This podcast from Boston Consulting Group looks around the corner of today’s big business and social issues. The goal–the so what–is to make sense of today and prepare busy leaders and executives for the day after tomorrow. Award-winning British journalist Georgie Frost interviews the leading thinkers and doers at BCG on the trends, developments, and ideas that will shape and disrupt the future. This is not your typical business strategy podcast.
Last week we talked briefly about the different ways to wind-up a business. One of those options is to de-register the company. Today, we want to go into more detail about how to actually do that.
Last week we talked briefly about the different ways to wind-up a business. One of those options is to de-register the company. Today, we want to go into more detail about how to actually do that.
Everyone always tells you to set goals for your business. That’s an easy thing to say. But actually doing it can be much harder. It’s easy to come up with generic goals like being “successful”. But it’s critically important to develop well thought-out, detailed goals, along with the steps needed to achieve them. A Grand Vision There's many different ways to be right here. But one of the things every plan needs is a big vision. What do you want to achieve in the next 10 years? What about the next 3 years? Or in the next 12 months? Under each of those questions begin to map out the steps needed to attain those goals. Starting with a grand vision will help to focus your more short term goals. Key Performance Indicators You've probably heard the term key performance indicators. KPIs are the metrics you use to gauge your success. After you select your long, medium and short term goals - decide how to measure whether or not you’ve actually achieved them. It's so great to set these goals, but you need to have some way of actually tracking your progress to make sure that you actually achieve these goals. Keep track There are several ways to keep track of your progress. Some people like using spreadsheets. But you can also use calendars or checklists to ensure you’re doing everything possible to achieve your goals.…
Picking a name is hard. When you’re starting a new business One of the hardest things simply how you can go about working out what you're going to call yourself. It’s a deceptively difficult task. And one you need to take seriously. Your name should be memorable and it has to be unique. That said, it isn’t something that you shouldn get hung up on. As long as you're comfortable with the name and it sets you apart - go for it! Your name choice will really depend on the industry you’re working in. When you start brainstorming for a name make sure you do some searches before you go too attached to a name. There’s a real chance someone is already using it. Start with a simple Google search to see if the name is in use in your geographical area. You also want to make sure there are no registered trademarks of the name in your country or in a country you might want to operate in someday.…
It’s time to set some goals for your business. But why even bother? Today, we’re going to reveal why setting goals is so cricual. Those goals are going to be different depending on what kind of business you’re in. But the most important thing is that you sit down and actually think about it. If you don't know where you're going… How are you going to get there? At a point unless you have those goals set you’re not going to get lost along the way. You need to have a steady target to aim at. You can also prioritize tasks and allocate resources better by referring to your goals regularly. So it's very important to have those goals in place, you know exactly where you're going to go, and hopefully, how you're going to get there. Making better decisions… So when you set a goal, it needs to be something in your business or in life that you can actually achieve. Or at least you can stretch yourself to try and achieve. There are so many bright, shiny objects to chase. But there's so much that you can do. There's so many opportunities that that that pop up for you on a daily basis. And you need to be able to filter out whether or not you should chase those things. Whatever decision you've got to make, you've got to filter them through your goal. And if you don't have goals, then how do you know what decisions to make? All of your goals need to be centered around where you're going. And they need to be in furtherance of the goal.…
Today, we want to talk about the key members of your initial team. This is not your initial employee team. Instead, this is your team of consultants that everyone should have. Especially during your start-up phase. You need to get great advice from your consultants to make sure that everyone's on the same page going forward Accountant The first one is the accountant. Wherever you are, you're going to have to play some pay some sort of tax. An accountant will help to organize your structure in the best way so that you pay the minimal tax. Lawyer You need a great lawyer right from the start. The lawyer will look at the structure you’ve chosen for your business and give their input. You want that lawyer involved at the beginning so you can build up that relationship over the term of your business. Leasing, employment agreements and IP are all going to need to be looked over by your legal team. Bookkeeper Your bookkeeper is different from an accountant. This is the person that actually enters all of your receipts and payments. At the end of the day, you've got to report all that properly. And you got to know where your money's coming in and where its going. So getting a bookkeeper early on is a really crucial member of your initial team.…
It’s time to get your procedures and processes in place! It does take time to put these sorts of things together. But we consider them to be a vitally important for your business. And it's a good idea to get them done right at the start. One big part of this process is bringing on new clients and staff. Building a process Before you bring on a new client you have to ask some questions. How do you engage with them? Do you get money upfront? Having a client onboarding process is really important to make sure that you get paid in a timely fashion. It's somewhere between six to nine times cheaper to get repeat work from an existing client that didn't get a new client. So having these types of policies and procedures in place is really important. Bringing on new staff The whole idea is to have a consistent approach for all your new hires. You need to make sure that everyone is on the same page. There's also all the tax and other documents that need to fill ou. But the most important part of the onboarding is that they've given all the information they need in an accessible format. Harassment policy If you've got a team, a team of any size, you need to deal with harassment because it's something that comes up more and more often. You need to have policies and procedures that actually govern these things. These are going to be evolving documents and you should get things like harassment policies drafted by lawyers or consultants who know what they're talking about. It's not a one size fits all exercise!…
