You Need Belts and Braces When You Stop Eating Pies

If you want your business to be lean and mean make sure it’s pants don’t fall down.  You have probably heard the old saying that you should cut fat not muscle when you reduce costs but often cutting things can bring unintended consequences. When you set up simpler processes you need to consider reliability. What […]

How To Cross The Business Desert

A shout out to our mates on the other side of this desert country. Hopefully we get to see you all soon. I first heard the term business desert used by Dent Global. It’s a great way to think about what you might have to endure if you want to your business to grow really […]

Your Business Shell Should Grow With You

When your business is just starting out it can grow fast in different ways. If you are used to working for a company some things might catch you out. There are some great books about this, including The E-Myth, but there are also: Some simple steps you can take to reduce your growing pains Employ staff […]

Bakers and Candlestick Makers Are All Niche These Days

There is a vegan butcher in Newtown Sydney. I love that. For a while now retail has been splitting between cheap bulk chain stores and small niche stores that provide better quality goods and service. Trying to be small and cheap is asking for trouble. B2B has been going through the same changes but it […]

Where Does The Money Go?

Cash comes and goes without much of it going to you. Sound familiar? Most businesses focus on profit, as well they should, but what happens to your profit is just as important. It’s true that when businesses grow you have to fund working capital, basically the debtors, but there can be other reasons. Do you […]

3 Reasons Why HR Should Manage Payroll

A while ago I wrote about how employee utilisation is an HR problem not an accounts problem and it got me thinking about HR and accounts in general. For a lot of businesses anything with numbers gets sent to accounts, in a lot of SME’s it’s broader then that, basically anything that’s not a sales inquiry […]

Don’t Wear Shorts – Study Hard at School – Get A Good Job

The golden years for employees and thier families was after WW2. Most workers in the developed world earned enough to raise a family, buy a house, a car, maybe a boat, and to take the family on holidays once a year. For most couples, only one partner had to work. It’s no wonder they told […]

Don’t cut out the middle man

People are told to “cut out the middle man” like its a good thing, but specialisation is what allowed us to stop being subsistence farmers. Someone got good at sharpening tools… etc. Specialised knowledge is the best way be genuinely useful in the world. This started out as a cute joke about our new business, […]

How many lead guitarists does it take to change a lightbulb?

  ….. One, but I could have done it better”.   Most accountants think they are good at management reports, and that’s cool, I just wanted to share what I’ve learned about good management reports over the years. Thank you for indulging me.   Good management reports should: 1) bring clarity to the nature and […]

Everyone Blames The Boss

You have a million important things to do, and keep getting interrupted, it’s almost lunchtime already, and then an employee wants to whinge about something so minor you feel like screaming. We have all been there, both sides if we’re honest. Could your managers and systems better motivate people, to align them (polite word for […]