{"id":676,"date":"2018-04-19T15:57:31","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T13:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/startup.topsim.com\/?page_id=676"},"modified":"2018-04-23T10:40:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T08:40:16","slug":"consulting","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/startup.topsim.com\/en\/consulting\/","title":{"rendered":"Consulting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mbata Business Consulting<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nAugustin Mbata established his consultancy 25 years ago and has since then supported many customers with advice and practical help. From furnishings to the adaptation of structures for production and administrative structures \u2013 you get practical support based on proven experience.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Mbata Business Consulting has primarily focused on start-ups, supporting founders from initial preparation and the compilation of a business plan all the way to the actual start of business. Do not hesitate to contact us if you require help with a start-up process or need a professional business consultant at a later stage.<\/p>\n

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Staff requirement planning<\/h2>\n
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Small and newly established companies frequently have problems with the correct assessment of their staff requirements. Here is some relevant information about these tasks, and examples that show how most companies determine their staff requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Administrative section<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Customer service section<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Production section<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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R&D section<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Personnel recruitment<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Further costs in the personnel section<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Small and newly established companies frequently have problems with the correct assessment of their staff requirements. Here is some relevant information about these tasks, and examples that show how most companies determine their staff requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This section is concerned with sales meetings, the maintenance of customer contacts, customer consulting and support for individual design developments. Staff in this section also advise customers via the website using a chat function and therefore play an important role in the customer’s purchasing decision. Good customer consulting on the website affects how customers perceive product quality and is an important factor in the marketing mix for your surfboards. The average salary in this area is \u20ac16,000 per six-month period. A customer consultant tends to have approximately 200 successful consulting appointments per six-month period. The smaller the number of customers to be advised by one customer consultant, the higher the consulting quality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Staff productivity mainly depends on the type of product. It is difficult to provide a general statement. The Leisure Industry Association has recently produced a study that determined the productivity of staff in a representative investigation. It states that the productivity of a staff member in the production of, for example, a custom-made bicycle is approximately 130, which means one employee can produce 130 bicycles per six-month period. The productivity for many common leisure items such as surfboards is similar. Productivity can be further increased once the staff is familiar with the work, as the processes become routine and each task can be performed reliably. According to the study, the following factors can be used to calculate an increase in productivity:\n<\/p>\n

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\nNumber of leisure items produced, e.g. surfboards\n<\/div>\n
\n(cumulative) increase in productivity (in percent)\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n10.000\n<\/div>\n
\n1,32\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Increased flexibility in production can also be achieved by overtime. In this case, you must pay the staff a higher wage for working longer than contractually stipulated. A surcharge of 25% is stipulated by law and worker protection laws stipulate it is not possible to demand an unlimited amount of overtime. You are allowed to let your staff work up to a maximum of 120%. Approximately \u20ac14,000 per six-month period should be budgeted for the salary of an industrial mechanic.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The quality of the product is of increasing importance in the leisure industry. Young companies producing snowboards usually employ 2 staff members in the research and development section. The technology leaders in the sector even employ 3-4 staff members in this field. The staff in this section primarily develop the material composition, driving feel and additional technical factors of the product. Experience has shown that staff in this area have the highest wages of all sections: approximately \u20ac17,000 per six-month period. A cautious employment policy depending on the strategic orientation is therefore recommended.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The situation on the labour market is tense. It is therefore difficult to find qualified staff. To do so, you need to place advertisements in newspapers and\/or on online portals and conduct job interviews. However, placing advertisements incurs costs. As a result, we usually recommend a common but nevertheless cost-effective job portal called Production Recruits to our customers. The costs here are \u20ac 3,000 per employment contract.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The costs of dismissal should not be neglected when calculating staff costs. These include costs for dismissal procedures and holidays to be paid. The costs per dismissal come to \u20ac1,000 per employee. Another issue neglected by many young entrepreneurs are non-wage personnel costs. These include, for example, legally mandatory employer contributions to social insurance, continued payment of salaries and wages, other voluntary social contributions by employers and the costs of professional training and further education. Our experience indicates that non-wage personnel costs usually make up 20% of the salary or wage..<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Guidelines for young entrepreneurs<\/h2>\n
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As part of his work with young entrepreneurs, one of our employees has compiled guidelines for the decisions entrepreneurs have to make every year and a checklist for strategy development. These are provided below:<\/p>\n

Guidelines for your Decisions:<\/h3>\n

Analyse the reports from the previous period<\/p>\n

Evaluate the market situation and potential developments<\/p>\n

Set your goals and develop a strategy<\/p>\n

Create a plan for your sales and marketing mix<\/p>\n

Make your personnel decisions and productivity plans<\/p>\n

Make decisions regarding the technical infrastructure<\/p>\n

Determine the purchasing volumes<\/p>\n

Determine the planned figures you aim to achieve<\/p>\n

Plan your finances<\/p>\n

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Checklist for strategy development:<\/h3>\n

Which strategy should our company use in the market?<\/p>\n

What changes in the market can be anticipated from economic forecasts?<\/p>\n

Which seasonal fluctuations must be considered?<\/p>\n

How many products can be sold at what price?<\/p>\n

Does it make sense to use volume scaling in orders?<\/p>\n

How should our products be further developed?<\/p>\n

What sales policy action should be taken?<\/p>\n

Does our personnel planning harmonise with other planning efforts?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Liquidity planning<\/h2>\n
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Secure liquidity!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Liquidity planning is an important part of running a company, particularly for small and medium-sized companies. Our experience has shown that young and newly-founded companies often neglect liquidity planning, which can have disastrous results! We therefore recommend maintaining a cash level of at least EUR 10,000 to keep the risk of insolvency as low as possible!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Capital requirements for new companies.<\/h3>\n

You should plan your company’s capital requirements carefully in advance to avoid serious financial shortfalls or even insolvency. Below, we have included a few tips that may help you achieve this goal:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I. Long-term investments<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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II. Running costs, operating materials<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What one-time expenses are required when you take over a company, found a company or buy shares in a company? This entry includes, for example, the costs of premises, buildings, machines and vehicles, i.e. all elements of a potential purchasing price. You should calculate how much capital you require for all your company’s equipment to produce successfully during the first few periods and to have a good start in the market.<\/p>\n

Founders often underestimate their requirements for operating materials, as they assume that their income will compensate for the costs of their material and goods warehouses. However, this is rarely the case. The warehouses must first be filled, which causes considerable capital lock-up. Many young entrepreneurs also neglect the losses during the start-up of their business. At that point, capacities are not fully utilised, and the customer base must first be extended, which can also cause difficulties for newly established companies. Founders therefore rarely generate any profits during the first six months after starting their business. Companies must pre-finance many items, including rent, salaries and wages for staff as well as advance services. However, invoices for deliveries and services received must be paid speedily, while advances made to customers are only repaid with a delay. Great caution is therefore required in the first six months after establishing a company and the operating costs must be carefully calculated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mbata Business Consulting Augustin Mbata established his consultancy 25 years ago and has since then supported many customers with advice and practical help. From furnishings to the adaptation of structures for production and administrative structures \u2013 you get practical support based on proven experience. Over the years, Mbata Business Consulting has primarily focused on start-ups, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n