You are an ambitious business owner who wants to make a mark on the world.

You want to achieve your personal goals, whatever they may be.

In business, you want to achieve financial stability and take control over your business and your life.

You want to live a lifestyle that enables you to have more money in your pocket and more time to use it, in any way you choose.

But how do you do it?

The reality is you need a high level of financial intelligence to be able to be successful in business today, and likely even more so in the future.

Master the following 5 secrets and you’ll be well on your way:

  1. Strategy:

The first step in any journey is deciding where you want to go. In the first step of my framework, you’ll create a strategic plan by assessing where you are now, deciding where you want to go, and charting the most efficient course between the two.

  • Where are you going?
    1. Define your mission & long-term vision
    2. Define your values
    3. Prepare your 1-3 year business plan (S.M.A.R.T.)
      1. Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, Time-bound
  • Where are you now?
    1. Review your current financial statements
    2. How and why it’s achieving its current levels of performance
    3. SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
  • How will you get there?
    1. Business benchmarks
    2. KPI’s
    3. Taking action & Measuring success
  1. Structure:

The right structure can save time, money and heartache. The wrong structure, on the other hand, can make your business far more expensive and complicated than it needs to be. Structure is an essential piece of achieving your strategic goals, so here is what you need to consider when it comes to choosing the right structure for you.

  • What are your options? Sole trader, partnership, company, trust, SMSF
  • What to think about? Asset protection, tax minimisation, control, flexibility, active or passive income, cost, ease of admin and succession planning.
  • What are your specific circumstances?

Assessing all the above components will ultimately lead to the best structure for your business but keep in mind, your circumstances can change.

  1. Statutory:

Understanding all your compliance obligations is critical to the smooth running of your business and there are many.

  • Tax – income tax, GST, PAYGW, PAYGI, ATO
  • Super – SGC, employee v contractor, ATO
  • Workers Comp – employee v contractor, cert of remuneration
  • Other – payroll tax, land tax, stamp duty, ASIC

Being aware of these is the first step. Being set up to account for these is the second. Knowledge is power but management is success.

  1. Systems:

If you are trying to manage everything by yourself on an ad hoc basis, not only is this inefficient, but you run the risk of not meeting your statutory obligations. In this step, it’s all about the main money management systems your business will need to stay on top of your obligations, while moving towards your strategic goals.

  • Managing your cash flow – cash v profit, money in v money out, ATO, over-commitment, cashflow forecast, working capital
  • Managing your financing – debt, equity, partner/investor, profit
  • Troubleshooting any problems – prep financials regularly, compare actual to budget, review suppliers, review debtors, reconcile accounts, record cash payments

Good financial systems are critical to help manage your business.

  1. Support:

As an ambitious business owner, you probably try to do it all. After all, it’s your business – you want to make sure everything’s running as it should be. The problem is that this isn’t sustainable – you can’t be all things to all people, and you can’t do everything at the high standards you’d like. This is why support is essential. You need your own Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Virtual CFO.

  • Virtual CFO v doing it yourself – time, knowledge, financial management, business decisions
  • Different ways a Virtual CFO can help – on-going support/advice, job-by-job / fee-for-service, standard services, specialist services
  • Choosing a Virtual CFO – qualification, experience, industry knowledge, communication, analysis, strategy, risk, technology, passion