6 Marketing Things to Consider When Selling Your Business: Part 2

Uncertainty has been the common theme of our lives for the past two years. With lockdowns and Covid restrictions in constant play even today, we are often stuck at home pondering on nothing. Now that home isolation or sudden lockdowns are part of the norm post-pandemic, our host Warwick Jackson gives nuggets of advice on how to make the most out of your time if in case of mandated quarantine or isolation. Use this time to set your eyes on important matters that you often take for granted– such as your finances. Listen in and enjoy this episode.   

Hot tips outline

1. Look into your finances – will, guardianship, POA, etc.
2. Review your super and plug in your balance.
3. Book-in your non-urgent medical check-ups.
4. Contact your house and car insurance. 
5. Review your recurring subscriptions.
6. Clean up your mailbox– start with unsubscribing from spam emails
7. Learn to use online shopping.
8. Tidy up the cupboard.
9. Review your loans.
10. If you own a business, apply for the small business fees and charges rebate.

Have any questions for us? Reach Warwick Jackson through wjackson@foxgroup.com.au or follow our Facebook account and visit Get To The Contest website for more.

On this episode of Get To The Contest Small Business Podcast, we talk to Stuart Balloch, Payment Specialist at GoCardless. We talked about cashflow solutions and how it important it is to be paid on time especially for small business owners.

Here are some key takeaways from our conversation:


1. Be transparent up front

Transparency is key to making sure that the cashflow is organised and understood clearly. Right off the bat, get clear on how payments will be made, when payments are due and all related concerns in relation to payments. It is important to be transparent and upfront in doing business to avoid surprises in the long run.


2. Get rid of the friction

Make it easy to do business with you. A seamless experience in payments and invoicing makes less opportunity for problems.


3. There is cost to not managing your cash flow well

Chasing debtors is expensive. A poor cash position can  then eventually turn to missed opportunities. Take a proactive approach & don;t allow customers to cost you money.


4. Be open to change

There is always a better way to do things. Open your mind to new technology and making an effort to learn and find ways to constantly improve—may it be in your cashflow system or even in managing your team. If a new system or technology can create a more efficient and effective way of doing things, it is worth looking into. 


Get in touch with Stuart Balloch through LinkedIn --  https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-balloch/


Have any questions for us? Reach Warwick Jackson through wjackson@foxgroup.com.au or follow our Facebook account and visit Get To The Contest website for more.

In this latest episode of the podcast, we talk to Brett White, founder of Be Leaders and author of Shift Happens – 10 Effective Thinking Skills and The Lacuna Effect. He is accredited in Life Coaching, Thought Dynamics and Organisational Leadership, having worked with over 50 organisations and 350 leaders and influencers. We are glad to have him with us to talk about team engagement and why this is important for your business. Here are some key takeaways from this interview:

1.What is employee engagement? 

Employee engagement is, simply put, team members and the leadership in the organisation’s love for what they do, enjoying who they do it with, and doing it well. It seems simple but if those things aren’t happening in your team, there’s limited chance in doing their job effectively and successfully. It is important that team engagement isn't just an add-on and an afterthought in your business, but it comes from within and becomes part of who you are and who your organisation is.

2.Employee engagement at an all time low

Brett talked about statistics out in the latest Gallup research that the employee engagement in Australia is currently at an all-time low of 20%-- which means only 20% of the team are actively engaged or fully engaged, while some are partially engaged and worse, disengaged. This data has an impact to your business and should be assessed in your own organisation. 

3.Develop a culture of communication

A connection with people that you're working with builds trust in the organisation. Once this is established, you will be assured that your people are going to help you and are doing their jobs for the right reasons, which also links to contribution. What is the purpose of the organisation? You're not just out there doing things for a dollar then why are we here and what problems are we solving?

4.Create a culture of appreciation

In our conversation, we also touched on appreciation, a really important topic which centres on being valued, heard and acknowledged. Build this culture within your organisation and it will help in your relationships with your employees. 

