RA Business Advisors

small business

Staying Competitive as a Small Business in the Amazon Age

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Amazon has been operating on Australian shores for some time now, but the ‘Amazon Effect’ has yet to hit. Amazon’s launch has signaled a culture shift for shoppers, with eCommerce sales set to almost double in the next five years. With this in mind, how can you ensure your small business doesn’t get left behind?

Consider how you could use Amazon to your advantage

Amazon’s Marketplace platform provides opportunities to reach a whole new segment of customers. With the recent introduction of Fulfillment by Amazon, small businesses can use Amazons capabilities for storing and sending products. This is especially useful for when their Prime service launches later this year, offering flagship shipping times. The service also processes returns, freeing you up to focus on what you do best.

Focus on your delivery times

If you decide you aren’t going to use Amazon’s logistics services, make sure you are nailing your shipping times. As Amazon keeps growing, delivery speed is going to be a growing driver of business, according to Deloitte’s David White.

Get your online right

Reports from Hitwise and OFX show Australian consumers are eager for a multi-channel shopping experience. Focusing on options such as click-and-collect are critical to bridge the gap between online and in-store customers.

The largest demographics using online shopping are the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups, think about how you can effectively reach these audiences and convert them into customers. Effective online presence is key for this, especially for small business, have a read of our article on online presence HERE.

Brand loyalty was also shown to be increasingly more important in the current retail landscape, that means continuing to engage with customers post-purchase through online newsletters, deals, or targeted ads.

Remember the power of price

Amazon sells products at a premium to US prices with their advantage coming from their range of products and delivery, not their price. Focusing on delivering prices that blow customers away is a simple way to compete against Amazon.

Make Technology work for you

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Your small business

Running a small business seems great in theory; you’ve got the benefits of being your own boss, extra income, flexibility – the ‘Australian dream’.

When in reality you’ve got hours of administration work, constant pressure of cash flow, and endless hours working on the small minute financial details of you business. With revolutions in technology like the famous ‘cloud’, how come you still have hours of bookkeeping, payroll and the like?

The cloud isn’t the be all end all

Great, you’ve setup your business and transitioned everything into the cloud. Have those hours of painstaking work dialled back? Or has it just gotten worse? The cloud isn’t user friendly and unless you’re prepared to take up another university degree or spend hours reading through multiple guidebooks on bookkeeping, payroll, and marketing. When you’ve got inventory, cash flow, supplies, and clients/customers to worry about, how can you spare the time?

The cloud, bookkeeping applications, payroll software won’t save you time, it’ll just increase your workload.

By now you’re thinking, why did I ever start this small business, will it ever succeed? Don’t worry; you don’t have to handle all of this paperwork on your own. Luckily, there is a major time-saving solution just one phone call away.

 

The truth about the digital age

Going digital isn’t all that, sure it’s great in some aspects but sometimes you really need a human element. This isn’t new to the technological world either. Many major companies such as Apple and Spotify use ‘real human beings’ to create popular playlists.

Not to mention those little food apps like Foodora and Uber Eats that combine technology with real human beings. Would you trust a robot delivering your weekly order of Mexican? It doesn’t even begin with these guys, full stack businesses have been around since smart phones came into existence!

But this article isn’t about your food delivery needs, so let’s get back to the topic of your business. Apps won’t make your professional life easier like they do with your personal. You need a REAL solution; well don’t worry reader that’s where professionals come into play.

And by professionals I mean, accountants and business advisors. Don’t worry you won’t need to open a new tab and scour the internet for a business advisor that actually makes sense. We’ve got you covered!

 

Xero: The beginning of the end

Xero is definitely a life changer, as we’ve discussed before but it can also be a hassle if you don’t know what you’re doing. Small business owners enjoy using Xero as it makes accounting fun but in the long run some are making a mess of things. I mean, if you join a bookkeeping Facebook group, you’ll see what I mean.

