Selling to Baby Boomers & Gen X

Bridging the Generation Gap

Young entrepreneur Amanda Jephtha recently attended a workshop with social researcher Mark McCrindle and is here to share the knowledge from that session.

Fact: everyone loves to hate Gen Y.
Fact: the future is not created by an economy, but a demography.
Fact: Gen Y is here to stay – and rule!

So how can we shake off our bad rep as demanding, fast-moving, selfish kids and get our message across?

How can we more effectively work with and sell to the older generations?

The key is to first UNDERSTAND them, and then modify your actions.

Check out these insights and tips on how to bridge the generation gap.

Why there are SO many oldies…

Since we’re not having as many babies and we’re all getting older (and living longer), soon there will be an explosion of older people. Actually, by 2020, there will be more than 3 times the amount of 65-69 year olds compared to 1978! A staggering statistic.
So whether we like it or not, we have to learn to communicate effectively with the older generations if we’re going to run successful businesses.

Thinking with the head versus thinking with the heart.

Typically, Gen Y decides with their emotions. Never mind reason; if we’ve absolutely fallen in love with something because of it’s looks or how it makes us feel, we simply buy it.

Gen Y engages emotionally as:
Seekers – someone who doesn’t know too much about a product, but is blindingly faithful, and
Embracers – someone who will trumpet your horn with full product knowledge and is in lurve with your product.
However, the older generations will first rationalise the purchase. Does this fit my needs? Is it value for (my heard-earned) money? Is the product guaranteed?

Generation X and the Baby Boomers engage cognitively as:

Hecklers – someone who doesn’t really understand the product and isn’t particularly attracted to it, and
Agree-ers – someone who understands the product is a good fit to their needs, but feels indifferent to the product.
Our aim is to convert all clients in to Embracers.

Image thanks to McCrindle Research

How to Sell to the Older Generation

Firstly, we need to satisfy the older generation’s need to rationalise. Answer their questions, even if you think they’re basic or repetitive – but don’t make them feel stupid!

Slow the pace down if you’re discussing new concepts.
Once we’ve ticked this box, only then can we successfully move them to the emotional quadrants, ultimately ending up as Embracers.
By then, the older generation will be your most powerful sales force. And considering the Baby Boomers own the majority of the wealth and spend more on technology than any other generation, who wouldn’t strive to achieve this?
What NOT to say
Generation X and the Baby Boomers just don’t use our vocab. Some even blame us for the downfall of the English language! But what do they particularly dislike?
Clichés.
We all love to hate clichés! So much so, McCrindle Research set out to find the top 10 clichés Gen Y use that Generation X and the Baby Boomers hate. So when you’re chatting with the oldies, avoid using:
1. My bad
2. Random
3. So hot right now
4. Fully sick
5. So over that
6. Oh my gosh
7. Whatever
8. Totally
9. Chillout
10. Whassup
Check out this full list of clichés that should best be avoided, no matter who you’re communicating with.
Remember…
Each generation operates differently. By being mindful of these differences, not only can we grow our businesses – we can make the richest and most abundant generation our biggest advocate!

Ten Secrets to Great Email Marketing

The debate about snailmail versus email rages on between the old timer marketers and the new age digital marketers. Here we get the inside word from a digital marketer’s perspective, Fred Schebesta, on how to increase your response rates and generate a multitude of leads.

As young entrepreneurs you often start with little to no money, and using the internet and emarketing smartly is vital as it doesn’t carry to cost of other more traditional marketing methods.

1. No mistakes!
Broken links and images in your emails are an instant detraction from what you’re offering. Not only does it damage the image of your company it also disables the customer from accepting your offer.

2. Make it a quick message for a quick medium.
You have 3 seconds to grab your customer’s attention otherwise they can just press delete or move onto the next email. Make sure your message is transferred quickly as people tend to read and discard email quickly.

3. Send more than one email in the campaign.
After you’ve sent your initial email with its offer send another one a week later saying that the offer has almost expired. This creates urgency for the reader.

4. Email link to websites.
You’ll receive much faster response rates if you link to a website instead of asking the buyer to pick up a telephone and call you. Ensure that your offer is clearly displayed on your website and it’s clearly understood how to accept the offer.

5. Reply to your responses.
Unlike with other mediums, the time between when your offer is delivered and when it can be acted upon is very short. As a rule, your response time should not be longer than 12 hours.

6. Give customers a reason to refer.
At the bottom of your email put a small blurb. “If you know of anyone else who would be interested in this offer please forward them this email.” Give your customers a reason to refer a friend and you’ll see an even better response rate.

