Why the car wash industry is ripe for disruption
Here’s why owning a car wash actually has the potential to be a great little earner – and why the industry is ripe for disruption.
Featured Blogs
Beauty and the Bust: A Financial Teardown of BWX
From beauty powerhouse to financial failure, here’s the story of how BWX’s acquisition strategy, including Go-To Skincare, backfired.
What your accountant doesn’t tell you: Here’s why business owners have the edge in tax savings
Small business owners get the best tax deals in Australia. Here’s how we optimise our tax structure at SBO – and how you can do the same.
Why the car wash industry is ripe for disruption
Here’s why owning a car wash actually has the potential to be a great little earner – and why the industry is ripe for disruption.
Beauty and the Bust: A Financial Teardown of BWX
From beauty powerhouse to financial failure, here’s the story of how BWX’s acquisition strategy, including Go-To Skincare, backfired.
What your accountant doesn’t tell you: Here’s why business owners have the edge in tax savings
Small business owners get the best tax deals in Australia. Here’s how we optimise our tax structure at SBO – and how you can do the same.
The rules of the game: A financial teardown of Games Workshop
Here’s why Games Workshop and the Warhammer franchise may be the best capital compounding business machine you’ve never heard of.
The hidden profits in pallets: A financial teardown of Brambles
Take a look around your house. Every item of furniture you own, every product in your pantry, every material of your house construction would have been transported, at some point, on a wooden pallet. The humble pallet is the vessel that transports $trillions of goods around the globe. The design hasn’t changed in decades. It’s…
The economics of accounting firms: A financial teardown of Kelly and Partners
I didn’t become an accountant because I’m good with numbers. Despite the stereotype, my mental math is terrible. I need Excel to do basic arithmetic. I gravitated towards accounting because I love the money side of business. I love uncovering how much profit a business makes. What the margins are. How minted the owners are.…
Catchoftheday: A financial teardown
I’ve recently returned for my first international holiday since COVID – a hiking trip in the Canadian Rockies with the family. For the first time since I can remember, I intentionally switched off from work. I turned on my ‘OOO’. Deleted all work apps from my phone. “Lost” my passwords. I couldn’t even login to…
Why I walked away from buying a 7-figure vending machine business
Forget Bitcoin – vending machines are where the riches are at. Here’s how I almost bought a vending machine business.
How to prepare your business for an economic downturn
You’ve probably noticed there’s a bit of doom and gloom around the economy at the moment – but it doesn’t have to be a dark time for your business. Here’s how you can prepare for the challenge ahead.
What are the best digital checkout options for small businesses?
Here’s a selection of the main Buy Now Pay Later options, what they do, and what it will cost small businesses to use them.
What’s Your MVL (Minimum Viable Lifestyle)?
MVL, or Minimum Viable Lifestyle, is a term I first coined when I started my business to help calculate the minimum amount of money I could live on without racking up debt. Here’s how to calculate yours.
The two killers of your ecommerce profits
While it might seem easy to leave these off your sales tally, here’s why you should be paying more attention to discounts and returns.
Four practical alternatives to discounting
Discounting can be destructive to your business. Here are four alternatives to improve sales without lowering your prices.
Why discounting is killing your ecommerce business
Discounting is a dangerous habit that is entrenched in most online businesses. Here’s what happens when you discount, and why you should stop.
What’s a good gross profit margin for my ecommerce business?
The best businesses in the world have strong gross profit margins. Here’s how to calculate yours and check your financial health.
How much is your time worth as a business owner?
Understand the true value of your time so you can stop working in your business and start working on your business.
Why you should hold your business for the long-term: The lucrative strategy of capital compounding
“If you own a wonderful business…the best thing to do is keep it. All you’re going to do is trade your wonderful business for a whole bunch of cash, which isn’t as good as the business, and you got the problem of investing in other businesses, and you probably paid a tax in between. So…
Blog Articles
A financial foundation: How SBO helped The Quick Flick take flight
Here’s how we helped Iris Smit gain control over her finances and make informed decisions that would propel The Quick Flick to new heights.
Why the car wash industry is ripe for disruption
Here’s why owning a car wash actually has the potential to be a great little earner – and why the industry is ripe for disruption.
Beauty and the Bust: A Financial Teardown of BWX
From beauty powerhouse to financial failure, here’s the story of how BWX’s acquisition strategy, including Go-To Skincare, backfired.
What your accountant doesn’t tell you: Here’s why business owners have the edge in tax savings
Small business owners get the best tax deals in Australia. Here’s how we optimise our tax structure at SBO – and how you can do the same.
The rules of the game: A financial teardown of Games Workshop
Here’s why Games Workshop and the Warhammer franchise may be the best capital compounding business machine you’ve never heard of.
