Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine July 2021

Creating Impact When You’re Overwhelmed How to Keep Your Business Open by Closing Your Books Stay profitable beyond expectations

Reasons to consider hiring a

FINANCIAL PLANNER Covid 19 - A Perfect Excuse for Poor Service

Don’t oversell production capacity.

www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

From the

Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Hey Everyone,

• Anthony Igra

Welcome to the 105th Edition of the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine.

• Helen Kay

Another financial year gone and hopefully it ended profitably for you.

From all reports, everyone is flat out, booking for Christmas and still looking for staff that just aren’t around. All I can suggest is put on an apprentice!! With the current Government incentives available you could have as much as 50% of their wage subsidised. *(obviously, conditions apply).

The best staff member you can ever have is one that you have trained yourself, in your own systems, exactly how you want the work done and the time frames you expect it to be completed.

Another big one to consider is get out of the race to the bottom.

Due to the fact that there is so much work available at the moment and so many painters not available, consider upping your rates and increasing your profits while you have the chance.

With the conclusion of the financial year, now is the time to look at what its cost you to run your business this year, and break that down to an hourly rate to ensure you are charging enough to ensure you are profitable. Contact us if you are needing some assistance. We are here to help.

Keep an eye out for all the exciting revelations coming later this month.

Till the next issue, Happy Painting!!

Nigel Gorman

nigel@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

07 3555 8010

• Jim Baker • Leo Babauta • Monroe Porter • Riccardo Welters • Robert Bauman • Ruud Gerards • Sandra Price • Vanessa Petch EDITOR Nigel Gorman GRAPHIC DESIGNER J. Anne Delgado

Advertise with us...

1800 355 344 07 3555 8010 info@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au www.aussiepaintingcontractor.com

Contents 06

How to Keep Your Business Open

by Closing Your Books

08

How record keeping can protect your trade business

17

Creating Impact When You’re Overwhelmed

20

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS

23

28

What story are your EMPLOYEES SELLING YOUR CUSTOMERS?

31

New finding: Jobseekers subject to obligations take longer to find work

34

How to Successfully Sell a Business…

SET TLEMENT

36

Covid 19 - A Perfect Excuse for Poor Service

When you’re working together, you need to know what to expect from one another.

Reasons to consider hiring a FINANCIAL PLANNER

40 44 45

Stop Waiting for Payment Industry Idiots Important Contacts

Opinions and viewpoints expressed in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher or any Aussie Painters Network’s staff or related parties. The publisher, Aussie Painters Network and Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine personnel are not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission. Information contained in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine is intended to inform and illustrate and should not be taken as financial, legal or accounting advice. You should seek professional advice before making business related decisions. We are not liable for any losses you may incur directly or indirectly as a result of reading Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Reproduction of any material or contents of the magazine without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

6 | Aussie Painting Contractor

How to Keep Your Business Open

by Closing Your Books It might sound like an oxymoron, but let me tell you why it isn’t. Closing your books simply means that you make sure your actual numbers tie in with your projections… and that is what keeps your business open.

The beginning of a new financial year can be whatever you want it to be… a restart of your business, or a deep review to see if you can tighten up expenses through better job control measures.

2. Create simple review processes To help you stay focused it’s best to create a dashboard of regular review practices. I suggest you include the following as a minimum: • Review daily what money is owed to your business • Review your job costings once a week • Look at your Profit & Loss statement once a month

It’s your decision.

• Set up prompt invoicing practices and consider progress payments

What I’d like to do for you today is to help you realise that keeping your business open, and more than that – stay profitable beyond your expectations – requires only small changes in your financial management practices.

• Set up an end of month procedure for regular invoicing and payment of providers • Relate the reviewed figures back to your existing budget vs the Profit & Loss statement. Make sure that the numbers all tie up – that’s what closing your books means.

Here are my 3 top strategies to get your business humming.

3. Review your Marketing ROI So how do you get a handle on what your Return on Investment is?

1. Closing your books – and what it means You may have heard the expression ‘close your books’ before, but may not have realised how powerful this simple practice is to keep your business open.

To ‘close the books’ simply means to make sure that all the pieces of financial information within a certain period (usually a month) are accounted for so that the information provided in reports like the balance sheet and income statement are accurate for that period.

Closed books allow for accurate reports. Accurate reports, in turn, help you run your business.

With the new financial year starting out, it’s a good idea to undertake a review across all your business operations.

Basically, you take the sales growth from that business or product line, subtract the marketing costs, and then divide by the marketing cost. So, if sales grew by $1,000 and the marketing campaign cost $100, then the simple ROI is 900%.

If you need any support with reviewing your business practices, call my office on 3399 8844 and we will give you a FREE Business Financial Health Check. You can also visit our website and complete your details on our Home page to request a free appointment.

www.straighttalkat.com.au

2021 July Issue | 7

How record keeping can protect your trade business Paperwork can be one of the least enjoyable aspects of running a trades business.

But you know what’s worse than paperwork? It’s dealing with a dispute or a public liability insurance claim, and still having to do all the paperwork anyway!

