Johnston Associates Chartered Accountants

Masterminding Brighter Tomorrows

Leadership

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Winter is a great time to network

Networking is a buzz word commonly used when discussing how to improve your business performance and bring career opportunities, but how is it maintained? As we all know there is only so many seminars, conferences, and after work drinks one can attend until you start to feel this isn’t really having an impact. In the top of the South is it often who you know, not what you know that brings forward new opportunities and this is where high-quality business relationships are important.

Coming into the quieter winter months we are exploring a few methods to improve the quality of your network relationships, yes it does take some effort but what can come from a little work now is worth it. The aim of the game is to be the go to professional in your network as a resource of knowledge, skill and advice, so how do we achieve that?

 

  • Share your knowledge

We cannot constantly interact with our networks so allow social media and your professions publications do the work for you. By regularly sharing your thoughts on industry news, posting insightful articles and publishing educational content you remind people you are there and position yourself as a trusted source of information. We do this every day via our LinkedIn and Facebook Pages keeping our followers up to date on industry developments that will affect them, and we are lucky enough to have some bright sparks that publish articles in national accounting publications.

  • Have a website hook

People will be drawn to your website from your regularly relevant social media posts, make sure when they arrive your website is not only functional and easy to use but contains a hook. This could be a blog where you publish educational content, FAQs about your industry or a newsletter. We have a monthly blog about tax news and business-building insights, in fact you’re reading the blog right now!

  • Don’t be afraid to ask a favour

Small favours between connections allow you to build the relationship further, this is half of the reason we network right? Ask advice, or for an introduction to a professional you haven’t met yet. This opens the door for future networking interactions and potential to increase your client base.

  • Be thoughtful and kind regularly

Helping others is the other half of networking, you cannot expect to develop quality relationships without supporting others. This can be as simple as share social media posts to draw attention to another’s message, recognising their contribution to a project, sending a thanking gift or sponsoring a local team/event that is a common interest. The community is really important to us so we give a lot of time, money, and man-hours to local sports teams and events. Being reliable and kind in networks and the wide community will only grow your reputation and opportunities.

  • Strategic Honest Feedback

When you’re asked advice be honest and we know it can sometimes be hard. Honest constructive feedback allows your network to refine and improve what they do. Do not, however, be that person who offers advice without request, newly forming relationships do not benefit from constant criticism.

 

Adding one or all of these tips to your networking practice over the winter months will bring new opportunities in Summer, remember to share your knowledge, have a great website, ask for favours, be supportive, and honest. Not only will you get great business connections but you may get great friends out of it also.

 

 

Six tricks for staying top of mind with your network

John Hall

https://www.inc.com/john-hall/6-tricks-for-staying-top-of-mind-with-your-network.html

 

Learn to Love Networking

Tiziana Casciaro, Francesca Gino, Maryam Kouchaki

https://hbr.org/2016/05/learn-to-love-networking

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5 ways to perform like an All Black in business

With the All Blacks reaching the RWC final it seemed appropriate to once again take stock of that direct correlation between performance on the sports field and performance in business.

rugby

There’s a lot to be learned from the boys in black, but here are a few game tactics you should employ in your business every day.

  1. Always keep your eye on the prize – Set your business goal and work diligently towards it. Of course goals need to be reviewed as your business grows and changes, but always know what you want to achieve. A business without a focused goal will often flounder.
  2. Have a game plan – Put processes in place to ensure you find the fastest most efficient way to reach your business objectives and goals.
  3. Face the music – Sure… In any business there are often jobs that need to be done that are not always your favourite tasks. Rather than think of these as a challenge, consider them an opportunity. It is often these occasions that will give rise to your greatest achievements, just like last week’s All Blacks vs France game.
  4. Never underestimate the value of great leadership – Do we need to use more than two words here? Richie McCaw.
  5. Gather your support team – In a world where peer review is of the utmost importance, think of your customers and clients as your fans. Treat them well, offer excellent customer service and they will help market and grow your business for you. Whilst your fan base is important, so too are your coaches, physios and medics, they have the specialist knowledge that you need at every match… That’s where we come in. At Johnston Associates South our dedicated, highly trained team members have been specifically recruited for their valuable skill sets and previous experience, we can help you get to the final!

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The three Cs you should look for in your CFO.

CFO

As Chartered Accountants we believe the role of Chief Financial Officer needn’t be reserved for large corporations. Small businesses and sole traders undoubtedly have to carry out the many duties associated with this position.

Generally speaking a CFO has four main areas of operation.

  • They have a custodial role to play in protecting a company’s assets, and communicating value and risk issues to key stakeholders.
  • They have a compliance role, as they’re responsible for ensuring financial regulations are met.
  • Their main operational role focuses around the provision of services in terms of financial planning and analysis.
  • They also need to demonstrate leadership in their role; they have a vital part to play in terms of business growth and strategy.

If you’re a small business owner, these roles and responsibilities are already likely to be just a few of the many aspects of your job description… Feeling overwhelmed? We can help… Our Business Consulting Division, offers you the services of a Virtual Chief Financial Officer on a part-time basis. We’d love to chat about it, so contact us.

