Profit Cash Growth

We go head to head in a battle off: the five things that have genuinely moved the needle for our businesses over the last 25 years. No rehearsed answers, no overlap discussed in advance, just two founders picking apart what actually built the business versus what just felt busy. It's a useful exercise for any owner who wants to get clear on what would hurt most if it disappeared tomorrow.
Key Topics Covered
Why LinkedIn became Claire's number one channel for leads, and the debate over whether it's actually scalable
How the smartphone and tools like Claude Code turned Simon into someone building internal software with no coding background
Using AI as a thought partner to challenge decisions and shortcut the learning curve on things like SEO
Why Xero opening up its API changed what was possible for both businesses, and what that means for any owner relying on one core piece of software
Podcasting, AirPods, and self-education as an underrated growth lever
The apprenticeship levy as a way to attract and train talent without competing purely on salary
What COVID-19 actually taught them about steady growth versus sudden windfalls, and why "predictable" isn't always what it's cracked up to be
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Take the Finance Fitness Scorecard https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/finance-fitness-score
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

Most business owners have never heard of the apprenticeship levy, and it's costing them thousands of pounds in training they could be getting for free or close to it. In this episode, Claire and Simon explain exactly how the levy works, why it isn't just for school leavers, and how any business, including the owner themselves, can use it to fund everything from AI upskilling to a full charter accountancy qualification.
Key topics covered:
What the apprenticeship levy actually is and who pays into it
Why small businesses can access the fund without ever paying into it themselves
The difference between funding for under-25s and over-25s, and what that means for cost
How short, modular courses now sit alongside longer professional qualifications
Real examples of courses available right now, from AI implementation to sales and operations
Why training providers handle almost all of the admin, and what's actually required from you as the employer
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Take the Finance Fitness Scorecard https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/finance-fitness-score
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

Most business owners only track the time between issuing an invoice and getting paid, and wonder why cash still feels tight. In this episode, Claire Hancott breaks down the customer journey cash cycle: the full picture of how long money is actually out of your business before it comes back in. If you're spending on marketing, taking on new work, or thinking about scaling up, this episode shows you exactly what you need to know before you commit more cash.
Key topics covered:
Why invoice-to-cash (your DSO) is only one small part of the real cash flow picture
The four stages of the customer journey cash cycle, from lead generation to cash in the bank
How to calculate your own cash cycle in days, and why that number matters more as you grow
Why slow invoicing is one of the easiest and most costly gaps to fix in any business
How to use your cash cycle number to work out exactly how much spare cash you need before ramping up marketing spend
Why this calculation becomes essential when raising funding or approaching investors
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Take the Finance Fitness Scorecard https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/finance-fitness-score
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

Claire talks through three real client scenarios from the last few weeks where business owners came to her wanting to take on debt, and she told all three of them not to. This episode breaks down why, what she suggested instead, and how a genuine growth opportunity can look identical to a cash flow problem you haven't fixed yet. If you're weighing up a loan right now, listen before you sign anything.
Key Topics Covered:
Why a seven figure business wanted funding to accelerate growth, and why the numbers showed the existing business couldn't actually generate enough cash to repay the loan
The difference between scaling a profitable business and scaling a loss
Why directors taking dividends out of the business can mask a much thinner profit picture than it appears
A seasonal business considering an expensive unsecured loan to cover a short eight week cash flow gap, and the two cheaper alternatives that solved it instead
How a business that had just acquired another company avoided getting locked into invoice financing by using an underused asset instead
Why the right answer to "should I take on debt" always depends on what you're actually trying to achieve
 
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

Should you be including your labour costs in your gross profit? Claire breaks down why this simple question trips up more business owners than almost any other line on the P&L, and why getting it wrong can make a good month look bad and a bad month look good. If your gross margin swings wildly for reasons you can't explain, this episode is for you.
Key Topics Covered:
Why seasonal businesses that load subcontractor costs into cost of sales end up thinking their gross profit is worse than it actually is
Why putting fixed salaries into gross margin distorts the number every time sales move up or down
The three-step approach to working out which staff costs belong in cost of sales
How to get 75 to 80 percent of the way there without tracking every minute of every day
What utilisation and capacity data reveals once you separate client-facing time from everything else
Why this sits closer to management accounting than traditional compliance-focused accounting
 
