Small Biz Matters: People, Policy, Purpose.

Why A Simple Bucket Can Revolutionise Your Thinking About Your Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 15 January 2018

We always talk on Small Biz Matters about the importance of surrounding our small businesses with good people and finance is a MUST when it comes to finding the right fit. We’re all familiar with bookkeepers and accountants but there’s a new kid in town. Chief Financial Officers were previously the domain of large corporates but with the move towards a more flexible lifestyle rather than J.O.B.s we have more of these highly experienced and financially knowledgeable experts in our midst. And many of them really want to bring to small business this incredible knowledge.

Now, you may think what can a CFO of an enormous company teach me and my micro or small business? Well, as Wayne Wanders is about to teach us, the concepts are very similar and can be applied to the approach you have to your finances. You just need the right expert to show you how!

• Welcome to the show Wayne.

Thank You Alexi and it is great to be here on Small Biz Matters.  I hope you and all your listeners had a great Christmas and new year

• Broadly outline your small business journey and what led you to start your own business from the life as a CFO?

I am and have been for over 30 years, a fully qualified chartered accountant and business advisor.  In this time, I have been the CFO and company secretary of 2 businesses listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

About 20 years ago I was the Australian CFO of a US company starting up in Australia.  But it was a really frustrating place to work as I had bosses in Sydney, Hong Kong, London and the US.  And it was too hard to get things changed.

In the end I decided that life was too short to waste my time trying to help people who would not listen and it was then that I realised that I only wanted to work directly with people who could make decisions.

And in Australia, these people are the business owners and CEO’s of small and medium businesses.

But few of these businesses could afford to employ someone like me on a full basis.  So that’s when I set up my own outsourced CFO business, offering my talents, strengths, skills and experience on a part time basis, for a fraction of the cost of a full time employee.

And I have been doing this now for nearly 20 years helping small and medium business owners as they grow their business.

• Why, when all other financial experts focus on the traditional P&L do you suggest that its “utterly useless to manage your business”?

The traditional profit and loss most business get from their book keeper or accountant are great to prepare your tax return but as you said, I believe they are utterly useless for a business owner to help them manage their business.

And the easiest way to explain this is to give you an example from some northern suburbs business owners I was talking to just last week.

They are a husband and wife team who run a digital marketing company.  They have several service offerings such as design, building websites, SEO, social media marketing etc.

When I asked about how they delivered this they mentioned they use a combination of their own staff and contractors.

Now we started talking about how they could grow their business and make more money.

My comment was that for most businesses, about 20% of the business generates about 80% of the profit.  And if you want to grow your business and make more money, you want to grow the bit that is making the most money.

So I had a look at their financial reports to see if I could see where they are making their money.

And guess what, their financial reports were done in the traditional manner with revenue and expenses just detailed in alphabetical order.

Here were some of the problems I saw immediately.

1. Most of their revenue was in one account called “projects”. They could not tell me how much revenue was from each of their core service offerings.
2. Contractor costs were correctly in cost of sales, but was not split between their core service offerings.
3. All staff costs were in one account. There was no breakdown between work on projects, and which service offering these related to, and overhead / admin costs.

They had no way of knowing how much money each of their service offerings were making.  And more importantly they had no idea which service offering was making the most money.   

And if they went ahead and started to try and grow their business, there was a strong chance that they would have more revenue, more hassles but no more profit.

Putting it simplistically, about the only thing the traditional profit and loss they had was good for, was to work out their taxable income.  So great for the tax man but useless to help them manage their business.

And this is just the most recent example I have seen.  I can add plenty more to this and this is why I say, controversially for an accountant, that for many business owners they might as well throw their traditional profit and loss in the bin.

• What should we replace it with?

The simplest way to replace your traditional profit and loss is to stop thinking in alphabetical order but start thinking in business activities.

And to start thinking of activities, the simplest way is to start putting your profit and loss items in different activity buckets.

Now these buckets will be different for each business, but let’s have a look at what I would recommend for the digital marketing company I have been talking about.

I would have the business owners create a bucket for each of their core service offerings, a bucket for miscellaneous services and one for overhead.  In this case about six buckets for the business.

I would then make sure all revenue and costs were recorded in the right bucket.  In effect each bucket has its own mini profit and loss.

So, the first benefit for business owners of using the bucket concept is that they now can understand what business activity (bucket) makes the most money.  And the business owner can make informed decisions about which business activity they want to grow, and possibly what business activities they want to stop offering.

• Does the bucket system help businesses grow?

Yes, the bucket system does help business owners grow profitably.

Now the key to successfully growing a business is that the money, time and effort you spend to acquire a new customer, is less than the money you make from that customer.