Enter: a Xero-savvy business advisor with a free one hour training session. Now before you go rummaging around for your keys, you’ll need to book as everyone knows time is valuable.

 

What if I still can’t get it right?

You’ve gone through your free training session, maybe you’ve booked a few more but you still can’t quite get the hang of it? Lucky for you our tech-savvy advisors know Xero inside and out, so you don’t have to!

And here’s the absolute kicker; choosing a business advisor over a DIY can not only save you time but it’s less risky and less expensive than hiring an in-house bookkeeper. So if you aren’t up to the task of sorting out your payroll, taxes, accounts receivable, and accounts payable, then I advise you to give us a call or book a consultation.

 

Small Business Booming in the Burbs’

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Small Business Insights

Xero has recently launched Small Business Insights, which provides a monthly snapshot of Australia’s small business sector – courtesy of data aggregated from Xero’s hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Xero has decided to provide these insights with the aim to “help policymakers and large enterprises make more informed decisions that benefit the small business economy” (Xero SBI). On top of metrics that give insights to the small business environment in Australia; KPMG, small business owners, business journalists provide commentary on the small business sector.

small bus

A New Trend

One interesting trend that has been observed by Xero is the increase of small business employment in more suburban locations in major Australian cities. Bernard Salt of KPMG has reported this pattern being evident in Brisbane, as small business employment increased in the period of January – September this year. Nearby CBD suburbs Red Hill (woo!) and Clayfield experienced a 17% increase in small business employment. More suburban areas such as Camp Hill and Bridgeman Downs also had an increase of small business employment, going up 23% & 18% respectively.

This suburban small business employment trend is also replicated in other large Australian cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. It seems that middle suburbia in Australia is acting as an incubator to nurture new small businesses, says Bernard Salt. It is important to note that whether our economy is performing well or poorly, middle suburbs in our large cities still flourish and experience growth in employment. These small business employment patterns that have been uncovered by Xero’s Small Business Insights give a new perspective on Australia’s modern economy. This pattern provides evidence that small business is as vital as ever to Australia’s economy.

We as small business advisors are excited about these findings, as it displays Australia’s evolving economy – and more importantly outlines the importance of small business to our evolving economy. All information was gathered from the “Small business beats in the heartland” article by Bernard Salt – read the full article here.

small business booming in the burbs

Post Contributor:
Andrés Pascoe

The New Payments Platform…Finally!

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The Current Problem

You go out to dinner with friends, you’re having a great night & what could possibly go wrong? Then the end of the night comes, and the waiter utters that dreaded sentence…

“Unfortunately we don’t do split bills…”

This is a hassle that we have all experienced as with the high dispersion of banking providers among consumers, there is bound to be at least one of your friends that uses a different provider to you. As we all know, it can take up to 3 business days for payments to be transferred between different banks – which is extremely frustrating.

Although this delay can be a pain for consumers, perhaps the biggest sufferer of delayed inter-bank payments in Australia is small business. Late payments have been described as the “silent killer” of Australian small businesses. Another major problem for small businesses in Australia is poor cash flow – research has found that small business owners spend an average of 12 days in a year chasing unpaid invoices. This forces small businesses to focus on surviving rather than thriving, due to the stress that arises from chasing these payments.

Australia is a front runner in embracing electronic payments, however Australia’s existing infrastructure does not have the capability to support the evolving needs of a 24/7 digital economy. The RBA has now come up with the answer: The New Payments Platform. The New Payments Platform or NPP is a platform that: “Can empower businesses to become more efficient, reduce costs and improve their customer service.” A big win for Aussie small business!

Happy

The Way it Works

Basic Infrastructure

Users will be able to transfer money between bank accounts in real time, through an identifier such as an email address, phone number or ABN number. This provides unprecedented efficiency and convenience with transferring money (no more sharing of lengthy BSB and account number details). Users will also be able to include richer data with each payment – 280 characters will be allowed to be added to each payment rather than the 18 characters currently allowed by banks, which will facilitate e-invoicing and instant processing.

