As Small Business Advisory experts, we delve into many facets of running a business, with one key area being that of Business Finance just for small businesses.

Indeed, the right type of finance will enable your business to access funds in a timely manner to complete existing or new projects, hire the right people, acquire good quality equipment and do in months what could possibly take years.

Our “Diligent Small Business Finance” is where we have partnered with a select number of reputable funding organisations and are pleased to offer you these trusted services.

If your business needs access to capital for cash flow, equipment &/or growth, then please do speak to us. As usual, we are just a phone call away or simply email us your enquiry.

We can help assess your current position and assist you in getting the right type of funding to suit your individual requirements, objectives and timing.

The post GROW your Small Business with Competitive, Accessible and TRUSTED Business Finance appeared first on Diligent Group.

Selecting high value people that CARE (Guest Blog from Edward Zia):

I had an incredibly productive day today speaking to dozens of people, making new friends and helping set some new businesses in motion.

My lunch time meeting got moved to the following day and I was driving through the Inner West of Sydney, I called into some wonderful friends to say hello. ‘The Diligent Group’ are wonderful incredible people who I know from multiple viewpoints.

Firstly, I work with them and they are wonderful clients. Secondly, I have seen the effort and love they put into their clients. Thirdly and most importantly, their clients love them with incredible reviews.

If you get to know the wonderful Steve Wilson and Samson J Patrick who run the show there, it doesn’t take long to work this point out. They really care about their clients; their clients never leave and importantly everyone loves them and what they do.

Using them as a model template here and let’s say you are picking a supplier or client to work with, there are key points to consider as part this. These are their key traits & virtues to look out for:

-          Kind, reasonable and listen.

-          Look at the world with objectivity.

-          They appreciate what you do, and you appreciate them.

-          Their clients are very happy, and they have strong goodwill.

-          They are successful people that you could easily hang out with.

My lessons and thinking? Steve & Samson are incredible people and if you know them, think of their key traits and look in the mirror yourself. I firstly like to ask myself if I am truly walking the talk. If that is the case (which I am sure it is), then apply this filter to suppliers and clients you choose to work with.

Strong businesses are built with high value clients, so make sure you do your best and go for those wonderful people. This creates a massive win / win that keeps everyone happy and wonderful.

I love your work, thank you for the read and appreciate it Diligent Group! Love your work.

Thank you Edward Zia! We at The Diligent Group appreciate it. 

The post Selecting high value people that CARE (Guest Blog from Edward Zia) appeared first on Diligent Group.

As we all get closer to retirement we start to concern ourselves with these sorts of questions along with other questions like:

• Will I be able to work long enough to save enough funds for retirement?
• Will I be able to get another job if I lose my current position?
• How long do I think I will live for?
• What is my current health situation?
• How will I fill my time in retirement? What hobbies do I have?
• How do I protect what I have already built up?

When clients contact us about planning for retirement, these are the sorts of things concerning them. Our approach to these questions and planning for retirement for our clients is to start with two questions:

1. What do you want to live on in retirement?
2. When do you want to be able to retire?

Implicit behind question 1, is “what does retirement look like to you” and by this we mean, what sort of holidays do you want to go on, weekly entertainment from movies, to theatre to restaurants etc. For singles we look at their life expectancy and then add another 10 years onto this. So if you want to retire at 65 and your life expectancy is 85 years of age, and you want to live on $65,000 per annum, then we need to determine what lump sum of money at retirement is need to fund $65,000 of income until you reach 95 years of age. We find this approach provides some protection against investment markets falling, and of course you living longer than your life expectancy, all without having to sacrifice your retirement objectives.

For couples, we add 10 years to the life expectancy of the youngest member of the couple, typically this will be wife. A woman also have longer life expectancies than men, and still remains so today. Again this approach will help protect the surviving spouse to maintain their retirement plans.

So how do we determine this “lump sum” of money needed at retirement? One major factor in this is a client’s risk profile. By this we mean what sort of risks an investor is willing to take to generate greater returns. Some clients are more comfortable with investments such as shares and property which historically have produced better long term returns (capital growth) but at the price of volatility in market movements. Other clients just want their funds left in bank accounts earning simple interest. What is often overlooked by retirees or those fast approaching retirement, is that your investment timeframe in retirement is still long term i.e. 20 years plus. The greater the amount of funds invested at retirement into growth style assets such as shares and property, means the lower the lump sum required at retirement. Often this will mean a trade-off, from a client’s perspective, between risk and ensuring their retirement goals are funding fully.

