Ytrep Opps – April

Hey Team!

Another freshly-baked batch of young entrepreneur opportunities below.  Mmmm…. Enjoy!

9th Annual Australian Innovation Festival (26 April – 31 May)

The 2010 Australian Innovation Festival kicks off at the end of this month bringing a host of events and opportunities for entrepreneurs across the country.  Check out www.ausinnovation.org for locations & registration details and see below for Festival Launch dates in your capital city:
National / Sydney: 10:30am-12:30pm, Thursday 22 April
Brisbane: 6:00pm-8:00pm, Thursday 22 April
Canberra: 6:00pm-8:00pm, Tuesday 27th April
Melbourne: 10:00am-12:00pm, Wednesday 28th April
Adelaide: 8:30am-2:30pm, Thursday 29th April
Perth: 6:00pm-8”00pm, Thursday 29th April
Darwin: 1:00pm, Thursday 29th April
Hobart: 7:00am-8:45am, Tuesday 18th May

North Coast Innovation Festival (26 April – 31 May)

To coincide with the Australian Innovation Festival, 2010 North Coast Innovation Festival will kick off a program designed to showcase the intellectual capital, innovation and creativity on the NSW North Coast.   Festival events will include seminars, workshops, exhibitions, tours and webinars from 26 April to 31 May 2010 in various locations from Tweed Heads to Foster-Tuncurry.  Grab more details at www.ncinnovationfestival.com.au

Creative3 – Creativity x Investment x Enterprise (Today – 16 April)

Brissy will host the international Creative3 Forum from 14 – 16 April, bringing together the brightest talent and industry practitioners from across the creative fields, as well as creative enterprise leaders to share their ideas and offerings, form partnerships, network, and do business. The 3-day program will feature keynote presentations, business development workshops and networking opportunities + the flagship Investment Marketplace.  7 aspiring creative entrepreneurs will pitch their business ideas to a dragon’s den of industry leaders and business experts for their chance to win a $100,000 business package. Register now and join in the action – www.creative3.com.au

Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) Young Social Pioneers Program 2010

Are you a young social change-maker? Have you been actively working on an idea or project for 6months? 14 social pioneers will gain a place on YSP 2010, a unique year-long program providing skills development, mentoring, intensive group and individual training and access to an international network of social innovators. Areas of work can include education, environment, health and wellbeing, human rights, media and technology, performing and visual arts, politics and science.  Applicants must be between 18 and 29 years of age, applications close Friday 11th June. For more information and to apply, visit: www.youngsocialpioneers.org.au.

fastBREAK Innovation Series – Friday April 30, Topic: Are you Alone?

Vibewire present the 2010 fastBREAK innovation series to showcase fresh perspectives and provocative ideas from some of Sydney’s brightest young thought leaders. Each event features 5 young industry leaders from various sectors to tackle big questions with five-minute responses around themes of creativity, commercialisation, collaboration, connections and conversation. Listen in then join the speakers for breakfast.  Takes place on the last Friday of the month (next event 30 April), 7:45am-9am @ the Boiler Room Mezzanine, Powerhouse Museum, cost just $8. More info at: http://vibewire.org/2010/04/fastbreak-are-you-alone/.  

Will you be one of the hot 30 under 30?

Smart Company is again looking for Australia’s hottest young entrepreneurs for their annual hot 30 under 30 list.  Think you’ve got what it takes?  Complete a 10min questionnaire about you and your biz to find out!  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=T78b14EKfqie9GIOdm1XViuOf5kMp2kdApomsoR32PU=& Know a rising young star and want to nominate them?  Email the editor, James Thomson at jthomson@smartcompany.com.au with details.  Good luck!

Share the love – buttons for your website, blog posts and articles

Want to help your clients/customers/readers to share your online gems with their friends and contacts? www.addthis.com automatically generates a html tag for a nifty little Twitter/Facebook/MySpace /Google sharing button.  Simply paste the code on your website or at the end of your post and voila! instant sharing.  

