Entrepreneur Celebrates Turning 40 with his 40 top tips in business

Michael Austen is the boss of Big Van World, the UK's largest used van supermarket based near Swindon. He started selling vans from a caravan in 2000 and now his business is turning over close to £18million. Brought up in the circus, his dad owned Austen Circus and his entrepreneurial spirit clearly inspired his son.

This month, Michael turns 40 and he'll be sharing during December 40 things he's learned in business and in his sector. This week tips 21 to 30 are around finance:

1. Keep stock turning over frequently – very relevant to my type of business. Variety gets people coming back and looking, browsing through your online stock as well. 

2. Price aggressively and, in my world, go for smaller margins to keep the stock moving. 

3. Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and act accordingly.

4. Have a good accountant – a good accountant is one you can call to help you through if you get stuck. Not one who turns up once a year asking for a bag of receipts. 

5. Take financial advice if you want to plan something so you have a voice of reason – however, still follow your gut.

6. Be agile. Sometimes in business, unexpected opportunities come along when it comes to money so be open to it. We bought a site to expand into and then another business came along wanting to rent that site – which was of greater benefit to us. So we changed our plans. 

7. Keep an eye on the productivity of staff – mindfully have conversations with staff who are not pulling their weight or find out why if their productivity has fallen. They may have a problem you can help them with or need some support.

8. Beware, late payers – in my world luckily we don’t have this. No payment, no van. However, for many businesses this is an issue so put a process in place to mitigate the risk eg. payment upfront or a robust credit control process.

9. Watch cashflow – money in business ebbs and flows. Sometimes there’s plenty of money in the business at other times there’s not. Keep in contact with your suppliers, keep them up to date, don’t be embarrassed about conversations. If you need to pay overtime, tell them that and then follow through. 

10. Look back – look back at overall performance and make changes if needed. A business coach can help with this however you can also do it with your team and allow them to tell you what they think.