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Q: With the Federal Parliament, today securing personal income tax cuts is it now time for Parliament to do the same for company and business tax cuts. Let's rally Business Australia and share your thoughts?
A: As a small business owner, I'm not sure much changes. With the dividend imputation credit system, the more the company pays tax, the less the shareholders (small business owners) pay when they extract money as dividends. So its neither here nor there as long as cash flow is ok. The ATO is pretty good in structuring tax payments in any event.
I'd far prefer state and national governments look at the taxes that really hurt SME growth. For example, payroll tax is a ripper - the higher our payroll, the more we pay in this horrible tax. Really unsure what services are provided in return? The money we spend on this could employ another couple of people who would pay income tax. Big picture could be much healthier.
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Q: As an industry expert and small business owner, what are the 2 biggest issues challenging you as you strive to build a profitable and successful business?
A: Hiring, retaining and managing staff is a challenge at all levels of business growth. The other challenge initially faced is cash flow as this really represents the nuts and bolts of the business - cash out for costs like staff, space, equipment, software, utilities, etc, and cash in for completing work to client satisfaction and thus being paid in a timely manner. Cash flow tends to improve as the business reaches maturity - processes become better and inflows improve. The next challenge of a small business is building real value into the business. For example, underpinning the business with a fixed asset such as an office to break the rental cycle - very difficult as the banks don't really lend to small businesses (just the individuals who run them which is different.)
