Blog posts

Why Your Business Needs to Invoice Using the New Peppol Network

Sun, 05 Jun 2022 23:45:07 GMT

Here's some good news if your business sends invoices to business or government customers.

Peppol* is on its way.

(That's Peppol, not Peppa .)

Ever had this conversation in your business?

You or one of your team: "Hello, I'm calling to follow up the invoice we emailed to you last month. It hasn't been paid yet."

Customer: "Really? We didn't receive that invoice?"

In addition to the time and expense of following up, the cash flow delays create stress for you and they hurt your business.

Thankfully, the adoption of Peppol will solve this problem.

What is Peppol?

Peppol is an obscure acronym for Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line. What's more important than what it stands for, is what it enables.

Peppol is an international 'eProcurement' framework for the electronic exchange of information. It creates a standard approach for governments and businesses to structure and exchange information such as invoices and other documents.

What Peppol means for you and your business

Peppol makes electronic ordering, invoicing and shipping between governments and private companies faster, simpler and more secure.

This means your business will get paid faster when dealing with government and larger businesses.

In 2019, Australia and New Zealand adopted this platform for e-invoicing which, when implemented, will make 'we never received your invoice' issues virtually impossible. The new e-invoicing system is more secure than email and provides many other benefits.

Which countries are adopting Peppol?

There are currently 40 OpenPeppol member countries: 32 countries in Europe plus Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico and Singapore.

Each country has a Peppol authority. For example, in Australia that's the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Is Peppol already in use?

Yes it is. For example, the SuperStream system in Australia-which many businesses are currently using to automate the payment of employee superannuation contributions-is based on the Peppol protocol.

How does e-invoicing work?

The system connects the accounting systems of all businesses and government departments via the secure Peppol network.

Suppliers generate sales invoices in their accounting systems which are sent to Peppol.

Peppol then sends the information directly into the buyers' accounting systems. This avoids:

Non-delivery of invoices
Data entry errors
Processing delays

What are the cost savings?

Even though some processing at the buyer's end is still required to allocate the invoice according to the organisation's internal requirements, this automation reduces the data processing costs for the buyer.

Deloitte Access Economics calculates that every paper invoice replaced by e-invoicing will save $20. "So what?", you might be thinking?

With 1.2 billion invoices processed annually-and 89% of them still being paper-based-that represents $213.6 million in savings.

And who knew paper was still so prevalent?

Why should SMEs be excited about Peppol?

One of the common complaints by SMEs is the 30-day to 60-day payment cycle adopted by many large companies and government departments. This cash flow strain is a significant concern for many SME businesses.

From July 1, 2022, the Australian government has mandated that all Commonwealth government agencies will adopt e-invoicing.

And here's a big stick to drive adoption…

A government agency will be required to pay interest for payments made after a 5-day payment period where the supplier uses e-invoicing .

Governments encouraging big business to get on board

The Australian government is also considering further steps-such as mandatory participation-to encourage big businesses to follow their lead.

It's likely that delayed payments to suppliers by government agencies and big businesses will attract a lot of negative media attention, as 5-day prompt payment facilitated by Peppol becomes the norm.

With more and more countries adopting Peppol, any business selling internationally will also benefit from e-invoicing.

Is Peppol only relevant to B2B transactions?

Yes. E-invoicing only applies to business-to-business (B2B) transactions. It does not affect business-to-consumer (B2C) sales, locally or internationally.

Who's not excited by Peppol?

Those businesses who delay payment to your business so they can invest your money on the short-term markets, to create additional profit are not excited by Peppol. Why?

By reducing their available investment period from 45 days down to 5 days they have a lot less funds to play with.

That's a win for small and medium businesses.

But I already send invoices electronically?

Most of the major accounting software programs already allow you to email invoices to your customers, or even allow you to transmit an e-invoice directly into a customer's accounting software, if they use the same app.

It's important to understand that email is inherently insecure for data transmission. It's easily hacked or intercepted. And even though SME accounting software such as Xero allows direct Xero-to-Xero transmission of invoices, government agencies and big businesses do not use apps designed for SMEs, such as Xero.

Peppol provides a universal protocol for exchanging this information, regardless of the accounting software being used.

6 way SMEs benefit from e-invoicing

1. Efficient and accurate processing of data

Provided the data leaving the supplier's computer system is accurate, there is a high probability that the data in the buyer's system will also be accurate. Eliminating human intervention reduces the risk of error.

2. No more information 'lost in transit'

While there is no guarantee, the Peppol protocol is designed to ensure reliability of the data. If there is a delivery failure, you will know immediately and can take action to correct the error.

3. Reduced time waiting for payment

With reliable, prompt processing of sales invoices, the time between invoicing and payment can be significantly reduced which improves the supplier's-your business'-cash flow.

4. Reduced opportunity for fraud

The secure transmission of invoice information reduces the opportunity for interception or the inclusion of false invoices. Electronic matching of invoices with purchase orders will provide additional security for buyers. Of course, internal controls at the supplier and buyer end will still be critical.

5. International coverage

With 40 countries currently part of the Peppol system, the same benefits would be available on foreign transactions.

6. Accounting system agnostic

All accounting software systems will have e-invoicing capability, so there is no need to change systems.

I'm sold on Peppol. What do I do now?

The Peppol registration process is completed within your accounting software. Search for e-invoicing in the Help section of your accounting software, and you'll find the instructions. For example, here is Xero's help article on e-invoicing using Peppol.

Once your system is registered, that's pretty much all you need to do on your end. Of course, the system needs buyers and sellers to be registered..

Contact your customers to advise them that you are now registered for Peppol and encourage them to also join the network.

After all, it's a win-win to have your customers on the system.

Your next steps…

Clearly, e-invoicing is a major step forward for business efficiency. It makes sense for both buyers and sellers, of all sizes.

If you are still unsure about the process for registering or using the Peppol network for e-invoicing, get in touch on and we'll be happy to

Company Director? Why You Need to Apply for Your DIN

Wed, 04 May 2022 00:11:11 GMT

If you're a director of an Australian company-or you plan to be-take 5 minutes now to read this article.

All existing directors (and intending directors) of Australian companies need to be aware that the Australian Government has announced the introduction of a new mandatory Director Identification Number (DIN) system. (You'll notice the term director ID is also used for DIN.)

This system is the initial step in the Modernising Business Registry (MBR) Program which has been established under the Treasury Laws Amendment Act which was legislated by the Australian Government in 2020.

More information on the MBR program can be found here .

What is the DIN system trying to achieve?

The DIN aims to provide accountability and traceability of a director's relationships over time, across all companies and will provide information on a director's involvement in what may be repeated unlawful activity, including illegal phoenix activity.

It should also solve the problem of false or fraudulent director identities.

What are the key features?

It is mandatory for all directors, foreign directors and alternate directors of Australian companies to hold a DIN.
The DIN is a unique 15 digit number. The first 3 digits will be 036 which is the identifier for Australia. The last digit is a check digit to help with accuracy when quoting your DIN.
Like your tax file number, you will only be issued with one DIN which you will hold for life - even if you cease acting as a director for any period.
To obtain a DIN, you will need to prove your identity so you will not be able to hold multiple DINs.
Other office holders (e.g. company secretaries) are not required to register.
The director is responsible for updating the DIN records for any changes in personal information within 7 days of the change.
The director must apply personally. The process cannot be completed by your accountant, lawyer, spouse or executive assistant.
There are significant penalties for non-compliance.

How do you apply for a DIN?

Directors have 3 options for applying.

You can apply online from 1 November 2021. To use this method, you must first establish your identity via myGovID (an app you download on your smart device which is different from myGov).

Once set up, your myGovID will make accessing a wide range of government services easier. (It's not just for your DIN application).

For information on how to set up a myGovID please go to https://www.mygovid.gov.au/set-up

During the DIN application process, you will need additional information such as your tax file number (TFN) and your residential address as per ATO records. It would also be advisable to have other personal details such as bank account details, medicare card or a recent income tax assessment available in case these are required.

You can also apply by phone ( 13 62 50 ).

During the call, the operator will ask for the identity documents you would have used to obtain your myGovID (passport and driver licence) as well as the additional information listed above.

These details will be confirmed with the records held on existing government databases and, assuming the details agree, your DIN will be issued.

Or you can apply by mail, but this is not recommended because the process for doing this seems vague ("Write to us") which means you can probably expect a lengthy process of certifying documents and coping with the vagaries of the postal system.

One of the other two methods would be a better choice.

When will you need to apply for a DIN?

Transitional arrangements will allow directors to become familiar with the new requirement. When you need to have a director ID will depend on when you were appointed as a director.

Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act)

Appointment of directors

Existing directors appointment on or before 31 October 2021

New directors appointment between 1 November 2021 to 4 April 2022 (inclusive)

New directors appointed from 5 April 2022

When they need to apply

By 30 November 2022

Within 28 days of appointment

Before appointment

Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act)

Appointment of directors

Existing directors appointed on or before 31 October 2022

New directors appointed after 1 November 2022

When they need to apply

By 30 November 2023

Must apply before appointment

However, the process of applying is simple and this is one task that does not need to sit on your To Do list until the last minute (and possibly missing the deadline). We recommend you apply now.

I have my DIN - now what?

For now there will be no change to how a company is registered, therefore there is currently no requirement for you to include the director's ID number on your company application or company change of details form (484, etc).

However, directors are required to provide their DIN to all Australian companies they are directors of and each company is required to store that information securely to preserve the privacy of the director.

Naturally, we will keep you informed of any further developments with the use of DINs or the MBR Program generally.

While we can't complete your DIN application for you, we are happy to help with any questions you may have regarding the application process. Just get in touch .

7 Best Practices for Setting Your Small Business on the Success Track

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 00:22:39 GMT

If you're a small business owner, you're always on the lookout for better ways to go about routine tasks to boost growth and underpin reliability. So, yes, you have the will; now, what are the ways? What are those consistent routines you can instill that will have the most benefits?

This article looks at the top 6 things you can do to help your business thrive. We're going to cover finances, goals, marketing, technology and you ! So, let's take a look…

1. Your finances are a scorecard … and a predictor

Boil it all down and dollars in the bank are the report card on the health of your business operations. Surprising then that so many people don't really pay much attention to how much they've earned, nor how much they're likely to earn. As much as it might feel like a chore, reviewing your sales and financial projections and then using them to ascertain if you need business financing is a discipline worth cultivating .

If you suspect that your cash flow is precarious, you should be checking out your options today.

First metric to check: your credit score. If it is too low, you need to take steps to shore it up. Next, check in with your bank or finance broker about what loans are available.

2. Goal setting, goal achieving, goal celebrating

So, if you're using current and future dollars in the bank to keep score, the next thing is to do something about it. This is where goal setting comes in. If thoughtfully set and persistently pursued, goals help you orientate your willpower and your energy at each moment of the business day.

This is the hidden power of goals: giving you a good sense of direction and a way to channel your instincts towards wise objectives. Constantly checking in with your goals makes them a benchmarking tool to keep your business pointed in the right direction. Yes, just having goals helps.

Actually achieving a goal helps too, of course!

3. Increasing the impact of your marketing

Marketing is not magic. It is not a mystery. It is not an art. However, many less-than-reputable marketers will try to claim that it is. They do so to gain wiggle room to pad their invoices and cover up their lack of skill. What this means is that it is easy to waste money on ineffective marketing. The good news is that there are many low-budget marketing strategies that actually work to help grow your brand and reputation.

Scout around on the internet and choose one or two new tactics. Deploy them and test them. If they work, double down. If they don't, try something else. If you can't tell if they're working, also try something else.

Social media is the obvious starting place for these low-stakes experiments and the old classics of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are where to trial them.

4. Bringing your business up to date technologically

The ability of modern productivity and project-management tools to give small players the same capabilities as the big boys simply cannot be ignored. Harness them properly and they'll let your small businesses operate with the same productivity as the titans of your sector. And, if your business is in the services sector, the increased controls that business technologies can yield also lets you be highly agile - that's something the big boys can't do. So, ask yourself: are you taking full advantage of what's out there?

Don't worry, the answer to this question is always 'no' - the field is simply moving too fast for anyone to be able to take full advantage. However, if you have a realistic view of your needs, then you have a yardstick to help assess all the solutions out there. When you know what you need the technology to do, then you can wisely choose what hardware, software, platforms and techniques to introduce.

5. SEO has changed and it is going to change again

Google - indeed all platforms offering broad search functions, from Youtube to Facebook - are constantly altering and optimising their algorithms. This, in turn, means SEO practice must constantly evolve to keep pace. So, if your SEO approach hasn't been overhauled in a few years, the time has come to give it some attention.

Do a review of best practice and score how you cater to SEO in your online presences. Yet, because the underlying concept of SEO has not changed, the corrective actions you need to take may not be major. Then again, they might be! It is better to know unpleasant news sooner than outright bad news later.

6. Download the right new apps

The remote work trend has gone mega and this means mobile productivity apps are very much of-the-moment. See, you can get a surprising amount done with just your phone and tablet. And apps are how it all happens … plus connectivity and a full battery, of course!

Usually, apps are best for keeping an eye on things, boosting effectiveness on the "busy" tasks and enabling you to give your stamp of approval to work that needs your say-so to progress. In general, these are not value-adding tasks, just the value-neutral tasks that get in the way of the value-adding tasks.

Now, there is no end of apps out there. So, as always, don't bother looking until you have some idea of what you need.

7. You are the ultimate business tool

Health is the single most important aspect to consider for anyone running a business. It's the non-negotiable factor that governs everything else you are capable of.

To adapt a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger, being fit and healthy is "a status symbol. It reflects you worked hard for it; no money can buy it. You cannot borrow it, you cannot inherit it, you cannot steal it".

This means that you must get enough sleep every night (most people need 7 hours or more). This means a healthy diet must become your preferred way of eating. This means that you should exercise every single day (except when sick). This means you must give your mind a rest too . Meditation isn't some mystic monkish thing, it's simply the practice of letting your thoughts come and go while you - the observer - stay peaceful and undisturbed by them. Think of it like this, meditating is mediating your mind.

Take stock, choose wisely, make small steps in the right direction

In this article, we've talked about some improvements you can make to what you're already doing. You don't have to do all of these at once. Start with the one that seems easiest and then stick with it to see if it works.

Remember, it's not always about big changes.

Often, you can make major improvements in outcome by making small changes to input. Doing the little things better. So take stock, choose wisely and be sure to make those small steps in the right direction for success today, tomorrow and the next day.

Building Up the Online Presence of Your Business … Starting Here

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 23:32:30 GMT

Of course you want your company's online presence to be the best it can be , but the path to reaching that goal is a labyrinth of different approaches, tactics and strategies. Where do you even begin? Well, if you are asking yourself that question, this is the article for you. Over the next several hundred words, we're going to review the central aspects of establishing a well-rounded online presence for your business.

Now, for many small business owners, this challenge is often left in the "too-hard basket" as they focus on the aspects of their businesses they're more comfortable with. They do this even though there is often very ripe and very low-hanging fruit there if they were to engage online in the right ways.

However, before we go too far here, let's define what online presence is in functional terms. Simply: your " online presence " is how easy it is to find you in the digital realm , either on the web, social platforms or some other cyber field (such as app marketplaces, for example).

This ease-of-finding is crucial for establishing, building and defending your brand . A good presence means your brand reputation is clear, brand awareness is strong and that your products, services or solutions are ideally placed among the results when users search the related keywords.

In the early days of the web, a website whose design or functionality had something new to offer - great design, a flashy gimmick or free downloadables - was enough for a brand to stake its claim. Those days are gone. We're now in a more sophisticated era where the right fundamentals, careful planning and sharp targeting makes more headway in the labyrinth.

Make no mistake, having a well-rounded online presence still "works". It will still help you reach the right customers and build your bottom line .

So, let's get you started…

Online presence boosters - 4 of the best

1. A good-looking website

If you want to be a leader in your field, you must look the part. This means your website must measure up in the aesthetic stakes. Often, you'll find there's a trade-off between looks and usability. A good rule of thumb is to push your designs until it starts impinging on good user experience, then step it back.

Once you have the website's appearance and "handling" dialled in, you then have to add content that's just as focused. Your site info must be brief, targeted, compelling, accurate, well-written and easy to read.

2. SEO makes your site grow

Aesthetic appeal matters, but among the billions of sites on the internet you first need to be found. This is where good SEO comes in. A capable web designer will instill the right SEO approach to help people find your business through Google and other online tools. Websites with appropriate SEO will have less competition when it comes to ranking well within various searches. The more prominently your business is displayed in the right search results, the more leads you'll receive.

3. Social media: making friends influences people

Social media is not going away and it deserves pride of place in marketing efforts to boost an online presence. More than just making friends, social media has several other positive effects.

First, it raises awareness because your messages will propagate through the social media platform to reach all-new audiences.
Second, when you have a solid set of followers, they will tend to clump together into a community of interest that, when stimulated by your videos, photos, updates and such, will speak to each other. Their favourite topic? You! They may soon start reposting your material, thus causing your social media marketing efforts to grow by themselves.
Third, if people believe in what you're doing and trust your integrity, don't be surprised if they start feeling like "part of your company" - promoting and defending you online, all without your encouragement.

4. Do not 'set and forget'

One of the most important signals used by the owners of online ranking platforms - whether those are social or search - is how frequently you post, engage, comment or, simply, interact on their platform.

This is a case where more is definitely more - the quality and quantity of your use behaviour is a reliable way to tip just about any algorithm in your favour. So, become a power user of all your channels. Post regularly. Post good stuff. Reply to comments. Make connections. As this approach can be a major time suck, it might make sense to hire a content manager/social media manager to keep on top of it all.

Get started on rounding out your online presence

So there you have it: the fundamental points to cover in getting the most out of your online presence. As with many of the digital aspects to business management, the first challenge is getting your bearings. Knowing where to start and in what general direction to head makes it all the easier to take the next step. And the next. If you still need a nudge to get going, it always pays to reach out to experts you can trust.

Better Small Business Leaders: 8 Things They Know

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:41:10 GMT

As an entrepreneur, you must have functional leadership skills. It goes with the territory. These skills are key to managing and motivating employees, communicating with customers and inspiring people through your clear company vision. No, leadership is not one-dimensional: there are plenty of different approaches to the practice of good leadership.

In this blog post, we'll discuss how entrepreneurs like you can become better leaders in their small businesses. There's no denying that running a small business is both demanding and rewarding. No denying either that people management has a major role in both.

Whether you're just starting out in business or have been in the game for some time, this article counts down the eight most useful tips for meeting - and exceeding - the difficulties of small business leadership.

8. Inspiring Others With Your Small Business Vision

The initial step in creating a business vision is working out what it will encompass. That is, what are the parts of your operation where the special "way we do things" is pivotal? In what parts is it merely optional?

For example, for a product-led business, your vision might pertain to design and quality, whereas for a service-based business the vision might speak more to customer service. A brand-first business might emphasise packaging and positioning.

Make your vision as specific and detailed as possible. What does success look like? Describe what it feels, sounds, tastes or smells like. Convey this in a compelling way and you'll get your whole team aligned.

7. Get Buy-in For Your Vision

Visions take a little while to crystallise; by the time yours does, you will know it inside-out and back-to-front. This is good, because now you must get your staff and stakeholders up to speed on it too.

Creating "official" printed vision statements is useful and often necessary, but vision implies visual . Provide some kind of imagery that shows your business vision at work in the real world.

Sketch out how your products will be used, how your premises will operate, how your people will deliver your services - all can illustrate the essence of your business that makes its value prop compelling. Of course, that vision statement you worked on so hard should also be highlighted for how it is expressed in your concept images.

6. Take the Initiative to Ensure Open Communications

Solid communication with other coworkers is essential if the business wants to be successful. After all, if your team doesn't communicate, how can they know what is expected of them?

Many of the ills in many companies lie in their inability to communicate effectively. If you can't get on the same wavelength as your staff, they will only be able to understand your communications "to the letter" rather than being able to get the spirit of what you intend. And, the onus is always on you to speak to your team at their level and in ways that are relevant to them.

If you are not so good at verbal communication, try using email backed with conventions and policies that keep the comms clear (one good rule is to have only one topic per email). A team chat is often also handy. Implement one of these and it means everyone has a voice and everyone's input can be seen and addressed methodically.

5. Break Down Your Own Barriers

As an entrepreneur, you're always pushing yourself. Your ambitions and goals are what sparked your entrepreneurial ways in the first place. However, if you're not careful, this self-directed drive can lead to a lack of self-awareness. What you don't know can hurt you.

A thoughtful leader will take time out from all their hard work for some introspection so that they have a clear understanding of the gaps in their own skillset and how to fix them or work around them. It often comes down to setting up procedures with more care or altering your expectations of others.

Without an honest sense of which aspects of your character, skills and intellect are mediocre, you will subconsciously program corresponding inefficiencies into how your organisation functions. Confronting the inevitable fact that you have shortcomings might hurt your ego temporarily, but not doing it will cripple your success permanently.

4. Be More Effective at Giving and Receiving Feedback

When running a business, you must create space for feedback and discussion. There are two main channels you must set up: one to receive input from customers and the second to encourage dialogue between yourself and your employees and/or partners.

Providing these outlets will help you more effectively give or receive feedback in the future. Further, when people give feedback you must use active listening and interpretive skills to understand not just what they are saying, but why they're saying it . If, for example, a product malfunctions, is the customer really complaining because the product didn't work or, rather, because the malfunction feels like you've broken a promise to them?

3. What is Your Business Good At … And Bad At?

An extension of the practice of looking at your personal strengths and weaknesses is looking at those of your business itself. The classic business analysis tool of the SWOT comes into play here. As the acronym goes, it helps you identify and categorise: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

It can be applied at every scale , from the micro - say, a single product line - and right on up to encompass the whole of the business. Further, because it seeks to account for every contingent factor, it also looks at what external forces and developments are in play.

2. Giving Your Team True Motivation

The secret of great leaders is that their people believe in them. That is, they are backed by a team that cares. This care - not money, not prestige - is what makes for true team motivation. This means that team engagement is a fundamental task.

To gain this kind of engagement, you must provide your team with a stimulating environment, sense of purpose and meaningful work. Get it right, and your team will always go the extra mile for your business because what lies on that mile accords with their personal values.

1. Approachability, Commitment, Honesty - The Big Three

You can't be a great leader if people think you are unwelcoming, are flaky or are evasive with the truth. However, as "the boss", there will always be a perceived status barrier for staff wanting to engage with you. It is upon you alone to bring that barrier down.

Try keeping your office door open and make a point of welcoming people in for a catch-up. Demonstrate that you are committed through modelling ideal company behaviours, such as regarding your presence during business hours. And, last, the most effective way to prove that you are honest is to back up verbal promises by following through in action .

Leadership Is Initiative Made Social

Leadership is something many entrepreneurs don't engage with consciously. In running their teams, they just do what feels right and what seems to work . There's no one around to tell them any different.

However, you cannot put off developing your leadership skills if you want your team to do its best work and for your business to achieve its vision. Think of leadership like an iceberg; there's much more going on below the surface than what most new entrepreneurs expect.

How Your Employees Can Help Protect You From Cyber Attacks

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 00:46:07 GMT

Think of all the information you use in your business. Chances are nearly all of it is electronic – your website, emails, accounts, CRM and payroll information are probably all stored electronically, either in your office or somewhere in the cloud.

Now, what would happen if you suddenly lost it all? What if you found someone had deleted it all, or encrypted it so they can charge you a fortune for the decryption key?

What would you do? Could you get it all back? How long would it take? And could your business survive the disruption?

The reality of cyber attacks

While this may sound like a nightmare, cyber attacks like these are becoming more and more common. They're now the fifth largest global threat (just behind data fraud), and no business can afford to just sit and hope it doesn't happen to them.

"But mine is just a small business?" I hear you say. "Why would they attack me?

Quite simply, because they can. Most cyber attackers aren't doing it to make a profit. They simply want to cause as much disruption as they can, knowing the business they attack will suffer significant downtime, financial losses, and damage to its reputation.

Unfortunately, even the best defences from your IT department or service provider can't keep them at bay if your employees are letting them in the front door. It could be opening that 'phishing' email and unknowingly installing a virus, giving their ID and password to the 'person from IT' on the phone, or even accessing the office network from a laptop over an unsecured wi-fi connection.

Which is why you need to teach all your employees about cyber security and how to avoid falling for these traps. And you need to have regular training sessions to keep them up to date on how to defend themselves from the latest methods of attack.

What your employees need to know

Your employees should know how cyber attacks happen, particular in light of "social engineering" attacks – phishing emails, phone calls asking for login information, etc. This teaches them what to look out for, and how they can stop the attackers in their tracks.

They should also know what to do in these situations (especially if they accidentally do something wrong), and how to report them.

You may want to arrange random 'tests' to see if your employees know what to do. For example, have someone pretending to be from the IT department ask for personal information. Do they report it, or do they give up the information?

Educate your employees about scanning USB devices (ideally on a standalone computer) for malware and viruses before opening any files on them.

What you can do

You can also help your employees follow safe IT practices to minimise the chances of an attack.

Give all employees with laptops access to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service and show them how to use it. This will stop attackers 'eavesdropping' on their information if they're using an unsecured wi-fi connection.

Encrypt the hard drives of all laptops. This will prevent the information on them being accessed if the laptop is lost or stolen.

Have your IT team set up a policy that forces all users to choose strong passwords (i.e. using upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols), and change them every month.

Make sure all computers are running anti-virus and anti-malware software, and that they are kept up to date.

Stay vigilant, stay safe

The reality is that your business will never be safe from cyber attacks. But educating your staff, and giving them the tools to defend themselves, will greatly reduce the chances of your business becoming the attackers' next victim.

Top Tips for Managers of Hybrid Teams

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:54:13 GMT

Hybrid teams are a new and still-evolving form of work culture. Increasingly common in modern organisations, a hybrid team is one made up of staff who have differing "work modes".

These are teams with some mix of employees who telecommute from home, freelance workers hired locally, subcontractors working remotely, staff members who attend the office at their discretion and full-time staff who work the traditional Monday-Friday office hours. There can even be people who shift between all those modes as their tasks evolve.

The hybrid team trend has been gathering momentum for a long time, and, as it comes to full flower, it presents management with new challenges around keeping their crew cohesive, coordinated and effective. Meeting these challenges with new skills and tools is the topic of this post.

Read on for some pointers that will help you get to grips with hybrid teams, how to overcome their unique obstacles and, ultimately, lead one of these teams effectively.

How To Successfully Manage A Hybrid Model Team

1. Social Technology For The Win.

If anything has enabled a remote or hybrid team to work well, it's high-bandwidth internet connections that underpin social technology tools such as Slack and Zoom. These technologies enable new forms of remote yet real-time collaboration .

When coupled with solutions that make team collaboration easier, such as Google Workspace (recently renamed from G Suite), the ability of your people to quickly and seamlessly have planned or impromptu videoconferencing calls via your preferred service is greatly magnified. So long as the time zones and availabilities work out, it doesn't matter where your team members are physically.

2. Fostering a Remote-First Culture

What does it mean to be remote-first? It's not just a buzzword. To put it simply, this approach makes remote work the default for your team. People are enabled and empowered to successfully do their jobs from anywhere.

Even if you have employees who are working on-site, you, as manager, are still focused on leading a remote work team. When you make this shift in approach, it helps you get the right systems and processes in place to enable your entire team to do great work. Those working at the desk next to you enjoy the same quality of engagement and support to be effective as those who are on the other side of the world. Indeed, nothing really changes for any of the team members when you, the team leader, are the person whose work location changes from one day to the next.

To achieve this, your employees should have access to the same files, the same information and the same resources regardless of where they're working. They might not get the free break room coffee when they're working from home, but everything else they need should be easily and equally available to them - including access to your advice, expertise and support.

3. Set Expectations and Accountabilities Early

There are generally two ways an existing team becomes "hybrid": a top-down corporate policy change or by evolution as more hybrid options are gradually introduced. Either way, when it is clear that your team is now hybrid, you must set expectations and make accountability clear to all staff. Both your home and office-based employees must understand how they can work together productively and have an unequivocal view of who is doing what . As part of this, you might run regular meetings with your entire team to start each day or week on the right foot. From this common touchpoint you can then share progress regularly on key projects with the entire team to maintain momentum.

4. Define Clear Working Hours

When everyone knows when everyone else is available - and not available - it helps you and your team know what to expect from their co-workers. Sharing work calendars will help to further boost the visibility of this crucial information . It will enable your team members to keep abreast of whether someone is "on the clock" and what they are doing at any one time, including colleagues who they do not physically sit near or may never have met.

5. Understand the Benefits of Each Working Situation to Ensure Fairness

Knowing how all the different working modes play out in real life is important because, for example, your employees working from home may find it easier to maintain a healthy work-life balance than those who are in the office most of the time. You might therefore try to encourage or facilitate the same level of balance for your office-based team members. Perhaps give them the flexibility to pick their kids up from school or go for a run during working hours. It's also important to role-model healthy working behaviour yourself , regardless of where you are based.

6. Commit Equal Time and Focus to Each Member of Your Team.

The amount of attention and help that you give to each employee shouldn't depend on where they're working or what their role is. Just because some members of your team work remotely, they should not receive less of your time and support. Likewise, just because someone is nearby, that doesn't mean they can waltz to the head of the queue when they want access to your time or guidance. The convenience of proximity should not be a reason to skip the proper protocols.

7. Be Mindful of Communication.

It's unavoidable that your remote workers will miss out on face-to-face interactions - both with you and with their teammates. Because of this, you'll need to think carefully about how you can make them feel equally included via virtual remote meetings. This goes double in those instances when your end of the virtual meeting has more than one person sharing the same camera. It can very quickly make the remote worker feel like the outsider in an us-and-them workplace dynamic.

Managing a Hybrid Team: Maintaining Awareness is the Key

At the end of the day, managing a hybrid team means maintaining awareness. Remote staff and on-site staff have different experiences. Acknowledge, understand and anticipate them and then be proactive to level the playing field. Maintaining strong team dynamics is the goal.

Choosing the right technology plays a pivotal role; so too does maintaining strong communication and information-sharing practices. Next, ensure your assignments and responsibilities are clearly set. Finally, give everyone some travel flexibility. Find the right balance between these key points and you will set your people free to do their best work: your hybrid team can then really perform!

Mind Games: How to Improve Your Mental Health

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 01:02:22 GMT

Productivity and mental health may not seem like obvious partners, but the truth is they work hand-in-hand. For many of us at work, as business owners or employees, there is pressure to not only stay productive but to accomplish more and more.

And, while many of us are working from home, maintaining productivity can be difficult due to the state of our mental health. Stress can easily cause anyone's mental health to deteriorate without adequate self-care.

Let's face it. There will always be days when you just can't be as productive as you might have to be. There will be days when you don't know how to stay focused on accomplishing tasks. So it's good to check in with yourself every now and again about whether you're doing everything you can to minimise stress and increase productivity .

These higher levels of stress and lower productivity can occur for you personally as a sole trader or small business owner, or for the staff or contractors that you rely on. Work-related stress is a major cause of occupational ill health, poor productivity and human error.

Why is mental health in the workplace so important

Many business owners know that mental health in the workplace is important, but don't necessarily know what to do about it or where to start to find out more. Even so, workplaces play an important and active role in maintaining people's mental health and wellbeing. Further, every business has a legal and moral responsibility to provide a safe and fair workplace for its people. It even makes good business sense.

Creating a mentally healthy workplace has many benefits for both employers and employees. A well-designed workplace should support individual mental health and happiness. The flow-on effects - reduced absenteeism, increased employee engagement and group productivity - are certainly all things any employer would want to promote.

It's simple: healthy people are more productive - not only because they, and you, can produce more, but that production occurs more successfully.

What is mental health, exactly?

The term 'mental health' is often used as a shorthand substitute for adverse mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. But the World Health Organisation actually defines mental health as a state of wellbeing in which every individual:

realises his or her own potential
can cope with the normal stresses of life
can work productively and fruitfully
is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

One way to explain the distinction is to imagine mental health as a spectrum, with everyone varying over their lifetime - for some, on a daily basis. The mental health spectrum runs from positive, healthy functioning at one end, through to severe symptoms or conditions that can be disabling on the other.

Essentially, good mental health is about being cognitively, emotionally, and socially healthy in the way you think, feel and develop relationships. It is not merely the absence of a defined condition.

What this means is that even if someone, or you, is not experiencing a defined mental health condition, it doesn't necessarily mean that your mental health is optimal. Likewise, it's possible to be diagnosed with a mental health condition while feeling well and productive at work. This complexity is why many people initially misunderstand what is meant by 'mental health' and why regular check-ins to consider your mental health are valuable even if you feel like things are going well enough.

Tips to improve mental health

So, how do you go about improving your own mental health and supporting your staff in managing their own? Here are six steps to personally consider:

1. Start your day with exercise

More than an espresso double shot, the best way to clear a sleepy head and get your blood flowing is exercise. You don't have to visit the gym, go boxing or lift weights - any physical activity that will get your heart rate up can help. You can walk around at home, run up and down the stairs three times, do a 20-minute aerobics session (lots of aerobic videos available online) or just walk your pet to the park. Physical activity at the start of the day really can do wonders in helping improve your concentration and attention over the hours to come.

2. Get back to nature

You might be surprised to find out how much of a positive effect there is in being around plant life , both mentally and physically. Many studies point to the ability of plants to boost our mood and productivity, lessen stress and fatigue, clean our air and generate a feeling of overall well being. So, consider adding plants to your immediate working environment and aim to take your breaks with some nature around you.

3. Stop sitting

Turns out that generally speaking, sitting is bad for us. The Yale School of Medicine has found that sitting is linked to numerous medical conditions , such as lower back pain, heart disease, obesity and more. Poor physical health in no way improves our ability to be productive or manage self-care to improve mental health. Therefore, to combat the habit of incessantly sitting, consider investing in a standing desk or, better yet, make your own. If you're still at a loss, practice setting timers to remind yourself to regularly stand up, move and take a walk.

4. Drink water

Always drink water. Simple, right? Perhaps not. It's easy to forget to drink water when you're working non-stop or throwing back espresso shots. Dehydration can be incredibly debilitating physically as well as cognitively. As reported by the British Nutrition Foundation, even mild dehydration can seriously hinder your mental performance in memory, attention, concentration and reaction time.

5. Know when to ignore your inbox

You've heard the rumour and it's true: checking your email less often leads to more productivity. According to the Harvard Business Review, over-checking email wastes 21 minutes per day (at a minimum). Although this clearly slows down your productivity, over-checking your inbox can do other kinds of harm. Excessive use of email can create a culture and feeling of being 'on' non-stop. Furthermore, the constant ding of notifications and the replacement of face-to-face time can cause feelings of being isolated and drowning in work. Anyone who has suffered those already knows how much they can contribute to stress levels.

6. Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Simply put, the way you treat your body has a direct effect on the quality of your mental process and your overall productivity. With a healthier lifestyle, your ability to focus and create will improve and you'll be more efficient in accomplishing tasks. By getting enough sleep, eating healthy food and avoiding vices such as drinking alcohol, smoking and doing drugs, you can keep your mind and body healthy and in good condition for both work and home life.

Mental health for the win

Following and promoting this list of actions to undertake to improve mental health can be a game-changer . In the workplace, you can be a role model for your staff and colleagues. By talking about mental health and making positive steps to stay on top of any issues, you instill a culture where these topics are safe to explore, engage with and address.

It is high time mental health stopped being considered a taboo subject for discussion in the workplace. Bringing it into the light takes leadership - and you're your business's leader. It's up to you. So be open, be honest and take action. You may be surprised at the impact you can have on those around you.

6 Tips for Generating Leads for Your Small Business

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 01:16:57 GMT

Whether your business sells to people or to other businesses, whether you sell a product or a service, finding new leads is always vital. More leads - the people or businesses interested in you - means a bigger market to sell to.

Because of this, many successful small business owners continuously look to expand their customer base and grow their businesses by lead generation. Lead generation is a term you hear a lot. Simply, it is the process of attracting and converting strangers to your business into people who indicate interest in the product and/or service you offer.

With business growth usually being a difficult and long-term process, the role of lead generation in feeding into a steady stream of sales is one of the true fundamentals to get right. Lead generation is important for:

engaging with potential customers in a personal way
increasing your client base
building revenue.

But what exactly is a 'lead'?

Basically, a lead is any person or business that has an interest in the products or services you are selling. You may find these leads by collecting names at a trade fair, via an online survey or calls from an ad. In the B2C world, the lead is often the user or consumer. In the B2B world, the lead is often a representative of a group of users or consumers.

Naturally, you need leads to generate sales, and, just as naturally, not all leads convert into customers. Some leads have a better prospect of becoming paying customers than others. These are the quality leads you want.

Because generating each lead costs your business money, an effective lead-gen strategy should focus on maximising the number of high-quality leads, while filtering out those that are less relevant.

How do I find more leads?

What you want to do is create a system that will help you identify sales leads for your small business, and then - with the appropriate level of marketing, focus and effort - turn them into customers . The method that works for your business may be quite specific and you may need to use some trial and error to find out what works best for you.

Further, as markets are always fluid, what worked well yesterday might not work so well tomorrow. It, therefore, makes sense to consistently return to your lead-gen strategies and look for ways to make 'good enough' a little better.

