The Super Amnesty ends in 2 weeks from today!

As an employer, are you sure you paid all of your super contributions by the due date?

It’s important that you check on this. And not just that they have been paid, but were they paid late?

If they were paid late you are liable for what is called the Super Guarantee Charge. This is an extra charge on top of your super.

You are required to lodge an SGC Statement for each time your super contributions were paid late. These are the steps to follow:

• Check if your super payments were made by the due dates,

• It’s not enough to have simply paid the super for each employee…

• It must have been paid by the due date, 28 days after the end of each quarter.

• For every quarter where it was paid late, this triggers a SG Charge (SGC)

• You are required to complete a SGC Statement and lodge it with the ATO

• For each and every quarter it was paid late.

Under the Super Amnesty, you will not be charged penalties, or the standard Administration Charge of $20 per employee per quarter.

- You will also be able to claim a tax deduction for the payment

- These are not normally deductible.

Once the Super Amnesty is over, if employers are caught by the ATO, the benefits of the Amnesty no longer apply. That means:

- You will be hit with penalties of 200%, plus the admin fees, of $20 per employee, per quarter,

- You will not be allowed to claim a tax deduction.

The Super Amnesty Pack from latesuper.com.au has all the information you need to help you get through this task.

- It includes checklists, workpapers and templates. It also contains comprehensive worked examples. Together with a Board Presentation paper, to give to your fellow directors.

Let me know if you need a hand, this is an area we can assist with.

Peter

Is it better to spend up or cut and save during the lockdown?

It’s the classic business dilemma; do we save our nuts like squirrels to get through the winter, or do we plant the seeds and prepare for a good harvest?

Those who argue for ‘cut and save’ would say:

• Keep the money you have in reserve

• Reduce all costs

• Defer all big expenditure

• Cut all non-essential spending

• Clear out your inventory

• Sell unused assets

• Cut staff hours

• Then use cheaper staff

• Find lower cost supply chain alternatives. 

Then there are others who argue the opposite:

• Increase advertising and promotion

• Invest in marketing and sales

• Increase brand awareness

• Improve your website and online presence

• Always keep promoting

• Look for cost effective mediums

• Continue to engage with your customers

• Encourage loyalty purchases

• Develop new products or services

• Engage with your supply chain

• Improve your online offering

• Look for another business to buy

• Buy specific assets

• Find profitable add-ons

• Seek out lower cost providers

The question really is, how will you position yourself to come out the other side?

Be smart during this time of lockdown and restrictions. Be on the lookout for new opportunities, to grow, develop and improve.

Let me know if you need a hand

Peter

Is now a good time to buy a health food franchise?

Is now a good time to buy a health food franchise?

With COVID causing an increased awareness of health issues and consumers conscious of what they’re eating, we see steady inquiries from people looking at health food franchises.

Here are some factors to consider:

• Location is key – will it be high street or shopping centre?

• What incentives will the landlord provide?

• What is the foot traffic, or passing trade?

• What will the rent be?

• Expected timeframe to open?

• Expected up-front costs – total?

• Will you need finance?

• If so, can you get it and how much?

• Expected ongoing costs, operational and franchise fees?

• What will Cost of Goods Sold % be?

• Staffing numbers and wages costs?

• What marketing assistance will be provided?

• How will the franchisor help you grow your business?

• What are the demographics of the local area?

• Do they represent your target client?

• How much money do you want to make?

• Can this franchise business model allow you to make that?

• What is the expected payback on your investment?

• Are you excited about this opportunity?

• Is this the best option for you right now?

Buying a franchise is a big decision and will have big financial consequences on your life. So, get a pre purchase review before you fall in love with it!

Send me a message via Contact Us and we’ll get straight back to you to get started.

Peter

"Would you like fries with that?"

“Would you like fries with that?”

Surely the best ‘cross sell’ line ever!
The beauty is in its simplicity.
It’s more than just a question, asking the customer to buy more.
“You want anything else?” would’ve done that.
It’s a ‘suggestive’ cross sell.
Suggesting the product for us to buy.
Enticing us.
Teasing us.
Of course we want the fries!
We want the fries in winter.
We want them in summer.
I’ve seen people scooping their ice cream with those fries!
And that’s the second part of the magic.
The fries themselves.
We didn’t even call them ‘fries’ before that.
And they're called French Fries!
As if there's something special about the way the French deep fry their potato!
But once we’d tasted them, we were spoilt for life.
The mere mention of the word ‘fries’ would make us salivate.
(Apologies to Pavlov and his dogs).
But the fries had to be so good they would actually work as a cross sell.
As an add-on.
That they could deliver on their promise.
Every time.
But even when they don’t, we fall for it again the next time they ask us.
Hoping for that crunch.
They’ve done the hard work.
They got us to the counter.
Now to make the most of it while they’ve got us.
Genius.

But now to the point of this post.
What’s your cross sell?
What are you suggesting?
What are you promising, knowing you can deliver..
Every time?

