Adaptability: the underrated skill for living a bigger financial life

Reflecting on surviving COVID-19 so far

It's August 2021 in Australia and we’re in the middle of learning to live in a global COVID-19 pandemic.

How are you doing today?

Three high-stakes risks of being a Sole Trader

Most people going into business for themselves cite a desire to provide more opportunities for their family and greater personal freedom.

But working for yourself involves more personal decisions, greater risks and depending upon your business structure, greater personal liability.

And if you're making this decision based simply on cost alone, this is the question you need to answer, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’

What happens when business owners use their own money in the business?

Most small to medium business owners will tell you they went into business so they could provide for their family, in greater flexibility and free time, increased resources and a legacy.

Like most long term plans, building a self sustaining business takes time; time to mature, time to stabilise in the market and time to return the capital invested.

To achieve this, the majority of business owners use debt and overdraft facilities as an ongoing business tool.

And these types of tools can quickly work against you and your family if you're unprepared.

The risks and responsibilities of a small business company director

The frustration for many small business owners is nobody tells you everything you need to know.

The education journey of a small business owner can be a steep one.

• A key part of going into business, seems to be an acceptance of ‘always needing to learn something more' and to remember you're usually both the technician and the director of the company - a juggling act that carries more responsibility than many people initially appreciated.
• This is especially true about the responsibilities of a business owner and their need to both understand and manage, the natural risks of life and business.

The problem is ignorance of what your responsibilities as a Director are, is no defence.

Have you ever thought about running a small business on the side while working your full-time job?

Perhaps you're already part of the new gig-economy and providing work-on-demand services back to your past employer.

For many people, working a side hustle is becoming more and more important in our growing world of temporary contracts and flexible working hours.

While providing flexibility (and promising better work-life harmony), growing a side business also requires a new business owner to learn new skills and new habits, before success arrives.

Here are some common financial mistakes time-poor new business owners can avoid.

The changing face of work and how it will affect us all

Over the last decades, the world of work has changed dramatically. While the traditional career model of a job for life is fading, self-employment and ‘gig’ working is becoming more commonplace.

The hard reality is while the emerging gig economy promises flexibility, our banking and superannuation systems have not kept up with the changes and now only adds to the new stressors our community of casual workers is facing.

Get clear on what's at stake when you borrow with others

Understanding 'joint and severally liability loans' and what it means for you.

You might think when you take out a joint mortgage with someone else you’re only responsible for your ‘half’ or share of the loan.

Think again because this is not the case.

• By signing a mortgage contract with someone else, you’re each agreeing to pay off the whole debt if the other can’t – or won’t – pay it.

Start your year with The Better Business Book, available now on Kindle too.

100 Business Lessons To Live By

If you’re like me, you probably have 100’s of business and professional self-development books. Some of them you’ve read, some of them you’ve half-read and well, some are hiding under your bed stashed away in the future reading storage box of shame, to read one day. *sigh*

Busy people know sometimes life gets in the way.

Many business owners don’t know they can insure the cost of their ongoing fixed business expenses, in case they become sick or injured and unable to work.

This can be a better solution than trying to pay your fixed recurring business costs from your own Income Protection benefit if you've become sick or injured and unable to work.

Every family and small business needs to answer this question

This presentation is about the question 'How much risk can I personally hold?'

If you're in business with other people you need to be able to answer these 6 questions

This presentation is about the increased risks of having more than one owner (or family member) in a business and the importance of having a business owners agreement in place.