New year, new danger

This time of year is filled with pressure and guilt. Pressure to start the year off well, with new ideas, new enthusiasm and new year's resolutions, and guilt because few of us actually achieve any of these.

On a personal level new year's resolutions are fraught with danger. Too much sudden exercise is bad for you; giving up caffeine and alcohol can lead to withdrawal symptoms; and thinking too much about achieving goals is liable to prevent you from actually achieving them (although a quick Google search will demonstrate the reassuring array of goal-setting software currently available to assist with this).

But in business terms, new year's resolutions are essential, whether improving back-office systems, treating staff and partners better, sorting out debt and credit lines, extending vendor relationships or locating problems and bottlenecks within your business. They can literally be the difference between success and failure.

And this year, according to research, business failures will be on the increase. In BDO Stoy Hayward's latest Industry Watch report, the accountant and consultancy firm stated that 2004 saw an eight per cent drop in companies going under compared with 2003, to a little over 310 companies a week. This year will see that figure rise, albeit only slightly, to about 312 companies a week folding.

BDO gives several reasons for this: consumer spending, the housing market, and an uncertain economic climate (although, let's be honest, when was the last time anyone mentioned a 'certain' economic climate?).

But with interest rates unlikely to rise much more for the moment and most industries on the up, optimism is still worth clinging to. BDO does state, however, that companies that do not reassess their financial status and put plans in place to secure their future could still be in danger.

Perhaps this year it might be worthwhile breaking the habit of a lifetime and finally keeping one or two of those resolutions.