So, here are 6 tips for getting your small business's lead generation on the right track:

1. Identify your target audience

The first step of lead generation is simply knowing who you are pursuing - your target audience. You can't successfully reach and sell to your ideal customer if you don't know exactly who they are. Research your audience and come up with a clear picture of the relevant aspects of their identities , where they live, what they like to do, how much money they make, what their lifestyle and personality are like, etc.

2. Create a LOT of opt-in opportunities

Webinars, free reports, live demos … don't stop at just one or two opt-ins. Turn every blog post into an opt-in page. You can give away recipes, PDFs of your blog posts, worksheets, resource guides and more. The trick is to make those opt-in opportunities irresistible .

3. Always be testing

Getting great advice is a good thing, but it's dangerous to think that because it worked for someone else, it'll work equally well for you. That doesn't mean you should ignore great advice, but that you need to test, test, test - and do the testing right. Research different testing methods and adjust to suit your business. One method is to test using different terms online to improve your data collection. For example, do you collect more leads by a button that says "start your trial here" OR "start my trial here"? Simple changes can reap great rewards.

4. Use an email newsletter

Now that your opt-ins are dialled in, it's time to cultivate the relationships you're forming. Grow the connection to develop prospects from the lead stage through to a sale (and eventually a repeat sale!). One of the best ways to create consistent communication with your prospects is through an email newsletter. This helps you develop an ongoing relationship that also has benefits for word-of-mouth referrals.

5. Leverage social media

Social media provides many opportunities for small businesses to create conversations with prospective customers and generate new leads. It is an important way to connect and engage. You can create a Facebook page, Twitter profile, LinkedIn company page, Pinterest account or a YouTube channel to attract and engage your audience, then funnel them through your process to become leads. The platforms you choose to use will be largely determined by your target audience and what they use themselves. Best of all, once you know which platforms to pursue, setting up a profile there will be free.

6. Use Gmail ads to target competitors' customers

Here's another tip for generating tons of leads , at the expense of your competitors: Gmail Ads. This is a powerful tool for getting right in front of your target audience right in the place online that they visit most - their inbox. Visit the link to find out more.

Become a lead-generation leader

Lead generation should be thought of as a long-term and continuous process. If you get an efficient system in place using the sales lead tips above, you can then streamline the process and increase your opportunities for business growth.

Constant lead generation gives your business not only a chance to increase sales but constantly finding new sources is a chance for renewal. New clients and customers provide a different perspective and can lead to even more opportunities. Because where you lead-gen leads, your fortunes tend to follow.

How and Why You Should Benchmark

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 02:25:49 GMT

Business is ticking along nicely for you. Key performance indicators have been decided. Your markers are being met. Growth is steady. Employees are content. But did you know you could be doing even better? How? Benchmarking.

Benchmarking is the process of measuring the performance of your products, your services or your processes against those of other businesses . The concept reflects the idea that performance measurements (including those useful KPIs) mean very little in and of themselves. To become meaningful, they need a basis of comparison. You can't just look at numbers in isolation; rather, they need to be compared to - that is, benchmarked against - an objective standard or reference point.

What is benchmarking?

Benchmarking has a long history of use in the manufacturing industry, where measurements are easily generated from physical products. These days, it is being used by businesses in practically all sectors. Across the economy, enterprises are comparing KPIs and performance measurements to industry standards. The comparisons can be made in a variety of areas:

financials
productivity
costs
overheads
turnaround time
customer satisfaction
customer retention
safety
employee retention.

As the practice developed quite a bit from its earlier manufacturing days, you now have quite a lot of latitude in choosing what your business wants, and maybe needs , to benchmark to make your business better.

The top 6 reasons why you should benchmark

Some businesses choose not to benchmark, believing that they should not be copying any other business. In answer to that, we say that they should be aware that benchmarking does not mean blindly 'copying' what competitors do. It means understanding what is the acceptable standard in the industry, and where you stand in relation to it.

Simply put, benchmarking provides insight, leading to discovery and onwards to improvement. Through it, you can:

identify opportunities, strengths and weaknesses
understand customers' needs
monitor performance and manage change.

With all this in mind, the top 6 specific areas of your business that benchmarking will help you improve are:

Staff effectiveness: Improve understanding of your cost structures and internal processes; encourage team-building and cooperation; and enhance familiarity with key performance metrics and opportunities.
Improved quality: Benchmarking helps you continually improve the quality of products and services. You can discover the current standard, and then try to surpass it.
Better performance: Overcome complacency. Always striving to improve performance standards will help you stay relevant in the market.
Cost efficiency: Gain valuable data on the latest technologies and processes in your industry, which can increase productivity while reducing cost.
Prioritising areas of improvement: If you're unsure about where to start raising the game, then benchmarking will help you identify the largest gaps between your standard and the best in the industry.
Leveraging strengths: Throw light on - and get validation through - the areas where you're clearly doing better than 'the rest'. This is useful in planning your marketing.

Examples of the questions you can ask in a benchmarking exercise include:

How does your gross profit margin compare with industry leaders?
Are your productivity levels and overheads higher or lower than your main competitors?
Is your turnaround time slower or faster than the industry average, and by how much?
Is your employee staffing level optimum and how does it compare with other businesses in your industry?
How does your quality compare to your competitors in terms of number of rejected/defective items, or on return clients?

How do you find the data you need?

It sounds easy: find the data and compare. But how do you go about collecting that data? There are several ways. These are the best:

Ask your business or industry association: Many associations collect this detailed information and members can use it for measuring their performance.
The Australian Tax Office: The body's small business benchmarks are a useful guide for comparing your business's performance against similar businesses in the same industry.
Use a commercial benchmarking business: This will cost you, so make sure you do your research and find a company that provides what you need. Your accountant, business networks or industry association may have recommendations for a suitable firm. Also ensure that:
Do your own benchmarking: If you have the expertise, you could do your own benchmarking. You will also need to set aside quite a bit of time: first to find and access the data you need, and then to research and record your results. To make this process easier, you could also use a combination of data from a commercial benchmarking company and your own research.

6 steps to successful benchmarking

So let's say you've decided to tackle benchmarking in your business, and are now ready to take the plunge. Use these steps to work your way through the benchmarking process:

Identify what you're going to benchmark: Choose a product, service or department to benchmark and start with targeted and specific questions. These questions should be able to be explored using qualitative or quantitative research, and be in line with your business strategy.
Identify your competitors: Write down a list of who your competitors are. Most businesses benchmark within the same industry. Identify effective tactics used by your competitors and the areas in which their business is performing better than yours.
Look at trends and collect data: Look at recent statistics to analyse any current trends for insights into how fast your industry is moving and how you can plan ahead to keep your business in tune with customers' needs. Collate the data you need.
Outline your objectives: After the results of the analysis have been interpreted and communicated to the right people, goals should be established - these should be concrete, attainable and in line with your business strategy. Make sure you list all your goals in your marketing plan.
Develop an action plan for your objectives: Define specific, concrete actions to be taken. Your actions should detail the tasks involved and include specific names and dates associated with each task.
Monitor your results and implement the action plan: Continually monitor the results of the actions you undertook following the benchmarking, and ensure the plans are applied consistently.

Setting a new standard

Comparing your business with others can be daunting, but it's worth it to take your business to a new level - to set that new standard. While measuring performance by monitoring KPIs has become regular practice for many businesses, taking the next step of benchmarking can really elevate your performance.

Without benchmarking, those KPIs can simply be numbers in isolation. Without context or reference point they have little meaning.

If you're convinced that benchmarking is worth a look but feel these action steps are overwhelming or that the idea of benchmarking too complicated, please talk to us. Remember, insight leads to discovery and business improvement. Contact us to find out more .

SWOT Analysis 101: How It Can Help Your Business Succeed

Sun, 08 Aug 2021 02:36:23 GMT

One of the first things you learn in business school is the SWOT analysis. It's an incredibly simple, yet still powerful, tool to help you develop your business strategy. It is surprisingly effective whether you're building a startup or guiding an existing company. And one of the things about a SWOT analysis, is how straightforward it is.

As it's a framework, rather than a staged methodology, even a mini-SWOT (perhaps done on the back of a napkin while waiting for your barista to whip up your morning latte) can be useful. Then again, if you want to go deep, the SWOT approach can also serve to guide days worth of discussions.

So, if you need a refresher or you skipped SWOT class in first-year in business school, read on for a rundown on what's involved.

What is a SWOT Analysis?

First up, SWOT stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . These are then typically split into the pairs of SW and OT - why this is done will become clear.

The first half, Strengths and Weaknesses, are both internal to your company. They are things you can control and change directly. Examples include:

Who is on your team
Your patents and intellectual property
Your location.

The second half, Opportunities and Threats, represents external forces, events and other things that are going on outside your company's sphere of influence. They might be taking place in the market, in the economy, at a political level or even on a global scale (such as COVID-19).

These phenomena form the context within which your business operates. While you can't influence these factors, you can categorise them as either things to take advantage of (Opportunities) or things to protect against (Threats). Examples include:

Competitors
Prices of raw materials
Customer shopping trends.

Usually taking the form of a box grid or four lists side-by-side, the SWOT analysis brings clarity on the major aspects of your trading environment that can help guide your company through highs and lows.

How to conduct a SWOT analysis

While there are various ways to conduct a SWOT, we have found that a straightforward 8-step approach serves well.

1. Decide on the objective of your SWOT analysis

To get the most out of your SWOT analysis, you should have a question or objective in mind from the start. For example, you could use a SWOT analysis to help you decide if you should introduce a new product or service.

2. Research your business, industry and market

Before you begin the SWOT analysis you need to do some research to update your understanding of your business, industry and market. Get a range of perspectives by talking to your staff, business partners and clients. Also, conduct some market research and find out about your competitors.

3. List your business's strengths

Getting into the meat of the SWOT analysis, you should next identify and list what you think are your business's strengths. Examples could include your employees, financial resources, business location, cost advantages or competitiveness.

At this stage of the SWOT analysis, your strengths list does not need to be definitive . Any ideas and thoughts are welcome. Braindumps are encouraged. (The refining process occurs in Step 7.)

4. List your business's weaknesses

List things in your business that you consider to be weaknesses (i.e. that put your business at a disadvantage). Weaknesses could include an absence of new products or clients, staff absenteeism, a lack of intellectual property , declining market share, throughput difficulties or distance to market.

5. List potential opportunities for your business

Think big about the possible external opportunities for your business. If the strengths list identified what you have got, then the opportunities list covers what you can do with it.

What you write for this stage will not be necessarily definite. Further, an opportunity for one aspect of your business could be a threat to another. For example, you may consider introducing a new product to keep up with consumer trends but have a production line that's already overstretched. While you should keep this sort of scenario in mind, for the purposes of a SWOT analysis the same item shouldn't be listed as both Opportunity and Threat.

Examples of opportunities could include new technology, training programs, partnerships, a diverse marketplace and a change of government.

6. List potential threats to your business

In the last list, set down the external factors that could be a threat or cause a problem for your business. There's no set "degree of risk" that qualifies whether a factor should be included here - write it all down. Even small threats, if left unresolved, can snowball into disasters later on.

Examples of threats include unemployment rates, industrial action, increasing competition, interest rate fluctuations, commodity prices and the uncertainty of global markets.

7. Establishing priorities from the SWOT

When you have completed the steps above, you will have four separate lists. We prefer the side-by-side approach as it doesn't constrain how long each list can be. Viewed as a whole, these four lists illustrate the overall picture of the salient factors upon which your business depends and within which it operates.

From this view, you can then work out what issues are the most pressing and what can be dealt with later. By prioritising the items in your lists according to their criticality, you can ensure you're putting out the fires before starting the renovations, so to speak.

8. Develop a strategy to address issues in the SWOT

The basic approach to reviewing your prioritised lists begins with asking a series of questions that play one factor off against another:

How can we use our Strengths to take advantage of the Opportunities identified?
How can we use these Strengths to overcome the Threats?
What do we need to do to overcome the identified Weaknesses in order to take advantage of the Opportunities?
How will we minimise Weaknesses to mitigate the Threats?

Think hard and write your answers down. Once you have answered, you can now use the SWOT analysis to develop strategies for achieving your business goals. It's good practice to revisit your SWOT annually. In this review, pay special attention to changes in the Weakness list: this is often a good yardstick for the pace and form of your business's evolution. Also, as old entries on the Weakness list are resolved, unexpected new ones tend to emerge.

Harness the power of SWOT analysis

Like any tool, a SWOT analysis is only as good as how it is used. To get the most from the exercise, it might be useful to sit down with a "sounding board" person - someone who knows your business well, but is not necessarily part of it. Or, you can just start your SWOT on a napkin at a cafe.

The important point is that conducting a SWOT works for your business and helps you pursue your professional goals. After all, isn't that why you're in business anyway?

Need help conducting a SWOT analysis? Get in touch today to see how we can help you kick a goal.

Rostering: Why It’s Important and the 5 Best Tools for the Job

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 02:44:24 GMT

It has been found that 60 percent of Australian businesses fail within their first three years . There are many factors at work in this, but the human factor always plays a significant role. Maybe the wrong person was hired for the job or maybe a proper company culture wasn't properly established.

Out of the range of reasons why businesses fail, mismanagement of people is both one of the biggest and one of the most avoidable. And one of the first major mismanagement potholes you risk falling into is ineffective rostering.

Human resource management via an effective roster is about more than just listing the working hours of each employee. Done properly, rostering can be vital for scheduling how people operate within the organisation - and thus the conduct of operations overall.

Here's a rundown of effective rostering software: how it can help your business thrive and a few tools to keep you on top of your rostering game.

Why is effective rostering so important?

Hiring the best person for the role is great, but you shouldn't stop there. Knowing when to best utilise their skills can be just as important.

Effective rostering ensures your company's resources are being put to their best use. It also ensures the welfare of other employees - there's nothing worse than being under- or over-staffed.

Creating an effective roster can seem challenging at first. Ensuring people with the right skills are on staff when needed can quickly get complex. Add workplace health and safety and leave requirements to the mix and things get even more daunting. This isn't to say it's impossible.

Appropriate tools streamline the rostering process, ensuring the smooth running of your business. So, let's look at some software solutions.

Rostering software recommendations

Regardless of how small your team is, a staff roster is crucial to smooth operations. Implementing one needn't be tedious. Gone are the days of manual, written timesheets. Today, we have access to a much smarter way to prepare staff schedules. This more effective solution? Online rostering.

Online rostering is effective and time-saving. The benefits include the ability to:

Send changes via email or SMS to employees
Save on the printing costs of manual timesheets
Amend schedules at the click of a button
Sync rosters with your employees' calendars
Automatically allocate leave or sick days.

Because there are many options for rostering software, we have created a list of some of the best:

1. Connecteam

With Connecteam's online roster app, it's easy to save time and effort on your roster planning . Connecteam's robust staff roster app allows you to reduce labour costs, improve staff satisfaction and avoid the headache of creating rosters manually. Whether you're a small business owner or an enterprise company, Connecteam is a leading choice.

2. Homebase

Many small businesses use Homebase to easily create and share rosters with staff. With it you can track hours, manage breaks, keep an eye on overtime, keep everyone aligned and manage labour costs.

3. mHelpDesk

If you're in the field service industry , then you'll love using mHelpDesk. It's similar to Google Calendar and Outlook as it allows you to easily see your team's availability. With it, you can simply and easily roster field technicians, automate assignment notifications, view jobs, review customer details and eliminate overbooking and underbooking.

4. WhenIWork

WhenIWork is a well-known and well-established rostering solution that provides businesses a free plan for up to 75 users . On top of this, it claims to be able to save you up to 15 hours a week when creating a roster.

5. HotSchedules

HotSchedules prides itself on helping you easily roster the right staff member at the right time. The cost saving of getting it right can be almost 2 percent - a considerable figure given that payroll is often the largest expense in running a business. Towards this goal, HotSchedules offers a clean interface and gives managers total visibility and control over what employees are doing (e.g. shift trades, time off, etc.). While it has broader functionality, HotSchedules is ideally suited for the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Choose the right rostering solution for your business

All of the rostering software solutions listed above meet the basic requirements when discussing rostering. Elements like calendar management, shift swapping, time tracking and vacation time are all taken care of.

Further, each one provides you with real-time, detailed reports and allows for mobile access. In all, they each can ensure you're on top of your rostering needs - even on the move.

Take the time to find the right app — why time tracking is vital

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 02:54:10 GMT

Managing time: it's a core component of a successful business. Whether you need to manage - or track - your own time as a small business owner, or accurately record the hours worked by your staff and contractors, the best way is via an app.

While the terms 'clocking in' and 'clocking out' are outdated and few businesses still use punch cards, the concept and process of tracking hours is just as relevant. But why is it needed? Simply put, as the old saw goes, time is money .

In essence, time tracking refers to how businesses record the working hours of hourly employees and ensure those employees are compensated accurately for their time. Or, for the self-employed, how you record the time you spend on each job.

Using an app to track time makes the process much easier. It will free you up to spend more time doing what you do best. It will help your business be more organised and efficient.

To put it in the correct place in business management theory, time tracking falls under the wider category of 'time and attendance', which is a broad term that also typically encompasses attendance records, time off, billable hours and scheduling.

Tracking time is key to understanding how you spend your time , personally and in business. It is a key to productivity, better insight and a healthier workflow.

What do I need in a tracking app?

There is no single app that will suit everyone. As such, it is important to determine your specific business needs from a time tracking app, then consider which ones can offer you that. Once you have a short list, only then should you look at their other capabilities.

There are hundreds of apps available, ranging from those with basic features right through to some offering every conceivable bell and whistle. Do you need productivity monitoring? Would GPS tracking be of benefit? Does your system need to incorporate employee monitoring? Various time tracking apps can deliver all of that.

Let's start simply. Here are the important base criteria to use when evaluating time tracking apps for your needs:

Real-time tracking: Nearly all time tracking apps let you track in real time, meaning they give you a running 'stopwatch' that you launch when you start a task, and that you can then pause or stop when you finish.
The ability to edit and manually add: The best apps let you correct time tracked after the fact, for example if you accidentally leave a timer running while you have lunch. You should be able to edit the time log to subtract however many minutes you weren't working. You also want an app that lets you enter a block of time after the event. That's useful if you forget to launch a timer at all. For example, if your phone rings and you jump straight into a consulting call without starting a timer. You DO want to accurately log and bill for that time worked.
Reporting features. The most powerful time tracking apps offer dashboards and reports that let you break out daily, weekly or monthly time spent per project, per person or per client. This is a vital addition for many businesses that want to use the data for evaluation, marketing and more.
The ability to create an invoice or export data. Once you aggregate all time spent on the unit of work, you have to be able to take action on it. Many apps let you either automatically generate invoices from the time tracking data stored in the app or export that information into PDFs, CSVs or Google Sheets to share with the right people.

Also, keep in mind that if you're using employee monitoring software, many of those include some form of time tracking.

Time tracking apps

Here's a quick review of some time tracking apps we like.

1. DeskTime

DeskTime is a simple-to-use time tracking app that combines three crucial features: employee monitoring, project management and productivity analysis. Additionally, this employee-productivity tracking software is designed to help businesses identify unproductive habits , by sorting web pages and applications into 'productive' and 'unproductive'.

2. Hours

Hours is a time clock app with basic time tracking features. It is most suited for people who are not looking for advanced features . Hours is available as a mobile app and allows you to keep a running list of timers and quickly switch between your tasks.

3. Timecamp

Timecamp is a cloud-based time tracking solution where work time can be easily tracked manually by timers and automatically via the desktop app. It can help you track performance, profitability and productivity.

4. Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a mix between time tracking, monitoring of employees and project management. It's a powerful employee monitoring tool, as it gives you detailed information about who did what and when.

5. Toggl

Toggl is a timer-based time tracking system that's rather easy to use . Create a project, then create a task within that project and start the timer. Done working on the certain task? Click stop and switch the tasks.

Take the time for change

Once you've considered what your business needs, found the 'best fit' time tracking app and then implemented a system, you will wonder how you ever managed without it.

A time tracker should be easy to use and work in with the existing processes of your team. If it's a battle, they won't use it well. So, do some research and instil the new procedures using a realistic change-management approach. Before you know it, you'll be more efficient, more informed and have more time.

To find out more about the time tracking options available and what system may work best in your unique circumstances, give us a call today .

Inventory management - it’s time to start tracking

Mon, 10 May 2021 03:23:06 GMT

Inventory is a key concept at the heart of any business : it's what you, as a business owner, use to make money. In simple terms, inventory refers to all the items, goods, merchandise and materials held at hand for the on-selling stage that generates your cash flow.

As a major asset for any manufacturing or trading business, it's important for business owners to understand what inventory is really about and why it's so important to keep track of it.

First thing to know: the definition of inventory changes slightly depending on the industry . Inventory can be either tangible or intangible (such as in service industries), but it always represents that which can be used for revenue generation or that which has a dollar value when sold. It can also be an asset that is presently in processing but which will be sold later.

What is an inventory tracking system?

Firstly, 'tracking system' means a set of tools and processes used to track goods across the supply chain . They ensure you can monitor trends and identify where you can improve. This often begins with ordering items from suppliers and vendors and concludes when delivering your products to end consumers. You can see how having more awareness of inventory across the supply chain would help you make smarter business decisions.

Depending on what sector you're in, the kind of inventory you need to track will differ. It makes sense then that different inventory tracking systems work better for some industries than others. As with anything, there are pros, cons and trade-offs.

What is the best way to manage inventory?

While it is important to track your inventory, there is no single 'best way'. You may want a system that gives you more data collection and analysis. This would help you monitor trends. You may need the most competent real-time tracking, so staff at remote locations can all be 'on the same page'. Or you may be looking for the easiest system for your workforce to use.

Finding the right system that works for your business can help you continuously improve. The more data you can track and manage, the better informed your decision making will be.

Following are five of the best inventory apps available. They all offer different benefits at different price points.

1. Sortly

All of the options on this list include the features most commonly used by inventory managers on the go, but Sortly goes a step further to offer features no other apps have .

For starters, Sortly includes an offline mode that allows you to scan incoming and outgoing items all the time. This is useful when your smartphone can't find a signal. When you eventually do reconnect, all your offline activity then syncs with your account for seamless inventory tracking company-wide.

Also, more than just barcode scanning, Sortly supports QR codes too. This gives you more flexibility to choose the scanning method that works best for your business.

2. Inventory Now

If you run a mobile business (like a food truck or pop-up store) or attend a lot of trade shows, Inventory Now may be the inventory app you need.

How it works is that Inventory Now pairs with PayPal Here, essentially replacing your business's point-of-sale (POS) system. This gives you the ability to generate sales orders as you make your sale, as well as process payments for the order. You can then set the order fulfillment process in motion straight away. All of this can be achieved from your Android or iOS mobile device. You can also use this system to process customer payments without investing in an expensive POS register.

Inventory Now software also supports item kitting (which allows you to group items together for bundles) and built-in barcode scanning. You can even generate UPC and SKU numbers within the app and then use these in barcode generation.

3. On Shelf

On Shelf's biggest selling point is its ability to analyse and report efficiently . It offers perpetual inventory tracking, so the stock displayed in your app reflects your real-time inventory levels, not what they were at the end of the previous day's trade. This up-to-the-minute reporting makes it easier to make the right decisions on the go.

What's more, On Shelf displays your inventory list with colour coding to indicate your business's most and least profitable items. This means you can quickly identify your highest priority items. You can also access graphs showing sales trends for each product. On Shelf will even recommend correct inventory levels for each item so you never have to worry about ordering excess inventory again.

The biggest downside? On Shelf is only available on iOS devices , so any employees using an Android smartphone will need to be provided with an iPhone or iPad to access your inventory tracking system.

4. Stock Control

Have you ever tried to find a single item in a crowded back room or a huge warehouse? Stock Control makes it a lot easier to find that needle in a haystack .

With the Stock Control inventory app, you can attach detailed, custom location info to each item. So if an item's stored in your back room, you can specify that it is, for example, on 'the fourth shelf from the top along the back wall'. Or, for items in a warehouse, you can attach the bin, row and zone numbers. This level of detail makes asset tracking, order picking and warehousing a lot faster and easier.

Stock Control also lets you generate PDF catalogues of your items based on your current inventory levels. You can then share these catalogues, ensuring that your customers only order items that are currently in stock.

Be advised, though: the Stock Control app is also only available on iOS devices .

5. inFlow Inventory

If you need inventory management software with a little more oomph that can still offer easy-to-use mobile functions, inFlow Inventory may be the best pick for your business.

With inFlow Inventory, you get the desktop features of a complete inventory management platform. This includes team management, vendor tracking, customer tracking and order management. In addition, inFlow's mobile app allows you to use a built-in barcode reader to scan items, adjust stock levels, create new sales orders and generate purchase orders - and do all this on the go.

Making the right choice

It's true: you know your business best, yet not even you could be expected to always know where every single item is held within your business. Using inventory management tools to track your supply chain ensures you can always have the right products, in the right quantity, at the right time .

When these systems are implemented effectively, you can reduce the costs of carrying excess inventory while maximising your sales. Good inventory management helps you track your inventory in real time to streamline this process.

These facts hold true whether you're running a mobile food truck, a home-based service provider, a multi-site retail business or a warehousing and logistics operation. Whatever your enterprise, there's an inventory tracking management system that's right for you.

So, take some time to look deeper into all the options out there. You may be amazed at what the available apps can offer.

What’s the point of a Point of Sale system?

Wed, 14 Apr 2021 03:33:33 GMT

Retail outlets, restaurants and other fast-paced B2C enterprises share the common business trait of receiving many payments over the course of a day. Sometimes big amounts, sometimes small, but always a high transaction volume and always worth tracking.

Using a point of sale system, or POS , is the way to do this effectively. A POS is the platform by which your customer makes a payment for your product or service. Simply put, every time a customer makes a purchase at your store, they're completing a 'point of sale' transaction.

The POS serves as the central component for your business: it's the hub where everything - such as sales, inventory and customer management - merges.

Reliable POS systems are vital if you're a small business retailer. A good POS system does much more than process customer purchases, it will help boost turnover, save money, simplify staff duties and make you more efficient. It can even improve food hygiene by removing the necessity for staff to handle physical cash.

What to look for when you choose a POS system

Many tasks in a retail store or a restaurant can be tedious and resource intensive. With the right point of sale system, you have the ability to simplify your crucial daily business operations .

Today's POS systems do more than just offer flexibility when processing daily transactions, they improve your chances of success by providing tools to streamline processes.

Key features retailers and restaurants need:

Sales reporting. Record and analyse sales data to help you make informed business decisions.
Inventory management. Track your stock levels, to determine when and how often to reorder products.
Customer management. Log purchases and keep in touch with customers through marketing tools.
Employee reporting and management. Track employees' hours and sales while analysing who your top performers are.

Point of sale and Xero

Xero is a leading cloud-based accounting software provider for small- and medium-sized businesses and is used by more than a million users worldwide.

Xero has an open API, this means their 'Application Programming Interface' can be used by other software applications, such as point of sale systems, to integrate with it.

The result of this? A strong partner program by which you can integrate Xero with more than 500 specialised complementary applications such as POS systems, inventory management systems and more, to make your business more efficient.

Whether you're running a retail store, a restaurant or a café, Xero gives you many options to integrate your POS system and save time by reducing manual processes … and save you money by reducing risks.

How to choose a POS system with Xero integration

Choosing a point of sale system that will integrate with your Xero software is not quite as simple as you may think. The choice will depend on what information you want the POS system to send to Xero and how you want to use the data.

Consider which of the following factors relating to modern POS systems maybe relevant to your operations:

The POS system must have the ability to map different sale types to different accounts in Xero's Chart of Account (CoA). If you are selling multiple products, then you probably have already identified types of products and services in your CoA. The integration must allow you to map different products to different accounts. A lot of older implementations just dump all sales into one account.

Whether you need mapping of multiple current asset accounts to provide a view of ' current product value on hand ' on your balance sheet.

Mapping multiple Cost of Goods (Direct Cost) accounts, to see clearly how much profit you have made on sales of a particular product or service type . In most cases, you will be able to get that information directly from the POS. However, this particular integration is very useful when - in addition to direct cost - you can input wages and salary expenses of employees responsible for that particular product type. This requires a direct integration back into an accounting program. There are no POS systems that can do that by themselves.

If you're operating out of multiple locations, you will likely want to see a separate P&L for each location . However, in a lot of cases, each outlet will have its own Xero file and books. In that case, you won't need a tracking categories integration.

In a lot of cases, people have to update stock levels in their POS and then enter the purchase invoice in Xero. So, if your POS needs this capability, you need to check that the integration can manage the following multi-step process: generate-purchase-order to verify-received-goods to update-stock-levels to send-bill-to-Xero to update-current-asset-stock-on-hand.

You may need the ability to introduce multiple payment methods and map them to accounts of your choice . If you do need this, your bookkeeper or accountant will, in turn, need to reconcile expected settlements from multiple sources, such as cash, EFTPOS, cheque, and direct debit.

Payments and purchases on account need to be synchronised to Xero , so you know how much money your customers owe you or - if you allow customers to make purchases on account - whether they have available credit on their accounts to use.

Collected loyalty points need to be converted to a dollar equivalent and synced to a Current Liability account in Xero , because they can be used in the future by your customers. If they expire, this needs to be reflected in the integration accordingly.

Some POS systems do quotes and invoices that the customer pays later. Integration of these quotes to Xero is not really necessary in the majority of cases; however, sales invoices need to be treated differently and the system should raise a separate invoice in Xero automatically .

Cash transactions going out of the till (e.g. float movements, till payment discrepancies, out-of-the-till cash payments to suppliers or any other cash out of the till) need to be synchronised to Xero for proper allocation and reconciliation.

Gift vouchers' sold values must be synchronised to a liability account so you can clearly see the total amount on your balance sheet.

The next steps

If you are still with us after that long list, you can see why you must carefully consider which aspects of a POS-Xero integration you want and need in your business. This consideration process is the first step to finding and choosing a POS system that is going to provide you 'full' integration with Xero.

The good news is that after you have made it through this initial process, the actual work of integration of your POS system with your Xero account is fairly simple. However you approach it, it is an effective way to reduce manual administration tasks and minimise the risk of human error in data management.

Once the systems are fully integrated, the upside is enormous. The financial insights alone will help you make better business decisions and, therefore, help your business become more profitable.

Go green — 6 reasons it’s time for the paperless office

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 02:45:49 GMT

Do you want your business to be known as a modern and environmentally friendly organisation? Are you still printing out copious sheets of paper … and filing … and storing … and reprinting when needed? If so, there is a better way.

Yes, the paperless office - it can be done. However, converting to a paperless office requires organisation, commitment and the right tools. But it's well worth considering, and not just for the planet.

Obviously, reducing paper usage (or eliminating it entirely) is environmentally friendly . According to The Paperless Project - a coalition of businesses that have joined forces to encourage others to reduce their paper usage and carbon footprint - some 40 percent of the world's industrial logging goes towards paper manufacturing. Further, manufacturing that paper is the world's third-most energy intensive industry.

Bringing the point closer to home, converting documents into digital forms helps boost the productivity and efficiency of an office while also saving money and making work processes easier and more convenient. For a start, digital documents can be shared between users far more easily than a paper copy. With so many offices spending so much time and money investing in the latest smart technology and apps, taking the paperless step seems like a natural progression. Read on for some key reasons why you should consider going paperless.

Counting down the top six benefits of a paperless office

6. Lower costs

The costs of paper, ink, toner and printer maintenance really do add up . By converting to a paperless office, or at least a paper-lite office that has just one centralised all-in-one printer, you can save money in the long run.

In addition, documents can be found and retrieved a lot more efficiently when they are managed electronically rather than from a filing cabinet, saving a significant amount of time during the day.

Further, many cloud storage solutions are extremely affordable, making it all the more cost-effective to adopt a system that allows your employees to access all the documents they need anytime, on any device.

5. Secure access

It's simple, electronic document management platforms can be signed into from any location at any time by users with the necessary credentials. A registered username and strong password can be far more secure than a traditional filing cabinet - definitely a factor to consider for your most sensitive documents.

Further, when using paper for sensitive info, you have to invest in locks, cabinets, keys and paper shredders. And then you have to train staff in how to use it all. The main vulnerability is still there regardless. Ask yourself, if your premises caught fire and wiped out all your paperwork and records, would your company survive?

Now consider that many cloud-based content management systems offer high-tech, bank-level data security in order to keep information safe from physical mishap and theft.

4. Increased office space

Printers and filing cabinets occupy precious office space. Floor space costs money. Going paperless eliminates these common office obstructions , freeing up valuable room for anything else you need.

Large amounts of documents can be stored in a single computer or via a cloud-based system. A document can be retrieved without having to move physically from one location in the office to another, improving physical workflow around an office.

3. Workflow efficiencies

Gone are the days of digging through a filing cabinet to find the appropriate document. With electronic document management, you and your colleagues can sort through files in just a few clicks to easily find exactly what you need. Moreover, using advanced search functions lets you root out key words and dates in a way that paper systems simply cannot achieve. This can be managed anywhere, anytime - offering significant benefit to businesses with mobile workforces.

Those staff operating at a distance can have much improved communication too. With paperless systems, multiple users can access the same document at the same time with more ease and convenience.

Last, if your business is audited, everything you need is on hand . Maintaining compliance with regulations can be significantly strengthened in a paperless system.

2. Paperless statements

A paperless office means minimising incoming mail too. Rather than having to sort and organise stacks of invoices, your team can instead download paperless statements and save them to the appropriate digital folder. This requires organisation with the senders, and may take some time to implement, but it's well worth doing and you'll be setting a fantastic example.

From the other side, continue that pattern if your business sends invoices to clients or customers - tell them all you're going paperless and implement ways to encourage them to follow along. Going paperless also lowers your postage costs.

1. Decrease your environmental impact

There are many business reasons - efficiencies, increased productivity … more time and money - to go paperless. But, think bigger picture. Every business causes carbon emissions to some degree, yet going paperless means your company can easily eliminate a major driver of its environmental footprint.

The world is making progress on the usage and recycling of paper, so we all need to make a concentrated effort. While total global paper consumption is decreasing, there is still a lot of work to do.

The downsides

At this point, it's important we note the possible negatives of a paperless office:

Reading long documents can be tough on a computer screen . Many people prefer reading on paper.
Electronic security measures must be strengthened and maintained . User access must be monitored and controlled.
Check if there are legal implications of digital work processing in your business or sector.
The process of converting existing documents into digital form takes time and sometimes comes at great cost . Especially so for large, old, fragile or highly valuable documents.
Continual upgrading of hardware and software can be essential.
Computer viruses, power outages, network crashes and the like can effectively shut down an entire company if it relies solely on digital information.
No matter how digital you go, you are still going to have some paper around . It might be for legal reasons, physical mail from a supplier or because you've sketched out an idea on the back of an envelope. However it happens, your business will still need procedures to manage it.

Next steps to take

A key to making the transition to paperless systems is ensuring your staff are on board with the process. Tell them about the benefits to the business, their roles, their time, their efficiency and the environment. Be sure to provide the tools and training they deserve.

Don't assume people will discover and implement ways of minimising their paper usage by themselves. They need clear instructions they can understand. Create written guidelines and processes they can follow towards the goal of a paperless office.

If you want to 'go green' to increase productivity, optimise workflow, reduce office supply costs and convert your paper documents into electronic formats, then you're ready to pursue the paperless office dream.

Is an SMSF right for you? 6 pros and 5 cons to consider

Sun, 31 Jan 2021 03:17:58 GMT

There has been a lot of talk about Self-Managed Super Funds in recent years. You will have noticed there has been mixed media coverage about whether SMSFs are a good choice for managing the average person's superannuation.

Your superannuation choices are crucial and the decisions you make now could result in a difference-positive or negative-of many hundreds of thousands of dollars when it comes time for you to retire.

In this article we'll address the pros and cons of using a Self-Managed Super Fund for your superannuation , but first let's clarify what an SMSF is…

What is a Self-Managed Super Fund?

A simple way of describing a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) is that it's a special type of bank account that has very strict rules applied to how you can use it, and it allows you to put your superannuation contributions into that fund-your own SMSF-rather than into an industry or retail superannuation fund.

Having your own private super fund allows you to choose the investments and the insurance , and you manage every aspect of the fund yourself , with assistance from specialist SMSF advisors, administrators and auditors.

You can have up to four members in your SMSF and most have two or more family or friends as members. Members are called 'trustees' of the fund - or you can have a 'corporate trustee' which is where you set up a company to act as the trustee. In this case, the members must also be directors of that company.

There's more to it, of course, but that's it in a nutshell.

Is an SMSF right for you?

The decision to set up a Self-Managed Super Fund should not be taken lightly or be made on a whim because even though it gives you control over how your superannuation contributions are invested, it involves additional complexity and annual compliance costs and professional support fees.

For those reasons, it's best to seek personalised advice specific to your situation before making the decision. We can guide you here.

Before you even take that step though, here's a list of considerations to help you make a preliminary assessment of whether an SMSF may be a fit for you:

Do you want:

More control over how your money is invested?
To stop paying fees to super fund managers who are not working hard to earn the management fees you pay them each year?
More flexibility in how you pass on your wealth?