We're talking about intellectual property today which is a pretty big topic in any business. But specifically, what we want to talk about today is the concept of having a separate legal entity for your IP. When is that a good idea? Your business can be structured any number of ways. You could be a sole trader or be a company. The problem with those entities owning intellectual property is that if you get sued or go bankrupt then any intellectual property that you own could be lost. One way to protect that IP is to have a different entity to control it. That separate entity doesn't do anything else. It just owns the intellectual property. The ideal situation would be to create that structure during the startup type phase of your business. If you do it later, it's going to be more expensive and will be more complicated. Once the separate structure is created you can then license the IP to your business. The trading entity then enters into agreements with suppliers, employees etc. But if you can’t do it at the beginning, it's never too late. You should think about doing it particularly if you've got some valuable IP.…
Today we're talking about processes. The processes you’ve developed are a huge part of your value. Here are three ways you can document your processes. This is part of Phase Five of the Business Legal Lifecycle. Phase 5 is all about protecting intellectual property. There are few things about your IP more important that a carefully documented process. Video Everyone has a video camera in their pocket these days. It’s really easy to simply record yourself performing your daily routine. If you do most of your work on a computer capture your screen with Windows built-in recorder or use an app like Zoom. Checklists This is probably the most formal way of documenting a process. It serves two purposes. The first is to ensure the consistency of how that particular thing is to be done. The second is to ensure important steps are not missed. Flowchart sharing Flowcharts are a bit like a checklist. But they add a visual flair that can be much easier for some people to follow. There are several programs available to create a flowchart inlcuding LucidChart and SmartDraw…
We're talking about trademarks. They are an incredibly part of your business. Here are the five things you need to consider before having your trademark registered. Have a unique name You have to make sure the name of your business is really unique. Todo that that you have to do multiple searches to ensure someone else hasn’t already claimed that name. If your name is unique and it has value, trademark it! Protect the brand You’ve spent a lot of money developing your brand. You have to protect it! This becomes especially important when you’re getting ready to sell the business. A trademarked brand seriously increases your value! Getting ready for a franchise When you sell a franchise to someone else, you're selling your brand and your system. And your brand really is your registered trademark. And when people are buying franchises, think of McDonald's and KFC, they're buying the brand. We've had cases in the past where people have decided to franchise but haven’t been able to register their trademark. It cost them a lot of money! Getting ready for a sale If you're wanting to exit is by selling to another company company. So in any sale, the prospective purchaser is going to be looking into how you operate. One of the first things they will look for is whether or not there's a registered trademark. No copying! There are a lot of brands out there and copying them is pretty easy. Some people just have no filter and no ability to actually stop themselves from stealing other people's good ideas,…
Today's show is about trusts. A trust is another way to structure your business that has some unique benefits. Here are the 5 things you need to know about trusts. Separate entity A trust is a separate legal entity. That means that the people involved in the trust can’t be sued for the debt the trust incurs. So the separation is very important from a legal point of view, because it just separates out that liability and protects the people involved in the trust. So that's number one. Number two beneficiaries. Beneficiaries Who is going to benefit from this trust? That decisions will have big ramifications for how the business operates. The beneficiary can be a person or a company. Or it could even be members of your family. Power of appointment This is someone in the trust will have the power to appoint and remove the trustee. That’s a lot of power. Never choose someone for this role that you don’t trust implicitly. Trustee The trustee will manage the day-to-day affairs of the trust. Tax Benefits In Australia, there are great tax benefits to having a trust. You can distribute income, you can move things around and really get the best tax position for you and your family.…
Today we want to talk about things you need to look out for when you're starting a new business. It’s an incredibly exciting time but you have to make sure everything is in order. What structure will you use? You could be as a sole trader, or form a company or a trust. If you don't make a clear choice that's when you’ll fall into into problems. You really need to think about what your goal is, and then get advice from your lawyer or your accountant before making this decision. Who is your ideal client? So when you first start out it's very easy to sell to absolutely everything to everyone. Unfortunately, in most businesses, that's not the way to have a long term success. You need to think about who your ideal client is. Create a client avatar that describes your perfect sale. Describe their job, income, family, car and hobbies. If you're trying to market to everyone, you're marketing to no one. Insurance There's a variety of different insurances that are out there, depending on your industry. Make sure you have a price it's a professional indemnity insurance. You may need some insurance for the properties that you're going to operate in. You also want to consider your personal insurances as well as income protection insurance. Lease If you’re going to lease a property you really need to make sure that you get the right advice on that lease. A bad lease can sink your business so make sure you get plenty of advice from your lawyer, real estate agent and accountant.…
