Is a Family Holiday in your Business Plan?
Here are some of the things I have been hearing business owners say (me included). I can’t believe where the year has gone! I feel burnt out after the last two and a half years!
To me this screams out that you need a holiday, and that you need to take your family with you. I know that is what I need to be doing. If we as business owners don’t start planning for this holiday then guess what you will be saying in 12 months time? Bingo! (I hope you realised Bingo meant I was referring to the two statements above, not that I was playing bingo as well as writing this!!)
Here are some of the things I have been hearing business owners say (me included).
I can’t believe where the year has gone!
I feel burnt out after the last two and a half years!
To me this screams out that you need a holiday, and that you need to take your family with you. I know that is what I need to be doing. If we as business owners don’t start planning for this holiday then guess what you will be saying in 12 months time? Bingo! (I hope you realised Bingo meant I was referring to the two statements above, not that I was playing bingo as well as writing this!!)
The Pinnacle Observation Shelter and Boardwalk on Mount Wellington, Hobart Tasmania, Australia.
The one great thing about the end of the financial year is that it gives us all a fresh starting point. For a lot of small business owners that starting point involves a business plan of what it is they are wanting to achieve over the next 12 months. The one thing that should be on the top of that list is to take a holiday with the family. Some of us have been taking regular breaks, some of us haven’t had a real break in nearly two years.
I was given a book for my birthday – Australia’s Ultimate Bucket List -The top 100 places you should see in your lifetime. It is a great book to look through to decide your next holiday destination. We have looked through the book and have chosen on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania as well as other areas of Tasmania. We love the wilderness so this is a perfect for us. Here is the link for the book mentioned above.
This goes right to the top of my Business Plan. Part of owning your own business is to be able to do the things you want to do. The best way to make these things happen, as I have mentioned before, is to add personal goals to your business plan. I have done this and I am now building the rest of the plan around this major goal of a family holiday.
One of the major reasons I went into business for myself was to spend more time with my wife and kids. My youngest son is finishing Year 12 this year. We are fast approaching the point where the kids (3 for us) will not be living with us for much longer. Fifteen years ago when I started my business I thought I had plenty of time to do things with my family. I have, but time is running out. Pretty soon they will have their own families and will be doing there own things. Every one will tell you the same thing – blink and they go from nappies to driving their car out the drive way to live their own lives.
That is why the family holiday is at the top of my business plan. It is the most important reason this year for my business to be successful.
Put a family holiday at the top of your business plan this year. You wont regret it!!
David Patterson - Director The Bucket list Accountant
When is the time to rebrand?
The most simple way of looking at this, is sales. Are you not as profitable as you once were? Or your sales may be the same but not growing they way you would like? This could be because of your branding is not attracting the right customers to your business. Just like a light to a moth… this is what your branding should do. If moths are your thing, of course.
And what are the benefits to you, the business owner?
You may be familiar with a business that launches a rebrand and think to yourself:
“Why? What was the point of that? Aren’t they worried that they will lose customers? I thought they had a great brand? “
Or you might think:
”Oh yes… that is much better, cleaner, fresher.”
The reality is - that is doesn’t really matter what you think? unless you are their ideal customer that would purchase or engage in their service. Ideal customers change over time, as your business grows so does the customer you target. As a business owner you would know all too well, the reality that your business cannot stay the same as when you started. Your core beliefs and purpose might be the same but business changes on a daily basis and your branding need to reflect these changes.
Why is it important?
The most simple way of looking at this, is sales. Are you not as profitable as you once were? Has your business just not scaled the way you would have liked? This could be because of your branding is not attracting the right customers to your business.
Just like a light to a moth… this is what your branding should do.
Here are my top 10 tips on when you will know it’s the right time to rebrand or update your branding.
1. Your business has changed
You have completely changed your offering. You may have started out as a business coach for small to medium business owners but you are wanting to niche yourself into the Fitness Industry for example. You would need a logo that would attract these fitness type business owners.
