Don’t be the riches to rags business story

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For all the business planning Australia needs!

Moving on from a death in the immediate family is very difficult.  Grief is hard enough to deal with, but poverty is even harder. 

It is very easy for a grieving family to be suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into poverty upon the death of the family breadwinner.  That applies to business owners too.

The death of a business owner can have precisely those consequences.  It can spell the death of the business and introduce a lifetime of hardship for the family left behind.

“She won’t be right mate!” if you, the former breadwinner, find yourself having a heart attack and you suddenly become a ghost. 

The spouse and kids are not going to be too impressed that they still have to repay the loan you mortgaged the house for; especially when they have no income.

Oh you think the business will still provide for them?  That was then … when you were alive and well, working your magic.  The reality when you are dead is much different. 

The financial reality is even worse if you don’t die and find yourself still alive, battling a critical illness or insidious disease and totally dependent on your family. 

Now they have to look after you and earn income as well!

Your life can turn to emotional and financial turmoil in an instant.  You can go from breadwinner to heavy financial baggage in one unfortunate health event!

So don’t be selfish!  Change the future for your business family while you still can! 

Build succession and estate planning into your business planning.  Australia does have a death tax.  It is now called capital gains tax.

Until next time!

Gary

For all your business planning in australia call Gary direct on 0408 756 531

Great article here 10 tips for the girst time business owner

Don’t let your business die with you

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Gary Weigh

Despite your best intentions, your business could die with you.  The asset you worked all your life to build for yourself and your family; your jewel in the family crown and your ultimate retirement asset, could be dashed against the rocks when you die.

Business succession is not a matter of whispering your deathbed instructions to your first born eldest child.  If you believe that, you watch too many Godfather movies.

Here is a brief outline of reality for the future of your business if you die whilst still the owner or a part owner.

  • Firstly, the beneficiary who inherits your business could be lacking any relevant knowledge and experience and could be the worst thing that ever happened to your business besides losing you.
  • Secondly, the beneficiary you choose in your Will might be happy doing other things and not the least bit interested in your business (despite what they say to your face).
  • Thirdly, any co-owners who survive you in the business are not going to be too pleased about suddenly being in business with a perfect stranger.  It was never their expectation that you would be replaced involuntarily by your spouse, friend or family member, who could turn out to be disinterested, lazy and / or inept (and yet still draw an income).
  • Lastly, and depending on the timing of your demise, the beneficiary you choose may inherit more debts than assets from you.  Your bank won’t care if you’re dead; they will still want their loans repaid; and upon your death, they will very likely want them repaid in full immediately.

Having no succession plan even for a simple business structure, is just plain dumb!

It is a much smarter decision to pre-arrange the passing on of your business and the repayment of any outstanding business debts in advance, while you are alive and well.

That way, your business goes to a good home at the right price without being a burden on spouse, friends or family.  Your family is looked after because they receive fair value upon your death from a pre-arranged sale.

For more reading about business planning Australia, read The First Rule of planning

Until next time!

Gary

Check out my other very popular site Aikido secrets to Calm Success

Business planning Australia – who gets your business when you die

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Gary Weigh

At Gary Weigh & Associates, we are business planning Australia!   That includes the all important and often forgotten issue of succession.  The answer to succession is not simple but the more you plan the simpler it will be.

If you own your business personally as a sole trader, it can be left to a beneficiary of your choice in your Will.  If you are a partner in a partnership with no partnership agreement, the partnership is automatically dissolved and your share can also be passed to your Estate via your Will.

If your business trades as a company, you are not the owner of the business assets and liabilities; your company is.  So you can’t leave the business directly to a beneficiary via your Will.  However, as owner of the company, your shares in the company are personally owned and can therefore the company (and everything in it) can be left to a beneficiary of your choice in your Will.

Your ownership interest in a fixed trust can also be passed to your Estate via your Will, in much the same way as a company, but the succession of a discretionary trust can’t.  It must be dealt with in the trust deed.

So the succession of most simple business structures looks very straight forward, doesn’t it?  However, it is not straight forward and here’s why!