Fast Settlement Service

The Reserve Bank of Australia will provide the Fast Settlement Service (FSS), which enables all payments made on the NPP to be settled in real-time central bank funds, across each financial institution’s Exchange Settlement Account (ESA).

Overlay Services

Overlay services are payment related products or services that can adopt the benefits of the basic infrastructure. This provides a platform for competition and innovation, with each product and service having the possibility of offering differing or similar experiences. The first Overlay Service to go live on the NPP will be Osko by BPAY.

This new platform represents a great opportunity for small business in Australia, as a more efficient, accountable payment system is a welcome change to increase productivity within small businesses. Small business is continually proving to be a crucial contributor for Australia’s economy, and is a sector that can benefit greatly from the New Payments Platform. We can’t wait for this system to kick in, as we are looking forward to seeing our clients experience the benefits of this new system!

Post Contributor:
Andrés Pascoe

Introducing Xero Projects

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September was an exciting month for Xero partners and small business owners in Australia, as Xero held their annual Xerocon conference in Melbourne. Xero utilised the event to announce an abundance of new apps and features, along with some changes arising in the cloud accounting system. One exciting new feature announced was Xero Projects, which is a tool that will give small business advisors like us the ability to collaborate even more closely with our clients. Projects will give business owners the ability to track their jobs more precisely, ensuring easier planning and budgeting and more efficient resource allocation. The essential goal for Projects is to help drive business efficiency and profitability.

Xero Projects Features

Xero Projects is a new simple time and cost tracking tool that:

• Focuses on the financial side of project management.
• Integrates with key Xero features, including contacts, invoicing, and very soon bills and bank reconciliation.
• Provides flexible, easy project invoicing.
• Supports fixed price and time billing.
• Monitors project budgets and financials.

It has been designed especially for small businesses with simple costing needs, allowing for collaboration with Xero accountants who will be able to provide live informed decisions and allow small business owners to manage their business more efficiently.

xero projects

Pricing

For businesses working with Xero accountants such as ourselves, Xero Projects is going to be free to use for the rest of 2017. Following 2017, this feature will initially be priced at $7 per month in the introductory period, then $10 per month thereafter.

We love this new addition from Xero, tools such as Projects are making Xero’s software an even more attractive proposition for small businesses owners – further expanding the platform to achieve efficiency and profitability.

If you are interested in learning more about Xero Projects or any other Xero add ons, our Xero experts are always available for a chat. Get in touch with us on (07) 3367-0852. or schedule a free Xero Consultation session below:

Post Contributor:
Andrés Pascoe

EFTPOS Minimum? Australian Consumers Are Cashing You Later

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How frequently do you go to your local café and pay for your morning coffee with a crispy fiver? The reality is that as soon as ‘medium cappuccino’ is rolling off your tongue, the café staff member is most likely entering the amount due into their portable EFTPOS machine, assuming that a cashless transaction is about to occur. Cashless payments are becoming a more prevalent trend in business transactions around the world, with Australia as one of the front-runners of this revolution.

Research conducted by market analysts East & Partners has shown that cash payments currently make up less than 10% of all payments received by Australian merchants, additionally; between 2010-2016 the amount of cash payments within Australia has fallen around 46%. This has been quite a quick transition for Australian businesses, as only 10 years ago cash payments represented 70% of all Australian transactions according to RBA. East & Partners have also claimed that only 2% of all transactions will be paid via cash within the next 5 years.

In a society that craves convenience more and more every day, these statistics definitely make a lot of sense. The prominent rise of cashless payment systems can also be attributed to leading edge organisations such as ride sharing service Uber utilising cashless payment systems, whose success with an online payment system is currently putting their competitors at a major disadvantage. This has created a knock on effect to all small businesses operating in Australia, in that Uber’s success with cashless payment systems has in a sense set a standard for convenience. The benchmark has been set, and it has become crucial for Australian businesses to aim for this level of convenience.