The Hive Melbourne Meets Steve Sammartino of Rentoid - Tuesday 20th April

After working in consumer goods marketing for 15 years Steve Sammartino created rentoid.com in 2007 – A peer-to-peer rental website where people can rent items to and from each other.  Steve is the anti-geek and he says most of his on line success has resulted from what he does off line, busting the myth that we need to be stroking at a keyboard 24 hours a day.  And, with Rentoid now boasting more than $50 million worth of items for rent, he migtht be onto something! Catch up with Steve and The Hive team at The Order of Melbourne, 401 Swanston Street Melborune.  Registration is free (we love that!) so jump online at www.thehive.org.au.

Join the conversation – simpler business reporting

Want to help put an end to complicated paperwork?  The government, through the Standard Business Reporting initiative is proposing to simplify reporting requirements for all businesses.  They’ve put together a business reporting blog and invite business owners, reporting professionals, software developers and members of the public to discuss the SBR online. To participate, go to: http://blog.sbr.gov.au/.  For the full down-low on SBR, check-out:  www.sbr.gov.au.

Last Chance! Applications for 2010 Victoria Fellowships close this afternoon!

Applications close today for the 2010 Victoria Fellowships – up to 6 fellowships for emerging leaders in engineering, science or technology.  Each Fellow will receive a travel grant of up to $18,000 for short-term overseas study to develop a commercial idea, undertake specialist training or career development.  Nominations also open for the Victoria Prize -$50,000 for a scientific discovery or technological innovation. Go to http://www.business.vic.gov.au/BUSVIC/STANDARD/PC_60157.html

Cool online resource for managing event regos – FREE

It can be such a challenge coordinating networking, launch or product/service events if you have to manage RSVPS and admin nightmares through Outlook…. we know!  Eventbrite.com is an online event management and ticketing service which makes it easy regardless of your event type and size.  Eventbrite is 100% free if your event is free.  If you sell tickets for your event, then EventBrite charges 2.5% of the ticket price + 99c per ticket sold (max fee $9.95).  So, if you’re hosting an event, check-out www.eventbrite.com.

Tips For Your Fitness Business

Exposed: The Top Four Tips to a Successful Fitness Business

Josh Panebianco of Sydney Active is a young entrepreneur making waves in the personal training area. Here he shares his TOP FOUR tips in running a successful fitness business – so that you can do it too!

Setting goals

Personal training is all about helping your clients achieve their goals, but if you don’t have goals set out for your self and your fitness business, you have no chance of succeeding. You gotta walk the talk!

Goals are destinations, places that you would like your business to be.

Try to make these goals as specific as possible.

After you have set your goal now work out the actions that you need to complete to achieve your goals. For example you need x amount of clients to earn x amount a month which equates to x amount a year. Then break this down to how many prospects you need this month to achieve your goal. And then to get those prospects (to your website, through referrals, through networking etc) what action do you need to take.

One final note; don’t make all your goals monetary. Think about things that mean a lot to you in and outside your business.

Use direct debit to charge your clients

Direct debt is the only way you should charge your clients – and I have learnt this the hard way!

Direct debit makes you three times the amount of money with the same amount of clients. Never use packages they are for cave men who don’t know how to run fitness businesses. Charge your clients monthly by direct debit. With direct debit if someone doesn’t turn up you still get paid. Unless you love asking for money and love signing up the same person again and again auto debit is the only option.

Now that you direct debit all your clients you don’t look at how much your making per session it’s now more like how much you make a month with x amount of people coming twice a week.

You if wanna know more about how to make this work, then contact me direct and I am happy to share.

Create qualified clients

When someone calls and says “hi, I would like to learn more about your services and ask your prices,” don’t just tell them turn it around and say “ok, great well what do you want to do?” so you can learn more about them.

More often than not they will give you the standard answer of “I just want to get fit” or “just want to lose weight”. So then ask them “why it is important to you to get fit or lose weight”. Be aware that you may have to ask this a few times. What you are trying to do is to find their hot button which means their pain, the emotional reason why they called you. For example their father died of a heart attack and they don’t want the same fate. After you have found the emotional reason for wanting to train with you now is the time to go through prices and the times that they can train.
After that repeat everything they have said to you, for example so you want to train because your dad had a heart attack and your don’t want the same thing to happen to you, you want to train three times a week and you want to lose x amount of kgs .This will reinforce in the prospects mind the reason they want a person trainer and will create qualified clients before you even meet them in person.

