Peter Nelson's Blog

PETER'S

SP Business

Spring 2024 Edition

The commencement of the Spring season is here and it usually brings warmer weather. This year Mother Nature has flexed her muscles a bit reminding us we cannot influence the weather.

There are things in our life we can influence, personally and financially. Springs brings thoughts of spring cleaning, maybe just a tidy up or a full blown clean.

We are just over two months into the financial year, take the time to evaluate how your business

Is performing. Have you put any plans or innovations in place or is it steady as you go.

Changes are sometime hard to implement as we feel there may be obstacles to deal with.

SP business recommends a read of “Who Moved My Cheese” by Dr Spencer Johnson, first published in 1998 and circulated worldwide. It presents thoughts on “why change” and reasons for implementing changes. If you can, take the opportunity and enjoy the read.

Regardless of what you do, whether it is something or nothing , enjoy the change in seasons and the months ahead.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

Winter Edition

The winter has arrived, and many hibernate as the cold months are upon us.

We note a fair number of people head away for a holiday break, mainly to the warmer climates of Northern Australia, or overseas. Bali seems popular for a short break.

So, you may leave the issues of local living behind you, but don’t forget they will be still here when you return.

It is however a chance to recharge the batteries and hit the new business year with a bang.

The Winter season not only gets us thinking of weather changes, it also brings the end of a financial year and the start of a new one.

While many think of this time of year as “tax time”, we think it a time to reflect and assess how have we done last financial year and what can we do better.

This is not something you need to do on that well-earned holiday, but it is something that you might do when you return recharged.

There is no business owners on this earth, that would not like to make more profit, better enjoy what they do and most would like to make even more money with similar effort.

For those who haven’t got time for a break maybe you should have reflect on how to schedule this in the future.

There is a saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

Let’s start the financial year well and look forward to a great year ahead.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

Autumn Edition

Welcome to Autumn.

Over the past months, we have experienced some very wild storms, floods and bushfires across our country. Let's hope that we are in for more settled weather now.

As we adjust to the change in seasons, we also have to adjust to other changes in our daily life.

Let's take technology for instance. Technology has mostly changed our lives for the better but in some instances, not so much. We behave and operate differently to the way we did, say 20 years ago.

Some changes we have seen:

Electronic communications, such as smart phones and social media
Computerised systems
Online banking and electronic payments

Some problems we may experience:

We cannot always speak to a person when making a phone call, have to follow prompts and talk to a "virtual assistant"
Cyber security and identity leaks
Network issues and breakdowns

Positives:

Ability to work from home
Online shopping
Ability to research and compare products
Plan holidays and weekend activities

And:

With Google Search we can quickly find answers, access essential resources and services and obtain information about virtually anything.

Change is inevitable so let's deal with it the best way we can. We have to roll with the times which means we are constantly learning.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

Summer Edition

The key to good business is planning.

We all have such busy lives and Christmas, the time of goodwill, will be here and gone before we know it.

In our daily life, we all have personal matters to attend to and problems can usually be solved by tackling them in a methodical manner.

In business, it is much the same. Putting plans in place can sometimes avoid problems arising. There is a saying in business world "Businesses don't plan to fail, some just fail to plan".

The financial year is the judgement point for a business assessment but it can be argued that business assessment is a daily event.

Is it as simple as "what can we do in business today that will give us the best result"?

When we attend events on best practice in business, we have noted a mention of one book, which is "The E Myth" by American author, Michael Gerber.

It is captioned "Why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it?". It is about working on your business and not working in it.

There are many publications and information on being in business and it can be overwhelming when you feel that you must work "in" your business to get positive results.

Put aside a small amount of time to assess how your business is going and the beginning of the new calendar year is not a bad time to start.

Having said all of this, it is your business and you can choose to operate it the way you think best.

Another saying "if it is to be, it is up to me".

Enjoy your business life and may 2024 be a great one for you.

Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

Spring Edition

Greetings to the spring season.

It is a great time of year with the countryside springing into action.

The crops are growing, the sun is shining, the winter days and nights are getting behind us and generally there is a spring in our step.

I think of footy finals and in my playing days, some years back, I used to enjoy this time of year when the training days were in daylight, the grass smelt fresher and the world felt a better place.

There is always a place for the spring clean. Not only in your house and shed but what about your business and life.