Even if you’re in the vast majority of tradies and builders who do the right thing and produce quality work, it doesn’t always stop a client from trying to lodge a claim or make a complaint against you.

So aside from doing your own quality checking and ensuring that your work is of a high standard, how else can you protect yourself from disputes?

Especially those which could end up as a public liability claim?

Taking Photos

We see plenty of builders and tradies taking photos of their finished work to share on social platforms such as Instagram.

As well as being great for marketing, photos can also be a great way of protecting yourself in the event of a dispute.

Whilst it may be a pain to take before, during and after photos of each job, it’s a very effective way of recording evidence and settling disputes.

There was a recent insurance claim where an electrician scratched a glass splashback in a kitchen whilst installing a new rangehood.

The answer is good record keeping. We’re not just talking about your standard contracts, but various forms of record keeping and evidence that will help to prove your side of the story.

In this case the electrician knew he caused the damage and was happy to lodge a claim via his insurance broker.

Whilst his insurance covered the cost of replacing the splashback, he still had to pay a $500 excess, which is still better than having to cover the full cost of course.

Here are a few good ideas that we’ve seen over the years, that could potentially be implemented in any trades or building business.

But what if the electrician didn’t believe he caused the damage? Without any evidence it would be his word against the homeowner’s.

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2021 July Issue | 9

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His insurance would still cover him, but he’d be paying a $500 excess and potentially suffer an increased premium at his next renewal.

months or even years ago, he could always refer back to those notes.

If he’d have taken before and after photos however, it would be clear whether the scratches were caused by him or not, and it may never make it to a claim as he could prove he wasn’t responsible for the damage.

There are services available now that can transcribe your speech notes to text, which could make searching them at a later date much easier.

Recording Video

If you wish to take it a step further, you could consider video recording your work.

This is probably a step too far for most tradies, but it would certainly give you near irrefutable evidence that you did or did not do a particular thing.

Taking Notes

No one wants to stop halfway through their work and start writing down notes, but have you considered using your voice?

Virtually all modern smartphones will have a voice recorder app that is preinstalled and easy to use.

Whilst no one wants to record a running commentary of every job, if you see something that seems noteworthy, you could grab your phone and record a quick note.

Should a dispute or issue of some sort arise in the future, your voice note recorded on the spot could prove to be pivotal.

Earthmoving Business Insurance

You might feel a little odd at first walking about talking into your phone, but those recordings or notes could be invaluable in the event of a dispute or claim.

Scope of Works

For larger jobs it’s a given that a detailed scope of works will be in place. But what about those smaller maintenance jobs?

By having a written document in place that clearly outlines to both you and the client what is being done, you’ll can help to avoid potential issues down the track.

Maybe you’re a plumber going out to replace a leaking tap. A fully detailed scope of works would seem overkill, but a quick single-page document could prove invaluable if something was to go wrong.

If something does go wrong which results in a claim on your business insurance, the insurer will often ask for a scope of works as part of the claim anyway.

Whether it’s a printed and signed document or just an email trail between you and the client, any type of written evidence is going to be better than none.

Contracts

Having a building contract in place is obviously required in many cases. We’re not experts in that department and won’t be going into it.

Suffice to say though, if you’re doing work that requires a contract, make sure you have a signed contract before undertaking any work.

Claim Process We recently had building and landscaping work done at our house, and the builder would walk around the site talking into his phone making notes about the work and his observations.

He might never need to refer to those notes, but if he did need to try and recall a small detail from weeks,

If you do have a client who makes a complaint that could lead to a claim it’s always best to bring your insurance broker into the picture as soon as possible.

Even if you don’t believe it’s your fault or that you’ve done anything wrong, getting the insurance company involved earlier will typically lead to better outcomes.

2021 July Issue | 11

Your insurance isn’t just there to protect you when you’re in the wrong. It’s also there to defend you when you’re accused of being on the wrong. A public liability policy includes cover for defence costs, meaning that the insurer will pay for legal representation to defend you.

If you’re insuring your tools, it’s imperative that you keep a record of those tools so you’re prepared for a claim.

So don’t want until you’ve argued it out with your client or whoever is making the complaint against you.

Get your insurance broker and insurance company involved, as we’re all on your side!

A list detailing each item

Whatever evidence you’ve collected along the way will be hugely beneficial as the claim progresses.

Bonus Section – Tool Insurance

This article has been all about protecting your trade business in the event of public liability insurance claims.

Those are claims involving property damage or personal injury caused by you (or your business) and suffered by a third party.

But we should also touch on the importance of record keeping when it comes to another popular form of tradies insurance – tool insurance.

The portable, inexpensive method to prevent paint waste-water polluting the environment.

Typically you’ll need the following details regarding the tools:

• • • •

The replacement value of each item Serial numbers where applicable Tax invoices or other evidence of ownership It won’t be good enough to just tell your broker or insurance company that you had $5k worth of tools stolen and expect to be paid that amount.

You need to provide evidence of ownership.