This is Business 101, but time and time again, I see businesses spend $100 to get a customer worth $80.  All these business owners do, is effectively grow broke. 

To help the business owner to grow profitably (instead of growing broke), we take some of the buckets to a deeper level.

Let’s use the digital marketing company I have been talking about and let’s say managing a client’s social media is the business activity they want to grow.

So, for this bucket, I would recommend that they create sub buckets matching key business activities in this situation.  These are getting the customer (customer acquisition costs), and the monthly social media management (direct cost of sales).

Now every cost in the social media bucket needs to be split between customer acquisition and direct cost of sales.

Once we have these costs in the sub buckets, we can start to calculate some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to see if the business is actually growing profitably.

The first KPI you want to work out is the acquisition cost per customer.  You simply add up all the acquisition costs in the bucket for the month and divide by the number of new customers for the month.  This tells you how much you are spending to get each new customer.

The second KPI you want to work out is the monthly contribution by customer.  The monthly contribution is simply monthly revenue less direct cost of sales.  And to get the monthly contribution by customer, simply divide by the total number of customers.

The third KPI is to understand how long you keep your customer.  Is it for a month, six months, a year?

Once you know how long you keep a customer, you can work out 4^th KPI, being the lifetime value of a customer.  This is the monthly contribution per customer times the number of months on average, they remain a customer.

Now you can work out if you are profitably growing your business

If you have profitable growth, the lifetime value of your customer (the 4^th KPI I just mentioned) is more than the acquisition cost per customer (the 1^st KPI)

If the acquisition cost per customer is more than the lifetime value of the customer, you are not adding new business profitably.  You are instead growing broke and you need to change your strategy..

• What can a business do if it is growing broke?

The beauty of the buckets system and working out the KPI’s like acquisition cost per customer and lifetime value per customer is that it lets the business owner see quickly of they are growing profitably or not.

If they are not growing profitably, they can start to take action before it is too late and the business runs out of cash.

Steps the business owner can take include any or all of:

1. Spending less to acquire a customer.
2. Increasing the contribution by customer. This could be more revenue by cross selling other services, and / or by reducing costs to deliver the service,
3. Keeping the customer longer.

And more importantly, even if the business is growing profitably, the business owner can still take any of the actions above to improve their profitability.

And that is the real benefit to a business owner of implementing the bucket system and combining this with the appropriate KPIs.

Being able to make decisions, measure how effective these decisions were and changing as required to improve business performance.  Your traditional profit and loss does not allow you to do this.

• So what is the key message you want to leave business owners with?

The key message I want to leave business owners with is if you want to make effective decisions that allow you to profitably grow your business, you need to start analysing and thinking about your business in buckets, aligned with the right key performance indicators.

Wayne’ Bio:

Wayne Wanders The Wealth Navigator, has been a fully qualified chartered accountant and business advisor for over 30 years.  In this time, Wayne was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and company secretary of two businesses listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

About 20 years ago Wayne was the Australian CFO of a USA company starting up in Australia.  But it was a really frustrating place to work as Wayne had bosses in Sydney, Hong Kong, London and the US.  And it was too hard to get things changed.

In the end Wayne decided that life was too short to waste his time trying to help people who would not listen and it was then that Wayne decided that he only wanted to work directly with people who could make decisions.

And in Australia, these people are the business owners and CEO’s of small and medium businesses.

But few of these businesses could afford to employ someone like Wayne on a full basis.  So that’s when Wayne set up his own outsourced CFO business, offering his talents, strengths, skills and experience on a part time basis, for a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee.

And Wayne have been doing this now for nearly 20 years helping small and medium business owners successfully navigate through their financial challenges to profitably grow their business.

To find out more go to Wayne’s website: http://arealcfo.com.au/

How to understand your worth and convey this to clients - Spotlight on Small Business Mental Health

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 8 January 2018

Small Business owners are notorious for putting ourselves last. The business, our clients, our family are all well ahead of our health and wellbeing. And from a mental health perspective, when you put yourself last you devalue your work and eventually your worth. And then your business suffers.

We’ve all been there before as small business owners; underquoting, working late into the night when the client was late giving you the information you needed to get the job done, or marking down that final invoice because the amount “didn’t feel quite right”.

Did you realise you were doing that? Did we even think this was a way of devaluing ourselves and our work? Have you ever thought of what that action does to your bank balance? Well, now that I’ve got you think about it, let’s bring in an expert.

Tim Hoopman is a proud speaking volunteer with Beyond Blue, who works with businesses to reduce the stress and anxiety around running a small business. His business Spinn Business Solutions assists businesses to be more efficient and get some of that time back.