Setting your hours

You may think that controlling your session times is the last thing to worry about, but letting your clients set your working hours is a recipe for disaster.

Make sure that you’re the one setting the hours that you work not your clients. Have blocks of the day that you train and commit to filling your hours. 6 till 10 and 4 till 8 or some thing like that and any time outside that make your self unavailable. This will help you gain control over your clients and stop your from becoming burnt out.

These are just my TOP 4 TIPS to running a successful personal training business.

If you want to learn more about getting qualified as a personal trainer, starting your own personal training business or just about motivating yourself then contact me. You will find me at

www.personaltrainerssydney.com.au
www.boxingsydney.com.au

If you are a young entrepreneur who has started a business and would like to share your TOP TIPS with other young entreprenuers, then send through your article to info@frankteam.com.au for consideration.

Web Conversion Tips – Sneak Preview

Young entrepreneur Fred Schebesta has provided us with a sneak preview of his upcoming Workshop – The Real Basics of Online Marketing.

This snippet is all about converting your online visitors to your site to take action in some way.

It is a perfect lunch time listen!

Download here and listen now for your dose of Web Conversion Tips.

The Real Basics of Online Marketing – Workshop

The Frank Team is proud to present its first workshop in its new “SHOW ME HOW” series; our workshops that are presented by young entrepreneurs for young entrepreneurs that are only about stuff you need to know about and focus on showing you HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF.

We have noticed that many young entrepreneurs with websites are unsure of some of the basics of online marketing. That is anything from key words, search engine optimisation, landing pages and good web page structure. As such they are not getting the most out of their website or web development team.
Young Entrepreneur Fred Schebesta, an online marketing gun, is here to save the day! We have an awesome 3 hour practical workshop that will cover the basics of online marketing in a really fun, simple & highly practical way. Low on jargon and high on usefulness is what we can guarantee.
When: 27th April 4.30 – 7.30pm in Sydney CBD How Much: $66 per person

Book in for this event with jessica@frankteam.com.au

More info here http://www.youngentrepreneurs.net.au/online-marketing-secrets-presented-by-a-young-entrepreneur-for-young-entrepreneurs.html

Also, if you have a skill that you would like to SHOW other young entrepreneurs HOW TO DO then please contact us for inclusion in our SHOW ME HOW series.

REGISTER NOW

Calling all Student Entrepreneurs

COMPETITION FOR AUSTRALIA’S TOP STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS

The Entrepreneurs’ Organization, the world’s most influential community of entrepreneurs, is pleased to announce the launch of the 2009 Australian regional competition of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, supported by Mercedes-Benz Financial.
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards recognize the world’s top undergraduate student entrepreneur who is juggling the demands of a full course load with running a business.
Similar to American icon Dell Computer founder Michael Dell, a former member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization who started his company in his dorm room at school, these students have a passion for entrepreneurship — which is a leading driver of economies worldwide.
This year’s Australia competition will recognize Australia’s best university entrepreneurs, with the top two national Australian winners going on to represent Australia in Chicago on the 21st and 22nd of October at the 2009 GSEA Global Finals competition.
Each student entrepreneur qualifies to compete by having a company which has been in existence for at least six months as a for-profit company, the student entrepreneur is principally responsible for its operation, and they are attending a recognized college or university as an undergraduate during time of nomination.

The successful applicants will present in front of a panel of members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the local business community.

The winners are announced and prizes are awarded the evening of the competition.
The 2008 GSEA Global Champion award winner, Dominic Coryell of the Northeastern University in Boston, USA, and CEO of Garment Valet Inc., had this to say about last year’s contest: “Its justification for all of the hard work that you constantly forget about day to day and to have this many vetted individuals stand out there and award you and clap for you means a whole lot and beyond that, all of the fellow entrepreneurs, its amazing!”
Melbourne Entrepreneurs’ Organization member Carlo Santoro, Managing Director of RetailCare.com and a member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Board of Directors, was a judge at the Melbourne competition last year, “These student entrepreneurs represent the future of Australian business. It was motivating to see them present their businesses and understand how they juggle running their companies with attending school full time,” Santoro said.
Australia’s finalists last year were Natasha Wood from The Kitchen Guys, a student from Macquarie University, Trent Kirk from South Brisbane Grass Cutters, a student from Griffith University, and Damian Panozza from Balance Psychology, a student from Swinburne University.