Cleanway wanted to move on from using the well known recycling symbol that could not be trademarked for their business. The font type didn’t look strong enough for a company that is Australia wide and handles large corporate jobs. We created a new symbol that represents direction from left to right.
2. You are finding it hard to convert a lead to a loyal customer
Customers may be coming to your website from searching in google but then getting to your website and turning away based off how it looks. Does it look dated that it’s turning people away? does it look trustworthy? does it look real?
Mel Fisher Photography had 10 years of experience photographing babies and families. She had multiple logo’s for each of these offerings. Her website was outdated and not easy to book through. She also had MJF photography instead of her name. After some consulting, and proof of her name being searched more than MJF - she changed her branding over. Her website is now converting 60% more leads than before.
3. Your target audience has totally changed
Your target audience has totally changed. For example - you may have been targeting 50 year old men to play golf but in 2022 Females are playing golf a lot more and want to feel included. If you want your business to succeed you will need to update.
BCD came to us needing help to merge 2 businesses together under the one “umbrella”. They were helping Seniors and were wanting to keep doing this but also move towards helping anyone that required NDIS help. They wanted their branding to be easier to read, more modern and fun to show how happy their staff were to help.
4. You are over it. It just doesn’t represent you anymore…
It was designed 10 years ago when you started up and had no budget. It might sound trivial but how do you feel when you put on a new outfit? pretty good? confident? that’s what a brand refresh should do too. This will also attract brand new customers that never looked at you before. This is not as scary as it may seem.
Urban Consultants came to us with their dated branding that they had completely outgrown. They wanted a more contemporary branding to represent their current business and to attract working with large corporates.
5. Potential customers are confused
Whether you are at a networking event or at a bar… if someone asks you what you do and you tell them your business name and they look confused? or worse they just walk away… you may need to really focus in on your business name and look at changing it.
Acals - had a really long business name and this is a nightmare for domain names and email addresses. So they changed their business name to ACALS an acronym for Accessible Care & Lifestyle Services.
6. You do not stand out amongst your competitors
You no longer stand out amongst your competitors. When you started - you may be have been the only business in your space? How can you visually communicate how awesome your business is in 1 second? your branding.
Macquarie Grove Homes came to us to update their branding as they felt it wasn’t getting noticed in the right way. It wasn’t conveying the quality of homes they were building. They specialise in custom built homes - so we wanted to put something special into their branding to communicate this, so we used a pattern that was unique to the tiles they had put into a few homes they had built. The handwritten font communicates that human element of the way they look after you.
7. You don’t want a complete rebrand, just a tweak…
You may not need a whole new branding - you may just need a tidy up, some finessing. Think about some large brands such as Coca Cola and how they have updated their branding and marketing assets over the years… It’s just enough to keep it fresh, and not too different that it looks like a new brand.
4th Trimester & Beyond had this beautiful illustration designed for her business a few years ago and didn’t want to part with it, neither did we. But the problem was that the whole logo didn’t work on social media platforms and her website. It was also too much text making it all seem just too much. It looked too hand done and not professional which was hurting her business. We took the main part of the illustration and created a more refined version of this.
8. You have scaled up, you need your brand to represent this too
You have simply outgrown your branding. What a great problem to have. You are larger than when you started and are now wanting to communicate this to potential partners, shareholders, franchisees and customers.
COPE accountants and business advisors came to us with the goal of targeting new clients that were different to what they had been targeting previously. They wanted to represent themselves as a larger firm that could take on larger clients. Part of their branding was adding in the office building in part of the marketing collateral.
9. Your logo is hard to read?
You branding is a little unclear, not easy to read. Perhaps the font’s that were chosen were considered perfect at the time. But now they look too casual, too cluttered and messy to read. If your branding has comic sans in it, we need to talk stat. :)
As you can see the Glendon Brae Homes logo below, the font is very hard to read. The only word that stands out is HOMES which is lucky… as thats what they do. We updated their branding to be less generic (the roof icon) and made it easier to read.
10. You never had one to begin with…
Lastly - Your branding is not just your logo. Yes it is a part of it. But it’s the whole package - the colours, the fonts, the patterns, photography, textures, voice of the brand. So if you are still just doing up an ad and sticking on the logo - Im sorry to break it to you, you don’t actually have a branding.