Today we just wanted to go through some of the benefits of setting up a company for your business. Separate legal entity This is a concept that a lot of people struggle to get their heads around. But once understood it, it's really a game changer A company is a separate legal entity from the people behind it. That means that if you get sued it protects the person people behind that company. It also means that the separate legal entity has a different tax regime. And it has a separate credit with credit reporting agencies. Directors A company has directors. You can have a number of directors depending on how your business is structured. The company is a separate legal entity, and directors are not personally liable in my instance, unless they sign a personal guarantee. This allows the directors to have asset protection for them personally. Shareholders The directors have control over the company but the shareholders actually own the company. So the benefit here is that people who own the company don't necessarily have to have any exposure to the outside world. Shareholders very rarely have any liability. So that's probably the main benefit. People who own the company are separated from the risk. If you're a sole trader, if something goes wrong, then liability rests with you as the owner of the business. So Greg, there are benefits of our company.…
What is the best structure for your business? Today we talk about three main structures that you'll come across when setting up a business. Sole Trader This is by far and away the most common structure that people use, it's also the most dangerous as a couple of reasons for that. When you're a sole trader the money generated by the business all comes to you. In any business that you run you're going to be liable. The buck stops with you. Every single bit of liability is yours Company A company is its own legal entity. If you're in a risky sort of business then creating a company would be ideal in that situation. However, you've also got to be wary of signing what's called a personal or direct guarantee. Whenever you're in a company, entering into the lease or getting into an agreement with a supplier will require you to sign a personal guarantee. And on that basis, you may become personally liable for those things. There are also increased costs associated with creating a company. Trust A trust is like a company. It's a separate legal entity. And there's a few different parties that are part of a trust ..You've got the trustee who manages the trust. There are beneficiaries who are entitled to the income and the distribution of any capital in the trust. And the trust is really set up as a separate entity that is great for tax planning purposes. So there are different tax advantages of using a trust as opposed to a company. #business #smallbusiness #compnany #trust #soletrader #taxadvice #australia #law #legaladvice…
Today we're talking about the difference between an enduring power of attorney and an advanced health directive. So you would have probably heard these terms before. At the moment on the show with where we're talking about estate planning. And these two documents fall into that category.
Today we're talking about wills. And specifically, the difference between a simple will and a complex will. So you might have heard those terms thrown around. There are many ways to define simple and complex wealth. When you pass away your will appoints executives, beneficiaries, etc. A simple will passes your accumulated wealth onto your children, spouse and friends. A complex will includes things like testamentary trusts, which are more complicated. That's what the reason for the word complex will. And what it does is it allows you to leave money in a trust for your beneficiaries rather than giving it to them directly. If you've got a large amount of assets that are owned a complex will that uses testamentary trusts might be for you. There are tx reasons why using a trust is a better idea. A complex will is also useful if you have a large number of beneficiaries between whom your assets will be divided. As always, it's something that you want to get advice about. You want to have a very candid discussion with your financial advisor about this.…
You’ve worked hard to build a business and now you’re ready to sell. But the potential buyer wants you to stay on. What should you do? Today on the show we’re talking about five things you should consider in any buyer plan. What do you want? One of the reasons a potential buyer would want you to stay on is to ensure that the business hits certain revenue targets. That can be very stressful to achieve. It may mean that you will be able to ask a much higher price for the business. But is it worth the stress. Only you can decide. Do you need the extra cash? As mentioned above your staying on to ensure high revenue means you can charge a higher price for the business. But do you need that extra money? How involved will you be? Any buyer plan that included you staying on for a period of time will detail your role. How much time you are expected to invest in the business must be clearly laid out. How much control will you lose? Even if you stay on you are still going to lose a lot of your control of the business. That isn’t going to be easy to deal with. Especially if you don’t agree with some of the decisions of the new owner. Be sure you’ve thought this one through before you sell! What else could you be doing? That extra cash may be nice but it means your time is going to be invested in someone else's business. You could be on a beach somewhere. Make sure this is something you really want to commit too.…
Today we continue our conversation about estate and succession planning. What we want to talk about is three things you need to consider for your business succession plan. You’ve built up a business. Now you need to think about how the businesses will go forward after you’re gone. Who has control? Often what happens after someone passes is the business will be controlled by your spouse or significant other. Is that the right choice for you? Or should your personal estate and business holdings be split? That’s the first thing you need to consider in any business succession plan. Who do you want to be in business with? Business succession planning is especially important if you have partners in the business. You need to make sure that there is a clear line of succession for each of those people. If a spouse is not going to get a share of the business then insurance payments need to be made instead. Don’t leave this planning until the last minute! What’s the role of your family? Often families don't want to be involved in a business. If that's the case in your family then you need to ensure they don’t inherit control of the company. Because that can have a real detrimental effect on the business after you die.…
Planning your will is everyone’s least favourite subject. But it is incredibly important. Today on the show we talk about 5 keys elements every will should have.