So if you want to make sure a tool insurance claim will run smoothly, good record keeping is going to help you here too.

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2021 July Issue | 15

1 - 8 8 8 - 4 9 - S T I N G | s t i n g e r b ru s h .c om S T I N G E R @ S T I N G E R B RU S H .C OM

"First innovation in a brush that works in a long time."

- Todd H Professional Painter for 35 Years

U.S. Patent 10,674,809

Creating Impact

When You’re Overwhelmed Our lives can be chaotic and overwhelming, and we can feel like we’re struggling to stay afloat. We feel behind, stressed, distracted, undisciplined, unworthy.

And in the middle of all of this, we want to do our meaningful work.

We want to create an impact.

How can we find focus and create some kind of meaningful impact in the face of this chaos and overwhelm?

I’m not here to claim it’s easy. I face it every day. But what I am here to say is that it’s possible. In fact, not only is it possible, it’s amazing — it feels even more meaningful because of the difficulty of doing it in chaos and uncertainty.

I manage to do it almost every day (some days I take a rest!) — and more than that, there are people in my programs that inspire me with what they’re able to accomplish in lives that can feel like they’re falling apart.

Let’s talk about how that might look, and some key principles.

Finding Focus in Chaos

I start my day feeling stressed, because it always feels like I’m already behind — I have a thousand things to do, and none of them were getting done when I was asleep!

I’ve come to accept this feeling, and even to recognize it as a sign that I’ve put myself intentionally into something meaningful and uncertain. This feeling means I’m not staying safe.

I try to start with meditation. Sometimes I have an additional practice or two. I feel the chaos and need to take care of all my tasks and emails pulling at me when I meditate. That’s perfect: I sit with the feeling of uncertainty and overwhelm as I meditate, and use it in my meditation.

Then I start working. I notice myself wanting to clear out emails and messages before I start on the meaningful task I’ve chosen for myself (usually chosen the night before). Often I’ll give in to that urge, and clear out a bunch of emails and messages. That’s OK — sometimes the uncertainty overtakes us. I call it “clearing the deck,” and it can feel restorative to clear things out.

2021 July Issue | 17

Then I set myself to do the meaningful task. It can feel difficult, because I still feel chaotic. Why should I focus on this one thing when there are thousands of others calling for my attention?

Because I care about making an impact. I remind myself of why this is important. I get clear in my heart, and strengthen my intention in my mind.

____________________________ Clear everything out, and create a space for focus. ____________________________ Then I get started.

Creating an Impact

When there are thousands of things to do, how can we make an impact? Any one of those things can feel meaningless, because they’ll barely move the needle. Sometimes the feeling is that we’re just spinning our wheels, or treading water, and not making any progress. And at the same time, so many things are coming at you.

Look, I get that. Things can feel like a struggle, feel chaotic, feel scattered. I feel that way too.

I’ll do a monthly review … and I’m shocked at how much I moved the needle. Flabbergasted.

Key Principles

So with that in mind … here are some key principles to take away for creating impact when you’re feeling overwhelmed: 1. Accept the chaos. It’s not a problem, just a sensation that we normally don’t like. Learn to see it as a condition of doing something meaningful. Or for living.

2. It’s OK to clear the decks — a little. Before you start with your meaningful task for today, you’ll get the urge to get a bunch of emails and messages out of the way. That’s OK, go ahead and get the most urgent ones answered, if you can do it in 15-20 minutes. Clearing a few things out so you can feel a little more settled isn’t a bad thing.

Just don’t let it occupy all your free time.

3. Line up your stuff. Have a target at least for this month, but maybe for the year as well. Or beyond. If you’ve set targets for the month, then set up weekly targets to move you in that direction, and then a daily task to hit that weekly target.

But there’s an open secret to creating an impact: line up your stuff. Line up at least one task today with your mission, and things will happen.

4. Then focus. Clear everything away. Put your full focus on that one task that will win the day for you. You only have to do this once a day, but if you can do it 2-3 times, take a bow, because you are a god.

For me, the lining up goes something like this: today’s task -> week’s targets -> month’s targets -> quarterly targets -> yearly vision -> my mission. That means today’s top task is lined up with the week’s targets (1-3 targets), which are lined up with the 3-5 targets for the month, etc. If I can line things up (roughly) this way … things start to happen!

5. Watch the magic happen. At the end of each week, see if you hit your targets. At the end of the month, look at what got done. It can still feel like not much is happening, but it can also be surprising how much you’re moving towards the impact you want to make.

Of course, you’ll still feel scattered, you’ll still feel like you’re treading water, you’ll still feel like you’re being hit by a deluge. That doesn’t go away — it’s the feeling of chaos. The secret of creating an impact is that you can still move mountains, still create something meaningful, while feeling this way. If you line your stuff up.

It’s not magic, but it can sometimes feel like magic.

I’ll have a month that feels so chaotic, so much like treading water … and then at the end of the month,

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Simple stuff, but we need to be reminded of this when things feel like they’re constantly falling apart.

