A few recent events have left me feeling bruised and self reflective.  When it comes down to it, I hate feeling like I’ve been ripped off.  I don’t mind paying good money for something but I do expect the product or service to meet my expectations.  There’s nothing worse than paying good money and finding […]

How do you choose an accountant?  Word of mouth, google search or stick with the one you have because you’ve had them for years despite not being 100% happy. There is a difference between a tax accountant and a business advisor. A tax accountant will prepare tax returns whereas an advisor will be there to […]

Customer/client relationships are an extremely important part of being in business as without them there is no business!  A helpful matrix drawing on the work by Thomas Jones and Earl Sasser provides a framework to categorise and prioritise clients/customers. There are two questions to ask of your clients/customers: What is their overall satisfaction? What is […]

  The Impact of Lazy Retailing   The start of 2020 has seen up to 170 stores earmarked for closure across Australia.  The companies in question include:   Harris Scarfe – closing 21 stores McWilliam’s Wines – run by the same family for 140 years went into voluntary administration EB Games – will close at […]

Pareto Principle – use it to dramatically grow your business    The Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.  It was named after an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto for his work in the 1890’s when he found that 80% of the land in Italy was held […]

  Business owners that understand their numbers are more profitable than those that don’t.  Some business owners make decisions based on “gut feel” or the amount of money in the bank account.  These decisions can prove to be toxic and detrimental to the business. It is important that businesses have accurate and timely financial data.  […]

  Christmas is fast approaching with only 6 Sundays until Christmas!  Gift giving and Christmas parties are well underway and it is a good time to be aware of the most tax advantageous ways to be generous to staff and clients.  The best gifts tax wise are ‘non-entertainment’ gifts such as wine, chocolate, hampers, skin care products, massage vouchers etc as these gifts are […]

Time is a precious, finite gift and it is something I think a lot about since having children; I seem to have less of it!  I am constantly pushed and pulled by competing priorities and never feel as though I have enough time.  Time is unlike money as we can’t make more of it and […]

  It is possible to have a profitable business and cash flow problems.  It is also possible to have an unprofitable business and no cash flow problems.  Cash flow and profit are two different financial indicators and when operating a business you need to track both. Cash flow Cash flow is the money that flows […]

  Chasing the Unprofitable Sale   Google “how to increase sales” and there are about 924,000,000 results.  Google “how to avoid an unprofitable sale” and there are about 2,340,000 results.  Avoiding the unprofitable sale is just as important as increasing sales. Every business wants to grow but you don’t want to “grow broke”.  Before embarking […]