Making your office space more productive

It is incredible the impact that the physical characteristics of an office can have upon workplace productivity. Elements such as colour schemes and office layout, which may seem inconsequential, can have tremendous effects on productivity. Here are three things to consider when redecorating your office space:

Lighting: Natural light has a positive effect on people’s mood and tends to improve their work. Obviously letting in more natural light is not an option for most businesses, but what you can do is rearrange your office to maximise your employees’ exposure to natural light.

Colour: While there has been some of contradictory research into the psychological effects of colour, one thing that people seem to agree on is the stimulating effect of bright and saturated colours. Whenever possible, choose vivid colours for office supplies and furniture.

Plant life: A few nice plants around the office will help to brighten the mood and increase concentration. A small pot plant on each desk can be a great way to show employees your appreciation.

Tips to reduce millennial turnover

One of the biggest challenges currently facing business managers and employers is how to retain millennial talent. Younger workers are quite different to other generations and are therefore much harder to retain than any other working demographic.

Common reasons associated with young workers jumping ship include not feeling connected to a business, not seeing any room for advancement and feeling like they do not serve a purpose.

But since millennials are going to make up a large percentage of the workforce over the coming years, it is important that employers can offer jobs that cater to their needs.

Here are some tips for businesses wanting to appeal to the younger workforce and retain these kinds of employees for longer.

Provide development opportunities: Employers need to show younger workers that they are just as committed as their employees to advancing their careers. Employers can do this by offering growth plans like role diversity or defining promotional structures for advancement every couple of years.

Give them some freedom: Most millennials have big dreams for their careers and want to be able to execute them. Instead of holding them back, employers should look to incorporating flexible work options like working from home so young workers can continue to pursue their interests outside of work.

Make them feel connected to their job: Employers need to give their younger employees a reason to feel connected to their workplace and business. Employees who are involved in a business’s organisational culture are more likely to feel connected to it.

Boosting employee morale

Since employee morale can quickly build or hinder a business’s success, business owners increasingly need to focus on keeping employees motivated and engaged.

As low morale is often the cause of increased turnover and low productivity it pays to be proactive when it comes to managing employee satisfaction. Here are some strategies to improve employee morale and productivity in your workplace:

Celebrate achievements
Recognising and rewarding your employees for their accomplishments demonstrates your appreciation for their work. Rather than singling out people for good work, try rewarding everyone for the achievements of a few to reinforce teamwork. Celebrate your business successes with your team; employees who feel like the successes of the business are their successes also are more inclined to work hard and come up with ideas of their own.

Focus on career development
Employees are more likely to have higher job satisfaction if they know that you are invested in their career goals and provide opportunities for career advancement. Identify your employees individual career goals and commit to investing in them. Whether it is as simple as teaming them up with co-worker to learn a new skill or providing work time to study online make it happen. The end result will often lead to happy and more productive workers and a more skilled team for you.

Encourage social activities
Socialising with colleagues can form a major part of whether someone like or dislikes their job. Implementing social activities such as team building exercises, supporting a charity or setting up a social club for outside activities can go a long way to improving employee engagement.

Year-round bookkeeping

Staying on top of your records all year round can save time, prevent unnecessary stress and help maximise a small business’s tax return. Although record-keeping can seem like a monotonous job, it is an essential part of running a business. Good recordkeeping makes it easier to meet your tax obligations, manage cash flow and make sound business decisions.

Here are some business records you need to keep:

• Expense or purchase records: You must keep records of all business expenses such as receipts, invoices including tax invoices, cheque book receipts, credit card vouchers and diaries to record small cash expenses.

• Year-end records: These records include lists of creditors or debtors and worksheets to calculate depreciating assets, stocktake sheets and capital gains tax records.

• Income and sales records: You must keep records of all sale transactions such as invoices including tax invoices, receipt books, cash register tapes and records of cash sales.

• Bank records: Documents such as bank statements, loan documents and bank deposit books need to be kept in preparation for your tax return.

• Income tax records: Records must be kept of all your sales (income) and expenses to prepare your business activity statement (BAS) and annual income tax return.

Choosing a business location

One of the top considerations new business owners face when preparing where to operate is location. Location is one of the most critical decisions as it can determine whether customers will enter your store or shop with your competitors.

