EOFY Must-Do’s For Business

With the end of the financial year approaching, now is the perfect time to conduct a business ‘health check’ so that you can come out at the start of the new financial year greatly improved and ready to go.

Clients And Customers

Client and customer loyalty is something all businesses should aim for, but if your clients’ values are misaligned with yours, conflict is inevitable. Hence, now is the time to re-evaluate which clients you want to keep loyal and which ones you can see a co-operative future with.

Re-assessing your target audience and deepening your understanding of the wants and needs of your clients would help improve your marketing and sales strategies. If you have clients who frequently struggle to pay you on time or are rude to your employees, assess whether your attention is worthwhile and if you would like to continue to work with them when the economic situation improves.

Employees

Your employees are another stakeholder to check up on during this downtime. Your employees will always be your business’ representatives, so make sure they are up to standard and help them improve their skills. Teach your employees more about your business goals.

Conducting a business health check and strategies and improving the team atmosphere by introducing team recreational activities. Your relationship with your employees now during a global crisis will dictate how they feel about you as a leader and if they can rely on you in the future. Foster respectful, strong and healthy bonds between you and your employees; only good things will come your way.

Suppliers

The critical question to ask when reviewing your suppliers is whether or not you are getting what you need from them at a reasonable cost. If you feel that your suppliers are asking too much from you or letting you down with their product quality, take the time now to look for other options. As businesses struggle through current economic conditions, suppliers are becoming competitive, and more options are needed. Do your research and decide on the suppliers you want to work with for the long term.

Financing

Managing your finances is always difficult but is now more important than ever. Your budget and profit predictions for this year are likely going rogue, so reevaluate your finances and research other funding options such as commercial rent, interest rates and banking services.

Consider how you can minimise cost while maximising efficiency and productivity, save as much money as possible during these downtimes, and review your investments in detail to determine whether or not they are worthwhile.

Want to know more about strategising your business’s plans for the next financial year? Speak with your friendly business advisers, and let us help you work out the best trajectory for your aims and objectives for the next 12 months.

Keeping The Business In The Family? That’s Why You Need A Succession Plan…

Family-run businesses form an essential part of the economy. Tradition, success, history, and their unique dynamic can create a thriving business that many may wish to see continue.

However, as with any business, the conversation about succession and how to continue the business into the future needs to be had.

With only 1 in 4 family-operated businesses considering their approach to succession formally, succession in a family business is one of the most significant viability risks to the actual business and needs to be addressed accordingly.

Family business succession maintains the strong connection between the two most important things in a family business owner’s life; their business and family.

Every family and family-run business is unique, and every transfer or succession of a family business will also be executed differently.  If you are thinking about what your family business’s plan is for succession, you may want to consider keeping these critical factors in mind:

  • Where is your business going? What do you want for your family and business? What are your goals and your time frames for achieving those goals?
  • Is the vision you have for your business shared by your family?
  • You must understand each individual’s perspectives and motivations that the succession impacts. Ongoing communication is vital to gaining this understanding, but an advisor can be employed to unbiasedly look at the situation independently and take the emotion out of a conversation.
  • Create a plan to plot out the path of the business’s future, the challenges it may face along the way, and what it is currently facing.
  • It’s important to remember that a family business does not have to be succeeded by a family (though it’s an outcome you may want). Always consider what your family members wish to do, and consider alternatives if none wish to take over the business.

A succession plan for a family business needs to be created to move forward. It should detail all of the actions you intend to take (including the steps involved with both management and ownership succession).

It needs to be flexible, adaptable and ready to evolve as businesses (as well as families), change over time. Your succession planning process should be transparent and understand and align with the goals set for the business’s further development across the generations.

The most effective succession plans:

  • Preserve and generate family wealth
  • Minimise disharmony and disruption
  • Minimise the impact of tax
  • Encourage personal growth of family members
  • Fund the retirement and family lifestyle

In a family business, communication is critical. A lack of early, constructive communication and planning on succession results not only in disagreement between family members and personal stress, but it also leads to business underperformance and potential erosion of family wealth.

Ensure that all aspects of the succession plan are conveyed to the appropriate parties and that they understand their roles and positions.

Want to know more about how succession planning could assist you with your life goals? Speak with your trusted advisors in preparation for this step.

What Can A Business Adviser Do For You?

Feel like your business is stuck in a rut? Unable to solve a problem that you know is going to cost you in the long run?

It might not be financially tanking, and, likely, your revenue stream isn’t down, but if you’re not sure what direction to take, it could also mean that you need a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at particular issues that your business is facing to deal with them.

