Stop what you’re doing and learn how to stop procrastinating

Yes, I see the irony. Unless reading our Inspired Daily article is a scheduled part of your everyday work routine, there’s a chance that you’re procrastinating. You are doing almost anything else rather than simply getting on with what you are supposed to be doing. It happens to almost all of us at one point or another. Unfortunately, it’s happening with increasing regularity to almost everybody when they are supposed to be at their most productive.

Before I get to a couple of tips to help you stay on track, let’s look at some rapid fire examples of what stops us from getting started:

Wow, I am actually really hungry, I better get a snack before I get into this
Maybe I should read Inspired Daily, I just need some inspiration
I work better under pressure
I better check my messages, I am waiting for an important update
Goodness, that benchtop is filthy, let me just wipe that down before I get started
Oh wow! (insert name here) just got (fired/promoted/robbed/busted/hooked up/upstaged/embarrassed/harassed/arrested/awarded/rewarded…)

Let’s face it, many of us have never cleaned so diligently, read so intently or absorbed as much near useless data than when we have a looming deadline. It happens – unfortunately.

Great! We’ve admitted there’s a problem, now what?

The next step is always to try and understand a problem. Understanding the problem helps us to adopt or devise solutions that are sustainable rather than band-aid solutions that are temporary fixes at best.

Here’s part of what we know. Firstly, we are very good at associating environment and stimulus with a specific response. At night I go to bed… and fall asleep. I sit on my sofa and… watch TV. I arrive at a coffee shop… I ask for coffee.

Tip: Don’t take your laptop to the lounge room, park yourself in front of the TV and expect to study/work effectively if that’s where you normally binge watch your new favourite show. You’ll end up “just having a quick flick” and that will be that. Construct a work association in a particular place under specific conditions and get to it.

Your brain is full of chemicals and other stuff and no one’s actually certain about what all of it does but we do know that when we’re exposed to certain favourable stimuli, a reaction takes place that releases chemicals making us feel good. Alright, there’s more to it than that but that is definitely the gist. And it’s the reason why, when our mobile device pings and alerts us to the fact that someone:

Likes our post
Likes us
Has sent a message
Has tagged us or
Generally given us some attention in some way or another

…we love it and we want more of it. The wanting more is the reason we keep our mobile devices so, SO close. All that is okay but let’s face it, it is burning a hole in our productive “doing stuff” hours. Which is not okay.

Tip: Put your phone on “flight mode” while you work on that one important thing. No pings, no alerts, no messages to stop you from starting.

Tip: There is such a thing as a newsfeed eradicator. Which is great if you can’t stop yourself from scrolling through your feed, robotically looking for something, anything to make you laugh or shake your fist or feel… something. Use it.

Halting procrastination is about understanding your triggers and limiting the negative effects by neutralising or controlling the cause. Remember, getting inspired is only half the battle, now it’s time to go and achieve something.

Simon says, “dopamine is dope”

Well not in so many words, but inspirational author, thought leader and speaker Simon Sinek blames part of the so-called “dealing with millennials” problem at the feet of dopamine-peddling social media. Agreed. We echo the notion that a disproportionate amount of time, energy and emotion is devoted to accruing likes and shares (not that kind) by those of us born since the mid to late eighties. He goes onto describe how legions of us are zoning out of the real world, to spend more time on line. It’s addictive and can be, if left unchecked, all-consuming. And if it’s a problem in business (and yes, sometimes it is), what do we do about it?

Shall we start with why?

A well-known biology lesson derived from a 2012 study, confirmed to the world that getting likes, PMs and replies on social media releases the “feel good” chemical dopamine. And true to its claim, it feels good. And we like to feel good – especially when we’re down so we have developed a tendency to pursue online affirmation – seemingly at all costs.

But we touched on all this during yesterday’s Inspired Daily focus on overcoming procrastination. The point to be made, absorbed and understood today, thanks to the thought catalyst that is Simon Sinek? Good interactions, blossom into great relationships, which eventually bear fruit in the form of sustainable business results and oftentimes an overflow of shared wellbeing. Sounds terrific.

Feeling good about business, can’t be that simple. Can it?

No. No it’s not. There’s far more to it than that but staying with the millennial theme, Simon does go on to boldly critique and expand on the four pillars of workplace unrest. They are entitlement, technology, impatience (or instant gratification) and environment.

Spend 15 minutes listening to this terrific and insightful sit down with Simon, courtesy of the Tom Bilyeu interview on Inside Quest and just drink in the common sense and logic.

