I’ve always been a fan of planning…whenever I can!  Come away with me for a weekend and you’ll find I’m not kidding…I hate wasting time “deciding what to do”…and in business I’m not too keen on “just seeing where things end up”…I like to have a plan!

That’s not to say I can’t “go with the flow” when needed, but I believe that proper planning is business is paramount.

I’ve been lucky enough to discuss this exact topic with two new clients in the past week:

Case 1: this business was established a few months ago, and took off in an extraordinary manner!  So much so, that the owner was able to implement her sales system…but is yet to find the time to establish a good system to records payments…hence her contact with The Tax Chic!

Case 2: this business is in the process of being established with a likely launch date of August this year.  The owner of this new business is getting in on the front foot…she wants to know everything she needs to establish herself and have good procedures in place from the get go!

I thank these two women for putting their trust in The Tax Chic and Our Partner LMB Consulting…and I am very much looking forward to working with these business savvy women, assisting them to move their businesses forward and helping them “Connect with Numbers”!

Regards

If you’ve read about Who is The Tax Chic, then you’ll be aware that I have completed my Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Doing that course was part of my plan to “do something different”…to take my accounting and business knowledge and experience, and pass it onto the next generation of accountants!  Little did I know that it would also lead me here…

Upon completion of the course, and with the knowledge that I was also a fitness instructor, my teacher approached me to take on the training and assessing of their First Aid courses…this is something that never crossed my mind…but intrigued me at the same time as I’d only ever seen myself using this qualification in a “business sense”.

First Aid is a terrific skill that anyone can acquire, remember you don’t need to be a medical professional or a paramedic…look at me, I’m an accountant!

My classes are usually full of participants doing the training for work and study related purposes, but that’s not a requirement…anyone can participate, and I encourage everyone reading this to enrol in a course…even the most basic first aid skills may save a life!

At the very least, jump on the internet and enter the term “DRSABCD” into your search engine and do some reading…you might be inspired or at least learn a thing or two…

If you’re interested in attending a First Aid course with me as your trainer, drop me a line through the Contact Us page and I’ll be in touch.

Regards

Earlier this week I attended a Deakin University Alumni event, the topic…”The Challenges of Effective Leadership”…was presented by Mr David Smorgon, OAM.

One of the first questions Mr Smorgon asked was “Who here considers themselves a leader?”…out of a room of 100+ well educated people, only a few raised their hand…why is it so difficult to admit that you are a leader?  Modesty?  Or perhaps an inability to see your own worth?  I’m not sure…

Mr Smorgon’s presentation was entertaining and enlightening, and focused on stories from his own life including working in the Smorgon family business, as well as his work with the Western Bulldogs Football Club…and he raised some valid points on leadership, my favourites are these:

– A leader is someone who does the right thing, they act to make a difference and they make things happen

– Leaders can fail…but they know that failure need not be defeat…they learn from failure, they talk about it, they know it’s a part of life…and they keep moving

– Leaders show commitment to their cause and their words are in sync with their actions

– An effective leader is strong and decisive, educates, coaches, counsels and implements change

There is an old saying that leaders are born not made…I don’t think this is true!  You can certainly learn the traits of a leader…and implement them…you just have to try…and I encourage you to do so!

I wonder if Mr Smorgon had asked his initial question again at the end of the session, if there would have been a different response…

Any stories of leaders you admire?

Regards

Along with many accountants and advisors, as well as other Australians who have an interest, I spent last night watching the announcement of our Federal Budget for the upcoming year.

For anyone who has never watched the Budget announcement, it only takes about 30 minutes…but the following hours, today’s newspapers and news bulletins and TV specials in the coming days will be saturated with discussion and debate…after all it is politics!

We were warned well in advance that this budget would be difficult…and it didn’t disappoint on that front.  However, as alluded to in my previous post Federal Budget Preview 2014-15, in some areas it probably wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been…(my opinion only!)

The theme of the budget leans towards the end of the “age of entitlement”…in recent years there have been may financial allowances and supplements made available to varying groups within our Community, many of these are now being reduced or withdrawn.  But I ask you to please remember that there are planned benefits to come from these cuts, but being big ticket items, you won’t see these benefits immediately.

The Herald Sun newspaper have a short quiz on their website where you can answer some simple questions and be provided with a summary of the changes you can expect in your personal situation, you might be interested to take a look (its at the end of the article on this link).

Any thoughts on the budget?

Regards