Welcome back to the show Tim.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Rules of engagement - don’t get in the quicksand in the first place!
  • Agreed upfront with a good engagement letter or terms and conditions in relation to the job, don’t argue about it later
• How do you deal with your mental health when you are (usually quite abruptly) confronted with an unhappy client about their bills.
  • Offer to solve their problem
  • Sometimes it’s not you who can solve it - who do you recommend? Professional associations are a great way to start.
• When No. is the right answer !
  • How to dodge the tricky clients - what are the signs?
  • How to tell if this is a speed bump or an ongoing issue you’ll need to deal with throughout the business relationship?
• Does experience make it easier? If you been doing this for number of years do the feelings of failure and negativity get easier to deal with each time this happens?

To find out more go to their Heads Up website that provides information and resources on better workplace mental health : www.headsup.org.au

Tim Hoopmann – Founder and CEO of Spinn Business Solutions

Tim Hoopmann has owned and operated a bookkeeping practice specialising in cloud services for over 10 years. He transformed his business from a desktop and paper based practice to a cloud bookkeeping practice, 100% online and paperless with streamlined and automated processes.

Tim utilised technology to change the way he serviced his customers by moving them online and streamlining their bookkeeping and finance. Showing them how to take back control and sit in the driver's seat of their business thus allowing them the freedom to focus on key revenue generating areas of their business instead of being buried in day to day processes.

Prior to running his own business Tim worked for Shell and Lion Nathan Brewing, gaining experience in sales, marketing, finance and operations. Tim has a big business mindset and transfers this to small business by focusing on his key pillars of success; strategy, people, process and systems.

Tim is passionate about helping businesses make the transition to being fully automated and cloud based though enabling the power of today's technology. This will allow for

greater freedom and the ability to enjoy a powerful work/life balance.   Twitter: @timhoopmann

LinkedIn: TimHoopmann Website: timhoopmann.com

Learn From The Experts - Digital Presence & Growing Online

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 18 December 2018

It’s not often you have local small business royalty in Da Triple H House but we certainly have someone here today who will inspire. Rachel Chappell built her small business from an idea, meeting the needs of her thousands of clients and impeccable technological timing.

North Shore Mums started as a Facebook group in May 2012, when Rachel Chappell moved to Sydney’s leafy North Shore with her husband, toddler and new baby. With lots of questions about things like childcare centres, kid-friendly cafes, the best playgrounds and doctors… and only a few local friends to ask, she realised she wouldn’t get the answers from her immediate social circle.

So, on a whim, she created a Facebook group called North Shore Mums, to help her connect with other local mums.

Rachel proudly hires locally, runs her business, happily gives small business advice and still manages to find the time to meet the needs of her local community. In truth, she never forgets the real meaning of her Why in her business and is here today to inspire others in their small business journey.

And that’s why last week received NSW Government Woman of the Year for Hornsby.

Welcome to the show Rachel.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Tell us about your small business journey and what led to you starting North Shore Mums?
• Why do you think it’s important for businesses to integrate community involvement into their business plan and what’s your top tips on how to grow that relationship?
• Do you think it’s an advantage to employ locally and what benefits does it provide for your business and also the local community?
• It’s not always a smooth ride so what Do’s and Don’t wisdom can you impart on those just starting out in business?
• What’s your ultimate dream for your business?

To find out more go to their website: https://www.northshoremums.com.au/

RACHEL CHAPPELL BIO

Rachel Chappell is happily married to an English gent, and a mum to three daughters (aged 3, 7 & 9), who were the inspiration behind the creation of North Shore Mums.

Originally from Adelaide, Rachel moved to Sydney after leaving school and has made the North Shore her home, living in Waverton, Gordon and Wahroonga along the way, which has given her the broad local knowledge needed to run a website that caters to the needs of women across the community.

With a Bachelor of Media and Master of Business in Marketing, and bolstered by her experience working as Marketing Manager on magazines like Grazia, OK! and FHM, Rachel has used her skills, instinct and experience to make North Shore Mums a cyber-village welcoming mums from across the North Shore.

Since launching North Shore Mums in May 2012, the website has grown to become an integral source of information for local mums, with the website now attracting over 100,000 visitors per month.

In 2017, Rachel was asked to be a contestant in Cancer Council’s Stars of the North (a local fundraising gala event, based on the popular TV show ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Rachel came 2nd overall in the Judge’s Choice and 3rd in Fundraising, raising $18,000 for the charity.

Rachel Chappell was a Finalist in the AusMumpreneur Awards 2017 – in the categories of Business Excellence and Influencer.

In 2018, she was awarded the Hornsby Local Woman of the Year by Matt Kean MP.