The problem lies not so much in the passing of your business but in the receiving!  The critical issue is who will receive ownership via your Will when you die.   Not everyone is a willing or competent beneficiary.

Despite what they might have said to your face, spouse, friends and family may not want to follow in your footsteps, or may be incapable.  It is for this reason that a business often dies with its owner.

I will let you in on a secret to an alternative and much smarter business succession strategy.  This will be coming up over the next 2 installments of business planning Australia.

For more on business planning Australia read A challenge is looming for financial advisers

Until next time!

Gary

Learn The importance of a calm positive mind in business.  Visit my very popular Aikido Secrets website!!

IP cameras focus on better customer understanding

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Business management tips

Understanding your customer is paramount and technology is beginning to play a bigger part in this throughout the retail sector.  For business owners looking for business management tips to improve customer targeting skills, and the bolster the bottom line, it is worth taking a look at the uses of IP cameras.

An IP (Internet Protocol) camera is not just a camera.  It is also a computer processor and web server. This combination of technologies makes it possible to record images, compress them and transmit them in IP network or to the Internet.

Each camera has its own IP address and is connected directly to LAN (Local Area Network) or Internet.  Each camera can work completely independently.

The predominant use of IP cameras to date has been that of surveillance and security.  However, they can also be used in retail environments to monitor selected products or aisles and records shopper behavior.

This information can be used to identify barriers to sale or missed sales opportunities for both retailers and product manufacturers.

IP cameras can assist can be used to monitor shopping routes, the amount of time shoppers spend in shopping precincts, in front of specific products, or particular shop aisles.

They can also be used to assess the direction in which a store is walked through, most and least frequented areas, how people browse shelves or how they queue at checkouts.

This ‘tracking’ and ‘dwelling’ information can be displayed to store managers in the form of digital maps.  These help store owners to increase their understanding of the way customers behave and think.

For more business management tips read The mobile phone website revolution is just beginning

Until next time!

Gary

Bad news spreads faster

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Business Management Tips

Reports of bad service can be aired and multiplied rapidly across social media; and it has the potential to ruin Australian businesses in a short space of time. 

Whether Australian consumers are justified in their complaint or not, the communication power they now hold in airing their opinions can be devastating. 

An American Express dining study found that on average, people are 50% more likely to complain to others, than complain directly to the dining establishment. The study highlighted the popularity of social media as an outlet to air grievances.

An American Express global customer service barometer survey also found that Australians voice their frustrations more often and to more people than most other countries surveyed. 

On average, a disgruntled Australian customer will tell an average of 23 people about bad service compared to an average of 10 they will tell about good service.

It is interesting to note that Australian consumers also tend to avoid direct confrontation with a provider of poor service, but they are not slow in telling everyone else.

This business management tip should spell a warning to business to take good care of their customers.  The responsibility for customer care applies across the entire business, not just to front line sales people.  It also implemented through relationship management, service standards, terms of trade, returns policies and warranty policies.

Until next time!

Gary 

For more business management tips Australia, visit http://garyweigh.com/financial-management-the-key-to-home-and-business-success.html

The mobile website revolution is just beginning

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For the best business building tips Brisbane 0408 756 531

Before the iPhone´s launch, browsing the Internet from a mobile phone was more of a chore than a convenience.  That is not the case any longer.  The iPhone has changed the way mobile phones are being used to access the Internet.

With the iPhone’s large, multi-touch screen, mobile internet browsing is rapidly becoming a viable alternative to computer monitor-based browsing.

In addition to a website that displays optimally on large LCD monitors, the internet component of your business will now require and a different website that displays optimally on a mobile phone screen.  The idea is to design each to suit the medium on which it is being viewed.

Although each website design will need a different approach, the goal is still the same – to drive visitor action, whether that is to make a phone call, submit a form, or buy a product.

Consumers are changing the way they make purchasing decisions.  They are already using geo-location facilities to find their nearest shop and using apps to compare prices, find local discounts and check inventories.  It is often faster to scan a barcode or check a mobile website for product information than to ask a store assistant.

This rapid change in consumer buying behaviour means huge opportunities for tech savvy retailers and internet marketers.

More business building tips Brisbane next time!