Let me know if you’d like to discuss this further

Peter

How to forecast Sales Revenue for August.

Forecasting sales for the month ahead is always tricky, but even more so in these COVID times.

Here’s an approach which may assist:
Look at Sales Revenue for July
Compare to May and June
Recall the events of July, anything significant which might be ‘one off’? e.g Lockdown?
Consider any upcoming events which might impact August sales
Will they have a positive or negative impact on Sales?
Review the marketing activity planned for August
What impact do you think they will have?
What lessons have been learned from the year so far?
Factor these into your forecast.

An excellent way to ‘stress test’ this forecast is to compare it against your Breakeven Point for August
To do this, follow these steps:

List all of the expenses coming up for August
Many of these will be known (rent, leases)
Others will need to be estimated
Include wages for yourself
Once you have a full list, gross this figure up by your Gross Margin (%).

This is your Sales Breakeven Point

This is your Sales Target which you MUST hit to cover your expenses
Anything less than this and you are losing money
Compare this against the forecast above and adjust if necessary
Both of these approaches will assist in your forecasting.

Let me know if you need a hand

Peter

Reminder - Jobkeeper for July

Time to get your information ready for your July Jobkeeper declaration.

This is to cover Jobkeeper fortnights which ended during July.

These are Jobkeeper Fortnight 7 (22 June – 5th July) and Fortnight 8 (6 July – 19 July).

Be sure to nominate the number of eligible employees you are claiming for in each Fortnight. Also advise if any employees have come or gone during the month, or are no longer eligible.

Please note - you must have actually paid them $1,500 per fortnight to be eligible.

Declare the GST turnover for your business for July, 2020 and also your projected GST turnover for August 2020.

Also, remember that in order to claim JobKeeper payments for the August JobKeeper fortnights, you must enrol for JobKeeper and identify your eligible employees by 31 August.

Let me know if you need a hand.

Peter

How to take control of your business - run Monthly Meetings

Small business owners hate meetings. Think they’re a waste of time. They’ve got too much to do and can’t just sit around talking sh*t!

We agree!

But monthly meetings are actually a really important way to keep control over your business and know where things are up to. The key is to keep them tight and focused.

So, let’s just focus on the essential things that must be covered. Should take no longer than 2 hours per month.

The Rules.

• Set a regular time, no variations

• Owners and key managers must attend.

• Have a standing Agenda. Like the one below
  

OVERVIEW

• Overview of the month so far

• Review Action Items from last meeting

• What’s the biggest issue for the month ahead?
  

FINANCE

• Profit & Loss last month

• Profit & Loss year to date (compare to Budget)

• Cash flow forecast for next 3 months

• Accounts Receivable

• Accounts Payable & upcoming bills, incl BAS
  & Super
  

MARKETING

• Marketing activity for next month

• Avg Sale Value

• Customers gained / lost

• Conversion rate

• (Other KPI’s relevant to your business, eg sales
  meetings, proposals issued, closed etc)
  

OPERATIONS

• Work in progress

• What’s working, what’s not, areas to improve

• HR issues

• (Identify key Ops issues relevant for your
  business)
  

ACTIONS

• Review any actions agreed throughout meeting

• Confirm

  • who is to do it

  • what is to be done

  • when is it to be done by

• Set and agree time for next meeting

Business meetings are a fundamental component of good business management. Many times they get missed just because people get busy. Not because of lack of intent.

But one of the best ways to be sure you’ll have your meetings is to engage someone to act as Chairman, or Facilitator, or Business Coach.

That’s where we come in. We have years of experience in chairing business meetings, and holding business owners to account. If that’s something you think you might find worthwhile, then give us a call, or shoot me an email.

Peter

Is this a good time to buy a Handyman franchise?

Is this a good time to buy a Handyman franchise?

Over the last few weeks, we’ve had an increase in enquiries for handyman franchises. This seems to be for two reasons:

1. COVID-19 redundancies. People are looking for a low entry cost business to generate income

2. WFH. With more people Working From Home, there has been increased demand for home office fit-outs, shelving, desks, benches, bookcases, etc. 

Also, with more time spent at home, people have had more time to look around and see all the odd jobs that need to be done! 

So, before you dive in and sign up for that handyman franchise, here are some things to consider:

• Are you a ‘handy’ person? Good with you hands and tools?

• Do you like dealing with people?

• Are you comfortable making sales and building your business?

• What are the upfront costs and ongoing fees?

• What is the expected profitability?

• How long will it take to Payback your initial investment?

• Talk to other franchisees about their experience

• Understand how you get leads – from head office or find your own?

• What systems and training is provided?

• Are there restrictions on territories and ‘out of territory’ work?

These are some initial questions to get your thought processes started. Once you get more information you’ll be able to dig deeper and find out more about the particular franchise.

And be sure to get a franchise Pre purchase Review!

Let me know if you need a hand

Peter