One of my big takeaways from this is that we, the business owners, need to accept and embrace responsibility around setting expectations and building an environment where excellence wants to come and work. All of that said, I would recommend this video as not only a two-way eye-opener but a bit of a self-assessment as to where we are, where we’re coming from and therefore, where we’re going.

Needless to say, we liked this.

Autumn’s coming – enjoy the sun, embrace the cloud

Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life.

Many small business owners around the country are, as we speak, in a white hot BAS panic because the deadline is just around the corner.

The world does not slow down so that we can fulfil our reporting obligations, in fact, it can seem like time speeds up the closer various due dates get. I’m not surprising anyone when I say this can affect family and leisure pursuits, so as we set sail for another weekend, unfortunately, many will already have allocated their time to “hitting the books”.

Even more unfortunate is the fact that many resign themselves to these intrusions on family time with a sigh and a “what do can you do?”

Here’s what you can do to reclaim your free time

Embrace the cloud – If you haven’t already switched to a cloud-based accounting software solution like Xero for example, you really need to look into. It basically uses automation and intuitive software to capture trends and complete basic admin jobs making tasks like invoicing and reconciliations less time-consuming.

Additionally, the various add-ons can arm you with the ready access to information you may already have trained yourself to wait ages for or simply go without. Now, if you need/want information that may help you make a business critical decision or seize on an opportunity, it’s there waiting for you. The next step is for you and your accountant to turn this ready availability of data into actionable steps towards securing and growing more profit and getting more out of life.

Tip: Selecting the right software solution that actually brings you benefits rather than muddying the waters can be confusing. Our tip is simply to speak to us about what information you might need. We’re more than happy to make a recommendation based on what will help you.

Are you sure, you’re sure?

Tip: get a second opinion when it comes to the important stuff.

Getting a second opinion is not just a sensible thing to do if your medical practitioner tells you to give up ice-cream. Anytime the opinion of a professional is going to influence an important decision that may affect your livelihood or the outlook of your loved ones, you want to be doubly sure about the advice. No better way than getting a second opinion and comparing the viewpoints and possible outcomes.

We’re heading into tax season very soon. This means that you’ll be making some decisions: deciding whether to continue down the road with the process you’ve become used to (lodge return, pay the bill) or seeing if you can reduce that tax bill by speaking to one of our team.

Fun fact: last tax year we saved our clients over million dollars just by taking a closer look at their situations and ensuring that they didn’t pay more than was necessary.

If you’ve been in business now for at least a couple of years and are turning over more than $250K per year, we feel really confident that we could save you $5,000 in tax savings immediately.

It might be worth having some second thoughts about this year’s tax strategy over the weekend and embracing some new opportunities.

Today’s BAS webinar can help you get it right

It probably doesn’t get more embarrassing than what popular host and celebrity Steve Harvey had to go through when he misread the score card and named the wrong contestant as winner of the 2015 Miss Universe. Let’s embrace the pain one more time. Yikes!

But many of us know someone who has badly misread or ignored their business scorecard and embarrassment on the world stage would have been the least of their problems. Happily, the amiable and now really, really, careful Steve Harvey, was asked back to host the following year’s event – all was forgiven. The tax office and the commercial environment in which we all operate is rarely as forgiving.

The bright side? BAS is more than just a chore – it can help you

Let’s focus on the chief benefit of BAS. If nothing else, it provides your business with a quarterly scorecard letting you know whether you’re up or down as well as a direct comparison to previous quarters. But leaving it at that is to ignore some other key benefits available to you if you know what you’re doing. By saving your spot at our “Make BAS Work for YOU” webinar today at 2.30pm AEST, Ben and I can help you:

Manage your cashflow – sometimes the line between money for your BAS bill and operating capital become so blurry that things can become difficult. Let’s work on ensuring things are easier.
Free your time – you already have a job. Business owner. The good news is that bookkeeper needn’t appear on your job description and you certainly shouldn’t be forced to wear that hat at night or on the weekends.
Work your advisers – there’s more to delivering maximum benefit than ticking boxes and submitting forms (we think so, anyway). We want to share strategies that will make sure you get the most out of your team.
Increase performance – knowing the score and understanding how to read it will instantly help you play the game better. This is also true in business. Let’s work on that together.
Pay your fair share – Are common mistakes killing your bottom line? DIY business owners are realising more and more that inexperienced or stuck-in-their-ways accountants and even themselves are letting the side down. Time to put a stop to that.