Leo Babauta

a successful ‘simplicity’ blogger and author from California, the creator of top 25 Blog

ZEN HABITS

2021 July Issue | 19

Business

PARTNERSHIPS How many business partnerships have you come across; excluding those in a relationship with each other? Now how many do you know that have not succeeded? You will find it very rare to see a good working partnership. Personally, I have come across many that have failed. The reason being is they inevitably run into problems with each other’s expectations. Why? Because we all see things differently in what we want to achieve and what targets should be met.

A ‘Business Partnership’ is generally formed from a friendship. So what could possibly go wrong? It is very natural to feel excited when taking the step to go into business. There is a lot of emotion, the adrenalin is running high, you are about to be your own boss, so all you want to do is get started and make lots of money. By jumping in too fast and not doing your homework first, you can easily overlook the problems that could arise. For starters, it is difficult to evenly split the workload of running a business.

You may not think so at first because, ‘Heh! All we

20 | Aussie Painting Contractor

have to do is go to work, paint a house, send off the account and get paid’. ‘Simples’ as Sergei the Meercat would say’ WRONG! What about all the behind scenes like the everyday bookwork and quoting for instance. This is normally a one-person job, so the other would therefore be working on the tools. Will that person feel they’re working harder? On the other hand, will the person doing the bookwork be upset because some of the work is performed after hours? There can also be conflict when one partner is faster than the other or one that wants to work longer hours. On another factor, one partner may want to expand the business which may require injecting money into it where the other is content with staying small and the way it is. Also, who will be responsible for answering the phone calls and organizing the jobs? Things like this can easily lead to one partner feeling they are doing more than the other thus, resulting in conflict, tension and resentment.

A successful partnership needs clear communication and a lot of forward planning. So some of the questions you should consider asking yourselves before going into partnership are: • What hours are you going to work and if weekends are involved? One partner may have a young family and can only work a normal week.

• Whose job will it be to do the bookwork and the quoting? Even if you employ people to do these tasks there will always be other jobs that need attention. If only one of you is taking on this task and it’s undertaken at their home, make sure an agreement is made to compensate for the electricity used, office space, internet charges and wear and tear on floor coverings and furniture.

• If one of the spouses is working in the business as well (maybe doing the office work) make sure a wage is agreed to beforehand.

• Where will all the equipment, tools and material be stored? If it is at one house only, then there could be extra work involved for the loading up of the vehicle, shed maintenance, electricity, maybe water (if you wash out your brushes at home) and generally keeping the area tidy.

• Make sure you have a business partnership contract in place and be careful if you are using personal assets to fund the business. Include

how much each is putting in and how will it be paid back?

• How long do you want the business to run for? Is it short term or long and in the case of one partner wanting to leave the business, how will the other be paid out?

• Discuss what size you want the business to grow to and how many people do you want to employ?

• If you have different skills, do you value the time equally? For instance, eight hours of quoting and office work compared to eight hours of actual physical work.

Questions like these need to be discussed and put down in writing and signed by both partners. This is to alleviate any problems in the future. Having this in place will form the foundation of a successful partnership. When you’re working together, you need to know what to expect from one another. If you can see from this exercise that your expectations are not aligning on a lot of points, then you may need to consider other options rather than going into partnership. The last thing you want is your friendship with each other to be at risk.

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Jim Baker

www.mytools4business.com

2021 July Issue | 21

50 YEARS A HOUSE PAINTER This book contains 36 topics of industry related knowledge and information which will help you in the way you operate your business.Topics under headings of; Business Checklist, Staff, Marketing and Sourcing Customers, Professional Behavior, Successful Operation and Looking Ahead.Highly recommended by Jason Osborn, Dulux Business Development Executive as; ‘A very easy interesting read, that combines industry facts and great topics.’

www.mytools4business.com

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Reasons to consider hiring a

FINANCIAL PLANNER

For business owners who want financial security now and freedom in retirement, having a financial planner on the team is a must.

A financial planner will create a customized, strategic action plan that can help you achieve your personal financial goals.

Getting to know you and your business inside out is the first step a financial planner will take to understand where you are now, where you want to go, and then determine the steps you need to take to get there.

Still not sure you and your business need a financial planner? Consider these key benefits.

Grow your retirement wealth It’s not unusual for an entrepreneur to launch a business, hit the ground running, and never get around to planning for the future.

If you’re young and healthy, it may feel like retirement is too far off to think about - after all, your business is a going concern that needs your attention right now.

But even if you won’t retire for another thirty years, you’ll have a much better chance of achieving those far off goals if you lay the groundwork now. The earlier you start saving, the more time your money will have to compound, and your wealth to grow.

Protect what matters most Hand in hand with retirement planning is protecting the financial wellbeing of your family and your business with the right insurances—not to mention having your estate planning in place, should the unforeseeable happen.

2021 July Issue | 23

If you don’t have the answer for the following questions, it’s time to get in touch with a financial planner: • Do you have sufficient insurance coverage in case you can’t work due to illness or injury?

• Are you satisfied you’re investing your money strategically for the projected number of years you plan to work before retirement?

