Plan for what you know… and what you don’t

You can never be completely certain what the future holds, but having robust plans and systems in place will determine how well you cope with any nasty surprises, and how much you benefit from the nice ones.

It is particularly fitting that our legal contributor this month cited Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote about nothing being certain ‘except death and taxes’ (see pages 16-17).

Both subjects are covered in this issue – although, somewhat ironically, it is the uncertain nature of tax payments that MBIE hopes to alleviate through its proposed reforms for SMEs. Read what your fellow builders think about the planned changes on page 3.

Death is not always the easiest subject to talk about but, as with every other aspect of business ownership, planning ahead is usually the best approach. The same applies with unforeseen illnesses. While awareness of men’s health problems continues to grow, most blokes still prefer to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to their own wellbeing. As a business owner, male or female, you are likely your most valuable asset, so it’s important that you protect your business and your income in the event you are unable to work. See our story on pages 18-19.

Another form of insurance is employing great staff to oversee operations while you are out of action – which, looking on the brighter side, could well be an extended break with your family on the back of your business’ success!

One way of ensuring you have great staff on board is to train an apprentice and mould them into the kind of employee you want on your team. On pages 22-23, the Successful Builder has some tips on how to keep hold of apprentices to get back what you’ve put in. You never know, that wet-behind-the-ears trainee might one day feature in your succession plans!

There’s that word again – plan! With increasing paperwork and legislation, having a clear plan and sticking to it is more important than ever. As always, we at PlaceMakers will continue to do our bit to ensure your life is as easy as possible. We love it when a plan comes together!

Gary Woodhouse
General Manager Operations & Marketing

Save

Save