Know a Student Entrepreneur? Nominate them now for the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards and you could win $1,000. Check www.gsea.org!

Other finalists in last year’s Global competition included:
– Joseph Pascaretta from the University of Michigan, who created Alps International, an American $6+ million dollar landscaping company
—Marcus Anzengruber from Stockholm School of Economics, who created Constant, which provides internet advertising and optimization services to client internationally
Nomination and Application Deadlines:
Global – Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Regional Competition Dates:
Sydney – Thursday, 20 August 2009

Go to www.gsea.org to register and get yourself IN THE COMPETITION!
People can watch YouTube videos, join us on Facebook and MySpace, and follow us on twitter – all available from the web site.

More info here as well – download now

About GSEA
For 20 years, the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) program has recognized students who are successfully building businesses while pursuing academic degrees. The program, which is currently active in five countries, encourages students to pursue their passions while building the foundation for a solid economic future through regional and global cash awards competitions. The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is the facilitator of the GSEA program, in part through the support of Mercedes-Benz Financial. This connection allows student entrepreneurs to tap into the collective knowledge and experience of EO members, gaining access to global networks and to a community that understands passion, struggle, drive and success. GSEA was founded at St. Louis University in the USA in 1988.

Carlo Santoro

Global Board Member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization

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.

Michael Jarocki – CreditCardFinder

Name: Michael Jarocki
Age: 19
Field: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Internet Marketing
Interests: Music (Metal, Electro), Guitar, Snowboarding, Cricket, Internet, Late Nights with Friends.
Website: http://www.creditcardfinder.com.au
Contact: mike@creditcardfinder.com.au

High School Boredom – Year 12, 2007

Throughout high school, although I had interests and hobbies, I lacked any sort of educational or career-based direction. While this is fairly normal for the beginning of school, by the time Year 12 rolled
around, it was becoming a worry.

At one point I wanted to be an actor. Then a professional snowboarder. Followed by a musician. Anything that came to mind was fairly short-lived.

Plain and simple, I was bored at school. The only one of my subjects I had relative interest in was English, and even then it was completely subjective to what we were doing. Crime fiction for instance held little interest for me, so I practically stopped attending my extension english classes, and the whole unit went to waste.

One day during a typical dreary economics class, I noticed my friend browsing some forums. Gladly diverting my attention to his laptop, I questioned him about the forums he was browsing – they were internet marketing forums. At that moment I had an epiphany – I can make a career on the internet, moving at my own pace and enjoyment.

I knew making money online was possible, but had never really considered doing it myself till that point.

That night at home I suggested my new found interest to my parents. To say the least, my idealism was not met with the same enthusiasm. Just like the majority of Australian parents, they wanted nothing more than
for their son to attend university and settle down in a nice respectable job. I told them I wasn’t interested in university, and as expected they commenced a furious rant of how I wouldn’t achieve anything without educational credentials.

While it was a blow to my excitement, it didn’t hinder me from my new career adventure.

In 2007, the year of my Higher School Certificate, I spent July to November studying the basics of internet marketing and seo, instead of studying for my HSC.

When my UAI of 68.8% came, I tossed it aside as it held no relevance to my career choice. My parents weren’t too phased about my results – they figured I could work my way at a lower-grade university up to achieve anything English/Journalism related with my mark. However, they did rage when I told them I hadn’t submitted any uni applications for 2008.

Excited Entrepreneur – 2008

Fresh on the internet money-making scene, I was super keen and enthusiastic to absorb and learn all the knowledge I could. While I used to play video games, they didn’t hold any interest or procrastinating value anymore – the internet was (and still is, in a way) a video game to me. To beat the first level, I set a goal at
making $10 solely online.

To achieve this, I began creating niched sites, such as Eye Diseases and Mobile Phones with Google advertisements, or ‘Adsense’ on them.

For those unaware, Adsense places advertisements similar to your site’s topic and you earn money everytime somebody clicks on them.