Do you have:

Experience and knowledge in how to invest your super funds?
Time to actively research and manage your investments?
Attention to detail for keeping up with SMSF rules and regulations?
At least a $200K superannuation balance to justify the annual SMSF expenses and make it cost effective for you? (The recommended minimum super balance to achieve before setting up an SMSF can vary, depending on the circumstances and objectives.)

6 pros of having an SMSF

Some of the advantages of setting up and running your own Self-Managed Super Fund include:

1. Investment choice

Having an SMSF gives you the widest range possible of investment options because the decisions are up to you, within certain rules of course. As a trustee you can directly access shares, cash accounts, term deposits, real estate, unlisted assets, international markets and even collectables.

2. Tax strategies

Concessional (i.e. lower) tax rates apply to SMSFs , just as they to do industry and retail super funds:

Accumulation phase: Tax on investment income is capped at 15%
Pension phase: There is no tax payable, not even Capital Gains Tax.

The government wants you to be a self-funded retiree to ease the burden on the welfare system as our population ages and more people enter retirement. The fewer people on the pension the better, and so the government's concessional tax rates on superannuation will help you accelerate your path to achieving that.

We can guide and help you implement the tax strategies that can grow your super savings and reduce tax payments as you transition to retirement.

3. Flexibility

Each member of an SMSF has the flexibility to run their own ideal mix of accumulation and pension accounts . As market conditions, superannuation rules or your own personal circumstances change, you can quickly adjust your investment strategy because you are in control of the decisions.

4. Transparency

SMSF trustees appreciate having complete transparency over where their money is invested, how their investments are performing and how they are being taxed . If you have a strong investment preference for one class of asset over another-for example, for property instead of shares-or you want to invest in mainly sustainable and ethical investments, you can. You have complete visibility on what's happening in your SMSF and how it is performing.

5. Cost

Each year an SMSF must:

lodge an annual tax return (= SMSF administration accounting fees)
be audited by a registered SMSF auditor (= SMSF audit fees)
pay compliance lodgment fees (= Australian Tax Office (ATO) fees)

The ATO's SMSF fees are fixed and do not vary based on the SMSF's fund balance.

SMSFs become more cost-effective as the fund balance grows and, conversely, SMSFs are not cost-effective when the super balance is too small; this is because the professional fees and lodgment costs are too high as a percentage of the fund's balance.

It's important you first have a large enough super balance to justify setting up an SMSF. We can guide you on that decision.

6. Consolidate superannuation assets

To reduce the costs of running a Self-Managed Super Fund, as a trustee you can combine your superannuation assets in an SMSF with up to three other members such as partners or family members.

Combining super accounts creates a larger fund balance which, in addition to increasing the fund's assets and investment opportunities, means there's only one set of fees.

Of course, there are potentially complex relationship issues to consider before doing this.

5 cons of having an SMSF

Like anything in life, there are pros and cons to each approach.

Following are risks that are important to understand before you set up an SMSF because the risks don't apply to industry and retail super funds.

1. Cost

As we covered above, if your super balance is not large enough, the costs involved in setting up and managing your own SMSF cannot be justified. So whether the costs are a pro or a con depends entirely on the size of your superannuation balance.

2. Legal responsibilities

You are responsible for managing your SMSF and this includes complying with important duties, laws and rules. Not complying with these can result in significant penalties.

3. Fraud risk

Members of Self-Managed Super Funds cannot go to a complaints body in the event of fraud. Members of industry and retail super funds, on the other hand, can resolve disputes in a timely and low-cost manner, certainly compared with taking legal action.

There are measures you can put in place to ensure you're not an easy target for fraud, but if fraud does occur, it could result in costly and time-consuming legal action for the SMSF members.

4. Insurance cover

Adding life and disability insurance cover to your standard super fund membership is straightforward, but for an SMSF member it may be more difficult or expensive to secure.

5. Winding up costs

If your circumstances changed significantly-for example you experience bankruptcy, a relationship breakdown, a business failure, a loss of mental capacity, or you become a non-resident-a reduced superannuation balance might cause you to want to, or have to, wind up your SMSF.

It's important you are aware of the winding up costs that may apply and put in place a contingency plan for this potential risk.

What should you do next?

As you can see, while the control and transparency that an SMSF can give you over your super is appealing, there's more work, complexity and potential risk.

On the flipside, running your own super fund can be a very rewarding experience and give you the opportunity to generate better returns in your preferred types of assets.

If you'd like to have a chat about whether your combined super balance, current situation and personal investment preferences make an SMSF a good for you or not, get in touch with us for an initial chat.

There's no cost or obligation for this initial discussion.

7 reasons to use a cloud accounting app in your small business

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 22:00:00 GMT

Remember Walkmans? And later, portable CD music players? And VHS video players? And fax machines?

These were all once considered the very latest in technology but are now obsolete.

Times sure change.

And do you know what else will soon fall into this, "Remember when we used to use…" category?

Desktop accounting software.

By 'desktop' I mean accounting software that you install on a computer and then every year or so you have to pay money to upgrade it to the latest version. Desktop accounting software is also where you have to send a copy of the latest version of the data to your bookkeeper or accountant for them to work on it, which then runs the risk of the information getting out of sync with your version, if you use your accounting software while they are editing their copy of the data.

It's a messy, inefficient process which often leads to errors and headaches.

Desktop software-especially for accounting-is old technology. In fact, it won't be long before we will all look back and laugh that we used to use it.

Cloud accounting is the new standard for small business accounting and bookkeeping technology.

7 reasons to use a cloud accounting app in your business

If you haven't already switched to using cloud accounting software such as Xero , here are 7 reasons we think it's a no-brainer to make the switch, and soon…

When you use desktop accounting software and have to transfer data files back and forth with your accountant, delays are created in generating financial reports for your business.

It can be many weeks after the end of a month before a small business owner has the accurate information they need about their business' performance. There's no way you can make timely decisions to better manage your small business, working this way.

When you use cloud accounting software such as Xero, you, your accountant and your bookkeeper all have real-time access to the same 'master version' of your accounting data . This means there's no need to download data files, send them off, wait for them to be edited and updated, wait for them to be sent back to you and then re-import the new data.

Instead, having your accounting data in the cloud means everyone can see today's up-to-date version of your data-your business' performance-which gives you greater transparency and control in managing your business.

You're a business owner, not an IT manager. You have better things to do than to run software updates and make sure your data back-ups are happening and working correctly.

Using cloud-based apps to run your business, the apps update themselves and y our data is always backed-up, in multiple locations.

It's not uncommon for small business operators to be a little wary of 'the cloud' and to feel that their business' data is more secure when it is on their own computers sitting in their office, where they can see it. That's understandable, on an emotional level. On a logical level though, most small business' data back-up processes are probably not consistent or bullet-proof.

On the other hand, cloud-based app ('Software as a Service') providers not only back up your data continuously across the day, they back up to servers in multiple cities and countries. That's far more secure than a small business' own back-ups.

It's counter-intuitive to think that your data is more secure when stored on servers 'in the cloud' than when stored on computers inside your own business.

But it is. It's a like a walk in the park for a computer hacker to hack into the average small business' computer network. If you use the internet in your business, you could be hacked.

Software as a Service (SaaS) providers, on the other hand, use the same level of computing security that your internet banking uses. That's millions of times harder to hack into than a small business' computer network, and when you add an extra login step (called Two Factor Authentication or '2FA') such as receiving a one-time-use code via SMS that you enter in addition to your username and password, your data is behind a virtual impenetrable fortress.

What's one thing that every small business owner hates? Large, unexpected (or forgotten about) bills, such as tax! When it dawns on you-or when you are belatedly told-that you have a very large tax bill coming up and you don't have enough money in the bank to pay for it, it's VERY stressful.

Using cloud-based accounting software such as Xero in your business makes it easier for your accountant or bookkeeper to know the true story of your business' cash position . This allows them-and you-to more easily see if there is a cash flow crunch coming up, which gives everyone enough time to discuss it, plan for it and take corrective action.

You can't have a collaborative relationship like this with your advisors if everyone is looking at out-of-date or out-of-sync data, which is what desktop accounting software tends to give you.

I am yet to meet a small business operator who enjoys doing-or enjoys paying their staff to do-data entry. It's such a low value, unnecessary cost for a small business.

Cloud accounting allows you to eliminate a LOT of data entry work . Xero, for example, can connect to your business' bank accounts and credit cards and then automatically import ('type in') all the transactions each day - without you or any of your staff lifting a finger.

The accounting software also learns over time and can be instructed via rules to automatically code transactions a certain way if, for example, the transaction mentions a particular supplier or includes a specific phrase.

And even the hassle of managing and filing receipts and invoices can be streamlined using apps that connect to Xero, such as Receipt Bank.

How efficient is this… You can take photos of receipts with the Receipt Bank app on your phone (think fuel receipts), and you can automatically forward invoices you receive via email and PDF attachments (think monthly subscriptions), and Receipt Bank will read the receipts and invoices, automatically do the data entry for you, and then queue them up so you can check the details before approving them to be published across into Xero. It even detects any tax amounts and lists them out separately.

That's one of the great aspects of cloud computing - you can access your business' up-to-date information from wherever you are , as long as you have internet access. You can also access your data conveniently through your phone or tablet, without having to lug around your laptop.

Sure, when you're on holidays with your family, the last thing you probably want to do is check your accounting system, but let's face it… when you're running a small business there are times when you need to check if an invoice has been paid, follow up a debtor or make sure a pay run is done on time.

Cloud accounting software like Xero makes this easy and gives you more flexibility in your lifestyle.

To improve a small business' cash flow cycle, it's crucial to issue invoices promptly, make it easy for customers to pay, and immediately follow up any overdue invoices.

Xero makes all of this easy.

For example, you can easily create an invoice, turn it into a PDF, email it off to the customer with a message, plus create Invoice Reminders that will automatically send an email to the customer when the invoice is overdue, or is about to become due.

That's super-efficient, but it gets better.

You can also choose to send an electronic invoice via email with a link that when the customer clicks it, opens the invoice in their web browser and displays a Pay Now button. By linking your Xero account with payment providers such as PayPal, Stripe or GoCardless you can make it quick and easy for your customers to pay you via credit card or direct debit.

The result? Convenience for your customers and cash in your bank sooner.

Many more reasons to move to the cloud

These are just 7 reasons to make the switch to using a cloud accounting app such as Xero.

There are plenty of other reasons too, such as the ability to integrate -effectively 'join together'-various apps in your business including point-of-sale, inventory, staff rostering, CRM, marketing and other apps, so that you can eliminate even more data entry in your business and have better real-time information to make decisions.

Xero's add-on marketplace gives you access to over 500 different cloud-based apps, a number of which could make a big difference to your business' efficiency and profitability.

Time to move to the cloud?

Don't let your business' accounting and information systems be the equivalent of a Walkman or VHS video. If you are still using desktop accounting software, it's time to change.

Get in touch with us and we'll be happy to have a chat with you to discuss the steps involved in moving to a cloud accounting app such as Xero. We will help you every step of the way to get you set up and running smoothly.

Worried about a recession? 11 steps to meet a coming recession with confidence

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 22:00:00 GMT

It's no secret that a slowdown or contraction in economic activities happens from time to time.

Many business owners reading this will have experienced the Global Financial Crisis and/or the COVID-19 outbreak.

If you still have a business, you clearly made some of the right moves.

Which leads to the question – what are the right moves now to recession-proof your business?

Most companies have a relatively narrow margin for error. A 10-percent decline in revenue could wipe out the entire bottom line of a business.

Having a contingency plan in place to manage profit is just one of the broader areas to address in times of crisis.

Change is going to be necessary – that much is obvious. But, specifically, what actions should you take?

Following are 11 actionable steps to shore up your business and defend it against the worst effects of a major economic downturn.

Where does your business stand right now?

It's important to assess this honestly.

Have you started to feel a pinch in your budgets due to a decline in consumer spending and available capital?

That's quite normal in the months leading up to a recession.

You will likely need to make some difficult decisions regarding product pricing, marketing initiatives, hiring, benefits, and new launches.

A recession is hard on everyone, and while it can have a damaging impact on morale, you need your employees to be more efficient and productive than ever.

This is no time to lose your best talent. Instead, focus on maximising it and ask yourself how you can better meet their needs?

To ensure your best talent does not drift away, you may need to realign them with new roles in your business or restructure your organisational chart.

The first thing that happens when recessions hit (or are about to hit) is that companies start paying invoices more slowly.

Conversely, they also start asking their clients to pay sooner.

Ultimately, this scenario affects your cash availability. Without a good cash reserve, chances are you won't survive a recession .

Unfortunately, it's that simple. So, work on it right away – don't wait for the recession to hit as it will be too late.

As clients start taking longer to pay and others go out of business and can never pay you, your cashflow naturally suffers and your cash reserves get eaten into.

This can really damage your business's fight for survival.

To minimise the effects of reduced cashflow, manage your invoicing and collections more carefully : that generally means invoicing early and following up on payments promptly.

Remember that debt compounds quickly when budgets tighten, so pay off vendors while you have the cash and claim what customers owe you as soon as possible.

Look at your existing costs and eliminate unnecessary expenses . Leave no stone unturned.

While outsourcing can help you save money, be very careful about outsourcing important strategic or operational functions.

Essential business roles and functions that make you competitive (your "special sauce") are usually best left in-house.

The non-essentials that are outsourced will vary from business to business – but they are usually the easiest roles to fill and, also, the easiest to trim when a recession really starts to bite.

If a recession is approaching, it's never been more important to keep track of your company's financial statements.

This is just good management practice but, in good times, it often gets forgotten.

During downturns, it's more important to keep your accounting updated and review reports regularly so that you have a clear picture of what's around the corner.

Are all your eggs in one basket?

One of the greatest mistakes you can make is to have your revenues concentrated in a few clients.

During good times, this may not be a concern but during a recession, it can kill your business.

If one (or a few) of your clients leave, go out of business, or start paying slowly – the sort of things that happen during downturns – it will seriously impact your business.

If you start diversifying your client base now , you will be in a stronger position during a recession as it will soften the blow of any one client going out of business.

Identify the strengths that have enabled your success to date and those that will be important in the future.

Ask yourself:

Also, identify your highest-margin customers and understand what you are doing right for them.

Develop a game plan, in the event of a downturn, to protect and build on the strengths that have allowed you to be indispensable to them.

In the event of a dip in business, rather than cutting costs across the board, be ready to shift resources to retain these high-margin customers.

Diversifying your marketing channels and client sources will put you in a stronger position to attract new clients on the "front end" of your business as some clients inevitably fall off the "back end".

What happens if you have a single source of clients from one marketing channel and it dries up? It will be very difficult to compensate for lost clients.

Consider lead capture strategies, email marketing, social media, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, as well as more traditional offline ways to bring new clients to your business.

Now is not the time to cut back on marketing – it's time to be smarter about your strategy.

If your business is going through rough times, it's likely that your competitors are too.

One way of expanding your client base to prosper in tough times is to win customers from your competition – disgruntled customers who you can potentially promise a better service to.

To draw customers over to you, offer something extra or a little different to what the other guys provide.

It's much easier (and less costly) to get sales from existing customers than new ones.

To do that requires looking after your existing customers so they do not drift away. This can increase sales without incurring the costs of finding new customers.

Focus on providing excellent customer service. Ensure that your customers or clients love what you do or sell and keep them happy by identifying and meeting their needs.

You want to retain their business at all costs during a recession even more than at any other time.

You can't do much about a recession but you can prepare your business for it…

Recessions are unavoidable but if you plan ahead, your business can survive and grow stronger as a result.

Ideally, this is an ongoing process started when times are good – not just a reaction when times get tougher.

Unprepared businesses look to slash costs, reduce employee numbers, and take other short-term measures rather than carefully planning to be well-positioned after the recession passes.

To recession-proof your business and ensure you have a competitive edge when the economic climate starts to bite, follow the steps above.

Cash Flow: Why Your Business Needs to Forecast & How to Get Started

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 22:00:00 GMT

A cash flow forecast is a plan that shows how much money a business expects to receive in and pay out over a given period of time.

If a business runs out of cash and is not able to meet its obligations such as paying suppliers, creditors and staff, it will become insolvent. It is never an excuse for management to claim that they didn't see a cash flow crisis coming.

So, in business, "cash is king" really does apply. Cash flow is the life-blood of all businesses – particularly start-ups and small enterprises. Because of this, it is essential that management forecast (predict) what is going to happen to cash flow to make sure the business has enough to survive.

Fortunately, technology is available to help you do that much more easily now than in the past. In fact, you may not even need to open an Excel Spreadsheet as there are several great apps to help you manage your cash flow from anywhere at any time.

5 reasons your business needs a cash flow forecast

Before we get onto the apps, let's just consider why it's so important to manage cash flow in your business:

1. Early warning system : A cash flow forecast helps you identify potential shortfalls in cash balances in advance – think of it as an "early warning system". This is, by far, the most important reason to have a cash flow forecast.

2. Confidence: A cash flow forecast gives you confidence-based on real data, not on hope-that your business can afford to pay suppliers and employees on time. Suppliers who don't get paid will soon stop supplying the business. If employees are not paid on time, you can guess the rest: your whole business could crumble.

3. Encourage quicker payments: Preparing a cash flow forecast encourages the business to look at how quickly customers are paying your invoices and to rapidly spot any problems. Note – this is not really a problem for businesses like retailers, which take most of their sales in cash and credit cards at the point of sale.

4. Planning and Control: Your cash flow forecasting becomes an important discipline within your business' planning and financial control. It is a crucial management process, similar to preparing business budgets.

5. Manage relationships: Consistent, up-to-date cash flow forecasting makes it easier for you to manage external stakeholder relationships with banks and lenders who may require regular financial reporting from your business. Keeping your bank manager informed of your business' performance and cash flow situation certainly makes it easier to access additional capital should you need it in the future, for example, to fund expansion.

Cash-flow management apps that help you take control of your finances

Each of t he following four cash flow management apps can make life a lot easier for small business owners looking to gain more control over what's coming in and what's going out of the business:

Float integrates with many accounting platforms and gathers information automatically, which means you don't have to spend time manually inputting data. With the ability to forecast cash flow years into the future, Float gives you a good idea of where your business is headed and allows you to plan more effectively.

Flow quickly identifies hidden poor payers, calculates the right time to pay bills and helps you understand how to make the right decisions to keep more of your cash in your account. The app scans Xero or QuickBooks for changes across your customers, suppliers, invoices and bills, predicting hidden things you need to know.

An integrated cloud reporting and forecasting tool that allows you to create insights for making better business decisions. You can easily create powerful, visual reports, and reveal key drivers that impact performance.

Helm automates the process of forecasting your future cash balance. It helps you chart your business' path to success and is easy to tweak and maintain. Once set up, Helm will make your payments exactly as you've planned them.

Cash-flow is critical: what's the next step?

It's never been simpler for a business owner to set up and maintain a close handle on the business cash flow.

Yet, despite its clear "life and death" importance, many business owners still struggle to come to terms with cash flow management.

If you're having cash flow problems right now or simply want to consider your options for implementing a better system in your business, please contact one of our advisors.

Web Meeting Apps Compared: Zoom vs Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 23:00:00 GMT

With organisations around the world looking for more effective ways to work remotely and keep their teams connected, the spotlight has fallen on web meeting tools to provide an edge for companies.

Most readers will already be familiar with at least some of these tools. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses that previously operated entirely with on-site teams to look at remote work options to remain productive.

That has propelled web meeting apps into business owners' minds, as they strive to remain competitive.

Most video conferencing tools are relatively simple, cloud-based tools but the competition is driving innovation and more features are being added.

This has increased complexity in the decision-making process when it comes to which tool is best suited to your organisation. How easy are they to set up and use? What restrictions or limits are there?

We've compared three of the most popular tools for you: Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.

Zoom

Zoom has grown rapidly in stature in recent times, riding the wave of the pandemic-led surge in popularity in video meetings. It is one of the main beneficiaries of this shift in the way many of us now work.

The app is seen as something of a pioneer in the video-first culture, making it easier for large and diverse teams to collaborate more frequently and more effectively.

Zoom provides a feature-rich video conferencing tool for businesses of all types and sizes if you are looking to streamline your video meetings.

You can use it to set up webinars, remote meetings, and video/teleconferencing meetings with staff, customers, suppliers, and so on.

Some of its most attractive features for all users are:

For more advanced users, the following features are also useful:

Users commend Zoom on its ease of use, efficiency, and buffer-free experience when it comes to conducting online meetings.

Simplicity is important to the people at Zoom. While the likes of Skype got weighed down with complexity, Zoom recognised that people want a smooth, click-and-play video experience with features that are simple to access and activate.

For instance, if you install the free integration for Outlook or Google Chrome, you can click the calendar icon in an email, click on your scheduled Zoom meeting time, and you then just click the Join Meeting link to start and join the meeting.

You don't need to open a separate program, wait for it to update, and hope that your contacts are online (remember that, Skype users?).

This all means that mums and dads are as comfortable using Zoom as business owners (not to say that business owners aren't often mums and dads too! ??).

Zoom is used by some heavy hitters, including Dropbox and Ticketmaster.

Integrations

Zoom supports integrations with:

Pricing

Of course, the following information is subject to change, so be sure to check out Zoom's pricing page . Zoom's free plan can host up to 100 participants (which you've got to admit, is very generous) but meetings with 3 or more people are limited to 40 minutes. The paid plans start at USD $14.99 per month per host and remove that 40-minute limitation, give you user management (which is useful in a business with multiple people using Zoom) and lets you record your Zoom meetings to the cloud-that makes it easy for you to share the video recordings of meetings, for example with customers, prospects and suppliers.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is an advanced video conferencing solution that is set to replace Skype for Business, which is being "retired".

It creates a "shared workspace" that combines video conferencing with chat, file sharing and business app integrations.

Microsoft Teams is more geared specifically towards businesses than Zoom and will suit organisations of most sizes that need to host audio, video, and web conferences both internally and externally with customers, prospects, suppliers, etc. Microsoft Teams also competes with Slack, as a team chat tool.

Microsoft Teams can host your meetings whether you have a team of 10 or 10,000.

Some of the key features of Microsoft Teams include:

If you are a Microsoft-based business (using Office 365) then Microsoft Teams makes a lot of sense.

As you might expect from an organisation that has historically tried to keep its customers exclusively using their own products, Microsoft Teams works well with all of the other Microsoft software.

You can still use Skype for one-to-one chats and calls with Microsoft Teams users, launch meetings from Outlook or Exchange Calendar and work on documents together in Office/OneDrive.

Microsoft Teams, like most other video conferencing apps, is constantly evolving and adding new features to make the online meeting experience more engaging.

Integrations

The main integrations promoted by Teams are with the other Office 365 apps.

However, there are over 70 integrations with partners too, including solutions for ticket management, surveys, news, and so on.

Pricing

Microsoft Teams is free to download with no commitments to buy a paid version, but the free version comes without any administrative tools and no support.

Most businesses will want a more complete video conferencing and meeting solution. This is available as part of Office 365 Business Premium for between USD $5 and $20 per user per month.

Google Meet

Google Meet is the tech giant's attempt to enter the online business meeting space.

Wherever an opportunity exists, Google is not far behind and, although it still has not conquered social media, Google Meet is its attempt to harness some of the interest in video conferencing technology.

The tool is basically a version of the free Hangouts app (which is not really designed for business use), upgraded and designed to meet the webinars and video conferencing requirements of businesses.

Google claims that two million people use Google Meet every day.

Some of its key features include:

Just as Microsoft Teams is a good choice for businesses already using the main Microsoft apps such as Office 365, Google Meet may be most attractive for businesses that are already heavily using Google software such as G Suite.

The Google Meet app is included as part of the G Suite offering so existing customers and those that routinely use the likes of Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Chrome, etc. may jump on board quite readily.

For those that are heavily invested in Google like users with Chromebox and Chromebase devices, Google Meet may also make good sense.

It's easy to use (click a link, click on Google Calendar to join a meeting) and the interface can be navigated by pretty much anyone. Just as Zoom and Microsoft Teams video conferencing does, it features information on who is in the meeting, who is in the chat room, camera and audio on/off buttons, etc.

If you are concerned about security, as most businesses should be, Google Meet is used by educational institutions so encryption is a strong point for this tool.

However, unlike with Microsoft, Google Meet sticks with video conferencing and does not offer the types of added extras provided by Microsoft Teams.

Google also offers Meet hardware kits that include a wide field-of-view camera and an all-in-one speaker and microphone that reduces echoes and background noise.

Integrations

If you choose to use Google Meet, you get access to all G Suite programs too: that's Gmail, Chat, Sites, Drive, Forms, etc.

However, it also works with any meeting systems based on SIP and H.323 standards (e.g. Polycom and Cisco-based systems).

Pricing

G Suite pricing starts at USD $6 per user per month for the Basic plan. The Business plan is USD $12 per user per month and the Enterprise plan, which offers the top level of security, search, admin, and support, is priced at USD $25 per user per month.

A free trial is available if you want to try before you buy.

Which tool suits your business best?

What's most important to your business when it comes to web meetings?

Ease-of-use? HD quality? Having all the "whistles and bells"? Security? Or just having it work as seamlessly as possible with the apps your business already uses?

The above rundown of three of the major web meeting tools around at present should help you make a decision that meets all of your business video conferencing requirements.

The remote worker's 13-point guide to staying productive and connected

Sat, 08 Aug 2020 23:00:00 GMT

Telecommuting, teleworking, working from home, mobile work, remote work, flexible workplace… whatever you want to call it, it amounts to the same thing.

No chats about last night's match at the watercooler. No comparing notes about the movie you watched. And no after-work drinks.

Just the work, I'm afraid.

But, looking on the bright side, you don't need to commute for an hour by bus or drive to the office.

You can eat when and what you like and you get to see more of your family.

That's great for work-life balance and managing stress levels, isn't it?

And there are plenty of ways to make working from home incredibly productive too: strategies you can use to get more done and tools that make connecting with others a breeze.

7 Tips for creating a more productive workplace at home

Establish 'do not disturb' guidelines, work hours, break times, and a policy on handling personal matters.

For example, no doing dishes or laundry or taking out the trash during work hours.

The best advice is to treat your home office as if it were a 'real' office located somewhere else.

While telecommuting offers lots of flexibility, you've still got to stick to a schedule or time will run away from you.

Try to set daily work hours throughout the week to maintain a routine.

Carve out a space in your home that becomes your dedicated workspace.

Ideally, it should have a door so that you can shut out noise or interruptions.

Making your workspace at your kitchen table or in your bedroom is asking for trouble.

If you're working remotely, be sure that you're not totally disconnected from colleagues:.

Check in at least once a day by email, online chat, phone or videoconferencing with your onsite managers and co-workers.

Working from home can get lonely.

Make sure you get out of the house and spend time around other people at least some of the time. Take a walk after lunch, for instance.

A VPN is the best idea for connecting to a network that you don't control.

This includes the Wi-Fi at co-working spaces, cafes, libraries, and airports, where your connection is not secure unless you set up a VPN.

Working remotely requires you to "over-communicate".

Tell everyone who needs to know about your schedule and availability often. When you finish a project or important task, say so.

6 tools to make working from home much easier

Slack is a communication management app that is especially well-suited to remote work.

You can create team channels for every department and send direct messages. Slack also lets you drag-and-drop files, bookmark messages, and pin documents for quick reference.

This app cuts down on internal emails since it's quicker, more efficient, and more user-friendly.

For remote teams, Slack can serve as a virtual watercooler, helping team members bond or blow off steam.

It provides a hub where you can meet other remote workers for both professional and team-building purposes (don't underestimate the importance of that in the absence of a real office).

If your business uses Office 365, Microsoft Teams may be a better option for you than Slack.

Zoom is the Swiss Army Knife of video conferencing.

Combining HD video with increasingly important features like screen sharing, content sharing, and local recording, it is an obvious choice for organizations in need of an end-to-end conferencing solution.

Zoom makes meetings more accessible and only one person needs to download it; everyone else can click the meeting link to jump in from their phone, desktop, or tablet.

As for point 1 above, if your business uses Office 365, Microsoft Teams may be a better option for you than Zoom.

Zapier lets you automate workflows by "bridging the gap" between your many other tools.

Busy team members dislike having to switch between apps. Zapier solves that problem by making sure that all of your customer and team information is synchronized between platforms.

Facilitate the integration of your other tools and keep your whole team in the loop while saving everyone valuable time.

Trello lets your whole team create, design, and assign tasks in a straightforward visual interface.

You can create "cards" for every task and sort them by department or assignee.

As a task progresses, team members completing their parts can slide the relevant card from one category to the next.

Trello's collaborative tool lets your whole team stay informed of the progress of projects in a more instantaneous, visual, and engaging way than a series of emails or memos.

Other apps to consider in the task management space include Monday , Asana and Basecamp .

Toggl is a great tool for assisting with productivity.

It incorporates a simple time tracker with powerful reports and it works across all your devices.

Other apps to consider in the time tracking category are Harvest , Time Doctor and Clockify .

Loom is screencasting software available via Chrome extension or a desktop app. They have a free version and a paid plan.

You can use Loom on Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks.

It allows you to record your camera and screen with audio. You can then download your video, embed it on your blog, or share it via social media or email, etc.

Other apps to consider in the screencasting space include Screencastify and Screencast-O-Matic .

That's it. Now you have all the tips and tools to work productively and contentedly from home – without feeling that you're not getting much done or missing the "buzz" of the office.

5 tips for writing a winning social media policy for your small business

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 22:00:00 GMT

We've seen plenty of spectacular social media fails from large corporations over the years – from McDonald's accidentally (or deliberately, some have argued) tweeting placeholder text , to the social media planner for Britain's HMV using the company's Twitter account to live-tweet the sacking of over 60 employees . There was Donald Trump's 'covfefe' tweet , and that Adidas email subject line , 'Congrats, you survived the Boston marathon!', which instantly became fodder for the masses on Twitter.

These mishaps remind us – often hilariously, sometimes depressingly – that humans always have the potential to make mistakes and behave unpredictably. Hence: the social media usage policy.

Put simply, a social media usage policy is a document that guides employees on the appropriate use of social channels, whether they're using company accounts or their own personal accounts.

If you think your business doesn't need a social media policy because you're not a big corporation, think again. As a small business competing for your piece of the pie, you arguably have more to lose from sloppy social activity.

The fact is, just about everyone is using social media, and most employees are accessing their personal accounts in work time. Having some guidelines around that should be a no-brainer.

There are two overlapping strands that should be covered by your policy:

For employees who state that they work for your company in their personal profile, you might recommend a disclaimer such as the commonly used 'Opinions are my own'.

Your policy should be specific to your business and your industry, but there are helpful templates from the likes of Workable , Fit Small Business.com and Tech Donut available online that you can use as a starting point. Hootsuite and Sprout Social also provide helpful how-to guides.

We've put together these tips for small businesses to get the best out of social media:

Your business has much to gain from your employees' social media activity. Rather than fighting a losing battle to keep them away from their phones, how about viewing their networks as pools of contacts that you may not otherwise reach?

Above all, approach social positively. While a policy helps safeguard your brand, it should also encourage and empower your employees.

You could even consider supplying them with recommended content such as banners, videos or links to blog posts that they can easily post to their own accounts. This way, you maintain some strategic control and they don't have to worry about what to say. But bear in mind that consumers value transparency, so try to achieve a balance between company-supplied content and the authentic voice of the individual.

One of the beauties of social media is that it thrives on playfulness. Lively, personable, witty interactions on social media can be enormously valuable to your businesses because they help people to like and trust your brand, just as they would another person. "We like people who are transparent, so it makes sense that we like companies who are transparent, too," writes Crazy Egg co-founder Neil Patel .

Your social media policy shouldn't only be a list of rules and regulations – it should encourage your employees to have fun and be real, while maintaining a responsible and respectful online presence.

Write it well

If you want your teams to absorb your messages and keep referring to your policy, write it in a way that's:

Talk to the people in your business about their opinions and experiences online. You can benefit from their insights and it also makes them feel included in the process, so they're more likely to embrace the policy and become great brand ambassadors.

Why you need a marketing calendar and how to get started

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 22:00:00 GMT

So, you're thinking about using a marketing calendar for your business but you're not sure if it's worth the effort or how exactly to go about it.

Let's clear something up right off the bat: you DEFINITELY need a marketing calendar. No matter what business you're in or how small it is, you need to market it and – if you're serious about getting results – you should market with a plan.

What's a marketing calendar?

A marketing calendar is exactly what it sounds like: a calendar that lists all the marketing activity you're undertaking and when it's going to happen.

Think of it as a map, plotting the journey to where you want to be in a year. Hopping into your car and setting off on a year-long road trip without a map may spell adventure and fun in real life, but in business terms it's a recipe for meandering inefficiency.

Types of marketing activities you might schedule in your calendar:

Where do I start?

Start with a blank 12-month calendar of course! Here's the thing: your calendar doesn't have to be fancy – it just has to work for you. Treat it as a working document that you update, revise, tweak and review throughout the year.

You'll find an array of tools out there – including some excellent free ones.

Popular free options include:

Free tools with paid upgrade options include:

If your business outgrows the tools above, you may move on to:

Once you've settled on your calendar tool, use it to flag all the dates that may be relevant to your business (e.g. end of financial year, Christmas, budget announcements), as well as national events, holidays and celebrations. Then start planning out your marketing content, week by week.

What are the benefits of a marketing calendar?

We don't really need to tell you that marketing on the fly doesn't do anyone any favours – least of all you, the time-poor business owner. It can quickly get overwhelming and confusing to conceive, write, post and track social media posts without a written strategy. It also doesn't help your audience if your blog posts, emails, promotions and advertising are all pulling in different directions.

You want to target your audience with clear, cohesive, well-timed messaging. A marketing calendar:

There's nothing worse than scrambling for content when you're busy. Mapping out your marketing in advance takes the pressure off when you need to use your time running your business – it's a more efficient way of working.

It's common for businesses to fall into an unfortunate "feast or famine" pattern, where they work hard at marketing but suddenly have no time for it once they become busy. Lapses in marketing activity can be detrimental to your business – if you've scheduled things in advance you're ensuring that the world continues to hear from you even when you're flat out.

Twelve months on from beginning your marketing calendar, you'll be able to look back and see what you did when, and – if you've been tracking costs and performance – what worked and what didn't. There's no better way to improve your strategy and plan your future marketing efforts.

Tracking mileage for tax: Paper or Digital?

Sun, 08 Dec 2019 22:00:00 GMT

The pen may be mightier than the sword – but can it beat the smartphone? When it comes to keeping track of vehicle mileage, we think not.

When do you need to use a logbook?

If you're claiming a tax deduction for car expenses in Australia , you've got two options:

Under the cents per kilometre method, you can claim a maximum of 5,000 business kilometres per car without written evidence.

For claims over 5,000km, you'll need to keep a logbook.

Under the logbook method:

Logging those kilometres: what's involved?

In days gone by, you would have been required to keep a physical logbook, bought from a stationery supplier, and diligently track a WHOLE LOT of details over a continuous 12-week period, which would be used as a sample to work out your deduction for the financial year.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) website provides a comprehensive list of the details you're required to record in your logbook . These include:

That's a lot of squinting at the odometer and careful printing in biro – feeling tired just thinking about it? We hear you. And so do the many software developers who've endeavoured to make the job easier.

Paper vs digital

Spoiler alert: digital's better.

Look, paper does have its perks. Some might argue that pen and paper feel more reliable and concrete, and – for the technophobes among us – less daunting to use.

But the case for digital is stronger. Digital logbooks can:

A word of advice: most logbook apps rely on GPS tracking, so keep a phone charger handy.

What are the digital options?

There are plenty out there. Here's a quick overview of three popular options:

ATO app

Available on: iOS, Android and Windows Phone

Free

The ATO app allows you to track a range of deductions using myDeductions, as well as logging car trips using your choice of GPS, point-to-point calculations, or odometer readings. Since it belongs to the ATO you can trust that it's in line with all the latest tax regulations, and you can upload your deductions directly to your tax return.

Driversnote app

Available on: iOS and Android

Free (Lite version) or paid (Basic and Enterprise versions)

Driversnote is popular and highly rated by reviewers. It supports most countries and has default government mileage tracking values for Australia, plus the US, the UK, Canada, Denmark and Sweden. It'll track mileage using your phone's GPS, or you can opt to enter trips manually. And it's ATO compliant – just export your data to a spreadsheet or PDF at tax time.

LittleLogbook

No smartphone required

$99.95 one-off purchase

Little Logbook isn't an app – it's a GPS logging device that plugs straight into your car with a USB adaptor. Designed in South Africa, with dedicated editions for Australia, South Africa, the US and New Zealand, the software works worldwide. If you forget to track a trip, you have the option of manually entering the data later. Plug the USB into your computer to backup your data and generate reports.

Need more advice?

Our professionals are happy to help you navigate the ins and outs of vehicle logbooks. Get in touch with us today.

10 key questions about wills & EPAs - answered!

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 22:00:00 GMT

What would happen to your loved ones if something suddenly happened to you?

Not surprisingly, it's a question many of us tend to avoid.

