Business Advice

Business owners often get trapped in their day to day operational problems and never step back to look at the bigger picture. They are always “putting out fires” instead of growing their business. In oter words are you spending so much time working IN your business that you never work ON your business.

Areas like performance assessment, strategic planning and a review of the business model are often over looked when confronted with today’s dilemma that must be solved.

Don’t let this happen to you. Make sure you and your business both achieve their full potential.

Make Castletons part of you team working with you on the big picture. You are not alone. We can work through all of these areas with you.

• What is the long term goal for you and your business?
• Where do you want to be in 5 years time?
• Do you have a plan for how to achieve this?

Long term planning is generally over looked by small business owners as the events of each day take over.

We can help you think through where you want to be and help you develop a path way to get there. This is summarise in the Castletons “One Page Business Plan”.

Budgets and cashflows allow you to project what profit you will make and when it will be in the bank. Projecting where you will be in the future is a valuable tool in knowing what you are capable of. This “sets the bar” for performance and to identify problems before they arise.

Budgeting helps you put a frame work around maximising efficiency and business performance and to set realistic goals.

Even profitable businesses need to address the issue of cashflow to achieve their full potential. Most cashflow problems can be overcome once identified and planned for.

Lack of planning leads to uncertainty and questions that cannot be answered. Have you asked yourself 

• I would you like to expand my business but don’t know if I can afford to do so?
• Do you seem to always be unsure about how much will be in the bank and when you will be able to take some profits?

Castletons can help you develop rolling profit and cashflow projections to show what profit you should make and when you should have the cash in the bank. Then you can make informed decisions with comfort.

Many small business owners often feel isolated as they do not have anyone with experience and knowledge they can trust and talk to about all aspects of their business.

Castletons fill this role for our clients as we become part of your team.

Your business becomes our business as we gain an understanding of all aspects of what you do
We are always available to talk through solutions to your problems and help achieve your dreams
Our many years of experience with both large and small businesses across a wide range of industries can be accessed by you to fill the gaps in your business.

Performance measurement allows you to maximise your efficiency and the return from your investment. Underperformance can be quickly identified and action taken to improve results.
Castletons can help you determine the key factors that drive your business and develop a structure for measuring these. These are commonly referred to as your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
These KPIs become part of your “Business Dash Board” which is monitored regularly to determine whether your business is operating at its optimum level and highlight what you need to be improve.
Remember – “what you don’t measure you can’t improve”.

How healthy is your business?

• Are you a fit and vibrant organisation primed for the future?  Or Are you an overweight, sluggish and unmotivated organisation?

Let Castletons perform a general health check to see where you stand by covering issues such as:

• How far ahead do you plan?
• How do you measure performance?
• Is your business growing?

Once you consider this you will be surprised how much more you can achieve.

Does your ownership structure and the type of entity you operate your business through achieve the optimal result for you?
Some of the many aspects of your business structure to consider are:

• Liability
• Profit Sharing
• Minimising Tax
• Succession Planning
• Asset Protection

Have Castletons review your business and determine the optimal structure for you moving forward.
Remember - it is always best to assess your structure before you commence.