Quill is a financial services business with a team of passionate professionals who are committed to working with family businesses, working families and retired families.
You probably have heard a lot in the press lately about Australia’s Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with China, Japan and South Korea but find yourself wondering how you can leverage them to benefit your business.
You need to familiarise yourself with the FTA Portal.
Many Small to Medium Enterprises (SME’s) are looking to export but are uncertain about how to go about it and whether they are price competitive.
The FTA Portal provides free and accurate information on tariffs and trade data so SMEs can easily assess if and how they can take advantage of the competitive benefits offered by the FTAs.
Covering a wide range of industries, the FTA Portal displays the right information for the right product through a quick and easy search.
To complement the growth potential for businesses presented by the FTAs, SMEs can now also access fast, online capital loans to fund exports.
The Small Business Export Loan will allow SMEs with an annual turnover of up to $5 million to apply for small working loans, with successful applications to be approved and processed within seven business days.
So if you’ve identified an opportunity for growth in your business through exports but are unable to provide the tangible security required by many of the banks, the Small Business Export Loan will make it easier for you to access finance and compete on a world stage.
The loans are available through EFIC, Australia’s export credit agency.
You can find more information at their website http://www.efic.gov.au/
Have you ever woken up and thought – Ugh, I don’t want to go to work today? Work can be less than pleasant at times, however there are many benefits to having a positive attitude at the office.
Your attitude is a form of expression of yourself. You can choose to be happy, positive and optimistic, or you can choose to be pessimistic and critical, with a negative outlook on your workday. A positive attitude helps you cope better under stressful situations at work.
Workplace attitudes have an effect on every person in the organisation, from the employees to the clients and even the company owner. Attitudes help to develop the prevailing workplace environment that determines employee morale, productivity and team building abilities.
A negative attitude in the workplace creates an atmosphere of distrust among employees and causes employees to attempt to achieve success at the expense of each other. On the other hand, in a workplace with a positive attitude, competition is seen as a motivator that inspires employees to perform at their best to improve productivity, and encourages creativity so they feel that their ideas will contribute to the success of the organisation.
There are many advantages of a positive attitude at work, and some of the advantages and benefits are:
If you want outstanding results, you need good people with great talent and awesome attitudes. When attitudes go up, so does the potential of the team. When attitudes go down, the potential of the team goes with it.
So when you hit that brick wall whilst trying to maintain a positive attitude, remember you are the one with the power. You can decide to live a positive life, see the good in any situation, and work to resolve conflict in a reasonable and stress-free way. So don’t sweat the small stuff. Remember to keep your chin up, smile as much as you can, and remind yourself that life is only as good as you make it.
As we continue to expand the use of online services, we must make sure that we keep data security in the forefront of our mind. Whether you log on to your online banking on a communal computer or are the target of a phishing scam, opportunistic criminals are always trying to access your sensitive information.
With the cloud seemingly taking over our data storage in so many areas, we especially need to keep up to date with ways of keeping our data our own.
Xero has recently given its users the opportunity to improve the protection of their financial data, by offering a two-step authentication process when logging on to your account. This is an opt-in service requiring users to enter their original username and password as well as a randomly generated six-digit code to log in.
The team at Xero have created a video, which shows how easy it is to set up.
https://www.xero.com/nz/tv/video/11350-two-step-authentication-for-xero/
By using this feature you will also be able to view your recent login history, which shows the location and time of your past logins. This will mean you can determine if there are any suspicious logins into your account. If you see any unusual activity you can contact support directly from this screen.
We suggest you use this if you are using mobile devices which could easily be left behind, or if you are logging into various computers from time to time.
You do have the option to “Remember me for 30 days” on the machine or browser you usually log onto which means you only need to enter the authentication every 30 days. If you can’t use the app you can answer a series of security questions also.
Many other applications offer two-step authentication and include but are not limited to:
Two-step authentication is the future. With all of our data and personal information being stored online, it is necessary and wise to have some sort of protection in place.
Like many concepts “Client Service” seems to be in the eye of the beholder. It is an art not just for the business owner but every person in it. It means not reading from a script but rather reading the client, knowing when to pay attention and when to give space.
In my 16 years in administration over a range of industries, I have discovered that delivering outstanding client service means to create a memorable and extraordinary experience. It goes beyond having just a friendly face, it means going “above and beyond”, listening effectively and engaging with the client in a non-intrusive friendly manner.
It’s about developing a great relationship of trust and loyalty with your clients and creating that unique experience. The organisations that get it correct are the ones who think about how to delight their clients with each and every interaction.
Outstanding client service generates excellent word of mouth referrals.
Word of mouth is one of the strongest marketing tools in today’s world. As news travels fast these days what a powerful investment of your time. A client referral means you are already pre-qualified with an immediate connection to a prospective client in need of your services.
Outstanding client service, in short, leads to happy clients and is a powerful weapon in any business, which is another reason why this should be the mission of each and every team member at any organisation.
How does your business rate at client service? Is it more than just a philosophy? Or is it like the blood pumping through your business veins? If you haven’t got it right now, when will you make this a priority to turn your business from just a service into an advocate producing machine?