7. Layout of the email.
Understand how your audience is going to read their email. In general people only view the email in a small box. What that means for your email is that it needs to convey its message in that little box and give them a reason to scroll down.

8. Tune into WIIFM.
The WIIFM (Whats in it for me?) station is a favourite station when it comes to accepting special sales offers. Ensure that your buyer has a clear and simple way of accepting your offer. ‘Click here to receive a free case study’ – ‘ Reply to this email to receive a free copy’ – ‘Place your name in the form to begin
your registration process’.

9. Flashy images vs Text.
There must be a balance between images and text in email marketing. Preferably more text than images. One image plus a single link with a call to action in actual text is ideal.

10. Clean Subjects.
Ensure that you have a subject line that is catchy enough for your email to be opened and relevant enough for the email to be read all the way through. Try using questions (e.g. Are you struggling to find clients?) or great adjectives (e.g. Exclusive unveiling of new product).

For more info and tips from Fred, check out his blog.

Tax Basics Explained Simply

Tax… we know it can seem overwhelming and quite scary when you’re first starting out. So we thought we’d put together some information for you about the basics of tax in Australia. All of this info is available elsewhere on the internet, but it’s here for you all in one place. We’ve also included links for further information and advice.

Now, take a breath as there is a fair bit of info coming right up. Just take it in bit by bit!

Why not start by figuring out if you are actually running a business?

Logical, I know! Some of the things to take into account include whether you have actually started to undertake business activities or started to “do” business with others (instead of just planning to at some point in the future), whether you intend to make a profit (perhaps now, perhaps down the track a little bit – the intention just needs to be there), and is there repetition and regularity to your activities.

Most businesses operate for a purpose and their everyday activities reflect this – they do the same or similar things in order to operate. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is here to help with some basic info for you about working out if you are running a business.

Are you running a for profit or a not-for-profit (NPF)?

According to the ATO, “a non-profit organisation is an organisation that is not operating for the profit or gain (either direct or indirect) of its individual members. This applies both while the organisation is operating and when it winds up. Any profit made by the organisation goes back into the operation of the organisation to carry out its purposes and is not distributed to any of its members.”

What does this mean? NFP’s still have staff and pay wages, including to any management peeps, but any profit that is generated is not given out to directors or employees as dividends or bonuses, that profit stays in the organisation and is then used to run it.

Some examples are churches, sports clubs, environmental protection societies and charities. Click here for more information on NFP’s.

For info on registering a NFP as well as registering click here.

If you intend on making some profit and paying out some of that profit to owners or directors, then you are probably NOT a not for profit!
Australian Business Number (ABN)

An Australian Business Number is an 11-digit number that is unique to your business.

What is it used for? It helps other businesses to easily confirm your details, it indicates to other businesses that you are operating a business (even if as a sole trader), it is required if you are claiming Goods and Services Tax (GST) credits, among other tax related things.

If you’re operating as a sole trader, partnership or company, you need an ABN. If you’re operating as a NFP, you may or may not need an ABN.

It’s pretty simple to get yourself an ABN, and it doesn’t cost anything. You can apply online .

More info for NFPs is available in regards to ABN requirements.

According to the ATO, “Anyone carrying on an enterprise (this is usually a business) should quote their ABN in relation to goods or services they supply to another enterprise. If they don’t, the general rule is that the payer must withhold 46.5% from the payment to the supplier (you) and send the withheld amount to the Tax Office. Some payments are excluded from this rule.”

So once you’ve got your ABN, remember to use it, otherwise the people you deal with may hold on to 46.5% of what they owe you, ouch!
Australian Company Number (ACN)

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, “Under the Corporations Act 2001, every company in Australia has been issued with a unique, nine-digit number, an Australian Company Number (ACN), which must be shown on a range of documents. The purpose of the ACN is to ensure adequate identification of companies when transacting business.”

So what this means is, when you register as a company, you will receive an ACN. Often your ACN will be very similar to your ABN, only nine digits instead of 11.

For more info check out the ASIC site.

If you operate as a sole trader, you can do this under your own individual tax file number (TFN).

If you operate as a partnership, company or trust, you must also have a business tax file number. If you operate as a NFP, you might need a TFN.

For help in figuring out if you need a tax file number, check out the ATO site.
Your Accountant

It’s never too soon to get an accountant for your biz. Look at it this way – they live and breathe all this tax and compliance stuff! If you’re not sure about tax, account keeping, etc, why not go to an expert?

We know it is scary and you think straight away….”there is no way I can afford an accountant”! But you will be surprised at how affordable they can be, and how much they can SAVE you, thus paying for themselves in your business! The Frank Team can recommend a few great accountants – who are young entrepreneurs – who are really affordable. Ask us for their contact details.

