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Build long-term customer relationships: improve your financial stability

We know that building long-term relationships with your customers makes good sense for your customer experience. But good relationships are also a key factor in making your business more financially stable and improving your bottom line.The answer lies in nurturing the relationship, building a sense of trust and satisfaction that leads to regular sales and a boost to your revenue.Nurturing customer relationships that drive your profitsA business with no customers has no future. But a business wi...

How to say no if you’re a yes person!

Are you a yes person?Even when you’re snowed under with work, family, and life admin, do you find yourself saying yes to things you don’t really have time or headspace for?The downside of being a yes person:You can enable others to develop a dependency on youYou may be susceptible to people taking advantageStress and burnout can zap you and your energy levelsYour time can evaporate, leaving you to drop the ball on your own prioritiesYou can be distracted from your own tasks and not meet your...

Business tips: Nurturing your customer relationships

The stability of your business isn’t just based on sound finances. Forming rock-solid foundations comes from having a solid customer base and building long-lasting relationships with your end users. To achieve this, you need to work hard on nurturing these relationships.But how do you keep your customers happy and satisfied? And what are the best ways to build and maintain a trusted and beneficial relationship with everyone in your sales book?Here are a few fundamentals for keeping those relat...

Is your 2023 planning leading you down the right path?

As a business owner, CEO or managing director, it’s important to look forwards. Your job is to guide the course of the company and to provide the roadmap for a successful year.But navigating the hurdles and driving the business to success is never easy – especially when you’re confronted with a market and economy that’s still in a state of recovery.A business plan that’s tailored to your key 2023 challengesSo, what are the current and potential risks that you should be planning for in ...

Your GST return is due soon

Your GST return is due soon.You need to file your GST return at the end of every taxable period (this may be monthly, 2 monthly or 6 monthly depending on the frequency you have chosen for your business - you can check this with us).We can help you file your return and pay by the due date to avoid late penalties.Have you got your paperwork in order? - You’ll need to calculate the following to work out your return:Total sales and income for the taxable periodTotal purchases and expenses for the ...

Attracting and retaining talent

With low unemployment and increased competition for people, businesses are changing their offering to attract and retain the best employees. It’s not just about money; the pandemic has caused people to re-evaluate their priorities, how they want to work, and who they want to work for.So, how can you ensure your business remains competitive? Here are five key opportunities to focus on:1. Flexible working conditions.One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to working conditions; we should consid...

Looking after your own wellbeing and resilience

When you’re busy running a business, it can be easy to overlook your own wellbeing and mental health.Stress can have a serious effect on your ability to function and you can’t make consistently good decisions and lead your team if you’re under a weight of pressure or struggling with poor mental or physical health.So let’s take a look at being resilient in the face of challenges and effective ways to support your own wellbeing.Dealing with pressureThere are 2 key steps to handling a tough...

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...

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 ...

10 ways to improve self-awareness

What is self-awareness?Being self-aware is developing a deeper understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, personality type, motivators, stressors, values, inner critic, and behavioural tendencies. It’s paying better attention to what you think and feel, and how you behave.Having better self-awareness makes it easier for us to understand other people, and how they may perceive and interact with us.Developing your emotional intelligenceHow well do you know yourself? Better self-awareness will ...

Delegation versus abdication - are you an effective delegator?

Do you ever get to the end of a work day and wonder where time went? You barely dented your list, let alone completed it. Delegation is a great way to free up time. Pass projects to existing team members, new recruits, or to outside contractors. But, is it that simple?What is the art of delegation?We say ‘art’ because delegation is not an exact science; different approaches are needed depending on who’s tackling your task. Delegating work effectively requires effort and time. The initial t...

How staff training expands the skill-set of your business

Spending time and money on staff training is a must. When your employees can see that you're invested in their future, they feel valued, empowered and engaged with your company vision. That's excellent news for your employee satisfaction scores and your team spirit – not to mention the overall productivity of the workforce.Investing in the future of your teamIf you want great things from your people, you’ve got to give them the very best support. A job is not a static thing. It’s a role th...

Stressing about your work/life balance?

Trying to get perfect the work/life balance can be a cause of stress in itself. If you are feeling the strain of building your business and maintaining your life the good news is that stress and a productive existence can go hand in hand. Be mindful and you can find the balance that’s best for you.How much stress is good for you?The Yerkes-Dodson law shows that an individual's performance increases with stress (arousal) until cortisol levels get too high and then decreases again just as sharpl...