• Do you have an exit strategy for when the time comes to leave the business – whether you hope to sell, or to pass the company on to a successor?

Save money In the first few years of a business, it’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to try to save money by doing everything themselves. When it comes to financial planning, however, hiring a professional can save you both time and cash.

Final thoughts Recent stats show that far too few small business owners have met with a financial planner, and most aren’t adequately prepared for the future.

If protecting your business, the people you care about, and your lifestyle aren’t reason enough to meet with a planner, consider this: working with a financial planner will help improve your company’s profitability.

Your planner can advise you on opportunities to cut costs, invest wisely, implement the right tax strategies, and, based on accurate forecasts and projections, when to scale.

Why not talk start taking the right steps to improve your bottom line, grow and protect your wealth by talking to a financial planner today?

Because financial planning for business owners tends to be complex – involving multi-faceted tax, estate and succession planning – it’s best left to a trained, experienced professional.

Moreover, if you’re DIY financial planning, you’re spending valuable time (and therefore, money) on tasks outside your area of expertise rather than working with your strengths to grow your business.

A financial planner can offer expertise and an objective eye - all the better to help you make the right decisions and avoid making costly mistakes.

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Sandra Price

www.tradiebookkeepingsolutions.com.au Facebook : Tradie Bookkeeping Solutions

www.oldfields.com.au

2021 July Issue | 25

What story are your

EMPLOYEES SELLING YOUR CUSTOMERS? You’ve dedicated large sums of money to a great website, branding and advertising all telling a story of how you and your team are the best fit for your customer. But does the in-house experience match the projected story? How engaged are your employees to your company’s story and strategic plan?

Exceptional customer service will always create a competitive advantage and your employees will only deliver exceptional customer service when they are engaged, satisfied and dare we say it; happy.

Research conducted by MIT Sloan shows that an employee’s attitude towards an organisation has a significant effect on how they approach their jobs and how they treat customers. Their research also discovered that high levels of employee

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engagement are associated with the highest rates of profitability. It’s no coincidence. An engaged valued employee aligned with an organisations strategic direction will always add value and in turn add to the bottom line.

MIT’s research also discovered that while products and services from competitors may appear similar on the surface, exceptional service will create a competitive advantage. Competing through service is only possible when the organisation treats its employees as a valuable resource. Companies that focus on creating a dynamic internal brand experience that matches the external brand promises understand that aligning employees is the way to be more profitable.

So, how can you go about measuring and maximising employment engagement in your business? HR Maximised’s STAR Workplace program measures employment engagement alongside strategy implementation, employee performance, culture and internal processes.

This program is specifically designed for Australian small and medium businesses. It is focused on implementing solutions that are relevant to your business, not someone else’s. By measuring the engagement levels in your business, we can then tailor a specific program that will see engagement and profitability increase in your business.

Previous STAR Workplace Programs have supported MIT Sloan’s research – employee engagement con-tributes to a business’s profitability.

Our findings are telling. Employers in high performing organisations are 24% more satisfied with the level of customer service than employers in low performing organisations. This was one of the largest variances and strongly indicated that customer engagement is critical for overall improved organisational performance.

Engaged employees will pass on their enthusiasm to customers and stakeholders and they will develop and deliver better products and services – thereby positively impacting sales and profit.

If you would like to read more on the STAR Workplace Program and how it can help you lift performance and increase profit within your business, contact HR Maximised today.

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Vanessa Petch

Vanessa understands the impact people problems can have not only on a team but on the company as a whole and is able to assist business owners with tools and strategies to manage their teams, improve productivity and drive business performance

New finding: Jobseekers subject to obligations take longer to find work Under so-called mutual obligation rules, the Australian government requires the unemployed to complete activities (including training and applying for a certain number of jobs) in return for receiving unemployment benefits.

Failure to comply attracts demerit points which can lead to the loss of benefits.

The goal is meant to be to help the unemployed return to work more quickly.

But do they? Academic literature provides several reasons to think they might not.

One is self-determination theory.

The argument is that there are two types of motivation: self-authored (intrinsic motivation) and enforced by others (external motivation).

Both types can spur action, but often only the former leads to success.

Remember your parents told you to do something, rather than you deciding for yourself?

We’re guessing it mattered for the end result.

External motivators needn’t work well “Mutual obligations” and threats of penalties are external motivators. Self-determination theory says they are not likely to work well.

Another is scarcity theory.

The idea is that decision-making takes place in two separate parts of the brain — automatic decisionmaking in one part; careful, deliberate decision-making in another part.

The second part, scarcity theory argues, only works well if you have sufficient cognitive resources, or “bandwidth”, to use it.

Bandwidth is limited The threat of penalties might create stress that uses up bandwidth that might otherwise be available for properly searching for jobs.

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We followed the experiences of 6,253 unemployed Australians aged 15-65 who were part of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia HILDA survey between 2001 and 2019.

unemployed Australians into jobs. Where it does, it gets them into jobs which aren’t as remunerative.