For small business, cash-flow can often be one of the greatest strains, both financially and emotionally.
One way to help ease the stress is to ask your suppliers for a 30 day account. Having a 30 day account with your suppliers just makes good sense.
This will help balance out the strain on the bank account by receiving funds in from your clients before the need to make payments out to your suppliers. Make sure you utilise the payment terms offered, and schedule payment when due, this will help alleviate some financial stress and free up cash flow.
Remember, if for any reason you are unable to pay by the due date, and need a little more time to settle a bill, best to speak with your suppliers as this will maintain good relations. By having open & honest communication, most suppliers would be supportive and may extend your terms on a short term basis.
Another thing that makes good sense is to have a regular follow up system with your debtors.
There are new apps available all the time that can make your life easier by sending out this regular follow up automatically for you. We all get busy and can forget to pay a bill on time and so receiving a friendly reminder can prompt us to go and get it sorted out.
You shouldn’t see this as a negative if you do it right in the first place and do it consistently.
If you haven’t got an automated way of following up your customers to remind them to pay, then speak with us and we can see what is the best options for your business so your cash-flow will flow easily again.
Ok, so I am sitting here trying to think of an amazing topic I can come up with to share in the blogosphere when suddenly it hits me…. What is more essential for your business than a great admin team?
What is more amazing than a group of hard working individuals who go that extra mile to make it all happen and to get the best end result for everyone?
For every workplace to operate successfully they need the support of a good backbone to keep it altogether aka “The Admin Team”.
Your admin extraordinaire, whether we are talking about a receptionist in a large professional firm, or a one person show in a small mechanical business is always the first port of call for your clients.
They are the cheerful voice on the other end of the phone line, or the friendly face that greets your client with a cup of coffee in hand as they walk through the door.
A strong knit, well trained admin team can make a huge impact on your business. They reduce the entire workload of senior management and productive employees, and make their day run a whole lot smoother.
They require a set of skills to handle many situations in a busy office environment in an efficient and organised manner, and act as that important link between senior management and their clients. They need to think on their feet at all times and have the ability to cope with the day to day pressures that come with a busy office.
My work colleagues and I recently attended a workshop on the “Neuroscience of Leadership” where the guest speaker gave an amazing insight into the workings of the human brain. She spoke about how neuron cells all work together to transport signals and messages around your body to keep it functioning. A great admin team reminds me of the trillions of neuron cells in the human brain, all working together to reach the ultimate result. Just like neuron cells, a team that fires together, wires together!
So next time that urgent letter has to be typed or that business trip has to be organised, or the office cat has run out of Whiskas, take some time to reflect on just how important your admin team really is…
So 3 cheers for “The Admin Team”! The glue that holds it all together!
Being a small business means that the potential to grow is always there and you just need to reach for it. The online environment is an excellent place to promote your products and services and the ever-increasing rise of social media has given a new zing to traditional marketing. Social media has introduced a more organic and natural way of reaching to your audience and extending your list of clients, but some small businesses still struggle to grasp the general lines on how the whole system works. A quick glimpse at the world of social media reveals that you are dealing with an environment that is a continuous change, transforming by the second, meaning the rules of today might simply not apply tomorrow.
Different people have different preferences and you have to tailor the identity of your small business according to the niche you are targeting. Trying to please everyone will do nothing more than to weaken your forces and waste your resources. Don’t expect to be able to reach your audience with the help of only one social media platform. Depending on age, social background, and geographical location, some social media platforms gain an upper hand in front of the others and you should know which to exploit. For example, if you’re targeting teenagers, you will find them more likely on Vine, YouTube, Tumblr, and Instagram, than on LinkedIn. The best way to start is to ask your team. See who they believe is your target market. Then, have a look and see what platforms suit best.
Social media has become synonymous with redundant information being re-posted over and over again. Your business profile doesn’t need to act in the same way. Depending on your field of work, you should try to promote only information which is relevant to your activities and which can trigger demand for your products or services. Of course, a casual approach of relating to current events and trends can do a lot of good in keeping your audience closer, but insisting too much in that direction might make you look distant from their core needs. New content should be added on a constant basis in order to engage viewers and followers. Research the market and see what is enticing them to engage with your industry as well as competing ones.
Social media is all about sharing, creating mutual advantageous relationships, and providing positive feedback. As a small business, don’t expect to go too much outside your box if you adopt a conservative approach on social media. Before “likes” come to you, you have to spread a couple of “likes”. The concept is available everywhere and people act according to it. Don’t be afraid to become close with your competition and acknowledge their success, even if it sounds counterintuitive. Reciprocity developed with the big players can give you a huge push in the right direction.
Change is a constant factor in the world of social media platforms and you need to ride the crest of the wave in order not to be left behind. For some small business owners, the amount of change required by their identity in the online environment is sometimes too much to bare, but there is a lot to do to relieve the feeling of helplessness. Following trends and the examples set by others without giving a second thought is often an alternative to consider. The main thing is to be adaptive. We all know a story where a business feels content, decides to stay static, only to fall by their own sword.
