Small Business – Big Business.What’s the Diff?
Small Business, Big Business – What’s the Diff?
Well a lot actually!
I become frustrated and angry at the government’s paying lip service to assisting small business. It appears as though all governments, bureaucrats and many accounting advisers do not know what a real small business is.
In Australia the government’s definition for a small business is one which has less than 100 employees. Who are they kidding? In my consultancy that’s a big business.
They believe that ‘small business’ is the same as ‘big business’ on a smaller scale, that ‘big business’ is ‘small business’ with more of the same.
Wrong! About 99% of small business employs less than 10 employees and what is beneficial to the 100-employee firm may be downright dangerous for the 10-employee firm. Governments must know that. They can’t be so stupid not too… can they?
We Aussies are ready to believe anything about our politicians. We have met so many of them and none of them seem any brighter than the fellow next door. (In fact, none of them seem to know as much as I do).
When I decided to go global I was certain that the situation would be different in the USA. I was wrong.
The USA Small Business Authority has set a size standard for most ‘small business’ enterprises. In the full Table of Small Business Size Standards Matched to SIC Codes published by the Small Business Authority it is annual turnover that limits the size of small business firms.
In my consultancy of restaurants, coffee shops, florists, hairdressers, electrical retailers etc. the turnover limit is $5 million. In Australia there are NO single shop establishments achieving that sort of turnover.
In Australia a hairdressing salon working a 7-day week at an average price of $70 per client would need 30 clients each and every hour on ever day of the year. Impossible in Australia and probably in the USA too.
This does clear up an anomaly I had noticed in the different approach business plans took in Australia as opposed to that taken in America.
When Australian business began to use the Internet almost all the business plan software was from the States. The plans, although meant for small business, were not appropriate for Australian firms because they focused entirely on obtaining venture capital.
There were very few venture capital providers in Australia and of those that were few were interested in providing capital to the majority of our small ‘small business’. Business Plans languished in the filing cabinet and were hardly ever seen again.
The Australian consultants began to oversee business plans that focused on their being used as management tools. The planning itself was a vital element in the success of the business…and the plans were used to chart the course of the firm.
Each month the actual results were compared to what had been expected in the business plan. Tactics were formulated to overcome shortcomings or build upon favorable results.
Are you a small business owner who has studied all the books and web information that you can get hold of, and it is still not happening for you?
Perhaps it is because the information was directed to firms much larger than yours – firms with 100 employees or $5 million in sales. You need information more suited to your own business size.
Various organisations publish benchmarks for your industry. Compare your own results with the industry average. This will show where you should be concentrating your efforts for improvement.
You should seek out advisers and information that applies to ‘mini’ business – firms that are your size whatever it is. Perhaps you own accountant can help you find it.
But never be so foolish as to believe that what the government says is good for small business will be necessarily good for you.
Kelvyn Peters CPA and Associates knows profitable business strategies that really work.
And he’s only an e-mail away.
Small Business – Ten Traits All Small Business Owners Must Have To Be Successful
Winning in Small Business is as hard as running a race in the Olympics, actually I think harder, but the interesting fact is that the traits to succeed in small business are the same ones athletes use to succeed in any sport. Essentially the ten traits small business owners must have to succeed are the same ones we all must have if we ever think that we will achieve something in our lives.
Trait 1: Know Your Purpose
The first trait all small business owners must have is to know their purpose. First and foremost what is it that you want? What is it that youu want to achieve? Once you know what your purpose is then this will be the force and motive behind you taking this journey.
Trait 2: Have a Desire to Succeed
How many people do you know want to win Lotto? Probably a lot … Did you know that most people who win the lotto actually spend every cent of it in the first 12 months? Why, because they have not got a desire to use this money to succeed. To be truly successful you must have the desire to want it so bad that you will do anything to achieve your objectives
Trait 3: Have Faith That You Can Achieve What You Want
Just like an athlete, you must have faith that you can and will achieve your objective. If you do not have faith that you can achieve success in your business, then you will simply give up when the things get tough and let me assure you as a 10 year veteran in small business, things at some point will get tough and you will skate along the edges of losing everything. You may even fall over the cliff, but you have to have faith to climb up the cliff and continue on your journey.
Trait 4: Have a Clear Plan
Without a plan, you will simply be like a lost animal in the wilderness. Let me ask you this,do you go on holidays without a plan of what you want to do and where you want to go? Absolutely not, because you would simply be lost and would probably see and do nothing. It amazes me though how many small business owners plan their holidays more rigorously than they plan their small business. Remember the old clich
Business Insurance – Do I Need to Purchase for My Business?
You maybe thinking that why should one have business insurance for small ventures and projects? Well, the answer is that you need it, no matter what size the establishment is all about. We all know that running any business, no matter what the size is not an easy task, and there are risks associated with it at all times, especially when the matter of profit and losses come in to play. There is a thin line that one should think of when thinking about what the future gains and losses would be like making your business quite vulnerable to the risks that could happens from lawsuits, thefts or even accidents.
It is important that as a business owner, you should know how to minimize risks right from the beginning. For this you should have business insurance which would manage everything when your other services and products in the markets fail, or when there is a case of casualty on your premises or even when cases such as thefts and vandalism happen, or the company car is caught in a crash. But to get the right amount and type of coverage is always a task for most of us business owners. Thus as a result most businesses, big or small, are either insured less or too much for the coverage and the worst case scenario would be not getting your venture insured at all. The kind of insurance for your business would be directly proportional to the nature of the business and what it supplies the economy with at large. If you have a small business, then there are certain combinations to think of when choosing such an insurance coverage, namely;
1. Public liability insurance which would keep you well protected against lawsuits and damages done because of the business you run or even for casualties that happen on your property where the business runs.
2. Professional Indemnity Insurance which would act as a protection if you are a professional. This business insurance would take care of the losses that happen and if a client sues your company for the advice or service given and made the client lose money in the bargain, then your insurance would take care of the costs for legal hassles and everything that combines.
3. Workman’s Compensation is compulsory would take care of the labor’s casualty which happens on your property while the labor is on the job at that moment.
4. Business Interruption when there is a calamity like an explosion or fire and you have to keep everything closed till the dust settles down. Think about this, how would you pay your staff when no operations happen, it would get really very disastrous for you at that moment, so let this component of business insurance take care of it all for your business needs.
5. Building Insurance would take care of the expenses to rebuild and fix damages in the premises where the business happens.
6. Business Motor Insurance, for cars that are employed to be on duty and just in case anything happens to them or your driver crashes one of them.