Developing an E-Commerce Strategy for your Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 11 December 2018

E-Commerce and the dark art of online selling. Not only is it crucial to get your online sales streamlined and working but it actually needs to make sense and integrate with your sales and marketing strategy. Why? Because for all of us selling is your business and if your online selling platform doesn’t make sense to your long term vision the two could be working against one another.

It’s always great to have an expert on the show, but Chana is an expert with serious longevity in the e-commerce world. From the first online selling platforms to the rise of online gods like Amazon, she’s assisted businesses with developing their strategies through this expertise. From wholesalers to little bespoke hand-made products her clients are more knowledgeable with the HOW and the WHY of e-commerce strategy.  

Welcome to the show Chana.

Good morning Alexi, Thank you for having me on your show today, I am really excited to be here.

My name is Chana and I run Owl and Monk a small boutique agency in Southern Sydney specialising in helping business get their products online simply and effectively by:  Strategically planning, Designing and Maintaining professional, responsive and easy to use e-commerce stores on on Shopify, WooCommerce, eBay and Amazon.

• Explain your background why you’re passionate about your business & helping others
  • Graphic design grown in knowledge as the industry has grown
  • Little side story about golf clothing for women!
  • Importance of having your own experience is key to help your clients with pinch points

I started my career as a Graphic Designer over 15 years ago and studied my Masters in Design at UTS and UNSW with interests in branding and user experience. Over the years I learnt a lot by working directly with small businesses, listening to their challenges and hearing first hand how they innovated their processes to solve them. I have worked on range of designs from logo design to professional documentation design for Annual Reports, Display and Exhibition Graphics and designing eBay and eCommerce stores.

I started Owl and Monk after being confronted with some tricky problems that my clients were facing when selling on their eBay and online stores. To overcome these challenges I became as knowledgeable as possible, questioning web developers, designers and other online sellers about store design, coding, customer service, freight and inventory management processes.

I am a  Shopify and eBay expert, and keep on trend with consumer behaviour changes, cutting-edge industry knowledge, and technology advances.

The name Owl and Monk represent our two key beliefs in building a successful online brand – wisdom and simplicity. All our work is guided by these two themes.

I am really passionate about helping businesses grow and offer customised services to help retailers and wholesalers sell more effectively online.  

My biggest challenge in retail has come from building my own online store. I started Mabel Loves to Play in 2016 – an online women’s golfing apparel store – after noticing that there wasn’t a good range of stylish women’s golf clothing available in the Australia’s market and have learning first-hand what it is like being a retailer from sourcing products, building supplier relationships, fulfilling orders and providing customer service.

• Businesses need to be across so many platforms; the change is exponential in Australia  
  • Website & e-commerce – what is that to a business?

9/ 10 people research a business’s services and or products online before they enquire or go in store. I highly recommend that all businesses create a professional website to profile their offerings and to use it as a tool to  market their business. As a business, you are forfeiting a potential sale to the competition by not having a digital presence.

The difference between a website and eCommerce website is the capacity to sell products. Most service operators have a website to profile their business, showcase their client work and to give contact information. eCommerce website’s have the same but also include additional information on FAQ’s, website Terms and Conditions, Shipping and Return policies as well as profiling their products.

A must for all websites is to display a current Privacy Policy (talk to a legal expert) and to create an insightful ‘About Us’ page detailing why you run your business, what your point of difference is and how your products or services are helpful to prospective visitors, this will make your website more personable, help buyers to trust you and will help your website be found on Google search.

• • It is easy to set up your website yourself but like all things in business; the setup point is when you really need to do your research both on getting it right but also your product itself and how to describe it online. How to establish the product’s value.

• • • Know your product and how to tell its story
    • Know your customers and why they come to you? What value do you offer? What problem are you solving?
    • How do you stand out from the competition

I would strongly recommend that all business owners hire an expert to set up their websites. Websites are important business tools that can be used to market and grow a business and need to be professionally designed, planned and tested with the customer in mind.  Website are like digital ecosystems and should be regularly updated with fresh content helping your business stay relevant and on trend.

For people that are tech savy and like to get their hands dirty they can set-up an online store on Shopify or eBay fairly quickly. But what a lot of people fail to do with their setup is to think like a customer and to organise content in a way that it is intuitive to use, easy to find and profiles the products well.

Shopify is a self hosted ecommerce platform that presents well across mobile, is easy and intuitive to use giving you the freedom to make changes, add content and run your business independently. Their blog is interesting and includes helpful guides on how to sell professionally as well as sharing inspirational merchant stories. They have a variety of solution for startup retailers as well as more established high volume sellers and wholesalers.

eBay is a great place for retailers to get started as they can register for an account and start selling on the same day. eBay has been around since 1999 and has over 40,000 Australian retailers selling their products in Australia with more than 11 Million active visitors each month.