Next week we will look at some of the other issues affecting retirement funding such as how long before retirement you commence your planning. Spoiler alert, the sooner the better.

For any questions on your retirement planning needs or to commence your discussion about preparing for retirement, please contact Steve Wilson to arrange a meeting.

The post I’m close to retirement and want to know “how much can I spend in retirement?” appeared first on Diligent Group.

Later in life we find a significant partner we want to spend the rest of our life together with, have children and of course buy our first property to live in. Now the implications of getting sick or dying becomes real and tends to leave our loved ones in dreadful positions.

If we get sick and cannot work for an extended period, you could run out of sick and annual leave and put yourself in a position to default on your mortgage and have the bank foreclose on your home. Whilst you are still sick and trying to get better, you and your family could find itself without a home and potentially bankrupt. Worse still, if you die, your partner may not be able to keep up with paying the mortgage whilst at the same time taking care of your children’s emotional needs.

So what forms of insurances are there and what do they do? There are 4 broad forms of “risk” insurances that financial planners will talk and discuss with you. They are:

• Death Cover;
• Total and Permanent Disablement Cover;
• Income Protection; and
• Trauma Cover

Most of us have heard of Death Cover and Income Protection. In the even you die, death cover will provide your estate with a lump sum of money (the amount you insured for) which can be used for things like paying off the mortgage, providing money for children’s education and of course pay for the funeral, to name a few.

Income protection will provide you with a replacement income in the event you cannot work due to illness or injury (no not for quitting your job as has often been asked of me). There is a waiting period before your payments commence, this being the amount of time you must wait before the insurer commences paying you your income. This could be 14 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months and two years. There is also a payment term for how long the payments remain in force which can be 2 years, five years or to age 65, as examples. Most insurers will allow you to insure up to 75% of your gross income and also include super payments as a top up as well.

So what is Total and Permanent Disablement Cover? This cover is related to Death Cover where you are so injured or have succumb to an illness or disease such that you are extremely disabled and unlikely to ever get better. Think of things like quadriplegia. So why is this cover important? Well, if you do not take out this form of cover and suffer a severe car accident where you become quadriplegic but still alive, you would not receive a death cover payment but still suffer from not being able to work and earn an income putting your family at financial peril.

Depending on the form of Total and Permanent Disablement, you may get a payment under an income protection cover, but generally speaking there are significant capital expenses related to TPD events such as renovations to homes and ongoing medical expenses that a lump sum of money can provide assistance with to top up your income protection cover. In some cases, you may not get payments under an income protection policy.

What about this Trauma cover? Trauma cover specifically covers for listed and defined medical events such as heart attack, stroke, cancers, depression to name a few. With a lot of these medical events you will generally not receive a payment under a death cover or TPD policy as you are neither dead nor totally and permanently disabled. There are payments under Death cover if you are terminally ill with payment occurring prior to your death to help put your affairs in order. Also with a lot of trauma type events and advances in medical treatments, you may still be able to work, depending on your occupation and treatment and waiting periods. Some cancer patients receiving chemo will be able to resume work quickly after each treatment and may not meet the waiting periods for payment under an income protection policy.

A good financial planner and a good risk plan will look at:

• Your personal and financial circumstances and that of your spouse or partner;
• Your level of assets and debts;
• Your wishes for your spouse and children (education etc);
• What insurances can be owned inside and outside of super;
• Your family budget and spare cash to fund insurances;
• A proper and realistic assessment of the “insurance gap” you have that needs to be filled;
• Utilising a combination of one or more of these 4 insurances to provide complete protection; and
• Whether some trade off needs to be raised and explained in what level of cover you should have and what realistically you can afford to ensure a fuller protection coverage is provided to you and your family.

For any questions on your risk insurance needs or to discuss your full financial planning needs, please contact Steve Wilson to arrange for a meeting.

Getting this right is not only a logically smart move; it can give one a strong peace of mind.

The post Young family, children and a mortgage? That’s why you need insurances! appeared first on Diligent Group.

From 1 July 2017 GST applies to sales of imported services and digital products to Australian businesses and consumers. This means Australian businesses buying imported services or digital products may have GST included in the price of these purchases. This includes digital products such as streaming or downloading of movies, music, apps, games and e-books, and services such as architectural or legal services.

If overseas businesses make these supplies and meet the registration turnover threshold of A$75,000, they are required to register for and pay GST. However, overseas businesses will not be required to pay GST on supplies they make to Australian registered businesses that have provided them with their ABN and state they are registered for GST. As such make sure as a business owner if importing overseas services that you provide your ABN details and state you are registered for GST.

