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Stepping back: Do you have an exit strategy for your business?

Owning a business can be brilliant, but you might not want to do it forever.Whether you’re ready to retire, want to cash up, or you just need a break, at some point you will probably want to move on from your business. Even before that time comes, you’ll need a plan for stepping back.Options for stepping backThink about what kind of future you would like with your business. Do you want to step away completely or stay involved?Exiting a business can take different forms, such as:SellingClosin...

Don’t bet your house on the business

Landlords and suppliers can sometimes ask you for a personal guarantee on a contract.Unfortunately, that could mean that if something goes wrong, you have put your house at risk. Here are a few ways to protect your home and your other personal assets from potential business problems.Personal guaranteesBanks, landlords and suppliers might ask you for a personal guarantee on lending or contracts. This is a great move from their perspective, because it gives them security if you default on a loan o...

5 important business negotiation strategies

Business negotiation is a world of contradictions. You’ve got to be firm but flexible. Open and sharing, but a little cagey. There’s a lot to get your head around. But your state of mind might be the most important thing. Aim for a mutually beneficial outcome and you’ll find the whole exercise more comfortable.Follow these five tips to prepare for your next negotiation1. Do your homework - Learn the main terms and concepts they’re likely to use so you’re not confused or intimidated by ...

Business tips - Learning to make good business decisions

Making good business decisions is easier to do when you have excellent information at your fingertips – and that’s the value of having great reporting at the heart of your startup.Any cloud accounting software worth its salt will offer you straightforward ways to run your financial reports and track your important metrics. That’s standard in the new digital world. And this level of reporting gives you real, tangible data on which to base your decision-making. But good decision-making isnâ€...

What small businesses can learn from their competition

It takes little more than a laptop and a social media page to get a legitimate business off the ground these days. As a result, it’s next to impossible to create a unique product or service.While the presence of well-established competitors is daunting, it’s entirely possible to use this to your advantage when starting up a small business. Market research is invaluable in the early days, and established competitors are a great way to gather a ton of this with little effort.Here’s where to ...

Bring your A game (not your O game)

Success in sport is all about playing your 'A game'. Being the best you can be through preparation and training leading up to the game, as well as through your actions during and after the game - showing modesty and humility in success and graciousness in defeat.If everyone on the team plays their 'A game' the results are impressive. So, how do we apply the 'A game' mindset from sport to the workplace?Three A’s that bring it:Appraise: work out who will make up your dream team. Consider individ...

New postLet's reflect and reset

The last few years have taken a toll on everyone. We keep hoping for improvement and, while most of us had the occasional great peaks, things just haven’t returned to normal.Take time to reflect on last year. Reframe your focus to identify the opportunities for learning, the successes, and the possibilities for this year. We’ve learned that we can’t predict what the year will bring, but we can be prepared.Ask yourself these questions to help you evaluate 2022 and reset for 2023. Put your a...

Business tips - Scaling up your business and workforce

Scaling up your business isn't about steady growth over time. It's about having a clear strategy for quickly expanding the business to achieve full-scale hypergrowth.Most startups grow organically, adding customers here and there and gradually expanding over time. Scaling up aims to accelerate this process, pushing your growth to move beyond that slow, organic pace. To achieve this, every element of your business model needs to be reviewed, refined and systemised – so you have scalability buil...

Fair Pay Agreements: What to expect

The Fair Pay Agreements Act has passed into law and the Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) system come into effect from 1 December 2022.FPAs will set legally-binding minimum employment terms and conditions for an occupation or industry as a whole, with terms being decided in bargaining between unions and employer associations.The agreements represent one of the most significant reforms of the New Zealand labour market in recent times, and will add more complexity and administration to employment.To find o...

How profit sharing can help your business retain talent

In a tough labour market, finding talent is a challenge – so it’s especially important to retain your good workers.NZ company Mainfreight has had a bumper couple of years; the transport and logistics industry boomed during the pandemic and shows no sign of slowing down. In 2022, Mainfreight paid workers a total of $94 million in bonuses, double what it paid out the previous year. The company also used 15 pages of its annual report to thank its 10,393 employees, printing every single name.Thi...

Hiring employees who share your core values

At the beginning of your startup journey, you and your co-founders will be in charge of selecting and hiring the key members of your new team.The people you choose will identify with your core aims for the business and will (usually) share your core values too. For example, if being green is a key value, the people you hire need to resonate with this. But as the business grows and expands, it's likely that the hiring process will move to your operations director, human resources director or peop...

The key to succession planning success

You’ve created your company from nothing, put years of blood, sweat and tears into its success, and retirement is just around the corner. What next? If you’re one of the lucky people who have an exit strategy, congratulations. If you’re unsure, it’s time to think about succession planning.Succession can mean handing over the reins to a new generation or having someone in the wings ready to buy you out. Either way, you need a plan.Develop a planAsk:What needs to be done to prepare your bu...

The importance of goodwill in your business

Goodwill in accounting refers to the intangible value that a company can hold, above and beyond the pure financial value of its assets. This covers areas like brand reputation, intellectual property, and both external and internal relationships.A business that can show its goodwill in the marketplace is actually worth more – both intangibly and financially. When a company is up for sale, the price a buyer is willing to pay will be greatly increased if the seller can demonstrate this quality of...

