There is no avoiding the issue the UK Economy is in recession and if you are a business owner you must have a plan to survive this economic slump or you will most certainly fail.



Tough trading over Christmas and the New Year period has seen an unprecedented number of high street retails go into administration or liquidation.

Retailers and Businesses that have already been bore the brunt of the recession and have had to go bankrupt are MFI the furniture retailer, Whittard of Chelsea, the specialist tea and coffee retailer. and Wedgewood the fine China and tableware manufacturer.

Another victim of the recession has been our beloved Woolworths that went into administration just before Christmas and saw its final stores close on the 5th of January 2009, which has left 27,000 people facing redundancy.

How can a business survive this recession? Well Alan Tilley of the Turnaround Management Association says that for a business to achieve a successful turnaround it needs four things; a viable business core, credible management team, a valid business plan and appropriate finance.

The credit crunch and lack of liquidity within the financial money markets has restricted traditional forms of lending from Banks into Businesses to very dangerous levels. This limitation of funding has implemented a Cash Flow Squeeze on British Business.

As an economy enters into recession one of the first thing a business should start consistently doing is keeping a tight rain upon costs. A firm hand upon expenses can save a business. Look at distribution costs, promotion and marketing, business location and even the simplest things such as turning off the office heating at the end of the working day.

Business owners interested in surviving a recession should look for alternative and appropriate sources of finance. The old clich of cash is king has never been more important than at the present time, although most businesses nowadays rely on some form of third party funding whether it be bank overdraft or business loans. Now may be the time to consider alternative sources of finance such as invoice factoring, which is increasingly popular for small to medium businesses. While not suitable for all businesses, the huge benefit of debt factoring is that rather than have money tied up in invoices that are yet to be paid, you can receive an initial payment up front, typically 80% - 85% of the gross value, and the remainder when the customer pays the invoices to an invoice finance provider, less the service fee which has been negotiated with them. However, if the customer defaults on payment, then the finance company will recover the money provided to you initially from any further invoices which are factored. This can lead to random cash flow if customers are slow payers or they go into insolvency.