Businesses don’t go bust because of a lack of profitability. They go bust because they run out of cash.

A well-drafted business plan is crucial when raising finance or trying to attract investment, but it is also, of course, an essential tool for the successful management of a business. A carefully researched ‘roadmap’ which includes the right information provides focus, prevents business drift and reduces risk. It will help you and your team to prioritise, set and achieve your goals.

You will have to deal with many unexpected events during your business life, but by ensuring you do everything you can to anticipate scenarios and outcomes you’ll be better equipped for a fast and effective response as and when they arise.

Great ideas are two a penny, but great businesses are rare. Businesses that achieve scale and long-term success share distinct characteristics: vision, strong leadership, an enthusiastic and effective management team, great products or services and a clear value proposition. They regularly challenge the status quo, finding a better or different way to achieve their goals and overcome their competition.

Rajesh Sharma, Head of International Tax at Smith & Williamson was one of our keynote speakers at the 2011 EC Born Global Workshop.

An interesting development in the current mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is the emergence of the hybrid private equity/trade buyer — a kind of private equity buy and build approach, in contrast to the classic trade buyer who bids for businesses in the same industry in order to achieve potential synergies and cut costs through economies of scale.

As the recession started to grip, most professional firms responded by cutting costs. They started with the obvious ones, such as training, advertising and investment in IT. Ironically, these are the areas that should receive additional spending in difficult times, to provide or enhance a distinguishing feature and thereby set the firm apart from the competition.

Time is running out for higher earners whose pension savings could eventually exceed the £1.5m lifetime allowance to register for 'fixed protection' and avoid a 55% tax charge. High earners in their 30s and 40s could be particularly at risk.

The government's drive to make businesses tidy up their tax and record keeping is moving up a gear. Having carried out a pilot scheme earlier in the year, it is now beginning to contact firms to check that all tax related records, from VAT to PAYE, NIC, corporation tax, expenses and any other taxes are 'adequate and accurate'.

In summary: the VAT question is whether agencies providing temporary workers should charge VAT on the full amount received from customers i.e. the agency worker's salary plus the agency's commission, or whether they should only account for VAT on the commission element received. It all comes down to whether the agency acts as principal or agent, and is important to businesses who are heavy users of temps and unable to recover VAT eg, housing associations, charities, health and welfare sector, and financial service industry. Potentially there are millions of pounds of VAT at stake.