Every small business owner in Australia should be praying desperately for an LNP victory at the upcoming election. Labour’s poor track record and recent policy announcements that are
clearly detrimental to small businesses – capping self-education expenses and eliminating salary packaging benefits for business vehicles to name two – mean small business can’t expect Labour to do anything for them if they’re returned to office. On the other hand, the Coalition has made promises to take Australia’s 2 million small businesses and their 7 million employees seriously if they’re handed government. It just makes sense that, no matter your party affiliation, it would be ballot box suicide take 60% of the nation’s workforce for granted. You’d think so at least.
But other than the typical post-election boost in consumer and business confidence, business owners should know that only one thing is certain – who wins this election will make very little difference to whether or not your business succeeds or fails. Neither party seems motivated to put
small business at the forefront of policy considerations. So if you’re hoping for a drastically different business climate after September 7th, you’re likely to be disappointed.
A recent survey of 1,096 small businesses found that their key demands from the government are: reduced costs of doing business, reduced tax burdens (financial and compliance), reduced red tape and reformed workplace relations regulations. Any political party capable of delivering on even one of these concerns would be doing well. But there are bigger issues facing small business today, and I think the survey completely misses the point. Because no matter who wins the election, little if anything is likely to be done to considerably reduce government burdens on small businesses.
If business owners want something to be concerned about, they would be better off worrying about committing the three cardinal sins that I’ve seen repeatedly amongst SME’s over the past several months.
The first sin is not having any established systems in your business. With good systems, your business can overcome a lot of red tape and government burdens. Without them, even the most basic functions can become difficult to keep track of.
The second sin is lack of focus. Too many business owners don’t have a clear idea of exactly what they want to achieve and how they’re going to achieve it. Flying by the seat of your pants or taking the “shotgun” approach to business development does more damage than any political party ever could.
The third sin is believing that asking for help or advice of any kind is the equivalent of admitting failure. In fact, the most valuable assets you’ll ever have as a business owner are good advice and
support.
My advice (if you’re asking) is vote LNP. And then take a cold, hard look at yourself, your business and what you’re doing (or not doing) to make the next three years successful regardless of who’s occupying the Lodge. BACK YOURSELF!
clearly detrimental to small businesses – capping self-education expenses and eliminating salary packaging benefits for business vehicles to name two – mean small business can’t expect Labour to do anything for them if they’re returned to office. On the other hand, the Coalition has made promises to take Australia’s 2 million small businesses and their 7 million employees seriously if they’re handed government. It just makes sense that, no matter your party affiliation, it would be ballot box suicide take 60% of the nation’s workforce for granted. You’d think so at least.
But other than the typical post-election boost in consumer and business confidence, business owners should know that only one thing is certain – who wins this election will make very little difference to whether or not your business succeeds or fails. Neither party seems motivated to put
small business at the forefront of policy considerations. So if you’re hoping for a drastically different business climate after September 7th, you’re likely to be disappointed.
A recent survey of 1,096 small businesses found that their key demands from the government are: reduced costs of doing business, reduced tax burdens (financial and compliance), reduced red tape and reformed workplace relations regulations. Any political party capable of delivering on even one of these concerns would be doing well. But there are bigger issues facing small business today, and I think the survey completely misses the point. Because no matter who wins the election, little if anything is likely to be done to considerably reduce government burdens on small businesses.
If business owners want something to be concerned about, they would be better off worrying about committing the three cardinal sins that I’ve seen repeatedly amongst SME’s over the past several months.
The first sin is not having any established systems in your business. With good systems, your business can overcome a lot of red tape and government burdens. Without them, even the most basic functions can become difficult to keep track of.
The second sin is lack of focus. Too many business owners don’t have a clear idea of exactly what they want to achieve and how they’re going to achieve it. Flying by the seat of your pants or taking the “shotgun” approach to business development does more damage than any political party ever could.
The third sin is believing that asking for help or advice of any kind is the equivalent of admitting failure. In fact, the most valuable assets you’ll ever have as a business owner are good advice and
support.
My advice (if you’re asking) is vote LNP. And then take a cold, hard look at yourself, your business and what you’re doing (or not doing) to make the next three years successful regardless of who’s occupying the Lodge. BACK YOURSELF!
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