Is it time to have a bit of a look at how we are travelling and what may be ahead?

Are you feeling organised and in charge or do we need a bit of tweaking as we head towards the end of the calendar year and, dare I say it, Christmas?

Business you can measure but how do you feel about your personal affairs?

Are you organised personally if something unexpected may occur?

Be ready for the unexpected.

We are told to be ready for the unexpected such as a weather event. Be it fire, flood or famine which many of us heed.

But what about an unexpected life event such as injury or illness?

Not many of us want to deal with such things as, in the main, we may be fortunate for such events to never happen in our lives.

But why not live a little by the scout's motto of "Be Prepared".

Then we can sleep easy and get on with our business and working life.

In the meantime, enjoy the footy finals, the spring racing carnival, your garden growing and life in general.

And then on to that great time of year - Christmas.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

Winter Edition

June 1st denotes the onset of winter .The autumn leaves have fallen and the skies become a bit frosty and grey. It is a time of year when many seek the warmer climates of the north but for many it is business as usual.

For business June 1st says there is 30 days to the end of the financial year when commonly business assess how they have performed this year and, dare I say it, the tax man looms.

The 30 th June is a bit like judgement day where on one hand we hope we have performed well (keeps the bank manager and us happy) and on the other hand where we think of how much tax will we pay on our results.

So, let’s talk tax.

Tax is by many taken the wrong way. I recently read a business commentator who said he would prefer to pay tax on a million dollars than a half a million dollars. Strangely enough he is right.

Many businesses talk in after-tax dollars and that should be our mindset. Let me give you a little chart.

Sorry can’t change this but you can work at minimising the tax you might pay.

The late business Mogul, Kerry Packer, is known to have said “anyone who does not legally minimise the tax they pay in Australia, needs their head read”.

So - enjoy winter.

Enjoy assessing your results.

And it all starts again on July 1st.

While reviewing the year on “how we went“, start turning your thoughts to the future, in particular, “ how you can make it better “.

This writing is aimed at you making the best of what you have.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

March Autumn Edition

"A camel is a horse designed by a committee". This saying is attributed to British-Greek automotive designer Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the original Mini in 1959.

This vehicle became very popular worldwide.

Have you noticed that when a committee changes, something changes as people's ideas on how it should be done vary from what has happened in the past.

Strong egos tend to dominate until the next committee comes along and away we go again.

Some of the best observations can be made in the governments of the land as they strive to improve what we have, or perhaps should have in their opinion.

This is true in your own life and business, but in real life you may be a committee of one or two.

Marriage is similar but that's for another day.

So, in your business committee meeting, what is your design going to be?

Or will you design, chop and change as the wind takes you.

The best advice we can give you, is to create a plan and run with it. That is "how we do things around here".

Things may change, and be tweaked, as we go but at least we have a bit of a roadmap for the future.

As a business, we are almost three parts of the way through the measurement year (the financial year), which has been a bit turbulent, so maybe a bit of an assessment on how we are going so far.

Not a bad time to have a bit of a think of how things are going. Take the time.

One wonders what the powers-to-be thought of Sir Alec's design in 1959.

Enjoy 2023.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

December Summer Edition

Wow, what happened to spring?

Usually it is a great time with the birds twittering and the grass growing, a season of growth.

For me it’s a good time to hit the golf course - But mother nature had other ideas.

Be it climate change or just a weather phenomenon ,who knows.

But what do we say, it’s happened.

The rains have come and come and come and didn’t know when to switch off.

Result flood havoc.

So what do we do.

Never a better time to rethink and look at what we do to recover.

Plenty of questions and answers questioned but never has there been a bigger need for planning.

There is plenty of advice ,sometimes too much information can be daunting so the best course of action is to –

Take some time out to think.
Look at the options and their associated solutions.
Map out the plan and commence to follow it ,tweak it on the way but trust your judgment.
Seek some trusted advice if you need a bit of backup.

Only you can make the decisions.

And look to the future.

In the mean time enjoy Christmas.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

THE SEASONS

Spring is here.

It is a good time of year with the countryside greening as we emerge from the winter months.

Many of us have had the winter break and getting back into the normalities of life.

In business we have well started a new financial year and what have we done to look forward to a good year ahead.

The pandemic of COVID-19 is still around but as we learn to live with this we are heading back to a normal life. If we can remember what it was like pre COVID-19.

