How to improve your cash flow with early tax refunds

Many rental property owners generate taxable losses for the year. 

The taxpayer generally has 2 options:

• Wait until the tax year ends on 31 March, prepare their rental property tax return and then wait up to 3 months for the IRD to process their income tax refund.  If the tax refund is significant, extra scrutiny from the IRD may further delay processing.
• Apply for a special tax code.  With a special tax code an employer deducts PAYE from the tax payer at a lower rate. Therefore they effectively receive a portion of their tax refund every pay period instead of receiving one refund after their tax return has been filed.

This may not suit everybody as some tax payers prefer the lump sum tax refund.  However for those tax payers looking to increase cash flow, option 2 may be better.

This is how a special tax code works…At Business Advisory Accounting & Tax Services, we prepare a brief forecast for your rental property to estimate the loss for the forthcoming tax year and submit it to IRD for approval.  After approval, your employer deducts less PAYE from your regular salary, giving you the benefit of the tax loss now.

Both options produce the same tax refund but option 2 allows the tax payer to use their tax refund a lot earlier.  This “extra” cash may come in handy to repay loans, which would further increase cash flow as a result of paying less interest.

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The modern day bank manager

Over the last few weeks, many of our clients have expressed their deepening concern over their bank’s attitude to helping them through difficult times.

During the recent good times, many of them were “courted” by their bankers to take out bigger loans; given credit cards with high limits and nothing seemed to much to ask.  Money was rolling in for the banks.  How different it is now. 

It appears that now the “going” is getting tough, many small business owners face a much different attitude from their bank manager.

I used to work for the Barclays Group in the UK before moving to New Zealand, so understand that the banks are commercial enterprises that need to charge for their services.

But how many of you feel that the balance has shifted too much and when you need help from the banks, they simply turn their backs on you? 

I recently experienced my bank manager ”kindly” opening a current account for me (without my permission); charged me account opening and monthly fees and then hounded me when I refused to pay them!  She was shocked when I asked her who I should send my bill to for the time I had wasted contacting them to sort their error out!  

Whilst not trying to undermine the affect the current economy is having on many small businesses, I thought that a little light relief was in order.  The following video from the Monty Python team offers a few practical tips on raising finance in testing times!  Click here for 4 minutes of tips 

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How to survive the downturn

The current world wide economic downturn has, again, highlighted why small business owners must actively scrutinise their finances.  Many small business owners still rely on old and/or out of date information.
 
Last week, I recently met with a new client who had experienced a 25% decline in their sales.  When I asked them about their cost structure, they admitted that they had no idea and hadn’t had any financial statements prepared since 2006!!

Not only had they ignored the tax man for 3 years, but it’s also poor business practice. 
 
Recessions often provide a “wake-up call” for many business owners as it forces them to evaluate what they are doing.  In the current uncertain climate there is very little excuse for ignoring your key financial indicators. 

One efficient way to understand your business’ financial performance is to prepare a simple cash book.  For as little as $100 per month, you can generally get a book-keeper or accountant to do this for you.   
 
Understanding your current profitability, cash flow and break-even points will help you to review your spending and help you to set budgets.  This may include putting money aside for tax liabilities and owners’ drawings/salaries.

I have seen far too many small businesses suffer because their owners failed to meet their tax obligations or pay themselves.

Talk with your accountant.  They should be able to advise you how much to set aside for tax – I accept that this may reduce cash flow in the short term but it may avoid unnecessary surprises later.  Consider setting a regular amount aside in an interest bearing deposit account or use your credit card for some expenses to take advantage of the interest free periods that many credit card companies now offer.  
 
Also examine your expenditure as there may be ways to easily reduce costs too.  I have put a complete stop to anyone purchasing anything in my businesses without my express approval. 
 
This had an immediate positive impact on our stationery, printing and postage expenses.  Remember it’s your money that your employees are spending…not theirs!

I am currently consulting with a client who “shouted” their staff morning tea twice a week.  On my advice, she now buys the ingredients and asks her daughter to bake home-made muffins and she also now provides on-site coffee facilities.  She is delighted that she now saves over $700 per month from just this one simple change.  What small changes could you make?
 
But be careful…many small business owners cut back on the wrong expenses.  Marketing and sales remains an important area for many of them.  However, I have lost count of the number of clients who blatantly waste money on marketing and advertising campaigns that simply do not work.  They simply throw more money at it, hoping that the ‘phone will ring.  For more marketing tips, visit www.themarketingdude.com

Is it time that you reviewed your business finances?  Who knows…a few hours of your time may result in some pleasant surprises.

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How to improve your reading speed

What if you could TRIPLE your reading speed in under 60 minutes?

That was the question Dr Michael Masterman asked me to consider — when he sent me a review copy of his new speed reading audio course three months ago. And you won’t be surprised to hear that I didn’t believe it!

Now, I’ve always avoided learning how to speed read.

Why? Because I always believed it’d take hours of training to really “work properly.” And I’d heard a couple of horror stories too. (One very well-known six-CD course essentially suggests listening to fast music while reading. Now that’s incredibly draining – and not exactly suited to a slow-paced romance!)