Belle Lifestyle Homes - Started out with a very feminine branding. Even though Women are the main demographic for influencing the property market, the home they were building were more sophisticated and minimalist. The branding didn’t match this move. We updated the branding to be more minimalist and more structured to represent their buildings.
What are the benefits or a rebrand:
Attracting the right customers = more sales
Faster lead conversion because you look trustworthy and up to date
Greater staff morale
Feel and look more professional in sales meetings/negotiations and pitches
Communicates that you are willing to invest in your business
Clear messaging that is easy to understand = more sales
“Such a massive thank you to the beautiful team at Saffron & Co. I have had the privilege or working with them to redo my logo and my website. I am just in aww of what they have created for me. Their attention to detail and communication greatly appreciated. They exceeded every one of my expectations. So if you are looking at starting from the ground up, or refreshing your image the ladies here are specular. Thank you so much again. I am so beyond grateful.”
If you can relate to any of these tips and feel ready for an update or complete new rebrand. Contact me to chat about your business.
*Mention Bucket List and receive a complimentary audit on your current branding.
Saffron Meade -
Brand Strategist
Saffron & Co. Creative
Bucket List Tax Tips for 2022
The end of the tax year is approaching and we are all look at ways of saving tax. This year I want us to take a slightly different approach to tax savings. This year I don’t want you to think of it as paying tax.
This year I want you to think of it as the Government helping you to pay for items on your Bucket List. Imagine how cool it will be to think that the ATO has helped you pay for your skiing holiday in Japan, or your new boat.
Keep reading for my top 5 tax tips for 2022.
It is that time of year again.
The end of the tax year is approaching and we are all look at ways of saving tax. This year I want us to take a slightly different approach to tax savings. This year I don’t want you to think of it as paying tax.
This year I want you to think of it as the Government helping you to pay for items on your Bucket List. Imagine how cool it will be to think that the ATO has helped you pay for your skiing holiday in Japan, or your new boat.
Keep reading for my top 5 tax tips for 2022.
Imagine skiing in Japan with your tax savings…
1. Superannuation
Superannuation has always been a great way of saving tax. The amount of taxable contributions that can be made to superannuation is $27,500. At the tax rate of 34.5% that is a personal tax saving of $9,487.50. But it can get better. If your superannuation balance is less than $500,000, you are able to bring forward any unused superannuation amounts from the previous three years. This amount could be anywhere between $0.00 and $25,000 for each of the last three years. This strategy relies on strong cashflow but can be a fantastic tax saving strategy. This is the first amount of saved tax that can be put towards your bucket list.
2. Purchase that Equipment you Need
Is there some new equipment that you need for your business? New computers for the office? A new tractor for the farm? A new dishwasher for your restaurant? Thanks to the Governments generous initiatives, any equipment purchased for use in your business is 100% tax deductible. In the past, this equipment could only be depreciated in the first year at 15%. So this means that $10,000 of new computers for the office would save you $3,450 in tax (assuming a 32.5% tax plus Medicare rate). A new tractor for the farm that cost $100,000 to purchase could save you $34,500 in tax or more. If you need new equipment for your business, don’t wait until after June. Get it now to get the immediate deduction in tax. That pool of tax savings for your bucket list is beginning to build up now.
3. Prepayments
This is where paying attention to your cash flow starts to pay off. If you have the money and you want to save tax, there are a bunch of things you can prepay and purchase to bring forward into the current tax year to claim deductions. The following are the types of expenses you can prepay to get an immediate deduction.
· Employees Superannuation
· Rent
· Accounting Fees (and I’m not just saying that so I get paid quicker)
· Interest on deductible loans
· Business Insurance
· Marketing costs such as a brand refresh or new website
Be rewarded for paying your bills ahead of time
4. Review your Debtors
Most businesses have a level of money that is owed to them by their customers. At certain times these customers go “bad” and wont pay the money that they owe you. This means that you could potentially pay tax on money that you wont receive, unless you write this amount off as a bad debt. This is frustrating and infuriating I know as you have done the work but may not get paid for it. So
then the last thing you want to do is pay tax on it. If there are amounts you don’t expect to receive, then write them off. Otherwise, you not only miss out on the money you earned, you lost the tax you paid as well.
