Creating a great team is essential to increasing the profitability of
your business. The goal is to make yourself redundant by building a business
that works without you.
Most businesses are reliant on the knowledge and skills of the owner, which
can mean money-making potential is limited by the time, knowledge and
experience they bring to the table. The owner also needs to be present every
day to keep the business running, limiting time spent on new business
opportunities.
The key is to build a great team who share your skills and can manage the
business when you’re away.
Step 1: Share your tasks and responsibilities
Train people to share your tasks and responsibilities so you’ll have a
backup if you’re sick or need time away. Let key staff build their skills and
gain an understanding of your operations so they can multi-task and share
responsibilities with you.
Step 2: Share your knowledge
You may have invaluable management skills or knowledge, which benefits the
business. Make the effort to share your knowledge with your key staff.
Establish systems to make it easy for knowledge to be shared.
Step 3: Delegate, delegate, delegate!
Give others a chance to share the responsibility of running your business.
As you train up others and delegate tasks, you are building up your assets,
which can only help achieve your goals and boost business profitability.
Step 4: Involve your lieutenants in decision making
Once you’ve trained key staff, involve them in decision making. Your
employees will see your business from a different perspective, and will
feel more valued which is great for staff retention.
Step 5: Emphasise team goals
Create bonds between team members and establish goals or beliefs to keep
them focused on your business objectives and their targets. Motivate staff
so they want to achieve the business goals and they will respect you and take
care of your business while you’re away.
Step 6: Reward your lieutenants
Paying competitive salaries and rewarding staff are important to make them
feel valued. If you underpay, the loyalty of your lieutenants could be tested.
A relatively small rise can be enough to keep someone happy - a good investment
when you add up the costs of recruiting, retraining and lost productivity when
an experienced staff member leaves.
Step 7: Look after your taxation and super obligations to your team
When it comes to tax, there’s nothing like professional advice from someone
who knows you and your business inside out. That’s why a good accountant is the
number one tax essential. You can get more detailed and up to date advice at
the Australian Taxation Office website.
| Taxation |
For employees:
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- Register for PAYG withholding before you withhold any amounts.
- Withhold PAYG from amounts you pay to employees, including wages,
commission, hourly rates. The ATO provides tables telling you how much to
withhold.
- Report and pay those withheld amounts when you submit your activity
statement.
- Give annual payment summaries to your employees and the ATO.
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For contractors:
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- You don’t have to withhold amounts unless the contractor specifically asks
you to.
- To create a voluntary agreement, the contractor must have an ABN and you
must both complete a voluntary agreement form.
- If you don’t withhold tax, the contractor must manage his or her own tax
liability.
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| Superannuation |
For employees:
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- Contribute 9% of an eligible employee’s earnings base to a complying super
fund or retirement account, regardless of your business structure. This
generally applies to employees between 18 and 69, whose monthly pay is $450 or
more (before tax).
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For contractors:
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- Make contributions if more than 50% of the value of their contract is for
labour.
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Yourself:
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- If your business is a company or trust, you will be an employee and the
same conditions apply. If you are a sole trader or partner, the super guarantee
does not apply. Instead you can claim a deduction for contributions you make to
a fund.
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