People Smartz Blog

I am often surprised by the number of businesses that stay in business despite a lack of planning.

There is an old saying which says that "if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail".  In my experience, this is very true.

Many small businesses begin with a great idea or concept. Many times the new owner is good at what he or she does but is new to the concept of owning a business.  Some take on a business coach or seek advice from a friend, relative or acquaintance to assist them through the process of starting out.

If the person they are seeking advice from is any good, then he or she will be talking to them about goals, markets, strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities and then developing a plan to be followed by the business for its first period.

This plan provides a blueprint for the business in the first months, gives the new owner some targets to aim for and should keep expectations within a reasonable range.

I have a number of clients who have asked me to assist them with recruiting or in setting up staff systems.  However, as I speak to them, questions begin to come out of the blue such as "how do I get customers in" or "how do I network" or "do I really need public liability insurance".

These sort of questions are good examples of where a great idea or concept has moved into a start up business without a plan.

I have also found it is common for the market not be the same as you first envisaged - your target market may not be the same as planned, competitors may be stronger than you thought or your price point may be wrong.  Similarly, other parts of your plan may not be working for you. For some, this means throwing away the plan and not revisiting it.

I strongly recommended this means you sit down and, based on what you have learnt, replan your activities.  By doing this you are once again setting yourself goals and targets and have something you can measure your efforts against.

My number one piece of advice to first time business owners is to find yourself a good coach or mentor to assist you through the start up.  This does not have to be a consultant costing you big dollars. As I said earlier, it could be a relative, friend or acquaintance who has experience in business.  The important thing is that you "plan to succeed" not "plan to fail".

At People Smartz we can offer you assistance with starting up your business or give you advice on who you should be looking for to assist you. Contact us today.

It is now under two weeks until the new Industrial Relations Laws take effect.

Small Businesses are effected by these new laws - yet recent survey's have shown that only 5% of Australian businesses are prepared for the changes!

One significant change to the laws are those concerning unfair dismissal.

The dismissal of an employee, for whatever reason, is an unpleasant thing.  Regardless of the reason, the dismissed employee is likely to feel hard done by and aggrieved.  It would be a very unusual employee who accepts a dismissal without some sort of hard feeling!

Many small business owners I speak to believe that because they have less than 15 employees they are not effected by the unfair dismissal provisions of the new law.  While this is technically right - it does not mean that small business can not be subject to a claim for unfair dismissal.

Under the new laws, small business must follow the "Fair Dismissal Code for Small Business" when dismissing an employee to protect themselves against a claim for unfair dismissal.  This does not stop an ex-employee from making a claim, but if you have followed the code then you may be protected from the ramifications.

So, the fact is that, as a small business, you can still be the subject of a unfair dismissal claim.  With the associated pain of handling the claim and the unpleasantness it causes, you need to do what you can to protect yourself.

Amongst other things, It is important to ensure you have good performance management systems in place.  If you have dismissed an employee for performance reasons, you need to be able to prove that you have counseled the employee and given them an opportunity to improve.  If you have not done this - then an unfair dismissal claim could be proved and your hip pocket is likely to take a hit!

There are many other things you can do and many other affects that you may not be aware of.  At People Smartz, we offer small businesses in the Brisbane and Coffs Harbour areas the opportunity to have a free risk assessment of their business.  In that assessment, you will learn about some of the other affects the laws will have on your business - and what you can do about it!

If you live outside Brisbane or Coffs Harbour, contact us anyway.  We will pass on your contact details to other members of the HR Coach Network.

To book your assessment - click below:

Free Risk Assessment of Your Staff Systems