Jobkeeper is scheduled to end on the 30th September
With government support programs due to end on the 30th September, business owners (and individuals) have 10 weeks to prepare themselves to survive without government financial assistance.
Some industries have been hit harder; and will take longer to recover than others. No one truly knows what the future holds; our suggestion is to plan for the worst – but hope for the best. If you’re planning to survive through the worst-case scenario, anything beyond that will be a positive result for you and put you on the road to recovery.
Now more than ever, the team at Walsh Accountants are positioning ourselves to help business owners prepare for what is ahead of them. You can put yourself in a strong position to flourish, it’s just going to take some forethought and planning to prepare yourself.
Over the next 10 weeks, we are going to provide some practical advice & tips on what SMEs can do to get ready.
As always, our team are ready to assist you should you need help to work through any of the resources we share with you. If you require assistance or would like to talk through anything, please do not hesitate to contact our office and speak with one of our amazing accountants.
Are you happy with your digital presence?
Even if customers aren’t purchasing through your site, that is the first impression they get of your business. Having a good website is vital for help your potential customers find the information they want to know before making the decision to purchase with you.
Revisit your website – if you’re unhappy with the look/feel or content, you might like to prioritise cleaning it up and making improvements?
There is a book written by Jon Hollenberg of FivebyFive that gives the small business owner a no-jargon, simple step by step visual framework and checklist which guides you through the web design process including:
Understanding and formulating a web strategy
How to partner with a great website designer
Selecting the right platform and tools
Designing a stunning site that converts
The importance of building great content
Optimising and sharing your content so that it gets found
Launching your site
A technical checklist to ensure your site is a success
If you’re interested in learning more or purchasing the book, please visit the FivebyFive website –
Make sure you have the right people in the right seats
As every element of your business circles back to your people, your team are the most valuable resource in your business.
In the post COVID-19 business world where competition will be fierce, the customer service you provide could be the only difference between your potential customers choosing to do business with you over your competitors.
Good staff have always been a core pillar of business success – but it’s even more important now. You must set high expectations for the way in which your team interact with your customers and the experience they provide to them.
If you have flexible work arrangements (particularly when working from home), you need to be sure they can operate autonomously.
Do you currently have the right relationships?
We have a resource which forms part of our Refresh, Reload, Relaunch your business. You can work through our Function accountability chart to ascertain if you have the right people in your business
Cashflow is more important than ever!
For any business to survive, cash flow is undeniably the single most important factor determining its propensity for success or failure. Run out and it’s game over!
To ensure you have the ability to survive without financial assistance and continue trading past September, prepare a budget and cash flow to understand what your breakeven level of sales are.
Work through our budget templates:
Work on your Cash Conversion Cycle
Most businesses will have some aspect of each of these elements.
During this cycle, cash is basically tied up in your business. If you want to be able to operate your business in a downturn situation, then your access to cash will be imperative. You are going to need to minimise the amount of time cash is tied up.
Most of the ways you can make improvements fall into 3 general areas:
- Speed things up/ shorten cycle times
- Eliminate mistakes
- Change the business model
Work through this Cash Acceleration Strategies worksheet to develop ways in which you can accelerate your cashflow
The Power of One
Business owners can adjust the 4 drivers by tweaking the 7 main financial levers available to them to improve cash and returns in the business:
- Price: you can increase the price
- Volume: sell more at the same price
- Cost of goods sold (COGS/direct costs): reduce the price you pay for raw materials and direct labour
- Operating expenses: Reduce you operating costs
- Accounts Receivable: You can collect from your debtors faster
- Inventory/Work in progress: you can recue the amount of stock you have on hand
- Accounts payable: you can slow down the payment of creditors