provide up to date management information. 

As a result of the resources we collated, we secured a £125K loan to finance the acquisition of specific plant and machinery, which was needed to be able to meet a demand of £25K sales per month. 

Long-term goals of acquiring a premises were discussed and planned for. We specified a timetable to review the ongoing performance of the company over 6 months to ensure our short- and medium-term goals were being achieved.   

Tom has developed into a well-rounded individual. His knowledge, skills and experience have enabled him to develop a close understanding of a client’s needs and objectives to produce solutions to help them achieve them.

This is vitally important that we see these skills being deployed by Tom to help migrate our clients out of this pandemic and to assist them with plans to grow and recover. 

Tom has formulated business strategies and objectives as well as assisting his client with a clear business plan to achieve his clients’ objectives. 

This experience will help Tom formulate business plans in the future knowing he has built his confidence and experience in this area. This is the first time Tom has been involved in assisting a client raise finance for an acquisition and so this assignment was much of a learning experience which he can take forward.