As a business advisor and accountant, people often come to my office in Richmond and they’re in a panic. They might be a couple of years into running their business and they’re behind. They’re late with their tax; they are behind with their reporting and they’re worried about everything they haven’t done.
It’s my job to reassure them they’re not too late and that we can systematically work together to ensure their business is on the right track.
So whether you are just starting out or looking to grow, there are four things you need to have under control to optimise your business.
1. Strong systems and processes
Developing processes, procedures and systems is really important if you are trying to start or expand your business. There are simple things you can do every day that will make tax time easier and optimise your returns.
The ‘touch it once’ principle - this works on the idea of efficiency. When you receive a bill in the mail or via email, once you open it deal with it. Either pay it immediately or set up an electronic payment for the due date. Some people prefer to do these tasks in groups (often called ‘batching’) to make them even more efficient.
Process your email, don’t check it – it’s easy to check your email without having any real intention of action. If you open your inbox, deal with what is there. Reply immediately to emails if you can.
Make sure you are using up-to-date accounting software that uses bank feeds. This means that your software (such as Xero, MYOB or Freshbooks) automatically syncs your business with your bank statements.
2. Reliable and current data
Having access to dependable and up-to-date data means you know exactly how your business is performing at any given time. Ask yourself if your management accounts are up-to-date, do the statutory accounts that your accountant prepares match the figures in your management accounts? Can you easily access information to determine whether your income is growing annually?
3. Having clear goals
It’s hard to hit a target if you don’t know what you’re aiming for. I suggest to my clients that they put down in writing what they want to achieve in their business for the coming year. Mostly clients want to:
· Increase turnover
· Improve cash flow
· Increase profitability
It’s great to have well-defined goals like the ones above and in order to achieve these you need to have focus.
4. Have focus
There’s no point in setting goals unless you are going to hold yourself accountable to them. Perhaps you want to achieve an annual turnover of $1million. That goal can hang there, but without focus and a way of breaking it down, it can seem unachievable.
If you divide $1million by 12 (months of the year), you’ll know you have to bring in 83K a month. So how are you going to do that? You’ll need to carefully look at your goals and focus on achieving them. After all, focus is the number one factor of success in business.
These four points are interrelated, but the most successful business people I see in my work are those who have strong systems in place, they make use of the data available and they set goals and have an unerring determination to reach them.
The good news is that it’s never too late to focus on these four key aspects. But if you can do these initially, your business will be off to a flying start.
If you would like to discuss further please contact us:
McNamara and Co - Chartered Accountants, located minutes from the Melbourne CBD
www.mcnamaraandcompany.com.au/contact-us
Phone +61 3 9428 1062
Email admin@mcnamaraandco.com
