January always has an air of opportunity and growth, with the new year promising changes and enhancements that will set us up for the new year ahead.
When it comes to starting a new financial year, that same vigor isn’t always seen across the board with many business operators starting the new financial year exasperated and in need of some downtime.
This financial year, take a beat and reassess your business and understand how you can best prepare for the new financial year ahead. If you’re lacking inspiration post-tax, we have you covered.
4 Steps to Prepare Your Business For New Financial Year
1# Audit your Financial Processes and Systems
Just because something has been done a certain way since before you can remember, does not mean it is correct or efficient. This is especially true of financial processes and systems.
Despite the technologies and innovations that are changing the face of business operations, too many business operators let these opportunities pass them by.
Given the introduction of Single Touch Payroll, there has never been a more timely occasion to review your financial processes and systems and look to see what sort of software you can set you up for compliance and success.
If you are unsure of where to start looking, the ATO has provided a full list of no-cost and low-cost options so that all businesses can maintain compliance.
2# Consider a greater workflow
Are bottlenecks a reality in your workplace? Chances are you have more than a few hurdles you encounter daily, but with an assessment and introduction of an efficient workflow system, you and your team can work smarter.
You can achieve this by plugging your team into a workflow system or app, enabling for seamless communication, task assignment and reviewing of open and lagging work.
These systems and apps are particularly useful if you have remote or even part-time workers, with your team able to collaborate outside of a physical meeting room.
3# Revisit your business strategy
What are you working towards? Not just today, but annually and beyond. Most businesses will not be able to articulate the vision of the business, which makes it hard to recognize success and celebrate when milestones are met.
A clearly defined vision can also flag instances where your business is veering off track and operating in a way that is not true to your overarching strategy.
Take the new financial year as a great way of aligning with your team, and establishing your vision once more so that no one is in doubt about what you’re striving towards.
You can even make this vision a tangible reminder, by collating booklets or even using decals on walls as a constant reminder.
4# Refine your offering or service
Your business is no doubt doing ok, kicking along and continuing to meet the expectations of your market. Perhaps this new financial year, maintaining is not enough for your hungry attitude.
Take this opportunity to refine your offering or service, which will, in turn, garner stronger conversions and could even attract a new market altogether. This is where customer feedback and internal brainstorming and ideation comes to the forte, and puts you on the track to a bigger and better business model.
Although do be warned, if you set off down the road to improvement, you may need to increase your headcount and readjust team dynamics to keep up with the demand.
We don’t often get the chance to take a step back and assess the business at face value, only to optimise the current offering.
Don’t wait until the new calendar year and make these changes in this financial year. Make sure you include your greater team in the changes so they can be a part of the movement, and steer you down the right path.
Author: Suzzane Elly