Business advisers can be engaged across many fields with specially focused advice or strategies to a specific area (such as accountants, business bankers or commercial lawyers) or be a business adviser who is dedicated to considering the overall goals and long-term ramifications of your business’s strategies.

A business adviser can be hired on either a one-time basis (to deal with one-off problems your business is set to face) or on an ongoing basis to provide continued support. Suppose you’re only looking for a particular solution to a problem. In that case, one-time advice from a business adviser can be an easy and cost-effective solution to solve that particular problem.

However, suppose you’re looking for long-term ongoing support backed by years of experience and a perspective looking to preempt these issues. In that case, ongoing advice may be more appropriate for your needs.

Engaging a business adviser can provide your business with fresh ideas based on an objective analysis of your business’s current performance and situation.

As an example, contracting an accountant in a business adviser role means that you are looking for strategic and financial advice like profitability improvement, tax planning and advice regarding business performance.

An adviser who can offer timely and relevant advice to your financial situation can make a huge difference to your business in the long run.

If you’re looking for assistance in plotting out the financial future of your business, you can come and speak with us. We’re well-equipped to assist you in mapping out your business’s plan for the future, so start a conversation with us today to see how we can help.

Why Should You Consider Rebranding Your Small Business?

Rebranding your small business can be a tricky matter. When done well, it has the potential to help your business stand out from the competition bubble and expand your target market.

On the other hand, a failed rebrand can damage the reputation of your business, or even risk losing loyal customers who dislike your new look. This is why rebranding is a move that should never be taken lightly and must always be strategically planned.

Consider these ideas before embarking on your rebranding journey.

Understand Your Strategy

Rebranding is a serious investment that will require both your time and money. Therefore, a rebrand must always be necessary to either solving the problem at hand or grow your business.

If it isn’t – then it may be helpful to consider easier and less costly actions, you can take. You must have legitimate customer-focused strategies behind why this move is required. Otherwise, rebranding will likely harm your business more than help it.

Holistic Approach

Merely tweaking the name and logo of your business and hoping for the best will not cut it.

Taking a holistic marketing approach will allow you to focus on the development, design and implementation of the rebranding strategy through your business as a whole.

You must look at how this one change will affect your overall business. Reviewing every aspect that will be affected will also help you assess whether the results will be worth the effort and cost involved.

Evolve With Your Target Market

For a small business to remain successful on a long-term basis, it must remain relevant to its target market. A rebranding will largely depend upon the target market your business is pursuing – in particular, adapting to their ever-evolving wants and needs concerning the product or service you have on offer.

Hire An Expert

Knowing where to start when rebranding your business can be a challenge, especially if you are planning a complete image overhaul. That is when hiring an expert to draw up a detailed plan for an innovative new look for your business can come in handy.

Using their unbiased opinion can be invaluable in forming a rebranding strategy in circumstances where your business may be too close to your existing brand to remain objective.

What Do I Need To Know Before Beginning A Partnership?

Starting a partnership may be a high-yielding decision whether you are in the business game or setting your sights on a new business venture.

A partnership business structure is an incorporated business with 2-20 owners. The individual owners work together to achieve the business’s goals, sharing responsibility and profits.

In a partnership, control or management of the business is generally shared. A partnership is not a separate legal entity, so you and your partners are liable for all debts and obligations of the business. A formal partnership agreement is common but not essential (it is a recommended course of action though).

The specifics of partnership laws will vary depending on your state or territory.

There are two types of partnerships – general and limited. A general partnership is where all partners are equally responsible for the day-to-day management of the business.

Whereas a limited partnership has at least one general partner who is responsible for controlling the day-to-day operations and is liable for the debts and obligations of the business.

The passive partners in this type of partnership are called limited partners. Limited partners generally contribute a defined amount of capital, and their liability is limited to the amount of capital that is contributed.

Consider the following advantages and disadvantages before starting or joining a partnership:

Advantages

A partnership structure is easy and inexpensive to set up. Unlike operating as a sole trader, there is increased opportunity for income splitting, more capital available and higher borrowing capacity.

Working as a team can also provide more perspective than working as an individual. High-performing employees can also be made partners.

From a tax perspective, partnerships do not need to pay taxes on their income. Each partner pays tax on the share of the net partnership income they receive. Paying superannuation is the responsibility of each individual partner, as partners are not considered employees.

Additionally, there are limited external regulation and reporting requirements.

Removing partners is generally straightforward. The only condition is that at least two partners are left in the business. If a partner wishes to resign from the partnership, it is relatively simple to dissolve the partnership and recover their share.

Disadvantages

This type of business structure carries unlimited liability, meaning the business owners are liable for the business’s debts. They are subject to reasonably cover what is owed or risk seizure of their personal assets.