5 ways to get in control of your business finances

Having proper control of your business finances is a big advantage. It helps you make well-informed business decisions and keeps your organisation profitable.With so many digital tools for managing your bookkeeping, accounting and management reporting, it's never been easier to manage, track and forecast your financial position.But what are the main tools you need? And how do you set up your financial systems, apps, processes and reporting to put yourself back in the finance driving seat?1. Brin...

Which is more important? Cashflow or profit?

Cashflow and profit are two of the most important financial metrics for any business. But while they’re both related to the financial performance of a company, they measure different things.Knowing the difference – and how cash and profit contribute to your success story – is a vital skill if you want your business to have the best possible financial health.The difference between cashflow and profitUnderstanding the technicalities of financial reporting can be daunting as a new entrepreneu...

GST invoicing changes from April 2023

New rules modernising GST invoicing and record-keeping requirements apply from 1 April 2023.The key change is removing the requirement to issue and hold a “tax invoice” document (which meets certain prescribed requirements on details required), and instead having GST requirements met provided specific GST information is held through various business records, for example commercial invoices or agreements.Tax invoices are replaced by taxable supply information (TSI). This is a set list of info...

Why your business needs a digital marketing specialist

Has your business kept pace with the digital revolution when it comes to ecommerce, online marketing, social media marketing and customer experience?24.5% of sales are expected to be made online by 2025, according to recent predictions from Shopify. So, if online is the place to be when looking for targets, customers and conversions, what's your current strategy for achieving this? And do you have the skills in the business to bring your marketing and customer strategy into the digital age?Where...

Understanding the Use of Money Interest (UOMI) System

Some taxpayers are subject to use of money interest when they don’t pay their tax, pay late or underpay.When do you have to pay use of money interest to Inland Revenue?Taxpayers that must pay use of money interest are those who:have under-estimated their provisional taxhave earned income which has either not been taxed, or has not had enough tax deducted from it, and the end of year residual tax works out at $60,000 or morepay their taxes late.COVID-19Inland Revenue has discretion to write-off...

Running your business in a crisis

If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that businesses can face major challenges and disruption.The latest is the extreme weather brought by Cyclone Gabrielle that caused flooding, power cuts, building and roading damage, and disrupted transport and supply links.Beyond the impact to normal business operations, these difficulties are also challenging on a personal level, and after 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are experiencing heightened anxiety, concern, anger, sad...

Business tips - Marketing and promoting your new business

Even with the best products and/or services in the world, you won't make many sales if your intended customers don't know about your business. To raise awareness of your brand and to kickstart your sales process, you need to start marketing and promoting the company.Sales and marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, but it is important to have a clear idea of your customers’ preferred channels and how you can engage with them in these places.Create a website and an online/digital presenceWe...

Managing your marketing budget to improve your ROI

Having a well-planned marketing budget can help you allocate resources to the right digital marketing channels and maximise the effectiveness of your campaigns.But where do you begin when it comes to managing and tracking your budgets?Businesses spend between 2% and 5% of their revenue on marketing to promote their products and services. That might not sound like much, but bear in mind that it’s vital to use your working capital wisely. So, whatever the size of your marketing spend, you want t...

Build long-term customer relationships: improve your financial stability

We know that building long-term relationships with your customers makes good sense for your customer experience. But good relationships are also a key factor in making your business more financially stable and improving your bottom line.The answer lies in nurturing the relationship, building a sense of trust and satisfaction that leads to regular sales and a boost to your revenue.Nurturing customer relationships that drive your profitsA business with no customers has no future. But a business wi...

Get in control of cashflow

It’s a well-worn phrase, but cashflow really is the lifeblood of your business.When your cash inflows are greater than your cash outflows, that puts you in a positive cashflow position – giving you the liquid cash needed to trade, improve and grow as a business.But if costs start to outstrip your income, that can leave too little cash in the pot. This results in mounting debt, problems paying suppliers and (in the worst cases) the failure of your business.So it’s vital to get proactive wit...

Top Tips for getting your financial yearend work completed quicker

A new financial year is upon us and that means that it’s time to check the accuracy of your financial information in your accounting software for the past financial year, and to gather the documentation that we, as your accountant, will need to finalise your accounts and file your tax returns.The sooner we have this information the sooner we can complete your accounts and notify you of your tax position. It’s a good idea to have this information as soon as possible so that you can make infor...

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...