There are many factors to consider when determining location such as demographics, visibility, supply chain, competition, budget and legal and environmental obligations. Here are some tips to help you decide on the right business location:

Determine what your business requires
Understanding the key demographics of your target market can provide insight into where your customers live and prefer to shop. As most businesses will choose a location that provides exposure to customers, it is worth considering visibility and accessibility when deciding on a location. Other considerations include:

• Competition: Are neighbouring businesses competing or complementary?

• Future growth: Do you plan to expand or grow in the future? Will you have extra space if needed?

• Image: Is the area consistent with your brand image?

Forecast your finances
When determining how much you can afford, it is a good idea to forecast any additional financial costs you may incur such as:

• Transportation: What will be the cost of moving business equipment?

• Redecoration: Will the location need any improvements such as repainting?

• Tax: What are the income, sales and property tax rates for your state? Could you pay less taxes by operating across a nearby state line?

Research the area
The business premises and its surroundings will have a large impact on whether your customers will travel to your location. Study the foot and vehicle traffic for the area to ensure the location is practical for your customers. Some questions to consider include:

• Parking: Is there a parking lot for the shopfront? Is there affordable public or street parking nearby?

• Public transport: Is it convenient to access with public transport?

• Commercial activity: Are there similar businesses nearby? Is the area run down or a thriving shopping precinct? Does your business create noise or smells that may affect neighbouring stores?

Federal Budget – Small Businesses

This year’s Federal Budget is based on a ten-year enterprise tax plan designed to stimulate more small business activity by boosting new investment, creating jobs and increasing real wages.

One of the key features of this plan is that the small business entity annual turnover threshold will be increased from $2 million to $10 million from 1 July 2016. The increased threshold will not apply for the purpose of accessing existing small business capital gains tax concessions.

The Government will also reduce the corporate tax rate for businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million per year to 27.5 per cent from 1 July 2016. This lower rate will be progressively reduced to 25 per cent over 10 years.

An 8 per cent unincorporated tax discount will be provided to unincorporated businesses with turnover less than $5 million per annum, capped at $1,000 per year from 1 July 2016 for the following eight years. The discount will increase to 16 per cent in increments from 2024 to 2026 to coincide with the staggered reductions in the corporate rate.

All Australian small businesses from 1 July 2016 with an annual turnover of less than $10 million will have access to:

Simplified depreciation rules
These include immediate tax deductibility for asset purchases costing less than $20,000 until 30 June 2017.

Simplified trading stock rules
New rules will give businesses the option to avoid end of year stocktake if the value of their stock has changed by less than $5,000.

A simplified method of paying PAYG instalments
Instalments will be calculated by the ATO, removing the risk of under or overestimating PAYG and the resulting penalties that may be applied.

The option to account for GST
Small businesses will have the option to account for GST on a cash basis and pay GST instalments as calculated by the ATO.

Other tax concessions
Other tax concessions that are currently available to small businesses, such as fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemptions (from 1 April 2017 to align with the FBT year).

A trial of simpler BAS
The trial is to reduce GST compliance costs, with a full roll-out from 1 July 2017.

These threshold changes will not affect eligibility for the small business capital gains tax concessions, which will remain available for businesses with annual turnover of less than $2 million or that satisfy the maximum net asset value test.

Wage subsidies for employers

The Budget’s plan to enhance wage subsidies is set to benefit both job seekers and businesses in Australia.

As part of Budget reforms, existing wage subsidies (including those for youth, parents, Indigenous, mature age, and the long-term unemployed) will be streamlined to make them more accessible for employers.

Wage subsidy arrangements will be simplified to be much more flexible and provide job seekers with incentives to break into the Australian workforce.

Employers will have wage subsidies available to them from the first day of a job seeker’s employment. Employers will also have the flexibility to choose how often instalments are paid (fortnightly, monthly or another arrangement) and over what time period.

Rather than being paid out over 12 months, wage subsidies will now be paid out over six months at a flat rate instead of pro-rated instalments.

Managing flexible working arrangements

Small businesses operating in an ever-changing environment increasingly need to ensure they get flexible working schemes right. Finding the right balance can be mutually beneficial for both your business and employees.

