To be successful, every aspect of a business plan needs to be nimble. It is crucial to regroup as you progress along your path, assess, reassess and adapt. If you try a new digital strategy, for example, you would research, plan, roll it out, then check in to see how it’s performing. If it’s not delivering, you may need to readjust. You can’t leave anything in business to run itself without assessment along the track.
The same is true for your business finances. Whether you found EOFY tax time incredibly stressful and depressing – or elating – this is the time of year to really spring clean your business finances. Now that your business accounts are in order, you can conduct a full finance fitness check.
What did you do last financial year, what was the strategy? In what ways did it work? What could you do better? Could engaging a professional in any area of your business strengthen success? Would creating a cash flow buffer for your business help you say yes to more opportunities?
The time to plan for the future of your business is now. In fact, the time for planning is always in a clear head space before any clouds of crisis appear overhead. Challenging times are not the time to think clearly or plan ahead.
So, this is a great time of year for small business to look at the financial year that’s just ended and take stock.
Whether last financial year was good for your small business or bad, there will be lessons to be learnt and changes you can make to ensure your business flourishes as we take a step into the new fin year.
There are hundreds of financial products and offerings available to small business – you just need to know where to start looking and what to ask for. Different types of funding will work for different stages of a business life-cycle. Remember: you don’t have to rely solely on your own sales and profits to achieve success. And importantly, requiring finance for your business is not something to feel afraid of.
Perhaps a line of credit could work well for you? Think of this like a credit card that has you approved up to a certain amount, which you can use as and when you require.
Alternatively, equipment finance provides you with money to spend on equipment for your business. Shop fit-out finance will enable you, as the name suggests, to fit-out new premises.
Heath Fitzpatrick is COO at ebroker. Growing up within a small family business, and then moving into starting a number of his own, Heath has a lifetime of exposure to small and medium businesses. After securing qualifications, he started working in his family business then his own; maximising efficiency and streamlining processes before joining the finance industry.