Tax-free electric cars? What you need to know about the fringe benefits tax exemption for electric vehicles
By Andrew Law (Head of Tax) and Simon Davis (Head of Business Development) This article was updated on 27 February 2023. It’s not often that tax legislation gets anyone’s motor running, but a new bill from the Federal Government that exempts electric cars from fringe benefits tax (FBT) has people talking – and it might…
Home truths: A financial teardown of Brosa
Furniture and homewares retailers are getting crushed right now. Made.com, the UK’s publicly listed furniture store, stopped taking orders last month, citing solvency issues. Interiordefine, a custom online furniture retailer in the US, entered voluntary administration last month. And Brosa, the Australian online furniture retailer, entered voluntary administration last month, and was acquired by Kogan.…
The hidden profits in pallets: A financial teardown of Brambles
Take a look around your house. Every item of furniture you own, every product in your pantry, every material of your house construction would have been transported, at some point, on a wooden pallet. The humble pallet is the vessel that transports $trillions of goods around the globe. The design hasn’t changed in decades. It’s…
Boxing Day sales are a doozy. Do this instead.
‘Tis the season for sales, and Boxing Day is one of the biggest shopping events of the year. For most retailers, this post-Christmas financial injection is critical to their bottom line, and discounting is an ideal way of attracting new customers and boosting sales. The problem with discounting is that a lot of marketers don’t…
How we helped TradeMutt get on the (financial) tools
TradeMutt is Australia’s biggest social impact workwear company. But while their vibrant clothing designs have kickstarted plenty of conversations about mental health, it was their financial health that needed a little bit of guidance. Here’s how we helped level them out. The company More than just a brand, TradeMutt is a movement that’s helping to…
The best-laid plans: Adjusting your expectations as the financial year unfolds
They say life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans, and that’s certainly true when it comes to your cash flow plan. Believe it or not, we’re already almost halfway through the financial year. The second half of the year is shaping up to be an eventful one – and if you spend…
Christmas tax tips: How to minimise your tax bill for corporate gifting and spending
The festive season is synonymous with corporate spending, so here are a few tips to help you avoid the ‘gift’ of a heaving EOFY tax bill. ‘Tis the season to whip out the corporate credit card, shout a round for your favourite clients and treat your employees to an epic end-of-year celebration – and…
Report: Digital Marketing Agency Benchmarks in 2023
Are you running a digital marketing agency? Wondering where you sit in relation to your competitors and the wider industry? In this ebook we share comprehensive industry benchmarks and unpack how you can improve the financial performance of your digital agency.
eBook: The Metrics Every SAAS Startup Needs to Monitor
Head spinning with the amount of data at your fingertips? Want to know how to make sense of it? In this ebook, we unpack the metrics every SaaS startup needs to monitor and how to build your dream financial team.
Diving into the deep end of eCommerce with Mr Pool Man
Mr Pool Man is an eCommerce business that needed an accountant who could speak their language and guide them in the right direction. Here’s how we helped them learn to swim straight in open water. The company An Australian-owned and family-operated business based on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Mr Pool Man is…
How Afterpay earns its margin
I have a love-hate relationship with Afterpay. The patriotic version of me is proud to see an Aussie fintech unicorn taking on the world. A brand that is changing the way consumers use credit. On the flip side, the fiscally responsible accountant in me despises it. A company that profits by promoting consumerism to…
Why you need to apply for your Director Identification Number NOW
Hey, you! Yes, you! Do you have your Director Identification Number? If you’re staring blankly at us right now, it either means you’re not a company director – or you’re about to owe the ATO a big chunk of change. More than a million company directors have until the end of November to get…
The economics of accounting firms: A financial teardown of Kelly and Partners
I didn’t become an accountant because I’m good with numbers. Despite the stereotype, my mental math is terrible. I need Excel to do basic arithmetic. I gravitated towards accounting because I love the money side of business. I love uncovering how much profit a business makes. What the margins are. How minted the owners are.…
Does offering free shipping actually increase sales?
Should I offer free shipping? This is a question that has plagued ecommerce business owners since the dawn of time (or, at least, since the dawn of online shopping). For merchants, the cost of shipping is a moving target. Can your profit margin actually cover the shipping costs? And what products should you be charging…
Come on, get appy: Three accounting apps that can help your ecommerce business thrive
If you run an ecommerce business, you’ll know the importance of having accurate (and stress-free) finances. But managing your sales channels together with your accounting software can be messy – and cost you hours. Luckily, there are some pretty great operational tools in place that easily integrate with your Xero suite, and our accounting team…
Catchoftheday: A financial teardown
I’ve recently returned for my first international holiday since COVID – a hiking trip in the Canadian Rockies with the family. For the first time since I can remember, I intentionally switched off from work. I turned on my ‘OOO’. Deleted all work apps from my phone. “Lost” my passwords. I couldn’t even login to…
Spreading the wealth: Why we implemented equity-like compensation for our team
Want to make your business more appealing to jobseekers, and incentivise your current employees to stick around and keep bringing their A-game? Then you should be looking at ways for your team to share in your company’s success. Over the past several years, we’ve had ongoing conversations here at SBO Financial about how we can…
Three profit levers to pull before you start cutting costs like an ar$ehole
When asked how to improve the profitability of a business, the default response by your typical robot accountant is to “restructure your costs”. Translated to non-accountant terms, that means slash your overhead expenses and fire staff. They’ll offer a bunch of recommendations like replacing the espresso machine with instant coffee, or cancelling the annual staff…
Would you like fries with that? What McDonald’s can teach us about cross-selling
McDonalds have designed and optimised their menu to maximise profitability. Here’s how you can do the same.
