As a small business owner, at some stage, you will probably be hiring a contractor.
You may need extra labour for a short period of time, or hiring a specific skill for a specific project or task. It sounds simple, but it's not as simple as it sounds!
There are a number of legal, tax and performance issues that you really need to be aware of, and you need to do your due diligence before you are the subject of a tax dispute, or you are in a legal dispute with the contractor because their work was not up to what you expected.
Let's break down what you need to know.
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Meet Disruptive Change Head On
Business today is in a disruptive phase and small business owners cannot avoid the disruption.
Changes to business models and industries have been caused by technology (the move from the use of desktop PC's to mobile technology), the sharing economy (Uber and Air BNB), the platform model (Trip Advisor, Hotels.com), international trends like the Coronavirus pandemic and the rise and fall of new and old industrial giants.
In a small business, for example, if you ignore mobile technology and focus your website to the PC, customers used to scrolling through sales sites on their phones will turn away from old-fashioned websites that don't respond to their phone screens.
Even in a small business, if you are in a disrupted industry, you will have to act to meet disruptive change head-on, or risk becoming a minor competitor to leading businesses in your industry.
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Managing Cashflow & Working Capital During Covid
Australia seems to have coped with the economic effects of Covid better than some other countries, but small businesses will still have a long haul to get back to where they were.
This is especially true of some industries like the hospitality and tourism industries which suffer from a lack of demand, and the agricultural industries suffering from lack of supply (labour).
Other industries may have fared better and are probably starting to look at new strategies and even opportunistically looking at merging or acquisition of another business.
Whatever their situation there will soon be a need for more capital in Australian small businesses, and the need to manage cash flow and working capital.
In this blog post, I will look at short-term cash and liquidity initiatives as well as cash flow forecasting.
But before we start, I'd like to invite you to take a look at our revamped website at otsmanagement.com.au where we have clarified our focus on our two areas of service.
Please take a look and explore our special focus areas of Small Business Advisory services and Managing Indigenous Organisations. We specialise in only these two client sectors and we invite you to take a look at what we...
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How To Start Your Own Business
If you are thinking of, or about to start a new business, you must be excited!
I know I was when I left the international consulting firm I was working for in 1991 to start my own financial and management consulting company.
I was excited and a little terrified!
But at least, I had an advantage over most subject-matter experts who decide to leave employment and start their own business - I was a qualified and experienced Chartered Accountant who knew about starting and building businesses, about tax and registrations and the law and agreements.
That is the most common experience of my clients over the years who have started their own businesses:
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