Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Until recently small businesses have avoided adding auto-attendants and queues to their telephone system, mainly because of the prohibitive cost but also because they felt it put callers off.

Now with changes in consumer behavior and the growth in cloud telephone systems this is no longer the case. Callers to a business now expect to be answered by an automated system and if the voice is succinct and professional their initial perception of that company is enhanced. As long as they are transferred at the next step to a human being they will often view the company as more organised, more professional and bigger than perhaps they actually are.

With cloud voice every individual gets their own direct phone number and for callers that don’t know who they want to talk to (like sales enquiries) they are handled professionally and directed immediately to someone that can help them. Even in very small companies where everyone mucks-in with incoming calls, employees can see on the screen what the call is about before they answer it.

According to McKinsey, Machine 2 Machine SIM revenues are set to increase dramatically in the next 7 years to over £11bn by 2022. Demand is being driven by the availability of fast, cost effective, reliable 4G and the development of smart devices.

IT and telecommunications companies servicing the UK SME market are experiencing this surge in demand first hand and are looking for a trusted supplier with a comprehensive management portal for maximum control and minimum cost.

Small businesses are looking to 4G for faster, more flexible connectivity on a monthly commitment. Their IT and telecommunications suppliers need a management portal to manage large estates of SIMs, where they can monitor usage and alert users approaching their data limits, back-dating bolt-ons to the beginning of the month to completely avoid additional monthly charges.

Mobile Data SIMs on 30-day rolling contracts from multiple suppliers are aimed at tablet and laptop users but also work for Machine to Machine (M2M) applications. You can usually choose the amount of data you think you will use on a monthly basis and add bolt-ons as required, connecting your device directly to the internet. 4G is becoming widely available and offers fast, reliable internet connectivity.

Things to think about when choosing a data-only SIM

• Where will you be using the data-only SIM?
• Is 3G/4G enabled in this area?
• How much data do you think you will need each month?
• What type of SIM card do you need for your device?

About Jola

Jola is a channel-only supplier of internet connectivity, hosted telephony and mobile solutions to UK SMEs, via a channel of IT and telecommunications partners. Our mission is to sell ‘with’ rather than ‘to’ partners, with the objective of finding the right solutions for their clients. Our vision is to provide as much automation as possible to allow partners to quote, order and manage solutions via easy-to-navigate online portals. We offer monthly training webinars to all partners and experienced 24/7/365 technical support.

Reseller or Dealer?

We operate two partner programmes and you can choose the right one for you and the products you sell. Some of our partners are both reseller and dealer e.g. they may be a dealer for JolaNet where they do not have the 24/7/365 resources to manage 36-month leased line contracts on their own; and reseller for JolaPhone where they can support monthly rolling hosted telephony within working hours.

Some business owners in the voice and data channel are on the lookout for complimentary, often recurring revenue streams, to help grow their business. Traditionally these companies have looked for new products high in demand with excellent growth potential and sales and marketing support.

Others, particularly in the data channel take a more reactive approach. Trusted by their customers, IT specialists are led by customer demand and approach new services as solutions to problems. One product does not suit all and the range of solutions available and recommendations from peers become important factors when considering a new supplier.

Typically, a conversation takes place internally to agree to proceed and recommended suppliers are interviewed. Commercials are then agreed with the winning provider and solutions are quoted. If the deal is won, the companies work together to install and support the solution throughout the lifetime of the contract.

Recommendations from trusted sources are essential, as so much is as stake on this first order. If it works, the customer often becomes a reference site and the product becomes part of the portfolio. 

Real Business say the most successful company directors have many of the following traits. What do you think?

 The Willingness to Do More

As the director of a company you are responsible for any shortcomings. You are in charge of delegating tasks, ensuring satisfactory output and in the end the ones that will have to answer to the company owner(s)/shareholders, HMRC, or clients if things do not go as planned. For this reason, successful directors know that they have an obligation to pick up the slack and they are not afraid to put in some hard work when it is called for.

The Ability to Adapt and Adjust

Everything doesn’t always go as planned. In fact, most of the time you can count on there being some deviation from the original blueprint, especially in the channel where there are so many variables to consider. A proficient company director is able to adapt to changes and quickly make required adjustments.

Diligence and Persistence

Both of these traits are needed in tandem – diligence without persistence will not put you ahead of competitors, and persistence without diligence will have you working harder but not smarter.

On 1 February 2016 HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) introduced emergency legislation to combat the threat of VAT fraud in the wholesale telecommunications sector.

These VAT changes only affect voice and related data services but do not affect service charges, access or line rental services. Voice call charges (including VOIP), data usage and text usage are all affected.

So if your monthly bill for usage charges from a supplier was £5000+VAT (£6000), it is now just £5000 and the £1000 of VAT you used to pay to your supplier, you now owe directly to HMRC.

I am still amazed by how many companies do not set an annual budget at the beginning of each financial year. Producing a budget starts with the sales forecast and if you are not great with spreadsheets there are plenty of .co.uk sites where you can download a free generic template. Group your main products into categories and decide how many you expect to sell each month, add the sale price and your buy price for each category and the template will calculate your gross margin. Decide how much of that gross margin you are going to spend on Overheads (salaries, travel costs, marketing etc.) and out of the bottom drops your monthly profit.

If your business requires capital expenditure, put this on a separate sheet and decide the period over which you want to write these assets off (depreciation). At this point you should probably give everything to a management accountant who will ask you questions like how long your customers take to pay you and when you have to pay your bills. If you cannot afford a management accountant yet there are management accounts templates on the web that will also turn your assumptions into a profit and loss, cash flow forecast and balance sheet for your business.

In any business, and especially those in start-up and early growth, cash flow is important. For companies that sell products and services requiring regular monthly payments, insisting your customers set-up a direct debit mandate with you seems like a good idea – and it is. 

Usually at the start of the month you will send your customers a bill stating how much they owe you and at the end of the month you take that money directly from their bank, without them having to do anything. No more late payments or endless emails and phone calls chasing them. From your customer’s point of view they don’t have to worry about transferring money or writing cheques and they have plenty of time to query the bills before the money is taken. Even if they have a dispute after the money is taken The Direct Debit Guarantee entitles them to a full and immediate refund from their bank and they can cancel their mandate at any time. Seems like a perfect arrangement but there are a couple of things you as the supplier need to consider; 

The objective of management accounts is to provide timely and key financial information for managers to make short-term decisions.

They are usually produced monthly and cover cashflow, an income statement and a balance sheet. You should also keep an eye on your margins and measure your performance in all areas against a budget.

Gross margin

Companies are often obsessed by revenue and of course this is a key indicator of progress, however I like to focus on gross margin. The average gross margin you should expect from your business will depend on what industry you are in, the products you are selling and where you sit in the supply chain. A distributor may be happy to operate on a gross margin of 5% whereas a reseller may need 40% to cover the cost of serving their customers and to compensate them for the value they add. I am always thinking about how I can buy better, reduce the cost to serve without affecting quality and the optimum price for each product. Look at the margin analysis by product to see if your mix of products is right and think about what you can do to increase the volume of higher margin products.