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If you have decided that a limited company is the best vehicle for your new business, there are a number of important points to consider whilst you set up the company to minimise potential complications in the future.

If getting paid on time is a growing problem for your business, is it time that you reviewed your invoices and terms and conditions to ensure that they are not leaving you open to the risk of bad debt?

When you extend credit to a customer it is very easy to forget that it is the same as handing over cash. In order to preserve and protect the financial health of your business, it is vitally important to ensure that you regularly review and update your contractual terms with your customers, suppliers and contractors. This will ensure that your contractual relationships grow and adapt alongside your business. A new business, of course, will do very well to have a…

As your business grows and evolves, you may wish to bring new directors onto the board to reward and secure key members of staff or to bring in new skills and contacts from outside your business. In either case, the appointment of a new director to the board of your company is not as straightforward as it may seem.

Aside from the obvious duties such as filing reports at Companies House, there are numerous other obligations placed upon company directors. If you fail to comply with your duties your position on the board may be under threat, as you can be held liable by the company and in some circumstances by minority shareholders. In the most serious of cases directors may be disqualified or face criminal sanctions.

Neither Anne nor I are particularly experienced cyclists. In the last nine months whilst training we have both cycled about 80 miles in one day but neither of us have cycled the mileage we are just about to endure, 95 miles with 3856 ft of climbing, and neither of us have cycled long distance on four consecutive days.

Recovering a debt quickly is an essential part of ensuring your business remains in good financial health, but when you are busy focusing on attracting new custom and fulfilling current commitments it can be easy to forget this. As a result, procedures put in place to keep cash flowing in can become overlooked and you end up adopting a scattergun approach to debt recovery that is neither effective nor efficient.

You and your business partner may have a fantastic business idea and wish to launch your business as soon as possible, but before you do so it is vital that you give adequate thought to what type of partnership will best suit your needs.

If your company has invested in new plant and machinery or IT systems, then the after-sales support is likely to be a key element of achieving a return on your investment. Given that you usually need to maintain a working relationship with the supplier, what are your options if the after-sales support is poor?

Organisational change is rarely easy, whether this is the implantation of a new IT system, rebranding or cultural change such as improving diversity within a workforce. It is time-consuming for senior management, requiring a diversion from 'business as usual' and may require skills or experience which are not available within the business.