So, if you have not already done so here are a few recommendations that might help for the year ahead:

- Have you got a business plan for your business life for the future?

- Have you a financial forecast for your business for the year ahead?

- What are the resources available to your business in the future?

- Are there any changes you can make to your business operations?

Just don’t wait for it to happen.

There is a valid saying

“Businesses don’t plan to fail some just fail to plan“

Have a great year and best wishes for the year ahead.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

"END OF FINANCIAL YEAR"

This topic is hot to trot in the business world coming up to June 30th each year.

Last issue we found out “why is it so“. Great quote of Professor Julius Sumner Miller noted physicist 1910-1987 who had a television show entitled the same name exploring the power of physics.

That aside SP Business recently listened to some eminent advisers on not placing your main focus on what is happening in your business but “why” it is happening in your business.

This should give thought to why we do what we do in business, why we do it this way and maybe why we may need to change or tweak something in our business operations.

Technology can assist us in this and is a wonderful tool.

Locally last week we experienced some mobile phone issues and it was like being in the last century without that little device many of us are so fond of. Some even had to revert to pen and paper.

For many in Victoria, the recent storms put paid to the provision of energy forcing them to revert to the alternatives.

Generally, there is always a solution we just need to get our thought processes working.

So, the topic this month is the “why“of your business. Make it your new financial year solution to understand your “why”.

Take the time to visit Youtube and listen to a Ted Talk “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek by following the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

SP Business and the Sheridan Partner’s team wish you a happy and successful

“New Financial Year”.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

The end the of financial year is fast approaching. It is a time of year when business owners can take time to assess their business performance for the past year.

We may wonder why the end of our financial year is the 30th June.

Well, prior to Federation in Australia, each colony (now being the six states) had their own parliament who were reported to by their individual Treasury offices. Parliamentarians usually took their annual breaks or holidays at the end of the calendar year being Christmas and summer weather.

The treasury offices saw no sense in reporting to parliament on 31st December as most were away on leave. They chose the colder months in the middle of the year to report as they knew Parliament would be sitting.

Upon Federation the Commonwealth followed this decision and hence the 30th June became Australia wide as the end of the financial year.

In conclusion, the world around us may have impacted on this year’s results but let’s reset and look forward to a more “normal” year ahead.

We know the saying “two things certain in life are taxes and death” As we approach June 30 it is time to review and evaluate past performance, prepare and put plans in place for the coming year.

In the motto of the boy scout movement “Be Prepared”

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

What is a business plan?

In recent times the request by financiers for a business plan to support any application for money (loans) to assist with your business is becoming more common.

People who provide support for a business operation want to know more and more about your business operations.

More so they want to understand that you are thinking about the current and future operations of your business.

There is a saying “businesses don’t plan to fail they just fail to plan“

In our business it is common for our professional bodies to do as QA (quality assurance) check to see that we are keeping our records in order. As part of that review we were asked for our Risk assessment manual. This is to identify risks associated with our business for any unexpected event.

Covid-19 could be such an event and how do we deal with it.

Some businesses say we will deal with this as it comes. If we are not prepared there can be a fair bit of stress along with this.

As we move on it may be worthwhile having a bit of a think about your business. It is as simple as:

- Where are we now?

- Where do we want to go?

- How do we get there?

Enjoy your planning

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

How has your year been so far?

Still a few Covid restrictions but the good news is vaccines are finally rolling out.

It has been a tough 12 months, tougher for some than others but let’s look forward to more happier and promising times ahead.

We will always face bumps in the road in our business and personal lives and having business strategies in place can alleviate stress and uncertainty.

Need help with Strategies? – Meet with your advisor for discussion.

Wishing you every success in the future.

- Peter Nelson

SP Business

Welcome to the New Year! It is a time of year when some have a think about what they are doing in life. Some make big decisions so just go with the flow but we can all improve. The resolutions are made - some kept, some not. 2020 was the year we maybe didn’t want but the fact is what happened has happened. We can only deal with the present and to some degree the future.

So what about YOU. Are you happy with YOU and what you are a doing?

Don’t spring to attention and make radical changes. Put some time aside to think about what you might be able to do to improve you and where you are in life.

You only get one of these (that’s life ) so you had better make the most of it .

Good luck and good fortune for 2021 and beyond .

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life“

- Peter Nelson

"Your success is our business"

PETER'S