Whilst I am not against International Women’s Day being on the 8th March and celebrating trail blazing women in the world, what I would like to do is explain why I choose to celebrate every day. Why perhaps I see being a women in business as a very normal occurrence and why instead, I choose to celebrate every opportunity that I seek and create – with no relevance to religion,… Read more
As we wake up to another Fashion Brand going into administration, the question needs to be asked: What is the Future of the Retail store? Is it possible that a physical retail store will exist in 20 years time? Or is a profitable shop front a thing of the past? Smart Company have just released today news of David Lawrence going into voluntary administration, and in the past twelve months it… Read more
My business is 4 years old (nearly – but I am an accountant so I round up!). I am about to release into the world my third website in 4 years. Am I crazy, or have the updates been necessary? Is a website still relevant in this digital age? Well let me give you my perspective on whether an accounting or bookkeeping business NEEDS a website. Last year, I attended… Read more
Running a business, no matter how busy you are, does not give you the right to “mis-place” your manners. Common courtesy and respect seem to be not so common these days with the busy entrepreneur expecting, or perhaps it could even be classed as demanding, answers at the drop of a hat (and usually for free). So lets rewind a little bit and get old school for a minute. Do… Read more
Customer Service is not something you set up when you start your business and then you forget about it. It is not programs and processes that you implement and you kick back and relax, simply because you assume your process is working. Recently we had a potential client contact us before Christmas and sadly the contact form on our website was not working. Cue customer service fail. So their first… Read more
I know when you start a business finances are tight and every cent is watched like a hawk but if I had a dollar for every time I heard a startup say “I couldn’t afford an accountant so I just googled the answer…but I think I have stuffed it up…can you fix it” – well let’s just say I wouldn’t be sitting here at 9:05pm writing this blog post from… Read more
OK. Now before you get all grossed out and start gagging at the thought of a boss dating her employee, let me put this in context. I have an employee, I love her, she is amazing, she has worked with me for 3 months, I have never met her and I am taking her to lunch tomorrow and meeting her for the first time. It is like getting ready for… Read more
Well the festive season is in full swing – this means parties, gifts, eggnog, mistletoe, Santa and normally family feuds. But the thing causing the most stress at Christmas, is the level of credit card debt people put themselves in, which hangs over their heads for many months to come. Australians spent over $47 billion in the Christmas spending period between November 15th and December 24 (2015 statistics) according to Inside… Read more
As most of us in the startup phase of our entrepreneurship journey would know, getting cash to fund our dream is not an easy (or quick) task. There are many “No’s” before you hear the magical “Yes”. Or will you even hear the “Yes” at all? Your dream idea is only loved by a third party finance option, if it can see that the idea has the ability to generate… Read more
Why do I ask? Is my business in trouble? Hell no. But today I went to a Business Chicks breakfast where I heard from America’s original #girlboss Sofia Amoruso. She started the Nasty Gal empire along with a bit of a Girl Boss revolution in America. She has a podcast, fashion empire, books, soon to be released series on Net Flix – amongst other things. Well that was until a… Read more
Calling all business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, mumpreneurs, dadpreneurs – or any other fancy titles that are out there at the moment – the sooner you realise that profit is not the same as cash – the sooner you will start to plan for a fabulous financial future. You see here is the thing – I speak to business owners all the time who simply get frustrated (*insert swear words here… Read more
Cash Flow is the major cause 56% of small businesses don’t survive past their 5th birthday. It is time to turn the tables on that horrific statistic and be in charge of your cash flow (with confidence) and remove the stigma and fear around asking for your invoices to be paid. The first thing to consider is that cash flow is not just chasing debtors. Cash flow is understanding – when… Read more
Why do I invest so much in training, education & development? This month alone I have two conferences which are interstate that I will be attending. And when I say I am going to the Gold Coast to attend the MYOB Partner Conference, people say to me, “Oh, you are just going for a holiday!” And I know they are only saying that in jest (well I think they are),… Read more
As an accountant, fraud, and in particular financial fraud, really pisses me off. You see when you run a company you have obligations – morally and ethically, as well as financially and legally. “You can’t put your head in the sand and say “Sorry – I had no idea”. That just doesn’t cut it as a company director.” So when I read this article from Smart Company today about the… Read more
Unpaid staff sound great, but have you thought for a minute about the implications from a business, accounting, tax and legal perspective? I know, I know – starting a business is hard work. Cash flow is ….well….often non existent, so advertising for a volunteer role, or an unpaid role, unpaid staff (or any other variation of those terms) does sound like a solution to all your problems. Hallelujah. But… Read more
I hate being taxed twice – I am going to write to the Government and give them a piece of my mind about GST and income tax. Yes – this was a comment from a recent (*new) client of mine who was still coming to grips with being a new business owner, being registered for GST and then paying tax via his “full time” job at the same time. … Read more
Isn’t it funny how we automatically assume a successful woman in business who is also a mum MUST have “mothers guilt” for working hard and assume they are missing out on quality time with their children. Recently I attended an event run by BSchool in Melbourne where the speaker was Carolyn Creswell from Carmen’s Muesli fame. I have always wanted to hear Carolyn speak – but our diaries never seemed to align… Read more
When customers buy from you, please don’t treat them like an idiot. Customers and fans are the future of your business. This week I was researching business products that I could purchase to then give to my clients at end of financial year. You see, as an accountant, EOFY is kind of a happy time for us -we tend to celebrate 30th June like it is Christmas. I found some… Read more
Stacey Price accountant Today in a Facebook group I am part of, we were asked if we were to go back to Day 1 of running your business what advice would you give yourself? “And it got me thinking – what would I tell myself – now that I know I am not a “traditional” accountant?” I mean, when I started my business it all kind of happened overnight. I… Read more
You don’t want a rogue accountant on your team…you want someone you can trust – with knowledge, experience and a lot of credible advice and care. Here is something I wrote which was published on Smart Company earlier this month…no Rogue Accountants at Healthy Business Finances. For original article, click here. Many small business owners and entrepreneurs understand the benefits of leveraging outsourcing to scale their business. Smart business owners… Read more