The modern consumer is time-poor, and a minor inconvenience such as a $5 EFTPOS minimum can now be a crucial factor for a consumer’s purchase decision. Technology is continually proving to be a crucial aspect of the successful operation of a business, and this is something that we as business advisors are extremely passionate about.

Post Contributor:
Andrés Pascoe

How Agile is Your Business?

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how agile is your business

It is widely known that successfully operating a small business comes with plenty of challenges. The long hard days of trying to manage every activity within your business everyday can be extremely time consuming and tiring. Thankfully, we live in a day and age where there are readily available tools specifically curated to help a small business owner overcome these challenges, and importantly present them with a platform to grow. These tools have all been made possible by the continual marriage of technology and business within the last couple of decades. We can think of technology and business as a relationship that started off rocky, but now the connection is stronger than ever, to the point where the two have become interdependent. And there are no signs of them breaking up anytime soon.

The importance of technology

Stepping back from the view of a small business and glaring into the landscape of the general business environment, we can make one obvious assessment: technology is the number one factor that is influencing today’s business climate. It is important to note that tech affects all businesses, regardless of whether your business is directly concerned with technology or not. Although this evaluation is an obvious one, few business owners realise how quickly this implementation of technology has to occur. The rate of digitisation of business is accelerating, as organisations try to keep up with the rapid technological changes occurring within each industry.

Innovate your business model

In order to keep your business relevant in today’s age, you not only have to improve on a competitor’s business model, but continually think of how you can improve your own business model! This sense of continual innovation within your business can enable you to be adaptable to change. We believe that small business owners can utilise cloud accounting software such as Xero to alleviate the stress of time consuming activities such as book keeping, giving you the time to complete more dynamic tasks. We also believe that using a tool such as Xero allows us as advisors to collaborate effectively with small business owners to make your business more agile. By agile we mean that we can analyse your business’ real time data, from which our advisors can directly propose where decisions can be made, creating more value, efficiency and ultimately more revenue for your business.

Contact us on 07 3367 0852 for a free consultation, and we can present to you how collaborating with us through the use of Xero can make your business more efficient, and free up more time for you to utilise on other necessary revenue building ventures within your business.

Post Contributor:
Andrés Pascoe

5 Reasons Accounting Apps are Breathing New Life into Businesses

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Accounting software is now becoming extinct and is rapidly becoming replaced by software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, which use cloud computing to provide easily accessible accounting tools. If you are behind the times and have not yet switched to a cloud-based accounting app, Xero offers a free trial to get you started. Here are five reasons why you should make the switch to cloud accounting apps:

1. No micromanagement
Cloud apps require less micromanagement as they are more intuitive than standard accounting applications. Xero is nowhere near as complicated as legacy applications and offer real-time bank feeds and invoicing, as well as expense tracking and financial reporting.

2. Grow your business
Xero allows you to easily look into your business performance levels and recognise where problems need to be fixed. It is perfect for small and medium business owners offering payroll, SuperStream, expense tracking, billing services and much more to help you grow your business.

3. Integrate with other software
Xero integrates with a range of add-ons to help run your business smoothly and effectively in every department. We offer set up and training in many Xero add-ons including: Workflowmax, Unleashed, VendHQ, ReceiptBank, Geo Op, and Deputy.

4. Work on an international scale 
Cloud-based accounting apps offer the same features as legacy, desktop software. Due to the varying locales in business, accounting apps work with different currencies, languages, and rules best suited for your business. Many cloud accounting apps factor in international tax jurisdictions making financial reporting at tax time a breeze.

5. Variety to suit your business
There are a multitude of different accounting apps and software to suit your business. GetApp’s shows the Top 25 Accounting Apps, based on the last quarter of 2016. This analysis is based on user reviews, integrations, mobile app availability, media presence, and security. Take a look at the list to find the best app for your business.

If you are unsure about with app is best for you, or just need some help with your current software, please feel free to contact us.