Credit Matters Newsletter
In This Issue
- What's New At Credit Matters?
- Quote Of The Month
- Monthly Business Observation
- Monthly Business Conundrum
- This Month's Business Inconvenient Truth
- Latest Blogs & Readings
- Special Topic
- THE LATEST ASIC UPDATES
- AUSTRAC MEDIA RELEASES
- ACCC UPDATES
What's New At Credit Matters?
We are working hard to have our new website up and running by the end of April. All things being equal, this time we hope the best laid plans of men will be on our side.
I note from the Austract website, there are a number of new guides available for those businesses affected by AML and other related matters. This new information can be found at https://www.austrac.gov.au/business/updates
The attachments with this newsletter include updates from the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. Probably the most important of these is the Easter message, although a bit late, about the need to support Australian small and micro businesses. After all, these businesses are local heroes and employ many Australians directly, with all profits being spent within Australia. There is also a flyer from our valued associate Security Management Professionals Pty Ltd.
Kim is available to help with your questions and concerns if you need any assistance, and as always, the first chat is always free of charge or obligation.
Quote Of The Month
“… weakness is provocative“ - Donald Rumsfeld
Monthly Business Observation
Amongst the main tools of survival and growth for any business person are (i) having good business disciplines and (ii) a strong sense of self-belief. If business owners and managers do not have and understand the power these attributes, then their businesses may never achieve their potential or survive due to the propaganda or sales pitches of the parties which want the business’s assets.
When selling, especially on B2B credit, it is essential that your business operates with good business disciplines based on the circumstances within your marketplace or marketplaces. In many marketplaces, your customers may have a bullying or controlling strategy over their suppliers. In other words, the customer insists you sell to them on their terms, not yours. As they will not willingly negotiate terms your business is then forced to sell on their terms or walk away from the sale.
In these situations, many suppliers without a strong belief in their own value systems and strong business disciplines are often willing to accept the customer’s rigid terms of sale. As a result, and unfortunately, these businesses rarely survive or achieve a sensible return on investment in the long term. As history shows these business soon disappear because in time, they run out of the capital to keep going and are either sold for a few cents in the dollar, or become insolvent.
The owners and managers of these businesses usually have almost nothing to show for their efforts, or are possibly bankrupt and with a bad business reputation. As a result, and unfortunately, many of these people may have few positive options left to them in the future due to their loss of capital and reputation.
A business with stronger self-belief and business disciplines, will generally survive because it refuses to sell to bullying customers or those that are not willing to negotiate fair terms of trade. In addition, if they have good products or range of services, in time, some of the more controlling type of customers may be willing to negotiate with them. After all, these customers also need to have access to products and services to sell in order to survive. Those businesses with the better business disciplines and self-belief systems will generally create better profits by sticking to their core business practices.
Of course, these businesses may soon also close down or be bought out if they find that they cannot find enough willing customers. The outcomes between two types of businesses, means owners and managers of this second group of business, may have more of their capital and business reputations intact. In turn, this allows them to move on to other businesses or life options more easily.
The reality in business is that customers generally respect disciplines and take advantage of weaknesses of their suppliers. This understanding is essential for all people in business and is vital, especially when selling on B2B credit. As a result, good business disciplines and a strong self-belief system are essential and bring their own rewards to business owners and managers.
Monthly Business Conundrum
The continued advice that cash in our bank account(s) is lazy, not well used and losing value due to the poor interest rates and inflation . Yes, there is an element of truth in these statements. It is not the only truth however. You do not have to look too hard to see the evidence all around us of the benefits of cash.
One of the clear evidentiary factors showing that your cash is not only necessary, but also desirable, is to note all the businesses which have not survived since the start of COVID.
In addition, there are people who continue to trade in cash because for many people it is a cultural aspect of doing business, and/or they do not trust digital payment systems or these systems are too expensive to warrant their use.
In the case of the poor, paying in cash is the cheapest payment option, and/or it helps them live within their financial means. With inflation now evident in the community today, saving even a few cents per transaction, is essential. These people also remember the old saying of "... save the cents and watch the dollars grow."
We also note that businesses which have the cash resources, no longer need to borrow, which saves them time and the additional costs of having to apply for finance. It should also not be forgotten, that when you obtain finance, this allows a third party to become involved in how your business operates.
The businesses with good cash resources can often take advantage of specials, or unexpected and valuable stock or asset purchases at a discount. This allows them to beat their competitors to the same profitable buying opportunities without disrupting their current business operations.
There is no doubt that cash can appear to be lazy sitting in your bank account(s), and may be losing value due to the poor interest rates and inflation. These facts are only partly true. Cash does however have many visible benefits with evidence all around us revealing profitable opportunities will always occur, irrespective of the state of the economy or inflation.
This Month's Business Inconvenient Truth
Understanding, operating and managing a business is a risky venture where you can lose everything. This reality must never be forgotten. Unfortunately, when this thought dominates our thinking, we miss beneficial opportunities to grow our business. The reason why this happens, is that it easy for us to procrastinate in making a decision, or try avoiding the problem and hope it goes away. Alternatively, we overreact with unintended consequences whenever risk is mentioned.
The problem with risk is that when you mention the word, the positive side of identifying a risk is rarely mentioned. A perfect example, is the share market today, where the underlying thought of the naïve, the greedy and the FOMO is that it has never offered a better opportunity to make money. Again, these participants may be right to some degree, especially in the short term.
Unfortunately, like everything else in life, nothing is simple and so it is for the share market. Today, there are many other participants or potential participants who think conservatively and believe the share market does not offer value over the medium or long term.
If we revert back to commercial business environment, there are many businesspeople who correctly fear rate raises and inflation. If however, these people do nothing based on these fears, they risk, (there is that word again), end up being afraid to take any action at all. Subsequently, they end up with all sorts of negative factors and missed opportunities working against them.
Meanwhile, the wise and progressive businesspeople, see the risk of inflation and increased interest rates as an opportunity to take up the initiative and act positively. In doing so they, they may avoid many negative outcomes of these factors. They may in addition, also be able to put their competition out of business by offering cheaper prices to their customers or buying them out to increase the viability of their own business.
Risk is not just a bad “four letter” word. By understanding the risk and taking positive actions, you can turn risk into a positive “four letter” word. The inconvenient truth for all businesspeople is not to act in fear when a risk is identified, but to acknowledge the risk and identify the positives.
Latest Blogs & Readings
It is time for all directors to focus on their responsibilities now in Australia.
Updates courtesy of www.asic.gov.au
Media Updates
Speeches and Articles
Media Updates
Publications & Resources
Media Releases
Credit Matters is a financial risk management resource centre for the Australian business community. If you are in business, Credit Matters is your ideal source of financial risk management solutions.
Future Opportunities & Possibilities
Credit Matters is continuing to grow and provide marketing and knowledge about financial risks to the Australia business community.
Futhermore, we invite marketing and knowledge ideas from our readers and contributors on how we can assist our respective firms grow. If you have any ideas, please contact me at info@creditmatters.com.au.
If you are interested in finding new ways to reach your marketplace, why not try Credit Matters. Our prices for advertising are very reasonable and advertising packages are on offer to make any cost, even more affordable. So if you are interested in reaching your customers at the right price, please contact Kim at info@creditmatters.com.au for options.