Because of changes in the rules governing who was subject to mutual obligations and delays in administering mutual obligations, some were subject to obligations, some were not.

It is consistent with the theory that energy (“bandwidth”) spent on compliance, reduces the energy available to properly search.

Read more: The true cost of the government’s changes to

It lends support to the theories of self-determination and scarcity (of bandwidth).

JobSeeker is incalculable. It’s as if it didn’t learn from Robodebt

In what we believe is the first study to assess the effects of Australia’s mutual obligations requirements on job search and employment outcomes, we compared the experiences of otherwise-similar Australians who were subject to mutual obligations with those who were not.

We didn’t (for instance) simply compare people who had been out of work for a short period of time and not subject to mutual obligations with people who had been unemployed for longer and were.

Bandwidth seems to matter

Our findings suggest that removing mutual obligations would improve employment outcomes in addition to removing red tape.

But they do not suggest this is sufficient for getting unemployed Australians into good jobs.

Read more: What happens when you free unemployed Australians from ‘mutual obligations’ and boost their benefits? We just found out

We matched those who were similar across about 30 dimensions and differed mainly in whether or not they were subject to mutual obligations.

That will require sustained fiscal stimulus in excess of the kind the government is now providing to ensure there is enough work for everyone who wants work, including the 160,000 people presently underemployed.

Those under obligations take longer to find work

Only then will we properly use our resources, and be able to provide a proper job for everyone who wants one.

We found that those subjected to mutual obligations search just as intensively (if not more) for jobs, but that they took longer to find employment and spent less time in employment twelve months on.

Twelve months on those who had been on mutual obligations who were in employment were in lower quality jobs in terms of hourly wage, hours worked and weekly wage, than those otherwise identical Australians who had not been.

We conclude that mutual obligation as a labour market policy instrument fails the test of assisting

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Ruud Gerards

Coordinating Senior Researcher, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market , Maastricht University

Riccardo Welters

Associate Professor, College of Business, Law & Governance, James Cook University

How to Successfully Sell a Business…

SE T TLEMENT

When it comes time to sell your business you want to ensure that you get a good offer and that the sale goes through smoothly. You do not want your business to be one of the many of thousands of businesses that do not sell or sell for considerably less that you had hoped.

Working with professionals that are experienced in business sales will help but as the Seller you have a huge part to play in the successful sale of your business.

Understanding the process and what is involved is crucial to achieving a successful business sale.

There are essentially 3 MAIN STAGES OF SELLING A BUSINESS …

1. Getting your business ready for sale 2. The Contract Stage 3. Settlement Understanding what needs to happen in each of these 3 stages and being well prepared before you embark on each stage will help to ensure a successful business sale.

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This article deals with Stage 3 – SETTLEMENT OF THE SALE …

Once your the business sale agreement goes unconditional (for example, the Landlord consents to the transfer of lease to the Buyer and/or the Buyer obtains finance approval) there is usually a period of say 21 days to get ready for settlement of the sale of your business.

Your solicitor should have prepared and sent you a settlement checklist which will help you prepare for these events. These include the following:

Transferring the Lease For any business operating out of a commercial premises, a significant part of preparing for settlement revolves around the lease Often you will need to enter into a Deed of Assignment to effect the transfer. This is document which transfer the lease from you to the Buyer. You should make sure that you are released from all obligations to the Landlord arising after settlement.

Often Landlords will sign after settlement so it is important to get undertakings in this regard.

Business Name Business name(s) are transferred through ASIC Connect.

You will need to give the Buyer a consent to transfer number at settlement.

Business Licences If your business currently has certain licenses that it requires in order to operate, these will need to be transferred to the Buyer.

Transferring business licences can take a significant amount of time – so ensure that you allow sufficient time for the transfers to be processed.

Plant and Equipment If you own your businesses plant and equipment then it’s unlikely that you’ll need to anything to effect the transfer of the plant and equipment. At settlement the equipment will automatically transfer to the Buyer.

On the other hand, if any equipment is leased or under a hire purchase agreement, you will need to contact the owner of the equipment to have the equipment transferred or otherwise paid-out. Often this equipment will also have a security registered against it at the PPSR and this security will therefore also need to be released.

Employees Irrespective of whether it has been agreed that the employees will be terminated or transferred, Sellers need to ensure that: • All employees have been properly notified of the upcoming business sale and whether the Buyer will be keeping them on; • All employee entitlements that need to be paid out have been properly calculated; and • The Buyer is fully aware of what employee entitlements each employee is owed (even if there are none).

Each business contract will have its own provisions setting out how it can be transferred. Note that transferring a business contract may have a notice obligation so it’s worthwhile commencing this process as soon as possible.

Settlement Statements Settlement Adjustments will need to be agreed with the Buyer (e.g rental payments) At the same time as sending over the settlement adjustments the Seller’s lawyers will give the Buyer payment directions as there may be different parties receiving payments.

Stocktake If the purchase price includes stock then you won’t have to worry about conducting a stocktake.

If the purchase price does not include stock, then you’ll need calculate how much your stock is worth.

