A tidal wave of small business owners in New Zealand are looking to retire or sell their business over the next five to ten years.

Read on to get Xero's free report to help maximise the value of your business if you are looking to exit the workforce.

Summer can be a tricky time for cash flow. It doesn’t have to be; the quiet summer period can be incredibly productive. Use Xero's small business advisory panel's practical tips to avoid the summer slump.

Running a business without a business plan is like rock climbing blindfolded. Your chances of making it successfully to the top are slim. 

A business plan is a step-by-step guide to running your business and creating a product or service that will make it successful in the marketplace.

In order to make the most of strategic planning, your business should give careful thought to the goals it outlines and then back up these goals with realistic measures for evaluating results.

Here are three tips on how to create business goals and things to consider.

Succession planning acknowledges that your team members will not be with a business indefinitely.

It provides a plan and process for addressing the changes that will occur when they leave.

Most businesses are built by default – not by design.

Very few businesses start ‘with the end in mind’ and design it from the ground up. Most businesses grow by default with people, systems, culture, clients, numbers, habits and attitudes.

While change is not something that most people embrace quickly or open-heartedly, if it’s done too cautiously it can flatten revenues, eat profits and lead to business failure.

This is particularly true for small businesses where the resources are limited and the margin for error is slim.

Running a business without a business plan is like rock climbing blindfolded. Your chances of making it successfully to the top are slim. And the process will surely be a death-defying one.

For New Zealand business operators, 1 April signals the start of each new financial year for business and tax purposes…

Which means the month of March brings opportunities to review and plan your financial position in order to minimise tax and cash surpluses for the coming year.  

On the 31 March your Profit & Loss slate will be wiped clean. The excesses of the 2014/15 year can be forgotten and the only person left interested the year gone by will be the Tax Man.
 
As you begin your new financial year, so too does your opportunity have a more successful business.

So start as you mean to go on. Take charge by preparing your Plan for Success. It'll see your pockets lined for the rest of the year.