It's just too hard to remove the emotion from a situation where you imagine you're not around anymore.

And making clear decisions in the best interest of those you love is difficult unless you're able to look objectively at everything and everyone that is closest to you. That is, until you get a 'wake-up call'. It may be an accident, an illness or something else…

But why wait for some alarming incident to prompt you into action? After all, not everyone is 'lucky' enough to get a wake-up call where they live to tell the tale. For some, such unexpected events don't involve any 'waking up', so to speak.

Being prepared for the worst does not mean living your life with a cloud hanging over you. It just makes good sense to have in place:

The same as you would take out insurance to protect your business or your car, think of a will as insurance for your loved ones.

Without it, confusion, disputes, and unnecessary conflict can arise at a time when loved ones are grieving. To avoid these issues, it should be priority to get yours written now.

Following are ten key questions and answers to help you take the first step to getting a will drawn up.

Anyone over the age of 18 looking to explain what they want done with their assets when they pass away can make a will. Assets include real estate, money, investments, and personal or household belongings.

To draw up a will, you must have the capacity to understand the nature and consequences of the document, be able to exercise free will in the decisions you make within it, and communicate clearly and unambiguously what you want done.

For reasons already explained, it should be a priority for everyone over the age of 18 to make a will. This especially applies to those in middle-age or older, for whom the risks and consequences of not having a will are usually much greater.

Depending on the size of your estate, a will may seem like a relatively simple document to draft. However, to be legally binding and ensure that your estate is handled as you wish, it must follow due legal process; complex estates require a good understanding of property ownership laws for instance.

You must sign every page of the will and, at the end of the document, signatures must be witnessed by two independent witnesses.

To ensure you have a valid will that is clear and unambiguous, you must also use the correct terminology throughout the document. This usually requires the expertise of a qualified lawyer.

There are several standard items to include in a will: firstly, you will need to appoint someone (or a number of people) to be executor(s) of your will.

Within the document, you should cover payment for debts and funeral expenses, as well as funeral arrangements. Then provide instructions for the distribution of your assets: these include property, money, possessions, investments, etc.

Either state specific amounts for assets and the full names of beneficiaries or include percentages of total values, as appropriate.

If applicable, you may also like to include the appointment of a guardian to look after your children, should something happen to you.

Finally, state in your will that it is your last will, superseding any previous wills.

When you make a will, you will need to appoint an executor or executors to manage your estate according to your wishes. They are responsible for paying any debts (including taxes) as appropriate and distributing your assets to the beneficiaries, as stated in your will.

Being an executor is normally a very serious undertaking. In addition to the above tasks, executors usually have to organise your funeral; make decisions about your personal finances, belongings, and property; and make arrangements for the care of any dependent children.

Because of this, your executor must be a trusted person - usually a family member or close friend. It's best if they are financially able and good communicators.

Because of the importance of the role, you may like to appoint an alternate executor in case your first choice executor is unavailable.

Enduring power of attorney (EPA) is a legally binding agreement where a person or a small group of people (the attorney or attorneys) manage your financial affairs, personal matters, and health matters, in your best interests. They have the power to do all of the things that you would normally decide on in these areas.

This is necessary if you're unable to look after your own affairs, due to lack of mental capacity. A close family member or other trusted entity then acts as your "attorney". But this does not happen automatically - it requires the necessary legal documents to be signed by the appropriate people.

The agreement can start either immediately or when the appropriate authority decides that you do not have the capacity to conduct your own financial affairs.

Without an EPA agreement, a financial manager may need to be appointed for you by the authorities, depending on your local jurisdiction.

It's always best to arrange your agreement while still in good health, to avoid this happening.

General power of attorney is also a legally binding document. This provides the authority to make financial decisions on your behalf to one or more nominated individuals.

It is not as far reaching as EPA, as the authority to make decisions stops when you no longer have the mental capacity to manage your own financial affairs.

You may also want to activate an advance health directive (ADH). This is sometimes called a "living will", "personal directive", "medical directive" or "advance decision".

This legal agreement allows you to plan for your medical treatment or health care in the event that you are too ill or incapacitated to make decisions.

It usually provides for any allergies to medicines or religious beliefs you have, as well as acceptable types of treatment. You can also nominate an "attorney" to make health decisions in your best interests.

Again, it's best to create this document now rather than leaving it to later in life, when your power to make clear decisions could be diminished.

The signing of all powers of attorney documents and health directives require authorized witnesses. This is usually a lawyer, notary public, or justice of the peace. If in doubt, check with your lawyer.

In the case of power of attorney, both you and the nominated attorney need to sign in front of the witness.

With an advance health directive or similar, note that the witness cannot be a beneficiary of your will.

Providing you are able to make decisions for yourself, you can revoke or amend your will or power of attorney documents at any time.

Indeed, if you haven't written your will to anticipate possible changes, it may be advisable to update it, if your personal or financial circumstances change significantly or unexpectedly after you write it.

As with the original document, this will need to be drawn up in the presence of your lawyer.

Nothing you've read here is a substitute for getting proper legal advice when preparing a last will, EPA or ADH.

The above questions should all be discussed with the relevant parties before enacting anything: your doctor should be consulted for health matters and lawyer and/or accountant for financial matters; and your family should also be consulted for whatever affects them directly.

Bear in mind that if you die without a will-this is referred to as dying "intestate"-there are legal guidelines that set out how your assets will be distributed. But it generally creates complications, costs, and delays for all parties. This is especially the case where there have been separations or divorces in the past, and families can be traumatised when-due to the lack of a will-the deceased person's assets are not distributed to those loves ones the deceased 'meant' to leave them to.

Get your will, EPA and ADH in place and then review them regularly, particularly after major life events such as marriage, divorce, births and the passing of loved ones.

If you need assistance with preparing your documents or have any further questions regarding wills, EPAs or ADHs, please contact us .

How to future-proof your business & avoid being a victim of disruption

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 22:00:00 GMT

If you once ran a thriving taxi company that started to fade when Uber burst on the scene or a hotel that suffered from the impact of Airbnb, you know what the word "disruption" means.

You probably don't do either of those things but could the business you do run be equally at risk from rapid changes in your industry in the future?

"I never saw it coming" or "Who could have predicted such quick change?" is a poor defence against a failed business. And closing the door after the horse has bolted usually does little good: you can't catch a bolting horse on foot.

So ask yourself:

How future-proof is your business?

How well-equipped are you at handling disruptive forces in your industry?

Could you be doing more?

Following are seven simple measures you can introduce to lessen the effects of disruptive forces on your business.

Taking the steps now to add future-proofing to your business could save you considerable stress in the years ahead.

Your customers are not just a source of revenue; they're a great source of information.

Understanding where they are now and where they want to be can help you develop products and services that better meet their demands now and in the near future.

How often do you survey your customers to get their feedback on past products or services and ideas for new ones? This is sound business practice on many fronts because it helps you stay up-to-date with their needs and expectations while also boosting customer retention and loyalty.

LinkedIn groups, Twitter, and other online industry and business-based forums can help you keep abreast with trends in your industry.

If it's happening, you'll most likely hear about it first on Twitter or inside an active LinkedIn or Facebook group. Here, your industry peers discuss what's important and thought leaders keep you enlightened.

Staying across this and becoming an active contributor can help you foresee what's around the corner.

Another tip that's just good general business practice is to build relationships rather than simply going after transactions ; provide experiences rather than simple products or services.

Relationships with employees, customers, and suppliers are the key to a sustainable business. And by building closer connections to these key parties, you will gain more insight into their needs, desires, problems, and issues going forward.

Being aware is the first step to being prepared. Once you know what's coming, you can plan for it; but without building close bonds and working partnerships, you're shooting in the dark.

Businesses in most developed countries are experiencing an aging workforce, greater cultural diversity in the workplace, and a growing number of millennials taking leadership positions.

If you're not already hiring and developing millennials, now may be a good time to consider it. They are your future leaders and are set to dominate the workforce by 2020. And they thrive on innovation, connection, and community.

Mentor and train millennials and ensure they understand your wider vision and how they can contribute.

Without this level of attention to their development, they may become disengaged and look elsewhere. And high staff turnover is never good for a business. Look to build a team that is raring to go into the future.

You want your team all shooting for the same goals but it's important to review these goals regularly and build flexibility in your business.

Without some flexibility, a branch breaks off a tree in a strong wind. Similarly, when external forces impact your business, it can stretch and break it.

While you have no control over external forces, you can build a leaner and more flexible organisation that is better prepared for change: this thinking should permeate your structure, leadership, operations, working arrangements, and delivery methods, and become part of the culture and identity of your business.

Remember, it's difficult to turn around a top-heavy juggernaut if you're going the wrong way; it's much easier if you are driving a minivan.

Things don't get un-invented. Once the technology is out there in the business domain, someone will use it to either connect with customers or make their business more efficient through automation.

Think of how online shopping has revolutionised purchasing habits over the past decade or so.

The skill is in applying the technology in the right places. Many businesses don't have the flexibility to apply the latest technology and innovate. They usually end up being supplanted by newcomers that do.

Uber married the growing use of mobile apps with frustration for unreliable taxis amongst their massive target audience (who doesn't-or pre-Uber, didn't-take taxis?). The company used cutting-edge technology and paired it with a strong understanding of their buyers.

How can you do the same?

You don't need to be an online or app-based business to consider what customer problems (or business process problems) you can solve with the latest technologies.

You may initially build your business on one main product or service but pinning its future health on that can be very dangerous.

When Google changed its algorithm a few years back, many previously successful online small businesses went bust almost overnight. They pinned their whole business model on achieving a top Google ranking and suddenly they plummeted.

There are countless offline examples of one-trick ponies getting caught out by external market changes affecting their product or service.

Don't be one of them. Diversify your offering and future-proof your business: ideas can come from employees, customers or even suppliers. Keep all doors open for product development and innovation.

As you can see, you don't need a crystal ball to prevent your business being eaten up by future disruption.

By taking a few initial steps - many of which are simply sound small business practice - and looking for continuous improvement, you'll be better prepared for what's around the corner. That will place you in a stronger position than most other businesses when push comes to shove.

Need assistance with making your business more future-proof? Speak to one of our advisors .

4 steps to a super productive week

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 23:00:00 GMT

Busy work. That work you have to get done, but somehow seems to take over your entire day and before you know it, you've reached the end of the week and still haven't managed to make a dent on the most important task on your to do list.

Sure, this can be about priorities, but more often than not it's about working with your daily habits to make sure the important stuff is getting done consistently.

Let's look at some simple changes you can make:

One of the most inefficient ways you can go through your day is dealing with constant interruptions and reacting to other people's requests. This creates a stop, start kind day where you don't get any momentum. If instead you batch related tasks together you can have a much more productive day.

Batching is simply grouping like things together and doing them all at once. Let's look at some examples…

We all have our best time of the day when we are most productive. It could be morning, afternoon or evening. Whichever time it is for you, schedule your important high-level thinking tasks to that time.

Perhaps you're working on a project for a client and your best time is in the morning, but you find you can't get to it because you have meetings scheduled at that time of day. Move the meetings. Block out your mornings for project work. Put this time in your calendar as an appointment with yourself!

Or perhaps your best time is about 4pm in the afternoon, but family commitments mean you're out of the office by 5pm. Try and inch the time forward to 3pm, turn off your phone, close your email and your door, and focus during that sprint time.

You wear many hats as a business owner: Sales Manager, CEO, HR Manager, Operations Manager, to name a few. Staying focused is much easier if you are concentrating on only one "hat" at a time.

Designate a specific focus or theme for each day of your workweek.

For example, you could designate:

Sounds impossible? The key is to use your calendar and block these times out on a recurring basis - use the feature in your calendar to automatically enter these blocks each week.

This is also about giving yourself permission, especially for a "work ON your business" business development day. Whoever makes your client appointments, now only makes them on your designated client days. Your business development day is scheduled in each week and that's when you finally get started on those projects you've been trying to get to for a long time. If it's not in your schedule it's unlikely to happen. Friday Admin/Staff day is when you can deal with all the admin and staff requirements.

4. Scheduling in Advance

Scheduling seems simple enough, but many don't use it to its potential. Let's say you have regular monthly client appointments, book them a year out. Make it the second Thursday of the month at 11am, simple for your client to remember as well. All the staff reviews, book them out for the year. Your quarterly management meetings, book them out for the year as well. You can apply the same to personal appointments, haircut, dentist etc. This helps save you from those shower moments, the ones where you're in the shower and suddenly remember that appointment you forgot to book.

Even if you implement just one of these changes you will have a more productive day, but to have a super productive week design your week with a different focus for each day, batch your tasks within that day based on your best work time during the day and schedule your appointments out within your designated focus days. Your business will thank you.

3 Reasons Your Business Needs A Budget Now

Sat, 20 Jul 2019 23:00:00 GMT

For many, the word 'budget' is about as appealing as the word 'diet'.

It seems to imply what you will go without , rather than what you will achieve .

To a successful business owner, however, the word 'budget' has a very different meaning.

It's more like a map than a diet. It's an outline of where you want to take the business, and what you need to achieve to get there.

Running a business without a budget is like a ship's captain setting off on a voyage without a map. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it. Who would do that?

Yet this is, figuratively speaking, what many business owners do.

Successful business owners, on the other hand, not only set clear targets and budgets each year, they monitor them closely each month, even each week, and adjust them as they go throughout the year.

Here are 3 compelling reasons your business needs a budget, now:

One: If you don't know where you're going, how do you know you're not already there?

If you're not satisfied with how your business is performing, unless you set clear goals for where you want to take it, it's probably as good as it is ever going to get. At best, it will just meander along, subject to the whims and vagaries of the economy and general market conditions.

The good news is that your business doesn't need to meander along.

The first step in charting a clear course for growing and developing your business is objectively measuring 'where it's at' right now.

And the numbers do tell a story.

For some, they act as a wake up call. For others, they just confirm the journey's starting point.

It's paradoxical that a large part of the value in a business budget is not in the numbers themselves. It's in the realisation and acceptance of where you are and where you want to be.

The numbers are just the signposts for the journey.

A factual look at the numbers that describe where your business is right now takes away all the subjectivity, opinions and 'reasons' (often excuses, disguised as reasons).

This is the naked truth.

In fact, it is like standing on the scales, naked, looking at yourself in a full length mirror. That may or may not be a pretty sight!

For your business, these factual numbers are the sales, the variable costs, the margins, the overheads, and, lastly, the profit. After all your work, this is the reward you're left with.

Then comes the first of a series of 'hard questions'...

Answer those questions, and you've just described where you want to be. Congratulations! You have charted your course, which is the first step to maximising your success.

Two: What's more important to treat? Symptoms or causes?

As you well know, sales just don't happen. Costs don't just drop because you want them to. Sales and costs are a result of other underlying factors. Put another way, they are symptoms of causes.

The business budgeting process quantifies the symptoms, and by asking a series of 'What leads to this number?' questions, it also identifies the underlying causes.

For example, underlying factors contributing to a sales (revenue) figure could include:

These are all called drivers .?The sales figures are simply a result of these drivers. Costs are no different.

For example, the rent paid may be a result of the storage you need for your stock levels. Wages costs may be blowing out as a result of overtime paid but underlying that may be inefficient staff. Or a lack of clear processes. Or both.

So in reality what came first was not the sale or the cost, but their underlying drivers. The budgeting process forces you to name and to quantify these underlying drivers.

That's one of the most valuable aspects of preparing your budget. Not the budget itself, per se, but identifying your business' drivers.

Why?

Because then you can focus on improving them.

That's what will produce the improved results in your business. No focusing on last quarter's figures. That's history.

It's more fun to create history. And that is, in essence, what you are doing when you are in your own business. You are captain of your own destiny, and you can steer it in any direction you want.

Note that word ... direction . A key point is to have one .

You will enjoy how effectively the budgeting and planning process will get you crystal clear on your direction.

Three: Budgeting is not about accounting. It's about being accountable .

Once you are clear on the handful of drivers that creates your business' results, the next question is…

What are you going to do about it?

Your budget won't just give you a monthly sales target, for example, it will help you quantify the drivers that will produce the result.

For example, if next month's sales target is $120,000, that end-result figure is not your focus. Not on a day-to-day basis. Knowing the underlying drivers, your focus will instead become, for example:

Now you and your staff have a clear focus and are 100% accountable.

That's good for them, and good for you and your business.

People in a business want a clear scoreboard and a 'game to play' so they know whether or not they are winning. Research has found that a lack of measurement in a job is demotivating to a staff member. Patrick Lencioni's book '3 Signs of a Miserable Job' gives some great examples of this.

Knowing these drivers, and quantifying a target for each you can then ask questions like:

You can then decide to improve skills, or systems, or attitude, or all three!

As you can see, the power of the budget is in the process of preparing it, and then the budget itself is a tool to hold you accountable to the measurable indicators you've chosen.

An added layer of accountability is... us.

We work with a number of clients where, on either a monthly or quarterly basis, we act as a sounding board and independent party to ask you the hard questions about the drivers and the results. This focuses your mind, allows you to form a clear Action Plan to improve results, and then increases your chances of success because you know you need to report in to us next time.

It's a powerful process that you'll enjoy due to the focus it creates and, in turn, the results that focus achieves in your business.

To take more control of your business and its performance, get in touch to make a time to come in and see us. Depending on the size of your business, we might work out that a quarterly process might work best (and be the most feasible, cost-wise), or your business might be at a point where monthly or even weekly guidance would be ideal.

Either way, we'll outline your options and your costs so you know precisely what's involved.

We look forward to helping you chart your course, helping to get a clear direction, and then keeping you and your business on course.

After all, you won't end up at the ideal destination by drifting.

Get your superannuation working smarter for you with these 7 property tips

Sun, 30 Jun 2019 23:00:00 GMT

Unless more Australians start making smarter superannuation and investment decisions, many won't have enough to retire when they imagined or live the type of lifestyle they expected.

The Ready to Retire study from 2017 found that the average Australian worker currently has around $200,000 less than they will need to live comfortably. A lowly 22 percent believe they will have enough superannuation funds upon retirement.

This rather alarming reality is starting to dawn on many people approaching retirement around the country.

One of the key decisions with your superannuation is whether to run your own self-managed super fund (SMSF) - and whether to invest in property through your super.

Most people know that you can use your superannuation to buy property. However, many are sketchy on the details of how to do this with the best chance of safeguarding their futures.

The following tips are designed to help you make the right decision…

You can borrow money to purchase property in superannuation

Don't have enough to buy the investment property you want? Since 2008, superannuation held in a self-managed super fund can be used to borrow money for property purchase.

You can't borrow the total value of the property - usually it's up to around 70 percent.

If you have 30 percent of the purchase price in your SMSF, the property can be used as security by the bank and you can take out a 'limited resource loan'. The SMSF then makes the loan repayments.

If there is a default on the loan, your other assets in the SMSF are generally protected from the standard debt recovery and bankruptcy proceedings. The lender only has recourse to the property itself.

Upon completion of the loan repayment, the property's ownership can be legally transferred to the SMSF.

Follow these 8 steps to set up your SMSF

Setting up an SMSF properly can be a confusing process but there are eight basic steps to follow:

It's unwise to attempt to set up an SMSF without the assistance of a superannuation advisor. As well as assisting with the initial set up, we can also help you to manage your fund.

Keep a liquidity buffer

If you're buying property in superannuation, make sure that you plan on keeping a liquidity buffer of cash and/or shares.

The banks will check before lending to you and will make sure that you have this buffer in place. It should be at least 10 percent of the value that you're intending to borrow.

Because superannuation is key to most people's retirement, the government has carefully regulated what can and can't be done with it. They don't want people gambling their superannuation away on poor investments.

Use the rental income to repay your loan

You cannot live in the property you purchase until after retirement.

Most people purchase an investment property and use the income generated from renting it out to repay the loan.

This generally makes good financial sense. The key is in selecting a property that is easy to rent out and makes a good rental return. The purchasing criteria may therefore be a little different to buying a home that you live in, particularly in terms of proximity to public transport, amenities, and average rental rates in the local area.

Get it right and enjoy many tax efficiencies

Superannuation is attractive for many because of its tax efficiency. This extends to property purchases within superannuation.

You can enjoy the following tax benefits, for instance:

Follow the same due diligence rules with property in superannuation

It's really important to do your due diligence and buy your property based on research rather than emotion. Purchasing property is probably the most important financial decision of your life so don't abandon all the rules just because you're buying through superannuation.

The same rules apply:

Always get quality professional advice

Nothing comes without risk but you can mitigate the risk.

The key is in understanding what you're getting yourself into; making informed decisions based upon having the correct data at hand; keeping a diverse superannuation portfolio that doesn't place all your eggs in one basket; and not underestimating how complex buying property in superannuation can be.

If the above points have made it sound simple, it's not. Get the right professional advice from the start. We can guide you here. This will ensure that you make the best possible decisions for your future.

If selected according to normal rigorous property-purchasing criteria, property can be an excellent way to boost superannuation and increase your chances of building a retirement fund to support your desired lifestyle.

The earlier you make the move, the longer you have to take advantage of the many benefits of property investment and the less stressful your later years become.

If you need assistance with setting up or managing your SMSF, or help with organising a property purchase through your fund, please contact us .

Building a new business? Success starts with the right business structure…

Sun, 02 Jun 2019 23:00:00 GMT

Regardless of the industry you're in, the way you structure your business will have ramifications long into the future.

From the amount of tax you pay to the administrative load and your level of personal liability, the consequences of your decision can be serious; and they may have a profound influence on the success of your enterprise.

It's vital to fully understand your options and put the necessary consideration into the most suitable one for you and your business.

For most small businesses, there are four basic choices. Familiarise yourself with each of the four structures and then ask yourself the right questions in order to determine which structure is best for your business.

The four basic structures for a small business

Sole trader

A sole trader business is where one person owns, operates, and manages the business. This is a structure used by tradespeople, shop-owners, consultants, and other small businesses with one main entity running it.

It is a common structure for small micro businesses. A sole trader is not considered a separate legal entity.

Partnership

A partnership brings together two or more people who jointly own and manage the business - but not as a company.

Each party contributes funding, labour, and skills to the business, sharing in the income and liabilities according to pre-agreed ratios as detailed in a partnership agreement.

Trust

Trusts are legal relationships where a person or persons (the 'trustees') hold property or income on behalf of a beneficiary or group of beneficiaries.

Trusts are commonly used in family-run businesses. The benefits include tax minimisation strategies, as well as succession planning opportunities to ensure the future of the business.

Company

Companies are a legal entity in their own right, separate from their owners. A different tax structure and administrative requirements apply.

NOTE: Other business structures exist, however, as a small business owner, these are the four most widely used options. Always seek specialist advice before making your final decision.

Which aspects of your business will your decision affect?

There are six main areas of your business that will be affected by your decision regarding business structure:

Note: you can change your business structure if your circumstances change but it still pays to opt for the most suitable structure from the start. Changing from sole trader to another structure is relatively simple but changing from a partnership, company, or trust is more complicated.

Which business structure is right for you?

In order to arrive at the most suitable structure for your business, carefully consider the following questions:

What size of business are you creating?

If it's just you in the business for the foreseeable future, it's likely that sole trader status will be most favourable; but if you have rapid growth plans, forming a company may be more suitable.

As a sole trader, even though you are solely responsible for running the business, you can still hire employees.

You do not need to pay superannuation and workers compensation to yourself as a sole trader or partnership but if you form a company or trust and are employed by that entity, these payments are compulsory. There are different thresholds and coverage rules in different states, so you will need to seek expert advice for your unique situation. (ie. QLD does not cover directors, but NSW does).

Can you handle a complicated set up procedure?

The simplest and cheapest form of business structure to register is sole trader or partnership. They are generally quick and easy to set up.

If it's just you in charge of operating the business, you may want to avoid the complexities involved in setting up a trust or company.

How flexible do you need your business to be?

Sole traders enjoy greater flexibility of management and generally operate with fewer legal controls than companies, partnerships, or trusts.

However, they have less flexibility with tax affairs. There is no income-splitting option like there is with partnership, company and trust setups.

Do you want to keep admin and reporting simple?

If you're considering setting up a trust or company, the administrative and reporting requirements are more cumbersome than with a simpler sole trader set up.

Are you comfortable accepting full liability?

Sole traders retain all the profits from the business (unlike with a partnership, trust or company) but they are also liable for all debts. This can increase the pressures of running the business and even threaten your home and other personal assets.

Companies are more complicated and costlier to set up but your personal circumstances and preferences may mean you're more comfortable with not being solely responsible for debts incurred. Only the assets of the Company will be at risk, however it is possible for a director's personal assets to be at risk if they are found to have acted negligently.

Will you need to raise capital?

As a company, trust, or partnership, it's relatively easy to raise capital. However, this becomes much more difficult as a sole trader, so you will generally have to rely on savings, home equity or family loans.

Are you comfortable relinquishing some control?

As a sole trader, you have sole control over the decision-making. As a partnership, trust, or company, decision-making will need to be a shared responsibility. Are you comfortable with that?

Need specialist advice on structuring your new business? Contact one of our advisors and we'll be happy to talk through your options in plain English!

3-way business budgets - and why should you be using them?

Sat, 04 May 2019 23:00:00 GMT

Any business that isn't planning for the future is planning to get left behind.

While most business owners know that budgeting is a critical part of their planning, there is some confusion about which components should be included in a budget.

There are three critical elements. Together, they provide the oversight you need for your business - and the key targets to work towards.

They will allow you to make informed decisions based on the reality on the ground, and realistic projections of what will happen in the future.

Just like a pilot monitors a flight plan and may need to change it according to prevailing conditions and advice received from air traffic control, your budget becomes your business's path into the future.

Remember: what gets monitored gets managed . Budgeting is about preparing for what lies ahead. This is rarely steady and constant, so it needs to be consistently monitored and forecasts managed according to the reality.

This will help you gain an edge over the many businesses out there that are not so agile or prepared for what's around the corner.

Here's what your three-way budget should include:

Profit and loss

Budgets should begin with a detailed look at profit and loss. What are the costs and revenue-drivers in your business? When these change what is the impact? How many existing customers do you have and what is the average invoice value, for instance?

Use past and present information from management accounts and financial statements to work out your anticipated profit for the next 12 months; and be aware of industry changes that might affect the business.

NOTE: Profitable businesses can go broke! When budgets are solely designed as profit and loss predictions, potential problems can be overlooked; alone, the projected profitability of your business doesn't consider managing growth and it won't help you avoid cash flow problems.

There's a saying, "Profit is theory, cash is fact," which leads us to the second element of your three-way forecast…

Cashflow forecast

One of the main reasons that small businesses fail is poor cash flow management.

As already noted, it is possible to make a good profit but not have enough cash in the bank account to pay bills or repay loans.

Unless the profit is converted to cash in your bank account (e.g. you are invoicing regularly, customers are paying you promptly for services delivered, and your money is not tied up in stock), you may be at risk of insolvency. After all, you pay staff and bills with cash -the money in your bank account-not with the profit figure that appears on a financial statement.

So cash really is the 'life blood' of a business. By adding a cash flow forecast element to your budget, you create more consistency in your business. You will make it more 'future-proof' and be better equipped to ride things out when cash flow hits harder times. You are prepared and can take corrective measures in the business before a full-blown crisis develops.

Planning ahead for the timing of your likely cash inflows and outflows allows you to identify the need for a capital injection, an increase in credit or to boost your cash flow in some other way.

Balance sheet

A balance sheet provides a projected statement of assets, liabilities and owners' or shareholders' equity and is the final piece of your budget jigsaw. A simple way of describing what your balance sheet summarises is: what does the business own (its assets), what does it owe (its liabilities) and what's the difference in those amounts, which is the equity.

You may have heard the phrase, "a healthy balance sheet." This refers to a balance sheet where the assets well exceed the liabilities and the business is able to comfortably meet its obligations.

It's important to track the health of your balance sheet because looking only at your revenue and cash flow and not taking into account your level of liabilities would be like only caring about how many goals your team scores, and not keeping an eye on how many goals are scored against you. The "for and against" ratio matters in business, just as it does in sport.

The three parts of your three-way budget complement each other. Together, they provide a complete picture of the financial health of your business AND your future targets on three fronts:

How often should you revisit your 3-way budget?

The purpose of your three-way budget is to try to realistically predict future numbers and to give you targets to work towards.

You may not get this right immediately. In fact, it's likely that you'll need to revisit it multiple times before you become adept at accurate forecasting.

Even then, things change. So it's a good idea to review the budget on a monthly or, at least, quarterly basis.

You'll need to recognise and interpret differences between actual and forecast results, and decide on actions to keep your business on track.

In business it can often become a case of 'not being able to see the forest for the trees,' where you get caught up in the day-to-day operational details of your business, and lose sight of the bigger picture and how your business is travelling compared with expectations.

That's where it pays to have an independent advisor help you:

Just as any sport involves players, coaches and scorekeepers, so does business. You and your team are the players in the heat of the battle, and you need not just independent scorekeepers but also the support and guidance of an experienced coach.

That's where we come in for you, as that support.

Are you prepared for the future?

What happens if your circumstances change? If costs go up or sales and revenue goes down?

Changing circumstances are a given in any business. While it's impossible to predict the future, it's how you react to change that will ultimately determine the success or failure of your business.

Rather than simply estimating figures based on last year's numbers plus a few percent growth, put work into a three-way budget. This will help you take the necessary action and adjust your business practices according to actual results and future changes .

This type of budget will provide a full overview of the impact on your business and you'll be in a position to make informed decisions based on this new 'reality'. It may even help you to receive financial backing from banks or investors.

You will be able to pre-empt any number of scenarios and assess where your business can improve, avert problems before they develop into crises, and take advantage of growth opportunities that arise.

This is the real power of the three-way budget. Implement it in your business and see what a difference it makes to your decision-making, motivation levels, performance, and ultimate success.

10 steps to turn LinkedIn into a small business marketing dream

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 22:00:00 GMT

If someone gave you the opportunity to attend a meeting where thousands of your prospects were also present, you'd be silly not to take them up on the offer…right?

This opportunity might be staring you in the face.

LinkedIn is the world's largest database of professionals; hundreds of millions of professionals waiting there, ready to be connected with and engaged.

It really is a small business marketing dream. If you get it right.

The problem is that most small business owners are not using LinkedIn properly. Either they are targeting the wrong people; interacting with connections in the wrong ways; or they are simply inactive and expecting leads to come to them.

If you want to turn LinkedIn into a lead generation machine - and never cold call again - follow these 10 basic guidelines and watch your results start to improve…

Your profile should not read like a CV. It should speak directly to the wants and needs of your target audience - and demonstrate what you do to help solve their problems.

Really, nobody is interested in job titles, positions, or years of experience. You connect with people by explaining how you can improve their lives or solve their problems.

On social media, a picture really does paint a thousand words. LinkedIn is no exception.

It's firstly important to get a high-quality photo uploaded: you should look professional but approachable - smile! A poor quality photo that looks like a cheap passport photo with you standing against a plain wall is unlikely to make a good first impression. Invest in some professional photography for you and your team.

Secondly, your background image. Don't waste this valuable space with a picture of your pet dog! Use it to instantly communicate to your audience what you do. Consider getting a customised image made that includes your main keywords. Again, invest in professionals here. Hire a designer to create your background image.

Did I just mention keywords? Consider that LinkedIn is a massive database and search engine. Including your main keywords in your headline, summary, and experience section will help you get found when your prospects search through LinkedIn.

In the headline section of your profile, keywords are weighted, so it's especially important to use them here.

One big mistake that business owners make is to connect with too many industry peers. It can take up far too much time discussing industry matters - for little benefit.

It's far better to use LinkedIn to build up a community of prospects. They are out there; you need to locate them and connect with them. Then you can start building a large network of potential leads.

Very little meaningful communication on LinkedIn can be automated. Yes, you can design some basic templates for connection requests (with standard greetings and sign offs) but make sure the bulk of your interactions are personalised.

LinkedIn is about building relationships. You can only do that by getting personal. Templated messages are easy to spot and they break rapport from the get-go.

Rather than telling them all about you, how about you give your prospects an opportunity to tell you about themselves? This will be far more productive in terms of uncovering problems and opportunities.

Remember - people love to talk about themselves. Let them do this and you will soon form closer relationships.

Your presence on LinkedIn should be focused on building the relationships that make up your community.

There are many ways to engage with your community: liking their posts, commenting on posts, sharing content, suggesting solutions, endorsing them for skills…

All this shows interest in your community. And, with your face appearing in their LinkedIn feeds regularly, you start to become more familiar to your connections.

The big difference between those who claim they never get much out of LinkedIn and those who are killing it is activity.

Don't expect results by logging in once a week and responding to messages. You need to be proactive .

Set aside time (45 minutes at least) each day to connect with new people, engage with them, and identify any opportunities for taking things further.

Text, images, video: your status updates offer several ways of communicating with your prospects.

Video is now more important than ever - but it's not just the format of content that matters. It's also the mix of topics .

Try to blend personal experiences, stories and philosophies with professional posts about results you have achieved and answering FAQs.

It's surprising how many business owners are confused by this final tip. LinkedIn is not a sales tool - it's a marketing tool.

It's a superb platform for finding, connecting with, and engaging with prospects. This generates leads and opportunities. But converting these opportunities into sales needs to be done in the traditional way: offline .

The above ten tips will help you improve your individual profile and focus your activities. This is more important than your business page. People do business with people and, as a small business owner, this should be the focus of your time on LinkedIn.

Use LinkedIn to connect with a network, build a community of prospects, and to engage meaningfully with them. This way, you will naturally demonstrate your expertise and produce a long-term flow of leads to your business.

Business owners: Are you missing this simple growth strategy?

Sat, 09 Mar 2019 22:00:00 GMT

How highly do you value leads in your business?

For any small or medium business, leads should be the most highly prized currency - to be consistently sought and converted.

Without a steady flow of new opportunities, how do you grow? How do you take things to the next level? How do you prepare for the future?

There is one simple lead generation system that EVERY single business should be using and MANY are not - even though it's absolutely FREE.

It is practically guaranteed to bring in a steady flow of opportunities if you design a system around it; yet most businesses either treat it as an afterthought or let it take care of itself completely.

LinkedIn? Facebook? Events? Webinars?

No. We're talking about client referrals .

The low-hanging fruit

Many business owners admit that they get most of their clients by "word-of-mouth". But ask them what system they use and they stare back blankly.

At the same time, they waste marketing dollars on campaigns (SEO, social media, paid search) designed to generate leads but which often don't live up to expectations.

The truth is that they could be MUCH more effective in tapping into the large pool of warm leads right there under their noses!

Client referrals really are the low-hanging fruit when it comes to generating leads. Why spend more of your valuable resources to climb the ladder and pick the apples at the top of the tree if there are plenty of crisp and tasty ones lower down? It makes no sense.

To start realising the potential of client referrals, get smarter about designing a system around them. It should not be a matter of hope.

By following the nine steps below, you can implement a system that allows you to pick the lowest- hanging fruit much easier…

Your 9-step lead referral system

What are you able to provide that most other businesses cannot?

For your client referral system to work in the long run, you need to understand your key selling points: why you're unique. Peel back the 'layers' of your business and define what makes you special.

Keep this in mind, as you will use it to 'sell' the idea of your business to existing clients and to new ones.

Ask yourself: Why would businesses refer their clients to me rather than to one of the many thousands of businesses out there?

This step may seem a little odd. But many business owners are busy looking after low-value or 'problem' clients that result in limited time to properly serve higher value clients - or to take on new business.

If you are "flat out" looking after problem clients who bring little value to your business, find a way to trim them so that you can focus on more profitable new business: perhaps recommend them to another business that can better serve their needs? You may even be able to earn a referral fee from it!

The best way to get referrals is to simply ask the question . Yet this can be a perceived obstacle for some business owners. They feel awkward in asking for business and prefer to appear "flat chat" all the time.

There's no harm in being busy but - as per point two above - what are you busy with ? Profitable business or fire-fighting? The day you stop asking for new business is the day your firm stops growing.

If you have invested time in building relationships with your most valued clients, there is no reason why you cannot approach them by email or in the next meeting for a couple of names of businesses owners who would benefit from the unique service you provide (defined in point 1 above).

Start with the real low-hanging fruit to gain practice and confidence for asking the rest of your database.

Once you are comfortable with asking the question, you need to systemise it so that it becomes part of your process of doing business.

You should consistently ask the question of both existing and new clients - and even of prospects.

For instance, with a prospect who has downloaded a free eBook or received a free business health check-up and found it useful, is it possible that they know others who would find these resources useful?

Most likely there would be: so your lead referral system can include those who are not yet clients of yours.

If you have not segmented your database, you will need to identify clients by their value, how long they have been with you, or what stage of the sales funnel they have reached.

You cannot shape your questions to a client of 10 years in the same way as you would ask a client of three weeks or a prospect who is not yet with you.

Even before a prospect becomes a client, start setting the expectation for referrals.

Make it clear when they sign up: should they find your services of as much value as you would expect (just like all the other clients you show them via testimonials), you will request at least two referrals from them.

You can even specify "after the job is done", "after one month", or "after six months" (if they become an ongoing client).

After you've set the expectation and the time comes around, make sure you ask for the referrals as promised.

Automate reminders for this part of the process.

