Recession will not Stop Entrepreneurs

Helrik Chartered Accountants is managed by Richard Plasek, a Slovak who spent most of his working life in the UK. Having attained a Master’s Degree at one of the world’s top Business Schools and a fellowship in the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, his career has always been focused on finance and business turnaround. With several business turnaround projects under his belt ranging from small business through multinationals to UK Government departments, Richard is now in a good position to advise on business matters and strategies and help his clients to take the next steps for growth and prosperity.

Where have you gained the necessary skills for this job?
My training started at one of the Big Four accounting houses and I quickly moved into Management Consulting wherein I managed European-wide projects for re-organising operations across several countries. I then moved into the public sector with the UK Government as the main client making the taxpayers’ money go further. I took on a few private ventures later on where I bought and sold businesses for profit after a rapid turnaround. I still run a few companies but primarily focus on making Helrik a successful firm through helping clients to realise their full potential.  

What can you do for your clients? 
“Business does not stop even if the things are bad around you. On the contrary, it makes you realise what inefficiencies you have in your company. The outside environment is giving you a good excuse to get rid of these. You can get away with anything.” With this in mind, I approached a client who was running a meat factory in east London that was burdened with debt, non-paying customers and obsolete work processes. One year later, we were running a successful £1.4 m business. 

Our core activities are the provision of accounting and bookkeeping services and some clients want just this. However, we actively get involved in the management of the business wherein I help with improving finances, implementing strict cost control mechanisms or improving the back office function to expedite product development or increasing customer service. 

All of my clients obtain my full attention and I regularly discuss their finances and strategies. I visit their premises to see whether there is something that can be improved. I look after their personal and business finance and by having experience in running my other ventures, I can advise on what works, what should be scrapped or how to go about branching into a new market or service.

What can you do for Slovak entrepreneurs in the UK?
Readers of the SK Magazine are invited to visit our Helrik stand at the Business Startup exhibition in ExCeL from 28–29 May 2009, where I will be giving free advice to those seeking to be UK entrepreneurs (www.bstartup.com). This is a must see event for any businessperson. In the last few years we have attracted speakers such as Sir Alan Sugar, Peter Jones, Simon Woodroffe, Stelios Haji Ioannou, Rachel Elnaugh, Jacqueline Gold, Lord Karan Bilimoria and Levi Roots. More than 30,000 visitors are expected this year. 

Additionally, we offer free consultation sessions at our offices in Greenwich where we discuss issues either on a one on one basis or in a group with similar but non-competing businesses to share best practice. 

Are your fees expensive?
For the majority of the clients we agree on a fixed fee for the year with no hidden charges. This includes the basic accounting and bookkeeping services as well as business advice for helping the client grow. The fees are comparable with other accountants offering a similar service, but with us the client obtains extra value due to the business advice offered. As an example, one of my clients is now running three separate businesses as a direct result of us talking to him about the present market opportunities. 

What is your plan in the future?
My plan is to merge my clients together and have them share their views and learn from each other. The point here is that competition is good for customers, and businesses should identify their own competitive advantage and keep it to themselves. However, non-adding value processes should be shared with the competition to minimise costs. For example, there are over 16 firms offering transport services to Czech and Slovakia all using different transport carriers. Imagine if they all used one efficient back office system with one transport carrier. This would minimise the transport costs to a minimum by having a much larger purchasing power. The 16 firms could still compete in the market but they would all certainly make higher profits by attaining the lowest possible operational costs.

More info: www.helrik.co.uk

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