Why I walked away from buying a 7-figure vending machine business
Forget Bitcoin – vending machines are where the riches are at. Here’s how I almost bought a vending machine business.
How to prepare your business for an economic downturn
You’ve probably noticed there’s a bit of doom and gloom around the economy at the moment – but it doesn’t have to be a dark time for your business. Here’s how you can prepare for the challenge ahead.
How working at SBO Financial has changed how I see accounting
What’s it really like working at SBO Financial? Here are my key takeaways from my first 24 months working at an accounting firm that does things a little differently.
Why revenue is a vanity metric
Revenue isn’t the only metric of “success” – what you should be really looking at is your gross profit margin. Here’s why sales really don’t fix everything.
What are the best digital checkout options for small businesses?
Here’s a selection of the main Buy Now Pay Later options, what they do, and what it will cost small businesses to use them.
How to make yourself redundant
We’ve unpacked the business owner journey to help you understand how to move to the next stage and ultimately make yourself redundant.
ESOP Reporting: What happens when you don’t agree with your employer’s market value?
Get the lowdown on ESOP reporting and company shares at tax time, and what to do if you don’t agree with your company’s valuation.
What’s Your MVL (Minimum Viable Lifestyle)?
MVL, or Minimum Viable Lifestyle, is a term I first coined when I started my business to help calculate the minimum amount of money I could live on without racking up debt. Here’s how to calculate yours.
Why your ecommerce business never has enough cash
When assessing the financial performance of an online business, most people look at profit to determine success. Here’s what you should be looking at instead.
The two killers of your ecommerce profits
While it might seem easy to leave these off your sales tally, here’s why you should be paying more attention to discounts and returns.
Four practical alternatives to discounting
Discounting can be destructive to your business. Here are four alternatives to improve sales without lowering your prices.
Why discounting is killing your ecommerce business
Discounting is a dangerous habit that is entrenched in most online businesses. Here’s what happens when you discount, and why you should stop.
How to design your ecommerce accounting software stack
Most eCommerce founders focus on efficient customer acquisition and conversion as their primary objectives. But the truth is inventory management is the backbone of every retailer. You might have an amazing brand and vision, but it’s hard to stay in business if you have no stock to sell, or if you’re selling at a loss.…
When is it okay to discount my product?
Discounting is a tricky subject. Personally I have a love/hate relationship with the topic as one size does not fit all businesses. My general advice to founders is to avoid discounting as much as possible. That said, discounting used strategically can be an effective and legitimate way to improve your top line. It’s a balancing…
What’s a good gross profit margin for my ecommerce business?
The best businesses in the world have strong gross profit margins. Here’s how to calculate yours and check your financial health.
Fringe Benefits Tax Returns are due soon. Are you ready?
Here’s how to get your business ready for lodging in time for EOFY.
How to use your break-even point to make spending decisions
What impact will added expenses have on your business? Instead of hoping for the best, calculate your break-even point and make informed spending decisions.
How much is your time worth as a business owner?
Understand the true value of your time so you can stop working in your business and start working on your business.
What’s a good profit margin for my digital agency?
Wondering if your digital agency’s profit margin stacks up? Find out what your profit margin should be – and how to get there.
Accounting vs Financial Management: Why your accountant isn’t proactive
Want someone on your team focused on future financial growth? You need a totally different type of accountant working for your business.
How to build a financial budget for your business (and why you need one)
There are few words in the English language that conjure feelings of scarcity and deprivation like “budgeting”. Our amygdala responds to the word budget in the same way it responds to the word diet — with utter dread. Budgeting, like dieting, is disliked because it requires determination. It requires us to be disciplined with our…
How the rich get richer by minimising taxes and leveraging debt
Ever wonder how the super-rich have plenty of cash to splash, but only have to pay a minimal amount of income tax? Here’s what you need to know.
5 tips and tactics to turn your ecommerce business into a cash generating machine
A few simple financial tips can quickly turn your business from a cash-eating monster into a cash-generating machine.
How to lose money on Black Friday Cyber Monday
Black Friday sales. Everyone loves them, but the reality is that you could be left with no actual profit to show for it if you don’t have a healthy contribution margin. Here’s how to protect your gross profit while discounting.
