• Don’t think by avoiding it, it will go away.
• Acquire a business licence and be appropriately registered eg: as a workplace etc.

• Know who can help you find red tape
• Research and know all the red tape that can affect your
  business operations.
• Make a list of all your business activities to show your adviser, so they know how to help and what advice to give you.

• Initial general researching can really help you out – look on the World Wide Web and speak to other businesses for tips of what to do- Business Entry Point is a good site www.business.gov.au
• Your adviser can only offer you advice on the information you give them.

• Smartlicence 1800 061 631
• Company Registration
• Patenting
• Retail Leasing Problems
• Shop Trading Hours, State Hours and WorkCover
• Work Place Registration
• Office of Fair Trading – Referral Directory
• Industry organisations
• Your local government
• Your accountant

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• Who are my customers? – What do I want them to see about my business
• What are my customers looking for? - Ways to grab their attention, when they are looking for your services but don’t know who you are.
• Where do my customers collect their information from? – You need to know where to be at the right time.
• What motivates my customers to buy?
• What is important to my customers?
• How easy is it to buy from my business?

• Advertising
• Web page
• Brochure
• Promotions
• Events
• Capability statements
• Personal relations
• Press releases
• Create a Logo
• Stationery, business cards, letterheads
• Networking
• Referrals
• Databases

• By asking yourself the above questions decide on the image you want to project to your customers
• Think of words (use a dictionary and thesaurus), colours (get a colour chart) and pictures (look in magazines) that describe the image you want to create
• Pull them together and create your image
• Make a budget for the time and money you want to invest in your image
• Decide on how you want to get your image out into the public from the above options.

• Not every branding tool in the options section is relevant for you, choose ones that are going to be cost effective or within your budget
• Be patient while creating your image, like any great masterpiece they take time to develop

• GOBIS
• Business Advisory Service
• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• AusIndustry
• Austrade
• Internet
• Spy on your competitors
• See a consultant

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• Selling slow moving stock
• Reducing wastage in production or storage of products
• Leasing back capital investment items such as cars, computers, plant or machinery, so the original investment funds are available to improve cash flow and perhaps to invest in new stock or systems development
• Selling your debtors list to a factoring company so you get the funds now, not in 60 or 90 days.
• Budgeting and reducing your expenses.

• Banks- the largest providers of business finance
• Building Societies/Credit unions - a source, but business lending is not usually their core business.
• Finance companies - available to provide a variety of options
• Finance Brokers - may assist you to source funds, but they normally charge a fee for this service
• Seeking equity partners interested in investing in your business

• Your accountant.
• The CPA website at www.cpaonline.com.au
• Call 132650 or visit www.sd.qld.gov.au.

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• Existing customers: referrals
• Past customers: add-on services, maintenance, offer new lines for customers to buy more, more often
• New customers: Promotional tools such as advertising, the World Wide Web, business lists. Note: these all require client management and database facilities, which are a key business resource.

• Product offerings
• Pricing structure
• Promotions
• Distribution

• Market research
• Know your product offering – tangible and intangible elements
• Analyse your competitors – how to go about it, Yellow Pages, the World Wide Web, Smartlicence industry packs.
• Know your customers – Do a profile of your typical customer, that is: aggregate what they buy, when, how they pay, where they come from, how they travel to you & receive their goods, how they found out about you, how they keep in touch, what they read etc.

• lag times
• people typically have a three month memory
• the more effort you put in, the more you receive in return

• Call 132650 or visit www.sd.qld.gov.au
• Leading Edge workshop: Winning and Keeping Customers
• Industry Search and Opportunities
• Smartlicence
• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• AusIndustry
• Austrade
• Australian Competition and Consumer commission Business Entry Point
• Commonwealth Government business entry point www.business.gov.au
• Internet
• Consultants

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E I need to get on top of my finances!

Question

How can I better manage the financial aspects of my business?

Answer

It is important you keep accurate records and develop good bookkeeping practices so you can better manage the financial aspects of your business.

Accounting and record keeping
Most home-based business operators are aware of the need to keep financial records for:

Not everyone who goes into business will have the skills required to effectively manage their financial records, so it is a good idea to discuss the requirements with your accountant. It may be wiser for you to spend time on earning more income and paying someone else to keep your books for you.

