Just came from an interesting meeting with some people who were referred to us as they were wanting some “brutally honest” advice with regard to their options and opportunities. In short, they’d lost their passion for what they were doing and were starting to question a lot of things which were external to the issues they were facing.

A really lovely couple, they were at the cross-roads with what and where they were taking one of their business interests. We spent a fair bit of time having a dig around what their motivators and needs were – personally, not financially. We’ve found that where you can get some personal passion going, then other things will generally flow pretty smoothly. Anyway, after about 90 minutes of fairly frank discussions, they’ve gone away with their “tails in the air”.

Towards the end of our meeting, they discussed the fact that they had experienced some pretty ordiniary accounting and business advice over the years and the fact that they appreciated that what we were on about was them and their needs rather than what we could do for them.

At the end of the meeting, they were both really happy and satisfied with the outcome and said that it was great to have some “totally honest advice which is what we were really needing”.

As I’ve posted before, honesty is essential and the needs of the customer are paramount. By bringing both of these in to the discussion, the outccome is far more useful and practical. They also have a lot more buy-in. In short, they’ve got their passion back and I can see some really great things happening as a result of our meeting.

I had a very intersting meeting with Russ Wylie of The Performance Revolution www.theperformancerevolution.com.au yesterday with one of our mutual clients.

Russ went through an exercise where he discussed the fact that there are really only two types of prices:

The Price of Preparation; and

The Price of Regret

This is such a simple way of looking at things – if you’re not prepared to pay the price of preparation, then you’ll be left with no option but to pay the price of regret.  If you look at it from a business perspective, where a business person is not prepared to pay for the price of planning, review and implementation, then the likely outcome from their activities will not be as good as it could be and therefore they will pay the price of regret.

It revolves around the old adage: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.  Many people look on the costs of undertaking the planning as “too expensive” because they haven’t quantified the costs of not doing it.  There is nothing to compare it to and they just blunder blindly forward.  Consequence – the outcomes will not be as good/successful/sustainable.

The price of preparation needs to be looked at as an investment – by going through the process, you will have a far greater prospect of success – is that not what you’re looking for?

So, you need to consider whether you are going to pay the price of preparation or pay the price of regret.  Preparation is an investment.  Regret is forever.

I had an interesting discussion with one of our customers this morning.

He rang up asking for some “fatherly advice” (even though he’s about 20 years’ older than me) as he had some issues dealing with options regarding the strategic direction of his business. He asked for my honest opinion on a particular issue.

During the course of the discussion, we had a very frank review of his progress over the past three years with regard to one item of particular concern for him and the options and consequences of following each of those options. At the end of it, he said “I knew you’d give it to me with both barrels”.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a very friendly, frank and open communication but it was, at times, brutally to the point.

It the got me to thinking – how often do we have these types of discussions with our customers, our staff, our families and, in particular, our spouses/partners? Probably not as often as we should.

By enabling and trusting each party to the conversation, we can open up the avenues to a far greater result being achieved – collectively and personally. If we worry about what the other person may think, then we’ll reframe the discussion which might then yield an outcome which is totally useless.

How many times have you had discussions where the truth was exposed for what it was? Or haven’t you dared?

Dare to speak the truth – you’ll be amazed at the results!

Welcome to our new blog and welcome also to a new financial year.

We hope the new year brings us more certainty and less excitement than we, as an economy, have had over the past 12 months. There are opportunities out there to be had and, for those brave enough to venture forth, the seeds you sow now should reap significant rewards in the years to come.

Yes, we’ve changed our brand – this has been done to move us away from the “traditional” accounting presentation to one where we’re more aligned with business advisory work – it’s a function beyond the pure accounting and tax work we’re already pretty good at. Using the information we prepare as part of this role to assist our customers grow and de-risk their business. It’s far more enjoyable and rewarding for all concerned as we are helping to create something that is great!

I would like to express my thanks to the team in here for all their assistance over the past couple of months in getting the re-badging done. It’s been a busy and challenging time anyway without having this foisted on them!

We wish everyone a successful, happy and prosperous new financial year and look forward to further developing our strong stakeholder relationships.

We welcome your feedback on the new brand, website, or anything for that matter!

Let’s enjoy the next 12 months!