5.Employees want the opportunity to grow

If you want to grow, you want to be a part of an organisation that you believe gives you that opportunity to grow. Otherwise, you're going to be stagnant and eventually you're not going to be the best version of you. 

All these factors in employee engagement boils down to strong leadership and leaders that believe that these are important. To know more and if you are interested in Brett’s work, visit the Be Leaders website www.beleaders.com.au or email him at brett@beleaders.com.au 

Have any questions for us? Reach Warwick Jackson through wjackson@foxgroup.com.au or follow our Facebook account and visit Get To The Contest website for more.

Check it out on Itunes | Stitcher

In this new episode, we talked to Michael Seton, solicitor director and accredited specialist at Seton Family Lawyers, on the constantly changing landscape around COVID-19 and vaccines for small business owners. We also dived into the rights and obligations of small business owners, their teams and staff, and their obligations to their customers during the pandemic. 

Here are the Key Takeaways from this episode.

1. There’s no one-size-fits-all.

Public health orders and mandates are different for every location, industry and jobs. The thing to keep in mind with all of this is that it is rapidly changing and updating and it is largely untested by the courts – so we do not have clear black-and-white answers, which can be very challenging for small business owners. It is important to have an effort to be aware of the developments to do right by your customers and staff. 

2. Keep your eyes on the horizon. 

Seeing the big picture is one of Michael’s Get to the Contest points. If you focus on the bigger goal of what you’re doing now, you will not be bogged down with the mundane of the day-to-day.

 
3. Diversity. 

Exposing yourself to diverse thinking equals to a better background and a better space for decision-making. Seeking out all the possible thoughts can ultimately make a well-rounded decision.

4. Prepare to abandon the past and move on to find a better way ahead.

Experience is a wonderful thing and should not be lost, but that doesn't mean the day-to-day of how you do your role shouldn't evolve and develop. You've got to constantly get your head to adapt and evolve.

5. Backing your people first. 

You're working with your team and they need to know that you have their back. It's hard to develop a reliable team, and if you go into bat for your team, they will back you up and see you through in times of challenges. 

Know more about Michael Seton and his work. Reach him through his contact details below:

Telephone02 4397 1500

Email hello@setonfamily.law 

Web www.setonfamily.law 

LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-seton-12b07123/

Have any questions for us? Reach Warwick Jackson through wjackson@foxgroup.com.au or follow our Facebook account and visit Get To The Contest website for more.

Check it out on Itunes | Stitcher

In another two-part episode of Get to the Contest Small Business Podcast, listen in as I talk to Melanie Unwin, Director at Mogrify. We discuss the marketing aspects of selling your business and making your business attractive to a potential acquirer. 

Below are some key learnings that will be valuable to business owners who are in the process of selling their business or want to sell in the future. So, make sure to check out Parts 1 and 2 of this episode and don’t miss out on hearing Melanie’s expert tips.

1.Have a clear plan.

It is essential that you have a clear plan if you are to successfully achieve your business and marketing goals. Get your reason, your purpose clear and from there, execute strongly. If selling your business in the future is part of your vision, put it in the plan from day one, document it and put it in front of the right people.

2.Make sure key people are on board with your vision and plan.

If you don’t have buy-in by all the decision makers in your business, your plan will fail. Having that buy-in is critical, otherwise people will just walk away from it—resulting in wasted time, effort, and resources.

3.Make the journey worth it

Selling a business can be difficult for many reasons. There’s going to be rewarding times, but there's going to be times of stress and challenges. So, make the journey worth it. Make sure you've got people around you who give you energy, are going to add to that experience, and not drain you. 

4.If you want to be acquired, step up your game. 

Take on more challenging work to show that delivering great outcomes is one of the core capabilities of your business, stand out to potential buyers. You want to show that you've got a culture and a skill set in your business that can drive innovation and can deliver projects. Make sure you are heard and seen by your target audience. 

5.Invest in your people and in your own leadership

Be around people, co-workers, partners that give your life and energy. Cultivate a culture of learning and encouraging growth in people. This applies to your team members but also to you as their leader. Invest in yourself and your own leadership, but also invest in the people around you and develop them.

