4 KEYS PHASES

We generally see one of two scenarios with startup businesses. Some are well-funded from day one, which means that budget may be available for support with building a business plan, forecast and budget, grant applications and other detailed early-stage exercises.

Alternatively, you may be in a position where funds are very limited early on, and you need a service that fits a restricted budget. To meet the needs of these businesses, we will always do our best to find a way to provide the support you need whilst staying within your budget. Typically this would be achieved by building a service package to meet your basic needs whilst not exceeding budget, which can be expanded to a full service when funds are available. In some cases, we can offer a fixed-period discount to help you bridge a short term funding gap, eg until funding is received.

We love to partner with tech businesses with potential, and will therefore always be as flexible as we can to find a service and price that will work for you and allows us to start to build a successful long-term working relationship as early as possible in the life of your company.

As with any new business, we can assist you with all aspects of setting up a new business, including advising on structures, company formation, registering with KVK, setting up an accounting system, facilitating SEIS or EIS investment and more besides.

The key during this phase will no doubt be cashflow management, and making every penny count in order to get your product developed and to market as well and as quickly as possible.

We can assist with cashflow planning and forecasting if required; either to produce new models or to update and adapt plans drawn up at the planning stage.

Especially important to many companies at this stage is being efficient with tax, for example claiming R&D tax credits if your project qualifies. We specialise in the preparation of R&D  claims, and have a 100% success rate for claims we’ve submitted since the scheme was introduced.

So you can rest assured we will help you to ensure that everything you’re entitled to is claimed and the company receives maximum value, which of course can mean a payable credit from the Belastingdienst, often an extremely valuable cashflow boost to companies that have not yet started to sell their product.

When your product is ready for launch, there may be further forward-planning to be done in terms of working capital and funding requirements for starting to trade. We can help you analyse the cashflow needs of the business and ensure that you are not caught out by the unexpected.

Prior to launch, it is important to be fully prepared in terms of systems to make your data capture, accounting and reporting as smooth and efficient as possible. Therefore good planning and preparation before launch are essential, and we can help you to do this.

We can set up your accounting system and reporting structure to suit your business perfectly, put API integrations in place, and generally ensure you have exactly what you need at each stage from launch to the various phases of growth.

There may be other support you need such as considering incentive schemes for key staff, board reporting, and a range of other services, which we can also assist you with as little or as much as you would like us to.

Our service packages are always flexible and ready to evolve with your needs and those of the business, so we can grow with you, always ensuring you have the support you need. So from simple packages for startups with a limited budget, right through to an outsourced accounts department and virtual FD service, we’ve got you covered.

Once your business is well established and trading profitably, thoughts often turn to the question of long term planning.

Do you intend to run the business long term, aim for an exit via a sale or management buyout, take institutional investment or something else?

Specific advice and support will then be needed to put the right foundations in place to achieve your chosen objective (or keep options open for more than one outcome) over a chosen period of time.

When you then approach your target date for exit or succession, we can provide advice on key matters such as sale negotiations/review of terms, tax planning and lots more.

At Wigepa in Amersfoort we have extensive experience of working with business owners to plan for their future and choose the most appropriate long-term strategy for themselves and their business.