Business owners are responsible for effectively implementing and managing flexible working arrangements that ensure all employees are satisfied. Here are some things to consider when approaching flexible working schemes:

Employer obligations
Flexible working arrangements not only make commercial sense but employers are legally obliged to consider the arrangement where an employee applies. Therefore, consideration needs to be given to all employee requests and when assessing applications you must make sure that they are not unfairly disadvantaged by their personal circumstances.

It is important to remain up-to-date with the latest legal documents, contracts and processes to ensure your business complies within its legal requirements.

Adopt a specific policy
Introducing a specific policy so decisions are clear and consistent for all employees is vital to the success of flexible working schemes. Inform employees of your expectations when commencing an arrangement, such as using an ‘out-of-office’ message when away, sharing employee work schedules and online calendars etc.

Performance management
Reviewing flexible arrangements on a regular basis is a great opportunity to provide feedback to your employees and make any necessary changes. Conducting performance reviews for staff on flexible arrangements should be the same as for anyone else. Business owners may also want to consider gaining feedback from colleagues as these arrangements need to work for the whole team to succeed.

Hiring younger workers

Businesses that choose only to hire experienced staff are missing out on the energy, drive and creativity of youth. Many employers are reluctant to hire young people because they doubt their readiness to work, abilities and skill level.

However, business owners need to realise that younger people do have plenty to offer, and in the right environment, will thrive. For example:

• Younger workers are keen and ready to work

Many young people came into the job market during or after the last recession, which has had a continuing impact on the job prospects of young Australians. Young people want to work and they want to prove themselves.

• Younger workers have grown up in a digital world

While this isn’t to say that older people don’t understand the latest digital technology, for younger generations, digital has always been the norm.

• Younger workers are often more adaptable

Since youth is a time of change and flexibility, young people are flexible and willing to learn new skills. They are also usually eager to work in new areas or locations.

• Social media is part of their lives

Younger people can use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, SnapChat, Instagram to reach customers, prospects and future business partners.

• Younger workers follow trends

Younger workers have the time, energy and interest to keep up to date with the latest products and services. They can help a business adapt quickly to these trends and act as focus groups for targeted marketing campaigns.

The five stages of small business growth

Categorising the problems and growth patterns of small businesses in a systematic way can increase owners’ understanding of the nature, characteristics and challenges of business.

While small businesses vary widely in size and capacity for growth, they do experience common problems that arise at similar stages in their development.

For owners and managers of small businesses, an understanding of these common problems can aid in assessing current challenges and help anticipate the key requirements at various points.

Stage 1: Existence
At this stage, the main challenges of the business are obtaining customers and delivering their product or service. The owner usually does everything and directly supervises everyone. Systems and formal planning are minimal to nonexistent and the overall strategy is simply to remain alive.

Stage 2: Survival
Reaching this stage means the business is a workable business entity. It has attracted enough customers and satisfied them sufficiently with products or services to keep them. The key problem has shifted from mere existence to the relationship between revenues and expenses.  Systems development is minimal and the major goal is still survival.

Stage 3: Success
At this stage, owners usually face the decision on whether to exploit the company’s success and expand or remain the same and keep the company stable and profitable. A key issue to arise is whether to use the company as a platform for growth or as a means of support for the owners.

Stage 4: Take off
In this stage the key problems are how to grow rapidly and how to finance that growth. In regards to cash flow, owners must determine whether there will be enough to satisfy the great demands growth brings. This is a pivotal period in a business’s life. If the owner rises to the challenges of a growing company, both financially and managerially, it can become a big business. If not, it can usually be sold at a profit provided the owner recognises their limitations. Often those who reach Stage 3 are are unsuccessful in Stage 4 because they either try to grow too fast and run out of cash or are unable to delegate effectively enough to make the business work.

Stage 5: Resource maturity
The greatest concerns of a business entering this stage are controlling financial gains brought on by rapid growth and retaining the advantages of small size.  Businesses who reach this stage have the resources to engage in detailed operational and strategic planning. The business’s systems are extensive and well developed. The company has the advantages of size and financial resources, and if it can preserve its entrepreneurial spirit, will be a formidable force in its market.