Why your digital agency is hard to scale
Agency and service-based business models don’t scale like software or product-based business do. But why is that?
The power of float: The secret sauce to building wealth like Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is widely regarded as the world’s greatest investor – but what isn’t common knowledge is how he created his fortune.
The Definitive Guide to eCommerce Financing
You’ve hit a cash crunch. You’re not sure exactly how, but you think it was a combination of sluggish sales last month and the deposit you just paid for the next container of stock. Coupled with the tax debt the accountant just surprised you with and you’re left feeling anxious as to how you’re going…
Tax accounting is broken. Here’s how we’re fixing it.
“We don’t do tax.” – Us, up until three weeks ago. We’re ‘fessing up. We get it. We’ve built our reputation on being a not-your-typical-accounting-firm that doesn’t do tax returns. Our focus has always been (and still is) working alongside start-ups and ecommerce business owners to improve their financial visibility and develop future growth –…
How to calculate your digital agency’s charge-out rate
You did it! You branched out and started your own digital agency. No more working for the man – you’re the boss now, and one of the first things you’re going to need to figure out is how much you charge your clients for the services you offer. In this article, I discuss the all-important…
When can my agency afford to hire my next employee?
For owners and operators of service-based businesses, growing pains are inevitable. But there are tried and tested formulas for understanding the right triggers or actions to take to ensure the growth in your agency is sustainable from both a workflow perspective and a cash flow perspective. In this article, we tackle the important question of…
Who Gives a Crap
The Company Who Gives a Crap (WGAC) is an Australian based eCommerce business that sells forest friendly tissues, paper towels and toilet paper. They have business units operating in Australia, the USA and UK and sell their products products all around the world. WGAC is a social enterprise – 50% of all profits are donated…
Okendo
The Company Okendo is an Australian company that provides software as a service (SaaS) solutions. Their primary focus is on businesses on the ecommerce platform, Shopify. Okendo has a suite of tools that enable ecommerce merchants to collect reviews and user-generated content from their customers for their website or social media. Their emphasis is on…
Pitcher Partners Brisbane
The Company Cole Wilkinson is a partner at Pitcher Partners Brisbane, a mid-tier accounting firm with offices Australia wide. As a leader in the Business Advisory firm, Cole works with a range of SMEs and large companies, with the focus on startups and technology companies. He helps these growth businesses right from incorporation through to…
Trademark Vision
The Company Trademark Vision (TMV) is an Australian based image recognition AI startup servicing customers around the globe. The company focuses on brand protection and uses computer vision to detect and compare similar brands around the world for brand infringement. TMV’s aim is to be the leader in image recognition all throughout every facet of…
eCommerce Growth
The Company Based on the sunny Gold Coast of Australia, eCommerce Growth is a boutique results-driven digital marketing agency specialising in advanced email marketing (Klaviyo), eCommerce growth strategy, and conversion optimisation. “My job is to develop and build effective long-term growth strategies for my eCommerce clients.” – Brynley King. The Problem As a high-performing, goal-directed business owner,…
The projects
The Company The projects is an independent brand consultancy, founded in Sydney, Australia. The company provides strategic and culturally relevant solutions to help brands thrive. Isobel Stackpool, Director of Finance and Operations is in charge of overseeing the operations of the Sydney business specifically, ensuring alignment to the company’s strategy locally and globally, as well…
Building a Profitable eCommerce Business
You’d think growing your eCommerce business would just mean making more sales. But from your own experience, you’d know that it’s not at all that straightforward. What we really want to do is make more profit. Beyond ‘just’ increasing our volume of sales, we’ve got multiple levers we can pull. In this article, we’re going…
Announcing SBO Financial’s new CEO
Today I’m thrilled to announce that from 1 March 2021, Vanessa Firth, our operations director will become our new CEO. Before diving into what that looks like, let me start with some context. I’ll explain why, why now, and what that means for Rowan and I. Background SBO started as a scrappy accounting business in…
MrBeast: Influencer turned hamburger magnate
Picture this. A brand new, 300 location burger restaurant chain launches OVERNIGHT. The company’s companion app hits #1 on the app store charts and does over $15M+ in revenue in the space of 48 hours. On launch day, the company actually pays you to eat their food. Wads of cash are stuffed in paper bags,…
How to run the perfect promo for your eCommerce store
eCommerce competition is heating up! Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas are all around the corner. This means that the competition is running more ads, spending more and they’re running aggressive promotions. And customers have come to expect it. Unless you are selling something so unique that you have no competition, then the reality is…
Temple & Webster emptied my bank account!
My suspicions arose on the third consecutive day he visited the house. The overly friendly man. Pearly white teeth, charming smile. He comes bearing gifts. Gifts for my wife. She awaits this mysterious man every day, constantly checking her phone and emails for updates. She leaps with excitement as he pulls his van into the…
Is Gymshark worth $1.4 Billion?