6.Say it, do it. 

This is one of the core values and core culture points of Mogrify. If you're living this culture in your business, it means that you can be relied on. Team members at Mogrify live by this culture—if they say something and don't deliver, they're not living the values of the company. 

7.Let it go. 

Don't invest energy on what you can't control. Now, that’s easier said than done, but you must practice letting go of the things you can’t change and move on from it. 

Find Melanie Unwin on LinkedIn or check out their website www.mogrify.com

Have any questions for us? Reach Warwick Jackson through wjackson@foxgroup.com.au or follow our Facebook account and visit Get To The Contest website for more.

Check it out on Itunes | Stitcher

In another two-part episode of Get to the Contest Small Business Podcast, listen in as I talk to Melanie Unwin, Director at Mogrify. We discuss the marketing aspects of selling your business and making your business attractive to a potential acquirer. 

Below are some key learnings that will be valuable to business owners who are in the process of selling their business or want to sell in the future. So, make sure to check out Parts 1 and 2 of this episode and don’t miss out on hearing Melanie’s expert tips.

1.Have a clear plan.

It is essential that you have a clear plan if you are to successfully achieve your business and marketing goals. Get your reason, your purpose clear and from there, execute strongly. If selling your business in the future is part of your vision, put it in the plan from day one, document it and put it in front of the right people.

2.Make sure key people are on board with your vision and plan.

If you don’t have buy-in by all the decision makers in your business, your plan will fail. Having that buy-in is critical, otherwise people will just walk away from it—resulting in wasted time, effort, and resources.

3.Make the journey worth it

Selling a business can be difficult for many reasons. There’s going to be rewarding times, but there's going to be times of stress and challenges. So, make the journey worth it. Make sure you've got people around you who give you energy, are going to add to that experience, and not drain you. 

4.If you want to be acquired, step up your game. 

Take on more challenging work to show that delivering great outcomes is one of the core capabilities of your business, stand out to potential buyers. You want to show that you've got a culture and a skill set in your business that can drive innovation and can deliver projects. Make sure you are heard and seen by your target audience. 

5.Invest in your people and in your own leadership

Be around people, co-workers, partners that give your life and energy. Cultivate a culture of learning and encouraging growth in people. This applies to your team members but also to you as their leader. Invest in yourself and your own leadership, but also invest in the people around you and develop them.

6.Say it, do it. 

This is one of the core values and core culture points of Mogrify. If you're living this culture in your business, it means that you can be relied on. Team members at Mogrify live by this culture—if they say something and don't deliver, they're not living the values of the company. 

7.Let it go. 

Don't invest energy on what you can't control. Now, that’s easier said than done, but you must practice letting go of the things you can’t change and move on from it. 

Find Melanie Unwin on LinkedIn or check out their website www.mogrify.com

Have any questions for us? Reach Warwick Jackson through wjackson@foxgroup.com.au or follow our Facebook account and visit Get To The Contest website for more.

Check it out on Itunes | Stitcher

In this two-part episode of Get to the Contest Small Business Podcast, I talked to HR expert Kristy Lee Billett of the Your People Powered Business and the People Powered Podcast.

We discussed the key indicators of determining if someone is an employee or a contractor, some of the misconceptions around contractors,  the consequences of getting it wrong and how to de-risk your business on this issue.


Contractors are integral in growing a business.
Contractors will allow you to grow your business, turn off and on your capacity as required without necessarily the overhead. With that in mind, it is important to be aware of what is and what isn't included with your agreement with your contractor. Make sure to be clear and document your arrangement.

It’s employee > contractors for the government.
Not to be melodramatic but I want to make a strong point: Government hates contractors. Unlike contractors, employees make it so much easier for the government to collect tax revenue. If people are on salary and wages, it just takes the gray out of it for them and that is why the government loves that. With contractors, the opportunity for evasion via non declaration and income splitting is higher – Hence the governments attitude.

