I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
Read, subscribe to my newsletter, enjoy!Tash
Sharing salaries…
It’s one of those questions we don’t usually ask, or answer – how much do you get paid? I’m not going to discuss whether that’s good or bad, or even why it may be the case, but something on the news last night made me think of it.
Apparently, a 16 year old boy was offered a job in the USA for $400,000 a year, which he turned down as he wants to stay here with family and friends. What I find interesting is how everyone found out about it.
I find it hard to believe that the company contacted the media and said “we offered him $400,000” I mean, that sort of announcement can’t be good for them – it shows them being rejected (even if through no fault of theirs) and may cause problems between staff who aren’t being paid $400,000!
I know I’ve had jobs where I didn’t want others knowing my salary – largely because I didn’t want them to get into ‘why does she get that much?’ or ‘but I should get more than him!’
A 16 year old earning so much also makes me wonder about his expectations. I am not making comment on his ability in any way or whether or not he deserves such a salary, but $400,000 is such a lot of money to start a working career with! Where does he go from there?
I see some value in young people starting with small jobs so they learn the value of earning money and getting a realistic view of the working life. It’s not so much the $10 an hour as learning their time is worth something and that it takes time and hard work to increase their pay rate. And learning how to use and manage that money is also important.
Unethical or ignorant?
Is ignorance an excuse for giving the wrong advice? Or is it as unethical as someone deliberately misleading a client for their own gain?
I have previously written about the integrity of businesses misleading clients, but how different it is if the supplier gives bad advice from ignorance?
If you are paying someone as an expert, you have a right to expect their information to be reliable and trustworthy. Let’s face it, if you had the information and knowledge yourself, you wouldn’t have asked them in the first place!
Some supppliers will give advice based on out-of-date information (“it worked in 1995 so why should we change it?”), personal opinion (“I don’t like brown therefore it is a bad colour to use in every situation” reasoning) or no knowledge at all. And they mean absolutely no harm by it and probably think they are helping you.
Personally, I don’t think that is professional or ethical – if you are charging people money for your knowledge, then you should have that knowledge to start with! And you should keep that knowledge up to date.
Have you come across this sort of ignorance in busienss? Did you consider it unethical for them to charge for knowledge they didn’t actually have?
Bookkeeping
Unless you have an accounting/bookkeeping background or interest, one aspect of business that many small business people find hard to manage is their accounts. And June and July are obvious times for getting your accounts sorted – in Australia anyway!
A lot of the time it is simple – if you have systems set up and the time and energy to sit and concentrate on it. You simply record all the expenses you have (copying information from invoices and receipts) in one place and all your income in another place – whether the different places are separate sections of your system or just different columns.
Lots of elements go into business accounts – it’s nice when they all fit!
But what happens when those unusual situations arise? Personally, I ask my accountant how to record something – although now days my bookkeeper manages it and usually knows how to deal with details anyway. How do you deal with the trickier accounting tasks?
But I did come across Tilda Virtual’s advice on how to include barter arrangements in your accounts – and she made it easy to do.
Of course, some people would ask why would you bother – bartering is just between two people and doesn’t have to be entered into business accounts. However, if you have purchased materials, how do you account for their use in a bartering relationship? Many businesses find it is necessary to record barter transactions to keep everything in order.
More importantly, barter arrangements are still counted as part of your income as far as the Tax Office is concerned. So with Kylie’s accounting tip and this new knowledge, you can record any bartering you do in your accounts.
Email content is factual
Over the weekend I attended the second weekend of a training course. One session was on communications as part of relationships, and the instructor said something that stuck in my mind.
He said “emails are for facts, never emotions”.
[Tweet “Emails are for facts, never emotions”]
So, you can write an email “We will meet at 5 pm” or “Please write me a promotional article on woggles.” And it is ok to write something like “I am upset – can we please talk about it?”
Using the phone is often better than email for emotional issues
No emotions in emails?
I had never thought of it quite that way, but it is a good point. What you write can be misinterpreted, especially when emotions are involved, which can cause more problems than you already have. It is also harder to write clearly when you are feeling emotional so you are more likely to be negative than constructive.
If there is an issue to resolve, it is much better to deal with it face to face or via the phone than in an email. For one thing, tone of voice can impact on the understanding of the message and for another, it is more immediate – there can be delays in replying to each other via emails and that can also add to confusion, misunderstandings and problems.