5. Review your Stock Levels
For those businesses that carry stock to sell it is a great time of year to review your stock. If you have been holding some stock for a while that is no longer worth what you paid for it, then you are able to record it for tax purposes at the lower value. If you have stock that you paid $10,000 for but could now only be sold for $5,000 then you can reduce your stock value, and your profit by the $5,000. This write down will potentially save the business owner $1,725 (assuming the tax rate of 32.5% plus Medicare)
Write down your old stock and save on your tax
So there you have it. My 5 top tips to save tax and contribute to your bucket list “slush fund”. Knowing that your tax savings will be going to helping you tick things off your bucket list will drive you to maximise your tax savings.
If you would like more on how you could save tax, why not get a copy of my book "Save Tax – Without Doing Anything Dodgy, Unethical or Against the Law".
David Patterson - Director The Bucket list Accountant
The ULTIMATE Business Plan…
How to 10x the chance for a successful business plan…
If you have been in business for any period of time, you would have seen or heard an accountant or consultant say “You need to have a business plan! Your business will not grow without a business plan.” Sound familiar? And at some stage in our business journey we have probably succumbed and engaged a consultant to help us write our Business Plan. The big question is what did you do with it once it was written? My guess it either went into a desk drawer, never to be looked at again, or it went into the “round filing cabinet!” Am I right?
Instead of just thinking about your business goals - think your business goals and personal goals together…
How to 10x the chance for a successful business plan…
If you have been in business for any period of time, you would have seen or heard an accountant or consultant say “You need to have a business plan! Your business will not grow without a business plan.” Sound familiar? And at some stage in our business journey we have probably succumbed and engaged a consultant to help us write our Business Plan. The big question is what did you do with it once it was written? My guess it either went into a desk drawer, never to be looked at again, or it went into the “round filing cabinet!” Am I right?
A business plan with punch
In my opinion a business plan is never implemented because it focuses solely on the business, and completely ignores any personal ambitions. It is a 1 – 5 year plan on where you want the business to be and how you are going to get there. It is numbers, ratios, conversions, blah, blah, blah. It is a boring document with no emotion behind it. But here is the thing, it doesn’t have to be a boring document. It could be a document that you review constantly, full of emotion and purpose.
Add in your Bucket List:
· What are the things that get you excited?
· What are the things that you want to achieve in life?
· All the big things and all the small things, what are they?
Do you want to climb Mount Everest?
Do you want to go to Machu Pichu?
Do you want to learn to play the guitar?
Whatever they are, these bucket list items are what needs to be integrated into your business plan. It is these items that start to give the numbers meaning. You are trying to increase sales so you and your family can go on overseas holidays. You are trying to increase gross profit so you can purchase that dream fishing boat. You are trying to improve your cash flow so you can start making regular contributions to your favourite charity. You want the business to become less reliant on you so you only need to work 4 days a week so you can spend more time with your family.
Tell me what sounds better and more interesting? I want to increase my sales by 30% in the next twelve months. I want to increase my sales by 30% so I can take my family skiing in Austria. I could be crazy, but the second sentence sounds way more exciting to me.
The Bucket List Business Plan
And so it begins. I believe the most important aspect of a business plan is to first work out what is on your bucket list. And don’t be shy with this. Put some big outlandish dreams on there. Once you have worked this part out we can then focus on your business. Where does your business sit today and how well is it place to allow you to tick things off your bucket list. Then we can start working on where the business needs to improve and strategies on how to improve it. And always the focus will be on “Will these strategies improve the business and allow me to tick things off my bucket list?”
The bucket list business plan, by combining personal with business, will give you the greatest chance of success. The bucket list business plan will stay out of the drawer and the “round filing cabinet” and up on the wall where it is visible every day.