Just because someone says they're a contractor does not make them a contractor.
Be deliberate about how you engage a contractor. What is their business structure? Are they taking orders or do they have control over completion? Who bears the risk? To help you with this, I would strongly recommend that you use the government contractor decision making tool.

How do you de-risk?
There are a lot of ways to de-risk when it comes to contractor engagement. Some are the following (know more in detail on the episode):

1. Don't engage someone who's just a sole trader or partnership.
2. Have specific terms of engagement.
3. Before anything else, know ALL the risks by engaging with an advisor or a trusted accountant.  Remember that the risk is all on the employer. If you're the employee or the sub-contractor that's doing the work, very limited can go wrong from you if there's anything that blows up. If you are the business engaging the contractor – you might find you are up for super, leave entitlements, workers compensation , payroll tax and a whole range of other costs.

Document, document, document.
Now, this is something that I'm going to steal from Kristy Lee and apply to our sort of business and our advice to clients. Getting these things documented is so important and the best time to get things documented is upfront when everyone's happy and everyone wants to work together.

If you have a business that involves people, get advice from a professional.
May it be employees, contractors, or people that could be deemed employees, seek professional advice on handling in relation to your business. Consult an HR specialist such as Kristy Lee at Your People Powered Business. Such professional can offer a lot of guidance, templates and direct one-on-one support.

Reach Kristy Lee Billett at Your People Powered Business  and The People Powered Podcast. Email me for questions and further inquiries.

Episode references:
ATO Contractor Decision Making Tool Link
Worker or Contractor Tool

Check it out on Itunes | Stitcher

In this two-part episode of Get to the Contest Small Business Podcast, I talked to HR expert Kristy Lee Billett of the Your People Powered Business and the People Powered Podcast.

We discussed the key indicators of determining if someone is an employee or a contractor, some of the misconceptions around contractors,  the consequences of getting it wrong and how to de-risk your business on this issue.


Contractors are integral in growing a business.
Contractors will allow you to grow your business, turn off and on your capacity as required without necessarily the overhead. With that in mind, it is important to be aware of what is and what isn't included with your agreement with your contractor. Make sure to be clear and document your arrangement.

It’s employee > contractors for the government.
Not to be melodramatic but I want to make a strong point: Government hates contractors. Unlike contractors, employees make it so much easier for the government to collect tax revenue. If people are on salary and wages, it just takes the gray out of it for them and that is why the government loves that. With contractors, the opportunity for evasion via non declaration and income splitting is higher – Hence the governments attitude.

Just because someone says they're a contractor does not make them a contractor.
Be deliberate about how you engage a contractor. What is their business structure? Are they taking orders or do they have control over completion? Who bears the risk? To help you with this, I would strongly recommend that you use the government contractor decision making tool.

How do you de-risk?
There are a lot of ways to de-risk when it comes to contractor engagement. Some are the following (know more in detail on the episode):

1. Don't engage someone who's just a sole trader or partnership.
2. Have specific terms of engagement.
3. Before anything else, know ALL the risks by engaging with an advisor or a trusted accountant.  Remember that the risk is all on the employer. If you're the employee or the sub-contractor that's doing the work, very limited can go wrong from you if there's anything that blows up. If you are the business engaging the contractor – you might find you are up for super, leave entitlements, workers compensation , payroll tax and a whole range of other costs.

Document, document, document.
Now, this is something that I'm going to steal from Kristy Lee and apply to our sort of business and our advice to clients. Getting these things documented is so important and the best time to get things documented is upfront when everyone's happy and everyone wants to work together.

If you have a business that involves people, get advice from a professional.
May it be employees, contractors, or people that could be deemed employees, seek professional advice on handling in relation to your business. Consult an HR specialist such as Kristy Lee at Your People Powered Business. Such professional can offer a lot of guidance, templates and direct one-on-one support.

Reach Kristy Lee Billett at Your People Powered Business  and The People Powered Podcast. Email me for questions and further inquiries.