Okay, we’re almost ready to go, enough reading, let’s get you booked in if you’re not already. And if you can’t join us, we’d still love to hear from you, so feel free to contact us when you’re ready.

Will “Siri” get done for tax evasion?

The thing about ground-breaking entrepreneurs is that they think differently about everyday situations by applying very different, often elevated, goals and functionality to common items and situations.

Back in the day we all thought about how sensible phones, phone lists/directories and maps were. So we put them in books and carried them around with us. A certain world famous innovator then said, “I agree with this in principle but like most important items (currency, keys, identification) shouldn’t it fit in our pocket for maximum accessibility and ease of use? Could we just load it onto a small phone?” I wasn’t there but we can’t completely rule this out as a scenario.

This sounds crazy but he has had some winning ideas

Bill Gates suggested during a recent sit down, that robots should/could pay taxes. Ridiculous! Almost as ridiculous as spruiking computer operating systems in the seventies and eighties… Let’s hear him out. Click here.

Just in case you’re super short on time, here’s the summary of that clip. Bill suggests that if factory workers get taxed, then so should the robots (or perhaps their manufacturers) who do similar work. Interesting but why? Well the premise of income tax is that the government can provide benefits to the wider community with the tax collected. Furthermore, those people who no longer need to do the redundant factory work can, instead, set to work helping with community services for example. The problem with this is that since robots do the work and are not taxed, there’s no tax money to provide funding for these other services.

If nothing else, this is a great example of thinking about something quite common and applying different thinking to address an everyday need. And we like that.

We think differently too

We don’t hold the key to modern day communications and content storage but we do think very differently about accounting services. This is important – especially at tax time. Or more importantly, before tax time. Three things to consider talking to us about:

BAS deadlines are fast approaching and we want to ensure that you’re ready to benefit from this quarterly exercise [Webinar – How to make BAS work for you].
Tax season is just over the horizon but with the earth circling the sun at a spectacular 110,000km/h it’ll be June 30 before you know it. Maybe give us a call sooner rather than later to make sure you don’t end up paying too much tax.
Now is the time to make sure your tax deductible dollars do some good in the world. We are committed to ensuring that our income benefits worthy causes that positively impact the lives of those less fortunate and inspiring others to do likewise.

Here at Inspire, we want to make a difference to our clients, their businesses and their families but we feel we have to make a difference for that can’t do so for themselves. And let’s face it, the robots won’t help, they don’t use accountants because as Mr Gates points out – they don’t pay taxes. See you in court, Siri!

If you’d like to hear more about how you can save on taxes, make a difference to people’s lives or both, please do drop us a line.

The Price is Right… or is it?

Not enough thought goes into pricing. Either that or the wrong thought processes are applied to pricing. We see it time and time again in various businesses and particularly start-ups. Over the weekend I thought about the often-seen “closing down sales” as I did a bit of shopping. It occurred to me that there’s more to these sales than meets the eye, in part, because there’s more to pricing than meets the eye.

When it comes to products and services, it’s often a case of what should I sell it for as opposed to what do I need to sell it for. New businesses will often base their pricing on what they see their competitors doing instead of first understanding how much revenue they need to cover the rent, utilities, inventory, wages and the list goes on. Understanding that these items are critical to business owners’ ability to function commercially, covering these off in the price of what they’re selling will determine the viability of the enterprise.

It’s not just the small business owner that is faced with these realities, but at least they have the ability to set their own pricing. By adding value, varying services, getting creative with their marketing, price variations may sit well with the target market. However, there are some instances where the practitioner has a lot less wriggle room because the customer doesn’t understand or accept the true value of the services. So it becomes tricky when the customer bucks at the price. So what can you do?

Doctor Doctor, give me the news

Elizabeth Oliver, a GP based in Sydney, wrote an exceptional article that found its way into the Brisbane Times. It begins with a patient suggesting Dr Oliver was making easy money and ends with the realisation that after all costs have been accounted for, there’s not much left over. A realisation that for many GPs around the country is a bleak reality. From a $70 fee:

“35 per cent goes to the practice for rent, electricity, equipment, and to pay the receptionist and nurse. After tax, my Medicare levy and student debt, I receive $24.56.

But I bulk-billed him (the patient), which means I made $13.01. That dizzying sum covers sick, holiday and maternity leave, superannuation and about $8000 a year in fees, insurance and continuing training.”

