The lead-up to Christmas is one of the busiest periods for many Greater Hobart businesses. Between serving customers, managing staff and keeping day-to-day operations running, planning for the new year can easily slip down the priority list.
Business Greater Hobart encourages members to set aside some time to review their business essentials before the year ends. A little preparation now can help you identify upcoming changes, address gaps and start the new year with greater confidence.
To help, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) has brought together practical guidance and resources on its Essential business updates webpage.
What should you review?
Every business has different priorities, but some useful areas to check include:
- Regulatory, tax and workplace changes: Consider which upcoming changes may affect your business and what you need to do to prepare.
- Cyber security and scam prevention: Review how you protect your accounts, business information and payment processes, and ensure staff know what to watch for.
- Payment systems and pricing: Check that your systems are working well and that prices and customer-facing information are accurate and up to date.
- Policies, processes and records: Look for documents or procedures that need updating, particularly where your business has changed during the year.
- Planning and budgeting: Review your cash flow, anticipated costs and priorities for the months ahead, including any quieter periods after Christmas.
A practical starting point
You do not need to tackle everything at once. Start with the areas most relevant to your business, identify anything that needs attention and set aside time to follow through.
ASBFEO’s Essential business updates page provides a useful starting point, bringing information together to help small business owners find relevant changes, obligations and opportunities.
At BGH, we know how much small business owners juggle. We encourage members to use resources like this to support their planning and make preparing for the year ahead a little easier.
Visit ASBFEO’s Essential business updates webpage
www.asbfeo.gov.au/resources-tools-centre/essential-business-updates