As we approach the end of 2022, whether you’re winding down for the year or gearing up for a busy holiday period, we thought it timely to share our take on some of the key priorities for businesses heading into the new year.
Here, we share our insights on the hot topics for business in 2023 and a little food for thought from the accounting, tax and business advisory perspective.
People
If you’ve made it through 2022 without experiencing staffing or recruitment dramas, count yourself lucky – you’re certainly in the minority. For most businesses, attracting and retaining talent has been a huge challenge, with many businesses having to close doors or limit service for various lengths of time. This has been exceptionally frustrating for businesses who would otherwise have jumped on new opportunities that could have seen the business grow and take on new team members.
While some things are out of your control, your approach to team communication is one thing that should remain consistent. Keeping existing staff abreast of changes in the business, even if the news is not great, is essential for maintaining trust and engagement. By the same token, understanding their individual aspirations and priorities will help you create more favourable employment conditions. Businesses that factor in flexibility and wellbeing are achieving greater recruitment success over those that rely on salary alone.
Forward planning in terms of budget, cashflow and cost increases will help you to assess the full impact of staffing issues and ideally chart a course for a profitable business in 2023. Wage increases, fuel costs and supply chain issues, for example, will all need to be accounted for in tandem with recruitment and staffing plans.
Prices
Earlier in the year, we shared an article about price increases that was well received; however, service and product pricing is just one element of the bigger picture around the cost issues facing businesses.
Government assistance grants, low unemployment and supply chain issues have all played a role in contributing to inflationary pressure, creating a range of issues that have had an impact on profit margins and cashflow.
In unpredictable conditions, it’s more important than ever to balance decision-making with your appetite for business risk. Even if the books are looking good as you close out the year, it’s important to remember that economic phases are always cyclical.
Good relationships with key suppliers, flexible contract conditions and access to adequate cash, for example, may be crucial to helping you keep up with wages and bills in the face of potential payment delays or market uncertainty.
Projects
Disruptive and challenging periods in business have a funny way of putting things into perspective. Whatever the year ahead holds for your business, now is a good time to take a step back and consider how you might be more strategic in both streamlining operations and leveraging your point of difference.
This is where those “nice to have, but not essential” projects might need to drop off the list for good. Pursuing the right projects and consolidating the more profitable areas of the business requires a strong grasp of your competitive difference.
If we may say so, the value of having a good accountant on hand for sounding board advice is that we’re often better able to see the business ‘big picture’ that can elude those at the coal face. It’s often the simple tweaks that can lead to significant savings and enhanced profits.
Proactive and consistent marketing is the final puzzle piece for businesses intent on reaching new prospects while keeping existing customers engaged and satisfied. Flashy ads and expensive campaigns are great for those with cash to splash but for most SMEs, a consistent and sustainable program of email and social media marketing will be sufficient to retain clients and drive a steady flow of prospects to your website.
Your next move…
If any of these issues have sparked your interest, we invite you to get in touch. We are experienced business and tax advisers able to guide you through budget, cashflow and staffing projections for the year ahead and address other important considerations such as tax effective structures.
If you need advice about your business in 2023 or any of the other topics we write about, please do not hesitate to call us on (07) 5438 8088 or email mail@corebusiness.com.au.
Core Business Accountants specialise in business advice for growing and mature family-owned and small and medium-sized businesses.