GST on low value imported goods

From 1 July 2018 GST will also apply to sales of low value goods imported by consumers into Australia.

GST on low value imported goods will apply to physical goods sold to consumers and imported into Australia that have a value equal to or less than A$1,000. This means we will now all be paying GST on these low value goods imports.

Tax planning and Trusts

Most of us will have heard about family trusts and the tax planning benefits that are available to trustees and the beneficiaries of these trusts. The ATO continues to remind us that for this tax planning opportunities to remain available to trustees and the beneficiaries that valid trustee resolutions must be made by the trust trustees and in a timely manner.

To ensure discretionary beneficiaries are:

• presently entitled to trust income, trustees of discretionary trusts must make a resolution by 30 June of that income year. This means by 30 June 2017.
• specifically entitled to franked distributions, trustees of discretionary trusts must make a resolution in writing, specifically dealing with the franked distributions (as opposed to trust income) by 30 June
• specifically entitled to a capital gain
  • trustees of discretionary trusts must make a resolution in respect of that capital gain by 31 August following the income year in which the capital gain is made
  • where some or all of a capital gain forms part of the income of the trust estate, the trustee will often need to specifically deal with it by 30 June, when all of the income of the trust estate is otherwise being dealt with – this is because any capital gain forming part of the income of the trust estate cannot be specifically dealt with after a beneficiary has already been made presently entitled to it.

The resolution establishes which beneficiaries are assessed on the trust’s net income. If you are a trustee of a family trust (otherwise known as a discretionary trust), talk to your tax advisor about your trustee resolutions for the 30 June 2017 financial year or call us for a consultation.

We are here to help and many thanks from The Diligent Group.

The post Tax Update from The Diligent Group appeared first on Diligent Group.

So what is “Blue Ocean Strategy” and how does it enable you to increase your prices? In most industries businesses all compete in the same space for the same clients or customers. This is an overcrowded market and is termed “red-ocean”, as this competition leads to blood in the water. All you are doing is competing with other businesses in a shrinking profit pool battling other competitors.

Blue Ocean is about a business, your business, creating new untapped market space that no other business is competing in, ripe for growth and meeting unmet client needs.

Blue Ocean is based around four (4) critical principles:

1. How to create uncontested market space by reconstructing market boundaries;
2. Focusing on the big picture;
3. Reaching beyond existing demand and supply in new market spaces; and
4. Getting the strategic sequence right

This all sounds complicated, but in essence can be distilled down to “blue oceans denote al the industries not in existence today, the unknown market space, untainted by competition. In blue oceans, demand is created rather than fought over. There is ample opportunity for growth that is both profitable and rapid”.

So how can a blue ocean strategy lead or enable you to increase prices? Well the corner stone of blue ocean strategy is “value innovation” which is the pursuit of differentiation and low cost. This creates value for your buyers, your business and your employees, opening up new and uncontested market space. The aim is not to compete with other businesses but to make them irrelevant. When your competitors are irrelevant you have the opportunity to increase your prices.

Blue Ocean is but one option for your business to consider when it comes to differentiation along with many other business models such as lean start up, six sigma, red blue black and so on.

For any questions on Blue Ocean and how it may apply to your business or to discuss other options on how to differentiate your business, please get in touch.

Steve Wilson on behalf The Diligent Group

The post ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ to increase your prices! appeared first on Diligent Group.

After all we are spending money that could be in in our own BANK ACCOUNT and it adds a completely new dimension to our thinking and requirements of any Marketing & Sales Strategy we make use of.

I remember noticing this greatly when I was a Corporate in that people would spend $5K, $10K, $50K, $200K and more in a heart-beat. However, when it came to money out of their own wallet / handbag it would be a near decision between life and death for spend $100.

We get this and as entrepreneurs this thinking is something we encounter on a daily basis.

To make this all easier, it’s ideal to always start with the best High Return and Low Cost Marketing Strategies. This obviously drives profit and also gives us the best opportunity to grow our businesses in record time.

From the thousands I have worked with, these are our top strategies we often workshop to get maximum customer growth ASAP. Some will suit you and some won’t and it’s critical to pick the right area to work on first:

1.       Get your edge right: Your key point of difference in a simple tagline is everything. After all, why should people choose to work with your company? Make it sharp, short and specific so people just know what you are all about.