In the meantime we thought we’d share the three Cs you should look for in your CFO…

  1. Credibility – Credibility doesn’t just mean honesty, it means total transparency too. A CFO must volunteer all the information they can to help a business make sound decisions.
  2. Competence – Your CFO can be truthful and credible, but they also need to know what they’re talking about. They need competence in business, finance and accounting to be able to offer you sound advice and help you make important decisions.
  3. Communication Skills – Can anybody really be successful in business without demonstrating this character trait? We’ve renamed the job title “CEO” to Chief Engagement Officer, and the importance of being a great communicator extends to the CFO too, it’s so much more than crunching numbers. It’s about delivering information in such a way that key stakeholders understand it, allowing them to make decisions from material that has been communicated effectively.

We’re confident in saying we meet the grade! Give us a call!

 

 

 

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4 tips to develop resilience in business

Last week we had the pleasure of teaming up with BNZ to host Doug Avery’s Resilient Farmer Roadshow in Nelson. Rather than limit invitations to this event to our Agribusiness clients we extended it to all our clients, no matter what their industry sector. Although Doug’s journey centred around bouncing back from adversity in farming; in an ever changing world, and one filled with environmental, social and digital disruption all businesses need to learn  how to be strong and resilient.

resilience

Doug talked about the key pillars to sustainable, resilient farming, being financial, environmental and social, but the importance of these pillars can be transposed on to any business model. You can read more about Doug and the Resilient Farmer Roadshow here.

One of the major takeaways from the seminar was the importance of focusing on flexibility rather than stability in changing times. Understand where and how your business needs to adapt and respond to change. Focus on what’s ahead and develop capabilities to respond quickly and positively. So how do you master this art in business?

  1. Planning and purpose: Having a business plan is vitally important. Yes sometimes, there will be a curve ball thrown and you’ll need to take another course to get to your end goal, but resilience comes from a sense of purpose and clear values. Our business advisory service can help you with many aspects of business planning, including business development, structure and forecasting.
  2. Innovation and learning: Here at Johnston Associates South we continually invest in our team member’s professional development, and we recommend our clients invest in theirs too. In fact we can help you with aspects of that… Did you know that we are an approved service provider under the NZTE Capability Development Voucher Scheme, which means you may be eligible for up to 50% discount on our training courses through the NZTE Capability Scheme. Find out more HERE.
  3. Seek change: Focus on the opportunities rather than the threats that inevitable change brings.
  4. Collaborate with others: Many entrepreneurs and business leaders have been known to say, “Surround yourself with people that are smarter than you”. Employ specialists to do what they’re good at. Expert collaboration will accelerate your growth and increase your resilience.

If you’d like to talk to one of the Johnston Associates South team about how we can help you develop a financially resilient business, please feel free to call us. We’d love to meet you!

 

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How team building days can save your business money.

Last month we held one of our company team building away days… We hold these a couple of times a year, and on this occasion we headed out to the Pelorus River for a spot of kayaking with the good folk at Pelorus Eco Adventures.

It was a cold winter’s day, yet we all stayed dry and a fun time was had by all!

JAS-Kayak

Now you may wonder why we’re blogging about this, after all our team building adventure couldn’t possibly have anything to do with your business, could it?

Well actually it could… Here at Johnston Associates South, we “walk the walk” and lead by example. We’d recommend these types of events to all businesses, large or small; because your employees and staff are your organisations valuable assets, and a day spent away from the office, focused on team building has proven benefits.

In your workplace you’ll likely find that you and your staff are so busy doing what they do, that as a manager you don’t necessarily have time to find out what they’re capable of doing or what other skills they may have that would enable them to take on other roles and responsibilities within your organisation.

Of course, through your appraisal process, you may have noticed that a staff member needs to develop in certain areas; a team building day or event, is the perfect opportunity to foster and develop that staff member; outside of the office environment, you reduce the pressure on that individual and allow them to grow in confidence and realise their capabilities.

There are clear financial benefits of introducing these types of away days into your corporate calendar, in the long term it can save you money. You will find that your company develops good team dynamics and a contented workforce who stay loyal, this will reduce staff turnover and save money on recruitment and training of new staff.

Here’s a short list of some of the other benefits of team building days.

  • Improves morale and leadership skills
  • Breaks down barriers to creativity
  • Taps into hidden potential
  • Identifies a team’s strengths and weaknesses
  • Improves problem solving
  • Defines objectives and goals
  • Improves processes, procedures and ultimately productivity

Screen Shot 2015-07-08 at 10.44.41 amHere at Johnston Associates South Chartered Accountants, we’re not just about the numbers we want to help your business grow and offer specialist support and expertise to help you reach your business objectives. The team in our business advisory department, do exactly that, by offering a 360-degree approach to business consulting; this includes corporate governance advice. If you’d like to have a chat with one of the team members to find out how we can help your business succeed, contact our Business Solutions Manager, Julian Stilwell.