And don’t think this is just referring to personal relationships. If there is an issue between you and a supplier or customer, grab the phone or arrange a meeting and get the issue resolved.
For a business situation, it isn’t just a matter of smoothing relationships either – it is your business’ reputation and having emotions in writing can be used out of context to your detriment.
So a simple rule to add to your business model – keep emails for facts, not emotions!
Use your words wisely.
*Image courtesy of Frugo at 123rf
Choosing your environment
One of the factors influencing your happiness and success is the environment you find yourself in – and you do have control over it.
I recently read a blog post by Donna-Marie which reminded me of the impact people have on your life. I honestly believe that if you surround yourself with positive people, you will have a more positive attitude and are likely to find solutions and opportunities. Which of course means that if you spend lots of time with negative, no-hope people, it is much harder to reach your potential and feel happy.
This can impact many of your choices, such as:
- make sure you employ staff who are positive and creative rather than complainers
- only attend seminars and networking events where you feel a positive environment – if group members are not supportive or encouraging, you probably won’t benefit much from spending time with them
- if choosing between two suppliers, pick the one who has a can-do attitude or enthusiasm over the one who makes the project sound like hard work or an interruption to their schedule
- only use a coach or mentor who believes in success and finding solutions
Who you associate with can even impact on your writing style – positive people use words like “can”, “will”, “value” and “ideas” which inspire you and make your writing positive, too.
Have you ever experienced an obvious change by changing who is around you?
I once knew some people who couldn’t help themselves from lying and adjusting perceptions to maintain their view of reality. Their behaviour made me uncomfortable and I didn’t like being unable to trust them, so I made a conscious decision to not associate with them. There was actually a great sense of relief when they were no longer part of my life, and I have taken care since to choose who I spend time with whenever possible.
Preparing for 30 June…
It is now June and the end of financial year is rapidly approaching – are you ready for it?
Here are some of the things I am considering at the moment to maximise my position at 30 June. Is there anything else you do at this time of year?
- send out all pending invoices and statements as soon as possible – not only does it increase your cash flow this month, many other businesses will appreciate being able to pay (and claim a tax deduction) this financial year
- pay off all outstanding invoices if possible – you may as well claim deductions now rather than in 13 months time! And the new tax rates may mean deductions this year will help your tax position anyway
- consider making a contribution to your super fund – this is tax deductible for the self-employed now
- if you or your business supports a charity and you haven’t made a donation yet, now is a good time to do so as it can then count as a tax deduction this financial year – I wonder how much their donations go up in June each year!
- if you are eligible for a Government Co-contribution, your personal contributions of up to $1,000 must be made to your super fund by 30 June – and changes from the budget or an increased income next year may mean you aren’t eligible next year so get in while you can!
- consider making business purchases that will be needed soon. Not only can you claim it as a tax deduction, it may save you stress when you do actually need the item – printers notoriously run out of ink the day your proposal is due!
- get your accounts sorted and in order – the more organised they are, the quicker you (or your accountant/tax agent) can get the return completed and submitted
- collate related information, such as a travel log or noting the distances travelled, home office bills, private health insurance policy details, bank statements and PAYG statements
- if you run a service business, check the proportion of income from each client as tax rules can change if more than 80% of your income is from one source. There’s not a lot of time to adjust that, but if you’re on 81 or 82% a few quick projects may make a difference
- consider taking out health insurance if you are a higher income earner ($50,000 for a single or $100,00 for a couple/family) – the higher income brackets come into effect from 1 July 2008
- check if there are any expenses you can (and will benefit from) pay now rather than later in the year – for example, insurance premiums and interest on investment loans can be paid in advance to be claimed as a tax deduction now, and are sometimes cheaper paid as a lump sum. Obviously, this affects cash flow and other factors so is not always the best plan, but it never hurts to research your options!
By preparing now, you may decrease your tax liability and be ready to start the new financial year with a clean slate.
Business flexibility or constraints?
Obviously, there are many reasons behind people starting up a business rather than being an employee. But a common reason, or support for another reason, is the desire for flexibility.
I have heard “I hate working 9 to 5 so I started my own business” or words to that affect a number of times. And yet those same people may well find that running a business requires more than 8 hours a day, 7 days a week to be a success.
