November 2019 - Emma Pardoe CA (SA)

5 Reasons To Never Overlook Your Business Plan

Not preparing a comprehensive business plan for your business, and not then updating it frequently, is a recipe for disaster. In fact John Cleese’s “How can I be so stupid?” when recalling his pitch to the BBC for the launch of Monty Python’s Flying Circus – without having a business plan in place - says it all. Next month we’ll share some thoughts on how to prepare a business plan, but let’s start off this month with a discussion of why this is such a critical part of your strategic planning. We’ll give you 5 very good reasons for you to commit the necessary resources to this essential project without delay.

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November 2, 2019

Articles / Blog / Guides

Cut Your Electricity Bills!

As the cost of electricity mounts and as the spectre of load shedding once more looms threateningly over both our businesses and our homes, the need for us all to limit our consumption increases exponentially. The Internet is full of ideas on how to go about achieving that, and for your convenience we’ve summarised six ideas that we hope will help you choose those strategies best suited to your particular circumstances. You will of course be lowering your expenses and limiting your exposure to the business disruption and inconvenience that power cuts always bring with them. Perhaps even most importantly, if we all took these six steps to heart, we would greatly reduce the risk of Eskom plunging us into darkness in the first place!

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November 2, 2019

Articles / Blog / Business

Businesses: Think Strategically When Cost Cutting

If your business has to reduce its expenses, you are far from alone. In these tough times, companies across the board are cutting costs not just to boost profits, but increasingly as a matter of survival. Be careful however – a cost cutting exercise could become counter-productive if you don’t plan for it strategically. The last thing you need now is a drop in either productivity or staff morale. We share some tips on how to go about limiting cost to best effect, and with as little risk as possible of leaving your business worse even off than it was before…

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November 2, 2019

Articles / Blog

Crunch Time for SA – The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement and What it Means to You

The main budget presented to Parliament in February by the Minister of Finance is where government reveals its detailed projections of and plans for the economy, and its tax and spending proposals. So at this stage no detail is expected from the MTBPS, but rather a general indication of where we are and where we plan to be. Its importance to us all lies in the economic indicators reported by the Minister, in his “fiscal risk statement”, and in his projections for the economy, for public finances, and for our debt-to-GDP ratio. All of these will impact directly on us in both our business and our personal lives. Let’s have a look at what the Minister said, and at how that will affect us…

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November 2, 2019