The sites were up and running, and spammy to the max. I spent up to 10 hours each day writing content and experimenting with my websites. I frantically logged onto my Adsense account by the hour to see if I’d
made any money.

Shock! A click! 18 cents! MY hard-earned 18 cents!

Grinning ear to ear in pride, I show my girlfriend, who replied with a blank face of dissatisfaction, maybe even a hint of embarrassment. But I didn’t care. I didn’t expect to retire at 19 after a couple of months work. As long as I was making progressively more money, whether it was cent by cent, I was pleased.

April rolled around and my parents were beginning to probe and doubt my line of work.

“How much money did you make today, 32 cents?” my dad would ask mockingly.

He revived his rant of how I should be studying at a university. I retorted that this is what I’m interested in, and YOU don’t have to pay $18,000 in uni fees for me to do it.

“No one will ever take you seriously without a degree. You need one to be successful” he stated.

“Are you saying no one without a degree has never achieved success?” I replied. He shook his head and walked away.

Nevertheless, I carried on. I knew at this point my skills in the field were above average and I could possibly get employment. While it was my dream to ultimately work for myself, I was desperate to show my parents I could make more than $2 a day.

In early May, one of the my friends replied to me with interest for me to work for a website and I was on board after an interview. I began making some respectable income, and I was on top of the world.

I was given the reigns of Credit Card Finder, which I still administrate to this day – which allows me to now work comfortably from home. Since I began working, editing and improving the site, revenue has increased by approximately 2400%, and growth is set to continue.

Reflection 2009

As you may have picked up throughout my story, the approval of my parents was, and still is a very important factor to me. To this day, while my parents are pleased with my success, I know deep inside that they would prefer me to still go on secondary education. Fortunately, my own drive for entrepreneurial success outweighed any lack of support.

I did not expect to reach the level I have in such a short period of time. If I had only increased from $2 a day in 2008 to $6 in 2009, I would still be stoked. I take great pride and satisfaction in any of my self achieved results, no matter the rate of progress.

For anyone interested in making a career online – there is no easy money. While it can come to you quicker or slower than most, ultimately you’ll need to put it in the hard work and originality to rake in the revenue.

Why Do I Love My Job?

There’s nothing more satisfying for me than seeing my hard work reflect in the search engine rankings. The basis of my job involves me targeting specific Google search terms, i.e “credit cards” and aiming at making that term the #1 result for when Australians ‘Google’ the term. The thrill of achievement motivates me to maintain the ranking, while there are still endless other search terms to become #1 for.

From time to time I browse university courses to see if there is something that would interest me, but to no avail. I imagine even if there was, It would be like year 12, where only certain units and topics would interest me enough to attend and excel. That’s the wonder of making money on the internet – there’s a thousand ways to do it, and you have the freedom to attempt any you wish, at your own rate.

The internet is always changing, and thus I can never truly be bored when I have to re-learn and be on form with its changes, in order to stay on top.

I would love for anybody with any questions or queries about my line of work, Credit Card Finder or anything else to contact me. My best wishes to any of you who personally wish to go down the path of an internet entrepreneur. Maintain the interest and you’ll get the results.

James Greig – Bloomtools

A web empire, a network of franchises, and all by the age of 24.

At 20 years of age James Greig left university with plans to start his own web empire. Four years later young entrepreneur James is a Founder and Director of Bloomtools, which is now franchising across Australia and has developed hundreds of websites for Australian businesses.

James started out working from a client’s office in exchange for building their website and business management system. His knowledge and natural business acumen were obvious from the start when he developed a software system for the client that reduced a six hour task to six minutes.

From there, the young entrepreneur built a team of some of the best programmers, graphic designers and marketers in Australia and began developing websites and online tools for local Gold Coast businesses.

“I realised that customised websites were just too expensive and too complicated for the average business to use, so I began to build products that could be used across many businesses, and would make websites more effective for business yet still extremely affordable,” James said.

In 2005, at the age of 22, James met his future business partner, former business coach and entrepreneur Tracey Voyce who was looking for someone to help her create a database marketing system for businesses.

Together they honed the business and created a range of web and email marketing products, designed specifically with business in mind.