Each partner is responsible for the debts and liabilities of the business (with the extent depending on the type of partnership), including the actions of other partners.

This can cause disputes and friction among partners, resulting in unfavourable circumstances. For example, one partner may have a different vision or opinion on administrative control or profit sharing for the business compared with the other partners.

Although adding and removing partners is simple, partners will most likely need to value partnership assets which can be expensive.

If choosing to structure a business as a partnership, it is important to consult with an advisor to ensure that it is done correctly and compliantly to maximise the benefits (such as concessions, liability etc.) that could be infringed upon otherwise.

If you’re not certain of where or how to start your partnership, come speak with us as your business advisers. We’re ready and willing to help.

Marketing Tips For Your Business To Break Through The Noise

Overcomplicating your marketing efforts to increase awareness and boost sales is a common trap. As the marketing industry continues to overcrowd and evolve with technology, businesses must look for ways to break through the noise and send their audiences a clear message.

Here are three tips to simplify your marketing:

Avoid Attempting To Master All Channels

Businesses are vying for audience attention, resulting in people deliberately opting out, i.e., skipping ads. Rather than focusing on all marketing channels, i.e., email marketing, SEO, paid advertisements, apps, social media, PR, blogging and so on, pick a few to focus your efforts on to gain higher engagement. The same principle can be applied to your social media accounts. Instead of heavily promoting your content on all channels, focus on the channels that your audience prefers.

Consistency Wins

Posting content frequently can sometimes be an overlooked but valuable tool to use in a marketing strategy. Consistent posting means your followers will expect, and perhaps even look forward to, the new content you produce, providing it’s valuable to your audience. Instead of tapping into every new marketing trend or viral craze, focus on marketing activities that you can do weekly or fortnightly that can generate results over the long term, i.e., writing a weekly blog and featuring new posts on your social channels.

Quality Content

When you produce quality content, your audience will more often like and/or share this content. This is known as earned media and can involve your audience reposting, mentioning and reviewing your content. Earned media can generate organic traffic to your owned media, such as your website, blog and social media.

The Invisible Bias That Could Affect Your Recruitment Process

Despite the significant advantages of diversity in the workplace, unconscious and hidden biases still exist in the hiring process.

Even the most open-minded individuals have unconscious biases that may affect their hiring decision-making. However, acknowledging these biases is the first step to ensuring neutral hiring efforts.

Here are five ways employers can remove bias when deciding between candidates:

Ask For Work Samples 

Where applicable, asking candidates to submit work samples may predict how well they will perform based on past performance and skills. Using past work samples allows the interviewer to judge the candidate based on their work rather than factors such as gender, race, appearance, age and personality.

Use Structured Interviews

Structured interviews design interview questions based on job-related skills and are standardised for all candidates. For example, questions may include “describe a situation where you have participated in a team” or “tell me about an obstacle you were able to overcome in the past.” Structured interviews use the same set of questions and are asked in exactly the same way and order to each candidate. This is in contrast to unstructured interviews whichtend to flow like a conversation and are generally subjective.

Collaborative Interviewing

Collaborative interviewing involves using multiple team members to interview candidates. This type of interviewing helps to eliminate unconscious bias and reduce human error. Altering the interview process to include more interviewers provides a diverse range of opinions and increases the likelihood that the new hire will be a good fit.

Create An Interview Scorecard

An interview scorecard evaluates the qualifications and suitability of candidates based on quantitative measures, which can help level the playing field for candidates. An interview scorecard uses applicable criteria such as technical ability, leadership skills etc., and a rating system to assess each criterion, i.e. 1-5. Interview scorecards can be used to compare results between interviewers as some interviewers may be lenient on some criteria and too harsh on others.

Use Gender-Neutral Job Descriptions

“Gender-coded” language in job descriptions may unintentionally lean toward one gender more than another. If your job description lists non-essential skills and qualifications or uses masculine words such as “ambitious” or “assertive,” candidates may be deterred from applying as they do not consider themselves a good fit. When writing job descriptions, separate the essential and desired qualifications, and focus on the behaviours needed to perform the role rather than personality traits.

4 Strategies That Could Help Your Business Grow

Creating a business is not an easy avenue to explore. It requires commitment, frequent planning, substantial financing and good business sense. However, not only do you have to think about the beginning of your new venture, but you also have to think about the company’s continued growth.

To be a successful business, growth is the standard measurement of progress. Several criteria can be used to gauge this in a commercial enterprise, including:

  • Sales revenue – Value of business generated by the company in a given period
  • Market capitalisation – Value of equity to investors or owners
  • Profitability – Net profit after taxes and operational expenses
  • Customer retention – Size of the existing market
  • Customer acquisition – Number of potential customers from the total market share
  • Company assets – Assets legally owned by the company after subtracting liabilities

Generally, several strategies can be followed to develop and sustain business growth (depending on your preferred approach towards increasing your business activities).