Work out what you need to cover before setting your price

And for that matter, work out how much profit you need to make to ensure that you take home an amount that you can live on and live with. Remember, you probably didn’t get into small business to just scrape by. Think about desired lifestyle as well as contingencies.

Talk to us about all aspects of your business numbers because we believe that small businesses can, do and should benefit the owner(s) and their families. So it’s not just a matter of knowing your numbers but what your number should be. If you don’t, it may be you that pays a hefty price.

Why didn’t coalmine canaries have fitbits?

Every Friday we just want to stop the world for a moment and give you a couple of real tips to think about that will make a real difference to your business and in your life.

There’s an old saying advising us all that prevention is better than cure. And it’s absolutely true – in health and in business. The problem is that oftentimes, illness strikes and has us in its grip before we realize what has happened. This also happens in small businesses. You wake up one morning, the sun’s shining, breakfast, off to see the accountant and suddenly you’re being presented with a P&L sheet written in red blood ink. Where’s the warning? Is it too late? Will panicking help or will open-mouthed shock save us? So many questions as hysteria starts shutting off oxygen to the rational parts of the brain. And yes, sadly, sometimes it is too late… sometimes.

Canaries are “lag indicators”

A long time ago in lands far, far away, canaries where taken down mine shafts with coal miners. The theory was that if the canary lost consciousness (okay, died) because of the presence of noxious gases, it was time to evacuate the mine. Okay, two things here. Firstly, yes canaries lack the capacity to survive poisons in the quantities that we can but also they don’t need as much oxygen to stay alive (hmmm). Secondly, and closer to the point, by the time anyone noticed the deceased canary there was very little time, if any, to escape. Kind of like having a reverse parking warning tone go off after you’ve hit the car behind you. Too little too late.

Fun fact: an elevated heart rate (even in canaries) can be a sign that an avoidable oxygen crisis is somewhere around the corner.

If only 19th century coal miners had fitted their canaries with fitbits, they would have noted the elevated avian pulse rates and headed for the nearest exit. Alas…

The value of “Lead Indicators”

Unlike the canary, a fitbit uses facts to offer precursors to what might happen next as opposed to what has already happened. Newspaper reports, P&Ls and almanacs are basically, historical records. From this we can deduce what went right and what went wrong.

You, we, all of us are often better serves by “lead indicators”. A “Value of Sales Pipeline” is a great example. It’s useful because it will tell you what is going to happen (good, bad or indifferent), well before it actually does. This gives you time to make adjustments – strategic, operational etc – that will benefit your business. If you are genuinely interested in how you can proactively drive your business forward and grow and protect your profits, we’d love to chat with you about that proactively instead of re-actively.

For triple extra-small fitbits… can’t help you.

Enjoy your weekend.

…and here’s the other half of your success formula

Because we’re all about helping families derive more benefit from the business they own rather than merely working in a business that owns them, we need to shine a light on the whole truth about commercial success. It’s a little unconventional but there again, I already started a paragraph with “because” so what could be worse than that, right?

It’s not all about the numbers

Knowing your numbers, working with them, understanding that they are indicators and/or contra-indicators of future success is vital to the long term success and growth of your business. That’s the truth! And so is this:

“Your pipeline is your lifeline”

Without a sales and/or services pipeline that is constantly full or being filled, all your tomorrows may be filled with uncertainty. Again, understanding and using your numbers to great effect will ensure the revenue you generate offers maximum benefit – but without pipeline replenishment, you’ll have less and less to work with.

Here’s what we all need to know

Brands make businesses sustainable. It’s true. Whether large or small, your business runs on reputation and what people perceive to be the value of your goods and services within a defined market. I’m pretty sure that’s written down somewhere.

In our opinion, “Dent: key person of influence” is one of the best in the business of business branding and for that matter, so does the Huffington Post. They dubbed them “the world’s leading personal brand accelerator.”

An offer as close to free as we could make it!

Okay, back to making your revenue do more for you and your business: I have a discount code that will save you 50% on the price of admission to Dent Business Brand Accelerator events in Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane.

The focus is on:

Scalability – freeing yourself from the day to day demands of running your business.

Differentiation – it feels like “unique” is becoming extinct. Here’s how to stand out from the crowd.

Influence – helping you to set yourself and your business as a destination which in turn draws the market to you.

Aaaand here’s the code that unlocks the huge discounts and details the dates and venues.

I can’t make the Brisbane event but such is the value to businesses of the principles taught here, I’m heading down to the Sydney event which is Saturday 25 February.

Seriously, what’s not to like?

