Doesn’t it really “frost your cookies” that medium-sized businesses always seem to get left out of the most important decisions?
Well, as it turns out, the medium-sized business sector has finally scored a big win!
Many medium-sized companies will be perfect candidates for the concept that is going to revolutionise capital raising for Australian business and it’s already underway.
This is not a gimmick!
Last month we discussed the effect that Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising will have on small companies – this concept also applies to medium sized companies – companies with turnovers $2 million to $25 million are ideally placed to utilise Crowd Sourced Funding Equity Raising to raise capital.
“Scaling up” to the next level or even 2 or 3 higher levels requires:
The other key requirements for medium sized companies to raise capital as Crowd Sourced Funding Companies are:
Implementing capital raising as a Crowd Sourced Funding Company could prove to be an “apprenticeship” for a subsequent Initial Public Offer (IPO) for a listing on a stock exchange if that is what the company directors are interested in doing.
The experience of participating in the Crowd Sourced Funding Capital Raising process, working with a Crowd Sourced Funding Intermediary, accepting that a group of external shareholders own a percentage of your company, gaining from the experience of having some external directors on your board of directors, potentially dealing with auditors, is all valuable corporate governance experience if your company ever decides to proceed with an IPO or just wants to double the company’s turnover over the next 3 to 4 years.
If you would like to discuss your vision for your company, please don’t hesitate to contact a partner in our firm for a discussion.
Applications for the Export Market Development Grant in respect of the year ended 30th June 2018 must be lodged with Austrade by 30th November 2018.
If you would like our assistance with the preparation of your business’ Export Market Development Grant Application Form, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Cost control strategies should be part of an ongoing activity, not just considered once a year. A good idea is to create a checklist of the key costs being incurred in the business with an analysis being performed on the cost and reviewed on an ongoing basis to see whether value for money is being obtained.
In some instances, it may be found that it is necessary to increase the amount of money that a business is spending under a particular cost heading, so as to get a significant improvement in value for money. If this helps the overall performance of the business and bottom-line profitability, then that additional expenditure is money well spent.
However, in most cases the ongoing costing review will be centred on an analysis as to whether the incurred cost is still justified and whether the business is receiving the best possible deal from the suppliers of the product or service
When undertaking a review, it’s a good idea to ask a question “Why are we incurring this expense?”
Is it necessary that the business incur this expense so as to continue to service your customers at the highest possible standard? Or is it an expense that is frivolous and a luxury in today’s market that your business could do without?
Is the product or service being acquired of superior quality to that required to meet your customers' requirements? Are you buying a "brand name" when that is not necessary?
Many small and medium sized businesses have established a cost control review committee which meets throughout the year to consider the various costs that have been incurred by the business and, after some investigation, to determine whether that cost should still be incurred or whether changes can be made to the type of product or service that is being acquired, so as to reduce the overall cost impost to the business.
A dollar saved in purchasing of products or services goes directly to bottom-line profitability of your business.
If you would like to discuss a strategy of how savings can be effected within your business, please do not hesitate to contact the accountant in our organisation with whom you normally deal.
Single Touch Payroll (STP) is an Australian government initiative that changes the way businesses report on salary or wages, Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) withholding and superannuation. Under STP, this payroll information will be sent electronically from the business' payroll system directly to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) at the same time as the employer pays their employees.
Employers with 20 or more employees have been required to utilise the Single Touch Payroll system from 1st July 2018.
Small business employers:
Micro employers (1 – 4 employees)
In summary:
This is obviously a big change which is going to affect all small businesses. If you would like to have a discussion with us relative to the development of a strategy for your business, please do not hesitate to contact the accountant in our organisation with whom you normally deal.
Last month we summarised some of the key questions to consider relative to the development of a business growth plan for 2019. This month we would like to explore some particular items for you to take into consideration in the development of your plan for 2019.
Are you satisfied with the culture in your business?
Does your team understand the core values of your business and the core purpose?
Is your brand honoured by your team?
Do you aspire to achieve world’s best practice? Benchmarking is very important to understand how your business is performing. It's common to benchmark against other businesses in the same industry as yours, but you do not need to be a “slave” to only ever comparing with businesses in your same industry.
Some businesses, wishing to achieve significant growth and world’s best practice, are going outside their industry to benchmark specific internal operations of their business, as compared to a completely different industry. Examples of specific internal operations include:
What strategies are you going to implement in your plan, relative to customer feedback? Some businesses make telephone calls to customers the following day to see whether they were satisfied with the service that they received the previous day. What does your business do and, more importantly, what are you planning to do during 2019?
Strategy
You need to consider the following questions in developing your overall strategy for 2019:
These are some of the questions that we believe you should be considering as you develop a strategy for your business in 2019. We will continue this article next month.
If you would like to discuss your business strategies with us, relative to the development of your plan for 2019, please contact the accountant in our organisation with whom you normally deal.
Marketing is a process, not a one-off event. When you examine the marketplace, only 3% to 4% of your potential customers are ready to buy at any one moment in time. The main reason for marketing is to generate some interest by using a time-based process, such as a “drip” campaign of communicating with potential customers until they’re ready to buy. This can be built around four words – “interrupt, inform, educate and offer”.
How might you “interrupt” potential customers? This could be done via email or a telephone call, to advise them of your product or service followed up with information, video or webinar, which will inform the potential customer of how your products can assist them in their day-to-day business operation.
If you would like us to review your marketing campaign or refer you to a marketing consultant, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Posted in Towers Business News, Blogs & Posts on Tuesday, 03 September 2019