These products proved extremely popular with local businesses and soon the business expanded with a number of resellers across Australia.

“I think what sets us apart is the fact that we understand what works for businesses online and our whole team is really passionate about helping businesses get results from the Internet,” said James.

Bloomtools has grown over 180% in the past year and now employs 19 staff, with clients such as OK! Magazine and Wide Span Sheds, and celebrity endorsements from Tim Campbell, Grant Denyer and Ian Maurice.

Earlier this year, Bloomtools launched a franchise business, which has already been taken up in a number of locations across Australia.

Well known businessman, and Action Coach master licensee, Bruce Doyle, was one of the first franchisees, launching Bloomtools Melbourne Central.

“When I came across Bloomtools, I knew they were the type of company I wanted to be associated with, because they are so passionate about business and the Internet and they have the world class tools to back it up,” Bruce said.

James said his aim was to franchise Bloomtools across Australia and New Zealand and soon the world.

“We have already had a number of inquiries from people wanting to take up the Franchises overseas,” James said.

James’ advice to other young entrepreneurs

* Believe wholeheartedly in your vision – six months into my business I saw the void in the market and knew that my business would be big, unique and successful. You need to have a clear dream and vision for your business and know exactly how it will be and what it will look like.

* Know your market – Find out who they are, what they want, what they need and other brands they use and respect. The more you know about your audience, the easier it is to engage them and tailor your services to them.

* Be unique – no matter what industry you’re in, there are a lot of people doing the same thing. Create your point of difference and live by it.

* Have the right people around you – associate with people that have the same energy, positiveness, commitment and belief in your vision. Hire the best people you can afford and treat everyone around you with respect.

* Be a sponge – always ask lots of questions of people and listen to what they have to say. Knowledge is power.

Sam Cawthorn – Be Motivated

Meet Sam Cawthorn, an amazing young entrepreneur running his own business in Tasmania. Sam knows that
overcoming challenges and taking life by the scruff of the neck is what it takes to achieve goals! Plus he is the current Young Tasmanian of the Year….well well!

Check out his interview below…

How do you describe your business to people who ask what you do?

Be Motivated specialises in developing and unleashing personal and organisational creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity. We are committed to creating environments that expand imagination, unleash creativity, and maximise the creative potential in every individual and organisation.

Convinced that the world is changed by dreamers and visionaries, Be Motivated serves the purpose of history by maximising the divine potential in every human being.

Sam is also a Frank Team facilitator for our youth programs!

How did you come up with the idea?

In October 2006 I was involved in a horrific accident in Northern Tasmania. I suffered many major injuries including an amputated right arm and a permanently disabled leg. Seeing I’ve been given another chance at life, I’m now making sure others do not take life for granted, and live their life’s purpose.

How long have you been working on it?

I get bored really easily. So when I was in hospital for over 4 months and then in a wheelchair for over 9 months I worked on it continuously throughout this time.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

I think it was definitely my accident, being told by the doctors that you will never be able to walk again, and also dealing with the loss of your most dominant arm, it was by far my most biggest challenge.

What do you like most about being in business?

Inspiring and empowering people and seeing peoples lives transformed. I love being influential; I recently came back from working in the USA, speaking at schools and at a conference, I loved being Australian and being blessed to be able to travel and talk to people around the world.

What do you like least about being in business?

Paperwork – but it has to be done!

How do you market your product?

Mainly word of mouth; I really do not do a lot of marketing as such… Yes, I have a website I keep updated regularly, but my main form of advertising is people.

What advice do you have for young people out there trying to start a business or community
project?

Do it! You only live one life, Create the life you want to live, don’t wait for it to happen… Make it happen. Be persistent and you will reach your wildest dreams!!!

To find out more about Sam & Be Motivated

Rachel Chippendale – Ruby’s Closet

Have you ever met someone at an event who is oozing with passion, courage and personality, so much so that you just must go and introduce yourself? That’s what it was like meeting young entrepreneur Rachel Chippendale, 27, winner of the NSW Young Biz Star Competition 2007 in the Regional category.

Her passion for her biz, Ruby’s Closet, even seeped through into her interview for IGNITE, read on to find out what I’m talking about!