Remember there’s no obligation to stick with the first accountant you find. Go and meet a few, find one that you trust and enjoy working with, and who obviously knows what they’re talking about. Here at The Frank Team have been with the same accountant since 1998, she is awesome!

Accountants’ fees vary a lot. Be sure to ask about fees and find an accountant that you feel is affordable. $500 per hour charge rates might not be in the budget to start off with, so why not support another small business person? Also remember that meeting all of your compliance needs could end up saving you a lot of money and hassle in the long term.

Remember also that your local Business Enterprise Centre can be a huge help here too – and they give FREE advice!
Record Keeping (or bookkeeping)

What records do you need to keep and for how long?

Keeping records of all your financial transactions (money in and out) are vital to your financial record keeping, whether you do it on a day to day, monthly or even annual basis.

All payments you make, all money you receive- receipts, invoices, bank statements, proof of purchase of assets, everything! With as much detail as possible – job numbers, what it was you bought if it isn’t clear, who you just made that cheque out to. Months later it will be extremely difficult, if at all possible, to remember.

Start early with this stuff and set up a way of keeping track, trust us!

We know of some young entrepreneurs who were years behind in their recording and tax and it not only cost them in terms of paying their tax bills but also cost them huge amounts of time to back track. So even if it is shoe boxes that are labeled, set up a way of keeping track of all money in (and what it was for) and all money out (and what it was for).Then an accountant will be much more useful for you.

Keeping all of your documentation together means when it comes time to process all of your accounts, the info is ready to go! It also means that if your accountant comes back with questions, you can look anything up that you need to, with minimal effort.

We keep our financial records in ring-binder folders, sorted month by month; if we ever need to look up a payment, find a receipt, even find companies’ contact details, we can generally find it within just a couple of minutes. Everyone needs their own filing system, electronic or paper/manual. You can even use online Google doc spreadsheets to keep yourself sorted.

If you were ever audited by the ATO, or needed to complete a financial audit for any reason, you could get in a lot of trouble for not having all of your financial records. So make it easy for yourself!

By law, you are required to keep financial records. As a general rule, your records should go five years back for regular income tax purposes, though it does vary for other taxes. For more info, check out the ATO site.

If you’re a NFP, more information about record keeping requirements is available here.
Cash vs Accrual Accounting

Ok… so now we’re getting into the technical stuff. Cash and accrual accounting are just two different ways of keeping track of your finances.

Cash accounting records only the amounts of cash that have flowed in and out of your business. So when you receive $100 for your product, you record that sale. When you pay $40 to your supplier, you record that purchase. Cash accounting is definitely the easiest place to start.

Accrual accounting records all of the expenses and purchases paid by your business, as well as those that are currently due or outstanding. So if you sent a client an invoice for $100, you would record that as a sale, even if you haven’t yet received that money into your bank account. If you receive an invoice from a supplier for $40, you record that purchase/expense. You then also have an Accounts Receivable account/category in your accounting system (money that you are due to receive) and Accounts Payable (money you need to pay).

An accounting package of some sort will help you with this system, if that is what you choose. You would use accrual when you have larger volumes of transactions happening and you need to be able to track and predict cash flow.

Tax Returns

If you’re operating as a sole trader, your business tax information will go into your individual/personal tax return. You may need to complete some extra schedules/forms, and record all business income and expense. Your business profit will then be taxed at your marginal rate of tax. For details go to the ATO site.

If you’re operating as a partnership, the partnership lodges its own tax return. BUT, because of unlimited liability, the income and expenses from the partnership’s tax return then get allocated to the partners. This means, on your individual/personal tax return, you will need to report your share of the business’s income and expenses. Your partnership profit will then be taxed at your marginal rate of tax. More info here.

If you’re operating as a company, your company will need to lodge a tax return. You will need to show all business income and expenses. Your business profit will then be taxed at a rate of 30%, or 30 cents per dollar. And yes that means for any profit you make, 30% of it is paid to the government. More details here.

As soon as your business starts to earn an income and incur expenses, you need to start thinking about your tax return. Your first financial year of operation (even if you start your business in May) is the first year you need to lodge a tax return or include biz info in your own personal tax return, depending upon the business structure you’ve chosen.

If you’re operating as a NFP, you need to be aware that only certain types of non-profit organisations are exempt from income tax. Charities and income tax exempt funds require endorsement from the Tax Office to be exempt from income tax. Other non-profit organisations can self assess their exemption.