It’s hard for customer to buy online as they are unable to touch, try and experience the product as the would in real life. This is why this it is so import that your website has great content building trust and answering any questions they may have.

It is really important that each product has at least one (preferably 3-4) good quality (high resolution/ 2000x2000px) photos that display the products details, various angles and condition (if second hand or damaged). I recommend that all photos are square aspect (same width and height) as this will display your photos consistently across devices and themes.

Product titles and descriptions need to be written well and to provide helpful information on product specifications, care instructions and warranty details. This content will help people find you on Google search and to make a informed purchase decision.

The best way to stand out amongst your competition is to offer a great customer experience. The small details matter and if you are able to personalise how you send out your parcels your customers will remember and will share their experience with their friends and hopefully will buy from you again (This is the best publicity your business will have)

• Pitfalls - Is it going to be easy once I get online? But you need to approach it like a whole new business. Is it going to work side by side with your the mistake is retailers are happy to pay $10k on a retail fitout but not $5k on a website, its disproportional
• Add the example of large retailers spending X amount on shops but not online and you see small business doing the same thing

Retailers in the city can spend more than $2k a week on rent and easy $10-50k on a shop fit out.

It is much cheaper to get started selling online but retailers should be prepared to invest at least 10% of their profits on marketing of their website and even more when they start out. It’s a lot harder to sell online as retailers can’t rely on foot traffic to tell people where they are and why they should visit.  Businesses who want to sell online need to be strategic and invest time and money in building their brand online and need to find partners who can support their growth in this space.

Starting an online store is exciting and has the potential to be really successful but to do so I recommend that businesses be strategic and plan their approach. Successful online stores have systems in place to run, test and conduct marketing, review analytics, manage staff, sales, fulfilment, inventory, product sourcing and customer services

• All the spaces you should be selling and the differences in all those spaces – Ebay, amazon, your own website, social media, pop up stores & markets, your physical store
  • Example of retailer using the popup as a marketing experience to transition her to the store, what was her strategy to get people to her website, curating the stuff on offer
  • These are good examples of testing grounds.

There are many different ways to sell your products and not all are suitable for each retailer and include:

•      Selling in a physical retail store
•      Selling Online only
•      Selling both in a physical store and online
•     Temporary popups, concept stores, events and markets: This is a great way for customers to learn more about you, try and test products and to build a brand reputation.
•    Online Marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon and Etsy
•     As well as social media
• The difference between the retail seller and the wholesale sellers. BUT they need to understand the space too; weighing up whether they consider selling direct or focussing on resellers BUT either way they need to have to online presence
• Preparing your website for ad/social media campaigns esp in Xmas period
  • What’s the fallout in not being prepared
  • Practicality of preparing for an influx of hits

Wow we only have 14 days till Christmas.. yikes!

The Christmas shopping season has started earlier this year with big sales such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday offering great prices online.

My last minute tips for retailers selling online during this busy time is to...

 

• Buy a product from your website and review processes and experience. If something doesn’t work properly make improvements.

• Talk to your website host and see if they can manage an influx of visitors to your site especially if your running Christmas/ holiday campaigns.

• Make sure you have enough stock and staff to fulfil orders.

• Logistics – talk to your shipping providers and see what their cuts off times are for guaranteed delivery. Most provides can guarantee in time for Christmas within the next week or so, no later than 21st Express Post.

• Make a toast and thank your staff for hard work.. Chocolates are always a great way to say thank you :)

 

To find out more about Owl and Monk please visit my website at www.owlandmonk.com.au

Or send me a direct email at chana@owlandmonk.com.au or

Send me a personal message on LinkedIn

I’d love to hear from you and to see what has been your biggest challenge in business this year and how you used technology to overcome it.

Thank you for inviting me to today Alexi. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday break.

How to Avoid the Black Economy & Why the ATO is Supporting Small Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 27 November 2018

I was proud in October to represent Small Biz Matters at the ATO's Protecting Honest Businesses seminar at Haymarket where I interviewed Braden Powell, Director of Small Business Assurance. He explained the importance of understanding the Black Economy and how to avoid it.

Welcome to the show Braden.

As the ATO states:

Most people and businesses are honest and compete fairly.

There are however, some that deliberately hide income to avoid paying the right amount of tax or superannuation. One of the ways they do this is by not recording or reporting all their cash income or electronic transactions.

This is what we call the cash and hidden economy and it’s not fair.

Those who participate in the cash and hidden economy are disadvantaging the community, honest taxpayers and honest businesses by not competing fairly.