Decide whether you will ask only for contact details (email address, phone number) or a face-to-face introduction. A meeting may be possible if there is an urgent need for your services.

If there is no immediate need, request the details of businesses who may appreciate receiving your newsletter. You can include them in your mailing list or refer blog posts to them to help build the relationship over time.

Lead referral is not confined to your clients. As a business owner, you probably have a vast network of professional service experts such as accountants, lawyers, financial planners, banking contacts, etc.

Think a little laterally here and include these professionals in your referral system - start expanding beyond your immediate circle.

Get creative with your ongoing referral system. Include a line in your email signature asking clients or prospects if they know anyone who would benefit from the value you provide (defined in Step 1, remember!)

Alternatively arrange special events that provide clients with value adds - and ask them to bring two business associates for free.

Whenever you receive a referred lead, don't forget to thank the referrer - whether or not it results in business for you.

The fact that they have trusted you enough to refer one or more of their valued network to you is an excellent sign that you are doing the right things.

Show that you appreciate the relationship - a verbal or emailed 'thank you' may be enough. Or you may like to take it a step further and send a card or gift.

What could this look like for your business?

The maths on client referrals is as simple as it is eye-opening.

Say a business has 100 clients. And say that each client is worth around $5,000 per year to you.

Conservatively, imagine that one in three of these clients are able to refer two other businesses to you per year - and you have a 50% conversion rate on the referrals.

Before you start your referral program you have:

100 clients x $5,000 = $500,000 revenue

After the first year of your referral program you have:

The original 100 clients x $5,000 = $500,000 revenue

(100 x 33%) = 33 clients who referred x 2 referrals each = 66 referrals x 50% conversion rate = 33 new clients x $5000 each = $165,000 in new revenue.

TOTAL REVENUE NOW: $665,000 (33% growth)

Then imagine this compounded over the years. It's excellent growth for your business just from referrals. Plus, you have all your other marketing activities bringing in other leads.

Few businesses can afford to let such an opportunity pass as they build their futures.

Implement the nine steps above and you will be well on the road to securing a steady flow of leads to your business from your existing client base and your prospects.

A wannabe entrepreneur’s guide to starting a business

Mon, 04 Feb 2019 22:00:00 GMT

Starting a business is part science, part art, and a large part hard work! It can get lost in all the excitement but you need to get the balance right.

Approximately 20 percent of all small businesses fail in their first year; and your chances of your business making it to five years are around 50/50.

One thing is for sure: leaving your success up to chance is not an option. Get clear on where you want to take your business and how you are going to get there.

Reasons small businesses fail include the following:

So what are the essentials needed for your business to thrive? How do you ensure your business doesn't fall away due to one of the above - or any other reason?

By asking the right questions from the start. The following will get you thinking along the right lines from day one…

It sometimes gets lost in all the calculations but you should LOVE what you are about to start.

Is it something that you can see yourself doing in five or ten years? If not, maybe you need to look elsewhere.

Passion is what keeps you going through rough times. It sustains you and ensures the necessary energy goes into the venture. There will be difficulties in the years ahead but passion will see you though.

A healthy obsession with your business idea is fine. But it can blind you and cause you to make hasty and unnecessary decisions.

Some business owners give up their jobs before they start their businesses. They may be better advised to keep the job (and the steady salary) and start their business as a small side venture-often referred to these days as 'a side hustle'-at first.

There are 168 hours in a week. If you're passionate about your new venture, spending a few extra hours a week on it won't seem like extra work!

Save the financial stresses caused by a business HAVING to support you from day one.

Who are you partnering with?

If you are partnering with someone in your business, make sure that it works for you both. If you complement each other and it makes the business stronger, great!

If not, then why are you going into business together?

A business is not the place for a 'marriage of convenience'. If you take that path, it won't be long before problems rear their head.

How are you going to find the people that help you run your business?

Doing everything yourself might seem like a cost-saver at first but soon you'll realise that it's a false economy - and it will lead to burnout.

Hire professionals to ease the load: a business accountant (not only a tax accountant), a legal contact, a personal assistant, and a marketing assistant are some basic requirements. To avoid paying full-time salaries, outsource to the right professionals.

Passion alone won't sustain your business. You need a clear understanding of the niche you are entering.

Who are your competitors? Is there room for another business like yours? If so, how will you stand out - Service? Price? Quality?

If you are breaking new ground, have you established that there is a genuine need for what you offer? Be sure that it's not just you who thinks it's a great idea?

Be clear on your target audience and who is going to buy from you.

Establishing the right legal structure for your business is also a basic requirement.

Your options will vary depending on the type of your business and your family situation, but seek advice from a qualified accountant experienced in providing structuring advice to get the fundamentals in place.

The business structure you choose will affect taxes, administration, liability, and employee setup, amongst other aspects of your business, so it can be an expensive mistake to not get this right from the outset.

Mapping out the capital available to you should be part of any business plan: the start-up money may come from savings, friends, family, business partners, investors, venture capitalists, or through bank loans.

Get clear on how you will raise enough to get your business going, what your weekly and monthly 'cash burn' will be until you reach cash flow break-even point (after which the business funds itself), and then, establish how you are going to manage your cash flow in the coming months and years.

Sales and marketing are two areas that will help to define the success (or otherwise) of your business. Take advice on the best marketing channels - both online and offline.

Also, if your sales skills are poor, make sure you hire someone who can close the deals that will bring new customers into your business.

Many new business owners have already established some relationships to provide initial wins - but what do you do when these dry up? You need a healthy ongoing pipeline of leads and prospects.

Business owners should be on top of their taxes, payments, and accounts; and keep a tight handle on outgoing expenditure.

A good accountant can advise you on this, as well as helping you identify opportunities to grow your business as you mature.

Make sure you have chosen an accountant you can work with and who has experience advising businesses like yours, as this will be a crucial relationship that shapes the future of your business.

Chances of success are actually relatively high if you ask the right questions before you start your new business venture. Many new business owners get caught out by the unexpected because they have not planned properly with cash, personnel, market research or other key factors.

Start by asking the above questions and go in with your eyes open!

10 factors that affect the value of your business

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 22:00:00 GMT

Thinking of selling? Or just curious to know the value of your business in case you do decide to put it on the market at some point?

Many business owners are well-wide of the mark when placing a value on their prized asset. They overvalue it and under-prepare for their exit, believing in a huge potential for their business that buyers unfortunately don't see.

Your business is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it!

Having an inflated price fixed in your head can seriously hold up your exit strategy. Awareness of the factors considered in determining business value will help you avoid nasty surprises when you do take the plunge.

Some factors are obvious; others not so. Some you have control over; and others you don't.

Understanding what influences business value enables you to take informed actions to increase it in the coming months or years.

Below is a boiled-down guide to ten of the most important considerations…

Why are you selling the business? If you're forced to sell (and this is known by the buyer), the value of the business naturally falls.

Selling due to owner illness is a good example where you are in a poor bargaining position when it comes to selling.

Try to give yourself as long as possible to negotiate before you sell; rapid, forced sales will ultimately be detrimental.

With all other things being equal, smaller businesses are often viewed as higher risk than larger, more established companies.

The very fact that the business has more employees and generates higher revenues may be seen as a sign that it is strong. After all, it must have survived difficulties in the market in the past and possesses the people and processes that have created an environment for growth.

A larger business tends to indicate stability - and prospective buyers like to see this.

How many years has your business been operating?

While potential is a very important factor in determining value, so is a strong track record over many years.

If you can demonstrate years of strong performance, steady cash flow, and an established loyal customer base generating stable recurring revenues, you are ticking many potential buyer boxes.

Businesses that have been trading for a year or two are far higher risk, even if they are performing well. They may be simply riding the market or a particular trend.

If you run a manufacturing business, your tangible assets are much greater than most office-based businesses and this is a factor in its value.

If everything else is equal, building ownership, hardware, machinery, and stock make a business much easier to value than one where intellectual property is the main asset.

In reality, the value of a business depends upon many other factors that office-based businesses may score well with (such as customer loyalty, IP, brand strength, etc.)… so this factor needs to be balanced against the others mentioned here.

For a simple 'asset valuation' of your business, add up the tangible assets, subtract the liabilities, and that's it!

What are your business's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)?

Any prospective buyer will want to know this figure as the most common basis for calculating the value of a business.

It essentially puts a figure on your profit. This includes all the expenses in the business, except interest and income tax expenses.

Another way to put it is: the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses.

A multiple of EBIT is a common method of valuing a business. For example, a 3 times EBIT multiple for a business with an EBIT of $400,000 gives a $1.2M valuation. Or a 5 times multiple on an EBIT of $500,000 gives a valuation of $2.5M.

What is considered a 'normal' EBIT multiple to use for valuation purposes?

This will vary between industries and is affected not only by the factors listed in this article, but also by market sentiment. For example, in a 'bull market' when there are a lot of buyers, valuations are higher and a business could attract a buyer willing to pay a 10 times EBIT multiple. That same business within a different market environment, with a less bullish sentiment many only attract a 3 times EBIT multiple.

Clearly, timing matters.

While past performance can demonstrate financial stability (very important), it's future performance potential that will get buyers' eyes lighting up.

It's important to be able to show growth potential. With this in mind, how well does your business attract new customers and boost cash flow?

Is it retaining customers effectively so that cash flow and revenue remain healthy - or are customers dropping off the back as quickly as new ones are loaded onto the front?

Your industry sector is important for two main reasons.

Firstly, selling your business at a boom time for your industry will naturally be beneficial over selling it during a depressed time. If you're in the mining sector and the industry takes a hit, the business value is likely to decrease. Similarly, a prolonged drought might affect the value of your business if you're in the agricultural sector.

For more of an idea on your specific industry, speak with us or a business broker experienced in your industry sector. You will be able to access data about recently-sold businesses to get an idea of valuations in your sector.

Secondly, some industry sectors have industry-wide 'rules' that do not necessarily apply to other sectors. For instance, the number of outlets is usually key for a real estate agency business; and customer numbers are key for a mobile phone company.

The way the sale is structured may affect the price you sell for. Flexibility to fit in with the needs of the buyer may help you command a higher overall price.

There are different ways to structure a deal, affecting the amount of tax payable and the debt service: an 'all cash' sale will usually mean a lower value than seller financing.

Here are some basic guidelines:

When interest rates are high, investors borrow less. It's the rule of the market.

This naturally has an effect on the value of your business as there are fewer potential buyers; and any interested parties may drive a harder bargain than when capital is cheaper and more available, as the perceived risk is higher.

The value of any business will also depend on other more subjective, intangible factors. These may change with the perceptions of different buyers and may be harder to quantify:

Focus on what you can control!

Now you have an idea of the main factors involved in valuing your business, what are the next steps?

Beyond being prepared and making sure that all your paperwork is in order (including cash flow statements, historical and projected profit and loss statements etc.) make sure you have an exit strategy planned.

This should be flexible enough that you are not in the position of HAVING to sell for less than you would like.

Focus on the factors that you can control rather than those you cannot . This will help you get your business into the best possible health for when the right opportunity comes along.

5 types of personal insurance that all business owners should consider

Tue, 04 Dec 2018 22:00:00 GMT

It's easy to be wise after the event. Taking out certain types of personal insurance is being wise before the event!

What happens if you're in a bad accident and need to take an extended period off work to recover? Or you were left permanently disabled - or worse? What would happen if you got sick and needed around-the-clock care for a few months?

The more you have, the more there is to lose.

But there's a whole suite of personal insurance products available today to protect what you have. And, while wedding insurance (yes, it exists) might not be top of your list, there are at least five types of insurance you might want to consider as a business owner.

Each of the following will provide important protection and peace of mind for you and your family, in the event of an accident, a disaster, or simple bad luck befalling you…

This is about protecting your family, should the worst happen to you.

Life insurance policies pay a tax-free lump sum or annuity to those you nominate as the beneficiaries, if you pass away. This helps loved ones maintain their standard of living and ensure they can cover their debts in the event of your death.

In addition to helping to cover the funeral costs, a life insurance pay out should cover the mortgage or rent, provide a source of income for a spouse or partner you leave behind, and cover other assorted expenses that arise.

You may even be able to arrange a pension through your life insurance – this is worth considering if your self-funded retirement plans are not on track.

In additional to any available government aid for health care, it's also a very good idea to take out personal health insurance if you own a business - especially if you spend time out of the country on business.

Business owners get sick, just like everyone else. The stress of being the business owner can often complicate matters but it helps to know that the costs of care and treatment are looked after.

Coverage may extend to family members - an additional benefit of private health insurance.

With health care costs covered and access provided to quality care in or out of the country, one potential cause of stress is reduced.

Say you have an accident and are rendered disabled temporarily or permanently. It's not just the costs of care you need to think about - it's the potential loss of income from a business that depends on you being there.

Disability insurance covers you with a monthly payment to compensate for part of the lost income during the period of disability.

While it's primarily designed for employees, business owners may also claim it - but you may need to provide tax returns or profit and loss statements that demonstrate expected income.

You can also look at business overhead expense (BOE) disability insurance, which covers all business expenses if you become disabled. This includes rent, utilities, salaries, payroll taxes, accounting fees, etc.

It means one less thing to have to worry about in the event of a bad accident or serious injury.

Another supplement to health insurance is critical illness (or 'trauma') insurance.

This covers you with a lump-sum payment should you be diagnosed with a serious health condition such as cancer, stroke, heart condition etc.

However, depending on the provider, 'critical illness' has different definitions and you usually need to survive your condition for 15-30 days before a payment will be made.

This insurance goes over and above the costs of medical care, which your health insurance covers. It provides useful funds for other expenses incurred during the period of illness or recovery, including the possibility of funding the lost income if your spouse has to stop work to care for you.

What would happen to your business if a key employee, partner or director suffered a major illness, injury or death? Could your business sustain the sudden loss of a key technical employee or a star salesperson? How much disruption and cost would be incurred?

If there is anyone in your business whose know-how or overall contribution is uniquely valuable and it would be difficult and time-consuming to replace them, you should consider Key Person Insurance.

This is insurance on the life or health of any employee where the policy can offset the costs (for example, hiring a temporary replacement or recruiting a permanent successor) and losses (such as decreased business performance until successors are trained), which the business may experience when a key person suddenly departs.

Like many insurances, the cost of a Key Person Insurance policy is insignificant compared with the potentially business-threatening disruption that losing a key person incurs.

Be wise before the event…

It only takes one serious event to knock you back financially in life. Your savings can be left looking paltry against serious medical bills or unexpected support costs.

Whatever stage in life you're at, as a business owner it makes sense to take precautions for your own peace of mind now and in the future.

While most people consider the common personal insurances (like comprehensive car insurance or home and contents insurance) to be 'must haves', the more optional 'nice to have' nature of the above insurances means that many people fail to protect themselves in these areas.

You can purchase these insurances as separate policies and some providers bundle policies together and provide discounts.

The five options above are not exhaustive but they should help you narrow down your priorities. Just remember - you still need to read the fine print before signing up! We know it can be a little baffling with so many providers, so many options, and so much fine print, but just get in touch with us and we'll be happy to point you in the right direction with these important insurances.

How to make up your superannuation shortfall & fatten your fund

Sun, 04 Nov 2018 22:00:00 GMT

Have you been doing the numbers and panicking a little recently?

If your super fund is a little 'light' as you start to think ahead to your golden years, you're not alone.

Millions of Australians are reviewing their retirement plans. We have been taught to believe that the money that flows into our super fund (equivalent to 9.5 per cent of our salaries) will look after us when we retire.

But many Australians are finding out that the numbers simply aren't adding up. We're living longer; many of us have more lavish lifestyles and higher expectations; the cost of healthcare and utilities is rising dramatically; and suddenly those golden years aren't looking so shiny.

The superannuation guarantee (SG) is scheduled to climb in increments until July 2025 (more about this below) – but this is unlikely to be enough to cover the shortfall.

The Association of Super Funds of Australia currently estimates that around $545,000 is required as a healthy average balance to retire on. This figure would be more if you need to pay rent.

Unless you are supplementing your super employer contributions with money from other sources, it is likely that you're in a similar boat to over half of Australians, who will be struggling to meet this requirement.

That spells trouble in your later years.

So it's important to consider ways of fattening up your fund in your remaining working years so that it's better positioned to look after you and your loved ones.

How can you do that?

You're probably familiar with a few of the ways that you can swell your fund – but there may be a few you haven't considered…

Note that the following information is of a general nature and should not be considered to be advice specific to your situation. You should always consult a qualified financial advisor when making changes to your superannuation contributions or structure.

Employer contributions

Get the obvious one out of the way.

If you are an employee over the age of 18 earning more than $450 per month, your employer must pay the equivalent of 9.5 percent of your 'ordinary time earnings' into your super fund.

These compulsory contributions are called Superannuation Guarantee contributions and they will gradually rise to 12 percent by July 2025.

These earnings include:

For every $10,000 that you earn, it equates to $950 into super. Your employer must pay this in once a quarter at least – most will pay more often than that.

As a contractor, if you're paid mainly (or wholly) by the hour, your employer is still obliged to pay the 9.5 percent into your super.

There is not much you can do with this in terms of topping up your super – other than working longer hours, getting a second job, or pushing for a salary increase.

The equation is quite simple: the more you get paid the more goes into your super!

Salary sacrificing

By voluntarily electing to pay a larger proportion of your salary into your super fund, you can boost it AND receive tax benefits.

This is called 'salary sacrificing' or 'concessional contributions' and it is a practice that is looked upon favourably by the Australian government.

It needs to be arranged through your employer so that the amount is automatically deducted from your salary.

Anything you pay into your super fund under this method is calculated before income tax and after only the 15 per cent super contributions tax.

For individuals other than low income earners, this means that you get to keep far more of your money from the taxman!

Spouse super contributions

Does your spouse or partner work part-time? Do they earn a relatively low salary? Are they out of work or a stay-at-home parent?

If so, it might be beneficial for you both if you contribute to their superannuation fund.

For professionals whose spouse or partner has a super fund that is not growing at all or very little, this can create problems in retirement.

One way to address this is to contribute some of your own money to their fund and thereby claim tax offsets.

While the regulations on this do change, the tax benefits are accessible to couples who are both Australian residents and you are:

Personal tax-free contributions

Another tax-friendly way to boost your super fund is to make 'non-concessional contributions'.

These are lump sums paid into your super account. They are tax-free because they are considered to be savings from income that you have already paid tax on. It is different to salary sacrificing, which covers contributions made before tax.

Just arrange with your super fund to pay in. It can be on an ad hoc basis and can usually be arranged directly through your bank account (by BPay or cheque).

Again, non-concessional contribution limits do change, so check the latest guidelines on the ATO website.

Co-contribution

The co-contribution scheme is an excellent way to boost your fund if you're considered a low or middle-income earner.

Making an extra (after-tax) contribution to your fund triggers a tax-free contribution from the Australian government. This is paid automatically after lodgement of your tax return, if you have provided your Tax File Number to your super fund.

This can be especially effective for low-income earners who start early and contribute over many years to accumulate the extra benefits.

The amounts and limits of these contributions change over time but check the ATO's superannuation pages for the latest regulations and eligibility guidelines.

Rollover and save

At present, there are almost three superannuation accounts per Australian of working age. Clearly, many Australians have more than one super fund.

It's quite easy to forget about your super and let it tick over, not doing much.

Get proactive with it. Understand the super funds you have and analyse the investment returns and the fees you pay (admin fees, investment fees, life insurance premiums etc.)

You may find that you will both save AND make money by rolling over into one solidly performing super fund.

Simply getting smarter with your funds can help you grow what you have quicker.

Downsize and divert money into super

One strategy that might work for you if the numbers aren't adding up quite how you'd like is to downsize and start channelling money into your super fund.

This may be a good option if you are already over 65 or if you have a home that is currently under-utilised: perhaps your children have moved out or other circumstances changed?

Downsizing to a smaller home may have tax benefits and/or release lump sums that can be used for contributions into your super.

Grow your super - starting today!

If you've read this far, it's likely that you're concerned about your super fund going the distance to look after your loved ones in later life.

After all, you might live into your 90s or beyond 100!

Don't panic. It's a positive sign that you want to do something about it.

Super gets preferential tax treatment and it just takes a little planning, juggling of priorities and action to start channelling money into your fund and growing it.

The immediate peace of mind you will experience from the knowledge that you are securing your future will be just as valuable as the financial benefits you'll receive later in life.

Assess the current status of your fund(s); understand if there is a shortfall between where you are now and where you should be for the lifestyle you are planning; and then start doing what needs to be done to grow what you have, considering the methods outlined above.

If you need assistance with growing your super fund, feel free to contact us for professional advice.

Small business owners – replace hoping for leads with marketing strategies to generate them

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 23:00:00 GMT

"I get all my business from word-of-mouth marketing."

"I'm a referral business."

"I don't have the budget for marketing."

"I'm just too busy to market my business!"

If you find yourself saying any of the above, it's likely that you experience considerable peaks and troughs in your small business.

Why?

Because it means that you are not actively pursuing marketing to generate leads and opportunities for your business. There is no steady flow of new business to help even out the peaks and troughs - so you are either flat-out busy or twiddling your thumbs.

When times are good, it seems like everything is in place and your business is a resounding success.

More often than not, however, the leads dry up and there is nothing churning away in the background to generate new opportunities. No mechanism is in place to bring new prospects in to help you grow.

But the bills still need to be paid.

That's why EVERY small business should be investing in marketing, regardless of size, turnover, or budget.

There's nothing wrong with word-of-mouth leads. In fact, they're wonderful! It's just that you are reliant upon others. You are not in control of your own destiny. You are essentially playing a game of hope.

Word-of-mouth leads and referrals should be considered the icing on the cake – not the cake itself . Build a strong 'base' from the right 'ingredients' and you have a creation that will sustain your business for years to come!

But if you just have the icing, there will be periods when you inevitably go hungry!

Here are five ideas that will help you bake something to create a consistent flow of opportunities to protect your business from famine in the years ahead…

Build a client referral marketing system

Word-of-mouth marketing needs systemising or it is just a game of hope. It's all well and good waiting for referrals to come to you but you can achieve much more by implementing a simple system

To do that, go through these steps:

Get smarter with LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world's largest database of professionals. Somewhere in the region of 500,000 professionals use the platform. It's free to use – or low-cost for paid membership.

Depending on your type of business, it's possible to make LinkedIn the hub of all your marketing activity at very low cost. It will take a bit of time but if you focus on the following areas, you will have a head start on the many other LinkedIn users:

The two mistakes that many business owners make are:

LinkedIn is a superb marketing platform for small businesses to generate a steady flow of leads if you get the strategy right as per above.

Put resources into SEO marketing

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) marketing can be time-consuming – but it is essential for getting found by your target audience.

SEO is the process of optimising your online content for the search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc.) This includes your website's standard pages, but also its blog posts, and anything else you have published online-such as videos-that can be found through 'organic search'. (Organic search means 'free search', as opposed to paid search such as Google AdWords or Facebook Advertising).

Understand the basics of keywords and SEO – then hire reliable and recommended SEO professionals to look after your campaigns.

It is unlikely that you will have the time or expertise to effectively manage your own campaigns but your SEO professional should be able to guide you with on-page SEO (keyword placements), off-page SEO (link-building etc.), and the content required to improve search rankings.

If you take informed and consistent action, results will come. Think long term with SEO – and if you are largely targeting your local market, be sure to optimise well for local search.

Reach out with email marketing

If you have spent time and resources to connect with prospects online (on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.), and offline (at various networking events), you will rapidly build a large database of potential clients.

How do you reach out regularly to these prospects and stay top of mind?

As well as through your activity on LinkedIn, you can get your prospects' permission to include them in your newsletter marketing and in email marketing campaigns for other offers you may present from time to time.

Well-written email marketing campaigns have the power to convert prospects into customers – or at least move them along the sales funnel so they are closer to signing up.

Get professional copywriting assistance here to increase open rates, click-throughs, and conversions.

Build authority with content marketing

Nothing beats regular, original, relevant content for improving the relationships with prospects. And, in the long term, that's what marketing is all about.

Why?

If you focus on the main questions going through your prospects' minds, you establish authority status. It builds trust and confidence and you will be top of mind when they are ready to sign up for the types of services you offer.

That may not be today or tomorrow – it could be six months down the track or even longer. But this longer-term marketing activity will pay dividends in the future, as part of a multi-pronged marketing strategy.

The types of content you can focus on include:

Market your small business – no excuses!

There are literally no excuses for not marketing a business.

No time? Make time.

No budget? You don't need it.

Don't know how? You do now.

Don't need it? You will.

Got enough leads? You soon won't.

Marketing is the key to bringing a steady flow of opportunities in – and leads are the lifeblood of any small business. With a good sales system to convert leads, you have new revenue, healthy cash flow, and growth.

But generating leads can be an awkward subject for accounting and financial professionals with little to no marketing or sales experience. It's easier to rely on leads coming to you than to go out hunting for them.

Don't confuse marketing with sales: marketing is the process by which you bring in leads. It doesn't need to be salesy. Sales is the process of converting leads into revenue.

Remember that your word-of-mouth leads always have the potential to completely dry up. Such passive marketing is dangerous and stressful for any small business owner: suppliers still need to be paid and things can quickly go south if the cash flow dries up.

Get proactive and market your business on multiple fronts and you have a much better chance of not only maintaining a healthy cash flow but growing your business for the future.

If you need assistance with developing marketing for your small business, get in touch with us and we'll be able to point you in the right direction, as we know a number of marketing specialists in different areas.

Small business owners: 9 tips to keep the taxman off your back

Sun, 16 Sep 2018 23:00:00 GMT

When Benjamin Franklin said that the only things certain in life were "death and taxes" most people didn't consider that they may be closely linked.

But problems with taxes can lead to the death of your small business unless you take steps to keep the taxman off your back.

With sales meetings, recruitment, salaries, cashflow issues, marketing, suppliers, and a whole string of other things for small business owners to worry about, there's no need to add the taxman to the list.

A robust financial system that keeps the tax authorities happy should be the foundation that underpins your business - allowing you to focus on the multitude of other issues that require your attention.

The specific requirements set out by your tax authority will differ by location but many of the basics remain the same wherever you are.

And most authorities are currently tightening the rules and clamping down on tax cheats and tax avoidance.

Nine of the most important general guidelines are detailed below: wherever you're located, whatever your business size, and whatever industry you're in, these will help you identify red flags in your tax setup:

Understand all the tax requirements - or find someone who does

Do you think your tax affairs are simple? They're probably not. Ninety-nine percent of small business owners don't fully understand tax legislation - so it's important to seek specialist help.

The temptation a business owner is to try to look after everything yourself. With tax, this can be a false economy: not only can it take ages to get to grips with what you need to do; it's likely that you'll miss something important. And the taxman will be on your back!

File returns on time

The general rule is to file tax returns within twelve months of the end of your accounting period but this may vary with location.

Good planning in your business will ensure that you're ready for the process; you know when it's coming, have scheduled time to do it each year, and don't end up scrambling around at the last minute to avoid penalties.

Keep consistent & accurate records

You should already understand the importance of accuracy and consistency: quite apart from generating the management reports to make good business decisions, the tax authorities love you for it too.

Being consistent and accurate will help you flag any changes that affect your tax liability and explain any changes that raise questions from the tax authorities.

If you have some bookkeeping experience, you may be able to manage this yourself with user-friendly cloud software like Xero and Quickbooks Online. Otherwise, it's best to have a certified bookkeeper or accountant keep your accounting records up to date.

Keep the 'evidence' together

Keep the receipts and invoices for business expenses together. Most business owners know they should do this but it's surprising how many find themselves scrambling around looking for receipts when the time comes to do tax returns.

And even when they do find the receipts, they don't know what they relate to.

Keep it organised. All tax authorities want to know that there is sufficient documentation to justify business expenses. Receipts don't have legs. Your own inefficient system is responsible for losing them or causing confusion about their origin.

One of the benefits of using a cloud computing app such as Xero is the ability to take a photo of a receipt with your smartphone to 'scan in' an expense receipt straight into Xero; or you can use specialist apps that integrate with Xero such as Receipt Bank or Expensify.

File business & personal expenditure separately

It's easy to confuse business and personal expenditure. Unfortunately, it's one of the quickest ways to get offside with the tax authorities.

By keeping them separate, you can see at a glance what you can deduct and what you can't: that means two separate (probably electronic) filing systems. Don't be tempted to think "I'll sort them out when the time comes for my tax return". You'll forget or cause delays.

If you're a cash-based business, take extra steps

For small business owners such as tradespeople, who often get paid in cash, take extra steps to keep things transparent. You can guarantee that you will be on the taxman's radar at some point.

For income, keep additional records to back up bank deposit records, such as cash register printouts or manual records of daily sales that can be matched to the bank records.

One of the benefits of moving your accounting systems to the cloud, is the ability to do things faster and easier with paperless processes. For example, trades-based businesses can use apps like ServiceM8 to quote and invoice in the field and even take electronic payments on site.

If you're thinking, "I prefer to be paid in cash," the 'cash economy'-where a business does not declare all its income in order to reduce profits and therefore tax-is not such a great idea. Your business will be more valuable when it comes time to sell it if you have always shown all your sales revenue 'on the books'.

Create a clear policy for employee reimbursement

Tax auditors want to know that you're following the regulations with regards to employee reimbursement for travel, mileage, personal expenses, etc. They also want to know that expenses are appropriately signed off within the business to indicate that the business accepts liability.

Document a clear policy that determines what employees can claim for and how they go about claiming it. Make sure that this is clearly communicated to all employees.

Plan for your tax bill

There's no room for surprise tax bills on the path to success. Tax is generally predictable and consistent. This means that you can - and should - plan for it in advance.

Sit down with your tax professional, understand what's coming and when, and create a fund that can be used to pay the bill when it arrives. Maybe lock away a set sum every month. That way there are no nasty surprises ahead.

Never avoid the letters

Just because your tax authority writes to you asking questions or requesting records, it doesn't necessarily mean the worst. Never avoid or delay answering these questions, as they don't go away.

Answer in a timely fashion - there will normally be an expected response date detailed on the letter. Don't go beyond this.

Take some tax advice and answer the questions to the best of your abilities. Most tax issues can be solved relatively easily if they are dealt with before they spiral out of hand.

Don't get caught out by non-compliance with tax or it can cost you and your business. Get the right tax advice from the start and follow the tips above to keep the taxman happy.

If you need any specialist tax advice for your business, contact one of our advisors to talk it through.

Managing receipts: 4 apps to save you wasting time on administrivia

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 23:00:00 GMT

They say only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. For a lot of people, there's also a third certainty in life: the pain of keeping track of every receipt when it's time to do the taxes.

How many times has your bookkeeper or finance manager asked you for a receipt (that you swore you stuffed somewhere in the wad of receipts in your wallet) that you've then had to scramble and search everywhere to find?

You think to yourself: "I've got better things to do than this," and you're right. It's a waste of your precious time that you could otherwise be investing in the growth of your business or maybe even going on a shopping spree and filling your wallet with a fresh wad of receipts!

Thankfully there are now some pretty cool apps out there that can take the pain out of tracking your receipts. Read on to see a list of the top four apps below.

Traditional bookkeeping is dead. Live bank feeds killed it.

Keeping on top of the books is hard. But what's even harder is making good business decisions without real-time and accurate financials. If you want real-time financials, you need a real-time (cloud-based) accounting package like Xero, Quickbooks Online or MYOB Online.

The hallmark of cloud accounting is the live 'bank feed' functionality, where your bank transactions are automatically imported daily, which eliminates the majority of the tedious data entry associated with traditional bookkeeping.

This not only saves time and labour cost, it also allows you to have accurate numbers on your business – especially when you get into the habit of matching your bank transactions to your bills and invoices on a regular basis and asking your accountant for support when you need it.

Automatic vs Automagic

We need to be realistic about the efficiency gains of using the cloud. Although your bank transactions are automatically imported into Xero, for example, your financial data can still be inaccurate because of two reasons:

Ideally, you want your scanned receipts to 'live' in your accounting software so all your information is in one place. But isn't it incredibly time-consuming to scan each individual receipt and then attach it to the respective transaction?

Thankfully not.

Receipt-keeping add-on apps such as Receipt Bank or Shoeboxed can help by 'automagically' pushing your receipts from their software into Xero.

Bookkeeping on cruise control

If you've ever been on a long road trip, you know how helpful it is to switch on cruise control so you can worry less about maintaining the right speed and focus more on steering. Using a receipt-keeping app is the cruise control of your accounting toolbox!

The core benefit of using a receipt-keeping app (there will be slight differences in your workflow depending on which add-on you choose) is that you're able to ditch the scanner and forget about manually dragging and dropping your receipts in your accounting software.

The top two reasons for using a receipt-keeping add-on are:

Here a four popular apps for you to consider integrating with your accounting software:

If you're falling asleep behind the bookkeeping wheel because of boring manual data entry, it's time we had a chat about how paperless receipt-keeping solution can shift you into cruise control.

Get in touch to make a time for us to have a chat about your receipt handling systems. If we do it over a coffee, it'll be our shout. (And we'll scan the receipt!)

10 must-ask questions before applying for trade marks

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 23:00:00 GMT

Intellectual property. It's a hot topic.

Why?

Because, in the globalised and ultra-connected world we live in, the intellectual property (IP) of individuals and businesses is increasingly at risk.

It's not just famous cases like Ugg Boots that are making the news. Trade mark, patent and copyright infringements in general are on the rise – both from the work of unscrupulous individuals/organisations and through innocent breaches of IP.

In Australia, interest in protecting ideas through IP rights is increasing. In the latest figures available, trade mark applications grew by 14 per cent – the highest growth in a decade. Copyright and design applications also grew, indicating that innovation is alive and well in Australia.

To successfully commercialise this innovation, it needs to be protected by law.

What are you doing in your business to protect your IP and your ideas?

Trade marking your goods or services may be the best option for you. Here we look at the key questions to consider before deciding to apply for trade marks.

In considering these questions, you will become clearer on the reasons for applying for trade marks and the process you need to undertake to protect your business…

A trade mark is used to uniquely identify a product or service and distinguish it from the offerings of competing traders.

This can take many forms including:

A trade mark is more than just a logo for your business (though a trade mark can be a logo). It covers you legally from someone trying to replicate the above aspects of your goods and services.

By registering a trade mark, you have the exclusive right to sell the product or service. You can also authorise others to use and sell it.

No. A trade mark must be renewed every 10 years to retain the exclusive rights to sell the product or service in question.

A trade mark registration can be renewed up to 12 months before the renewal date is due and no longer than six months after (in the latter case, extra fees will apply).

However, during this period you must demonstrate that you have actively used the trade mark – or the exclusive rights to use it may be rescinded by the Australian government.

3. Do all businesses need trade marks by law?

No. There is no requirement for a business to register any trade marks. It is NOT the same as a registered business name or registered company name, which all businesses must have.

However, if you want to protect the unique aspects of your business's goods and services, you should consider trade marks.

For instance, just because you have a business name and have registered the domain name of a product, it does not prevent another business from using very similar details as you for a competing product or service.

4. What are the main benefits of trade marks?

While trade marks are different to brands, they can become an important part of your identity. For instance, what would Qantas be without the red and white kangaroo emblem on the tail of its planes?

This is a registered trade mark that is instantly recognised and helps promote Qantas services around the world.

Once you register a trade mark, other businesses must respect that you have exclusive rights to its use – or you have legal recourse to take action.

5. How do trade marks differ from copyrights, designs, and patents?

Intellectual property (IP) includes all inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images that are used to trade.

There are many ways of protecting this. Let's look at the simple case of a pen:

A copyright application is different again. This is sought to protect the IP of published or performed material. A copyright grants "the exclusive right to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material or to authorize others to do so."

6. What's the difference between registered & unregistered trade marks?

You can use trade marks in one of two ways:

Note that there are some circumstances where even unregistered trade marks provide protection under law: for instance, if you have been using an unregistered trade mark for many years before someone else starts using it.

7. Are trade marks internationally binding?

Any trade mark registered in Australia covers only Australia. However, providing nobody has registered the trade mark that you want in another country, you can make an application for an international trademark.

This will protect you from overseas businesses using the names or other features of your goods and services.

Conversely, if you registered your trade mark overseas (but not in Australia) you are able to use ® to designate this, as long as you state the country of registration near to the symbol.

8. How do I apply for a trade mark in Australia?

To apply for an Australian trade mark, first decide if it's actually a trade mark you need. They are commonly confused with design rights: mistakes with applications waste time and can be expensive as there are no refunds of fees.

If you are sure you need a trade mark, the next step is to start selecting the goods or services for which you intend to use your trade mark. Group them into one or more of the 45 categories available. You may need help doing this from a professional.

Before applying, ensure that the trade mark you want to apply for is available. Use the search facility on the official government site IP Australia to avoid wasting your time.

9. What happens after I submit my application?

Mistakes in applications for trade marks are common. Take the time to get it right before submitting yours. It will take around 3-4 months to assess.

If your application meets all of the requirements, it will be registered. You will receive written notification and it will appear in the Australian Official Journal of Trade Marks . It will also be visible in the search facility mentioned in the question 8.

10. What happened with Ugg Boots?

For Australians, there should be no greater warning about the dangers of not trade marking a product than the story of Ugg Boots.

