A 90 Day Plan you will actually use
Most business plans do not get used. They are written in a burst of energy and ambition, often at the start of a new year or a new financial period, and then quietly find their way into a corner or drawer to collect dust as the daily demands of running the business takes over. By […]
Purpose-Driven Business in Real life
Throughout this series we have covered the PCP Method in some depth. We have explored the Purpose pillar, the Clarity pillar and the Performance pillar separately, and we have described what the framework looks like structurally. But what does it look like when all three pillars are working together in a real business. In this […]
Your Pricing Is Too Low. Fix It and Protect Your Profit
Pricing is the single most powerful lever in your business. It boosts profitability without needing more hours, more staff or more clients. Increase your prices by just 10 percent on R1.2 million in revenue and you add R120 000 to your bottom line. That is real money without any more effort. Most South African service […]
The Non Accounting Speak Cash Flow Statement
In a previous post, we unpacked the income statement, which tells you whether your business made a profit. In this post we wrap up the financial literacy mini‑series with the report that confuses most SME owners even more: the cash flow statement. And honestly, it is the most misunderstood report in small businesses across South […]
Xero setup: Correct now, Correct Forever
Xero is one of the most powerful accounting platforms available to South African SMEs * and any small business. It is also, when set up incorrectly, one of the most frustrating. Much like anything, If you don’t use it properly, it’s useless. The problem is almost never Xero itself. It is the setup. A Xero […]
Advisory Accountant or Compliance Partner
Your accountant should be telling you things you did not know to ask.
If every conversation is reactive like you have a problem, they help you fix it, you are getting compliance, not advice.
Cash Flow Forecast: Looking forward
If there is one financial tool that I would give every South African SME owner above all others, it is not a better income statement. It is not a more detailed budget. It is a cash flow forecast. A cash flow forecast is simply a forward-looking view of what money is coming into your business […]
Why performance management starts with your balance sheet
Most South African SME owners think about performance in terms of revenue. Did we hit our sales target this month? Are we growing year on year? Is the business busier than it was last year? Revenue is a starting point, although it is only one dimension of business performance. A business can grow its revenue […]
The Xero Dashboard. Start here always
Most Xero users open the platform to do a specific task — send an invoice, capture a bill, run a report — and then close it again. The dashboard, which is the first thing you see every time you log in, gets glanced at and scrolled past. That is a missed opportunity. The Xero dashboard […]
Hidden Costs – how they are killing your business
Hidden costs accumulate quietly in the background, month after month, never large enough to trigger alarm in any individual month, increases often blown off as inflation or the usual annual increase.