Valerie Khoo not only discusses this issue but gives some good tips on how to plan flexibility into your businessin a blog post last month. I think her most important point is the planning – you need to know what flexibility you want (or need) and then plan the business around that.
For example, one flexibility I want is to be able to go on school excursions with my daughters, especially while they are young enough to be excited by my presence! Therefore, I do not claim to be available during all business hours and my regular clients know I sometimes work at nights or weekends instead of during traditional business hours. One client had a deadline for an article last week when I was at the zoo so we agreed he could call me at the zoo and I would talk him through any technical issues. Flexibility.
I would find it much harder to go on excursions if I had a traditional office where people were encouraged to drop in for meetings.
Sometimes a compromise will be necessary to achieve the desired flexibility. For example, to only work 3 days a week you may have to accept earning less than if you worked 5 days a week or accept having staff or outsourcing more.
If you run a business, from home or elsewhere, do you have the flexibility you expected when you started? Would you like more flexibility in your life to do things other than business?
I would suggest you plan your ideal week, business and personal combined, and see how far it is from reality then look for ways you can move closer to the ideal.
Use your time wisely!
Repeat email ads not so good …
If you send out announcements or ads to a mailing list, be careful not to overdo it. I recently received two emails only days apart from the same person for the same ad, although she tried to make it look like two ads – it didn’t impress me as I wasn’t interested in it the first time!
Using a different example, the first message she sent was “Tash is presenting a workshop on clear communications in Mulgrave”; the second message was “Learn about clear communications in our workshop”
I think it is insulting to your readers to assume they can’t tell that this is the same ad in different words – and how embarrassing would it be for someone who tried enrolling in ‘both’ seminars?
If for some reason you are going to repeat an ad to your mailing list, then be honest about it and say so. Some possible introductions are:
- Apparently some people didn’t get this message so I am sending it again
- I had to send this again as the date has changed to …
- Apologies for sending this again, but I felt it was so important I didn’t want to risk you missing out
- I’m sorry – I sent this to you yesterday but I forgot to add the link so you could book!
However, make sure it is an honest reason you give and don’t do it regularly as it looses any credibility it may have had. I have received emails from people who used the ‘sorry, wrong/forgotten link’ more than once in two months and it looked very tacky and led me straight to the unsubscribe button.
If you are sending an email about somethig with a specific date, such as a workshop, then you can send a reminder closer to the date – note, it should be a reminder not just the same message again. And again, don’t send lots of reminders as that is just as annoying as repeated ads and also makes it less likely that the reader will respond to any of them.
Use your words wisely!
P.S. I am actually giving a workshop on clear communications in Mulgrave on Monday, 26th May. If you can make it, please make sure you introduce yourself to me on the day.
Saying no…
Did you know that you are allowed to say no sometimes? Even to new clients or a long standing client, it is acceptable for you to say no – politely of course!
It is a little silly, but I was reminded of this through the Rat in the Hat! Melissa Khalinsky often uses children’s TV shows to point out business lessons, and in one of her blog posts, she shows how Rat is quite the entrreperuner.
Melissa wrote “Don’t overextend yourself – this is something Rat does often in his quest to meet the needs of everyone on Cuddles Ave. Unfortunately Rat doesn’t know how to say no ” and I had to nod in agreement, both for Rat in a Hat (yes, I’ve watched him, too!) and for many business owners I know.
As a small business owner, it is hard to turn down a client – there’s that little fear that maybe this was the last work request you’d get for 6 months so how can you afford to not do this project? Or maybe it is a fear that saying no will make that person hate you and bad mouth you to other potential clients?
But let’s look at it the other way:
- if you take on too much work, you will end up doing inferior work for a number of clients, thereby damaging your good reputation
- if you continue doing too much, you will burn out and really not be able to earn anything for 6 months
- if one client has found you and asked for a quote, it is likely others can also find you next week and next month
- a well managed ‘no’ will leave the client feeling positive about you even if you couldn’t do their work – they may try you again another time, or at least tell others you acted professionally
- do you really think your clients have the time and inclination to bad mouth you just because you couldn’t work for them?
I will cover the various reasons for saying no, and how to say no nicely in the next few blog posts. But for now, just take on the belief that you can say no and the world (or your business!) won’t end!
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