Money is not a dirty word. I have found that there is often discomfort when discussing money in business and, as a result, business owners will frequently delay having important conversations.

I am here to tell you that asking for money is not selfish.

When conducting a small business, trouble receiving payment is unfortunately a reality. We can’t control everything and delays in payment can cause cash flow problems that can significantly impact your business. In this short episode, I discuss the reasons behind why a client may be withholding payment and how you can address them without going to court.

Retreats are a really wonderful way to connect with clients, create special experiences for participants and establish lasting relationships. Managing the expectations of both parties from the outset can go a very long way towards creating a positive experience for everyone involved. In this episode, I discuss Retreat Terms & Conditions, what they are, what they should include, and why you absolutely need them.

Digital courses can be a fabulous way to grow your business and genuinely help your clients by providing more accessible services. We’re seeing more and more businesses providing digital courses due to the nature of what’s been happening around the world.

Before you go ahead and launch your digital course, it’s vital to have bulletproof Terms & Conditions to minimise the risk of getting yourself into a sticky situation.

Having spent the first 12 years of my legal career in Litigation and Dispute resolution, I have experienced first-hand how litigation can affect businesses, people, and relationships and how it ought to be avoided at all costs if possible.

In this episode, I share my observations of what can go wrong and how small businesses can navigate their way through making the decision on whether or not to go through with legal proceedings.

Starting out as a small business owner can be daunting, and I notice countless preventable mistakes that happen time and time again.

In this episode, I discuss the five most common mistakes I see business owners make when starting out, from a disorganised business structure to not having the right team of business advisers to support them. I share some tips that will help you lay the strong foundations required in order for your business to grow.

With the increasingly conversational topic of trademarking among small businesses, many are under the false impression that everything needs to be trademarked right here and right now.

So, how do you decide what actually needs to be trademarked?

Dispute is a topic that is second nature to me but I’m well aware that it’s not that way for most small business owners. If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you will know that for the first 12 years of my career, I spent the majority of my time in court acting for clients in litigation matters and dispute resolution. In this episode, I’m talking about what to do when you’re involved in a dispute.

Cash flow is the cornerstone of any small business so what do you do when outstanding invoices accumulate? There seems to be a theme of late as I’m increasingly talking to my new clients about invoices or payments that are outstanding for them. In this episode, I’m diving into the topic of what to do when you haven’t been paid.

Do you know who you’re doing business with? I’ve seen a number of cases where business owners get into difficulty down the track when they haven’t properly verified the individuals and businesses they are transacting with. As a small business owner, this step is absolutely vital.

Cash flow is the cornerstone of any business. No amount of skill or passion can substitute for this when it comes to sustaining a profitable business. Setting up a well oiled system for getting paid from the get go will give your business the best chance for success.

What do you do when you’ve done the right thing by providing a service agreement to your client and now the project is changing or the client wants to add on extras?

Outsourcing in your business is brilliant. There is so much that can be gained from hiring the right people with the right skills, to help you move your business forward. However, if the right agreements aren’t in place, it can cause more problems than it is worth sometimes.

Entering into a commercial lease is such an exciting time for a business owner. With your vision finally coming to fruition and the fit-out to manage, it’s not uncommon for business owners to get caught up in the fun part and not set aside the time to fully understand their legal obligations.

In this episode, I discuss why Ts & Cs matter and provide some context for the practical applications in which they relate to the daily operations of your business. I talk about why having crystal clear Ts & Cs helps you navigate dispute resolution with ease, build lasting and positive client relationships and gives you peace of mind moving forward in your business.

If you’ve been listening for a while, you’ll have heard me speak of how vital it is to tailor your business legals to suit your individual business. This includes your Website Terms & Conditions and in this episode I share 4 reasons why you should never copy them from another website.

In this episode, I talk about the all-important Terms and Conditions and what can happen if you don’t have them in place. I discuss how having carefully prepared Ts & Cs makes it easy to navigate through payment disputes, refund and cancellation policies and what your obligations are under the Australian Consumer Law.

Having spent the first 12 years of my career in litigation and dispute resolution, I’ve seen it go wrong time and time again and a failure to have a rock solid partnership agreement in place is one of the all too common scenarios that lead people to court. If only they had understood that prevention is better than cure.

In this episode, I discuss the all information topic of business structure and what can happen when you’re not operating under the best business structure for you. I discuss the recent government stimulus packages during covid and how a lot of sole traders, unfortunately, missed out on the benefits that corporate entities were entitled to.

Selling a business isn’t a quick operation and in this episode, I talk about the importance of long term planning and surrounding yourself with a team of trusted advisers. I go through some of the vital things you need to think about and list the necessary documentation you should have in place in order to maximise the value of your business.