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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...

Managing pay increases and pay conversations

Conversations with employees about pay and pay raises can be tricky, as it’s an emotional subject for most people and there can be a lot riding on it when economic conditions are tough.If the employment relationship is healthy and based on open dialogue, respect, and trust, there is less chance discussions about money will get heated. Having a solid remuneration system that your people understand will also mean pay decisions are easily understood and communicated, which will reduce the chances...

Time is money: The benefits of continuous improvement

Are you familiar with the ancient Japanese philosophy of ‘Kaizen’?Kaizen is the principle of continuous improvement that can make a huge difference to the efficiency of any company and is saving some of the world’s most powerful companies millions of dollars a year. Sound good? Here are ways you can embrace Kaizen to improve your business.What’s your waste? - This isn’t just about what’s ending up in the rubbish, it’s also unnecessary movement, overproduction of stock, waste due to...

Overcoming your leadership roadblocks

We all have improvement opportunities and face roadblocks in our roles - it’s no different for leaders. By recognising these, we can implement strategies to become a more effective leader.Potential leadership roadblocks include:1. No formal leadership training.Many leaders fall into a role with no formal training. Leadership skills must be learned and practised.2. Lack of clarity or alignment.A leader that’s not aligned with the company vision, or able to clearly articulate this, will create...

Communication is the key to business success

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Effective communication will help you develop a stronger rapport, make you memorable, and enable you to read people better.Practise these key skills to develop your communication skills:1. Active listening:Listen twice as much as you speak and be interested in what the other person has to say. Avoid interrupting, and reflect on what was said before you start speaking.2. Non-verbal communication:Are you aware of the non-verbal messages you...

Budgets are boring – 5 ways to spend less without budgeting

If you hate budgets and budgeting, how can you easily cut your spending? Here are five ways to save without tracking every transaction:Review your subscriptions - Your fixed outgoings are the easiest way to cut back: big outgoings like your insurance, power, phone and entertainment subscriptions. If you can reduce or eliminate even a few of these, you’ll make an immediate difference to your spending.Embrace low-cost social activities - A night of drinking and dining out is fantastic fun, but i...

Understanding Your Profit and Loss Statement

Your profit and loss statement (P&L) helps you understand your business performance and profitability over time. It’s sometimes called an Income statement and its main purpose is to list income and expenditure.Whereas a balance sheet is a snapshot in time, the P&L shows transactions over a specific period of time. This can be a month, quarter, financial year or any other period, and it can be a stand-alone report or a comparative period report.Together with the balance sheet, these two...

Business tips: Knowing what your customer wants

The increase in digital business systems has opened up forensic ways of understanding your customer base. That's a huge bonus when you're aiming to build better connections, relationships and experiences with your audience.Knowing what your customer wants is a fundamental piece of knowledge for any successful business to get to grips with. And when you're running a modern, digital business there's an overwhelming wealth of customer and sales data and analytics at your disposal – making it easi...

Discover your business’s untapped potential

When focusing on sales growth, your existing customers are your greatest asset.Many businesses focus on enticing new customers instead of encouraging their existing customers (who already know, trust and like them) to spend more, more often.The probability of selling to existing customers is 60-70%, whereas the likelihood of selling to a new customer is only 5-20%. The opportunity with your existing customers is huge, so why not focus some more attention here instead of prioritising chasing new ...

Why customer success is vital for your small business

Enhancing your customer experience is the key to success for any business. It’s not just about making a sale but about keeping your customers happy and coming back for more. In short, it’s about pushing the idea of customer success in your business.What does ‘customer success’ mean?Customer success is a holistic approach to retaining your customers. It focuses on the experience of the customer, and how this experience leads to a successful outcome – both for the customer and for your b...

The benefits of automating your customer experience

Smart use of automation doesn't just help you scale up your business more quickly. Business process automation (BPA) helps you streamline your operations and save money by eliminating many of the repetitive manual tasks involved in your customer support and customer-facing processes.Embracing the benefits of automationDigital transformation has been a powerful trend in the business world over the past few years. And the next logical step for a business that’s moved into the digital realm is to...

Invest in your employees to get the maximum benefits from remote working

Remote work has become an increasingly popular way of working in recent years. Many companies now offer their employees the ability to work from home or other external locations. This is a giant shift for many companies and their workforces – so, to get the best from remote working its worthwhile reassessing your people strategy.Investing in your people and your remote strategyMaximising this new remote-working strategy can lead to increased employee engagement, as well as a reduced spend on r...