key metrics
,

9 Key Metrics Every Business Should Track

Metrics allow businesses to track the growth and performance of various aspects of the business, enabling owners and managers to monitor a company's progress toward its goals, identify and manage proactively potential problems, and make well-informed intelligent decisions.
pricing module

Is Your Pricing Model Killing Your Business?

Sometimes in business you can see the end coming from a mile away. Losing your biggest client, conceding market share to a new competitor, or having your product become obsolete are all obvious signs that tough times are on the way. Some killing blows are a lot harder to detect. Perhaps one of the least noticed and most difficult to see coming, even if you are looking for it, is death by your pricing model and it's easy to understand why.
bad customers
,

How To Avoid Bad Customers

What qualities would your perfect customer have? On the surface this is a casual question, but a little examination shows it to be one of the most important ones any small business leader will have to answer. The traditional view of customers would hold that anyone you can attract to interact with your company and buy products or services is the ideal customer – the world is your potential client, and you should act accordingly. But what if that wasn't true?
load shedding
,

Loadshedding: Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency and Alternative Power

With the challenges of Stage 6 loadshedding still fresh in our memory, government’s multiple measures to address this national crisis, announced just a month ago by President Cyril Ramaphosa, confirm that there is no quick short-term solution for Eskom’s woes, leaving us responsible for proactively securing our own alternative energy solutions.
workmans

Are You Ready for a COIDA Employer Site Visit and Audit?

If you operate a business with one or more employees, and/or if you are a domestic employer, you are required by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) to register with the Compensation Fund, to keep certain records, and to pay a tariff based on annual earnings. These are not new requirements but, just recently, the Compensation Fund issued a notice to employers – including domestic employers - to expect employer engagements, site visits and audits.
recession
,

Recession on the Horizon: Here’s How to Survive

It's no secret that economies around the world are struggling. Increased inflation, booming petrol prices and erratic stock markets are everywhere, and South Africa is not immune. Recently an economist at Oxford Economics Africa, Jee-A van der Linde, was quoted in the daily Maverick speaking about South Africa specifically. With recession a distinct possibility in the near future, tough times are doubtless ahead for many businesses and avoiding closure is going to become a priority.
trust
, ,

Is Your Trust Registered and Ready for Income Tax?

In this article, we look at why trusts are used by business owners, how trusts are taxed, how the tax return for a trust must be completed and submitted, and why assistance from an accounting and tax practitioner is essential to avoid the many potential pitfalls, as well as the penalties and interest that will be levied for late returns, late payments, and non-compliance.
credit score
,

The Importance of a Good Credit Score

Business credit is one of the most important tools in any entrepreneur’s toolkit. Building a good credit reputation helps the business qualify for credit facilities such as business credit cards and loans, and can open up many other funding opportunities. Your business’ credit begins when you register your new company and is likely to become an important aspect of your success. So how can you build your credit score to ensure you have the best possible score when the time comes that you need it?
cashflow
,

Top Ten Tips for Maintaining a Strong Cash Flow

Given the crucial importance of proactively managing the cash flow in your business – and the fact that it is one of the biggest challenges most business owners face - we share in this article ten top tips you can implement in your business immediately to maintain a positive cash flow and ensure adequate cash flow reserves are always available as the end of the year approaches.
delegation
,

Learning The Essential Art of Delegation

Starting a business is often a lonely process. In the beginning you are doing it all, from registering the company to meeting with clients, putting together presentations and managing stock. As the company grows it then becomes necessary to start giving some of these tasks to other people to ensure everything can get done and it's at this stage that business owners need to learn the subtle art of letting go of full control.