Developing a Cash Flow Forecast
Effective financial management involves more than just keeping records.
It includes:

Cash management is the process by which any business can maintain the proper balance between a healthy cash position and achieving maximum profits. Profit is not the same as cash. A business can be profitable but restricted in operation due to a lack of cash to pay creditors and maintain the day to day operations of the business.

It is a good idea to identify your immediate priority, (eg. record keeping; cash flow; forecasting; financing growth) control that area and then work on the balance.

Benchmarks

A variety of options are available to the Home Based Business to judge your operating parameters against other similar businesses. This helps to analyse your business for potential problems. These can cover critical areas such as gross profit, net profit, expenses etc. They are available through business associations and through your accountant.

Two most commonly used in business are called "Prac Dev" and FMRC. The Department of State Development can also provide industry specific kits that highlight useful benchmarks.

Where to go for more information

• Advice on buying equipment or software?
• Advice or help with setting up a computer?
• Advice on phone / e-mail communications?
• Advice on setting up a web page for your business?
• Help with putting your business online?

• A good starter program is the "IT Implementation Workshop", which helps you prioritise which products to buy based on your specific needs.
  
• TAFE, evening classes, workshops, public providers, private providers, IT and communications consultants, ask your children.
• Finding someone you trust experienced in computers, who can support your learning.
• Find business people who are happy with their IT systems, talk to them about what they use and how effective it has been for their business.
• Talk to your accountant about the needs of your business.

• Outsourcing work- it may be more cost effective to pay $15.00 per hour on bookkeeping if you can earn $25.00 through your business.
• Learn how to say no.
• Schedule any spare time you want in your diary.
• Prioritise your work.
• Handle each piece of paper no more than twice.
• Schedule time to do similar tasks eg: phone calls.
• Have blocked out time – ie: uninterrupted time to do a job in one go, rather than having to keep picking it up again.
• Do it faster – other solutions are available to ensure you get the work done quickly and efficiently.

• Set goals for yourself.
• Find out where your time goes.
• Make lists of all the things you do and find out which ones are:
  • Important -- they help you achieve your goals.
  • Urgent but not important - ie: crisis type tasks.
  • Not important - daily, weekly, monthly.
• Assign these into a diary and include how long the task should take you.
• Put in the time you want to have off and spend it with your loved ones.
• Make regular times to review goals and tasks to make sure you are heading in the right direction.
• Make a list at the beginning of each month and then transfer to the relevant days to "tick off" on completion. Transfer those not achieved- soon you will overcome procrastination or dead tasks if you have to keep writing them up.

• Organisation is a skill.
• Organisation is part housework and part decision-making.
• Clutter is not economical.
• Know what you want.
• It is important to have the right tools and skills to do the job well.

• See a consultant.
• Spy on your competitors - if you have not started your business yet, work for someone else, if you already have a business, ring up a similar business and ask them.
• Do a time management course.
• Get a paper diary ie: day, tasks, phone calls, expenses etc.
• Call 132650 or visit www.sd.qld.gov.au

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H I need to be better at negotiation and closing deals!

• applying for a loan from a bank;
• arranging material from a supplier;
• asking small favours of employees;
• ensuring goods are delivered on time;
• satisfying a disgruntled customer; and
• receiving payment for an invoice.

• put yourself in the other person’s shoes;
• identify their needs and interests (not just their bargaining position);
• identify the boundaries (what is and isn’t negotiable);
• clarify the authority to negotiate;
• look for a solution that is valuable to them, but costs you much less.

• Separate people from the problem – you want to attack the problem, not the people
• Focus on the interests of both parties. Note the position they choose – what are their interests and what are yours
• Invent options for mutual gain - brainstorm all possible options and then choose the most likely options
• Insist on using objective criteria – fair procedures, fair standards and use of best practice benchmarks
• Develop your best alternative to a negotiated agreement – this is not a bottom line result
• it is not your desired outcome, but it does add your benefits to the agreement.
  - For example, you may not get the lowest price on a product that you want, but you can ask for extended credit or a discount if you buy more of the same products. Remember, there are many ways to solve a problem.

• Books – eg Getting to Yes: Negotiating an agreement without giving in. By Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton
• Community justice or conflict resolution and mediation centres
• TAFE courses
• University evening classes
• Call 132650 or visit www.sd.qld.gov.au

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