Many non-profit organisations are taxable and may need to lodge an income tax return and pay income tax.

Taxable non-profit organisations are generally treated as companies for income tax purposes, whether or not they are incorporated.

More info here.
Tax Concessions for Small Biz & NFPs

If your revenue is under $2 million, you might be eligible for certain tax concessions. Simpler depreciation, entrepreneurs tax offset, the list goes on.

For more info, check out here.

This is where an accountant can come in really handy. Do your research; list your questions then book in some time with an accountant or Business Enterprise Centre for some specific advice for your business.

If you operate as a NFP, you may be eligible for a number of tax concessions. For more info, go here.

It really is up to YOU to be aware of and find out what obligations your business has in regards to tax, and what concessions it could be eligible for.
Goods and Services Tax (GST)

In Australia, GST is incurred at a rate of 10% on top of the company price for many goods and services. So lets say you go to clothes store and buy a new shirt, it will have 10% GST included in the price already.

You don’t need to register your business for GST until you have sales of up to or over $75 000 a year, including GST (your portion of the sales would be ten elevenths of $75 000, or $68 181).

It’s up to you if you register for GST under the $75 000 threshold, or under $150 000 if you’re a not-for-profit. There are some exceptions – like if you’re a taxi driver. Check out www.ato.gov.au for more information.

Being registered for GST means that you are helping the government collect GST. This also means that you can claim credits for any GST that you pay in the price of your business purchases.

When you are registered for GST, you need to show this information on the tax invoices that you send and give to customers when you make a sale. In fact, the difference between an invoice and a tax invoice is being registered for GST – if you are not registered for GST, you are using an invoice. If you are registered for GST, it is known as a tax invoice.

We have a sample tax invoice for you to use if required.

You can register for GST when you are applying for your Australian Business Number; through your tax agent (your accountant); or through the ATO. For more information, check out the ATO.

See Business Activity Statement below for more info about reporting on GST.
Pay As You Go Tax Withholding (PAYGW)

What is PAYW, I hear you say?

Pay As You Go tax is the amount of money that is withheld from your wages each week/fortnight/month. If you’ve ever received a pay slip, you’ll notice it has Gross Wages (e.g. $500), PAYGW (e.g. $60) and Net Wages (e.g. $540).

Now that you’re running your own business, it’s up to you to withhold that PAYGW tax (for yourself and for any staff that you employ), and then pay it to the ATO when it comes to BAS time (see below).

Personal income tax rates change from financial year to financial year. Which means when a new financial year rolls around, you need to check the new rates at which you should withhold tax.

You can get updates for your accounting software, like MYOB, which have the current tax rates. Or you can check out the ATO’s online tax calculator. It’s a simple tool to use; you plug in each person’s information and it tells you how much money to withhold for that pay period. Easy! Check it out here.

If you operate your business as a sole trader or company, it’s likely you pay ‘pay as you go withholding’ (PAYGW) installments at different times throughout the income year as you earn your income. These installments are credited against the total amount of income tax you are liable (must) to pay for the income year.

All that means is the government keeps track of those payments, and at the end of the financial year when you work out how much PAYGW you are required to pay for that year, you see how much you have already paid and then either just pay the difference or get a refund back from the ATO.

If you operate your business as a partnership or trust, you do not have to pay PAYG installments. However, you may have to pay PAYGW installments on your individual share of your partnership’s income or any income you receive from your trust.

If you operate as a NFP and you have employees, you need to withhold PAYGW just like any other business. You’ll need to determine who is an employee, a contractor and a volunteer. NFP’s also have some fringe benefits tax concessions for additional benefits for their employees. For more info, check out the ATO.

Handy Hint: have a separate bank account in which you collect your GST and PAYGW tax, and even superannuation (so you are moving money into this account regularly). If you put these small amounts away each week, or fortnight, whenever you receive payment, when it comes time to pay your BAS and superannuation, you won’t have to scrounge the money out of your other accounts. Streamline this from the beginning. There are lots of banks now that as part of your business account can provide you with a tax management account that has higher interest rates, so check with your bank.
Business Activity Statements (BAS)

So now it’s time to report to the ATO…

Generally, new businesses use an activity statement to report and pay their GST and PAYG withholding.

When it comes time to do your Business Activity Statements (or BAS as most people call it), you will need to include in your declaration the amount of sales you made (money IN); and the amount of GST collected. You will then need to include the amount of purchases (money OUT) you have made; and the amount of GST you have paid. Then you will be required to either pay the Australian Taxation Office the difference (if you have collected more GST than you have paid out) or this will contribute towards a refund from the Australian Taxation Office (if you have paid more GST than you have collected in sales).