As Aussies, we all love our Uggs. These sheepskin shoes and boots have been made for decades by a family-run business called Luda Production and we all know them as "Ugg Boots."

However, the trade mark for Ugg Boots is held by the American sheepskin company Deckers Outdoor Corporation. They registered it in over 130 countries.

Consequently, the company challenged the use of the name by Luda Production and any other companies around the world using it – even though the name was used in Australia for decades before the trade mark application was lodged!

This led to ongoing court action - with major headaches (not to mention costs) that could have been avoided.

Let this be a lesson to all Australian businesses to register trade marks that protect the unique characteristics (including the names) of their goods and services – before another company does.

Don't be the next Ugg Boots. Do what other Australian institutions have done and protected their names and products/services – from Vegemite to Qantas and the Wallabies!

Speak to your legal representative or accountant for more information on registering a trade mark.

Business owners: 3 proven steps for setting achievable goals

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 23:00:00 GMT

A: "My goal is for my business to win more new clients."

B: "My goal is for my business to take on 12 new clients by June 30 ^th next year."

Which of the above goals is more likely to be achieved?

If you chose B, you'd be right. It shows serious intent about achieving a goal by placing numbers and dates on it. If you chose A – well, hopefully by the end of this article you will have changed your mind.

So, what are the goals for your business in the next 30, 90, 365 days? And how can you go about setting goals that are more likely to be achieved?

With the turn of the year or during a slower period in business, it's a good idea to take stock of where you are now, recalibrate, and set new goals for where you want to be.

But whether you actually achieve those goals will depend largely on whether you are doing three things that many business owners are not currently doing…

If you're not following the three guidelines revealed below, your so-called 'goals' may simply be a collection of wishes.

The difference between wishes and goals

Non-specific goals that are not written down and cannot be broken down into definite actions are essentially wishes.

Wishes are fine – for children. They can be wild and wacky, unbound by logic. But they should occupy no space in the minds of business owners. It's no use saying:

"I wish my business could achieve a million-dollar turnover."

"I wish my business had more competent sales staff."

"I wish my business had fewer competitors."

If you haven't set proper goals, you are pinning your hopes on wishes. You can't plan your business around them. You can't commit to them.

When asked what their goals are, almost everyone will say "I want to be happy, healthy, and prosperous." This is fine and sounds good on a New Year's greeting card - but they are general wishes rather than actual goals .

Similarly, almost all businesses want to either increase revenue or reduce costs; or both. These are not goals either. They are just business realities.

Well-considered goals should be the basis of every business plan. They create the foundation of your work activities over the coming days, weeks, and months. They are what spur the necessary actions . They should shape your daily activities and provide the direction for where your business is heading.

You commit to making them happen and this commitment needs to be taken seriously.

Shape your goals correctly and all this is possible. By committing to doing the three things outlined below, you will start creating actionable, achievable goals that help your business to thrive…

There is a lot of information out there on goal setting. You can go and try to read it all or you can cut to the chase.

Make SMART goals : that's not just a convenient or clever name. It's a really simple acronym to remember and apply every time you create a goal.

It means the following:

Simply by focusing on the above with every goal you set, they will be easier to commit to and to achieve.

But there are two other guidelines you should follow to really create perfect goals…

If you did a snap survey of the population and asked them what their written goals were, most would stare back blankly at you. Around one percent might be able to show you a set of written goals.

With business owners, they might pull out a business plan…but unless that includes a set of goals that are clearly defined, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed, they are also falling short.

Those who write down their goals have over an 80 percent higher success rate of achieving them than those who don't.

In a much-referenced Harvard Business School study of MBA students in 1979, it was found that three percent of the class had both written goals and a plan. When they were resurveyed 10 years later, this three percent was making ten times more than the remaining 97 percent of the class!

The bottom line is that to be truly effective, goals must be written. Only then will you commit to the necessary actions.

If you're a rugby union player lining up a conversion kick after a try, is it best to focus on the scoreboard or the goalposts?

Ultimately, the goal is to win the match by getting the highest amount of points on the scoreboard. However, if you focus on that (the end goal) you'll miss the kick…and be less likely to achieve the end goal!

To achieve a goal, you need to focus your sights on the specific actions necessary to complete it. Only then will you kick the goals.

Now apply this to your own business: break each goal down until all that is left is the action required.

For instance, say it's the end of December now. If your main goal is to generate 10 new sales by 30th March, what does that mean in terms of activity?

When you consider the end goal, that may seem tough; a real challenge.

But start breaking it down:

The goal that once seemed so far off (10 new sales) now seems far more achievable because you know the precise daily action required to accomplish it: three calls to prospects per day is not scary at all. And you know that by taking this activity, you will reach your target.

See how this works?

Remember – without following the three guidelines above, your so-called 'goals' may be no more than wishes.

By setting real goals you have positive, purposeful, reachable signposts for the future of your business; rather than simply being reactive, you are in control of your own direction and destiny.

This is important stuff! Follow the steps outlined and you can make a big difference to your business in a relatively short space of time - if you are prepared to commit to the actions.

The top 5 ways to improve staff retention

Thu, 17 May 2018 23:00:00 GMT

As a business owner, do you or your managers spend a lot of time recruiting, conducting exit interviews, and onboarding new staff?

When the 'revolving door' in and out of your business doesn't stop revolving, it can impact so many parts of the business that it soon becomes a priority to address the problem.

A high staff turnover rate doesn't just impact those doing the hiring. It is damaging for general motivation, performance and productivity; it may lead to negativity in the workplace culture; the cost of hiring eats into profits; training and development costs go through the roof; and, worst of all, the chaos that can result from a constant flow of new faces in the business flows outwards to customers – and may cause them to look elsewhere.

So what can you do about this?

Well, say you want to improve performance in the workplace. It makes sense to understand the main reasons why employees are unmotivated and underperforming.

Similarly, if we want to improve staff retention, it makes sense to examine the reasons why people leave their jobs.

In recent years Gallup polls have found the same reasons for leaving have tended to come up again and again.

While there may be some unique circumstances in your own business that contribute to the problem, focusing on the following five steps will help address the main concerns…

Poor leadership consistently tops the list of why employees leave. There seems to be a lot of truth in the saying that people don't leave jobs - they leave their bosses.

We've all had the experience: you're feeling a bit under the weather, the alarm rings, and you're faced with a choice: struggle out of bed and make it into work against your best judgment - or stay put.

Your choice is often determined by your boss. You're much more likely to stay in bed if you don't give two hoots about him or her.

So, unless you're able to position inspiring leaders at the heads of your teams, this mentality spreads across the entire organisation. Are your leaders providing the support, guidance, and mentoring that employees look for?

Do they have the emotional intelligence and people management skills to really lead people – or are they in a leadership position based purely on technical skills and experience?

It's worth noting that it's the perception of your employees that counts here. You may think you have great leaders in place but if people are heading out the door in droves, it could be the first place to look.

Unless you have a system of gathering employee feedback, you probably don't understand the needs of your employees. You may think you do but in reality it's just guesswork.

An annual performance review is not going to cut it. Face-to-face meetings between leaders and employees need to be frequent, forward-looking, and based on constructive ideas for development; rather than infrequent, based on past performance, and only considering KPIs.

Unless there is an effective feedback system in place, you may never know when problems are brewing before it's too late – and people start heading for the doors. In short, get closer to your employees.

Unless you offer your employees a realistic opportunity of advancement, they will quickly try to find an organisation that does.

A perceived 'dead end' job with lack of opportunities for development is highly de-motivational and generally gets people looking around, sooner or later.

People want to grow and develop themselves - this is natural within all of us.

Once you understand your employees' goals, it's important as leaders to help develop people and set them on the right path to achieve these goals. In professional terms, this means some sort of career path.

It's considered unfashionable in some quarters to stay with a company for an entire career nowadays - and it's true that 'job hopping' is much easier than it used to be. But many companies seem to encourage talent drain by not providing a compelling enough reason for employees to stay.

People require direction, hope for the future, meaning in their work, recognition, opportunity, and challenge - these are all strong motivators.

People are more aware than ever about the importance of their own wellbeing.

They realise that sedentary lifestyles and stress contribute to a range of other factors in leading to poor health.

Many employees are looking for more flexible work environments that allow them to strike a better work-life balance; everyone is familiar with the available mobile technology, which means they don't necessarily have to be in the office to be at work.

When they are in the workplace they want it to be more inspiring and conducive to a healthy lifestyle: standing desks, places to workout, and so on.

Rather than asking your employees to sacrifice personal needs to fulfil the requirements of the job, design the job around changing lifestyles that are more mobile, flexible and geared towards healthy living.

Do you promote a culture of recognition, accountability, engagement, transparency, reward, positivity, and success - or do your people cast envious glances towards the competition?

In some workplace cultures, the opposite dominates: silos develop and conflict, secrecy, fear, threat, and negativity all lead to de-motivation, which in turn leads to a decline in both performance and the employee experience of actually coming to work.

Your top employees naturally gravitate towards positivity and harmony and are unlikely to hang around in an environment they perceive as toxic or harmful to their growth.

Build teams that cultivate a positive culture through connectivity, empowerment, engagement, and a sense of fun.

Final thoughts

There will always be a turnover of staff in a business. But surprisingly perhaps, money is not usually the main reason for leaving.

It's obvious that you should be paying employees well for the work they do; and you can't do much about employees leaving to go travelling, fulfilling a long-held ambition, starting a family or moving to the other side of the country.

However, many of the main reasons for employees leaving can be addressed at the source by every employer.

Resist the temptation to think that high staff turnover is simply a sign of the times; with the immediate and temporary nature of social media, some business owners accept poor staff retention as the 'new norm'. They believe that people are simply 'job hoppers' nowadays.

However, as a leader you can take action to stop the talent drain: by focusing on the above five actions, you will start to close the gap between where you want to be and where you actually are now.

Why receipt bank is a must for business owners

Mon, 16 Apr 2018 23:00:00 GMT

As much as we hate to admit it, the best business owners and executives can drop the ball on occasion. This is particularly true of the little things, which can be easily overlooked.

When it comes to keeping track of business expenses, even the most attentive and mindful can fall behind. Physical receipts and invoices can easily be misplaced before you set foot back in the office. Hunting around for them causes headaches, wastes time and hurts productivity.

When a business or its employees don't stay on top of filing receipts, it usually results in paying more tax than you need to. That hurts. Not just your bottom line, but it feels bad to lose more of your hard-earned money. Thankfully, there is a way for you to keep your money and your productivity without going insane trying to stay on top of filing or scanning paper receipts.

Traditionally you had to collect and collate your paper receipts. The problem with that, more often than not, is something comes up and you get disrupted. A little distraction creeps in and you leave the receipt behind, forget about it entirely, or it disappears before you can store it safely with the rest.

But there's another problem. The data from the documents that do make it to your stash need to be entered into spreadsheets. This too is fraught with potential problems. There are common issues like repetitive entries and human error. There's also the opportunity cost and wasted productivity of having someone copy information into a spreadsheet, when it can be done quicker and more reliably by a machine. And let's not forget the time lost trying to track down those lost and misplaced receipts. Wasting human potential on something so unproductive is bad business management. Given modern solutions, it's just not an efficient use of your own time or your employees'.

There are a lot of downsides to the old way. It served a purpose once when everything was done by hand. Today it's a relic. Businesses set up to take advantage of modern automation will overtake those still operating traditionally as they make better use of their time.

Receipt Bank is a mobile app that helps small- and medium-sized business owners and employees save time and boost their efficiency when it comes to processing receipts. Instead of worrying about keeping track of receipts and then entering information by hand, Receipt Bank does it all for you. All you need to do is take a photograph of the receipt. That's it-you're done.

The app then goes to work using sophisticated optical character recognition (OCR) to convert the photo into meaningful information for Xero. No manual work, no fiddling with paper receipts, no time wasted.

The app is available on both iOS and Android devices, meaning you can send receipts and invoices no matter where you are using your phone. There's never an inconvenient time or place.

It's designed for any sized team. You can add team members and give them different levels of access, approvals and expense reports that match their role in your business. You can even set up rules that tell Receipt Bank where and when to send transactional information, suppliers and payment methods. Using the app doesn't mean you have to change your entire process.

In just a few seconds you can accomplish what used to take a substantial amount of time. That's an impressive productivity gain. There's no risk of losing the receipt because you capture it the very moment you get it. With the information saved straight to the cloud, you won't suffer from any issues relating to duplicate or lost information either.

If you think this sounds nice but you're worried about security implications, Receipt Bank protects your data with 256-bit SSL encryption. That's 'geek speak' for bank-level data security.

In short, Receipt Bank offers a service that automates your receipt-based bookkeeping and saves you and your employees time.

In an age of automation and efficiency, time is far too valuable to be spent handling receipts and manually entering data into spreadsheets. Automated bookkeeping gives your team more time to do the creative and uniquely human activities that make a real difference to your clients and your bottom line. The less time you can spend on bookkeeping, and the more time you can spend growing your business, the better off you will be.

Manage your own retirement fund: 9 steps to set up your SMSF

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 22:00:00 GMT

Are you worried that your hard-earned money is not working hard enough for you ? That your dream of your golden years spent on the golf course or with loved ones on the beach is fading fast?

Think you can do a better job yourself - by managing your own super?

You may be right. A Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) may provide an excellent opportunity to better build wealth for your retirement. But only if you get the right advice and set it up correctly.

SMSFs are not for those who just want to dabble in investment. They are serious undertakings that can have serious legal and financial ramifications for the years ahead.

Consider the pros and cons first and, if you do decide it's the right move, make sure that all the I's are dotted, and the T's are crossed.

As the name suggests, an SMSF is a superannuation fund that members run for their own benefit. It is for the sole purpose of providing retirement funds and can be set up for between one and four members. These members become trustees of the fund.

Rather than contributions being paid into a fund that is managed for you (as with a traditional super fund), all contributions are managed and invested according to what you (and the other trustees, if applicable) decide.

In the past decade, the number of SMSFs has grown significantly: perhaps an indication that Australians have become more financially savvy.

The main benefit of a self-managed super fund is that you achieve more control over your finances and your investment decisions.

But a word of warning: this is only a benefit if you make suitably informed decisions that are able to grow your wealth.

With a standard superannuation fund, professional fund managers generally make the investment decisions on your behalf; they are trained investors.

By running the fund, yourself, you will need to invest some of your own time and expertise into it. Even then, most people will need to avail professional advice to ensure that they are making sound investment decisions.

You also probably want to have at least $100,000 in your fund to consider running an SMSF.

Many people transfer their assets into an SMSF and then use the fund buy residential or commercial property. This is with the aim of it increasing in value, thereby growing their investment.

But what happens if you make a poor decision? Like with any investment, there are no guarantees that it will grow.

Another potential advantage is that your SMSF can include up to four members or trustees. This means that you are able to pool resources to achieve more potential investment 'power'.

However, it also makes decisions more complex as the needs of all members must be taken into account with each decision.

Make sure that your SMSF complies with all legislative and regulatory frameworks, as laid down by the ATO. Failure to do so can lead to heavy penalties.

Ensuring that you set your fund up correctly will also make it eligible for applicable tax concessions, as well as making it easier to manage once it's up and running.

You can set up an SMSF for individual trustees or with a company serving as a corporate trustee.

Each structure has its own set of requirements and fees (as well as penalties for non-compliance) that should be discussed with a professional advisor before committing.

You will also need to decide on a name for your fund and, if applicable, for the company that you register.

The trust deed is a legal document that covers how to establish and operate your SMSF. It details all the members and trustees, as well as the rules and regulations of the fund, and investment and contribution information, as well as wind-up procedures.

This is a document that you can refer to when making decisions about the fund. All trustees must sign and date the deed.

To establish your trust, the fund must have assets. This can be a token amount until members are able to roll over their existing benefits from elsewhere or make contributions themselves.

All members must sign the trustee declaration, confirming that they understand their duties and responsibilities.

It must be signed within 21 days of becoming a trustee (or director of the corporate trustee); a signed copy should be kept on your files.

Your SMSF must register through the Australian Business Register – and you should elect to be regulated by the ATO.

Once registered, your SMSF will be listed on Super Fund Lookup. This will allow other funds and your employer(s) to check your fund's eligibility to receive rollovers and contributions.

Opening a bank account in the fund's name allows you to manage the fund and for members to pay in cash contributions or rollovers of super.

Note that this account should be completely separate from individual members' bank accounts.

Make sure that you provide each member's Tax File Number (TFN).

If a TFN is not provided, your fund will be unable to accept personal contributions from members; the fund will also be liable for more tax on their employer contributions.

If you need to receive employer contributions into your SMSF, you will need an electronic service address to enable it to receive SuperStream data.

The employer will need to know your ABN and bank account details, in addition to your electronic service address.

It usually makes sense to roll over benefits from other funds into your SMSF. This will then centralise your assets in one place and allow you to use them to carry out your fund's investment strategy – whatever that is.

It may sound strange to prepare an exit strategy at the beginning – but this will avoid any confusion. What will happen if and when the fund winds up and how will members be paid?

Some funds lay out this specific information in the original trust deed.

Deciding on an SMSF is a big decision - not to be taken lightly. Weigh up the pros and cons and get the advice of a professional adviser or accountant to see if it's right for you. Few people can manage everything themselves.

SMSF advisors can also help you with the initial start-up process. Get this right so that it is fully compliant and easier to manage once it's up and running.

An SMSF expert can help you avoid delays, disappointments, or penalties for non-compliance. But remember to choose your advisor wisely – as members are still responsible for all aspects of their fund.

Team Communication Tools: How to free up 25-30% more time in your business

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 22:00:00 GMT

The world has changed. Work has changed.

The possibilities provided by cloud and mobile technologies are beyond what most people would even have considered possible just a decade ago.

But have you adapted and updated your systems to keep up with - and take advantage of - these exciting and fast-moving changes? Or are you still determined to drive the steam engine?

You may not realise it but if you're still emailing and Cc-ing and Bcc-ing the whole office in on messages - and this is your main (or only) internal team communication method - then you are still puffing away on the steam engine.

You're left behind while everyone else is taking fast bullet trains to get to their destinations safely and more effectively; you're relying on out-dated technology.

The McKinsey 2012 Social Economy report found that:

Most businesses could use a little more time and productivity back in 2012. What about now?

Years later and the bottom line is this: If you run a team of professionals that needs to collaborate on work, you need to start taking advantage of the many tools available beyond simple email, in order to be more productive.

There is an array of project management, collaboration, chat, and email enhancement tools that help your team communicate more efficiently and get work done more effectively.

So what tools are available – and how, specifically, can they help you be more productive?

Chat and messaging tools

Chat tools allow you to securely and privately talk to individual team members or interact with the whole team.

There's no writing emails, no waiting for emails to be read, no wondering if people have read what you wrote or received attachments…it's all a lot more direct, real-time, and collaborative.

You attach relevant links and files as you go, virtually rendering email defunct for some organisations in terms of internal communications. Some organisations even use chat tools as the main interface and communication channel with clients.

Below is a brief overview of a few of the most popular ones.

Slack is built for communication between everyone from freelancers to large enterprises. It has customisable real-time messaging, archiving, and also search… from mobile or desktop devices running Windows, Mac, or Android.

It features built-in internal and external sharing options, open channels, file sharing, notifications, and there is flexible file browsing and integration with Google Docs and Dropbox.

Free versions are available, which are great for freelancers.

Hipchat is designed specifically for chat amongst team members in small and medium businesses. Available for Windows, Mac, Android, and Linux, it is fully customisable.

The app offers easy screen sharing, secure guest access, SSL encryption for security, simple file sharing, and unlimited chatrooms.

A free version is available; a paid version offers more functionality (such as video calling) for a small monthly charge.

Telegram is a free app, regardless of the amount of chats stored (unlike Slack). It also offers similar features to Slack but with unlimited search history. It only works off mobile.

A great feature of Telegram is secret chats, by which you can share sensitive information like passwords. Privacy is a big deal. It also offers audio notes – another cool feature.

Being open source, there is a support community to back it up.

Collaboration tools go beyond simple chat tools. They may include a chat component to them but their key function is to organise work and to make collaboration on projects and project management easier.

As the nature of work has changed with the mobile and cloud revolution, more people work remotely than ever before.

Nowadays, it's not just the travelling salespeople who aren't based in the office. The office itself might not even exist!

Collaboration tools allow remote teams to work together as if they were at adjacent desks in the office – often from opposite sides of the world. This is partly what has enabled the wholesale hiring of freelancers in many businesses.

Below is a brief overview of just a few of the most popular from the many collaboration platforms available.

Basecamp is a cloud-hosted project management platform. Created 10 years ago, it is one of the most established and popular online suites available, with many millions of users. It is capable of looking after large enterprises or small businesses.

Simple to learn, reliable, and full-featured, it's easy to organise people, delegate tasks, and monitor the progress of projects.

This is another of the leading project management tools available but different in design to Basecamp. It uses a 'kanban' board set up.

Within these boards (projects), a series of cards represent tasks. These cards can be used to invite team members to, in order to assign tasks and track the progress of a project, and to categorise work in relation to the project. Simple to use and reasonably priced.

Wrike is another project management tool that allows you to prioritise assignments and monitor updates in real time.

It assists with task management, has an interactive timeline, allows document collaboration and discussions in tasks, and can be used on iPhone and Android as well as desktop.

Wrike can also be integrated with email, Google Docs, and Dropbox.

Asana is another of the most popular project management tools to replace the need for email.

It makes team communication and collaboration easy, with the ability to easily create projects and tasks, and to follow the progress of projects.

Team members can be added to projects and tasks, with files shared and messaging made easy between them. It is compatible from both desktop and mobile devices.

Podio has a dedicated following of over 400,000 teams and makes communication, organisation, and project workflows simple.

This customisable tool is suitable for small and medium business, as well as freelancers. It has a strong social core, with activity streams featuring comments, likes, and status updates. Anyone with a company email address can join and collaborate on a thread.

Email may still have a place in your business, even with social tools being introduced. But, like with an old car that still gets you from A to B, it may need a few accessories to do its job efficiently.
There are several email tools that can jazz it up and help email to better meet the requirements of a modern business.

Email should no longer be treated as the sole communication tool; instead, it needs to interact with the social tools you introduce.

Email inboxes need to be unified and shared across teams and no longer designed as separate silos of info for individuals: email needs to be integrated into the new reality of a collaborative, information-sharing platform.

Here are just two of the great tools available – a simple search on Google will suggest more:

Karbon is actually is actually a workflow management application, with a focus on the accounting industry. It helps accounting firms manage client work and email communications.

One of its main features is email triage: This allows all emails to enter into a single repository to be assigned out as work comes in: a much more efficient way of organising emails than the traditional individual account set up.

Hiver is another tool that helps you manage your email better. Effectively it turns Gmail into a help desk, bringing all the features you need for your help desk right into your Gmail account.

It is able to rapidly delegate emails so that communication becomes more seamless and customers receive better, more streamlined service.

During the 90s and noughties, email became an indispensable business tool. Now, however, it is replaceable.

In fact, in many cases it needs to be replaced as it ends up wasting too much employee time and damaging productivity.

The beauty of most of the chat, collaboration, and email enhancement tools detailed above is that many of your staff will already be familiar with how to use them.

They are probably using similar social apps for chat and messaging in their private lives. This creates a low barrier of entry that should be embraced by businesses: very little training is required!

Of course, you will need to create some usage guidelines but simplicity is key here: Most of these tools are so easy to use that you can literally implement a new system and have people using it to collaborate almost immediately.

If you would like assistance in selecting the right chat or collaboration platforms for your business, one of our qualified professionals can help. Simply contact us here: (02) 9299 1555.

What a disaster: How smart businesses avoid devastation when disaster strikes

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 22:00:00 GMT

Disasters . They happen. In personal lives, and in business.

That's not being negative, that's being real. Every day disasters affect families and businesses somewhere in the world, but it always seems to happen to someone else, doesn't it?

Touch wood.

Then every once in a while something happens a bit closer to home-a disaster hits someone you know, and it's a sobering reminder of what could happen.

One of the most common phrases uttered by those who experience disaster in their lives is, "I always thought this was the sort of thing that happens to someone else , not to me."

Often that's followed by a saddening story of how they were unprotected and unprepared. Their life or their business is devastated. They've lost everything.

Disasters are like lightening strikes. They happen and they're random.

So, in many ways, it's wise to accept that disasters are inevitable .

But-and here's the key point- devastation is optional . Especially in relation to businesses.

That's why every business-whether large or small-needs a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP).

DRPs are not only for large corporations or those businesses located in areas prone to natural disasters like floods, cyclones, or earthquakes.

Ask yourself, what would happen if your customers could not contact your business for several days? What would be the consequences? Lost customers? Unhappy customers? A tarnished reputation from people complaining to their friends in social media?

The good news here is that you can mitigate the consequences of such an event, through planning.

This is increasingly important in a world that expects services to be always-on and where tolerance of downtime is at an all-time low.

According to Markel UK:

7 days, and you're gone. Now that's sobering.

These days in such a connected world, a disaster needn't be a dramatic event like an earthquake, a flood, or fire, though these are good examples of potential disasters.

A 'disaster' can refer to any negative event that seriously impacts your business. It might be a long outage, equipment failure, or being hacked, for instance.

What you need to do is make sure that 'disaster' does NOT refer to your reputation or your sales figures!

So how will your business respond?

Small and medium-sized businesses must find a way to create disaster recovery plans with limited resources available. Let's look at how to achieve that…

5 steps to ensure disaster does not mean devastation

Below are five steps you can take to ensure that you survive a disaster… and enable the mission-critical elements of your business to resume as quickly as possible.

The first step is to detail the basic information that everyone in the company needs to know if there is a disaster.

Create a manual that provides an overview of the main goals of the plan, so that everybody is clear on its high priority status. In it, stress the impact that a disaster could have on the business, focusing on the mission critical elements.

This important first step will involve internal meetings with key personnel where you assess what is most at risk, establish critical systems/functions/processes, and decide who should do what in the event of a disaster.

Remember that DR may involve hardware, software, networking equipment, power supply, internet connectivity, and testing. Detail all these elements.

Make sure that you list everyone who would need to be contacted in an emergency, and include out-of-work contact details.

The list should also include emergency management agencies (if applicable), along with major clients, contractors, and suppliers.

List the responsibilities of each employee and detail the required order/timing of each response: the most important emergency response actions should be listed first.

This will likely depend on your assessment of costs/impact undertaken in the first step.

Include a diagram of the entire network and recovery site to help people visualise what needs to happen. Provide maps and directions if necessary.

Also include any necessary safety elements for your employees. You need to protect against injury on the premises and consider their ability to return to work after a disaster.

It's important to make all instructions as clear as possible so that people understand their roles in full. Include documentation from equipment vendors if necessary.

Your disaster recovery plan is not complete without comprehensive testing. Many things can go wrong and it would be no use if it failed in the real world – so test it for gaps or elements that could be improved.

This will provide valuable emergency training for your staff. Create a training schedule and ensure that everyone attends by avoiding scheduling conflicts; test the response to a dry run of a disaster and measure what works well and what can be improved.

Report back on this and test again if any changes are implemented.

Prevention is always better than cure. With data playing such an important role in most businesses these days, the need to regularly backup client data is not negotiable.

Even if compliance regulations don't demand it, you must ensure that your client's confidential data is backed up online and offline. The data should be accessible from outside your normal place of work.

Consider the potential cost to your business's reputation if you experienced a data breach. By adequately planning to avoid a disaster such as this, you will minimise the threat.

If your business would be incapable of operating close to normal without emergency office space, consider an arrangement for backup space in another location to your main office.

While this may sound expensive, some firms provide this service specifically for small business budgets.

This would provide a means of accessing key data and remaining in communication with customers and suppliers in the event of a serious physical disaster like a flood or fire.

So what's your next step, before you take these five…?

While a disaster recovery plan may sound like a large undertaking for a small business, the consequences of not having one do not bear thinking about.

Remember that the majority of businesses that fail to respond well to a disaster situation end up going under.

Your DR plan should be a 'living' document that is updated regularly with current information on the steps that need to be taken in the event of an emergency.

If you would like help in putting a disaster recovery plan together for your business, one of our professionals can help you out. Get in touch with us here: (02) 9299 1555 .

5 Xero apps that solve your roster, timesheet & payroll problems

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 22:00:00 GMT

Still using spreadsheets for rosters, timesheets, and payroll?

The administrative load involved in efficiently rostering staff, preparing accurate timesheets, and ensuring that everyone is paid correctly can be a huge burden on a small business – especially if you are doing it all manually.

If your business involves shift work or hourly work in hospitality, retail, healthcare, construction, security, or similar fields it can be even more challenging.

Fortunately, if you're running Xero as your accounting software, like many small and medium-sized businesses, help is not too far away.

A variety of compatible apps can make your life much easier, seamlessly integrating with your accounting software to help you avoid costly errors and freeing up your employees' time to focus on more important issues.

In fact, Xero functionality is extended with a choice of over 500 third-party apps.

Below we look at the leading apps available for rostering, timesheets, and payroll: they are in no specific order and all are tried and tested with excellent reviews by users.

Deputy

Deputy is a user-friendly, employee management add-on that is one of the top-rated apps on Xero.

It bills itself as: "an all-in-one employee scheduling, time and attendance and communication software that seamlessly integrates with Xero."

This add-on helps with:

You can easily add new employees and, while Deputy can be scaled for large companies with many employees, it's equally effective for smaller and medium sized businesses looking for an efficient scheduling and payroll system.

There is even an unlimited free trial for you to test the software out for as long as you need.

TSheets

TSheets is another top-rated Xero app used by over 40,000 businesses. It is an employee time-tracking and scheduling app that is designed to replace manual spreadsheets and provide seamless payroll.

In its own words: " accurately track time and schedule your employees, anytime, anywhere, and on any device."

This add-on helps with:

This helps any business that must manage and schedule employee work times – especially with a mobile workforce in multiple locations. Restaurants, retailers, and hospitality businesses can especially benefit.

There is a free trial; You can see their pricing here .

Tanda

Tanda is a user-friendly workforce management software that ensures that staff are paid correctly for the work they do. It also saves time by making rostering easier and more efficient and time and attendance easier to track.

It is aimed at businesses with 15-200 shift and hourly employees, such as those in hospitality, retail, franchise, medical, and enterprise workforces, and integrates seamlessly with Xero.

This add-on helps with:

As well as a valuable time saver, some small business users have reported significant reductions in payroll by using Tanda, largely because it replaces the out-of-date and easy-to-manipulate manual clock card system for timesheets.

A free trial is provided and pricing is available on request.

Smart Payroll

Smart Payroll is, as the name suggests, focused on making payroll easier for the 10,000 plus small and medium-sized businesses that use it. It is well-established and was first released in 2004.

Integrating easily with Xero as an add-on, all payroll data can be transferred into the accounting system easily in a click or two.

This add-on helps with:

Pricing plans are available from $2.50 per employee per pay, plus a $25 monthly service fee.

KeyPay

KeyPay is another Xero add-on focused on making payroll easier through the cloud. But it also helps with rostering.

Designed for businesses with 5 or 500+ employees, with single or multiple locations, it is especially useful for accountants, bookkeepers, labour hire companies and payroll bureau providers.

This add-on helps with:

A 30-day trial is provided. Pricing plans start at $4/month per paid employee.

Which add-on suits your business best?

If you're still using spreadsheets, it should be clear that there are much smarter ways to be managing things!

The above apps are all variations on a theme. Ultimately they all make the job of administering staff schedules, time-tracking, and payment so much easier.

Use the free trials available and see which is the most suitable option for your business.

If you're still unsure and would like to discuss which app would best suit your business, taking into account your present accounting software, feel free to get in touch with us here .

Creating quotes and proposals FASTER: 5 reasons (and 8 apps) to automate your proposal process

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 22:00:00 GMT

When a prospective client asks you for a quote, it's a powerful opportunity to make a sale. In fact, with the right response you may be able to 'seal the deal' almost immediately.

But if you take your time to respond, provide wildly different quotes for similar work, or otherwise send bad signals about your business, you could easily lose that client. Which is a pity, because it seemed they really wanted to do business with you.

That quote (or proposal, which we'll get to in a moment) is where you can win the client over and get the sale.

Or lose them both.

The good news is that technology can now help you respond to prospective clients quickly and consistently, and show them just how capable and competent your business really is.

Software packages are now available that can automatically generate quotes and proposals. They even include templates you can quickly edit instead of having write the entire document from scratch-great for proposals that vary widely from client to client.

But while these software packages are becoming more and more sophisticated, they can only send a quote or proposal to someone who asks for one. And people won't ask unless they recognise the value in your service.

Quotes or Proposals - Which best suits your business?

While automation is one way to streamline your business processes, it might be worth considering whether quotes or proposals are really working for you and serving a useful function in your business.

A quote is usually just a list of products or services, their quantities and the total price. But a proposal also:

Quotes are the standard for most industries because they're quicker and easier to produce. And for those selling goods predominantly in retail (physical and digital), a quote is probably all the client needed. Chances are they'll just be comparing your price to that of your competitor, and whoever has the lowest one wins the sale.

But in an industry such as ours, you often need to communicate how you'll help a potential client, and why you'll be of value to them. As explained earlier, you need to acknowledge their issue, and show them how you'll solve it with a great solution. And for that, you'll need to send them a proposal.

But unlike the quote, where they'll be weighing up your price against your competitor's, they'll be weighing up your price against the benefits you'll be giving them.

Yes, proposals take more time and effort to produce. You have to know your clients, understand their problems, and come up with ways to help them. But proposals also make it easier to make a sale, because instead of just giving them a product or service you're actually solving their problem.

Whether it's quotes or proposals that make sense for your business, drafting and sending them can still be time consuming - even with the help of templates.

Fortunately, automated quote and proposal software can help you prepare and submit them much quicker, which frees up your time for more productive tasks. It can also reduce turnaround times and the need to train new team members, and give your business an air of professionalism.

5 reasons to use software that automatically generates quotes and proposals

Your team members' time is worth too much for them to be creating these documents-especially quotes. After all, other than the quantities, prices and addressee every quote is pretty much the same, isn't it? Wouldn't they be better off spending the time reaching out to prospects, checking in with past and current clients, or delivering extra value?

Automation allows more time for high-touch, creative and innovative activities, which all require a human touch.

Automating your quotes and proposals means you can get it to the prospect sooner. And that shows not only competency, but also that you respect their time. Nobody likes to be kept waiting.

Within minutes your prospect can be reading your professionally laid out document full of comprehensive information without any errors or unclear/undefined elements. Add a good call to action, and it will be a no-brainer for the client to accept.

Quotes and proposals help you and your client understand each other, and formally document:

They also put the ball in the client's court . Once they have your quote or proposal, they need to make a decision. And so the faster you can give them one, the less time they have to investigate alternatives or reconsider.

Of course, they can still look into competitors after they get your quote. But they won't be doing it beforehand. And if it meets their expectations (i.e. you can solve their problem for a price they're happy with), they can accept it without spending any more time looking around.

Perfect.

By using software to generate your quotes and proposals, you'll be consistent with both your presentation and pricing strategy.

Some clients will come from word-of-mouth, and so quoting different prices to different prospects for similar services could raise a few eyebrows. People may think you don't have any pricing strategy and just make it up as you go along, which makes you look unprofessional.

Giving your document a consistent look is also important. Your logo, colour palate, website design, stationery design and vehicle signage all influence people at a subconscious level. It increases trust, and boosts your reputation in the eyes of your prospects. And your branding should flow through to your quotes and proposals to ensure they look clean, crisp and are an integral part of your business.

With automation software you'll spend less time training new team members, as most of the document is produced automatically. All you'll need to teach them is how to use the app to make any necessary adjustments or additions for special cases.

As you can, there are many advantages to using software that can automatically generate quotes and proposals for clients. So why isn't every business using it?

Some business owners think the software will limit their ability to make modifications because everything is generated automatically. Of course, some people might say, "Well that's the price of eliminating mistakes and getting it presentable and consistent". But the software will often take this concern into account by letting you add a 'miscellaneous' field to the template where you can make amendments or comments. Some templates even include one by default.

Another concern is how the software will get the information it needs to generate the quotes and proposals. Fortunately, nearly all of the software packages will integrate with at least one CRM. And for those that don't integrate directly, the third-party app Zapier can probably link them together.

Automation software that's currently available

Here are just some of the software packages that can automatically generate quotes and proposals:

Proposable lets you query clients and respond to their questions with inline comments-useful for high-touch businesses or those dealing with detailed and specific services.

They all integrate with a number of CRMs. However, as part of your evaluation you should confirm which ones will integrate with your CRM (or allow a connection via Zapier).

There are plenty of reasons to automate your quotes and proposals. The time you could save (and reinvest in wiser, more productive avenues) is just one aspect that makes it worth considering. Add to that the boosted reputation and sales figures (thanks to the quick turnarounds), and automation quickly becomes an option you can't afford to ignore.

Signed and sealed: 5 reasons your business should use electronic signatures instead of paper-based agreements

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 22:00:00 GMT

"Signing on the dotted line." It wasn't all that long ago that phrase meant signing pen-on-paper. Increasingly these days it can also mean signing on-screen with a stylus-or even with your finger tip!-or by using your computer and keyboard.

