Motivating employees during difficult economic times is a challenge experienced by many business owners. Having a motivated and empowered team is essential to ensuring the success of strategic business objectives.

A downturn does not automatically equal doom and gloom; it could mean exciting opportunities for your business to stand out from the crowd. Strategic mergers and acquisitions could allow your business to expand at a bargain price.

All investment activities are cash outflows meaning parting with money that could be used elsewhere. There is a big difference between investing and spending - and getting this wrong can be catastrophic for any business.

Want vs. Need

On 5 April 2013, the Government announced reforms to the superannuation system with an intention to “improve the fairness, sustainability and efficiency”. This Super Hot Spot outlines those proposed reforms.
One interesting aspect of this announcement is that they are in the shadow of the Federal Election in September.  Despite 1 July 2013 commencement for some aspects, the Government concede that these will not be legislated before the election. 

Tax, in its various forms, is a significant cost to any business. Smart businesses manage these costs and cash flow impact by: 

The importance of a clear, well considered and consistently monitored strategy has never been greater for businesses than in today’s environment.  Gone are the days when a business was able to set and implement a strategy that could set the direction for a business for many years with only minor modifications along the journey.

There are only two ways businesses can improve their profitability – by increasing turnover or by reducing costs.  But, increasing turnover alone does not always result in a significant improvement to your profitability.  Being committed to controlling the costs associated with producing your product or providing your service, will improve the profitability of your business, regardless of turnover.

While most businesses understand that growth and profitability are driven by well-developed customer relationships, they often fail to recognise that their relationship with their bank is also a key driver of profitability and growth. Businesses need to view their bank more like customers rather than ad-hoc suppliers.

We were on the home stretch as the last of the workshop sessions were convened and the final day of Trade Show activities took place. Today I attended two sessions which were both driving a sales improvement theme:

• Double your internet sales and profits this year, and
• Leaks and tweaks: Impact closing ratios

Welcome to Sunday: Day 3 at NADA, which sees Trade Show day and also the Inspirational Progamme with guest speaker Captain Mark Kelly who was Commander of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final mission.