Seeking outside funding for your business is a big step. Whether you’re looking to start a new business or expand an existing one, it makes sense to feel a little nervous. But if you combine your passion for your business with detailed financials and meticulous planning, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Have a plan, know your stuff and add some spark Investors want to know that you have a… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. Victoria Reports No COVID-19 Cases For Fifth Straight Day Victoria, Australia’s coronavirus hotspot, reported zero COVID-19 cases for the fifth straight day as states started easing regional border restrictions. This increases the prospects for a faster… Read more
We all have the same 1,440 minutes each day, but some of us achieve so much more than others. How can we free up time to help lead a better business and ultimately achieve a happier life? The top 10 time wasters: 1. Lack of clear goals. Start by setting clear 12 month goals, then break these down into 90 day goals. Your actions each day should be steps towards… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s updates and some ideas that will help us all overcome this crisis. Australia Starts Fourth Quarter on Stronger Economic Footing Flash Australia PMI signals faster output growth in October as COVID-19 restrictions loosen. The IHS Markit Flash Australia Composite PMI, covering both manufacturing and service sectors, increased from… Read more
What is the difference between a contractor and an employee and whose responsibility is it to get right? An employee works in the business and is integral to that business has rights and entitlements under the Fair Work Act 2009 has a reasonable expectation of ongoing work, agreed hours and duties is covered by the employer’s workers compensation insurance is paid superannuation guarantee. A contractor is actively running and advertising… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Lately, economists have been talking about a “K-shaped” recovery from the current recession. As this article in The Conversation explains, this kind of recovery happens when different parts of the economy recover at different rates. White-collar workers who can more easily work remotely may have an easier and faster path to recovery than… Read more
Setting sales targets for your business is standard practice for any aspirational, growing company. If you’re going to stretch the sales and marketing teams, it’s important to have clear, unambiguous targets for them to aim for. But what happens when a crisis looms? In uncertain times it’s more than likely that your pre-crisis sales targets will effectively become unrealistic and impractical for your teams to use. So, how do you… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Proposed Superannuation Reform Measures The Government has announced that it will spend $159.6 million over the next four years to implement a number of reforms to the superannuation system that will save fund members $18 billion in fees and other costs between now and 2030. The key… Read more
The Federal budget was announced on Tuesday 6th October after a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said it would focus heavily on job creation in order to pull the country out of the economic crisis it faces. With uncertainty remaining until a vaccine for Covid-19 is available, there will likely be more announcements as circumstances change over time. Some of the key measures in the budget… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update. Federal Budget 2020 Released The Federal Budget was released earlier this week. Here’s a quick rundown of the key points: This budget is based on economic assumptions including that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine rolled out by the end of 2021. Asset write off – businesses… Read more
With more than 85% of SMEs expecting a lower profit in the next nine months, the more prepared you can be for the unexpected, the better. Managing expenses is a good idea at any stage in your business and you may need to consider increasing your prices. Smart ways to get your costs under control Cashflow has been a big issue for thousands of businesses this year, and when the… Read more
From 28 September, the JobKeeper payment scheme enters the next phase seeing the payment extended until 28 March 2021. There are two separate extension periods, each of which is tested separately for eligibility based on business turnover. Extension 1 – 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021 Extension 2 – 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021 What has Changed? From now on, there are two tiers of payment based on the… Read more
Promoting your goods and services to potential customers is at the heart of running any successful business. And to advertise your brand in the modern world means diving into the world of digital marketing – i.e. online promotion activity for your business. 87% of consumers begin their search for a product online, according to recent research. So having an ‘online presence’ is critical if you’re going to engage with prospective… Read more
The Australian Government’s R&D tax incentive provides targeted offsets that aim to encourage more companies to engage in R&D, in order to contribute to a stronger economy. The incentive is designed to encourage research and development activities that companies may not otherwise do due to uncertain returns and risk. What’s involved? The R&DTI offers two levels of tax offset depending on your aggregated turnover: a 43.5% refundable tax offset for… Read more
You know what chocolate-chip cookies are, but what about the ‘cookies’ that websites ask you to accept and that are somehow linked to digital marketing? HTTP cookies, to give them their full name, are small packets of information that are stored on your computer when you use a web browser. So, when you visit your favourite websites, you’ll have downloaded certain cookies onto your device. These cookies fall into three… Read more
Buying an existing business can be a great way to get started as a business owner, or to expand operations if you are already running a business successfully. Established businesses have already done the hard work of setting up a business, so you can get up and running on day one without a lengthy formation process. Things You’ll Need Why is the business for sale? – It’s important to understand the… Read more
We are living in uncertain times right now. The situation changes daily with new challenges to overcome. We are all feeling the strain. So what can we do to manage the stress and regain some much needed sense of wellbeing? Research shows that doing something (no matter how small) is the best way to manage anxiety. There is a lot we can’t control right now but there are also things… Read more
It takes guts to start a business. It also takes a strategic mindset to succeed. Business owners are no strangers to weighing risk and navigating uncertainty, but the current climate has dialled everything up. Many business owners face the uncomfortable position of having to remap carefully thought-out succession plans and exit strategies and to consider selling their business before they’re ready and, possibly, for less than it’s worth. Transition may… Read more
Poor remote meetings will extinguish your humanity in minutes. Here’s some guide to getting them right. In the world before lockdowns, self-isolation and work-from-home virtual teams and remote meetings were on the rise. Now they are nearly guaranteed to become the predominant mode of getting work done for many teams. And there is no future, short of extinction, where meetings won’t happen in one form or another. Here’s our evidence based guide to getting virtual meetings… Read more
Working from home is becoming a way of life for many people. While there are undoubted advantages, and many people say they enjoy it, as the pandemic stretches out it is beginning to wear thin. Mostly that’s because many companies replicated the old office-bound ways of working to the virtual world. Workplaces that don’t adapt shift the burden to workers, who have to contort their lives to fit. That affects… Read more