So why have many businesses moved to using electronic signatures? What are the advantages over using pen-on-paper for signatures on agreements?

In a word, efficiency. Electronic signatures provide efficiency gains at every point of the legal document process: from distribution, to storage, security and retrieval.

Why are businesses now finding the use of paper-based contracts and legal documents so inefficient?

First, paper agreements have to be mailed or couriered for signature, or be signed in person. This is a waste of time and resources for all parties due to the postage/delivery or travel involved. More importantly, it causes delays. Slowing things down is the last thing you want when your prospect or customer is about to sign a contract with you. You want your business processes to happen with velocity. Paper slows things down.

And that's when everything goes to plan. If there's a mistake, error or adjustment to be made, the delays get worse: the document has to be edited, re-printed and re-checked before it's ratified and re-sent. More delays. More work and wasted resources for you, your employees and the other signatories.

And the costs of using paper for your legal documents doesn't stop there.

You also need to hide the files away from prying eyes and protect them from flames, flood and other dangers. Sure, you need to do that with your electronic records too, but off-site storage is a cinch with cloud-based and remote servers. To safeguard paper documents against potential destruction requires still more time and expense in creating and storing backups.

However, just storing the paper documents securely and making copies of them isn't the end of the inefficiency: Next comes the issue of retrieval .

You can't keyword search paper. So if a dispute or uncertainty arises in the future, you need access to the documents. This can mean you either waste a great deal of time searching for documents-we know of cases where days have been spent trawling through paper archives, looking for important documents-or you set up and use a document archival system to organise your files beforehand.

All of these actions come with costs.

Primarily time, money and opportunity costs . Everyone involved-you, your employers, customers, prospects and suppliers-all have more valuable things they could be doing.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way anymore.

Introducing electronic signatures

Electronic signature tools allow documents to be signed online, eliminating or reducing these paper-related inefficiencies. An added benefit of using these paperless tools for document signing is that they also come with other advantages too, beyond the efficiencies.

But what about the legality of electronic signatures?

To set the record straight, electronic signatures are legal in Australia, Canada, China, the U.S., and Europe, along with many other countries. This has been the case for more than a decade now. Because e-signatures are legally equivalent to paper-based signatures, it's no surprise businesses are increasingly making the switch to digital signatures.

5 good reasons to use electronic signatures in your business

Links to documents containing legal agreements can be sent via email without meeting in person. No more checking schedules and organising a time to meet-not to mention travelling and physically meeting-just to sign the documents. No more sending contracts to be ratified and returned again via snail mail.

This means a document can be sent and returned at a time convenient to both parties from the moment it's ready .

In addition to the time and monetary costs of meeting, you can also bring clients and suppliers on board sooner. This eliminates the possibility that they change their mind before entering into a formal agreement.

Electronic documents are actually superior to paper in relation to security. Digitally signed documents are embedded with the details of those who signed them (typically including IP address, time, date, email address and geographic location). Electronic signatures can also prevent tampering or unlawful modification. This makes them not just court-admissible but highly effective legal documents with a comprehensive audit trail .

You don't get that with paper.

"But what about hackers?" you ask. "Online storage and security seems like I'm just asking for trouble." Well electronic signatures also beat paper on those grounds too. Even if a hacker managed to get past the high security on the servers where your documents are stored, they're encrypted with some of the most secure technology available. These encrypted versions are unreadable (and therefore useless ), to anyone without a supercomputer and a substantial amount of time at their disposal. Only you as the document creator and parties you share it with (those you sent the document link to), can access the file. Nice.

Think about what happens when there's an error or revision to be made with a paper-based document. It needs to be modified, reprinted, distributed to each party, checked again for changes, signed and returned. Compare that to simply marking an adjustment as approved in the digital document, or uploading an updated and corrected version to be checked and signed.

Imagine the time and money you can save over a month, year or several years when document changes can be implemented and distributed to relevant parties in seconds .

There are costs to using electronic signature services. However, unless you are party to just a small handful of contracts per year, you will spend far more resources on coordinating meetings, traveling, storage, security and retrieval processes than a subscription to an electronic signature service.

Not to mention you'll stop losing to competitors who can close deals in minutes rather than days.

While your documents are well protected and made exceptionally difficult for hackers to get to, they are available and accessible to you and other signatories.

This means if you need to confirm an agreement, double-check terms or produce them for a court, you can do so simply by logging in. No messing around with filing systems required.

"But what about the risks?"

No matter which method you choose there is always some potential danger that you cannot be one hundred percent protected against. Electronic signatures are securely stored and encrypted . Although they are well protected it is possible that security breaches can occur.

But compare that with the risks of traditional storage? There's theft, fire, water and even absent minded misplacement to contend with.

Digital is not perfect. But it is safer than traditional methods.

If you're sold on the idea of using electronic signatures, the next logical question to address is…

Which electronic signature tool should you choose?

Popular choices for electronic signature tools include:

If you're into comparing the benefits and features of particular apps, evaluate those four to find the one that best suits your business.

If that's not your thing and you want a shortcut to making your decision, consider the following:

No matter which electronic signature app you choose, your signing process will become much more streamlined and your documents better protected than traditional paper methods can offer.

If you'd like some guidance on which electronic signature tool would be the best fit with your existing apps, get in touch and we'll be happy to explain your best options.

Key Person Insurance: Could your business survive losing one of its key people?

Sun, 08 Oct 2017 22:00:00 GMT

As much as you try to share skills, knowledge and information in your company, you probably have some people who are key to your business' success.

It might be a Director or the CEO, whose vision made it a success in the first place. It might be your star salesperson, or someone in your IT area who knows the system backwards. It could even be someone who doesn't create any revenue but does a fantastic job of boosting your company's reputation or perhaps running your admin and back office systems.

Now, what would happen if you suddenly lost one of those key people?

And if you think it would never happen because they love your business so much, think again. Sure they may not resign. But they might decide to start a family and want to leave the workforce. Or what if they suffered a major illness or injury, or even passed away?

In addition to the obvious issue of lost productivity and their contribution to the business, you also have to spend time (and money) to recruit and train a replacement. And losing such a key person in your company could even affect your reputation and credit standing.

Could your business survive until you find someone who can fill their shoes?

Key Person Insurance can help you get back on your feet

Key Person Insurance can give you the financial support you need while you're getting back on your feet. It can offset both your costs (e.g. hiring temporary help or recruiting and training a replacement) and your losses (e.g. not being able to do as much business until they finish their training).

It can also help with:

And you can take out a policy (which is usually tax-deductible) on anyone you feel is a key person in your company.

How much should I insure them for?

You can set the policy amount to be anything from $500,000 to $10 million. Of course, the amount you specify will depend on the size of your company and the person you're insuring.

The amount can be calculated in a few ways, including:

Protecting your partners (and their partners) with a Buy/Sell agreement

What if the key person happens to be your partner in the company? Yes, the Key Person Insurance may well cover the finances involved in buying your partner's shares from their family. But do you really want to be negotiating a deal at such an emotionally trying time?

Having a Buy/Sell Agreement in place can save everyone from a lot of anguish. It's a legally binding agreement that determines what will happen to each stakeholder's shares if they suffer a major illness or injury, or pass away.

It has two parts:

How do I arrange Key Person Insurance?

Before you take out Key Person Insurance you should first speak with your business advisor about the overall approach and then get into the details with an insurance broker. You need to make sure you get the cover you need without paying for the cover you don't need. We can guide you in this area.

After all, it may well be the key to your company's survival.

Password manager apps: Why you could be a “hacker’s dream” without one

Wed, 30 Aug 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Cloud computing and web-based apps have undoubtedly improved business efficiency. But once you and your team start using various online apps, one aspect quickly becomes inefficient (not to mention downright annoying): having to repeatedly enter usernames and passwords to log in.

It's bad enough having to enter a multitude of login credentials when you first open the apps each morning. But many apps automatically log you out if you haven't been using them for a few minutes. And while it's a nice security feature, it means you have to repeat the entire process whenever you take a breather.

Wouldn't it be great if a 'master control' app could automatically enter your username and password whenever an app asked for them? Of course, you'd have to log into the master control app first, and that login process would have to be very secure. But just imagine how much time and frustration it could save.

The good news is that, to quote an all-too-familiar phrase, "There's an app for that". In fact, there are quite a few password manager apps available.

And you really should be using one.

Why you shouldn't enter your passwords any other way

"But I don't need a password manager app," you say. "I use the same username and password for all my logins, so it's pretty easy to remember."

Congratulations. You have become what's known in the online world as "a hacker's dream".

Why? Because once a hacker figures out your username and password on one site, they can use the same username and password to access every other site you use. And before you assume they couldn't possibly know the other online sites you use, they can run a program that tries your username and password on hundreds-if not thousands-of sites in a matter of minutes. It's not a question of whether they'll find those other sites. It's only a question of when .

"But it's more convenient doing it this way," you might say.

Sure it is. For now. But you may think differently when every online system you use-online banking, email, social media, etc.-has been compromised.

Even if you discover the security breach straight away, it can still take months-if not years-to recover. You could lose your savings, your business, or even your identity.

But there's no point creating different usernames and passwords for each site if you're just going to put them on sticky notes. Whether it's a physical one on your whiteboard or an electronic one in your computer, they're still incredibly easy to find and use without your knowledge.

How about storing them in a note-taking app such as Evernote or OneNote? Without any form of encryption, these apps aren't much better than the sticky note app on your computer.

And for goodness sake, don't email them to yourself so you can use a keyword search to find them. Not only will they be stored without any encryption, your email can easily be intercepted and read.

So, unless you have a perfect memory and can type incredibly fast, the only real solution to having unique, secure passwords is to use a password manager app.

Here are six reasons you should use a password manager app .

These random, nonsensical passwords are far more secure than the names of your pets, family members, favourite movie or other commonly used passwords . And the chances of hackers guessing your password, even with the software they use to generate them automatically, is extremely low.

All you need to do is choose a strong password for your password manager.

Which password manager should you choose?

As mentioned earlier, there are quite a few password manager apps and services now available. And while their features, quality of security provided and ease of use may vary, they all offer similar benefits.

Some of the more popular password managers include:

The best choice for business use is a password manager such as LastPass Enterprise, which lets you set up users and teams based on your own organisation. You can then grant and revoke login access to those users and teams as necessary.

LastPass also has a Free plan (for use on one device) and a Premium plan that syncs your login details across all your devices.

And of course, you can use password managers for your own personal logins as well. You'll get the same benefits as you do in your business, but at a fraction of the cost. (Most password manager services offer free 'personal' accounts.)

In either case, you'll need to spend a bit of time setting everything up. But here are five ways a password manager will save you time in the long run.

How to get started with a password manager

If you love evaluating apps and technology, check out the apps mentioned earlier and see which one best fits your needs.

But if you want to start using a password manager straight away, choose LastPass. It lets you have a Free or Premium plan for your personal accounts and an Enterprise plan for your business. You can even link your personal and business LastPass accounts so all your logins are in the your own LastPass view. This saves you having to log in and out of separate LastPass accounts whenever you need to switch from a business-related web app to a personal one.

And don't worry. Even when you link your personal and business LastPass accounts, team members using your LastPass Enterprise account still won't be able to see or access your personal logins.

It really is the perfect combination.

4 apps to stop late payments affecting your business’ cash flow

Mon, 17 Jul 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Debtors and late-payers: the bane of every business owner.

No matter how profitable your business is, it won't survive without good cash flow. If you can't pay your bills on time, you may end up trading while insolvent. And that's not just bad business-that's illegal.

But to do that, you need your clients to pay their bills on time. And that's something you can't always rely on. Sometimes they forget. Sometimes they don't have the money. And sometimes they just decide they don't want to.

Unfortunately, you don't get out of paying your bills simply because they haven't paid theirs. So you have no choice but to:

Depending on how many clients you need to contact, that could take a while. And that's assuming they pay up the first time you ask. What if you have to remind them several times? It can add up to a lot of time-time you'd be far better off spending on your business.

Fortunately, you can now use software to automate the entire process. Once you link it to your accounting system it will automatically search for any late-paying customers and send them a personalised reminder about their overdue payment.

Here are some of the apps currently available.

Chaser sends your debtors reminder emails that look like personal emails from you. Merge fields in your email templates bring in information such as the customer name, invoice number and amount.

You can create differently worded templates for use with different customers so that the wording is appropriate for each relationship. You could choose to have formal wording with some customers, and more informal wording for those customers you have a closer relationship with.

You can select which days of the week to send out your debtor reminder emails and if a customer has more than one outstanding invoice, the system is smart enough to include mention of each invoice in the one email, rather than send one email per invoice.

Another time-saving feature is that Chaser will attach a PDF copy of the invoice(s) to the reminder email. That saves you time and speeds up payments because your customers don't have to go searching for invoices.

Chaser also makes it easy to see the 'chasing conversation'-the history of payment reminder emails-without you having to search through your inbox to work out what happened with a particular invoice. All invoice and payment-related information is displayed on the one screen.

Chaser works with Xero accounting software.

Debtor Daddy

Debtor Daddy lets you set up a series of reminder emails to automatically send to customers both before and after the due date.

You can base your reminders on a number of different (debt) "collector" personas ("Audrey adds humour to her reminders", "Harry is no frills, no nonsense, straight up and down", etc.), and then tailor the wording of the emails used by each collector. You can then assign different collectors to different customers which not only customises the wording of the emails, but also the number and timing of reminder emails.

Debtor Daddy makes it easy to filter your outstanding invoices on how overdue they are, and from the Hit List view you can action further communication, change Collectors, see what reminders have gone out and what's due to go out tomorrow, this week and so on.

Debtor Daddy works with Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks.

ezyCollect

If you'd like to send emails and SMS reminders to late-paying customers, then check out ezyCollect . It also lets you set up postal and telephone reminders, send a pre-approved legal letter and escalate the debt to a collection agency. You can even perform credit checks.

It includes a schedule (and adds the phone calls you need to make to customers), graphs and reports to see how much debt you've managed to recover.

ezyCollect works with Xero and MYOB.

Late Fee Manager

If your Terms and Conditions include fees or interest charges for late payment, Late Fee Manager might be just what you need. As well as sending reminders to late-paying customers, it will calculate and automatically apply to the original invoice any late fees or interest charges.

Late Fee Manager works with Xero and QuickBooks.

This is by no means a complete list of what's available. There are plenty of others, including Web Ninja Collect , InvoiceSherpa , xocashflow and Debtze . And they all offer a free trial, so you can try them all and decide which one will work best for your business.

To save you time in this process, we can advise you on which debtor management app is likely to be the best fit for your business based on the accounting app you are already using, or are considering switching to. Get in touch with us and we'll make a time to sit down with you to run through your best options in this area.

You can't afford to have late-paying customers putting your business' cash flow at risk. And now, thanks to these software packages, you won't need to.

Taking Cover: 5 Types of Business Insurance You Should Consider

Sun, 18 Jun 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Whoever said, "You can never have too much insurance" obviously never had to pay the premiums. Still, there's no denying the fact you need it to protect your business and its assets.

So you probably have building and contents, public liability and public indemnity insurance. But what else should you get cover for? What else can you get cover for?

The answer to the first question really depends on the type of business you own. As for what you can get cover for, you may be surprised.

Here are five types of insurance every business should consider:

The easy way to make online superannuation contributions

Mon, 29 May 2017 23:00:00 GMT

If you're still paying your employees' super with bank transfers (or worse still, cheques), then you need to change the way you do things-and fast.

From 31 October 2015, if you made super contributions for 20 or more employees you had to start making those payments online.

That means you can no longer pay by cheque (yes, some super funds insisted on being paid that way). And chances are a bank transfer won't cut it either because you'll also need to include other details such as the employee's name, Tax File Number and Super Fund member number.

Help the government help you

Why is the government making you do this? Well, the government is acutely aware that people aren't putting enough money away for their retirement.

At one point the magic superannuation figure to retire on comfortably was one million dollars. But according to a recent Deloitte report , that figure is now $1.58 million for men and $1.76 million for women. (Women live longer, so they have to save more.)

So as part of their plan to streamline superannuation payments , the government wants 20-to-40-year-old employees to " become more educated and proactive with their super investments " (to quote Richard Puffe).

The bottom line? If you're not using an electronic accounting system, it's time to make the switch.

Make things easier for yourself with Xero

Naturally, the accounting systems that will handle the change best are those that already do everything online. And few systems do that better than Xero.

Xero operates completely in the cloud, and already works with feeds from banks and other financial institutions. So it's easy for Xero to also work with superannuation funds.

How easy? Here's a video showing how to easily make superannuation contributions for employees using Xero .

And this feature is being included in all Xero Premium plans .

Get ready to ride the SuperStream

The deadline for moving to online superannuation contributions has been and gone. And if that means you need to move to an electronic accounting system, it's time to get that process moving.

Talk to us and we can guide you on converting across to Xero. Streamlined payment of your employees' superannuation contributions will be just one of many benefits you'll enjoy once you're using Xero.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst: Why a business succession plan is essential

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 23:00:00 GMT

While everyone wants their businesses to be successful and operate for a long time, you may not necessarily want to remain at the helm.

At some point, you may want to pass the business on to your children, or to someone else in the company. You may want to sell your share to your business partner. Or you may want to sell the business to another person or company, and retire on the proceeds.

Ideally, you will choose the timing and method of your exit from the business. However, the way life unfolds sometimes, business owners do not always have a choice in what happens, or when.

For example, what would happen if you or your business partner suddenly passed away or became incapacitated?

That's a stressful enough time for everyone as it is, without having the business (and the financial well-being of the families involved) suffer as a consequence.

To ensure the future of your business, and to cater for loved ones, you need to plan for a range of possible exit scenarios.

This is what's known a Business Succession Plan.

Every business needs a succession plan, just as every person needs a professionally prepared Will and Estate Plan.

Horror stories happen. Don't be one of them.

You may not think you need a succession plan. After all, you may have children old enough to take over the reins. Or perhaps you have people in your company who'd love to run the business.

But without a business succession plan, anything could happen.

Imagine this scenario...

A business with two partners or shareholders suddenly experiences the loss of one of the partners in a car accident. Without a succession plan in place, the surviving partner automatically goes into business with the deceased partner's spouse. They might have had a great relationship on a personal basis, but running a business together and making financial decisions changes the nature of the relationship, instantly. The partners may not agree on the direction of the business, the growth plans for the business, or on how much various people in the business should be paid.

It's a recipe for conflict.

Or perhaps the surviving spouse wants nothing to do with the business and wants to be bought out of the business as soon as possible.

But what if the surviving business partner does not have the available funds to buy the remaining share in the business, despite being offered a very reasonable price.

They're stuck. The business--and their stress levels--will suffer.

So, what can you do to avoid such horror stories?

Passing on the baton

So who will be your successor? Will it be someone in your family? A senior employee of your company? Another business owner?

While you may want to "keep it in the family", it might not be such a good idea with research showing that more than 65% of family businesses fail in the hands of the second generation and another 20% fail when the business passes to the third generation.

Your successor needs two things above anything else: a passion for the business and the skills to run it. And while you can bring them on board early to learn the skills, passion is something you can't create for them. They either have it or they don't.

If it turns out someone in your family is passionate about the business, and they have the skills needed to run it (or can learn them), then great. But if that's not the case, you may be better off handing the baton on to someone else.

Plan early, plan often

So when should you create your business succession plan? According to Craig West, chief executive and president of the Australian chapter of the Exit Planning Institute, you should have started about two years ago.

In an interview with Startup Smart , West says it can take up to two years to get a business ready for sale, and to find the right buyer.

"It takes 18 months to two years to exit successfully. If you do it quicker, you'll leave money on the table," he says.

So if you don't have a succession plan in place for your business, you need to get started now. (If you're not sure how to get started, get in touch so we can help.)

And like nearly all business documents, a succession plan needs to be kept up-to-date. Families grow and mature, employees come and go, and your plan needs to take all of that into account. There's no point in planning to appoint a son who's lost interest in the business, or a senior employee who has since left the business. Review your plan annually.

But first things first… you need to document your Business Succession Plan.

We can guide you in developing an effective succession plan and also ensure you have insurances in place that, for example, can fund the purchase of a deceased or incapacitated partner's share in a business.

A well thought out and properly funded (insured) Business Succession Plan will make sure the business can continue to operate as smoothly as possible, and conflicts between surviving business partners and spouses, avoided.

You've worked hard to build your business. Don't let it all fall apart once you move on.

Can't afford to start your new business? Why not crowdfund it?

Mon, 20 Mar 2017 22:00:00 GMT

So you've got a great idea for your business, but you don't have the funds right now to get it off the ground.

You could try applying for a government grant, but it's often a long and arduous bureaucratic process of form filling and there are of course no guarantees you'll get the money. Some governments also offer tax incentives for research and development, but usually you need to spend the money before you can get it back.

And there are private investors-'business angels'-too, if you have the contacts and know how to structure and negotiate a good deal that you won't regret in the years to come.

'Bootstrapping' is the most common way that businesses fund their startup phase. This is where entrepreneurs fund the startup business out of their own savings and even from their credit card limits! High risk, but the bootstrapping advantage is that the founders don't have to give away equity or control to other investors.

The downside is that bootstrapping can lead to under-capitalisation of the business, which can starve it of the cash the business needs to fund its growth.

You have to admire the entrepreneurial spirit. Small business is the engine room of the economy.

But what if you're not able to tap into government grants, private investors or your don't have sufficient funds for your startup idea?

Fortunately, it's not a dead-end. There's another relatively new way for your business to get the money it needs: crowdfunding.

With a little help from my friends

Crowdfunding is defined as the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via a web-based independent crowdsourcing platform.

Compared with other ways of raising money through multiple smaller investors-such as by issuing a prospectus or other traditionally regulated disclosure documents, which could also extend to completing the complex and expensive Initial Public Offering (IPO) process-crowdfunding is a relatively simple, easy and inexpensive process.

Crowdfunding is essentially a process of explaining (selling the idea of!) a proposed venture or project, and then asking for pledges from the public. In return, those who pledge receive rewards. These rewards can include early access to the product or service, or copies of the proposed book, album or movie, or (depending on the crowdfunding platform used) even equity in your company .

You just need to offer something that motivates people to help fund your crowdfunding campaign.

Two crowdfunding models to choose from

When you set up your crowdfunding campaign, you specify:

What happens at the end of that time period depends on the funding model you've chosen.

With the 'all-or-nothing' model (used by crowdfunding sites such as Pozible and Kickstarter ), if you don't reach your target then nothing happens. You don't get any money, and your backers don't get any rewards.

If your campaign is successful, then you get the money (less the fees charged by the crowdfunding site), and the backers get their rewards.

With the 'flexible' model (used by Indiegogo ), you get to keep the money you raise whether your campaign is successful or not. However, you may be charged higher fees if you don't reach your target. (You may also be legally obligated to give rewards to anyone who has given you money for your campaign. Be sure to study the crowdfunding platform's terms and conditions before you start your campaign.)

How much are you willing to reveal?

The secret to a successful crowdfunding campaign is giving people a compelling reason to back it. And according to Johanna Baker-Dowell of Strawberry Communications , that means telling your story.

"Speak from the heart and help your supporters understand why the project is important to you and why they should pledge to it. Use words, videos, photos and whatever else you can think of to share your story."

There's a fine line between telling your story and giving away your intellectual property. So when you're telling your story, make sure you don't reveal too much.

Thanks to the internet and crowdfunding platforms, entrepreneurs now have more options and a much better chance to get the funding needed for their startups.

The "Ask and you shall receive" principle might just hold true? It's certainly a matter of, "Ask and you shall find out!"

If you'd like to bounce any of your business startup ideas off us, or ask us about the various funding strategies you have available to you, get in touch and we'll make a time to have a chat about it over a coffee.

Your business, government grants and tax incentives. Are you cashing in?

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 22:00:00 GMT

Thomas Edison once said that "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration".

Unfortunately, going from that inspirational idea to the finished product takes a lot more than hard work. Just like Edison, you also need to invest in a lot of research and development.

And R&D doesn't come cheap.

Fortunately the Federal Government helps business in two ways: Grants and Tax Incentives.

Government Grants - What's available to you?

You might be surprised to find out just how many different government grants and assistance programs are on offer. The Federal Government's Grant Finder page helps you work out the grants your business may be eligible for. Click Business and Industry on the left of the screen and you'll see pages of grants listed. Depending on your type of business, different grants might be applicable.

The Grants & Assistance Finder on business.gov.au has a more detailed listing of grants and assistance programs. You can filter on State or Territory and Type of Grant or Assistance.

Get in touch with us if you'd like us to shortcut the process for you, and we'll let you know which grants are worth applying for in your situation.

Keep in mind there's no guarantee a grant application will be successful. That's one reason the next type of assistance is so appealing…

The R&D Tax Incentive - Are you eligible?

Innovate, and you reduce your tax. That's the idea behind the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive. It provides R&D tax offsets to encourage businesses to innovate and engage in R&D.

Businesses conducting R&D may be eligible for:

The program is jointly administered by AusIndustry and the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

To register for the tax incentive you must lodge your application within 10 months of your company's income year.

Each year you must apply to register for the R&D Tax Incentive. This is a self-assessment process for companies using the R&D Tax Incentive Online Eligibility Tool . This will give your company an indication of its eligibility.

It's important that your company keeps adequate records throughout the year to show it carried out eligible activities in incurring the claimed expenditure.

If you're eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive but not applying for it, you're leaving cash on the table. We can help you make sure you tick all the relevant boxes so you don't miss out.

If the government is offering your business financial assistance through tax breaks, take them!

A little perspiration will be worth it

Remember Edison's words. The 'perspiration factor' can't be avoided. You need to apply for the grants and tax incentives, but the effort can be well worth it. And we'll share the load with you.

Drop us a line and we'll make a time to catch up and have a chat about your eligibility and the next steps required.

Getting things done: A skill that should be taught in schools

Wed, 01 Feb 2017 22:00:00 GMT

Success in business requires a number of essential ingredients. A sound strategy. A robust business model. Effective planning. Strong financial control and bookkeeping. A good team. Great systems. Measurement. Focus.

But you know what? Even all those elements are not enough without this skill: Execution .

Call it "Getting Things Done", making things happen, the action habit, extreme focus… call it what you like, for many entrepreneurs it's what separates mediocre from magic . It's the difference between a business that plods along from one year to the next, and one that grows, evolves, impresses, enriches.

Execution is a skill . Sadly, we're not taught it at school. (Gee, but we all use those good ol' quadratic equations each day!) The good news is that, as adults, we can go out and find the information and principles of effective execution, then apply them. Daily.

To fast track you on your journey towards becoming brilliant at execution, here are some books that we highly recommend that you not only read, but you study, practice, live by:

Read (or listen) to those books, and your mind will be permanently re-wired. Obstacles and frustrations will become Projects, Tasks, or Wildly Important Goals. And you'll have a pragmatic framework for achievement and creating the change you want in your business.

And in your life. It's powerful stuff.

We'd love to hear of your favourite books on this 'execution' topic . After you read (or if you have already read) any of the books above, please share with us the key principles and practices that have made the biggest difference to you in terms of "getting things done" and executing your ideas.

Lead vs Lag Indicators: Why you won’t win in business while looking at the scoreboard

Wed, 14 Dec 2016 22:00:00 GMT

The principles behind winning in business and winning in sport are similar in many ways.

Take tennis, for example. If you've ever watched a match on television, you'll know that along with all the hitting, running and grunting there are a lot of numbers involved.

And we're not just talking about the score here. Each player's performance can be measured in other ways-percentage of first serves in, points won at the net, number of unforced errors on forehand versus backhand, and so on.

But while the statisticians may love all those details, everyone else is just interested in the score, right?

You might not be interested. But the players certainly are.

Admittedly they may not know the percentages down to the decimal place. But they'll know if they're making too many mistakes at the net or wasting their first serves. And they'll change their game accordingly-by staying at the baseline or slowing down their first serves a bit-to fix the problem.

Yes, the score is important. After all, the players obviously want to win. But the only way the players can actually change their winning percentage is to change how they play.

And it's the same when you're a business owner. You business may actually have several scores-number of sales, profit made, etc. But while they're a great way to keep track of how your business is doing, you can't do much about them once they're available.

They are-quite literally-history.

They're what we call "lag indicators" (or sometimes "results KPIs"). And apart from putting them in your reports and sharing them with your stakeholders, there's not much else you can do with them. They're done.

What you should be more interested in are the things you can change. These are what we call "lead indicators" (or sometimes "activity KPIs"), and can lead to improved results for your lag indicators (your score).

For example, if you want to increase the number of sales your business makes, you might want to measure things such as:

And for profits, you might want to measure:

Once you know what your lead indicators are, you can tweak them to see how much they affect your lag indicators.

For example… Improve your site's SEO to improve website traffic. Increase the number of sales calls you make each month. Give your existing customers an incentive to tell their friends about your business. Look for efficiencies in your production line so you can produce your items more quickly.

The beauty of focusing on your lead indicators is that when you improve them, then your lag indicators-the scoreboard-will improve as a natural flow-on effect.

And lead indicators are things you can control this month. This week. Today. With measurement of your performance in these areas you can refine your activities and feel a greater sense of control in 'improving the scoreboard'.

Lead and lag indicators are both vital measures of how your business is doing. But by looking after the lead indicators you'll be keeping your eye on the ball when it really matters, rather than looking at the scoreboard of what has already happened.

Ask yourself, what lead indicators are you focusing on improving this month? How are you looking at that data? Do you have real-time dashboards and weekly or even daily reports on these lead indicators?

If not, we should talk . We can set up lead indicator tracking for you which is the surest way we know to improve your business' scoreboard.

Unmasking liability: 6 signs that contractor is really your employee

Sun, 30 Oct 2016 22:00:00 GMT

In a lot of situations, hiring a contractor to get a particular job done makes perfect sense. It may require expertise or skills none of your employees has. You may only need someone for a short timeframe to clear a backlog of work. Or maybe you just want to avoid having to go through a formal recruitment process.

But be careful. Even though you hired them as a contractor, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) may actually see them as an employee. And the penalties for disguising an employee as an independent contractor (known as "sham contracting") can be up to $51,000 per instance.

So how can you tell whether your latest recruit is an employee or a contractor? Well, here are some of the major differences between the two.

1. Where and how they work

An employee is considered part of the business, and in most cases works on the premises (unless they're telecommuting). They generally have to accept any work assigned to them, and can't ask someone else. And they have do the work themselves.

A contractor, on the other hand, runs their own business. And while they may be asked to work on the premises, they can work pretty much anywhere they can get the work done. They can also sub-contract or delegate the work to someone else.

2. How they're paid

Employees are paid regularly for the time they work, by the item or activity they complete, and/or a commission.

Contractors have a contract stating the work they'll do (but not how they'll do it), and for how much. And while they can ask for partial payment up-front, they're generally paid when that work is completed.

3. Tools of the trade

Employees are given all the tools they need to do their job, whether it's computers, earthmoving equipment or anything in between. If they need something else to do their job, the employer either buys it, reimburses them or gives them an allowance.

A contractor will have their own set of tools, which they use to perform the work they've been asked to do. If they feel they need another tool, either to complete the job or to do it more efficiently, they use their own money to purchase it.

4. The risk factor

Employees aren't under any financial risk while they're working. They don't make a profit or a loss--the company does.

But contractors can make a profit or a loss on every job they do. If they finish the job quickly, they'll still be paid the same amount than if they took their time. But if the job takes longer, or they have to put in more work because the job was done poorly, they could well make a loss.

5. Entitlements

Employees are entitled to receive superannuation contributions from their employer, which gets paid into a nominated superannuation fund. They are also entitled to paid leave (e.g. annual leave, personal/carer's leave, long service leave), or a loading in lieu of leave entitlements if they're casual employees.

Contractors are generally responsible for paying their own superannuation, although in certain situations they may be entitled to receive superannuation contributions. And they don't receive any paid leave.

6. Tax

Employees have tax deducted from their pay by their employer, whereas contractors pay their own tax (including GST) directly to the ATO.

Of course, the distinction between employee and contractor isn't always so cut-and-dried. A contractor may have all of their equipment supplied, or get paid every fortnight. They may even receive superannuation contributions.

Fortunately the ATO has come up with an Employee/Contractor Decision Tool to help make the distinction. By answering a series of questions, you can quickly see whether the ATO sees your latest recruit as an employee or a contractor.

Paying someone as a contractor when they're actually an employee can have serious consequences for your business. As well as the financial penalties, your business may end up with a bad reputation that drives both customers and potential employees away.

So use the ATO's decision tool and if still in doubt, get in touch and we'll help you make sure your contractor isn't really an employee.

Business Owners: Are you an entrepreneur? Or just a technician?

Mon, 17 Oct 2016 22:00:00 GMT

"You need to work on your business, not just in your business."

Made popular by The E-Myth Revisited author Michael Gerber, it's advice I'm sure you've heard dozens of times over the years (I certainly have). But despite being told over and over again, many small business owners still don't seem to truly understand what it means.

Let's look at a common scenario.

Bill is into making things out of wood. He loved woodwork at high school, and was pretty good at it too. And while Bill has a 'regular' job during the week, he also does quite well selling his wares at the weekend markets.

If fact, he's been thinking about making a career of it for a while. And after a particularly bad day at work (which ends with him giving his boss some directions about "where he should go"), Bill decides to give it a go. He finds a place to set up shop, hires someone to deal with all the paperwork and other business stuff, and soon after Good with Wood is open for business.

At last Bill is 'living the dream' and 'following his passion'. He's earning a living doing something he enjoys and gets to be his own boss, which he loves. He doesn't have to fill out timesheets or attend boring meetings. He can just spend his days sawing, hammering, planning and sanding to his heart's content.

It's perfect, right?

Unfortunately, no.

Bill's situation is a classic example of what Gerber calls 'an entrepreneurial seizure'. Someone gets the urge to 'be their own boss' but then (to quote Gerber) "goes to work for a maniac"-themselves.

The business owner ends up spending all their time working in their business. Now in Bill's case he gets to do what he loves. But it isn't long before he realises there's a lot more to business than just making and selling products.

And unless Bill effectively deals with those other aspects of running a business as well, he won't have a business for much longer.

In his classic book The E-Myth Revisited (the 'E' stands for 'Entrepreneurial') , Gerber describes this type of person as the technician of the business. They're an expert in their craft, and love doing what they do. Unfortunately, it's often at the expense of everything else associated with running a business.

Gerber describes three archetypes when it comes to business owners:

In Bill's Good with Wood scenario:

As you can see, technicians and managers work in the business and an entrepreneur works on the business.

An entrepreneur's focus is to design a business that can work without their own personal exertion on a daily basis. Their objective is not to be 'self-employed', or to create a job for themselves. They think of a business as a machine that can be designed, built and eventually sold.

That doesn't mean all entrepreneurs aim to sell their business in the short term. Some like to build and then hold onto their 'cash cow' businesses over the long term.

Ask yourself:

If so, you're chained to your business. And it's unlikely to become one you can sell when it comes time to move on or retire.

Let's think about Bill's Good with Wood business. What happens if he's sick or injured for a month or more? Sure, some insurances will replace income and pay lump sums in certain circumstances. But what about the business? Orders need to be delivered. Customers need to be satisfied. The business would grind to a halt, and its reputation would be tarnished.

Clearly, being your business' operational linchpin isn't so great.

In fact, it's the opposite of what you want. You want a business that isn't 'key person dependent'. You don't want your business to rely on any one person- especially not you.

In Bill's case, he needs to step away from the hands-on work. (He can still do some of it, but the business shouldn't rely on him as a key technician.)

What are some of the things Bill could do?

By doing these things, Bill could get to a point where his business produces the same goods to the same quality whether he's there or not. And quite profitably.

Bill would be working on his business, not just in it. He'd be an entrepreneur.

Other things Bill could focus on to build his business include:

As you can see, the things Good with Wood needs to do as a business go far beyond 'making things out of wood'-the thing that motivated Bill to start his business in the first place.

This entrepreneurial perspective doesn't mean Bill won't get to enjoy the sweet smell of sawdust. On the contrary, by learning how to build a business-and a team-to create his products, he'll enjoy success and satisfaction on a scale far more rewarding than (to quote Gerber again) simply "doing it, doing it, doing it" as the business' main technician.

So, what about you? Are you still 'on the tools'? Or are you designing and building a business that can eventually work without you so you don't have to keep "doing it, doing it, doing it"?

If you want to build something great with your business, let's talk . Make a time to sit down with us to map out your plan for working on your business so you don't get trapped in it.

It Pays Off: 7 reasons business owners should pay themselves a salary

Sun, 25 Sep 2016 23:00:00 GMT

Think back to the days before you started your business, when you were working for a boss. Chances are you were rewarded for your hard work with a regular salary. It may not have always been the same amount, but it came through like clockwork. And for the next week, month or however often you got paid, you'd do your best to make it last.

But now you are the boss, and so you don't need to be restricted to a set salary, do you? You can simply draw money out of the business whenever you need it, right?

Wrong.

7 good reasons to pay yourself a regular salary

As a business owner, here are seven reasons why you should pay yourself a regular salary instead of treating your business like an automated teller machine.