Gary

gary@garyweigh.com

Diversify and lower your risk

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Business consultancy Australia call Gary on 0408 756 531

Gary Weigh

At our Australian business consultancy, there is no need to take enormous risk to get a good consistent return on your investment.  There are many options.  Investing your time and money into your own business which produces a profit is one way to earn a return on your investment. 

Another option is to head for a more passive investment where you are not so ‘hands-on’ involved.  For example you can invest in shares and earn a dividend.  The regular dividends would be the return on your investment. 

It all depends on how you perceive risk!  If the share market is too volatile for you, putting your money into term deposit (for example) is another more conservative way to earn a return on your investment.

So which way should you go?  This all depends on you.  Spreading your risk by not having all your eggs in one basket is a smart thing to do.  However, you should be careful not to spread yourself too far.  You should also stick with what you know or, if you don’t know …. Start learning!

You should seek professional guidance.  There is no substitute for knowledge and understanding.

For more reading from our business consultancy Australia archive visit http://garyweigh.com/what-exactly-is-financial-control.html

Until next time!

Gary

Source of income – grow more than one!

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It is crucial in managing start up business that once you have established your independent source of business income, you don’t take it for granted.  It needs constant care and attention to maintain and grow it.

Regular income is the foundation of family wealth building.  That is why positive cash flow is critically important.  Negative cash flow means negative wealth because you have to dip into your saving or credit card to make ends meet.

So don’t stop at one!  It helps to have more than one source of income.  It also helps a lot to have at least one source of income that doesn’t rely totally on your personal exertion to earn. 

In other words, strive towards establishing a source of “money while you sleep”.  That way, you can take a holiday or afford time out of your business if you are sick or have an accident.

For more reading on managing start up business go to http://garyweigh.com/business-building-%e2%80%93-make-your-own-luck.html

Until next time

Gary

Managing start up business – an independent source of income

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Focus on customers!

The focus of managing start up business should be to develop an independent source of income.  By doing so, it means that you have, or are in the process of removing yourself from the realm of ‘employee dependence’. 

Instead of depending on one source of income in the form of your employer, you are diversifying your income earning opportunities across a growing customer base.  The idea is that no one customer should be totally responsible for your income.

It is dangerous to put all your eggs into one basket.  Being an employee, there is no such thing as job security.   Although it may not appear to be so at first, there is much more job security by being a business owner and being in control of who contributes to your income.

If an employer withdraws his or her income you are basically out of a job.  However, if a customer withdraws income in the form of choosing to shop elsewhere, you should still have plenty more customers left to contribute to your income.  You can also add more at any time.

For more reading on managing start up business go to http://garyweigh.com/how-much-do-you-enjoy-work.html

Until next time

Gary

Connect to the most powerful human emotions

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Business building Australia

If you are building business in Australia and want to sell your product or service, think how it relates to the most powerful of basic human emotions. 

Yes you must be solving a problem and / or adding value; but let’s assume that your product already does that.  It is still not enough.  You need to burrow deep into the human psyche.

You have to link your offering to our most powerful feelings about the self.  When all is said and done, self interest is the greatest single overarching motivator that drives every one of us.  It is a primal need we were all born with.

Many successful businesses appeal to the emotion of frustration because that can turn to stronger feelings of anger and hatred.  Of course, the main source of human frustration is our failure to realise our full potential. 

In terms of buying decisions, self dissatisfaction and self loathing are the super highways to the powerful vanity emotion that lead us to make any one of a wide range of purchases in the hope it will make us do better, look better or feel better. 

This powerful primal need to serve the self opens up a whole host of selling opportunities, including:   

  1. Beauty
  2. Career
  3. Education
  4. Health
  5. Lifestyle
  6. Longevity
  7. Pastime
  8. Relationship
  9. Reproductive
  10. Sexual
  11. Slimness
  12. Sport
  13. Survival
  14. Travel
  15. Wealth

This is nothing new under the sun here!  However, it does serve to remind us that you might have the best product in the world but if people can’t find an emotional reason to buy it, then you will have no sales.

#1 in Business building Australia

Call Gary now on 0408 756 531 or email gary@garyweigh.com