Real-time view of your cashlfow

Xero’s dashboard gives you a summary of all your bank account details and balances, and shows you how much money you have coming in and going out – plus the ability to drill down to see transaction details.

Access anywhere, anytime

Xero is web based so you can see how your business is performing financially when you want with 24/7 access from any internet connection in the world – PC, laptop, Mac and even a smartphone.

Collaboration with trusted advisors

With xero you can choose to invite us to work with you online – in real time. Click here to find out more about Smarts bookkeeping services

We are proud to be a Xero Certified Partner.

For more information on how Xero and Smart can work with your business, click here to contact us

Here are the five top reasons people buy a business:

1. Pursue a new and exciting opportunity
2. Be your own boss, and be in control of your own destiny
3. Utilise your existing business skills
4. Increase your earning potential
5. Make a profitable investment

What is your reason for considering buying a business? Click here to see what makes Smart a top business franchise opportunity

Consider the following eight areas that could create employee downtime in your business;

Jobs -all the jobs that must occur in your business to keep the business running but are non- billable – cleaning, repairs and servicing, meetings, research and development

Rework – work that is generated from employees “getting it wrong” or from poor direction and specifications from management. A lot of rework isn’t necessarily known about by business owners as employees have a vested interest in concealing their mistakes.

Non charged work - on jobs or products which are not paid for, or work that is carried out for clients at no charge.

“Blow outs” of time on jobs – If you cost and sell a service or a job for 20 hours and it takes 25 then the extra 5 hours is downtime. This can generate substantial downtime if you do not; 1) advise your employees of the budgeted time before they start, 2) include office and administration staff in your budgeted job hours, and 3) accurately report to both staff and management actual time “Live” on jobs.

Waiting for work – employees wait for work mainly due to low sales, poor job planning, waiting for completion of previous processes, not knowing what to go onto next, helping other staff and inefficiently doubling up time on jobs.

Training – downtime for trainer and trainee, for both new and existing employees. New staff take time getting up to speed. Many business owners tell us that their new staff “take twice the budgeted time on jobs on day 1 and it takes 3 months on average to bring them up to speed”.

Stolen time – employees “steal” time in a number of ways, sometimes inadvertently, sometimes deliberately, including being late to start work “at the desk” in the morning, early to leave work, early to breaks and lunch, and late back from both, sitting around doing nothing, talking to other staff (where both employees are not working), dealing with their personal life at work (phone, texting, browsing the internet, visiting social networking sites).

Going “walk about” – poorly planned: office, equipment, supplies…

In considering the above if you estimate that your total downtime is 10% you are probably being optimistic. 15% downtime is an hour and a quarter out of every eight hour day. That’s a pretty scary thought.

How can you increase “Productive Work Time” that can be charged out?

You may consider your office and administration staff to be “overhead staff” and therefore an “overhead” cost. But when office employees are treated solely as “overhead staff” SUBSTANTIAL hours are wasted as downtime, and you have no way of accurately factoring back office and admin time into job costing or service delivery.

Two ways to reduce office downtime

1. Have your office and administration staff log on to start and finish jobs on their PC so you can see precisely the hours involved – track and report actual times on jobs (and therefore actual downtime) daily and weekly to both themselves and to you. 
2. Or outsource it – that way you only pay to get the job done – not for unproductive time.

Ask yourself – What admin tasks can be achieved more efficiently and effectively in my business?

Click here to find out how outsourcing your admin could save you money

Smart has further expanded its national network of franchises by opening new offices in Waltham, Christchurch – and what a handy location – Click here for a map & directions

Phil Welsh, who has over 30 years’ business experience in major banking institutions, is heading up Smart Christchurch South.  He is a banking expert who has helped others to succeed in business over a long period of time, working with a variety of major companies and business of every size as a commercial and corporate specialist. Click here to read more about Phil

Phil saw the opportunity to leverage this experience with Smart – providing expert, friendly, practical day-to-day support to small and medium-sized businesses. His team can take care of your day-to-day work like answering the phone, fielding email and website inquiries, payroll, bookkeeping, invoicing, banking and paying the bills. That means you can get on with delivering your products and services and in doing so building your business. “It’s my goal to see my clients grow their businesses,” says Phil.