I am probably the least fashionable person you’ll see at the gym. My workout attire is what most people regard as ‘home clothes’. You wouldn’t know if I was off to do a tip-run or 30mins on the treadmill. I never really understood why people bought clothes specifically for the gym. I mean, you’re going…
eBook: The definitive guide to ecommerce accounting
Which platform do we choose when selling to customers? What are our digital marketing channels? Do we engage in 3PL or in-house fulfilment? Our ebook is a guide to help you understand the fundamentals of ecommerce accounting.
eBook: The Business Cashflow Guide for Agencies
Want to know what the CFO of a digital agency would do to manage the current economic conditions?
We’ve created a comprehensive guide for agency owners and managers with strategies to weather this storm.
Your Business is not your baby!
So many CEOs like to romanticise business as being like family. They try to instil a culture of unity and closeness, building a bubble of safety and unconditional love. They treat the business just like an extension of their real family. They think of their business as their baby. This analogy is just plain wrong.…
Are you a freelancer or an entrepreneur?
What’s the difference between an Entrepreneur and a Freelancer/Solopreneur? Many business owners label themselves “entrepreneurs”. Watch this video to understand if you’re acting like one. Transcript of the video below. https://sbo.financial/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SBO-Are-you-a-freelancer-or-an-entrepreneur.mp4 Are you a Freelancer or an Entrepreneur? That’s the first question I ask many of the founders I meet for the first time. I…
The 5 Reasons why your Ecommerce Business is a Cash Eating Monster
It’s the end of the month. You’ve just paid payroll and the monthly rent. You look at your depleted bank account and realise you don’t have enough cash to pay the deposit for your next order of stock. It makes no sense. Despite a healthy month of sales, you don’t have any cash in the…
Getting your accountant to understand your digital business
“My accountant doesn’t get my business” – something that we hear all the time from the entrepreneurs we work with. If you throw out terms like CLV, MRR, CAC and Churn to accountants, most of them will be left scratching their heads wondering if you are speaking finance, English or PHP. Professional service providers are…
A reflection of FY20 at SBO
As another financial year comes to close I make a habit of reflecting on the year that was. This is from the lens of personal development and company milestones -what we achieved, what we failed at, what we can do better. We don’t normally share these publicly. Not because they’re not valuable – but because…
Why we should celebrate paying dividends
It’s the end of the financial year here in Australia – the perfect time to reflect and take stock of our finances. It’s our favourite time of the year at SBO because it’s when we get to calculate the dividends our clients can pay themselves. Uh, what dividends? For many of the clients that joined…
When should I offer discounts in my Ecommerce business?
As explained in Part 1 of this series, discounting is a legitimate tool if it’s used strategically – not as a ‘run-of the mill’ approach to magically improving your top line. The two reasons when discounting can be used effectively are: To move old or slow moving stock; To acquire new customers in certain scenarios…
WEBINAR: Prepare your business for an economic recession
It’s critical to prepare for this outcome to ensure the survival of your business. Rowan Grant and I are hosting a special webinar where we will be unpacking a playbook we have developed on how to prepare your business for an economic downturn. It’s a framework we’ve kept in the bottom drawer for times like…
LIVE: Business and Government concessions – COVID-19 response
The Australian Government and banking institutions have united to assist small businesses weather economic uncertainty. We have prepared a live document to monitor and track all of the grants, tax breaks and assistance packages available to Australian Small Business. The objective is to centralise all of the concessions available to ensure every small businesses can…
The government is writing cheques to small business owners: This is how much you’ll get
Italy has basically shut down it’s entire country. India has closed the borders and suspended all tourist visas. Both demand and supply chains are being disrupted, with many economists fearing the virus could trigger the next economic recession. In order to stave off a looming recession, the Australian Government has announced its $17.6 billion Economic Stimulus package. The…
When should my Ecommerce business use a 3PL?
Congratulations. You’re once little Ecommerce business is growing to the next level. In just a few short years, you evolved from selling stuff from your garage to now managing a full-fledged warehouse operation. An operation complete with a team of packer and warehouse managers. But you’re growing so quickly that even your current warehouse operation…
How Much is My Business Worth?
I cut my teeth in corporate advisory doing company valuations. Valuations of companies of all industries, shapes and sizes. The purpose of these formal valuations was to ‘tick a box’ due to one (or more) of the following events: A marriage breakdown – a business needs to be valued to calculate the division of assets.…
Some tax advice for End of Financial Year…
It happened again. A friend, who I haven’t spoken to since this time last year reached out to ask a quick question about his tax return. It went something like this: Hey Jason, hope you’re well! With end of financial year coming up is there any tax planning advice for me reduce my tax? It’s…
The True Cost of Discounting
Discounting. I’m guilty of it. You’re guilty of it. We’re all guilty of it. It’s the default response when we’re trying to win new business. To make a proposal more attractive. A tactic to close the deal. It’s easy to knock-off 10%, 15% or even 20% off the sales price. We can get so obsessed…
Is your business model making you wealthy?