Creating business resilience in changing conditions

Economies are in a perpetual heating and cooling cycle, with all phases providing opportunities to better serve your customers and thrive in your business.There’s no denying the effects of higher interest rates and inflation are changing customers’ buying habits. This, combined with more expensive raw materials, stock and labour, and disruptions to supply chains, could test your business’s resilience. Planning is the best way to get ahead of changing conditions and build resilience.Five wa...

Cash flow forecasting puts you back in control

We all know that positive cashflow is the beating heart of any successful business. And with so many external pressures on your cash right now, it’s important to have one eye on the future.Cashflow forecasting is an increasingly important tool for any finance team. With a better view of your future cashflow position, you can make well-informed decisions about your finances.But how does cashflow forecasting work? And how does it help you maintain a positive cashflow position throughout the year...

Using data analytics to give your business a competitive advantage

Data analytics is rapidly changing the way businesses are operated. By making use of your financial and non-financial data, you can quickly start to gain a deeper insight into your operations, performance and financial management.Data-driven decisions are quickly becoming the norm, for even the smallest business. Data analytics allows helps you spot the patterns. Understand the data trends. And preview the upcoming threats and opportunities for improvement.Taking a deep dive into your dataData a...

Could outsourcing help you grow your business?

When you run a small business, the amount of work can ebb and flow. Unexpectedly busy periods can create too much work and stress for a small team or one-person business. But if a surge is seasonal or unreliable, you don’t necessarily want to commit to taking on another employee.One solution is to use outsourcing to give you some flexibility during busy periods.What could you outsource?There are several types of jobs that can be ideal for outsourcing:Tasks you dread, usually procrastinate or t...

What do you want from your business?

When you started your business, you probably dreamed about flexible hours and highly profitable, stimulating work.Ideally, you would’ve adopted best practice and documented those dreams in a succinct Business Plan. The plan would specify how much cash you need from the business, your role, and the hours you’d be working. In other words, what the business was going to deliver to you personally as an owner.But that was all before the world turned on its head and most plans went out the window....

Step 10 of Building a Better Business

Keep your ‘well of happiness’ fullThis should be something you focus on all the time. Just as the flight attendants tell you to put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others, it’s the same in business - you need to look after yourself at all times.What are the things that fill your ‘well of happiness’?These are activities that restore your energy and resilience levels and help you face challenges in your business. It could be dancing, yoga, mountain biking, reading, weightlifti...

Knowing your team's learning styles is good for business

Why is it important to be aware of your own, and your team’s, learning styles? Knowing how each of your staff members best learn can enhance communication skills, improve performance and make your new-hire processes better. It can also reduce conflict and increase the range of communication strategies used in your business.Everyone learns differently and while we’ve known this for centuries, the VARK modalities, developed by New Zealander Neil Fleming in 1987, were the first to offer a quiz ...

Want to get paid faster? Try these tips

Xero's Small Business surveys show that almost half of invoices are paid late. Late payments are one of the most frustrating things a business can face.Here are 6 tips to get paid faster.Review and adjust your payment terms and pricing - Think about how much time you give customers to pay you - can you shorten that period? Close to 75% of invoices ask for payment within 2 weeks, so expectations are changing. How about an early payment discount to encourage quicker payment - would that work with ...

The Golden Circle

Do you understand your ‘why’? Does your team understand it? How about your customers? Your ‘why’ is why your business exists for your customers (and it’s not to make a profit!).Your ‘why’ forms the centre of The Golden Circle - a concept developed by Simon Sinek in his book, Start With Why. The Golden Circle challenges us to examine the emotional core of what makes our team and customers buy into a company. The next layer is your ‘how’ and the outer layer is your ‘what’.Eve...

Managing projects in a remote team

We’re living in a world where remote and hybrid working are now the norm. Driven by lockdowns and the pandemic, businesses have been forced to adopt a ‘working from home’ approach. And this ability to work remotely has driven productivity and efficiency for some companies but can create its own challenges.Designing your workflows for remote workingWhen a whole team, or even a percentage of a team, are no longer sitting in the same office space, there are some very specific considerations t...

Simple things your sales team must avoid

There are certain selling faux pas which your sales team must avoid in order to improve their results:1. Chasing unsubstantiated leads.You must earn the right to sell to someone. Carefully consider who you target and how to build trust before pitching. You only get one chance to start a relationship; make sure you make a great first impression.2. Being unprepared.If unprepared, you’ll instantly be on the back foot and prospective customers will sense it. Create scripts and email templates to p...

Managing change in your business

Successfully implement change in your businessResearch by Kotter International found that more than 70% of change projects within a business fail. Why is this?The research findings show that employee engagement is the biggest factor. Whether it is a small change to one or two processes, or a company-wide change, it's common for staff to feel intimidated by it.So what can you do for successful implementation of change? Here are the principals from Kotter’s 8-Step Program:1. Get the team onboard...