small business

August 30, 2011
0

So it’s not just me then – late payers ARE a problem. The AFR says so.

Posted by | News | No Comments
I was talking to my accountant earlier this year when I did my tax return and we got onto the subject of late payers. I have two or three of them, some debts going back more than a year. He, having hundreds of clients, has considerably more. If I'm fuming about people not paying me for services and websites rendered (and I am!), and his anger is in direct ratio to mine, I'm surprised his brain hasn't exploded. It seems people are scared to take their money out of the bank to pay bills. Assuming they have any in there, that is, late payers hurting the cash-flow from smallest company to largest. My accountant told me of one of his clients (anonymously) who has plenty in the bank but won't pay their tax bill, preferring to leave the money earning pitiful interest, and taking a slug from the tax office of 12% interest on the balance owing. This same company owes my accountant thousands. Again they have the money in the bank but will they pay him? Will they hell! He's lucky to get $500 every couple of months from them. He and I it seems are not alone. There is an article in today's Australian Financial Review. Read this. Late Payers a Growing Problem says AFR Note that large businesses and government agencies are paying slower. This has a direct impact on small to medium enterprises, and considering SMEs make up to 80% of registered Australian businesses, these are dire times for all of us who own a business. Late payments trickle down the line and have the potential to put us small guys out of business. Maybe I'm too nice. I pay my bills. On time. Including the tax man. Even if it leaves me with not much in the kitty until the next client comes along. It's the way I was brought up; the deeper into credit you get, the harder it is to get out. The GFC may be over but believe me, we are still feeling the impact and late payers are an obvious indication. How many of you out there with your own business are experiencing trouble with late payers? And what are you doing about it? Have you called in debt collectors or taken legal action to recover debts? Will your late payers agree to go onto a payment plan, paying you some each month, and stick to it? What's your next move? And when do you think the economy will start to recover? Answers on a postcard please (or just leave a comment).
May 29, 2010
0

Mini websites $499 including hosting

Posted by | Services, Social Media, Websites | No Comments
Do you only need a little website? Up to three pages and a blog? We can build you one for $499 inc GST and one year's hosting. You'll be able to make your own changes so maintenance costs could be zero. We know there are lots of options out there for business owners and people who want a personal site to download a free or low cost Content Management System (CMS) template for their website and then tailor it to their own needs. If you're a business owner, and customising website templates isn't your specialty, it's probably costing you more time than it's worth to try. What do you charge an hour? And how many hours might you be spending tweaking a template and getting frustrated when it doesn't work like it should? And lots of hosting companies also offer free website templates, but when you read the fine print you could be up for $80 or more a month in hosting costs. These are reasons why you should talk to us. We know what it's like being in small business, with a lean budget to work with. We can save you time and frustration, and most of all, money. If you're a small business or need a personal site and would like a website with up to four pages*, this deal is for you. Your site will have:
  • Content Management System which allows you to edit pages
  • A unique look and feel appropriate to your type of business, your branding and corporate colours, or your personal interests
  • A Home Page, About Page, Contact Page and
  • The option for a blog
  • Tailored Search Engine Optimisation on every page to increase your search engine rankings
  • Links to your social media pages, ie Twitter, LinkedIn, should you want them
  • RSS feeds so people can automatically get updates from your site
  • Site stats and analytics
  • One year's web hosting
  • Training on using your new site
  • Up to 3 email addresses for your domain name
If you want an e-commerce shopping cart, that's another story and will cost you more (price determined after we sit down and have a chat about what you need). The site will have a template customised to your needs and your preferences for colours. We'll throw in the hosting costs for the first year as part of the deal, but after that, hosting costs and domain name renewal should be the only costs you need to budget for with your new site. We arrange hosting with a reputable supplier and have not experienced any downtime with any of our clients' sites. Current cost for hosting is between $50 - $120/yr  with the two hosting providers we recommend but that fluctuates, so we'll keep you informed of changes. You'll be doing all the updating yourself using one of the simplest CMSs available - unless of course you'd like us to maintain it for you. We'll give you free support for the first month after your site is uploaded. After that, if you need our help, we do charge an hourly rate (with 15 minutes the shortest billing period). It's unlikely you'll need us though unless do you want a new look and feel for your site, or you've done something horribly wrong which you can't repair yourself (unlikely... but we've seen it happen). Contact us to talk more about this special offer. *The fine print. Registration of your domain name, if you don't already have one, is at your cost. Domain names are pretty cheap these days and we can arrange for registration through our hosting suppliers at from as little as $12/year (current as at May 2010). We supply you with three pages and a blog. If you'd like extra sections or pages added to your site we can arrange that for $25 for a basic page. We can also give you add-ons such as photo galleries starting at $25 per gallery setup.