2.       Make sure your Website Converts: Your website sits there 24 hours per day 7 days a week and it’s great to update them to make sure it’s bringing you leads. This may require improvements in wording, design and flow to make it happen.

3.       A beautiful Design and Compelling Identity: You must look the part and people will only take you seriously if you have a great beautiful look and image. A great logo, well designed materials, the right colours and really communicate what you are all about. This sells to the ‘sub conscious mind’ in one swoop.

4.       High Value Business Networking: Business Chambers are one of our personal favourites with many other networking events giving you a regular chance to meet potential clients and referral partners face to face. It’s great to go there to make friends, get business appointments and then work one on one to turn them into customers. Minimal costs for this great all time strategy.

5.       Social Media Domination: Both Facebook & LinkedIn are massive in Australia and the top platforms that continue to grow in usage and popularity. Facebook is great for speaking to your community with LinkedIn great for B2B direct communications. Powerful!

6.       Email Marketing: Send a simple email to your massive database for basically free using a platform like Mailchimp. You can also build your databases many ways from cards collected at Chambers to those that opt-in on your website.

7.       Trusted Friends & Partners: Build your own referral group of trusted friends and give each other business. Very free and very high return (Business Networking is also a great place to meet them).

8.       Running Free & Valuable Events: Your customers may find you through high value events and if you can put together a regular gathering for them to come, this is just perfect. For example, we run free Marketing events every fortnight giving people free strategies, tools and ideas. They love us and hire us.

9.       Public Relations & Speaking at Events: Speak to the media, give them great stories about you and speak as an expert at events across town. Powerful for getting that massive exposure.

10.   Superior Technology & Reflexes: Your Marketing is only great when you move fast, respond to leads ASAP and hit the Market hard. That is what we are all about.

Our advice and thinking? Meet with the team from The Diligent Group and work through your numbers and the reality of what your business requires. When you are ready to get more high value clients, they can point you in the right direction and even get us involved to assist.

Whatever you do, make sure you take intelligent action and measure your returns so you know you are going to win.

We are here to help and many thanks for your attention.

Edward Zia – Marketing Mentor & Blogger on behalf of The Diligent Team

The post PROFITABLE High Return & Low Cost Marketing Strategies appeared first on Diligent Group.

Before simply increasing your prices by say 10% you should do some research and know what your competitors are currently charging their and your customers and what the “market price” for your goods or services is. Undertaking this research is not as easy as it seems, or simply phoning around and going online to check out competitors prices.

Who are your competitors?

Simple enough question but let’s look at your local pub. Obviously other pubs in the area are competitors to your pub but your competitors do not stop here. What about other styles of restaurants such as Thai or Mexican, as all restaurants compete for that patron. What about bottle shops competing for the alcohol space against your pub. We can also look a little broader afield and think about your pub competing in the “discretionary spending” space where customers have a certain amount of discretionary income or money to spend each week which can be used for eating out, movies, short trips and so on. After having done this research you may simply find that you have been undervaluing your services or goods and are charging less than what other competitors are. Now simply increase your price to the market or slightly below making sure you are providing the same or better service, this will equate to better “value” which is what we are all looking for.

What if this is not the case and you are charging the same market prices, then how can you increase prices to your customers? Do you ever talk to your customers or clients and ask them what they are looking for as you may not be aware you are missing something that could make your clients life easier, better or save them time. Think about and investigate small things you can provide that do not cost you much or take too much of your time up, but will be a significant benefit to your customers or clients. Recently we replaced our office photocopier ( one of those very large mass printing ones ) and the group that ultimately go the sale spent time finding out about our office printing use as well as processes relating to scanning and emailing. They then offered us a small trade in on our very old run down photocopier and took it away for us for free. This saved us a significant amount of time, money and hassle in arranging someone else to remove the old machine for us, but would be of very little cost to the company providing us with the new machine and in fact they would likely use the old machine for parts and make money from it.

This is just one simple strategy you can engage immediately to look to add value to your customers and provide room to increase prices. Think about “what benefit does my client get” when looking to add value to your services or goods.

Next week we will be discussing Blue Ocean Strategy as this opens up your market allowing you to increase your prices and is a longer term strategic and competitive approach to super profits BUT requires more time and effort to research and implement.

For any questions or if you would like to work with us, please get in contact.

The post The simplicity of growing your business: INCREASE YOUR PRICES! appeared first on Diligent Group.

So you have been running your small business for a while and are now looking to growth your turnover and profits. You have been doing some research, attending seminars and self-help course but it all seems confusing?