Market Penetration

Even the smallest start-up company needs to have a way to break into the market and stand out from its competitors. Several techniques can be combined with other ideas to distinguish your company. These include:

  • Offering lower prices
  • Being more willing to bend to market demands through availability/logistics.
  • Adding value-added services while maintaining an acceptable quality standard
  • Exceeding customer expectations.

Market Development

Using careful planning and precise execution to generate business in a new market is another strategy for your business to further its reach. Understanding the business conditions of a market allows companies, big or small, to sell existing products in new markets that can develop new sales opportunities.

It could also mean reaching out to other areas of opportunity such as classifying the market according to age, income class, spending personas or other distinctive conventions. Depending on the industry, you can also redevelop a new product/service line based on the overall demand.

Product Development

Know what your customers require/ are looking for and become their solution. Answer the market demand (if possible) with a new product or service that addresses this need.

Companies can use different ways to develop products in an existing market; they could be based on the following:

  • pricing
  • development of new features
  • product positioning
  • other deciding factors could push customers towards choosing what your business can offer.

Business Diversification

While this is a high-risk strategy, it may lead to high rewards. To mitigate the risks, you can lead your business by approaching new ventures with calculated risks and weighing the potential rewards if it succeeds. Additionally, some diversification strategies allow some flexibility for pivoting from the initial business plan to allow a safer way that can lead to growth.

If you are considering the next step for your business, why not consult with us? As business advisers, we can assist you with strategies to help develop your business to its fullest potential.

3 Ways To Achieve Your Goals For Your Small Business

Knowing the steps to take to achieve your goals is critical for small business success.

Setting clear and realistic goals is an ideal strategy you can implement to help strengthen and grow your business and develop your skills as a business owner.

Here are three tips to help you effectively reach your business goals:

Assess The Goal

To set a realistic goal, you first need to assess what will and will not be viable. Each time you form a goal, ask yourself:

  •     What motivates me to achieve this goal?
  •     What resources are required, and do I have access to them?
  •     Are there forces out of my control that will act as an obstacle, and is there any way I can overcome them?

Break It Down

It is important to keep your goals realistic and manageable to achieve them. It is ok to have big goals – they are exciting and will keep you motivated. The trick is to break down that overarching goal into smaller and more focused steps, making the goal more feasible to reach in the long term. You will not run a marathon, write a novel or become CEO in a week. Take it kilometre by kilometre, chapter by chapter, promotion by promotion to achieve the best results. Smaller goals also help you do the following:

  •     Stay motivated by maintaining a sense of achievement
  •     Provide a realistic timeline
  •     Help track your performance

Find A Mentor

Having a mentor on hand will help to keep you accountable for the goals you set for your business. A good mentor will help you set measurable goals and keep you on track as you set out to achieve them. They can also provide insight via feedback on better ways to set and achieve your goals in the future and continually motivate you to keep going whenever you should incur a speed bump along the way.

What’s The Difference Between An Employee Or A Contractor?

Do you know if your new worker is an employee or a contractor? When employing a worker, it’s important to correctly classify them because it affects tax, super or other obligations (such as workers compensation insurance or other workers’ entitlements).

Correctly working out whether a worker is an employee or contractor helps to build a more level playing field for all Australian businesses, including your own.

The following workers are always treated as employees:

  • apprentices
  • trainees
  • labourers
  • Trades assistants

Companies, Trusts And Partnerships

An employee must be a person. If you’ve hired a company, trust or partnership to do the work, this is a contracting relationship for tax and super purposes. The people who do the work may be directors, partners or employees of the contractor but they’re not your employees.

Labour Hire Or On-Hire Arrangements

If you hired your worker through a labour hire or on-hire firm and paid that firm for the work undertaken in your business, your business has a contract with the labour hire firm. They are responsible for pay as you go (PAYG) withholding, super and fringe benefits tax obligations. Labour hire firms may be called different names, including recruitment services or group training organisations. They will refer to your business as the ‘host employer’.

Hiring Individuals

If you’ve hired an individual, the details within the working agreement or contract determine if they are a contractor or employee for tax and super purposes. The agreement or contract can be written or verbal.

Superannuation

If you are engaging a worker who you believe is a contractor, you can choose to pay them super to ensure you are not liable for the superannuation guarantee charge (SGC). You will need to pay any super contributions directly to their chosen superannuation fund and should include this in your contract with the worker.