When you first started working for someone else, you couldn't ask the boss for more money whenever you ran out. All you could do was hold out until the next time you got paid. And having a regular income also made it easier to budget for your income and expenses, manage your money, and save up for a mortgage or investment.

So why change now?

It's easy to think all the money sitting in your business' bank account is yours. After all, it's your business, isn't it?

But that money actually belongs to the business-not you personally-and is needed to cover things such as:

It doesn't matter how profitable your business is. If the money isn't there to pay the bills when they're due, your business is as risk of becoming insolvent (i.e. you have more commitments and bills to pay than cash or available funding to pay them with).

Having sufficient cash flow is vital for any business. And it's far easier to manage cash flow when you have predictable expenses you can plan around-including your salary.

A growing business is a cash-hungry business. As it grows you may need to move it to a larger premises or invest in new staff or technology to grow your capacity. Even if you can keep a lid on your fixed expenses, your business may require an increase in variable inputs such as materials.

And all this ties up cash.

So whatever your growth plans, you'll need enough money in reserve to fund them. And that's on top of the money you need to keep the business running at its current level.

As you can see, knowing exactly what cash is flowing in and out of your business, and saving as much of your profits as you can to build up your cash reserves, is important for a growing business.

But if you keep 'raiding the till' whenever you're short of cash, you'll never know how much cash you have in reserve, or when you have enough funds to initiate the next stage in your growth plans.

The lifestyle we lead is largely dictated by the amount of money we have readily available. So if your business does particularly well one week and the bank balance is up, you might be tempted to draw a little extra money and spend it on dinner at a fancy restaurant, a weekend away, a new 'toy' or some other indulgence.

It's okay to spend money in these ways if it's a bonus for achieving a certain result or milestone in your business. But these bonuses should still be within the planned and documented salary and remuneration package the business pays you.

If you're not disciplined in this area, it doesn't take long for these indulgences to become part of what you consider a 'normal' part of your lifestyle, and so you start drawing extra cash on a regular basis.

And that's not good for the health of your business.

By living off a regular salary (and nothing more) instead, you'll learn to live happily within your means, which is a key to building wealth.

Governments' tax departments are used to people being paid a regular salary. It's generally how things work. And by giving yourself a regular salary, you'll be seen as just another salary earner and be more likely to fly under the radar.

If, on the other hand, you start drawing large amounts from your business at irregular intervals, you may raise a few eyebrows with the governments' tax auditors. And that's never a good thing.

When wage and salary earners are paid, the employer must withhold and set aside a portion of their pay as tax, which is periodically paid to the government on the employees' behalf.

When you withdraw money from your business, it's not 'free money' (i.e. tax-free). These amounts need to be properly accounted for as:

Your actions here could be building up a potential debt that will need to be paid at some point. And that debt could lead to severe cash flow problems down the track, especially when it comes time to sell the business.

You're much better off accounting for, setting aside and paying taxes as they fall due. It will not only help your business, but also the quality of your sleep.

When it comes to assessing a person's ability to service a potential loan, banks much prefer consistently earning wage and salary earners to sporadically earning self-employed business owners.

The bank wants to know you can comfortably service the loan each month, and by paying yourself a regular salary you'll have the payslips and bank statements to show a steady cash flow history.

So the sooner you set this up in your business, the better.

A successful business is a great way to create creation and accumulate wealth. But don't disadvantage yourself by presenting a poor case to the banks when applying for a mortgage or other type of loan.

How much should you pay yourself?

As you can see, there are many good reasons to pay yourself a regular salary instead of continually raiding the till. The question is, how much should you pay yourself?

That's a question we can help you answer.

Obviously you need to pay yourself enough money to cover your basic living and lifestyle requirements. The last thing you want is to be stressing about your personal finances, especially when you're trying to make business decisions.

But it's not a good idea to pay yourself too much in salary-even if the business can easily afford the cash flow. Depending on your business structure, there are probably more tax-effective ways to receive income from your business, such as dividends.

Every business and person's situation is different in this regard, so it's important to get one-on-one advice in this area. Don't view this article as personal advice to you-it's not . We're simply opening your eyes to the many benefits of paying yourself a consistent salary as a business owner.

To work out the right amount to pay yourself regularly, you'll need to consider things such as:

As you can see, it makes sense to get professional advice on calculating your salary as a business owner. We'll help you work it out by taking into account your current business and personal situation. We'll also set up payroll systems to automatically create and distribute the necessary tax-related paperwork each pay period.

You enjoy being your own boss.

Now it's time to also enjoy being your own employee.

How to pay less tax, boost your super and ease into retirement

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 23:00:00 GMT

Two things first up: (1) If you want to (or have to) work past the age of 55, you need to read this article; or (2) If you know someone else who that applies to, please forward them this article or a link to it.

They'll thank you for it.

There are now ways you can ease into retirement, tap into your super before you fully retire, save tax and potentially boost your super as you do it.

Before this legislation came in, people had to fully retire and leave the workforce before they could access their super. These days, the 'cold turkey' approach to retirement where all of a sudden one Monday you're fully retired, is far less common.

It makes sense, for many, to instead gradually transition to retirement.

There are various reasons people may want to continue working past the age of 55, including:

So continuing to work at least part-time past the age of 55 makes sense for many people.

It also makes sense for our economy. With the ageing population and fewer people in the traditional working years age bracket, the government has introduced various legislation to encourage people to stay active in the workforce.

One of these measures is called Transition To Retirement (TTR).

TTR allows you to wind back your work hours and reduce your income from that source, but then offset that with an income stream from your super.

The purpose of this article is not to give advice as such-as there are a number of variables to consider for each person's circumstance, so you will need to sit down with your advisor here to discuss TTR further-but rather to make you aware of the main considerations so you can determine if you qualify.

You can use a TTR pension in one of two ways:

Either way, that's a nice deal.

People who are unaware that they can access a TTR pension while they continue to work past age 55 stand to pay many thousands of dollars of tax needlessly .

Here's how you can avoid that happening to you or your loved ones…

Firstly, some terminology: Your 'age pension age' differs from what's called your 'super preservation age'. The latter is age after which you're allowed to access your super.

You can use this ASIC Super and pension age calculator to work out your preservation age. Just enter your month and year of birth and then click the Female or Male button.

Do that now, then continue…

Here's how to determine if you can use a Transition To Retirement pension:

If you can tick all those boxes, you can withdraw 4% to 10% of your super each financial year.

Note that you cannot withdraw money as a lump sum.

Also note that not all super funds allow you to do this, and if that's the case with your fund(s), you might need to change super funds if you want to take advantage of the TTR measures. We can help with that process.

So if all three of those above points apply to you, you should contact us as soon as possible to make a time to go through the specifics of your circumstances, your super fund's TTR options and a number of other very important details. We'll make it easy for you and will make the paperwork happen.

There's more we could share with you here about TTR, but rather than burden you with all those details, we figure that's what you want us to handle for you!

TTR is one of the smartest retirement strategies available. It makes sense to take advantage of it if you can.

Managing Receipts: How Small Businesses are Banishing Bookkeeping Boredom

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 23:00:00 GMT

They say only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. For a lot of people, there's also a third certainty in life: the pain of keeping track of every receipt when it's time to do the taxes.

Thankfully there are now some pretty cool apps out there that can take the pain out of tracking your receipts. Read on to see a list of the top four apps below.

Traditional bookkeeping is dead. Live bank feeds killed it.

Automatic vs Automagic

Thankfully not.

Receipt-keeping add-on apps such as Receipt Bank or Shoeboxed can help by 'automagically' pushing your receipts from their software into Xero.

Bookkeeping on cruise control

The top two reasons for using a receipt-keeping add-on are:

Here a four popular apps for you to consider integrating with your accounting software:

If you're falling asleep behind the bookkeeping wheel because of boring manual data entry, it's time we had a chat about how paperless receipt-keeping solution can shift you into cruise control.

Get in touch to make a time for us to have a chat about your receipt handling systems. If we do it over a coffee, it'll be our shout. (And we'll scan the receipt!)

Why modern business means cloud-based business

Mon, 30 May 2016 23:00:00 GMT

"The cloud" is a phrase that means something very different these days, due to the increasing use of cloud computing. But what exactly is cloud computing? And is it a good option for small businesses?

First, a quick definition. Without getting lost in 'geekspeak', cloud computing simply means both the software apps you use and your data are stored on remote servers on the Internet, rather than 'locally' on your computer's hard drive or your own server(s).

That idea-of the data not physically being in the same place as you-used to sound scary to many. What about security? What about the risk of losing your data? Surely it's best to have your data on a computer you can see and touch on your own premises?

Well, that's out-dated thinking these days.

Counter-intuitively, your data is likely to be more secure when stored in a cloud app, compared with storing it yourself on your own computer or server on your premises.

Why is that?

Security

Your own IT security is likely to be far less robust than that of a cloud app provider. If you access the Internet and use email, then you're vulnerable even if you don't use any cloud-based apps. Hackers can access the data on your computer or local network simply due to the fact that you have Internet access. It's like a door. And they often know how to pick the lock.

Reputable cloud app providers, on the other hand, use solid security measures such as SSL certificates that support-sorry, some geekspeak coming up-256-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. This is the same level of encryption used by online banks.

Let's face it: This bank-grade security protocol is likely to be far more secure than your own computer and IT security protocols.

Theft

Another advantage of having your apps and data stored "in the cloud" is that if your computer, server, smartphone, tablet or other device you use is lost or stolen, your data is safe because it's not on the device. It's in the cloud, stored securely behind encrypted passwords.

And your data is far more valuable than hardware. Hardware is easily replaced. Data is not.

Disaster

This same "you can relax because your data is in the cloud" factor also applies to disasters such as flood and fire. A business using cloud-based computing could have its premises burn to the ground overnight and continue "business as usual" from another location as long as they had access to the Internet. (At least from a customer, financial, accounting, human resources/personnel and other business data perspective. Clearly it does not apply to physical operational aspects of a business.)

Hardware

Computer hard drives are like car engines. It's not a question of if they will ever break down, but rather when they will break down. That's why we all diligently do daily data backups, right? And we all take these backups off-site each day, don't we? And we all do weekly tests where we restore the backups to ensure the backups are working as intended?

No? Really? That's bad. Shame on you.

And yet it's precisely what most small businesses fail to do.

That's another great aspect of cloud computing. No more data backups to do. The cloud app providers back up your data automatically and they simultaneously store your data in multiple locations around the globe. This means that if one of their buildings was subject to, for example, a catastrophic earthquake, your data would be safe because it is also stored in different cities, on different continents.

But even if technology got to a point where computer hard drives never failed, there's one thing they always do, eventually: fill up. They run out of space.

And that's a major inconvenience with the old-school approach of storing data locally rather than in the cloud: You have to (or you have to pay IT providers to) move data across to new hard drives or servers, and reinstall the various apps and databases. It's an expense and a disruption.

With cloud computing you can kiss that inconvenience goodbye.

Software

For many small businesses, when they fully adopt cloud computing they can reach the "no IT person required" stage. By that, we mean you won't need an IT contractor to come on site to upgrade servers, maintain databases, fix software conflicts and so on, all of which is the norm when running old-school desktop apps and local servers.

Why is that?

With cloud-based apps there is no software to install. No software updates or "patches" to install. You just log in to each app and it's always up to date. Nice.

The one exception

There is one exception here of course. If your business is in a region where you do not have reasonable Internet speed (e.g. 5 Mbps or more) with reliable connections, then cloud computing is not for you. Not yet.

Technology continues to evolve in this area, and it won't be long until every business on the planet has Internet speeds that support cloud computing.

Here's where cloud computing gets exciting…

While the security, risk and convenience aspects of cloud computing are worthwhile, they are not the most exciting and compelling benefits of cloud computing to a business owner.

Let's look at some of the "wow" aspects of cloud computing.

Efficiency via Data Flows

Every business wants to be more efficient. It saves money. Saves time. And it allows you to provide even better service.

By adopting cloud computing and building an "app ecosystem" for your business you can eliminate a number of inefficiencies where data is being manually re-entered into multiple systems.

Your data can seamlessly flow from one app (area of your business) to the next without the added step of manual data entry. Manual data entry is not only an expense and an inefficiency that slows down your business processes, it introduces the opportunity for error.

Work to eliminate all manual data entry in your business. If you see anyone in your business manually entering data into an app, you should question why it's being done. Look for ways that data could automatically flow into that system from another app where the data is already stored.

App Ecosystem Example

Imagine your business has fully embraced "the cloud", and has connected various apps so data flows automatically from one app to the next.

Let's say someone then searches Google for your type of business, product or service. They find your website. They see something on your site they would like to access, such as a PDF document with helpful information in it. They enter their email address and perhaps their first name in order to receive it.

They are now in your business' marketing database and Contact Relationship Management (CRM) system. And they did the data entry.

Over the following few weeks this prospective customer or client receives email updates and e-newsletters from your business that gradually educate and build trust with the prospect simply by being helpful and sharing relevant hints and tips based on what they previously downloaded.

And this happens automatically thanks to your marketing automation app such as Infusionsoft.

The prospective customer then clicks on a link in an email and comes back to your business' website. They're ready to talk to someone, so they enter their information into the Contact Us web form. This time they enter their last name and their telephone number.

This data also flows straight into your business' CRM.

Next, you're speaking with them on the telephone and they like what they hear. They request a quote or proposal. You use a cloud-based proposal creation app (such as Proposify) that integrates with your CRM to automatically pull in the prospect's information. You click a few boxes on screen to select the product and service options to include in the proposal.

You click a button and the proposal goes to your prospect via email.

They open the email, click on the link to the electronic proposal and view it online. They decide to go ahead so they click Accept, sign it digitally (on screen) and then enter their credit card details to purchase.

This automatically adds them as a customer to your cloud-based accounting app such as Xero It also enters their credit card details into your secure eCommerce payment processing platform linked to your marketing automation app. And then your payment processor (e.g. eWAY) processes the credit card transaction.

Xero automatically emails them an invoice marked as Paid, and the live bank feed will bring in the transaction ready to be reconciled (matched) to the invoice within 24 hours. So your bookkeeping and accounting is up to date, and yet no-one in your business had to enter-let alone re-enter -any data.

You have a new customer, the money is in your bank account, and you're ready to deliver.

The purchase also triggered a fulfilment list and email instructions to your relevant team members, and added the job to your workflow (job tracking) system.

Your business is amazingly efficient. You move with velocity thanks to data flows. You amaze your prospects and customers with your service, and impress them with your tech savvy. You're saving tens of thousands of dollars a year on old school IT and administration approaches that would require a additional staff and contractors.

You're a modern, cloud-based business. And you're loving it.

Where to start with 'going to the cloud'

The process of going to the cloud starts with deciding on your cloud-based accounting and CRM systems . That's because your financial and customer data are crucial, and will receive and send data to and from your other operational areas.

Your ideal accounting system and CRM platform will depend on your type of business and the apps you already use. Building your business' app ecosystem is one of the most important areas for any business owner or entrepreneur to focus on.

That's why we love advising businesses as they move to the cloud.

If you'd like to sit down with us and have a chat about your move to the cloud, get in touch to make a time .

Going to the cloud is no longer an option for a modern, competitive business.

Business Owners: Are You Inadvertently Putting Your Family Home At Risk?

Mon, 23 May 2016 23:00:00 GMT

As a business owner, there are plenty of things you need to manage, and two of the most important of these are assets and risks .

In other words, building your wealth and protecting your wealth.

There's no point building a lot of wealth if the way you have things structured behind the scenes means that someone could take your assets away from you.

Sadly, many business owners are in precisely this predicament, without knowing it!

Following are some crucial concepts that, if you as a business owner don't understand them and put protective measures in place, your family home (and all personal assets of you and your family) are at risk of being lost if someone decided to take legal action against your business.

Consider these facts...

This presents significant risk.

So what can you do about it? ?

If you haven't looked at your asset protection structure in the past 12 months, you need to make that a priority. ?

Then this should be reviewed annually. ?

Why?

As your life changes, your asset protection strategies-your 'wall'-needs to be checked that it is still appropriate. ?

As part of this process we also ensure your wills and estate planning are in order . Remember, the standard type of will can bring down your wall. ?

In addition to wills, there are other important documents to have in order such as an enduring power of attorney. This is a legal document that can give someone else-the person you choose- the power to make personal or financial decisions on your behalf . ?

You see, it is far more common for someone to become incapacitated through accident or trauma such as stroke, than it is to suddenly die. If this happens to you, you may not be able to communicate your wishes and make decisions when you need to.

The consequences of this are dire and tragic.

Why?

It's all about choices and about ensuring you protect your family and your assets. Without sound asset protection and effective wills and estate planning in place, the legacy you have been working so hard to build may not end up in the hands of the people you intend.

The potential tragic nature of this type of scenario is why we feel so passionate about asset protection and estate planning ... because it's all about protecting the families we serve.

If you're anything like our many other clients who have these structures in place, we think you'll find the costs of 'building these walls', so to speak, relatively minor compared to the protection they give you and your family.

Your next step ... Get in touch with us to make a time to meet and discuss your options. We'll then outline the costs so you know exactly what lies ahead.

9 ways you can pay less tax (but you need to act quickly)

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:00:00 GMT

Time is running out.

If you want to take a few simple preventative measures to minimise or defer how much tax you will pay for this Financial Year, you need to do two things:

Depending on your situation, this tax planning process could save you many thousands of dollars. That's cash in your bank account, rather than the Tax Office's.

After all, why pay one more dollar in tax than you have to?

I'm sure you have better uses for your money, such as investing in your future or just investing in the here and now and rewarding yourself with a little 'lifestyle indulgence'.

Now ... to the checklist. Tick each item you think is relevant to you:

1. Review debtors . Your income tax is payable on any invoices you've issued, even if you haven't been paid. Don't pay tax on any invoice you know won't ever get paid. Review the list of those who owe you money and write off those 'bad debts' now.

2. Review your stock levels. The value of your closing stock directly affects your business profit, the higher your stock value the higher your profit and tax. Review and identify any obsolete or old stock and scrap it or re-value it to its correct value. Individual items of stock can be valued at cost, market value, or replacement value.

3. Review your business assets. Write off any obsolete asset and claim its remaining book value now. There are also new ways assets can be depreciated, called pooling, that will increase the depreciation expense. This isn't suitable for all business, but it is worthwhile reviewing.

4. Defer income - A simple tip that can defer a lot of tax for you. If your cashflow allows, you may consider deferring some of your invoices until July. If the income was not invoiced this financial year, it can't be taxed this financial year. Before taking this option we recommend having a budget to manage these months income and expenses. We can help you with that.

5. Review your invoices issued. If you have invoiced someone in advance for services you will provide in the next financial year, then you may not have earned that income in this tax year. That income may belong in the year you provide the service. Again, this is something we can work out with you when we meet for tax planning.

6. Pay the June quarter superannuation. Superannuation if paid on time is deductible when paid. Since you have to pay the 9.5% superannuation by 28 July, bring it forward a month and pay it now and claim the deduction now. Why wait a whole year to reduce your tax?

7. Using all of your superannuation cap. If maximising your superannuation is part of your retirement plan, then don't forget to contribute as much as you can into your super fund. We can guide you as to how much you can contribute. It's a missed opportunity not to do this each year.

8. Employee bonuses. Bonuses to employees are deductible when the business has committed to paying them and it is not subject to any discretion. So finalise and sign off on the bonuses to be paid and reduce this year's tax.

9. Capital Gains Tax (CGT) . Minimising your capital gains tax is often about timing. Ensure the asset has been owned for at least 12 months. If you already have a capital gain, are there any investments making a loss you can sell? Do you qualify for any capital gain rollover relief concessions? (Again, we can guide you here.) CGT is a whole topic on its own, and the potential savings are so great, it is definitely an area in which you should seek our guidance.

If you ticked any of the above items, then we need to talk. And soon.

Get in touch with us to make a time to meet and discuss your tax planning options.

How To Have A Seasoned CFO Help Guide Your Business Decisions

Wed, 16 Mar 2016 22:00:00 GMT

Larger businesses have a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on staff. But what can small and medium sized businesses do in this regard?

Clearly, larger businesses can afford an in-house CFO. But it goes beyond an affordability issue: Large, successful businesses also understand how crucial the CFO role is to their business performance.

The CFO in a business:

This is management input that all businesses require regardless of their size. But how can small and medium sized business access CFO-level input and guidance?

The answer: You out-source it. You get a part-time, out-sourced CFO until you can afford one full-time.

That's where we play a role for many of our business clients.

Our 'Your CFO' service has been developed with input from our clients to make sure it's the ideal mix of support services and affordability.

As your CFO we roll our sleeves up and work with you in management meetings throughout the year on:

As business owners we all need to measure and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). That is, the handful of numbers that really matter in running our business.

It is also important that you have a 'KPI dashboard' to display your KPI targets compared with your current KPI performance. This helps tremendously in monitoring and managing your business' performance and, ultimately, hitting your targets.

As your outsourced CFO, we will bring to each meeting that we conduct with you clear financial reports, easy-to-understand KPI information, as well as our commercial experience to interpret the information, make suggestions and help guide your decision making.

Items we'll discuss each meeting include:

By helping with your forward planning for achieving the next period's targets, and by being a sounding board for you as you strive to meet your targets, our 'Your CFO' service and support gives you a crystal clear focus for what needs to be done to achieve the goals of your business.

Your next step ... Get in touch with us for a no cost and no obligation meeting to discuss how we can work with you as your outsourced CFO. We'll outline for you what's included and what costs are involved so you can see how the service can be comfortably included in your budget.

How to ensure your family gets all your assets when you die

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 22:00:00 GMT

Let's face it: no-one likes to think of death, especially their own. It's not exactly a great conversation starter, is it? This might explain why so many people end up "dying Intestate" which means they die without a will and, as a consequence, have their assets distributed according to State law.

Sadly, the way State law distributes a deceased person's assets among family members can often be a lot different to the way a deceased person wanted their assets distributed.

It can create a lot of unnecessary stress and conflict within a family.

So unless you're living as a hermit with no contact or relationships with others, and you also don't have a single possession to your name, you need to not only think about preparing a will, but do something about it.

And you need more than just a will. You need an estate plan.

Why having a will is not enough

If you have a will in place, you may not think you even need an estate plan. After all, your will spells out your "Who gets what" instructions regarding your estate, right?

Unfortunately, the estate you've specified in your will may not include all of your assets. By law, your will doesn't include assets such as:

To control what happens to these assets, you need an estate plan.

6 more reasons to have an estate plan

A well-written estate plan can do more than just distribute all of your assets the way you want. It can also help:

Who should help you create your estate plan?

While an estate plan is a legal document, its creation shouldn't be left solely to your solicitor. You need someone who knows about you, your family and your financial situation.

And the person who generally knows the most about that is your accountant or financial planner.

However, while they may know all about your finances, they may not have the legal qualifications needed to create a watertight estate plan. So you actually need your accountant or financial planner and a solicitor.

According to One Super Fund partner Gerard Wall :

"The financial planner's job is to try and identify if the estate plan is funded properly, and if it is funded that the insurance is owned by the right person; the accountant's job is to make sure that the client's affairs are structured appropriately from a tax point of view; and the solicitor's job is to make sure the documentation is all drawn up."

Avoid leaving a trail of chaos behind you

Whether or not you have an active will in place, without an estate plan there's no telling who your assets may end up with. Avoid creating stress and conflict for your loved ones, and give yourself the peace of mind in the here-and-now that your affairs are well in order. Get in touch and we can start the ball rolling to get a solid estate plan in place for you and your family.

3 Reasons Personal Budgeting Is Brilliant, Not Boring!

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 22:00:00 GMT

3 Reasons Personal Budgeting Is Brilliant, Not Boring!

If a business owner said to you that they run their business without a budget, what would you think? You'd think they were incompetent. Or perhaps lazy? Or both?

But what do most families do?

When you think about it, a family is actually a mini business. There is income, there are expenses and there is, hopefully, something left over to invest and to enjoy.

So why don't most families operate to a budget?

After all, a personal budget helps you to see your financial direction and helps you stay (or get back!) on track. It's a great comfort.

One reason some people don't put together a budget is a feeling of overwhelm, of being too busy, of feeling like life is too complex to keep track of all that.

Well the good news is we can handhold you through the process and make it easy for you.

But before we look at the 'how' aspects, let's consider 3 more reasons why a personal budget is such an important tool to help you achieve your financial goals and dreams.

1. Most of your money is already spoken for long before you get it

The money you earn has already been promised to keep the electricity on, make the loan repayments and pay for the insurance. Most of what many people think of as budgeting is really honouring the commitments you have already have.

Now since we are all honest people and plan to pay these bills, the first step is to track these bills and see what is left over for your day-to-day living.

2. Your day-to-day living money is spread all over the place… Some of your day-to-day living money is in the bank. Some is in your purse or wallet. Some is with your partner or children if you have them.

You need a simple system that allows you to track day-to-day expenses such as fuel for your car, shopping and your discretionary spending expenses.

We suggest you don't attempt to keep track of every cent of your day-to-day living money. It's not worth the effort for the benefit you'd get out of that level of detail.

Instead, you need to identify your main day-to-day expenses and make allowance for all other minor day-to-day expenses as a total expense.

Here's a key: You need a system that is so easy to use that you keep using it . You can track these day-to-day expenses by entering them into a spreadsheet, or better yet, use a tool like Xero Personal or Pocketbook that can automatically pull in bank feeds to save you a lot of data entry.

3. The Number 1 reason people give up on their budgets is that they don't have the right attitude

It's ALL in the attitude!

Have you ever attempted to budget and given up in frustration? What is the reason your budgeting attempt failed? What will make you stick to it?

Think about this…

One of the top reasons-if not the top reason-so many people give up at budgeting is attitude. If you think of it as a penny-pinching sacrifice instead of a means for achieving your financial goals and dreams, how long are you likely to stick with it?

It's like the difference between going on a diet and eating healthily. One is negative and restrictive; the other is positive and allows you to indulge every now and then and yet still achieve your goals.

To increase your chances of success, work on your attitude first.

Many people refuse to budget because of budgeting's negative connotation. If you're one of them, try thinking of it as a 'spending plan' instead of a 'budget'. Once you've attempted to budget and failed, the bad feelings associated with any type of failure can keep you from trying again. Don't give up!

The cold hard reality

Let's face it. Money is a tool that enables you to reach your goals in life. But the cold hard reality is that until you know where your money goes, you can't make conscious decisions about how to use this tool effectively.

A budget (or spending plan!) shows you exactly where your money goes and provides a clear plan that lets you save for the things that are important to you: a new house, a new car, a comfortable retirement, a tertiary education, high quality health care, travel, or whatever your particular goals and dreams happen to be.

And that's exciting.

Whatever YOU decide you want to save for and achieve, you can. With the right attitude, a focus and a (spending!) plan.

Avoid This Pitfall

There are several universal budgeting concepts that every successful budget will include, but one of the most important features of a successful budget is for it to be easy to use and suitable for your needs.

Don't try to use a generic, complex, one-size-fits-all budget. A simpler approach makes it easier to stay committed. If you stick with a realistic, effective budget long enough, the rewards will keep you motivated. In the meantime, do whatever it takes to keep yourself going.

The 3 steps for effective personal budgeting (spending planning!) are:

Your next step … Get in touch with us to make a time to meet. We'd love to discuss this with you and help you to get on track towards achieving your financial goals.

A Trap That Causes Many Businesses To Go Broke, While They’re Making a Profit

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 22:00:00 GMT

There's a saying in business, "You can go broke making a profit." And another, "Cash is king. Profit is theory."

As you know on ly too well, you don't pay rent, meet payroll or pay your bills with profit .

You pay them with cash .

A business can make a lot of sales, have a book full of orders, have delighted customers and clients, have a great reputation, be growing, and yet still go broke.

Why? Cash flow.

The business might be profitable on paper, but have no money left in the bank. They become insolvent.

A growing business is often hungry for cash ... hungry for inputs so it can make the business' outputs, be they physical products, services or a combination of both.

The tragedy in this is that cash flow crises can often be averted . They can be predicted, planned for, and then contingency measures put in place.

For example, if a business has seasonal effects where some months are busier than others, or if a business knows it has some jumps in expenses or fixed costs approaching-such as moving to a larger premises or hiring more staff to cope with growth-then these expenses can be planned for and compared with the planned income in those months.

Which would you prefer to do?

(A) Call your bank manager and ask for a short-term loan or increase in overdraft when you are urgently in need of the cash (and therefore stressed, and desperate, and not in a great frame of mind to negotiate good terms), or

(B) Call your bank manager 6 months in advance and meet with him or her to explain the coming cash crunch, the reasons behind it, and plan for the funding in a calm, relaxed, totally-in-control manner?

Not only would you get the loan, you'd impress the bank manager and strengthen the relationship for further funding, should it be needed to support your growth.

The bank manager would see you are a professional operator with a planned approach to your business, not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants operator. (They see a lot of those. They don't like doing business with them.)

Apart from the relationship with your bank, there's the immediate effect of sleeping better at night .

We all seek a level of certainty to comfort us. Knowing what lies ahead in business and planning your cash flow gives you a peace of mind and confidence in your day-to-day work that will rub off on those around you...

...in your workplace and at home. It's a good feeling.

This is one of the reasons we are so passionate about helping our clients put together cash flow forecasts , to help them keep their business on track and to avoid any stressful, unpleasant surprises in the coming months.

It doesn't matter whether a business is a one-person hairdressing or lawn mowing business, or a 10 person, 20 or 200+ person business.

Every business needs a cash flow forecast.

Running your business without a cash flow forecast is like driving a car at night along a dark country road with only your normal headlights on. It's hard to see what lies ahead. Some wildlife might come right out in front of you, leaving no time for you to react. CRASH!

On the other hand, a cash flow forecast is like driving along that country road with high beam on. You can see so much more. You can drive with much more confidence. Less stress. And avoid the CRASH!

Another thing we often find in helping our clients build realistic cash flow forecasts, is that we can spot problems and make suggestion that help improve the business' cash cycle . This puts money in your bank account.

For example, a combination of negotiating better terms with suppliers, tightening up or at least clarifying and enforcing your business' own credit terms, and reducing stock holding and waste can have a powerful positive effect on your cash flow.

So, if a cash flow forecast is so crucial, why do many businesses not have one?

Simple. Business owners get busy. Busy pleasing customers or clients. Busy dealing with staff. Busy paying suppliers. Busy generating sales.

Also, it's easy to get 'too close' to your own business. "You can't see the forest for the trees," as the saying goes.

Having an independent and fresh pair of eyes come in and look at your business-especially cash flow which is its life blood-allows opportunities for improvements to be identified. Things that are there, but difficult for the business owner to see amidst the 'busy-ness' of it all.

So, what should do about it? Call us. Take action. A cash flow forecast costs less than you think.

It's time to turn those high beams on!

Your next step ... Get in touch with us to make a time to meet and discuss your options. We'll then outline the costs so you know exactly what lies ahead.

Finally. An Easy Way to Track your Personal Spending Patterns.

Sat, 10 Oct 2015 22:00:00 GMT

Most people will quite literally earn millions of dollars in their lifetime. Yet many people struggle financially and live from one pay period to the next.

With the ageing population and many Baby Boomers now continuing to work-at least on a part-time basis-past the traditional retirement age, people are working more years than ever. Even if a person works only 40 years, at average earnings, that's a lot of money.

It is said, "Money talks", but for many, all it ever says is, "Hello, and Good-bye".

Have you ever found that the month lasts longer than the money? Or have you ever got your tax return and looked at all the money you have earned over the past 12 months and then thought, "Where has it all gone?"

You're not alone. And the good news is, now there's a simple solution.

There's a great quote from Charles Dickens' book David Copperfield where the character Mr. Micawber says to Copperfield, "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

This is so true, regardless of the income level.

Yet keeping track of what you spend your money on, for many, is too hard, too laborious. The benefits of doing so are obvious to anyone, yet the discipline to keep all your receipts, enter the information into a program like Quicken Personal or MS Money (or just to write it into a paper ledger), and keep that going consistently over time is beyond most of us.

Well ... and here's the good news ... what if a piece of software could track and categorise what you spent your money on, but it involved very little effort by you?

Imagine the clarity you'd get if you knew exactly how much you have spent and what percentage of your income is going on the various areas including mortgage/rent, vehicles, groceries, schooling/education, eating out, entertaining, mobile phones and internet, medical and pharmaceutical, and so on.

For most people, it would be a real eye opener.

It is said that knowledge equals power.

That is very true when it comes to your personal finances.

Once you can objectively see exactly how your lifestyle and your habits-that is, you -are spending your money each year, and month-to-month as you go, you then have the power to make decisions on where you can change your spending (and saving!) habits.

In this information age and electronic era, many of us use credit cards, debit cards and EFT when buying things. We have now reached a point for the first time in history where more money is exchanged electronically than through cash transactions.

That's a lot of transactions. And it's a lot of data.

This data is available to be analysed on a societal basis, industry basis, business basis and ... a personal basis.

And that's where a brilliant tool comes into play: Xero Cashbook

Here's how it works ...

Xero Cashbook is online software. It's the non-tax-tracking version of the Xero software used by businesses.

It analyses and categorises all your electronic transactions to give you a snapshot of your complete financial position in an instant. This also organises a view of all your bank accounts and credit card accounts in one place. Very handy.

This is precisely what a lot of people have been waiting for: An easy way to track and control your finances.

Xero Cashbook categorises your spending and saving, so you can tell whether your money is being used for essentials or you're splashing out on other things.

If you are concerned about security, Xero protects your financial data with 128-bit SSL encryption, the same as online banking. Your data is well protected.

You can also invite people you trust, such as your spouse, accountant or other financial advisor, to access your Xero reports for free. This means that as your advisors we can see the true picture of your finances and spending habits, and help you stay on track.

This allows us to help you plan ahead and make the most of your money.

You will never before have felt so in control of your personal finances.

Being web-based, rather than being stuck on one computer like traditional software, you can access Xero from home, work and even on your smartphone such as an iPhone and Android device.

If you'd like us to step you through getting set up with Xero Cashbook, or their Xero equivalent for Business, or both, get in touch and we'll hand hold you through the process. It's not difficult, and once your bank accounts are set up, it happens automatically from there.

The way we see it, the more clients we help keep track of their finances in such an easy way, the more clients who will prosper and find financial happiness instead of financial misery, to paraphrase Dickens' Mr. Micawber.

Your next step... Contact us now to make a time to meet and discuss your options. We'll then outline the costs so you know exactly what lies ahead.

It's time to stop saying "good-bye" to so much of your money each year!

Social Media Hype or Substance? Are Twitter and Facebook Relevant to Business Owners?

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 23:00:00 GMT

Isn't Twitter a waste of time? Isn't Facebook for the kids?

Not anymore.

It's true that Twitter and Facebook started out with very 'non-business' objectives. The founder of Twitter actually did invent it so you could tell everyone you were going to the shop to get some milk; and anyone who has seen the movie The Social Network knows about the very lowbrow origins of Facebook.

Other social media platforms include LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Foursquare, Quora, Tumblr, Vine, Flickr and MySpace, among others.

In recent years savvy marketers and business owners have worked out how to use social media VERY effectively for communicating with the market place, in a new way.

Traditional marketing, like advertising, is a monologue . A one-way conversation, coming from the advertiser. There's no interaction in a TV or newspaper ad.

Modern marketing-including social media-is about engaging in a dialogue with people. It's about creating two-way, value-adding conversations (albeit, online ones) with people who are interested in what you do: your 'followers', 'friends' and 'connections'. It's about helping them, listening to what they have to say, and letting them know about useful, relevant information.

This creates a sense of community and stronger relationships. Certainly stronger than any advertising can ever create. We have entered a whole new era, and social media is not just reshaping the marketing landscape, but it's changing journalism and media, and is even acting as a catalyst for social change, allowing people to combine their collective voice. We've witnessed that in world affairs, for example in Egypt where Facebook was used to organise protests.

If you're still not convinced that your business should actively get involved with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or other social media platforms, consider the flipside.

Can you afford not to at least monitor Twitter, for example, to see what is being said about your industry, your business, you? Using social media management software like TweetDeck, HootSuite or SproutSocial you can efficiently monitor your various social media accounts using the one app to display your feeds from a number of different platforms, notifying you when people mention you, your brand, reply to you, 'favourite' or 'like' your updates and posts, and so on.

We think it makes sense for any business to monitor what's being said about them-and about their competitors-in social media.

We also know of many success stories of small business owners who are using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as a very effective way to generate referrals and to drive traffic to their website.

Social media works if you learn how to work it.

Obviously the purpose of this article is not to teach you how to use these tools. That would take a book or complete course, not an article.

Its purpose is to open your mind to the possibilities-if it hasn't been opened already-of how your business can learn to use and benefit from social media as part of your business' marketing mix.

To start you along that learning curve, take a few minutes to watch this Socialnomics video . The statistics mentioned in it are phenomenal.

At the 1-minute mark you'll see a quote by best selling author Erik Qualman, "We don't have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it."

And at the 3:50 mark, "Social Media isn't a fad, it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate."

We are just starting on the path of learning how to best use social media, and by no means are we proclaiming any degree of expert competency. (Yet!)

The question, we believe however, is not whether your business should use social media, but how should your business best use social media.