Let’s cut through all the material, advice and folklore surrounding growing your small business. With this in mind we will focus on the top line being sales and or turnover.

So exactly how can you grow your small business, turnover and profits? Well there are only 4 ways you can do this and each has its own strategies for growth with the key options being:

1. Increase the number of clients / customers;
2. Increase the price you charge for your service or goods;
3. Increase the number of products, goods or services your clients purchase when they conduct business with you. This is also known as the “average transaction size” and think of MacDonald’s with their up sales and desserts etc. Have you ever just bought a burger or coffee?
4. Increase the number of times your clients or customers purchase each week, month or year;

As mentioned before each of these options has their own strategy and sometimes they overlap. So how do you increase the number of clients / customers? This is where “marketing” comes in to ensure the following:

1. Visibility: Do your potential clients know you exist or can you be found easily?
2. Branding: something that makes your business instantly recognisable to your clients or prospects bringing you to “top of mind” when it comes time to purchase;
3. Unique Service Proposition: What is it you do that no one else does that is of a benefit to your client? Why should they purchase or engage your business and how does it benefit / affect them positively?

The above list is not exhaustive and within each category different strategies apply.

For example when thinking about visibility a good marketing consultant will think about your website, social media integration, which forms of social media are best suited to your business and industry, street visibility for your shop front or office, corporate colours to help your business stand out from your competitors and so on. So we can quickly see that branding for example, has an effect on the visibility of your business.

All small business should engage the services of a marketing firm to help grow their small business and that this expense should be thought of as an investment in your business and not an expense. Marketing is about driving existing and new clients to your business to grow your profits.

Next week we will look at “Price” and some of the strategies involved in setting and increasing your price. Please contact us at The Diligent Group should you wish to discuss your marketing needs and Sam and I will be happy to tee up a meeting with ourselves and our marketing associate (and guru) Ed from Excellence Above.

For any questions or if you would like to work with us, please get in contact.

Many thanks from Steve Wilson on behalf of the Diligent Team.

The post So you want to grow your small business? appeared first on Diligent Group.

Employer Super Contributions:

If you are a small business owner make sure you take advantage of super contributions for yourself. If you are over 49 years of age you can contribute up to $35,000 and get a deduction for your business. If you are 48 years of age or younger then you cap limit is $30,000. Remember employer super contributions are fully deductible for your business and contributes to your retirement plans.

Potential Capital Gains:

Defer any possible capital gains on sale of an asset until the new financial year. This will help in maximising the timing advantage for payment of any capital gains.

Repairs:

Have you been putting if off! It is now time to review and organise any repairs and or improvements needed to your workplace, equipment or investment properties.

Prepay business expenses:

Assess and consider your business’s cash flow position with the view to prepaying business expenses up to 12 months in advance. Pick up the extra deductions this year.

Business Write Offs:

Examine obsolete, out of date or damaged stock, so it can qualify for a write off. The lower your closing stock, the better for your tax position and business.

Shareholder Loans:

A big red alert! If a shareholder owes money to their company, appropriate documents must be prepared prior to 30 June. In the absence of documentation, the ATO may deem the loan as an unfranked dividend to you, resulting in an unexpected tax liability.

Keep your receipts:

Remember to always safeguard your receipts, invoices and other expense records. Absence of any of these and it means the ATO will not allow your deduction.

Dot your I’s and Cross your T’s:

Ensure all documentation is in order (minutes of meetings, resolutions etc) in relation to paying director’s fees, bonuses and non-salary payments, ensure all instances are duly recorded.

In relation to your personal or business End Of Year tax planning all the above options should be considered and weighed against the following points:

1. Cash Flow – Do you need to buy it? Can you afford it? That is, don’t just buy stationery just for the deduction if you are already fully stocked;
2. Forecast – Consider next year’s potential profits before you allocate deductions or report income. Before bringing forward expenses to this current financial year which would normally have been expenses next financial year, consider your forecast for your business growth for next year. If you expect profits to grow bringing forward expenses now will significantly affect next year’s tax liability;
3. Don’t spend to gain deductions – Before you sign the dotted line, ask yourself “does my business really benefit from this purchase?”. Remember when you spend money for a tax deduction you will only get back 28.5 cents for each dollar spent.

The above are just some general tax saving tips – for specific advice to suit your individual or business needs, contact us to arrange a time to meet and go over your options. Coffee included.

Thank you from Steve Wilson (The Diligent Group)

The post End of Financial Year and claiming those tax deductions! appeared first on Diligent Group.