Throughout my 15+ year career as a chartered accountant and business advisor, I’ve worked with hundreds of businesses—ranging from small businesses and startups—all the way to publicly-traded companies. I’ve stripped back the covers and shone a clarifying light into the darkness of their financials—helping founders and managers understand the clues that are hidden in financial…
How much can I pay myself as a Founder and CEO?
It’s been about 3.5 years since I quit my job to start my business, SBO. Over the weekend, I was looking back at the financial forecasts and projections we set ourselves right at the beginning of starting the business. It is diagrammatically shown below. I LOL at these lofty projections. In classic startup style, they…
How Accountants, Lawyers and Consultants should negotiate a pay-rise
And how understanding the business model of your employer will help you get one Brace yourself, promotion season is coming. The yearly event where every tired and overworked accountant, lawyer, consultant, [insert white-collar professional] eagerly awaits that meeting with their superiors to discuss one thing. Pay-rises! When I was an accountant in a public practice…
Should My Restaurant Offer UberEats?
An analysis on the ROI of delivery platforms I rarely had ‘takeaway’ meals as a child. For us, it was a luxury. My stereotypical Asian mother drilled into us that ‘eating-out’ was a waste of money. “Why spend money on expensive junk food when my home cooking is cheaper and tastier!?” was her automatic response. Fast…
Why Your Service Business is Hard to Scale
Reid Hoffman is a legend in the world of entrepreneurship and startups. He was one of the Paypal Mafia. Co-Founder of LinkedIn, successful VC and advisor to many high-growth startups. He is an icon in the world of Silicon Valley and business. In his recent book, Blitzscaling, Hoffman provides us with his assertion on when…
Should My Small Business Offer Afterpay?
It is well known within my circle of friends and peers that I am not a fan of Afterpay. My personal reasons are best saved for a separate blog, but the TL:DR version is because it goes against everything I believe in when it comes to consumerism and developing strong financial habits. I am an…
New brand, same focus
Rowan and I came up with our business name, SmartBooks Online over a few beers one evening. It was a very literal name, and that’s the way we intended it. Most people figured we were an accounting business. Some thought we were optometrists or book publishers. Either way, over the last three years we’ve built…
Can an Accountant add financial value to your small business?
and the Minimum Viable Finance Function Startup founders and small business owners often squirm at the idea of having a CFO in their business. I mean I get it, the value of a CFO in a young company is a highly contested subject. Do they add value? There is a worldview that CFOs are only for…
Lifestyle Break-even — bake your cake and eat a slice too
As the owner, your financial role is that of an investor. Your business is an investment and the funds you injected should be considered no differently to your stock market and real-estate investments. You want to ensure the capital and time investment will provide you with a financial return in the future. As the CEO,…
The psychology of financial budgeting
There are few words in the English language that conjure feelings of scarcity and deprivation than the word “budgeting”. Our lizard brain responds to the term budget in the same way it responds to the word diet — utter dread. Budgeting, like dieting, sucks because it requires determination. It requires us to be disciplined with our spending habits. It forces…
Why ‘Profit’ is wrong
Accounting is the language of practical business life…but you have to know enough about it to understand its limitations – because although accounting is the starting place, it’s only a crude approximation. And it’s not very hard to understand its limitations. – Warren Buffett The most successful entrepreneurs preach that all businesses should be driven by purpose,…
An Accountant’s review of Profit First.