So depending on the difference between what you have collected and paid you may have to pay the government, or they will pay you!

BAS’s can be lodged either monthly (if you make a lot of money), quarterly (if you make a bit of money) or annually (if you don’t make much money).

In each BAS, you will need to outline:

* Sales made in $ (sales your business completed)
* GST on the sales made in $
* Purchases made in $ (things your business bought)
* GST on the purchases made in $
* Wages for the period
* Pay as You Go Withholding tax incurred on those wages (which you’ve been holding for your employees, just waiting to pay to the ATO)

You may also be required to pay Pay As You Go Installments (PAYGI– different to Pay As You Go Withholding [PAYGW], which refers to employees personal taxation. We’ll call them Income Tax Installments for now to keep it simpler) to the ATO, if your business has reported an end of year profit before and you are expecting to make a profit again this year. This installment will be outlined on the BAS report you receive from the ATO.

Once you are paying PAYG installments, any installments you pay during the year are credited towards your final tax assessment after you lodge your income tax return. What does that mean? For example, if you make four installments of $1000 throughout the year and your end of year company tax bill is $4200, you’ll only need to pay the ATO $200, instead of $4200 in one big go).

The amount you need to pay to the ATO will consist of:

+ GST you collected

- GST you paid (you receive a credit for this)

+ PAYGW tax that you collected/withheld from your employees’ wages

+ Income tax installment (if relevant)

For more info, check out the ATO here.

REMEMBER – if you have any questions, find someone to ask. The Frank Team can get your questions answered – just send them through – we will then share the answers with all of the young entrepreneurs in the network.So send us your questions.

Your accountant, lawyer, Business Enterprise Centre are great as well or just give the ATO a call – we’ve had to call them in the past and found them to be extremely helpful!

Don’t bury your head in the sand about tax stuff, or ignore what needs to be done. Even though it’s not as interesting or exciting as some of the other aspects of running your own biz, it is vital to your ongoing success.

Media Opportunity – Calling all Under 20 Young Entrepreneurs

Are you a young entrepreneur who is under 20 years of age?

If yes, we wanna hear from ya!

The Frank Team has been contacted by a media outlet and they are interested in doing a story on some young (under 20) entrepreneurs out there right now running their businesses. Yey for young entrepreneurs!

If you (or anyone you know of) meet these criteria please contact us ASAP.

Criteria:
- Under 20
- Currently running your own business (part time or full time) of any type (business, social, environmental etc)
- From any state in Australia

Please get in contact with us ASAP with your direct phone number (mobile, land line), your age and your business name. You can also call me with any questions: (02) 95186244

Spread the word to any other young entrepreneurs you know and get them to contact us ASAP.

Jessica

The Frank Team – Director

jessica@frankteam.com.au

Juicy Branding with Tim Pethick

If you couldn’t be at the Sydney young entrepreneur event for young people currently running (and
interested in running) their own biz that The Frank Team organised, then you missed a fab talk from Tim Pethick, inventor and chief nudie, of nudie fruit juices.

But fear not, we’ve captured some of the highlights for you here so that as a young entrepreneur you can use them in your own business right now!

Here’s the story… Tim loves fresh juice. But he didn’t always have time to make his own, especially when travelling for work, so he conducted some in-depth research and started experimenting in his own kitchen with different blends of fruits and different sized bottles.

In their first week on the market in 2003 nudie sold 40 bottles! nudie now employs 86 people and nudie’s are available in 4,500 outlets around Australia – that equates to 150,000 bottles sold every week!

Here’s some random thoughts Tim shared with us about his journey to help give you an edge on branding your new products and projects.
The principal elements of Tim’s nudie success:
* Integrity of the product
* Product difference
* Brand
* Passion
* I didn’t know what couldn’t be done – industry outsiders think differently

Tim’s insights on marketing:
People are too busy and not listening
Cutting through the clutter is increasingly difficult
You can waste a lot of money on ineffective advertising
Consumers are looking for something else
For decades marketers have known “consumers have become more discerning” yet they treat them the same way
Marketers talk AT consumers rather than WITH them
Consumers are “trading up” – they want mini-indulgences
Get people talking – “word of mouth”

Getting the BRAND message across
Australians are “increasingly unhappy with, and ignoring, advertising”
81% say they are taking less notice of advertising
66% said advertising was boring and repetitive
75% say stereotypes proliferate
Source: Eye on Australia 2003

The lessons Tim has learned:
To challenge conventional wisdom
Just do it!
There are always more reasons not to Think big!
If you don’t think you can you can’t
Enjoy the ride (and others will too)
Focus on the customer
Be the best – don’t compromise
Size doesn’t necessarily matter
Don’t focus on the competition or you will lose

Branding the nudie way:
Make your product remarkable
Make it fun
Make it positive
Don’t rely on traditional advertising
Give it (positive) attitude
Engage the consumer – maximum dialogue;maximum involvement

Show Me the Money – Funding Your Idea

It’s the number one question we get asked “how do I get money to start up my business, are there any grants?”

