<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>340130</docID> <postdate>2025-03-12 09:59:59</postdate> <headline>First steps to a business refresh</headline> <body><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-340134" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/business-couple.jpeg" alt="gail freeman" width="900" height="600" /></p> <p><span class="kicker-line"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Post-covid Blake and Emmy felt it was truly time to refresh their business, but where to start? Chartered accountant </span><b>GAIL FREEMAN </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">knows the way.</span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Blake and Emmy wanted to know how to improve their business. Blake said they really needed to refresh where they were going now that the covid pandemic had abated and could I help?</b></span></p> <p><img class=" wp-image-203068" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Gail-Freeman-Co-director-Gail-Freeman-e1682553347305.jpg" alt="" width="380" height="418" /></p> <caption>Gail Freeman of Gail Freeman & Co.</caption> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">“Yes, I can do a business diagnostic for you," I said. "It will be a great tool for you to start the change process and work with your staff to move forward in the direction that you want to go. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"Let me give you some idea of the process, then you can use this tool and turn it into your business vision. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"The starting point is to work on one issue. So you would select the issue for the business that's most important for you right now. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"Possible issues could be marketing, cash flow, staff strategy, leadership or profitability.â€</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">For example, I said, let's look at what could happen if a senior manager were to leave suddenly. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"The sort of issues that could arise include cash flow problems, lack of team cohesion, budget blowouts, incorrect recording of sales and expenses and great stress for you both," I told them.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"The solution would be to find a new leader as quickly as possible so that the staff do not feel rudderless.â€</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">Emmy said that sounded great, but how do you find a good solution to the most pressing problem?</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">I said: "Once you have identified the issue you want to work on we then draw a graph showing how the issue has developed over the last five years.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"You should then put external events on the graph that have impacted this item. Obviously covid would be a big factor, maybe an election or even the birth of your baby which presumably impacted in many ways.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">“That's the looking back part. Then we start to look forward, so I would sit down with you and the staff and you would all complete a questionnaire of about 20 questions that will assist with arriving at positive and negative influences on the business.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">That then enables you to come up with action plans including relevant timeframes and who is going to lead those actions. It would be great if your managers were able to run with this as it would give them a sense of ownership and take some of the load off both of you."</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">I shared an example of a surprising result from one of these workshops I had run some time ago.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"There were many issues but the one that they settled on was that the studio door opened into the studio," I said.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"So the door was re-hung so that it opened outwards and a few other layout modifications were made. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"When I went back, everyone was ecstatic, productivity was greater and the whole business felt so much more relaxed. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">"The staff were so grateful and I was amazed that something so simple achieved really great results so quickly.â€</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">Blake said: “Gail, that sounds like it could work for us. When can we start?â€</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><i>If you need help with your business, your vision, managing change or any other business or tax related issue contact the expert team at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd on 02 6295 2844, email <a href="mailto:info@gailfreeman.com.au">info@gailfreeman.com.au</a> or <a href="http://gailfreeman.com.au">gailfreeman.com.au</a></i></span></p> <h6 class="p4"><b>Disclaimer<br /> </b>This column contains general advice, please do not rely on it. If you require specific advice on this topic please contact Gail Freeman or your professional adviser. Authorised Representative of Lifespan Financial Planning Pty Ltd AFS Lic No. 229892.</h6> </body>