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The Company Doctors – Can these two men (and their team of 60) save 200,000 jobs?
Taking a positive spin on the credit crunch in Ireland a new business, V20:20 has just been launched to help the SME sector. Banks in Ireland are wary of lending money to business, in light of the current economic environment and property lending debacle.
With V20:20, businesses will be able to avail of targeted business advice as well as specific sectoral and functional expertise and banks can properly assess SMEs viability and future growth prospects. Thus, banks will be in a better position to extend credit to SMEs who have the right business characteristics to survive the current economic storm.
Set up by two entrepreneurs and experienced consultants, Peter Lawless and Robert Cooper, the goal of V20:20 is simple - save 200,000 jobs, by providing bespoke strategic planning and implementation to 10,000 SME companies in Ireland by the year 2020.
In reality most bank staff and accountants do not have the business expertise to help their clients with real business issues such as; increasing sales and reducing costs, whilst maintaining operational efficiency. This means banks can not feel comfortable extending credit to many otherwise viable businesses that now will fail as a result in this difficult economic climate.
V20:20 is close to announcing partnerships with a number of banks and accountancy practices to work with them to augment the financial experience of their personnel with expertise in key business areas such as sales and marketing, operational cost reduction management and industry benchmarking.
Peter Lawless, co-founder of V20:20 said "businesses are crying out for this solution. In the US and UK they have loan mediators and turnaround specialists working with the banks. Given the international communities blighted view of Irish banking, this is a solution which is long over due."
Since the government recapitalized major banks in Ireland and ordered them to lend 10% more to SME's, the question from the banks has been, "how can we ensure that we lend only to businesses that will survive and prosper?"
The rulebooks have been thrown out the window and the standard measurements that banks have used on a company's commercial viability are no longer sufficient. Many of the larger consulting firms are full to capacity and indeed their fees would probably exceed the budgets of many of the medium-size companies who are indeed responsible for the majority of jobs in Ireland.
One of the founders of V20:20, Robert Cooper, a former banker with over 20 years experience and author of the ‘Bluffers Guide to Banking’ said "V20:20 will use the expertise of almost 100 experienced consultants who are already on board with us. These are highly-experienced people, many of whom are also mentors with Enterprise Ireland. They see the massive benefit in combining consultant talents across sectoral and functional levels and using a common framework that maximizes business benefits for both the clients and the banks simultaneously. Using a centralized repository of business tools means that the consulting expertise of Ireland Inc. can now be applied in a formal, cost effective and consistent manner working with clients to help them not only survive but be positioned for growth."
Background notes about V2020 Consulting Limited.
V20:20 was set to help SMEs survive and thrive despite the current economic climate. A core team of consultants will work with selected, distressed bank clients, and perform a due diligence Commercial Viability Assessment. Next they will create a strategic plan and a set of measurement criteria, which the company can benchmark performance against as they execute the plan. At all times the full team of independent consultants will be using the proven V20:20 framework and processes. This means that there will be consistency, which will lead to greater confidence.
It all about ensuring company survival! The V20:20 framework has been designed with the following key client benefits in mind:
• Improve owners return on equity, by optimizing process, reducing costs, increasing sales and thereby retaining jobs
• Uncover new ways to increase revenues, even though market conditions have deteriorated considerably
• Increase working capital and cash flow, by strategically reducing costs while maintaining profit generating activities
• Vastly improve sales capabilities and management forecasting by implementing best of breed sales processes
• Streamline operations creating higher productivity through better processes
• Allow management to focus on the core activities of the business, while areas under threat receive expert outside assistance
• Increase profits by reviewing your existing products and services and focusing your efforts entirely on those with the greatest return
• Improve credit rating and access to finance by improving cash flow and being in a position to present a strategic business plan
• Prevent future difficulties by identifying key performance indicators and monitoring them on a regular basis as an early warning signal to future issues.
For more information contact us now.
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