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Business planning Australia – a challenge is looming for financial advisers!

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Business planning Australia 

Call Gary direct on 0408 756 531

A lot of self employed financial planners are going to have their world turned upside down next year when ongoing commissions will cease as a way of paying for financial advice.

Many financial advisers will have to change the way that they charge for their services.  But that is only the start of it.  The knock-on effects of this change are much more far reaching in terms of business survival.  In financial services business planning Australia will lead the way.

There are many advisers whose entire monthly income is made up of investment and insurance commissions relating to business written in the past.   They will be shaken up the most.  A lack of business planning and management skills will see a lot of advisers leave the industry.

Although it is irrelevant now, some clients love the commission based income system and others hate it.  The problem with this model of pricing financial advice is that it doesn’t relate to the present.  It relates to past business written.   

From the adviser’s point of view, that’s not such a bad thing because it is always a desirable business goal to establish recurring income streams.  In other words, it allows income earning while you sleep.

From the client’s point of view however, one of the disadvantages is that there is no incentive to provide service today.  The adviser only has to do enough so that the client doesn’t change his or her servicing adviser.  So in many cases, a minimum service is provided and the adviser gets paid, no matter what.

With the upcoming change, every adviser will have to provide maximum service (not minimum service) to compete.   It is often said that the price of financial advice will skyrocket as a result of this change, but I don’t think so.  It is more likely that competition will keep fees at a reasonable level.

The changes required to each and every financial adviser’s business will go much further than a mere switch to charging fees.   It will involve a complete restructure of their businesses.  To many, it will feel like starting all over again.

Those who commence business planning now will be well placed when the change comes into effect on 1 July 2012.

#1 Business planning Australia

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

YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

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You have come to a crossroad! 

It's time to act!

FOR BUSINESS PLANNING AUSTRALIA CALL GARY DIRECT 0408 756 531

You are sick of being someone else’s lackey and pursuing someone else’s dream.

You wish for change in your life!

It seems that everyone around you has more money, a bigger house, a nicer car and a better relationship.

Your job sucks!

You are tired of the daily commute and the weekly drudgery of work.  You only do it to pay the bills, but there is never enough time for yourself. 

You feel like you are on a treadmill and that you will never get ahead in life!

The boss expects perfection 24/7 but is far from perfect himself!  You bust your hump with honest, loyal service.  But you know it means nothing on corporate judgment day!

You want another shot at life!

This time you know what you want.  You see what others have!   A good life!

The desire for change has been growing inside.  You are frustrated and dissatisfied!

You know you can do better and you know deep down you can make it!

You just need a chance to realise your potential!

If dummies can do it, then you can do it in half the time!

Why? Because you have stood by and watched so many dummies around you become wealthy, buy nice things and have a lifestyle of pleasure!

So why is it difficult to change?

Because you are comfortable in your routine!  You hate it but it is a comfort zone.  You know that your daily routine of long hours, stress on the road, stress in the office, little leisure time, is all to build someone else’s dream, but you can’t quite crack the inertia.

You are a little fearful that if you go out on a limb, the branch will break and you will fall.  You fear something will go wrong and you will be worse off!

Relax!  You need someone to watch over you!

I have done it and it’s not that hard.  All it takes is self belief and a can-do attitude.

If you take a little time to plan, the risk is quite low. 

Let me assure you that your fear and self doubt is all in your head.

Do something for yourself! 

Write to me (gary@garyweigh.com) and tell me the following!

  • 3 things you most hate about your life

  • Your 3 greatest passions

  • The barriers you believe are stopping you from moving up in life

EMAIL NOW gary@garyweigh.com

I will respond to every email personally.  I will show you how to take your first business planning steps towards financial independence!

Business planning – Think before you leap!

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Gary Weigh

FOR BUSINESS PLANNING AUSTRALIA CALL GARY ON 0408 756 531

If you are business planning a great idea that you think will make you money; or if you simply want to turn your passion or vocation into a business, stop and think before you leap.

The world is a constantly changing place and there are a few boxes to tick when you are planning a new business venture.  Here are 9 business planning must-haves to think about:

ONLINE!

No business will be able to survive in the future without an interactive online presence.

WOW FACTOR!

People (not computers) are gifted with creativity and insight; be an innovator not a ‘me-too’

GLOBAL!

The world market is only a click away, and so are the related international challenges to address.

INSTANT!

Time is the consumer’s scarcest resource, making convenience always in high demand.  Consumers won’t wait for you or abide by your inflexible structure.  They want products and services now.  Baby boomers were taught to wait but even they are changing their attitudes.

FREE!

The internet business community is developing as a “cheap or free” economy.  So you will have to be innovative in the way you generate revenue.

COLLABORATION!

New concepts are evolved by combining ideas; by building upon what’s gone before.  Similarly, concepts are implemented by sharing resources (i.e. human, intellectual and technological capital).

SOCIAL!

Instant communication, online social networking, information sharing and fan-base dynamics will play an ever increasing role in making and breaking businesses.