In a world of automation, businesses tend to forget one underlying thing…we are human. Don’t just be a sales and marketing wheel posting content after content just to get a conversion. Provide real interaction with your audience, let them into your business and feel part of the brand. Post an image of your staff, community activities they are involved in or simply an image of the office. Being human will provide real authentic value to your social media presence.
Social media has introduced new coordinates for small business to access. Whatever your target of growth might be, social media can be your best ally for achieving large-scale success in the fastest and easiest way imaginable. All you have to do is know the general rules and dig a bit to reveal the small cogs of the mechanism.
When it comes to doing business with your friends what should you be charging? Should you be giving a discount. Michelle talks about how you can approach this topic.
Well, over the Christmas break, I spent 10 days holidaying on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Being a lover of coffee, especially after an early morning swim at the beach, I couldn’t help but ask a few locals where the best coffee shop was. Without hesitation, they all indicated the same place which was one of a handful of coffee shops in the area. So the next morning I was excited to pay them a visit and much to my surprise, the experience was not great. This had nothing to do with the coffee, the coffee was actually good. It was the service that was terrible and so I decided to undertake what I termed “The coffee shop experiment”.
Over the next 10 days, I visited six coffee shops looking for the best one and scoring them on the basis of service and coffee flavour. I even got quite scientific in that I created a coffee shop experience rating system. I rated the ordering experience out of 2.5, the table service delivery out of 2.5, and the actual coffee itself out of 5. This gave me a score out of 10. I had previously learnt that unless a client or customer rates you at least an 8 out of 10, then they are unlikely to refer other people to your business. With a 6 or 7, they may actually return without providing a recommendation. Any less and you have lost their business. So, the experiment continued with some interesting results.
As you can see my first coffee shop experience was a 5.5 and the other 5 coffee shops I rated between a 6 and an 8 out of 10. This was very intriguing. So, as a result of my little experiment, I decided to give the first coffee shop another go to see if this was a one-off bad experience or had my referral sources got it wrong. Much to my surprise, the service was exceptional and the coffee was fantastic. A score of 9 out of 10. Not only did I go back for a second experience but I took my family and friends and referred others to the same place.
This exercise demonstrated to me just how important team work is. In almost every case there was a team of three involved in the delivery of that service. For the overall experience to be good, it is required for each person to do their job well, no matter how good the end product is. In this particular case the behaviour of one individual had tainted my overall experience. That even extended to how I rated the flavour of the coffee. In most professional service industries like ours, the front line is most often the receptionist, a critically important person as the face of the business. Most often there is an administration person, client services or other client contact individual besides the accountant, financial planner, doctor or lawyer who provides the actual service. The lesson for me and hopefully all business owners is to make sure that an external party could come into your business, on any given day, and rate each of the people/services a rating of at least 8/10 and preferably higher. If you want a successful business, you will need to provide exceptional customer service as a team.
Maybe next time I might try some of my other holiday favourites, ice cream or better still beer!! One thing is for sure, good team work, a little attention to detail and good customer service will always rate well.
Why not try your own experiment some time or get someone external to rate your business.
Consumer confidence is improving. Was it the change in leader or the change of message? The message has focused us on innovation and technology as the way forward for Australia. The language is very positive and the electorate is listening according to the polls.
Is it the passion in the delivery or is there substance in the message? Maybe it doesn’t matter, but whatever your political persuasion, we all want Australia to prosper. Australia was slow to enter the GFC and we have certainly been slow to recover. It is great to see cranes in the skies once more and this mirrors the optimism reflected in the polls. But what is it about this theme of innovation and technology that has hit such a positive nerve for Australians.
Wikipedia defines “innovation” as a new idea to create a more effective device or process. “Technology” is defined as the knowledge of techniques and processes that can be embedded in devices.
In my business we have been embracing innovation by using technology to combat against the offshoring behaviour of many financial services practitioners. I receive two or three emails each week offering a cheaper business model and more profit if I send my client’s processing overseas to cheap labour countries like the Philippines or India. Australia brought in tough Privacy Laws in 1988 but are we policing them? Many firms are taking the more profitable innovative option to offshore rather than use the innovation of technology to remain relevant. Many do not obtain written permission from clients before sending their most personal financial information and identity offshore to save a dollar. My issue is two fold, firstly as “Professionals” our ethical pronouncements which separate a true profession from an industry are being flouted. As professionals we must put our clients’ interest before our own. Secondly the low level work being off shored is reducing the opportunity of our young professionals to cut their teeth and gain a greater understanding of the work we perform for clients. Over the long term this will change the quality and quantity of qualified Australians capable of doing the work.
Like Mr Dick Smith who fought so passionately for Australian manufacturing, I am most likely fighting a losing battle over the mighty dollar, however digital disruption is now impacting most service industries in Australia so as Australians we have a choice.
Ask your Accountant and SMSF administrator if they are sending your information overseas for processing. You might be horrified how prevalent this practise has become.
Five years ago an accountant could process 80 to 100 Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) per annum. Today using technology and best of breed software, an accountant can process 300 to 350 SMSFs per annum. This is the way we can remain relevant. We need to embrace technology and be prepared for the digital disruption which is changing our world.