Smart director Adrienne Pierce said: “Through our franchise programme we are now delivering Smart support to companies and organisations across New Zealand – and beyond in Japan and the UK.  The new opening brings the number of Smart operations running in Christchurch to two, and joins offices now open in Auckland and Hawkes Bay.”

“As awareness spreads that professional outsourced virtual office services are about half the cost of employing your own office staff, we are getting enquiries everyday from experienced business people looking to save themselves time and money,” she adds.

Get on board.

Click here to discover the benefits of outsourcing your phone, admin, financials or payroll

Click here to read more about franchise opportunity

The sheer dread of returning to an unrewarding office job after the Christmas holidays, combined with New Year resolutions, spurs many people into action to become their own boss.

According to Adrienne Pierce, founder of Smart, “We certainly see an increase in franchise inquiries in January as people are back in the office but aren’t really enjoying being there. This is the best month to act,” she says. “Start researching business opportunities and talking it over with friends and family as you’re getting back up to speed this month. Develop your game plan and lay the groundwork to make your move this year.”

When Is the Right Time to Start a Business? Now.

Now definitely appears to be a great time to start a business. And the current economy is a big part of the reason for that. There were fewer new businesses opening last year. This is important, because it means less competition for employees, customers, attention in your marketplace, and everything else you might need to get your business off the ground.

And, while the bank finance tap is not flowing as freely as it might have in the past, finance is still available out there to the obviously great businesses and business buyers.

So if you have that urge to own a business, we can’t think of why you wouldn’t get started. Now.

Take the leap

The hardest thing you’ll do is to take the leap. If you don’t leap into business ownership, you’ll be depending on someone else for your earnings for the rest of your working life – a life’s work without ownership or upside.

You’re better than that. That’s why you’re reading this article. So go for it.

If you’re ready and willing to start a business this year, why not try a Smart franchise? Check out what our franchise owners have to say

To claim that no franchise anywhere has taken a hit because of the recession would be going off half-cocked, because undoubtedly all kinds of businesses have suffered in recent months. Still, in spite of the downturned economy, franchises have proven to be very resilient. Why?

Here are the top 4 reasons to buy a franchise in 2010

1. During a recession, one of the hardest things for an independent business owner to do is adapt their business to the changing economy, while at the same time operating the business (and probably working more in it themselves to cut costs). Franchisees don’t have to worry about that, because while they operate their franchises on a day-to-day basis, the franchisor takes responsibility for adapting business plans to market changes. 
2. And those adaptations are made with a wealth of knowledge and experience over many years in multiple locations behind them that most non-franchised businesses simply do not have.
3. Another huge benefit that a franchise brings to the table that no stand alone business can compete with is a comprehensive marketing calendar and tools for local advertising and national branding. Marketing is something that the average business owner is not well versed in, but is one of the most important tools for maintaining a business despite recession, so having that professional support team doing some of the work on your behalf is a huge plus for any business owner.
4. Financing a new venture is one of the most crucial aspects of going into business. The banks are often keener to lend to franchisees because it carries less risk than lending to normal start-up businesses or inexperienced new business owners.

With that in mind, here is a franchise business opportunity for the interested professional.

Whatever the economic weather, businesses still need their bookkeeping, accounts and payroll done; GST returns filed; phones answered and paperwork organised – and they’re looking to save money by having a Smart franchise do it for them. Here’s why your investment in a Smart Franchise will be the best decision you’ve ever made!

Are you ready to see a change in how your small business is taxed?

According to the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and Tax Management New Zealand small businesses – which now comprise 90% of New Zealand businesses – are spending a vastly disproportionate amount of time and cost complying with tax requirements in comparison with medium and large sized businesses. The result is that they are left time poor and distracted from being able to develop their businesses.

So what’s the answer?

They are seeking your feedback on their first draft proposal titled “Simplifying Tax for Small Businesses in New Zealand”.

Do you earn up to $60,000? They propose introducing a flat tax rate of 15%.

Do you earn up to $1.2m? They propose that you pay your income tax on your GST return.

Before they release their final proposal to Government and tax policy makers at the end of February 2010, they want to know what you think and what you need to help make paying tax easier for you.

To have your say about the proposals, please go to www.smetax.co.nz.