Or do you need help with your business plan/bucket list? Review of your business? Planning for your future?
David Patterson - Director The Bucket list Accountant
YOUR BUCKET LIST
What is a Bucket List?
A bucket-list is a list of all the things that you want to do before you die. They are big things (round the world trip) and they are little things (Run 6km in a week). We all have this list it is just that most of us don’t write them down. Why not? Could be that you would be embarrassed that you list was not good enough for other people. You could think it is silly to write these things down and that you will be judged by others. You could feel the things on your list are not exciting enough. Forget all of this!! Your bucket-list is for you and you alone. It doesn’t matter what other people think, it is what you think of the list that counts. You are not living your life for others, you are living it for you.
I have been married to my wife for nearly 25 years. Twelve months ago we were sitting watching television when a story came on about whale watching in Hawaii. Tammy, my wife just casually said “That is definitely on my bucket list.” It was fairly casual but it made me realise that I didn’t know the things she wanted to do in life, and similarly she was unaware of what I wanted to do. It was at that point that we decided to write down and share everything that was on our bucket lists.
It is hard to deny the power of writing things down into lists. There has been lots of studies done on the benefits. Lists allow you to remember things a lot easier, but more importantly it starts to make real the things that are in your head. It also allows you to see what other people want to do in their lives. Never is it more important than for your bucket list. Below is the method we used to write our bucket lists.
What is a Bucket List?
A bucket-list is a list of all the things that you want to do before you die. They are big things (round the world trip) and they are little things (Run 6km in a week). We all have this list it is just that most of us don’t write them down. Why not? Could be that you would be embarrassed that you list was not good enough for other people. You could think it is silly to write these things down and that you will be judged by others. You could feel the things on your list are not exciting enough. Forget all of this!! Your bucket-list is for you and you alone. It doesn’t matter what other people think, it is what you think of the list that counts. You are not living your life for others, you are living it for you.
So how did we do it? It is a simple question, but how do you write your bucket list? First time we tried, we starred at a blank piece of paper for ages. Our biggest problem was that we were trying to list them in order, which stifled our creativity.
How to Write Your Bucket List
We started with a blank piece of paper and each did a massive brain dump. You should give yourself some time to do this (and maybe a glass of wine). Every thought that comes into your head, write it down on the piece of paper. Doesn’t matter how big or how small, just get it down on paper. There is no idea too silly not to be written down. It can always be refined later. Let your mind go – think of all the countries you would like to visit, all the challenges you would like to overcome and all the cool things you would like to do in life. Write them down. Once you have them all down on paper, take a break (even if it is only to refill your glass with wine!!)
Get Specific
Once you have completed your brain dump, go back over the list and get more specific. When I did my first brain dump of my most recent list I had as an example – “Travel Overseas” and “Run 100km in a month”. These became – “Travel to Africa”, “Travel to South America”, “Travel to Japan” and “Run 100km in March 2021” (which I completed). The more specific you make your list, the more real that they become.
Break your List into Categories
Once the above was completed for us, we then decided to break down our lists into categories. We found this made it easier to visualise the things that we had written down on our lists. The categories that we chose were as follows
· Travel – Eg Travel to Africa
· Learn – Eg Learn to play guitar
· Indulge – Eg Buy a fishing boat
· Challenge – Eg Take a parachute jump
· Charity – Eg Donate $1M to charity
I have put the examples in from my bucket list to help in deciding what goes into which category. If they overlap, don’t worry. Just put them into whichever category you think fits best.
And there you have it. Your very first bucket list of things to do before you die. Congratulations.
The final piece of advice that I can give you is that this list is not for when you retire. This list is for now. I have seen too many people leave it too late to do the things they want to do in life. Life is for living now, not once you retire.
Put your bucket list up where you can see it every day. Start ticking things off your list today, not tomorrow.
Do it today! Now get out there and start to tick them off.
Here is some inspiration for your bucket list -
Or do you need help with your bucket list? Review of your business? Planning for your future?
David Patterson - Director The Bucket list Accountant