Episode references:
ATO Contractor Decision Making Tool Link
Worker or Contractor Tool

What are money moments? We talk to Mark Nagle, executive director at Treysta Wealth and Advisory, to answer this question and listen in as he talks to our host, Warwick Jackson, about people’s relationship with money—the good and the bad.

To guide you through this episode, here are some key takeaways from the conversation:


1. Surround yourself with the right people that add energy rather than take energy from you

Mark talked about inner passion and understanding what gives you energy, what saps your energy, designing your business accordingly and filling your week accordingly. If you love what you do and are surrounded by like-minded people, work doesn't become a chore-- it becomes far more sustainable.


2. Make a commitment to  implement  something

Business and career growth also means significant amount of training and conferences that cost money &  timet. Once you get back to work, it is important to set aside time and make steps for implementation of what you’ve learned and what you can improve upon. Otherwise, you've just had a working holiday that's achieved nothing.


3. Money moments can be wonderful things, but can also be the sad things in life as well. 

Mark talked about a variety of money moments, which is, basically, anytime money touches our lives. From holidays, home ownership, rent, parents with money, rental to buy, retirement, helping your kids, to marriage or divorce, all these things are money moments. Whether they're good or bad, they will potentially lead to anxiety. To help you manage “money moments”, just be aware of these things and have someone in your life, such as a Mark or someone that's a trusted advisor, where you can sit down and talk through the situation, make a plan and have an informed decision.


4. Take action sooner.

 Often, many people will face some anxiety or stress in making a big decision for your career or in life that sometimes, the uncertainty is just too much to overcome. Because of this, some may push back in making decisions which will then result to months or even years of nothing. If you are too scared to take the next step, find a professional or a trusted advisor that can guide you to an informed decision. Come up with a plan and take action – invariably, the downside is never as bad as you think. 


5. Technology designed with the client in mind.

Tech is an important part of business, but making sure that it is designed with the client experience in mind makes it more personalized and improves business relations. Use technology to you and your clients’ advantage. 

Have any questions for us? Reach Warwick Jackson through wjackson@foxgroup.com.au or follow our Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/Gettothecontest and visit https://www.gettothecontest.com/ for more. 

For more on Money Moments, reach out to Mark Nagle through their website www.treystawealth.com.au or follow their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/treystawealth and Instagram @treysta.wealth

In this episode of Get to the Contest Small Business Podcast, I want to talk to you about something that’s often overlooked by small business owners—It’s all about supplier relationship and your business reliance on them. I'm not just talking about suppliers of products, but also suppliers of services, referrals, and more.
Listen in as I talk you through a few scenarios of supplier reliance and let’s take a look on how these circumstances may affect your businesses. 

In this episode we answer the following questions and some tips to overcome them:

• What happens if your supply goes broke? 
• What happens if your supplier is taken over? 
• Do you have a relationship with a supplier business, or do you just have a relationship with an individual at that supplier? 
• What if your supplier just retires?
• There are unforeseen sudden changes in supplier circumstance. What happens next? 
• What if your suppliers are exposed to change in the political climate? 
• If your main financier stops financing you, perhaps due to a change of policy and you can no longer have your facility, are you instantly cooked as a business? 
• There’s a sudden supply interruption outside of your control—what do you do when you can’t get the products that you’ve ordered? 
• What are the risks in relying too much on a specific marketing medium or something as public and free like as social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter?

Here are some key takeaways from this episode: 

Conduct a risk review. Go through and look at your business at the various mentioned risk factors and see what applies to your business and make no assumptions that the status quo will be in place. 

Look at the likelihood of each risk. I know some of these things might seem unlikely, but also look at the size of the damage to your business should something happen. Now, that will then lead you to a course of action where you either take steps to reduce the likelihood of the event happening, or you take steps to reduce the damage that would occur if the event did happen.

Do this assessment on an annual basis because as your business grows and evolves, so will its risk. And so will your supplier's risk change and evolve as well. So, do this on a regular basis, just to make sure that your assumptions around your business continuing, your business just doesn't fall apart due to something that's beyond your control that happens to a supplier.