From the category archives:

Business Management

Stress and the Small Business Operator #2

June 11, 2010
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In the post titled, Stress and the Small Business Operator #1, we listed some of the common causes of stress for small businesss owners.
These include:

Inability to find workers who do the job as well as you do;
Employees not always turning up – leaving you with more to do;
Insufficient earnings; 
Long hours;
Inability to get away for a break or holiday [...]

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Stress and the Small Business Operator #1

May 19, 2010
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There are so many advantages to operating your own small business, it’s easy for a small business owner to ignore or tolerate the disadvantages. One of the big disadvantages can be stress.
If you’re a small business operator, some of the things that contribute to your stress levels might be:

Inability to find workers who do the [...]

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Understanding Financial Statements

May 18, 2010
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Understanding financial statements is a task that many business owners often put aside to concentrate on something more interesting. This results in many business owners not really knowing what is going on with their business, especially the cashflow control within the business.
Cash is the lifeblood of any business and it is the fuel that keeps [...]

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Regular Profit & Loss for Management

April 22, 2010

Successful small business operators allocate the time each month to fully review their financial data so that they clearly understand the financial health of their business and are able to take remedial action – if any is necessary.
As I was home sick today, it gave me a chance to throw a screencast together… (you’ll have [...]

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Third Quarter Review – Financial Reports

April 20, 2010
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The last few days we have been asking questions to encourage you – the small business operator – to analyse how your business is going and identify areas that may need change. So far we have considered Market Conditions, Industrial Relations and Business Performance. Finally, we are up to the numbers…
Financial Reports
Has your business prepared departmentalised financial accounts? 
Are [...]

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Third Quarter Review – Performance

April 19, 2010
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So far we have asked review questions concerning market conditions and industrial relations. Today we’ll discuss your business performance.
Again, don’t just skim the questions and leave it there. Take a moment to put your responses to paper.
Review of Performance
Have you sat back and reviewed the performance for the January-March quarter? 
Are you happy with your business’ overall performance? 
Have you [...]

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Third Quarter Review – Industrial Relations

April 18, 2010
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Yes, it is business review time again. Incase you missed it, yesterday we took a look at the impact of Market Conditions on your business.
As you’ll know, there have been some significant industraial relations changes over the past year.  Today, we’ll take a moment to review where you are in dealing with that.
Industrial Relations Rules
Have [...]

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Third Quarter Review – Market Conditions

April 17, 2010
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The third quarter of the 2009/10 fiscal year is over (didn’t it go fast!). It is a good time to take some quality time out to analyse your business’ performance and plan any changes you want to make.
Over the next few days I’ll be bringing up issues designed to encourage you to ask yourself about your business’ performance. I [...]

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The Creeping Expense of Stationery

April 16, 2010
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The ordering of pens, note pads, stationery, printing can seem a minor expense.  However, printing and stationery orders can end up costing SMEs a considerable sum of money. The cost of consumables some businesses go through still astounds - especially for trades and retail areas when it should not be a significant operating cost.
I think it is because a lot of [...]

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What’s Important for Customers?

March 31, 2010
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Various surveys have indicated that price is not the most important factor when customers are deciding whether to deal with a particular business.
The influence of price is normally rated around 7 in most surveys.  The only time that price is important is when all other factors are equal.  Some of the factors, which are considered [...]

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Team Meetings Will Help Keep Your Staff Interested

March 15, 2010
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On of the biggest problems that businesses have at present is retaining team members. Obviously, it costs a lot of money to advertise, interview, recruit and train a new team member. If staff turnover can be reduced this will contribute to lower costs for a business and a happier workforce.
One way to contribute to staff [...]

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Staff Affect Your Bottom Line!

March 2, 2010
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We seem to be on a staffing theme this week (no doubt due to the fact, we’re currently occupied with expanding our own team).  Let’s keep the theme going  with a look at how staff can impact on your bottom line – either positively or negatively.
Staff attitudes are the prime contributor to bottom line profitability
No matter how [...]

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Small Business Martyrdom Part 2

February 28, 2010
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If you’re a small business martyr, the chances are you actually lack confidence in yourself. Start to build yourself up – it’s your business. You bought it or started it and you are in complete control. Or are you?
If your business isn’t going well, it can be tempting to blame those around you. The fact [...]

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Small Business Martyrdom Part 1

February 25, 2010
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Is it hard to get good help or are you just a martyr?  Let’s face it, running a small business can be extremely stressful. When you get to the stage of hiring your first couple of employees, it can become more stressful – for some!  Others go on to build bigger businesses with more employees [...]

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Paid Parental Leave

November 27, 2009
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You may recall that as part of the 2009/10 Federal Budget  the Government is hoping to introduce a Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme. The proposed scheme will be made available for parents who are primary carers of children that have been born or adopted on or after 1 January 2011.
To be eligible for the proposed PPL scheme, [...]

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