Tell us a bit about yourself – your interests, what you are up to in life, experiences…

I presently live in Orange NSW after spending the past few years traveling on and off to over 30 countries – traveling is my passion! On my biggest trip, which lasted 1 year, I traveled from Asia right through Europe over to Morocco, the UK and then South America visiting artisans, designers and manufacturers of accessories. I was on my own and it was the most amazing adventure – everything from bikinis in Brazil and gorgeous leather bags and shoes in Italy and Argentina, to bohemian glass in Czech Republic and jewellery in Paris. I made some very interesting friends!

How do you describe your business?

My business is a combination of working with the things I love and the things I have skilled expertise about.

My launch product is a patent pending and registered design jewellery storage device that solves all problems people have complained of when storing their fashion jewellery. It’s unique, can be hung on the back of a door or in a wardrobe, keeps jewellery separated, easily accessible and free from tangles and tarnish. I aim to have an online store that sells the most unique jewellery, accessories and gifts from all around the world.

Did you always want to run your own business? / What were you doing before you were running
your own business?

Yes, I started “Trendy and Co” when I was seven years old going door to door selling scrunchies and headbands around the neighborhood I sewed myself- I think I made a dollar here and there!

Before I started this business I was working overseas in events and marketing, designing jewellery and operating smaller business ventures on the side during university.

How did the idea come about and what inspired you to get into action?

When I returned from overseas I came back with the most amazing samples of boots, jackets, jewellery and the like – the compliments when I wore these things were never ending. But I knew the industry was very competitive and that I needed to differentiate myself first by inventing unique base products to develop my brand. I constantly noticed jewellery storage was a real problem for so many people – a lot of research, sketches, an engineer and prototypes later my jewellery hanger is a reality.
in.profile continued on next page…

What are some of the things you enjoy most about running your own business?

I love the challenges every day presents, seeing an idea come to life, receiving feedback from customers who love the product and the freedom. I am a country girl at heart but I love to travel and want to live back in a capital city. So, having an online business that can be operated remotely gives me the freedom to do all these things and continue to source amazing products abroad. I also love the fact that you get out what you put in – rewards are only capped by your own efforts.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome to make your ideas a reality?

Finding a reliable manufacturer that could bring my idea to life with the highest quality I envisaged, as well as marketing with limited start-up capital. It is incredibly frustrating having a great product that customers rave over and yet not being able to reach enough people to tell them about it yet.

How do you market your business?

I launched at an industry trade fair for jewellery and the response was fantastic. I try and get as much PR as possible which has been great so far as I have a lot of leverage having recently won my category of the NSW Young BizStar competition.

I am presently negotiating with distributors and larger media companies interested in featuring my product. Search Engine Marketing and Google Adwords are great ways to drive website traffic but I believe my service and quality will generate the best advertising – word of mouth.

Do you have any role models you look to for ideas on how to run your business?

I attend business development seminars when I can, which is great networking. I think it’s important to surround yourself with positive like-minded people – because there is always someone who’ll tell you it can’t be done. I often ask my uncle for advice who has been very successful in business for 50 years – he keeps me motivated with his stories of how he started and the similar challenges he faced early on.

I also have a great advisor in the Middle East who has done some amazing things with business and new ideas for his age. He has given me valuable advice on the legal side of things, marketing and dealing with big businesses.
I am presently looking for a mentor in NSW who will help me develop my business further.

What are your favourite things to do to outside of running your biz?

I love traveling and would love to visit Central America, Canada, USA and see more of the Middle East and South America. I also love walking my dog Toby, hiking, shopping, art, reading and having a great night out with my friends.

What advice can you share with other people trying to start a business?

Be prepared to work very hard and make sacrifices, believe in yourself and have a contingency plan for absolutely everything.
Finding a market before you develop a product or service is a great idea. I found a problem and developed the solution, and solutions to problems are good business!
Never give up – I have always been a firm believer that if you work hard and smart and want something enough, eventually it will happen. But it takes time and determination.
Most of all never lose sight of the big picture – success in life is not measured in dollar signs. You will only be good at what you do if you are happy with what you are doing.
Check out Ruby’s Closet

Jamie Glazier – Dare2Dream

Jamie Glazier has quite a story to tell… and it is this story that motivated him to start his business,
Dare2Dream.  Jamie is also one of those young entrepreneurs who has always created his own job – running a few businesses.