Over 85% of Australians believe it's unfair to use cash to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

The interview Q’s:

• What is the purpose of these business visits the ATO is running across Australia?
• What is the Black Economy & how does it impact business and the wider economy?
• Why is the ATO visiting these locations?
  • Why these areas specifically around the country?
  • Both cities and country are being targeted
• What have you found in your previous visits?
• What should small business owners expect during a visit?
  • How will they take place and what can businesses expect when the ATO comes knocking?
  • Are they different from an audit?
• What resources are available for small businesses and where can people find more information if they would like it?

To find out more go to their website: https://www.ato.gov.au/general/gen/the-cash-and-hidden-economy/

www.ato.gov.au/protectinghonestbusiness

Inside Family Law - what small business needs to be aware of

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 27 November 2018

The Legal System. Small business owners should probably understand it more than we do but we only start diving into it in worst case scenarios. We engage with legal experts only when we NEED it and hope to never have to.

But like all the hats we wear, it’s a good idea to arm yourself with knowledge before it happens rather than when its upon you, or worse still when you have buried your head in the sand and it engulfs you. Today’s program is all about doing just that.

When should small business understand family law?

As business owners, our finances, relationships, and family are all tied in with our work. When that structure breaks down it is disastrous not only for you personally but for your business.

Today’s guest Zoe Durand is an author of the book Inside Family Law - rare & candid conversations with those at the coalface of the family law system. An expert in her field working in the family law system for over a decade specialising in mediation. She is joined by Mark Lipsen from Hall Chadwick and here to share their experiences, knowledge and tips of dealing with the mess when small business and family law collide.

Welcome to the show Zoe & Mark.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Overview - the fact that a business can be part of the asset pool and the duty to fully disclose all financial documents.
• The process for valuing a small business including the parties agreeing on an expert, step by step how the expert business valuer/ forensic accountant will value the business, methodology, documents to the valuer and the valuer meeting with the parties.
• What if you disagree or want to challenge a business valuation - adversarial experts, cross examination of the expert valuer
• Discussion of possible options if both parties were involved in the business. Should both parties remain in the business after separation? Or safe guards that can be put in place should one party step back from the business.
• The Court's cross referral powers - ie the fact they can refer parties to the DPP and ATO if there has been tax fraud (I have seen this come up sometimes in matters where small businesses are involved). I.e. one should always be 'squeaky clean.'
• Tracking hidden monies / assets.

 

About the Book -

Inside Family Law - rare & candid conversations with those at the coalface of the family law system

Inside Family Law opens wide the behind the scenes real world of the family law system. It is the first family law book to offer readers never before published interviews with those who work at the coalface of family law throughout Australia.

Interviewees include: Judge Joe Harman, The Honourable Justice Peter Rose AM QC, Former Federal Circuit Court Judge Stephen Scarlett OAM RFD, Former Federal Circuit Court Judge  Robyn Sexton, Dr Antony Milch, Alison O’Neill, Linda Campbell, Brian Pickup, David Bird, Mark Lipson, Trevor Tockar, Tom Hutchings, David Barry, Cristina Huesch and Stephen Page.

Due the week of 22 October 2018, Inside Family Law is available for PRE-ORDER now at www.mediationanswers.com.au  For pre-order only there will be free shipping AND $1 to Justice Connect per purchase (an organisation which, amongst many  things, facilitates pro bono legal services and works to change unfair laws).

Equal parts law, practical teachings and raw humanity, Inside Family Law gives readers the opportunity to pick the brains of the leading minds who work in all areas of family law including: Family Court and Federal Circuit Court Judges, family lawyers, barristers, expert psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, family consultants, family therapists, children’s contact supervisors, specialist forensic accountants, expert business valuers, expert real property valuers and wealth management advisers, all of whom share their best insights and strategies from the vantage point of their particular profession.

Importantly Inside Family Law also includes (anonymised) raw and honest firsthand accounts of those who have navigated the process, including children’s stories.

Controversial, topical, insightful and practical, Inside Family Law covers parenting and property matters, Court and settlement processes.

If you are interested in speaking with me further about the book pls contact 0435595400.

This book offers readers the closest experience to having a fireside chat with Judges and other usually "media shy" individuals. I was only able to obtain these interviews due to my having worked in the field for years.

To find out more go to their website: https://www.mediationanswers.com.au

 

ZOE DURAND BIOGRAPHY

ZOË DURAND has a wealth of experience, having worked as a lawyer since 2007, primarily in family law private practice at the coalface of the family law system.

Prior to changing the direction of her career to focus on family law, Zoë worked at leading national and international commercial law firms HWL Ebsworth and K&L Gates, giving her a financial acumen that is highly desirable in family law property matters. Additionally she has worked as a Court Appointed Independent Children’s Lawyer, giving her an insight into the needs and perspectives of children, which is sought after in parenting matters.