DIFFERENCES!

Businesses survive and grow on their differences, not their sameness.  Also look past your operating difference and your bottom line to making a social difference and an environmental difference.

CONNECTIVITY!

You are not a disconnected being; you are a descendant of about 300,000 years of human life, and a couple of billion years of evolving life form before that.  You are the latest product of the environment and the universe.  So make the most of your shelf life; be open to making positive connections with everything and everyone around you.  Don’t resist and do your best not to get in the way of natural connectivity.

For more on business planning in australia, check out First Rule of Planning at http://garyweigh.com/the-first-rule-of-planning.html

Until next time!

Gary

Don’t put your family at risk.  Your business is your future; your retirement; your jewel in the crown.  Protect it!

Learn how to build a powerful presence.  Visit my Aikido Secrets blog site

Your 1-page action plan

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Business planning in Australia should be a straight forward and practical exercise.  Although you need to aware of many potential traps, there is no reason why you can’t write down the heart and soul of your business plan on one sheet of paper.

Preparing a business plan is basically deciding ‘what’ you are going to do and ‘how’ you are going to do it.

One of the main problems with business planning is that new starters follow other people’s templates.  They focus on rigidly following the format of the template.  This means filling in text and diagram boxes.  There is no light and shade and no emphasis on the critical stuff.

Instead of producing a 300-page document that is so detailed that you’ll never read it, distil the important parts down onto a 1-page action plan.

The important stuff is this:

  1. The ‘what’ – your main goals
  2. The ‘how’ – your main strategy
  3. The ‘payoff’ – the all important results

Now let’s look at each in a little more detail.

1. Start with your main goals

The most important feature of your plan is your goal setting.  Although dreaming up a few goals sounds easy, this is the part of business planning that most people struggle with.

I will show you in my next post how to go about setting goals.  In the end, regardless of what others say, your goals are yours.  You must live your truth in business and your goals must reflect that.

2. Be clear on your main strategy

In order to be clear on the ‘how’ of achieving your desired results you must have a good understanding of your customers and their demand.  For example, why will they buy?  What problem are you solving?  Why buy from you instead of any one of fifty other look-a-likes?

Make sure this ‘how’ part of your plan is ALL ACTION.  Any procrastination in executing strategy is deadly.  I recommend that you decide this!  “Out of all the actions I could be doing, which ones will give the highest payoff (i.e. better results sooner)?”  Do those actions!

Business cards, brochures and static websites are tools, not strategies and in isolation, won’t work.  Customers won’t go out of their way to seek you out.  You must act to go find them, and to put your message in front of them, clearly and simply.

3. Finish with the pay-off

The pay-off is what keeps you in business!  So it is important to monitor it.

You must have a measurement system to know if the pay-off is actually achieving your goals within your desired time frame.  However, what you specifically track and measure depends entirely on the type of business you have.

Some people track calls and sales appointments; others track weekly sales and gross profit.  Some people track units produced and fault rates; others track online click rates.  Many old-timers still track cash at bank – the only figure that they trust.

Your one-page action plan

The beauty of a one-page action plan is that you can carry a copy with you, pin a copy on the wall in front of your desk, circulate it easily to employees and outsourcers or fax a copy with your monthly results to your business banking consultant.

Until next time!

Gary

Go on your 2011 mini retreat

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For many industries, early January is a very quiet time.  Customers and suppliers are on annual holidays.  The kids are home from school.

So if you are not busy in January, consider making use of this down-time.  Give some serious thought to getting your self away for a while on your 2011 mini-retreat.

An hour, a day, overnight – it doesn’t matter.  Find some quiet YOU time!

The main aim is to get some privacy, feel relaxed and tap into your creativity.  Ideally, you will also want to return feeling invigorated and ready for a good year.

There are many choices of where to go and what to do.  Get creative but here are seven (7) ideas to help you:

  1. Overnight in a city hotel
  2. Overnight in a country B&B
  3. Go on a picnic
  4. Have a quiet restaurant lunch
  5. A few drinks in a quiet corner of a pub
  6. Sit on a beach
  7. Sit in a park or on a local mountain top

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you take a pen and paper with you to record your thoughts and ideas.

Whatever your budget and your choice of experience, decide in advance what it is you want to review, and what is it you want to do.

Apart from the financial investment, the biggest investment here is your time.  The real problem is tearing your self away from your business.

The other important choice is who to take with you.  The answer is whoever helps you get the job done.  Whether you want to retreat alone, with a friend, a colleague or a group is entirely your decision.

Your choice will depend on your budget, your business circumstances and perhaps child minding options.  Whatever you decide, there will be advantages and disadvantages.

Just be sure that whoever you take with you is ‘like-minded’.  If the others just want to have a party, then the retreat will not achieve your goals – unless of course your goal is simply to let off steam.

Business planning in Australia?  Happy retreating!

Until next time

Gary

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http://www.griffithaikido.com.au