Wanna be inspired by a young entrepreneur oozing with passion, courage and determination? Read on…from our IGNITE interview with Jamie.

Tell us a bit about yourself – your interests, what you are up to…

My interests include sports, health & fitness and just in general living everyday to the full. I am currently in the process of building a brand (Dare2Dream) that will help inspire people to believe in themselves and to go for the things in their life that they want to achieve.

I run Dare2Dream Peak Performance which is a mental conditioning business to help people create a mindset for success and to knock down those barriers that are currently in their way to achieving success.

I have also begun Dare2Dream Threadz, that is a clothing label out there to inspire and invigorate the younger generations in Australia through our unique and fresh designs.

How do you describe your job to people who ask what you do?

I describe it by saying I help people understand how the human brain works and how we as humans have been programmed to use it on an unconscious level. We then look at being able to make some positive changes that will result in some more empowering outcomes for a happier life.

I call myself a Peak Performance coach.

Did you always want to run your own business and What were you doing before you were
running your own business?

I have always run my own business.
I ran a tennis coaching academy when I was 20yrs old and before that I worked as an assistant tennis coach for a few years. But for the most part, I have always worked for myself and wouldn’t have it any other way.

How did the idea come about and what inspired you to get into action?

The whole Dare2Dream idea came about when I was preparing to become a professional golfer and I woke one morning in excruciating pain that I couldn’t move. I had slipped 2 discs in my lower back and spent the next 15 months on the ground. I was told I will never play sport again and most likely need a walking stick to walk with or end up in a wheelchair.

For the first time in my life, I realised there and then that everything I had achieved and not achieved in my life before this was totally up to me, I had failed to become a professional tennis player because I didn’t believe in myself and the same went for my golf.

All of a sudden, I had no other option than to dive in head first and get my life back on track, against the odds.

I threw myself into my vision of getting my healthy life back and enjoying the sports I loved playing, my mind was so focused on this happening that I realised that NOTHING was going to get in my way. I soon realised that I had created the mindset that ALL successful people had and that was my motivation to start
Dare2Dream, to help teach and inspire people to believe in themselves and just totally focus on what it is they want.

What do you enjoy most about running your own business?

Everything. The whole process to me is amazing, the set backs, the No’s, the ability to help people achieve their dreams is amazing. You are always going to have doubters and people that don’t believe in your vision, as long as you are not one of them, you will be fine.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome to make your ideas a reality?

Getting society to understand that although you do things differently, it may just be as powerful or more powerful than what we are use to. I realised many years ago, that if you look at what the masses are doing and go the opposite way, you will be successful.

How do you market your business?

I market it in many different ways. I write articles for national magazines that help get my name out there. I sponsor specific people that will help showcase our clothing and help create interest. Lend our clothes out for fashion shoots and in general just try and create as much as word of mouth as possible.

Where do you catch some fresh and new ideas for your designs?

Most of the ideas just come from my mind. As I just mentioned, a lot of people think that different is bad, but I believe different is good, especially within the clothing industry. We stand for more than great clothes. Our brand is about not just wearing the clothes, but living the clothes. We can do that as our brand stands for something, and that is extremely important we believe.

Do you have a role model that influences the way you do business?

No not really, because I understand that everyone is different. I take pieces of successful people’s journeys and then put my own flavour on it to help Dare2Dream go and grow in its unique way. You need to separate yourself from the crowd to stand out.

What advice can you share with your people trying to start a business or community project?

Be extremely specific with where you want to finish and then make sure every day you focus on the tasks to make that become a reality. I have a saying that I lived by everyday through my back injury, and that is “Plan your work and Work your Plan!”
It may be painful at times and not so enjoyable, but focusing on what it will bring you will help keep you inspired and motivated to work hard.

Check out these Dare2Dream websites for more info or some funky tees!
www.myspace.com/dare2dreamapparel
www.dare2dream.net.au
http://shop.dare2dream.com.au

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