First up – there is no easy money available, especially now, and as a young person…otherwise everyone would be starting a business. So be prepared to do your research, work hard and put some of your own cash in.

What does it takes to bring in the money to support your business idea (or social enterprise), and then how do you manage it once ya got it?

Read up…

There’s a number of places you could go to get financing for your idea. You could:

> Submit a financial proposal (detailing what amount of $ money you need over how long and your plan to pay it back!) with your business plan to a bank to secure a business loan.

> Find a venture capital investor to inject some cash into your business. They’ll want to see a financial proposal, your biz plan, and know exactly when they can get their hands on a piece of your profit pie. Check out the Australian Venture Capital Association & Business Angels & AusIndustry . Plus the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board can help you prepare your proposal for this – tell them Frank Team sent you!

> Secure a financial backer or sponsor. If there’s a company out there who wants to target the same market you do, and you share similar business values, then approach them with a sponsorship proposal they can’t resist. You may offer branding rights, promotional opportunities, product placement, signage etc in return for their financial investment.

> Apply for a grant and enter competitions. There are stacks of grants out there, though it can be tricky to nail one if you’re a for-profit company. Nevertheless, check out Community Builders , GrantsLink and AusIndustry from the Australian Government for some leads.

> Contact your local Business Enterprise Centre or industry association/network for suggestions on available grants and competitions relevant to your industry/business idea.
> If your folks are cashed up, it could be time for a little “family investment” but know that mixing business with family can get messy. Make sure there’s a repayment plan in place.
> Consider self-funding as well as starting out small then building your biz up, many successful companies were started on less than $100! Dip into your savings or perhaps get a credit card just to start with – be sure you can pay it off before the massive interest kicks in though.

Make sure you build a budget! A budget allows you to map out how much money you’ll need to get your idea off the ground plus estimate your revenue.
Step 1 – list all the actions you need to take over the next year to get your idea to market (everyone’s list will be different) eg: marketing brochures, website, bank loan repayments, office space, accountant’s fees, salary, internet connection, stationery etc.
Step 2 – Now source quotes from companies who can provide these services eg: call some printing companies and ask them how much they’d charge you to print your A4 posters. Now add up all your quotes.
Step 3 – Work out how much money your idea will bring in eg: you estimate people will pay $15 for your ‘widget’. So how many widgets do you need to sell to cover your costs and make a profit?
Step 4 – If your costs are too high, go back to Step 1; work out how to do things cheaper or what you can cut back on.
Step 5 – Keep your finances in check by referring to, and updating, your budget regularly. Consider creating one for your start up year and another for your second year in operation so you can map out the all-important flow of cash through your business – otherwise known as a Cashflow Statement.

Getting Money from Customers – Your Payment Options

There are lots of different ways that you can get your customers to pay you. It is a matter of thinking about what works best for your customers and you, as well as what you can actually set up and use.

What payment methods will you offer your customers?

CASH

This is probably the easiest, to begin with. Cash works if you are in front of your customer at the point of purchase, like at the markets. Always make sure you have change!

CHEQUE

You can allow customers to pay you via cheque. They will make the cheque out to you (your full name) or your business name, depending on how your business is set up. If you are running as a sole trader under your own name and your bank account is under your name, then ask your customers to put your name on the cheque. If you have a business bank account under the business name then ask your customers to put the name of your business on the cheque.

You will need to go to the bank and deposit the cheque to then get the money transferred into your account. This can take a few days to “clear” (ie: where they check the other person has the money in their account and takes it out to then put into your account).

Sometimes people make write cheques when they actually don’t have the money; which you wouldn’t know. And so their cheque will “bounce” (your bank will tell you that the cheque was dishonoured and they could not get the money from the person’s account ) and your bank will charge you a fee for this. It is then up to you to chase up the person to ask for your money, again. However, most of the time cheques are totally fine and quite easy for your customers.

DIRECT DEPOSIT

You supply a Tax Invoice that outlines to your customer what you are charging them for with your ABN (Australian Business Number) and your bank account details (Account Name, Bank, BSB Number) to your customer and they use internet banking to deposit the money directly into your account.