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

Why do businesses actually fail? Not the vague, one-size-fits-all answer, but the five specific ways it really happens to owner-managed businesses turning over between £1 million and £20 million. In this episode, Claire and Simon work through the five most common causes of business failure, then rank them from least to most dangerous based on what Claire sees across hundreds of client businesses. This one is essential listening for any founder who wants to spot the warning signs before they become terminal.
Key Topics Covered:
Why business success has a thousand causes but business failure tends to fall into only a handful of patterns
Taking on too much or the wrong kind of debt, and why repayment terms rarely match the return an asset generates
Over-reliance on a single customer, contract, or connected supply chain, and why this risk hides in plain sight
Overtrading and losing control during a growth phase
Disproportionate ratios, from long payment terms to an oversized payroll, and why these quietly strangle cash flow
Why poor financial visibility is the root cause sitting underneath almost every other failure mode
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

Most business owners think "cash flow" means one number on one report. Claire breaks down why that single view is exactly what leaves profitable businesses caught short, unable to pay a VAT bill they never saw coming. In this episode, Claire walks through the three distinct ways every business needs to look at its cash, and why relying on just one of them creates a blind spot that can catch even a genuinely profitable business off guard.
Key Topics Covered:
Why a business can be profitable for 18 months and still not have enough cash to pay its VAT bill
The three types of cash reporting every business owner should be getting monthly: the cash flow forecast, the cash flow statement, and the "whose cash is it" breakdown
How a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast protects you from tax bill surprises
Why profitable businesses still run out of cash once loans, dividends, and stock are accounted for
The difference between service, stock, and asset-based businesses when it comes to cash flow risk
Why roughly 80% of the businesses PCG works with are unknowingly living off money that belongs to HMRC
Get the free 13‑week template (email marketing@profitcashgrowth.com) or view a live demo of our reporting at profitcashgrowth.com.
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

How did Poland go from earning 16p for every pound a British person earned to 83p in just 25 years? And more importantly, what does that extraordinary economic transformation mean for the way you run your business? In this episode, Claire and Simon break down the eight key decisions that turned Poland into Europe's greatest economic success story, and apply each one directly to what growing businesses can learn from them.
Key Topics Covered
The eight things Poland got right, from shock therapy and keeping its own currency to EU membership and cross-party political consensus, and the business equivalent of each
Why ripping the band-aid off in one go is almost always better than slow, managed change that drags on for years
The danger of tying your hands: the one-customer problem, the one-channel problem, and the debt covenant trap
Why laying the right foundations before you grow determines whether the growth actually sticks
Cross-departmental buy-in and why the businesses that sustain growth are the ones where every hire understands the vision
The role fear plays in driving performance, and why comfort is the enemy of ambition
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

What would Andy Burnham's Britain actually mean for your business? In this episode, Claire and Simon run through the policies being floated under potential new leadership, from national insurance changes and business rate cuts to flat-rate inheritance tax and a radical property tax overhaul. This is a frank, commercial take on what might change, what's already been ruled out, and why the gap between GDP growth and how business owners actually feel deserves more attention than it gets.
Key Topics Covered
Why the economy can be growing and business owners still feel like they're going backwards, and what that disconnect means
The proposed reversal of the employer national insurance increase and whether 1.2% really moves the dial
A 20% business rate cut for hospitality, retail, and leisure, funded by a levy on super warehouses
Flat-rate inheritance tax at 10% for everyone, and why it's cleverer than it first looks
Abolishing stamp duty and replacing it with an annual property tax, and who this really hurts
Devolution of spending decisions and whether Andy's vision for the North can actually work
In PCG Extra, we discuss Spread.Finance : a Xero-connected tool that automates accruals, prepayments and deferred revenue to make management accounts more accurate. For business owners wanting clearer numbers and better cash decisions, visit https://www.spread.finance to book a demo.
 
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

This week Claire breaks down a court case that sounds like a joke but has serious implications for any business that sells products or services as part of a bundle. The KFC sauce pot VAT case has opened the door for businesses across food, retail, and beyond to look again at how they are charging VAT, and possibly claim some of it back. If you run a business that bundles products or services together for one price, this episode is worth ten minutes of your time.
Key Topics Covered:
The Queens Court Limited versus HMRC case and what it actually decided
Why bundling products together can mean you are charging the wrong rate of VAT
How HMRC can approve a VAT claim and then challenge a bigger one for the exact same issue
Real examples of businesses that have found thousands of pounds in unclaimed VAT simply by having someone look properly
Which types of businesses are most likely to be affected (hint: it is not just fast food)
Why "no win no fee" VAT claim companies are not the answer
⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together!
⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe
⭐ Get a Free copy of Claire's book Profit By Numbers: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/book
 
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Facebook
ABOUT THE HOST:
Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 7 & 8 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers.
As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years’ experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business.
Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn’t working and where your opportunities lie. Claire’s mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions. 
 
*The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.