You know that litigation is expensive. But it’s actually worse than you realize. Hiring an expensive lawyer is just the beginning of the financial pain. The emotional toll of being in court can be tremendous.This is the most expensive hidden cost. There’s a huge personal and emotional cost that comes with a prolonged court case. We once had a client who worked as a financial planner. And he was terminated from that business. And he decided to take them to court. Now, he went to court and spent probably two years of his life, just focusing on trying to sue his former employer for money that he wasn't really interested in. But he wanted to sue them anyway. The strain and, and personal and emotional strategy that put on him was extraordinary. We don't want to dissuade you from pursuing litigation. We just want to make sure people are aware of what the hidden costs can be.…
Today we're talking about commercial litigation, and particularly three reasons why you should be commercial in resolving any disputes in your business. Cost Litigation costs can be huge and can be way more than what you actually are recovering. So in any large commercial dispute, you really need to consider what are the costs that you're going to incur? Time This is a hidden cost. Instead of spending time on your business you’re spending time thinking about meeting with lawyers. It’s very important to think about how much time it's going to take to resolve the dispute. Outcome Even after spending all that time and all that money you still might lose. You're going in front of independent judge. Judge’s think the truth is somewhere in between. So if you resolve the dispute early, you'll actually have control over what the outcome is. If you do not, well, then someone else gets to solve this feud.…
Today, we're talking about disputes and litigation. We've come up with these tips to solve a problem early. Any litigation is a costly and emotionally draining process. So if you can avoid it early that's a great thing for you and your business. Stay calm When you get into a dispute with someone we start to get stressed, and the hormones start flowing through our bodies. When that happens you can fly off the handle and make mistakes. So stay calm and take a deep breath. Listen to understand You have to consider where the other side is. You may need to compromise in some way to resolve the dispute. They're just as passionate about the dispute as you so you need to listen to understand. Don't get emotional If you actually state your case, tactfully you can resolve the issue much sooner. Accentuate the positive Don't dwell on all the negative aspects of the dispute. Try saying a few positive things as well. Hopefully the other side can say something positive as well! Don't get personal Attack the problem, not the person. Problems escalate when people get personal. Focus on the future If you’re focusing on the future and not dwelling on the past it will help you to see the possibilities.…
Nobody wants to get sued. It’s time consuming, stressful and incredibly expensive. Today, we're talking about litigation in your business. Specifically, we are discussing five ways to avoid litigation. Put it in writing That might sound simple, but any agreement must be put it in writing. Because when two people talk, they often misunderstand certain things. So if you put it in writing, you avoid that problem Actually reading the agreement Make sure you read it! Make sure there's nothing in there that you missed or that you weren't aware of. But also, if you think there's going to be a dispute and you're got a problem with someone make sure you read through that first before you go off and start firing off correspondence. Because that's one way to definitely bring litigation forward is to get sort of aggressive in correspondence. Keep them in the loop There's no point trying to stick your head in the sand. Communicate with them, talk to them, help them understand your reasons why you might need the extra time to pay the debt. So communication. Keeping the other side in the loop is such an easy way to avoid litigation Act before it escalates A lot of litigation escalates quickly, when, for instance, one party's not responding at all, or in a in a timely, timely fashion. Once it escalates, it's very hard to back down Put yourself in the other sides shoes People that people understand agreements differently. People have different expectations. So make sure that you put yourself in the other person's shoes. Because it's amazing when you do that, how you might actually empathize with that position. And you might be able to come to a resolution quickly.…
What’s the difference between an employee or a contractor? The answer to that question can have far-reaching consequences for your business. Today on the show we’re going to talk about the differences. Subcontracting One of the main ways to distinguish an employment contract is the ability to subcontract and delegate. An employee generally can't subcontract. But a true contractor can. Payment For an employee payment is made in the form of a wage or salary. For a contractor payment is usually made in the form of one time payments due once the work is completed. Equipment The fact is that if you're an employee the things that you need to do your work are provided by your employer. A contractor, however, usually provides their own tools. There's never a black and white line between a contractor and an employee. But usually contractors bring their own toolkit.…
Today we're talking about employment agreements. We’re going to discuss the top 7 features of a great EA. This is something that can seem like an afterthought but a good employment agreement is really important.