This is generally done via a stocktake that takes place the day before settlement – you and the Buyer go through the stock and associated receipts and calculate how much stock there is.

There is nothing stopping you from simply agreeing with the Buyer to not conduct a stocktake and instead just sell them all your stock at an agreed price.

Settlement itself At settlement the actual process of transferring ownership of the business will take place. If everything has been properly prepared, the only actions that will happen at settlement are the Buyer giving you the cheque for the purchase price and you handing over the keys to the business and any documentation that needs to be provided.

Now you can crack open the champagne!

If you need any assistance with your business sale or purchase, or with other commercial legal issue please contact Helen Kay at helen.kay@riselegal.com.au or call 0402 318 033 for a free no obligation chat.

Transferring Business Contracts These are the agreements you have with third parties, for example suppliers and customers. These will need to be transferred to the Buyer or terminated.

Helen Kay

07 5619 6858

www.riselegal.com.au 2021 July Issue | 35

Covid 19 - A Perfect Excuse for Poor Service There is no question Covid 19 has impacted the world. Interestingly enough, customer service seems to be one of Covid’s biggest casualties.

Here are some examples, I recently encountered. I stayed in a major hotel that was full but had only 1 desk clerk, no one ever answered the phone and no towels, the list went on and on. I bought a smoker that doesn’t work, and no one returned calls to help me. We called seven 5-star rated landscapers for yard maintenance and no one returned a call. I have special status as frequent flyer, but it still took me one hour to get someone on the phone. It can take years to build a positive brand name and a couple of months of bad service to destroy it all. As a small business, excellent customer service can be refreshing to your customers.

Big businesses just give lip service to customer service. Such businesses survive on mass volume and as a small business you just cannot afford such a luxury.

Utilize good phone practices. It does no good to advertise and then not return calls. If nothing else, simply phone people back and say currently we are not taking new customers. Train phone personnel on how to screen and chat with customers. Too many admins merely want to schedule an appointment with no regard as to the quality of the lead.

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Some people are amazed when I promptly return their call. That’s my job. Not everyone is a phone solicitor or trying to sell you something. Years ago, I uncovered massive theft and fraud at a mechanical contractor. It also included an electrical contractor. I left 2 messages for the owner to call me back, I had confidential information I could not relay by phone. He never called.

Several months later he was out of business.

If you feel a customer doesn’t have the money or is merely price shopping, there are several potential responses. You can simply schedule the estimate 30 days out and they will probably just go away. Have them email pictures of the job; if they will not bother to do that, they probably are not serious. Google their house or office on Google Earth and give some ranges. The more you probe, the more you find out.

Be quick to gather information and slow to just run out and do an estimate.

Ask questions of the customer and develop a checklist for crews to follow. Ask where to park. Decide where the dumpster might go. Lookout for pets plus it’s nice to know about the Doberman before opening the gate. Walk the job at the end of the day to make sure tools and trash are picked up. The more courteous you are to your customer, the more likely you will get referrals.

2021 July Issue | 37

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Use simple common-sense practices. If your schedule changes, call, or the text the customer to let them know. Simply say a job is running over and I cannot leave their job unfinished any more than I can leave yours unfinished. Give customers a few days warning before you show up. Have your foreman walk through the job at the end of the job to see if anything was missed. Pass out flyers to neighboring properties letting them know you will be working with a number to call if there are any issues.

bad, I complained to the manager. His response was, “we are sold and don’t have enough employees.”

My response was, “then limit the number of rooms you sell. It’s not my fault you can’t accommodate the busines.” The proper response to a complaint is to agree with the customer feelings and not make excuses. It should go something like this. “I can appreciate your frustration and regret the service has been bad and we will try to do better. What can I do to help the situation?”

Don’t oversell your production capacity. Finding labor is an on-going challenge. Extra unemployment, lack of desire to do physical work, and immigration are just some of the reasons. For most contractors, 2021 leads look strong, and contractors can probably sell more than they can produce. You may be better off to increase prices rather than try to sell volume. Selling jobs, you cannot get to just ruins your reputation plus creates major anxiety. Remember a 5% price increase goes straight into your pocket. It requires no more cash, no more production and no more headaches.

Yes, some people are crazy and difficult but not most of us. Most people become difficult when they feel they are not being heard or are being mistreated. As a small business all you have going for you is your good name. Make sure you keep it.

Handle complaints with empathy. When the hotel was sold out and the service was truly unbelievably

www.proofman.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Monroe Porter

is president of PROOF Management a firm that teaches seminars and runs networking groups for painting contractors.

Stop Waiting for Payment Here’s a question for you… what is the most common period of time that elapses between a payment being due and the contractor sticking up a hand and asking for help? 8 months!!!

That’s right. In the hundreds of payment matters I see a year, the most common thing I see is a contractor finally deciding to chase his money in April for work completed in the previous September. This is absurd and one of the reasons why lack of cash flow and rising insolvencies continues to be major features of the construction industry.