Zoë is a principal at Mediation Answers and is currently focusing on her work as a mediator. She is both a Nationally Accredited Mediator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP). Zoë is also a trained Collaborative lawyer, holds a Masters of Applied Family Law (The College of Law) and also a Bachelor of Law Degree and Bachelor of Arts Degree (first class honours in Sociology) from UNSW.

Zoë has authored the family law case notes for the NSW Law Society Journal and opinion pieces for Lawyers Weekly and other media. She is often featured in the media for her insights on topical family law issues, including ABC and Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and Ch 10.

Zoë is the co-founder of a professional and business networking organisation which has hosted talks from Judges, Court experts and leading lawyers in family law. She is a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, the Women Lawyers Association of NSW, the Asian Australian Lawyers Association and the French Australian Lawyers Society. She holds dual Australian and Taiwanese Citizenship and French permanent residency.

Prior to her admission as a solicitor Zoë worked at Kingsford Legal Centre and Youth Law Australia, which empowers children and young people with legal advice and information and works to promote their human rights. She continues to be passionate about this purpose.

 

MARK LIPSON, DIRECTOR Hall Chadwick

BIOGRAPHY

Mark Lipson is a Director at Hall Chadwick Melbourne and leads the forensic accounting and business investigations team. His work includes consulting in Family Law property settlements and Commercial disputes.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a Fellow of CPA Australia. Mark has acted as a Commercial Arbitrator since 1992.

He holds a Bachelor of Business and a Bachelor of Education (Economics).

PRACTICE FOCUS

Over his 24 year career as a forensic accountant, Mark is highly regarded for his experience in providing expert witness reports and giving evidence in court.

The Hall Chadwick Forensics practice specialises in providing forensic services to family, commercial, wills and deceased estate legal practitioners.

PROFESSIONAL HONORS

Mark was selected to become a member of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in the Legal Practice List. He has also been selected to be a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Professional Conduct Tribunal.

Mark sits as an independent director at Aboriginal Housing Victoria. He also lectures to lawyers in all areas of Forensic accounting. Mark has also been sought after as a guest speaker at conferences due to his strong standing in his field.

To find out more go to their website: www.hallchadwickmelb.com.au

In what ways does the Federal Government support, listen to and affect small business?

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 20 November 2018

When operating a small business in Australia we have to navigate local, state and federal legislation and compliance. We operate in a particular area so the impact of local government decisions affects us daily but when it comes to compliance, tax, super, employment and a whole lot of other regulation is the responsibility of the Federal Government.

We’ve welcomed Julian on the show to talk about new ways the federal government supports small business through grant funding and financial support, a little about our fantastic unique businesses and what to expect from the new Small Business Minister, Michaelia Cash.  

Welcome to the show, Julian.

Topics we’ll be covering:

How does the Federal Government support Small Business?

• Recently with the reshuffle in Federal Parliament there has been a new Small Business Minister brought back into cabinet. What does this mean for small business now that we have a Minister back in cabinet representing us? What can we expect from the Federal Government from this position and which stakeholders will she liaise with?
• Last month you were spotted supporting local Dural strawberry farmers at Hornsby market. In what other ways are you trying to support and promote the idea of “Keeping it Local”
• Are there any Federal grant or support programs which you’d like to let local small businesses know about?
• One of the frustrating aspects of running a small business is the determination process for employee versus contactors. There are multiple pieces of legislation relating to employee and contractors including Tax, Super, Employment Law, WorkCover, Payroll Tax and each of those have their own determination tool. Its very frustrating; small business is trying to do the right thing but can’t get an answer to the question – is this person a contractor or an employee? Are there any plans to make this process simpler for businesses who are doing their best to be compliant?

Questions from listeners:

• Is the Liberal party looking to recruit from the small business community to better represent your biggest employer in the nation? Ha!
• Both State and Commonwealth governments are  investing heavily by offering funding for up to Diploma level qualifications. The take up is low and non completions high. A common reason quoted is that small business owners do not have time or the resources to attend classes, complete assessments and many feel what is more of value to them, is hands-on business advisory, soft skills, how to set up KPI's, manage cash flow, etc.
  As business coaches and business advisors, will the government consider providing funding for hands-on business coaching and advisory to help small business?

You can find out more here:

Australian Small Business Securitiasion/Growth fund info - https://www.finder.com.au/australian-business-securitisation-fund

Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business - https://www.jobs.gov.au/

Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation of Science  - https://www.business.gov.au/

Small Business Lending - How has the Royal Commission changed the landscape?

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 13 November 2018

If there’s one ‘moving feast” topic which is almost impossible to keep track of its small business lending. If its not the RBA changing rates its the Big Four changing their requirements for small business loans and then throw in a Royal Commission or two and if you’re not an expert you haven’t got a hope of working out where you stand when it comes to the likelihood of small business finance.