This is a very popular method now with internet banking. It means you don’t have to set foot in a bank – yey, no lines! Plus it is quite instant, you can sometimes have your money within 1 day, if your customers are super nice and pay you straight away.

CREDIT CARD

You may like to offer your customers the option of paying by credit card. This will mean that you have to set up a Merchant account with a bank, which will cost you money. And the bank will take a fee for each transaction that you put through. You will need to do your research to get the best deal from a bank.

PAYPAL

If you don’t want to go through the banks and set up a Merchant account, particularly at the beginning, then use PayPal. through PayPal you can take payments online, as well as orders from people using their credit cards which you then put through the PayPal system.

Yes, PayPal does take a fee on each transaction, so do your research and see if that works out for you and your pricing structure to ensure you are still making money.

Here at The Frank Team we take cheques & Direct deposits for our workshops that we do with various clients (schools, uni’s, community groups, local councils, government departments & young professionals). But for our products we use PayPal which means we can take credit card payments, which is great flexibility for us and our customers.

With any payment method always be totally up front with your customers about your payment terms; when you expect to be paid, how & how much. Here at The Frank Team we take a 60% deposit before the workshop and then 40% after the workshop, and have 14 day terms (ie: our customers have 2 weeks to pay).

Making Money Online from Your Skills

As full time “normal” jobs become harder to come by, it is the perfect time to jump online and start to make money from your skills & start your own business in the process! Plus online no-one has to know how old you are, which is perfect for young entrepreneurs…..cos it is all about the quality of your work instead.

If you are like many under 20s who have gone to uni, you have a degree (and are slowly paying it off) but may be finding it hard to get that first “real” job. Or you have made your way through a few contract jobs, which are great while they last but means cashflow is up and down. Or you are contemplating putting off the job search altogether and keeping on studying!

Or perhaps you are like my friend Cristina – she is originally from Venezuela where she completed her under graduate degree in international relations. She then travelled to Japan to study her Business degree while also perfecting her Japanese. Over the past 6 months she has been knocked back for work on over 20 occasions, despite all of her degrees and enthusiasm. But she can speak 4 different languages fluently; English, Portuguese, Spanish & Japanese.

Have you thought about MAKING MONEY ONLINE using your skills? Your language skills, your professional skills from your degree (if you are a lawyer, accountant etc) and even your technology skills……these are quite valuable online!

Quit complaining about not being able to find a job and it is so tough out there….and start being entrepreneurial and use what you already have; your skills!

If you speak languages fluently, think about doing ONLINE TRANSLATION. There are websites that list the profiles of online translators (where you can set up your profile & really talk yourself up!) and people who are looking for translators come to and “pick” someone to work with.
So far I have found:
- Multilingo

- Elance

- Translator Planet

If you have a professional skill, like you are a qualified lawyer, accountant, counsellor, psychologist, mechanic, web design – then you can use all of that knowledge and get paid for it. Answer people’s questions online, and get paid for your time in answering those questions. Here are some sites to check out and use to take your professional knowledge (that you have spent a lot of money to get!) and start to make some money from and of course build profile & experience through as well.

- Just Answer

- Expert Genie

- Find an Expert Online

- Guru.com

- Elance

If you are a really great writer, have just completed studies in communication of some sort, enjoy writing & like the idea of making money from your writing then that is possible as well.Start by checking out these sites….and yep, putting up a profile for yourself and bidding for work.

-  Guru.com

- Helium

- Freelance Writing

Even get paid to write reviews of blogs, books, movies, websites…….on and on it goes!

- Review Party

- Review Stream

….there are heaps of sites where you can get paid to write reviews. This blog post I found is very helpful.

If you are a designer; graphic design, web design, coding, programming etc….then there is a HEAP of opportunity online to start making money. Although all of the coders and programmers should already know that right?! Try these places out….

- 99 designs

- Mechanical Turk

- Elance

- Scriptlance

- Rent a Coder

- Name Pros

And finally – for odd jobs & other ways for making money online try….

- Craigslist classifieds for job ads

- Start up an ebay business selling stuff online

A great tip (I got from an insider who has been making money online since he was 15!) is to get onto forums online, forums where people are discussing your area of expertise. See what questions people are asking about, answer those questions & then offer your services for further help. The more niche the forum, the better quality people you will find.

I have not used any of the above sites myself – so I would suggest some of your own research to find the BEST ones to go with first. Do some research (online of course) and look for recommendations from other “freelancers” about the better sites to post your profile and bid on work through. And also research how to put up profiles on each of these sites that get you results.

But basically, quit complaining about “tough economic times” and “I can’t find a job” and start making money online using skills you already have!