Michael promised I would literally triple my reading speed in well under an hour (without fast music or other gimmicks!) — and said that his audio course included tests to prove it. He also said I’d be able to maintain that super-fast reading speed, even weeks later.

I took the course. It worked. And I’m STILL reading at lightening speeds!

That’s exactly why I wanted to write and tell you about Michael’s “Speed Reading Secret” course today!

But don’t listen to me chat about it. If you want to blast through e-mail messages, Web pages, revision, books or reports (and pick up an amazing new vocabulary along the way), then check out his site:

The course includes tests, so you can literally see just how well you’ve improved. And if you don’t improve enough, claim your money back through his guarantee!

Michael predicts the average person could save one day a week following his advice. I think he’s probably right.

Enjoy!

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What are the ways to eliminate price objections?

Almost everybody in sales has suffered price objections at some point.

However, most salespeople follow the wrong path and try to grab a potential customer by asking invasive questions like:

“If I can offer solution to your such and such problem, will you buy that one today”? or
“Holding back is the only thing that you can do”? or

“What can I do to earn you business”?

Hang on! Such manipulative sales tactics are the real reasons that make the prospective customers feel uncomfortable and they find themselves in a state of pressure to buy that product or services.

But the ultimate answer to this is to eliminate the objections altogether.

You can achieve this by focusing on ways that  will help you meet the requirement of your prospective customers.

It is also a fact that the salesperson who asks more and more questions face lesser objections at the time of sale.

The reason is quite simple; that means that the salesperson reveal many potential objections during the early stages of sales cycle. Moreover, there are plenty of questions that are taken up by a sales person that will help you reveal potential objections:

“What is the time frame that you are working with”?

This question leaves a good effect when asked, which means that “When do you think you will buy”, this will help people by putting them on a self-protective side.

“Who else is involved in the decision process”?

This is the most important question that is usually asked by the salesperson. The main purpose of this question is to find out the other person who is involved in the decision making process.

So, if the final decision is influenced by someone else, then you can end your search, and try to close the sale even without his or her presence.

“Who else are you talking to?”

This is the most frequently asked question. This will enable you to understand what other companies or vendors are making their bids on a particular project. This will help you in differentiating yourself from your respective competitors.

“How was the experience?”

You can answer this question based upon your previous experience with your prospective customer.

You can now position your service or product to excel their experience at your competitors.

So, these are a few tips that will help you ask more pertinent information from your potential customers, which will ultimately allow you to position your service and product in a way that suit best your customer’s needs and demands.

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Terms associated with ongoing financial meltdown

Given all of the problems with the current global financial markets, you might like to reacquaint yourselves with the following terms:

CEO –Chief Embezzlement Officer

CFO– Corporate Fraud Officer

BULL MARKET — A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius

BEAR MARKET — A 6 to 18-month period when the kids get no allowance ; the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex

VALUE INVESTING — The art of buying low and selling lower

P/E RATIO — The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing

BROKER — What my broker has made me

STANDARD & POOR — Your life in a nutshell

STOCK ANALYST — Idiot who just downgraded your stock

STOCK SPLIT — When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves

FINANCIAL PLANNER — A guy whose phone has just been disconnected

MARKET CORRECTION — The day after you buy stocks

CASH FLOW — The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet

YAHOO — What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 per share

WINDOWS — What you jump out of when you’re the sucker who bought Yahoo @ $240 per share

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR — Past year investor who’s now locked up in a nuthouse

PROFIT — An archaic word no longer in use

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Choose a good domain name to help promote your business

Did you know that a good domain name can give a big boost to your online business?

In fact, it can help you take your online business to new heights.  Almost every successful company, big or small, is using the Internet to reach its target customers and increase its website traffic. They create their commercial site; create awareness of their brand and market their products and services online.

Personally, I use a company that is based in Australia as I find their customer service and time zones suit me.  Please visit here if you’re interested in using them.   

But does that mean every entrepreneur who opens a commercial site succeeds in conducting online business effectively and in increasing his/her website traffic. The answer to this question is an emphatic “No”. 

You have to be smart enough to grab the opportunity and make your presence felt over the Internet by enhancing website traffic. This will, in turn, give impetus to your onine business promotion campaign.

Now, how do you achieve this?

One of the most important means to increase website traffic is to create a catchy domain name.  Choosing a good domain name and registering it properly can work wonders for your online business. Building a site does not suffice the purpose of online business promotion. There are lot more things that you need to do to achieve your company’s goals.

Creating a domain name is just one aspect but a very essential one. You need to understand creating any domain name won’t help. You have to come up with some unique ideas and decide on a unique name that is catchy and meaningful. 

A Domain name represents your website address and can end with anything such as .com, .org, .biz, or .info. It is necessary to select a relevant domain name, something that relates to your company or its products. Many people think that they should keep the domain name of their site in the name of their company but top shot Internet entrepreneurs say that you should instead keep a name that reflects the main aspect of your company as in what your company deals in.

