Year end is tax planning time.

As we approach the end of the year, it is a great time to think about planning for the next year. However the best place to start that process is to get this years situation in order, and part of that is tax planning.

Small business owners know that the inevitable result of making profit is you have to pay tax but you neither have to pay too much nor too early. Now one of the easiest tax strategies available to small business is to calculate your tax on a cash basis. Making this election which you may do once only, will frequently postpone the payment of a chunk of tax.

If you do that, you can increase your saving by paying bills and regular payments early to get them recorded in this year. Part of the training we provide is to help you develop you tax and cash strategies.

Of course, as we think about planning let us ensure we include getting the help and support we need to maximize the effectiveness of our business. All the best for the holiday season, and a fruitful and productive new year.

Why Do Small Business Owners Struggle with Accountability?

When I speak with small business owners, the conversation almost always comes round to the question, "How do I make my people accountable? The immediate response I make is "Tell them, measure them, then trust them."
Read More

How to properly organize your small business.

I have just posted this new article on my website.

"An alternative description of a company is an organization, but experience shows that very few small businesses are properly organized. Well defined organizational structure is the framework upon which a business depends for its form and efficiency.

Read More"

The biggest mistake we make when looking at organization is to start with the question "Who do we have?" This article emphasizes that the correct place to start is "What do we need to get done?"

Organization in your small business is the most important part of telling your people what you expect them to do!

Delegation and Accountability: Two Strings of the Same Bow.

Those of you who read the earlier separate articles on delegation and accountability may have noticed several similarities in the concepts, and that is no accident because these two building blocks of management are in truth two sides of the same coin, or as the title of this article says, two strings of the same bow. Yes, to have effective delegation, you need to hold your designees accountable, and to be successful in holding your subordinates accountable you must have effectively delegated the required authority.
Let us review the concepts. First Accountability. In leadership roles, accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions within the scope of a role or position, encompassing the obligation to report, and be answerable for resulting consequences. There are five basic requirements for creating accountability. You need to ensure you have:

- Understood Goals - the subordinate must understand what they and their team are trying to achieve;
- Buy in - subordinates must believe in the goal and be a part of the success;
- Benchmarks and a Quantifiable Result - subordinates need milestones and a result that can be measured;
- Two-way Feedback - feedback from the supervisor to the subordinate and from the subordinate to the supervisor;
- Evaluation - once a goal is accomplished, celebrate the success. Conversely, do not shy away from criticism if performance falls short.
Turning now to delegation, we said a basic principle of organizational management is that enough authority needs to be delegated to a manager to take the actions necessary for accomplishing an objective. It is also necessary for the limits of the authority to be clearly defined. This means that the subordinate to whom you have delegated the task knows not only what they may decide, but also what they may not. The same five requirements apply, clearly defined goals, buy in, benchmarks, feedback, and evaluation.
Repeating what we said before, to effectively delegate you must hold your subordinates accountable, and to hold your people accountable you must delegate the required authority.
In that statement is implicit the main reasons people fail at delegation and holding their people accountable. They cannot entrust authority to their people. "How can I trust them not to make a mistake?" or "I need to know what is going on." The problem is that if you cannot overcome these fears, you are still the one doing the job. To be free to to the job you are supposed to be doing as CEO, you have to get over it. Once you do you will never be the same again, and surprise! surprise! not only will the work be done better, but you will get your life back.

Discipline in your Small Business

The imposition of a regime of discipline in any small business is an issue that faces the CEO and other senior managers. The problem is not as insoluble as it appears, and help is on the way. Visit the Articles page here.

How to Use Delegation in Your Small Business

One of the most important skills a small business CEO or other senior manager must master is delegation. The reason is very simple. He cannot do it all himself. Unfortunately delegation is not that simple, and mastering it takes commitment and practice.
So what is delegation? Probably the easiest way to answer that question is to demonstrate what it is not. Delegation is not giving instructions and monitoring the result. That is supervision, and it is what most of us do. The reason it is not delegation is that authority is not transferred in the process.
So why is that so different? Well, if you do not delegate authority, then every time something happens which is not covered by your specific instructions, no one has the authority to make a decision, and they must come back to you for further instructions. That is inefficient. It is also aggravating for your people.
A basic principle of organizational management is that enough authority needs to be delegated to a manager to take the actions necessary for accomplishing an objective. It is also necessary for the limits of the authority to be clearly defined. This means that the subordinate to whom you have delegated the task knows not only what they may decide, but also what they may not.
You notice we never mentioned delegation of responsibility. Certainly in the process of delegation we give employees the responsibility of completing tasks, but unfortunately for owners and CEO's, they retain the responsibility. That means it is up to them to ensure that their employee has the training, the resources and the authority to get the job done right. I have found that the managers who truly understand that failures by their subordinates are really their own failures turn out to be the best managers.
Go to my website http://www.trainmetobeaceo.com for more information.

Work Smarter not Harder = Get Your Life Back

The other day one of my associates asked me, “What is the most important thing your clients take away from their association with you?" My answer was simple, “They get their life back!”

A grand statement, but it is true. Most entrepreneurs are great at what they do but they are lousy managers. This has one of two results, either there is a lot of conflict in their company, or they end up doing more than their fair share of the work. Result 60+ hour weeks, no vacations, and stress at work and at home. The crazy thing is that running the show the right way is much easier than doing it the wrong way, and learning how to do it only needs one thing – commitment to change.

The concepts are not rocket science, they are simple logical processes, and when mastered make the job so much easier. Yea, it costs a little in dollars and effort but getting your life back – Priceless.