And for ultimate in how to MAKE MONEY ONLINE guide then check out this blog post.

If you know of any other great ways to make money online, good & reputable sites to use…then tell us all about it and spread the good news!

ru an entrepreneur?

Pick me…I am….Pick me!!!

When most of us think of an ‘entrepreneur’ we picture high flying, high powered, business suits driving wheels n’ deals with stacks of cash in their fat, unethical wallets. And trust me, this can be the case – but not always!

Entrepreneurs are people who are ‘enterprising’ – they’re someone who sees a great new idea that could positively impact a business, the environment, or a social cause, and who are determined, daring and energetic enough to make the idea a reality.

So are you an entrepreneur? Take our quick quiz…

• you think a financial crisis or recession is just another way of saying “REALLY BIG OPPORTUNITY”
• you want independence

• you’ve created or invented something

• you’ve identified a niche or gap in a market

• you look at things differently and regularly ask ‘why’

• you have a passion for what you do & for seeing your ideas become a reality

• you want to be your own boss

• you enjoy risk taking

• you don’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘that can’t be done’

• you want to determine how you spend your time

• you want to build something from scratch

• you see economic empowerment and financial independence coming through business ownership

Ok, so if you ticked ‘most or all of the above’ then you sound like someone who could be, or already is, an
entrepreneur!

And if you’re under 35 then you are a YOUNG entrepreneur; by age anyways!
Now there’s lots of pros and cons to running your own biz – long hours, loneliness, frustration, not ‘fitting the norm’
- but if you haven’t experienced it already, the benefits of freedom, control over your destiny, self-expression, and
hard-earned achievement pay off big time.
So what next? How do you get those brilliant ideas you’ve got in your head out into the real world?

Writing a business plan is a great first step but one that can be a little overwhelming. Start by writing down your
responses to the following questions…
1. Got a name for your business or the product/service you’d like to create?
2. Describe your idea in three bullet points.
3. Who do you think will benefit most from your idea?
4. What would you like to achieve by implementing this idea?
5. Why is this idea important to you?
6. What help do you think you’ll need to make the idea happen?

You’re on your way…..check out more articles in GETTING STARTED to move forward with your business

Work experience – why do it, and how to get it!

This is a question probably asked too often by some of us… but if being an enterprising young person doesn’t leave you much time to be generous with, then it’s a question you feel is worth asking.

Consider this though -
Work experience (giving your time + skills + knowledge) = plenty for you in return.

Like that equation? Read on to see how factoring some work experience into your week can help you get places faster!

At FRANK Team HQ we’ve had a fair few work experience students and volunteers dropping in to get some experience and lend a hand. It’s awesome – we get to meet some great young people who are willing to help out, and they are developing their skills and getting some valuable experience to add to their resumes! It’s a win win situation!

So what’s so good about volunteering VS hanging out for the job you want, I hear you say?

There is actually a lot in it for you. It’s not just working for nothing. Read on to find out how volunteering you time through work experience could help you get a head start…

• Experience is sometimes valued over a qualification. So you might have a diploma or degree, but employers like to hire people who have some experience up their sleeves as well, especially now in harder times.

• Put your degree or diploma to work. If you are studying, why not put your learning to use straight away, who says you have to wait until you graduate and get a job?

• You could get a job out of it. If you make a good impression, you’ve got your foot in the door!

• Try before you buy. If you’re considering an industry, but not sure and you don’t want to commit to study yet, do some work experience first – this will help you decide if you are interested in pursuing that career, or if you need to do some more thinking.

• It’s a great way to meet people who are in the industry you want to be in. This can help you get the job you want faster through networking – they will all find out what a hard worker you are. Plus you will be learning from professionals.

• You could find a mentor. You might meet someone in the workplace who inspires you, and embodies who you want to be in your career – support from them will help you succeed.

• It’s an opportunity to develop your skills, and find out what you’re good at. Or use the skills you have to help others – we know we’ve learnt a thing or two from our work experience peeps!

So… you’re convinced now aren’t you?? Here’s how you can get yourself a work experience opportunity…

• Do some research. Find some local organisations, businesses etc who are in the industry you want to work in. Give them a call to see if they have any work experience positions. If they do, ask if you can go in to meet with them and see if you would like to do some volunteering there. If you don’t have any luck, keep searching… or check out the volunteer opportunities @ seek.com

• If you go in to meet with people and suss out an opportunity, put together a resume so you can show you are serious about having a go and you can display some of your assets!
• If you can’t find anyone willing, give us a call – maybe we know someone who could use your help and in return give you some awesome practical experience!

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