If Internet users get a quick idea as to what your company has to offer them or what is in store for them if they click on your link, there are greater chances of your potential customers visiting your site, thereby leading to sales conversion.  Be clear in your thoughts and do not confuse your site visitors. It is good to maintain some mystery but don’t hide the thing completely.

Give a clue to Internet users as to what are the benefits they are likely to get if they see your website link and go through its contents. A good idea is to include search engine optimised keywords in your domain name, making your business promotion campaign successful. 

Register several extensions of your website such as abc.com, abc.net and abc.org. This will prevent people from copying your domain name and using it to promote their online business. There are many websites that allow you to register your domain name. Conduct your study and select an authentic registrar.

Further information to help you with your marketing can be found at www.themarketingdude.com

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How to achieve anything in your business

I am a big believer that “if you think you can, you can” and “if you think you can’t, you cant”…either way you’re right.

So the next time you say something can’t be done, stop and take a look at this video.

I know this won’t please the animal activists but it does stop and make you think.  If you are like me, you will also be filled with a profound sense of regret and sorrow for what we are doing to our planet and our fellow sentient beings. 

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Using a scorecard

Introduce a scorecard to give you an early warning system that all is not well.

Businesses of all sizes, be they large corporations or a newly-established small business, spend a considerable amount of time and effort developing well-thought out strategic plans that work to pave the way for their business’s success.  Yet, many of them fail to reach their goals.  

Frequently, it is because they are unable to measure their performance accurately and, therefore, only realise something is wrong when it is too late.  

Using a scorecard is a great way to improve the process of measuring your business’s performance.  A scorecard is a set of performance measures that are categorised according to the different performance aspects of a business.  Scorecards vary immensely in their appearances, content, and intricacy.

Some will include a dashboard that covers the broader performance goals of an enterprise and then expands them into more detail.  Others are colour coded to make it easier to scan through them.  

Using an automotive supplier as an example, one of the strategic performance goals in the dashboard of its scorecard may be “market leadership through building quality cars”.  Two performance metrics that contribute to the achievement of this goal may be “the percentage of reduction in annual warranty expenses” and “the percentage of reductions in car recalls”. 

When structuring a scorecard, it is important that you correctly identify what performance metrics are critical to the success of your business and need to be included in the scorecard.  If you answer the question well, the scorecard can make for an extremely tangible and concrete way to define success.  

In general, two types of performance measures should be included in your scorecard; those that account for the achievement of current operational goals and those that account for the achievement of future goals.  The best thing about scorecards is that they allow business leaders and managers to quickly understand how their business is performing overall and to identify if there is a performance gap in a particular area.  

Because they are structured to reflect performance across several business areas, when there is a lag in one area, it will stand out clearly.  This, in turn, allows the business manager to react immediately and solve the problem before it becomes too big to handle.  

If you are an entrepreneur with a growing business, constructing a scorecard will help you to better understand what functions of the business you need to work on to ensure that your business continues to do well. For those of you who are interested in assessing the current performance of a business, read my article “Discover 7 Common Causes of Cash Flow Problems in your Business before it is Too Late”.

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Give yourself a holiday- free yourself from your business by systemising it.

Do you feel like you’re being held hostage by your business? 

Most small business owners start their business because;
a) they want to do something they’re passionate about; and
b) because they think it will give them more freedom in life by releasing them from the unreasonable demands of their boss.

After a few weeks, however, the truth hits them hard.  Running your own business is a whole lot more demanding than a full time job.  Instead of one boss, you now have ten; your clients, your suppliers, your employees, each with a different set of needs and expectations that have to be met by you. 

You are so busy running the business that you hardly have time for anything else.

But who ever said it has to be that way?  The key to running your business more efficiently and effectively is to systemise it.  Systemising means you have to establish an organised method of dealing with the different functions of your business – from employee recruitment procedures to financial transactions. 

You have to find a way to structure jobs in such a way that things will get done on their own, or efficiently by someone else.  The ultimate goal of systemising your business is so you have more time to concentrate on growing your business and to enjoy your life.

Systemising your business also has another major advantage to it.  When your business processes are organised and proven, there is a much smaller chance for errors.  Because interruptions or errors can be costly, both in terms of time and money, avoiding unnecessary slip-ups serves to improve the overall performance of your business. 

So how do you go about systemising your business? 

First, know that it doesn’t mean you have to re-invent the wheel on each procedure.  You just have to find out how each procedure is best accomplished, document it, and repeat it.  Here is how you should get started:

1.  Take a step back and look at the big picture.

2.  Identify the activities that always seem to go wrong, take up too much of your time, or create a lot of stress for you.

3.  Create diagrams for each activity which indicate:
•   the desired results
•   the workflow
•   accountable persons
•   appropriate timeframes
•   resources needed
•   measurable performance standards

4.  Think about how you can group tasks together and how you can delegate them.

Once you establish systems within your business, you’ll be so much more comfortable with how much better everything works.  You’ll have so much more time for steering the business, giving your customers the attention they need, and most importantly, to spend quality time with yourself and the people you love.

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