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...Read more

“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?... Read more

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...Read more

“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...Read more

“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...Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

 “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...Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more