For help with your GST returns – click here

When you buy an established business, the business is up and running and all you have to do is sign the papers and pick up the key and you are set to go – right? Wrong. At present, the economic cycle is moving out of a recession, and this could have had a negative impact on an existing business.

Given below are 10 things to investigate prior to buying an existing business:

1. First and foremost you need to find out that the business is solvent and owns all the assets for sale (tangible and intangible) before you sink any money into an established business.
2. As consumers tightened their purse strings last year and spent their money just on essential items, was there a decrease in sales? Will you have to devise new and innovative methods to attract customers towards this business?
3. Higher expenses and lower profit margins mean many businesses have tightened their financial belt. In 2009 did the previous owner give priority to those expenses that will put the business in the best possible position for the economic recovery in 2010?
4. Check if the business regularly made payments by credit card; how the business tracked expenses compared to income; and whether any new loans or overdrafts have been taken out in the last 12 months.
5. How long has the current owner had the business? Stay away from businesses that have changed hands repeatedly in the past as they are usually white elephants and you will end up losing money.
6. What type of reputation does it enjoy in the community right now – not in the past?
7. Why is the owner selling? How might this impact the business and your taking it over?
8. Make sure that you use a solicitor to assist you with the purchase who is knowledgeable with regard to business debt. You should get free and clear title to the business, without liens or liabilities so that you do not, unknowingly, take on any business debt.
9. What is the current relationship with suppliers like? You may need to honour or renegotiate any outstanding contracts the previous owner leaves in place.
10. If the business has been neglected or allowed to run down you may need to invest quite a bit more on top of the purchase price to give it the best chance of success.

In the current market it is prudent to think very carefully before you decide to buy an existing business. 

Above all, finding finance is going to be your top challenge. As banks have pulled away from lending to large, established companies, you can only imagine what they’re telling unproven business owners just starting out. A strong personal credit rating is mandatory, but it won’t necessarily be enough. Be prepared to front plenty of cash and collateral.

Examining these three trends can help you identify potential cash flow problems or falling profitability.

1. Sales. Track any significant increase or decrease during the last twelve months and compare to month to month with the previous year.

2. Costs. Are costs increasing more than revenue? Examine major costs as a percentage of sales; including labour, overheads, warehousing and delivery costs. Then compare those percentages month to month with the previous year.

3. Working capital. Ascertain the working capital currently available in your business by subtracting your current liabilities from your current assets. Then compare your working capital month to month with the previous year.

Other key numbers to review are your current:

Break-even Point
Profit Margins (Gross and Net)
Cash Flow Forecasts
Budgets
Creditor and Debtor Days

Financial numbers are only the beginning.

You need to look beyond the numbers on your financial statements.

Most successful business owners have a set of key numbers they use to monitor how well their business is doing, and usually these numbers are a combination of financial and nonfinancial measurements.

Other very useful numbers that indicate a trend in your business can be found in:

• marketing effectiveness reports
• sales conversion reports
• payroll reports
• production reports
• telephone log
• customer complaint reports
• quality control reports

Need help with the numbers?

Click here to find out more about Smarts bookkeeping service

List the 5 things that will contribute the most to growing your sales and profit.

Define the results you want, set targets and design how to measure them.

When you choose the goals that are most important to you and your business, you’ll see previously overlooked opportunities and begin to figure out ways you can make them a reality.

Check each goal is SMART:

S = Specific. Exactly what do you want to ultimately accomplish? How much? How many?

M = Measurable. Make measures as mathematical as possible (#,% $). How are you going to measure this? Who is going to measure it?

A = Achievable. This doesn’t mean “easy.” Set goals that can be reached, but only with some effort! Make it a stretch.

R = Realistic. Does your business currently have the people, knowledge, skills and resources needed to make it happen?

T = Timely. Set a timeframe to measure the target: daily at a specific time, every week on a certain day of the week, a specific date each month – otherwise it won’t happen.

Set up a system to measure and track these goals.

The important thing is that you get this data when you need it to make sound business decisions – daily, weekly, monthly.

It’s too easy to limit your choice of measures just to the data you already have available. It’s a quandary, because we all know that the only way to get the data we really need is to ask for it.

If you are looking for better systems and software to help track your numbers and goals– but don’t want to do it yourself  – click here