The background
Rapid IT is a Lancashire-based, family-run business, offering customers a seamless journey of tech supply, reuse and recycle over 20 years.
The challenge
This Lancashire-based business was extremely busy buying and selling IT products, but when asked by their business mentor for various financial breakdowns, they found themselves having to piece things together from various reports.
As such, it proved difficult for them to accurately define values per sale, overheads and other vital cost elements.
Their accountant was only instructed once a year to file the company’s accounts and wasn’t used for advice or support at any other time.
The F Word’s Martin Horton was asked to meet the Rapid IT directors to look at the current financial reports and suggest ways in which this could be improved.
Martin said: “It’s really important when speaking to a new client that we don’t bamboozle them with too many numbers, or make it difficult for them to process.
“The purpose of our initial visit is to gauge how comfortable the client is with the existing financial reporting available to them and what they feel is missing.
“Sometimes this is simply an explanation of the numbers they have in front of them, but often it is breaking down those figures and presenting them in a different way which they can easily relate to.
“In the case of this particular client, we started out by simplifying the figures and breaking them down into the required areas and then started to build these reports with more detail as their confidence and understanding grew.
“We now meet every month to discuss the business finances, making sure we keep on track.”
The result
Jack Bannister, Rapid IT’s managing director, said: “We now feel completely in charge of our finances and are confident to go ahead with ambitious growth plans, knowing we have a robust, profitable financial foundation on which to build.
“We cannot recommend Martin enough.”