When I drop in to my local bricks and mortar bookstore, I make a beeline for the ‘business’ section. Perusing the shelves, there are always the familiar and classics like The Lean Startup, 7 Habits, Good to Great, The E-myth…I could go on. All brilliant books that instil timeless principles and serve as useful refreshers. And then, there are…
Show me your financials, and I’ll show you what you are: financial governance basics for SMEs
One of our key services is conducting financial due diligence. In the financial due diligence process, the questions we ask ourselves are: Do the financials match the narrative Management is telling us? Can we validate Management’s assertions with data? What are the commercial risks of this business and how can they be mitigated? What I…
Why outsourcing your bookkeeping will save you money
Bookkeeping is by far the most annoying part of running a business. It’s boring, repetitive and tedious. But while it’s all those things – it is one of the most critical aspects to your business. The value of bookkeeping is in knowing how your business is performing. How much do your customers owe you? Am…
The real cost of a subscription business: a payment gateway comparison
The real cost of a subscription business: a payment gateway comparison As a result, businesses are changing the way they sell their products and services. New business models have emerged to cater for this trend and focus on repeatable, recurring relationships. The emphasis is on Customer Lifetime Value. This is the subscription economy. “At the…
Customer Acquisition Costs
Customer Acquisition Cost (“CAC”) is a metric that has been growing in use among Internet businesses. It’s a metric that can make or break your start-up. However, we find that many ‘traditional businesses’ fail to measure CAC, giving them limited insight as to whether they are acquiring customers profitably. In this video, Rowan shares how…
Customer Lifetime Value
Seasoned entrepreneurs say that revenue growth, profitability, and cashflow are the most important financial metrics to your business. Of course they are important, however we see one significant metric is often missed. https://www.youtube.com/embed/O99etdlZV0s Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) Customer Lifetime Value is not a new concept but it’s an important metric to measure for your business.…
How much is bad data costing your accounting firm
The term Big Data has been used with increased frequency over the last 5 years. While many organisations are still scrabbling to understand the broader application of it, there’s no doubt that simple operational data is becoming more and more common as a source of a decision making driver within organisations. A big part of…
What you need to know about Gross Profit Margins
Gross Profit margins are a critical metric that every entrepreneur needs to be on top of. It’s a make or break metric for every business, irrespective of your industry. Most entrepreneurs think they know their Gross Profit margins – but from our experience, most don’t measure it accurately, which can have dire consequences. In this…
Your accounting firm isn’t worth squat – An open letter to a Senior Partner
Dear Bob, I started working with your accounting firm when I was a graduate, wide eyed and fresh out of university. I spent the first 12 months of my career learning the basics of ‘tax’ which included how to complete a form on horribly clunky software, learning not to misspell my clients’ names and building…
The tools and tactics we use to manage our distributed team
Multimillion dollar companies like Zapier and Basecamp have their teams distributed all over the world. The WordPress parent company Automattic (valued at over $1.16B) boasts over 500 staff located in 57 countries. The notion of remote working has become a hot topic amongst professional services providers as of late. With trends moving towards the distribution of…
How small businesses can use Data to win
Entrepreneurs are liars. We tell ourselves that everything is fantastic, that we’re solving the world’s problems and having fun in the process. But in fact we know that is rarely the case… Being a liar in this way is a good thing. Even when things are all going terribly wrong – we lose a big…
How to build real value in a “body shop” business
Last Christmas I read Peter Thiel’s book “Zero to One”. Anyone curious about, or actually in the world of startups should read it – it’s full of so many original and thought-provoking concepts. These concepts range from ‘why companies should always aim to create something new (0 to 1) and not copy something else (1…
How to Build the Perfect Bookkeeper / Accountant Relationship
The bookkeeper / accountant relationship has always been a topical subject. Accountants blaming bookkeepers for dodgy work and the WIP they have to write-off as a result of it. Bookkeepers snarling at accountants for being elitists. Sound familiar? Looking back to when I was an undergrad (circa FY2006) the firm I worked for (who shall…
Why Your Business Should Aspire to be Like McDonalds
While innovation must be a key value driver to every organisation, it’s not surprising that organisations become caught up in the Silicon Valley buzz word hype that they lose focus on the fundamentals of any successful business – executing amazing customer service and Delivering In Full, On Time and On Budget – or what accountants…
Identifying and Retaining Top Performers
Jason’s note: The barriers to entry to establishing your own accounting practice have never been so low. A tech stack of XPM + PI + Asana will set you back less than $200 per month. Sign up and away you go – off into Startup land. With the barriers to entry so low, one of…
Let’s settle this ‘offshoring’ debate
People conjure up images of warehouses with rows of children punching away at excel spreadsheets, adding machines and industrial fans….LOL The global economy has thrived in the philosophy of ‘comparative advantage’, going back at least 9,000 years to the day of the Silk Road. Today, international trade is at the heart of the global economy…
The 3 step process to improving the productivity of your Digital Agency
Our recent digital agency whitepaper showed that the average productivity rates across digital firms in Australia is 83%. Yet among firms we talk to, it is not uncommon to see productivity as low as 60%. This observation brings about several questions which I will answer below, including what exactly is a productivity rate? What does…
Part II – Accounting as a Service – The new business model.
Jason‘s Note – following on from our last post on Metrics for the Modern Accounting Practice we received a bunch of feedback from accountants, interested in the “Accounting 2.0” business model. Questions like, why has the game changed? How do you move from time-based billing and what tools are available to do this? In this post, Guy Pearson takes…
The Metrics of the Modern Accounting Practice Part 1 – What are you Measuring?
