What Makes a Subcontractors
There are many myths which persist in the world of small business including if someone has an ABN you can use them as a subcontractor.
Years ago, when the Hawke/Keating government introduced the Superannuation Guarantee scheme businesses seized on the fact that they could save money by retrenching their workers and offering them employment as subcontractors and not have to pay all of the on costs related to wages.
Since then, this myth has been tried many times in law courts and the myth was knocked on the head with a potentially very expensive outcome. If a business is caught wrongfully using contractors it is possible that, on top of the contributions and payments the business should have made, they will also pay heavy fines and interest charges.
So, how do you know if the person you are employing is a true Subcontractor or an employee? The answer to that is – it depends. And if he is a true Subcontractor, WorkCover rules could classify him as a “deemed worker”.
But you are not left drifting in an ocean of indecision! The Taxation Office has a very useful page at https://www.ato.gov.au/business/employee-or-contractor which allows you, through a number of questions, to find out if you are hiring a true Subcontractor or if they are an employee. Once you have been through the test, if the site says Subcontractor, take a screen shot and put it in the Subcontractors file. Do the test regularly to make sure you are ahead of the game.
Also do the test on to make sure you have the workers compensation aspect covered as well at http://workerstatus.workcover.nsw.gov.au.
Cashflow Control
Over the years there have been lots of songs written about money, the lack of, too much etc. Some say that it is a liquid asset that flows faster and dries up quicker than water itself. Money, or cash, is the lifeblood of small business and like water it should be conserved and managed so that the business survives. It is a fact that a business’s cash flow is the most important thing a business owner needs to attend to and without proper attention the business will fail.
It is a common mistake that a budget and a cash flow statement are the same, but a budget is a forecast /plan of the bulk amounts on income and expense by category. A business will create a budget that looks at its major items of income and expense to produce a profit figure.
The cash flow, however, breaks these items down to smaller chunks (monthly at least), lists them by period and looks at the net result. Where a budget is usually the macro net result, a cash flow is the microplan of CASH coming and going each period through the business’s bank accounts based on past experience and current plans. The cash flow will tell the owner where there are going to be cash surpluses and cash deficits so that the surpluses can be set aside to cover the deficits.
The cash flow can show you where there is a chance there won’t be surpluses to cover the expenses. It will then influence your sales and marketing (or other income generating processes) strategies to ensure this does not happen.
Producing your cash flow plan for the first time can be quite daunting, but you can do it with my help.
Now you have your name!
Now that you have your name, it is time to protect it. Just having and registered a business name these days is not enough. If you are going to work hard on and in your business and build its brand and reputation, the last thing you want is for someone come along and steal it.
How? Unfortunately, we live in an increasing dishonest and unscrupulous world. There are those who will use devious measures to divert business from you, mimic your business or downright steal your clients. Your first vulnerable point will be your domain name and IP address. You have probably gone out and got hold of the .com.au version of your address, but there are others. Depending upon your online reach you need to obtain and park all the other available addresses such as .com; .net; .biz; .info with and without the additional .au extension. A practical example of this is a business that only registered the .com.au domain name. When the business became successful, it noticed its online sales were beginning to decline. Acting on the suggestion to enter their domain name plus the .biz extension and see what came up the client discovered that a black screen came up with the message that the site was under construction and that the link should be clicked on to take the viewer to the old website. The “old” website was the online store of a competitor.
Additionally, you are going to be working hard on establishing your brand in the market. If you have a logo or originally developed symbology you should be taking steps to protect them. You can do this through IP Australia. If the process is seems too complex for you, consider using a reputable IP/Patents lawyer to help you.
A Rose by Any Other Name
Shakespeare had it right for romance and flowers, but the same sentiment doesn’t apply in business, even if you are a florist.
Why? I have seen some weird business names in the past which were creatively arrived at, only to leave the business anonymous and unreachable because of the name.
There are many things to consider when choosing a business name that is going to work for you. We all know that this is now an electronic world and people live at a fast pace these days. So, we need to take this into account.
Your business name has to be easy to remember and to type. Why? Well it will need to accomplish these things:
But don’t stop there! You need to select at least another two names. Why? If the first is taken when you try to register it with ASIC, then you have two others to fall back on when you go to register your business name. Check in three places before registering your business name. First, the Australian Business Name Register and, if available there, check with IP Australia to make sure no-one has copyrighted or trademarked the name in another form then check that the domain name is also available.
If you get a yes from these places, then go ahead and register it. And go straight away to an internet provider and claim the domain name.
To be continued……………………..