Simon Astil, Managing Director, Metaflex

Over the last 7 years, Simon Astil, Managing Director of Metaflex has faced a number of challenges getting his start-up off the ground. From attracting the cash to run his business day to day to keeping customers happy, pulling in new customers and managing his staff. Overcoming these challenges has been crucial in shaping his business into the success story it is today.

Simon manufactures stainless steel hoses and started his own company over 7 years ago, a Barclays customer for 8 years he was introduced to the Barclays Business Manager service (a subscription based service that provides businesses with essential software and services) by his Barclays Local Business Manager, Tony Hanson. In part, it is this relationship with Barclays that has enabled his business to go from start-up to the thriving company it is today.

Where did it start?

Simon says that the inspiration for starting up on his own came from the work he was doing 8 years ago (which was also steel hose manufacturing). Simon and his colleague, who is now his business partner, decided that they could do the same thing - only better. At the age of 30 they were both looking for something more, and so they decided it was the perfect time in their lives to go it alone. What initially started as a two man business has now flourished and Simon and his partner now employ 8 people.

 

8 staff is a lot to manage

The HR aspect of business management has been one of the most challenging, says Simon. While he has had some of the same staff for 3 to 4 years now, he has found that the younger staff he has taken on generally do not stay as long, and it is difficult to find people with the right skills.

So what has he done to deal with his people management issues?
The beprofessional HR and Health & Safety service as part of the Barclays Business Manager service which Simon has been subscribing to for the past 3 years has come in handy.

After attending a free customer training day designed as an introduction to getting to grips with all the applications and services in Business Manager, Simon had the tools to deal with aspects of people management such as contract writing and various health and safety issues. Since the course Simon has been able to use the beprofessional service extensively.

“Going on the one day training course has saved us a lot of time, and to me time is money”.

Cash is king

As any business owner knows cash is king, you have to get the cash in and then manage your cash flow effectively if you want to stay in business and prosper. Simon’s company is no different, and he has found the bookkeeping aspect of Business Manager a great help in overcoming would be cash management problems. Using QuickBooks Pro the automated bookkeeping software in Business Manager, he is able to create invoices, quotes and manage all his customers and suppliers in a few clicks.

“It is fantastic as we can have access to all of our customers information at the click of a button, we can click into their account, we know exactly what they have spent, we can look at trends and we use the notes to put in details like if they have ever bought form competitors in the past. And if they do have a tendency to go to competitors we can then be really proactive in order to keep them coming back to us. We can also see which of our customers are good at paying on time or bad.”

And is this the same for the supplier management side? “Yes, we input all invoices we receive from our suppliers and again at the click of a button we know what we have spent and more importantly, how much buying power we have at any given time.”

Running a business is not just about managing customers, suppliers and staff though, and Simon’s partner who manages this side of the business is always trying to stay one step ahead of his competitors and attract new customers.

Here another aspect of the Business Manager service has been invaluable to them, Marketing Plan Pro, marketing planning software has allowed them to create and maintain a sales and marketing strategy.

Looking to the future

Going forwards, Simon says that he has only seen a small percentage of what the Business Manager service can do for his business, and he is looking forward to using it to its full potential.

“The next thing I am going to do is set up passwords and do my VAT return on it. I think sometimes we don’t like change, it is easy to stick to an old method of doing something because you know how to, but this is not always best. This service has certainly taught us this, it has saved us lots of time and therefore we have been able to make more money”.

As for how he feels about being a business manager, would he ever give it up or swap it for his old job? We think not.

“The best thing about running your own business is the full package that you get with it; the feeling of being in complete control of your future, the excitement, the buzz and watching it grow through your own efforts. It was very hard work to start with but it has certainly been worthwhile”.

We wish him all the best for the future.

You can visit Simon’s website at: http://www.metalflex.co.uk/

To find out more about the Barclays Business Manager products and services, follow this link.