It's an exciting time in your business. You’re bringing on someone new. But there's a number of things you need to consider. We've come up with three that we're going to talk about today. Create an onboarding process It's really important to have a process or procedure that actually takes them through what your business is about. If you have a business that has any sort of systems, then you need to train the person on that. Make sure that you've got an onboarding process and that you take each new employee through that process. That way there's consistency in how they're being trained Set your expectations It's very hard to go backwards and try to set expectations after a period of time. You’ve got to do that at the beginning. Set out your expectations for how the job is to be done. It is very hard to undo things like that if you don't get on to it right at the beginning. Remember how to create a team You've got to remember that there are four stages of team formation. it's not just going to click straightaway. It just doesn't happen like that. It doesn't matter whether you do who you bring together, people do things differently. you're going to go through that process. We’re going to do a whole podcast on this topic in the near future!…
Bankruptcy is not the most uplifting, topic. But it’s something every business owner has to think about. Today on the show we discuss 5 ways you can avoid the worst. Sell some assets If your business is drowning in debt their may be some ways to lessen that load. If you own property, cars or stocks you can use those to pay down some of that debt. That's going to be a lot better than a bankruptcy trustee doing it for you. Pay down debt Instead of waiting for your creditors to bang down your door be more proactive. Reach out to those who you owe and try and make alternate arrangements. They may be more receptive than you realize. Talk to your creditors If you've ever gone bankrupt or know someone who has often creditors get nothing at the end of the day. And if your creditors know that then they might be amenable to actually helping you do to avoid bankruptcy and might actually work with you to pay back your debts over time. So ask your creditors to help you be honest with them. Don't put your head in the sand. The ostrich approach never works! Talk to your friends You might want to consider approaching family or friends to put some money forward to help you avoid bankruptcy. If you've got a family member or friend that could help you out - just ask them. Take action You need to make sure that you get talk to these people and make sure that you come to an agreement. Depending on the credibility, you might be able to come to an agreement to pay back a portion of your debts.…
Last week we talked briefly about the different ways to wind-up a business. One of those options is to de-register the company. Today, we want to go into more detail about how to actually do that.
Today we're talking about the winding up of your company. Sometimes it's good sometimes it's bad. Here are three ways you can wind-up up your company. Voluntary winding-up You've decided that you want to wind up your company because you don't want to use it anymore. So there you can actually go to ASIC and voluntarily wind-up the company. 2. Deregistration All members of the company need to agree to deregister the company. The company must no longer be conducting business. You also cannot have any outstanding liabilities or debts. Nor can the company be involved in any legal proceedings. 3. Involuntary wind-up This can occur for a number of reasons. You may not be able to pay your debts. You can let another creditor actually wind-up the business but this is an option of last resort. You will lose all control of the process so be sure this is really the only option Left.…
When the worst happens in your business you need to get the best help possible. Today on the show we’re talking about 3 ways to deal with an insolvency practitioner. This is someone you go an see if you’re worried about becoming insolvent or if you have already declared bankruptcy. This is one of the most difficult things a business person will have to deal with. Here are some tips about how to do it right. Be honest Make sure you give them all the information they need. Like your lawyer or your accountant, if you don't give them all the information that they can't give you the right advice. Don’t put you head in the sand If you’ve engaged an insolvency practitioner don’t avoid the difficult questions. It may be difficult to confront the mistakes you’ve made. But if you don’t things will only get worse. It’s not the end of the world Bankruptcy is never going to be something you want to happen. But plenty of people have had this happen to them and they have gone on to bigger and better things.…
Nobody wants to think about it. But insolvency is always a possibility for any business. Today on the show we discuss the top 7 things your need to do to prevent the worst from happening.
مرحبًا بك في مشغل أف ام!
يقوم برنامج مشغل أف أم بمسح الويب للحصول على بودكاست عالية الجودة لتستمتع بها الآن. إنه أفضل تطبيق بودكاست ويعمل على أجهزة اندرويد والأيفون والويب. قم بالتسجيل لمزامنة الاشتراكات عبر الأجهزة.