Like a rolling… tennis ball

To say things got a bit warm over the weekend would be like suggesting too much tax is an inconvenience. As the mercury soared, I stayed close to the air-conditioning while my thoughts were with small business owners.

Something we hear quite often from our new and prospective clients is that they are trying to grow and increase profits but it can feel like two steps forward, two steps back – on a good day.

Why? Well one reason is tax. And one of the reasons we at Inspire exist is because so many small businesses find that they are paying too much tax. That explains the demand for accountants that are committed to easing the tax burden so families can benefit from the business that provides for them.

As people come to this realisation, we are becoming more and more involved in businesses and the business of helping people achieve tax savings (to help give and spread an understanding of necessary steps, we’re making a webinar available to everyone who’s interested but more on that tomorrow).

Tax helps those that help themselves

So, the long held premise upon which the concept of tax was built was that it would help the powers that be provide public works and armies. This morphed into exploring (and probably conquering faraway lands), public buildings and satellite launches (I’ve probably skipped over about 1500-2000years here… to save time).

Here’s the interesting part: over the years (and centuries) governments around the world have become more and more creative when it comes to instituting new and interesting taxes. Yet the average small business owner continues to apply a “medieval” approach to insulating themselves against profit-sapping taxes. I’m not suggesting that an exotic array of tips and tricks need to be employed to ensure you don’t simply “give away” close to 50% of your profits in taxes.

However, let me just reinforce an important point. If upwards of 45% tax on your hard-earned profits seems steeper than your next electricity bill after a summer of stiflingly hot weekends – it’s time to test drive a new accountant .

Quick tip – to help minimise tax, check out the feasibility and benefits of structuring your business as a trust or company as opposed to a sole trader… and be pleasantly surprised!

If you’re not moving up, you’re rolling backwards

World champion basketball coach Pat Riley once offered that teams should think of themselves as a tennis ball on a hill. If they are not actively be propelled up the hill, they are actually rolling down the hill – there is no in between.

This absolutely applies to your business results in general and your tax situation in particular. A “she’ll be right” or “I’ll just keep plugging along” leads to the same curious ending as the example of a child opening a savings account with a $5 deposit, only find that at year’s end not only has the deposit disappeared in a puff of account-keeping fees but an amount is actually owing.

Quick tip – a profit improvement plan, carefully crafted by your accountant can safeguard your hard-earned returns.

Okay, there’s a break in the hot weather, you might want to give your business a break as well by calling us for a chat about how best to keep your cash in your pocket.

Little (coffee) shop of horrors (part two)

If a familiarity if not a deep understanding of the numbers in and around your business was not necessary, we wouldn’t be here. But it is and we are definitely here for you. So grab a coffee if that’s your thing and we can also finish the story about our café.

But before we go there, we wanted to help you understand why numbers are important instead of just saying they’re important over and over again. Now remember, there are two sides to every coin and that goes for numbers that relate to your business as well. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons and find out why numbers aren’t always enough.

The pros and cons of numbers

Numbers can’t be all good though, can they? We think that numbers are all good but it takes a skilled listener and experienced practitioner to interpret and translate them into profitable actions. Nonetheless, here are the pros and cons – shortlisted.

Pros:

Honest – When it comes to profit and loss, the numbers are absolute quantities. They don’t lie because they cannot lie.
Translatable – language, especial the English language is very much open to interpretation. Income of say $800k per annum versus $1.2m in outgoings per annum means trouble in any language.
Indicative and interpretative – a number of financial services providers are at pains to ensure that you (potential clients) understand that past performance is not an accurate predictor of future performance. Numbers however can and should be used to let you know what is working in your business and what needs to be adjusted.

Cons:

In the hands and calculators of the uninformed numbers can be made to paint pictures that are not entirely accurate or even misleading. It’s important that the people working on your numbers are on your side and share your code of ethics.
Numbers can become more and more complex the deeper you dig. Knowing when to say when to avoid “analysis paralysis” is key.
Delving into the figures before arriving at a conclusion isn’t as sexy as just going on gut feel and running with an idea – but dealing with sizable losses isn’t very sexy either.

So whatever happened with the café?

We love coffee and we love numbers but we couldn’t serve two masters. The numbers helped us to decide that doing good for our clients with our accounting skills was logical, practical and best for all.

We still love to give our all to our Inspire clients and we still don’t sic the clock and timesheet on you if you need to enquire about something. And we most certainly still relish the opportunity to have a coffee with you – we’ll just get it from the local coffee shop instead.