You MUST adopt controlled debt management policies and be onto your debtors within no more than 3 months. It is common to hold off your pursuit when your client says “the money’s coming, just a few more weeks”. Or “I’ll make it up to you on the next job.” This means that you are financing his operations. Here are 6 reasons why you should get on to your clients quickly to recover your money.

The Money Disappears

The money available to pay you only exists so long as there is a contractual chain to generate it. Once the

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work is done and everyone goes home, the money goes home too. All contractors in the contractual chain are fed by cash from the same source, so you need to be chasing your money while that source is still there, and ideally while that source still needs your work. Eight months later when everyone has packed up and gone to the next job, it will be very hard to chase your money.

The Value of your work Diminishes

The more time that passes after you have delivered your work, the less it is worth. Do not think for a minute that your debtor is looking at your work and thinking how wonderful it is and how deserving you are of your money. This is a delusion that too many contractors suffer from. Your client is actually thinking ‘Look at all this work I’ve got for free!’

And the more time that passes the less your work will be worth, until in a year’s time you’ll be happy to get half the value if you’re lucky. So it is key to understand that the passage of time acts to reduce the value of your work and the amount you will be likely to recover if you chase it. So chase early!

Ambit Valuations

Following form the previous point, should you actually engage your client debtor and demand your money, you will most likely be pushed into a negotiation. This is important. The key problem here is that the payment your client proposes to make now will have nothing to do with the actual value of your work, but will be everything to do with what you’ll take without a fight.

You see while the project is going, you’re work can be valued in line with the agreed contract prices for it. You can point to the work done and then argue its value.

But eight months later your contract and work is a distant memory. The payment then will be a negotiation based on what you’ll take to ‘just to get something and move on’. And I guarantee you that figure will be a lot less than the value of your work.

He’s not there anymore

If you are going to chase your money in adjudication or court proceedings then you’ll need to know the ins and outs of the whole affair. You’ll need to know where all the paperwork is. You’ll need to know what evidence can be collected.

But after eight months your staff member that dealt with it has left. And / Or the project manager at the debtor’s company has left. This makes things very

hard. Now it will take you ages to try to stick together all the documents and try to work out what went on.

This puts you at a huge disadvantage, especially if it is your staffer who has left. This leaves your debtor far more informed on the works that you are. In any proceedings you will be functioning from far less information. So act early while everyone is still on deck!

Gone Bust

Yes how common it is. You’ve waited so long to chase your money that all the other contractors have got in there before you to get their money. Now your client has no money left and goes into administration and finally liquidation. If you had acted sooner you may well have got your money. Remember that if you aren’t getting paid chances are no one else is either.

Those guys may be chasing their money while you’re twiddling your thumbs.

Months later you’ll start to chase your payments only to get a letter from the newly appointed administrators. This is your own fault and is totally avoidablea --------------------------------------------------------------------

Anthony Igra

1300 669 075 www.contractorsdebtrecovery.com.au

2021 July Issue | 41

Business Management Courses FOR PAINTERS!

42 | Aussie Painting Contractor

Find out if the things around you are safe for humans and pets.

CLICK HERE for videos on How to use the sampling kit For donations, CLICK HERE This Lead Safe World Project of The LEAD Group, aims to achieve a lead safe world by 2041

Buy your DIY- Sampling Lead Test Kit/Lab Analysis Lead Kit Lead Group’s lead Test Kit The only ones available in Australia.

Even LOW level of lead is HARMFUL You take the samples and send them to Sydney Analytical Labs.

2021 July Issue | 43

The Industry Idiots

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IMPORTANT

Contacts

Aussie Painters Network aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

Ph. 0430 399 800

National Institute for Painting and Decorating painters.edu.au

Ph. 1300 319 790

Australian Tax Office ato.gov.au

Ph. 13 72 26 / Ph. 13 28 65

Award Rates fairwork.gov.au

Ph. 13 13 94

Fair Work Building & Construction fwbc.gov.au

Ph. 1800 003 338

Mates In Construction matesinconstruction.com.au

Ph. 1300 642 111

Workplace Health and Safety Contacts Comcare WorkSafe ACT Workplace Health and Safety QLD Victorian WorkCover Authority WorkCover NSW SafeWork SA WorkSafe WA NT WorkSafe WorkSafe Tasmania

comcare.gov.au worksafe.act.gov.au worksafe.qld.gov.au vwa.vic.gov.au workcover.nsw.gov.au safework.sa.gov.au commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/ worksafe.nt.gov.au worksafe.tas.gov.au

1300 366 979 02 6207 3000 1300 362 128 1800 136 089 13 10 50 1300 365 255 1300 307 877 1800 019 115 1300 366 322

actcancer.org cancercouncil.com.au cancercouncilnt.com.au cancerqld.org.au cancersa.org.au cancervic.org.au cancerwa.asn.au

(02) 6257 9999 (02) 9334 1900 (08) 8927 4888 (07) 3634 5100 (08) 8291 4111 (03) 9635 5000 (08) 9212 4333

Cancer Council Australia ACT NSW NT QLD SA VIC WA

2021 July Issue | 45

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