But luckily we do have with us today our resident Small Business Lending expert. Declan is part of the Valiant Finance Team, who work as part of the government’s Business Connect program. An initiative of the Small Business Commissioner, Business Connect is there to support small business through advice, workshops & education and one on one sessions with an expert. Declan is one of those experts.

Welcome Back to the show Declan.

• Recap what we chatted about last show - in particular:
  • different types of lenders in the market for “evolving” nature of the business
  • Getting prepared for a small business loan - what paperwork should you have in order and what questions can you expect to be asked?
  • How the loan environment has changed over the last 12 months?
• What businesses can expect from the next 12 months - particularly after the findings of the Royal Commission?
  • What it a Royal COmmission we had to have, and in your opinion will it make a huge difference to the way lenders view small business?
• Specifically the different types of small more business loans

To find out more go to their website: https://valiant.finance/

How to use Podcasting to grow your Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 6 November 2018

Well before it was cool to grow your online reputation using podcasting Ash Roy was curating content, gaining a huge listenership and positioning himself as the expert in podcasting. Explore the Productive Insights Podcast which has been running since Feb 2015 with over 150 podcasts for business, and you’ll discover an excellent range of guests and subject matter on developing this medium as a tool.

But more than this, when you listen and are lucky enough to meet Ash, you’ll discover a passionate yet kindly spoken business leader who is proud of his “slow burn” accomplishment. He might be in sales and marketing but the “rah rah” approach isn’t part of his DNA but podcasting is his legacy.

Very excited to be welcoming Ash Roy live on the radio to talk all things podcasting.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• What were you in a former life? What led you down this path & instigated your leap of faith into starting your own business
• Looking at your website, podcast content and guest list you look hugely successful, an overnight success in your broadcasting. Has it really been a slow burn for you?
  • If you had your time again how could you have accelerated  this? It takes consistency and effort.
  • You have 3 or 4 main topics in your podcast material, is it best to niche or broadly engage with the audience to get numbers?
  • How do capture attention quickly in an environment where people have such short attention span?
  • A good title is a compelling promise but you need to make sure you fulfill that promise - what’s your top tip?
• Why is podcasting a good idea - is it to engage with potential clients and grow your business directly or do you see it more of a reputation build?
  • Key reasons to start a podcast
    • An intimate way to connect with your audience low cost
    • Its the #1 fastest growing medium
    • A radio station is cheaper than you think to set up!
    • Leverage the listenership (once you get there)
    • Builds authority & reputation
    • Builds relationships with other key influencers
• Podcasting for business - top tips for launching
  • Start listening to OTHERS’ podcasts
  • As with everything, decide who your “ideal listener” is
  • Develop a good strategy & content plan - Content is King!
  • Promotion where your listeners are
  • Launch - is a soft launch ok?
  • Use momentum to build a bank of episodes
  • Consistency is Key!

To find out more go to their website: https://www.getmetodone.com/

Small Business Education Opportunities

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 30 October 2018

It’s important to keep learning when you’re running a small business but like so many aspects, it is often put on the backburner while we work in our business rather than in it. But many of us don’t realise that further learning is right on our doorstep.

Here from Hornsby - Ku-ring-gai Community College we have Inga Rosenberg; who looks after the enrolments for the business courses - and there are many! From Certificates in Business Administration through to MYOB Training, Starting your Own Business courses - and many of them are fully funded.

Welcome to the show Inga.

As part of Small Business month we like to raise awareness of some of the opportunities the over 14,000 small businesses have in our local government area.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over 60% of small businesses close within the first three years of operating. The reasons vary but often include that new businesses are not aligned with customer needs, have a poor business model, poor financial management or lack of proper training.

As your local Community College, we can play a big role in providing government funded education and training to small business owners and their employees, as well as to job seekers to qualify for personal and business growth, wellbeing and the advancement of community values.

• Tech Savvy Small Business Funding and Training
  
  • What is the government program?
  • What can I/ my employees’ study?
  • How do I qualify?
• Career Pathways
  
  • Options for learners who are not (yet) small business owners or employees
  • Individual career planning
  • Flexible training delivery
• Industry Connections
  
  • Partnerships with local organisations to
    
    • Train students on the job
    • Respond to training and work needs
  • Free recruitment: Hire qualified HKCC students
• Mental Health: Study + Leisure
  
  • The importance of work-life balance
  • Business and leisure needs under one roof

To find out more go to their website: https://www.hkcc.nsw.edu.au/s/img/BSB%20v18.0.pdf

If you like to learn more about the program and how to access the funded training, please contact us at (02) 9482 1189 or email frontdesk@hkcc.nsw.edu.au.