“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it” – Lord Kelvin It always amazes me that most businesses don’t practice what they preach. Let’s face it, we’re all guilty of it. Let’s face it – if we were to be ‘advisors’ of our perfect selves we would have made our millions already… While at…
How we have (almost) killed email
Initially hailed as a cheaper way for people to communicate – a killer app invented in the 90s, email is now considered a chore. The more organised of us block out periods of time in our day to tackle them with the goal of ‘inbox zero’ – apparently a metric of productivity. Perhaps you are…
The 9 metrics Accountants must know when advising Startups
This post was written by my Co-Founder Rowan Grant. Startups are sexy, and everyone’s uncle is working on the next big calendar app (no jokes, I did get pitched another calendar app last week). As a result, professional service providers are now offering ‘startup’ packages or services to try to capture a chunk of this…
Lesson learnt #2: Know your customer. The 3 step process we used to determine our target market
Niching for a Startup is critical. It levels the playing ground between small and large businesses. The challenge is however, when you start a new venture or develop a new product, you say yes to anything and everything. You take every meeting, every phone call, every bit of work that comes your way. Even if…
Lesson learnt #1 – Communication is King
SmartBooks Online is a virtual business, meaning an array of challenges are immediately apparent. Just to name a few, these include building trust with clients and their accountants, showing the world that we know our sh!t without warranting a face-to-face coffee promising everything, and most of all managing expectations. We’ve received mixed feedback from both…
Fail Fast – The 5 invaluable lessons we’ve learnt @SmartBooks Online
SmartBooks Online has been floating around the internet over the last 12 months. During that time, Rowan and I were both working full time and progressing in our respective careers – jobs that we genuinely enjoyed doing – whilst running the business by night. Some called it part time entrepreneurship. Others called it a lifestyle…
Australian Accounting Awards Winner
The team at SBO are both proud and humbled to have been named the 2015 “Rising Stars of the Year” in the Australian Accounting awards, hosted by Accountants Daily. It was an honour to share the stage with the leaders in our industry. However, we definitely didn’t make it this far on our own, so…
Timesheets are dead. Long live timesheets
Myself and timesheets have a love-hate relationship. While I detest completing them on a day-to-day basis, unfortunately I cannot live without them. Allow me to explain. If you have worked (or are working) as a practicing accountant, lawyer, consultant or in any other profession in the business of buying and selling time, you are likely…
Give before you receive
‘Giving before you receive (or ask)’ is an attitude central to every religion and is a fundamental component of all successful relationships. Collaborating and being willing to share is vital if humans are to coexist fruitfully. And this philosophy applies to business relationships as much as it does to life. But the thing that frequently…
So, what the hell is a Startup?
The term ‘Startup’ has been thrown around with increased frequency over the past few years. It’s become the new ‘sexy’ way of describing your business/hobby/piece of software/concept. The problem is that it’s used in so many facets that I don’t know what it actually means anymore. The Government thinks Startups are just small businesses. TechCrunch…
What’s your time actually worth?
I see business owners everywhere constantly living the struggle. The struggle of running a small business. “I’m stuck in the start-upy phase at the moment. I’m so busy trying to manage my staff, do business development, manage my cashflow…plus do the work!” Days are spent fulfilling a multitude of roles, with the belief that hard…
The MOST important metric professional services businesses fail to capture
ATTENTION: Lawyers, accountants, architects, creative agencies, recruiters, financial planners, consultants…any other business in the business of ‘buying and selling’ time… …this applies to you. Some seasoned entrepreneurs may say revenue growth, profitability, lock up – amongst others – are the most important metrics to your business. Of course they are important, however I believe one…
Happy 1st Birthday SmartBooks!
Twelve months ago today Rowan and I had a a vision of disrupting the bookkeeping arena by offering automated, timely and subscription priced bookkeeping solutions to small business owners and accountants. We were sick and tired of the cost inefficiencies faced by both small business owners and accountants due to inconsistencies and errors in record…
The True Value of Time as a Business Owner
It’s a daily battle to ensure I am putting 100% effort into these commitments, as well as balancing it with my personal life. Sometimes I feel that there is simply not enough time or energy to get all your tasks done in a day. I know that other business owners share the same struggle. Too…
Going out on your own… Should you take the jump?
I read an interesting discussion on Quora this week about society being conditioned for employment as opposed to other sources of income, presumably being in business for yourself. I then recalled three conversations I’ve had this week with different friends, who each expressed how unhappy they were with their jobs – all good paying stable corporate…
Expert Bookkeeping Need not be Expensive
Even a small company should have a bookkeeper these days. There is no overstating the importance of the role this professional plays in the company. It’s the bookkeeper who enter, organises and updates your company’s financial records, checks your statements for errors and if they’re good process your payroll. Bookkeeper’s charge between $60-90 an hour…
Benefits of Outsourcing your Bookkeeping
The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Bookkeeping Bookkeeping is essential to any business; you have to keep track of your finances to determine if you are earning more than enough to keep your head above the water and not spending more money than you should. Be warned that bookkeeping will take up some of your time,…
Accounting Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Business
So you think you have the accounting skills it takes to run a small or medium-size business? Good for you! However, there are still some things you should be aware of. You may not think much of these “little things”, but making the following accounting mistakes can cause you to lose that business you have…