In a crowded marketplace, it can be difficult to make your products and services stand out clearly from the competition. A key way to do this is to focus on building brand awareness and turning your existing customers and targets into advocates for your brand. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Creating that competitive advantage won’t always be easy, but it is key to carving out a niche and scaling up to meet your customers’ needs. Clearly define your brand values
Once your brand values have been established, use them to guide every business decision from marketing to operations. For example, if sustainability is a core value, this must be reflected in the choices you make on suppliers, packaging, distribution and any causes you associate with. When your company values jump out from your marketing and customer interactions, it makes it easier to resonate with the right customers – which is key to building good relationships. Create a memorable personality for your brand Think about the personality you associate with your favourite brands. Apple is cutting edge, aspirational and techy, while Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is kooky, laid-back and reflects the hippy roots of its founders. How do you want your customers to feel about your brand? Should the personality of your brand sound professional, expert and high class? Or would your audience engage better with a personality that’s warm, approachable and more friendly? Whatever you decide, your tone of voice and the personality of your brand has to be consistent across all channels. Make sure your website, marketing collateral and social media posts all have a uniform feel and represent the brand in a way which can be quickly identified. Have a recognisable brand identity Part of creating brand recognition is having a clear visual appearance for the brand. The logo you use, the style of your web content and the way your packaging is designed all help to make your brand more recognisable to a broader audience. Be creative with your design and decide on a ‘visual identity’ with colours, fonts and imagery that reflect your chosen personality as a brand. If you can commission the images (design or photography) yourself, the result will feel more authentic, but stock image libraries offer lots of choice too. Avoid cliched images that don’t reflect your brand and, wherever possible, aim to create a unique identity that will quickly stand out in your marketplace. Differentiate your brand from the competition Does your product stand out from similar products offered by your competitors? The more unique you can make your offering, the better. You can differentiate by features, price, customer service etc. to make sure you’re the stand-out option for customers in this market. There’s also the option of creating your own niche, where competitors are few and far between. To protect this dominance, it’s important to maintain your high-quality service, to work closely with your customers and to remain at the cutting edge of the specialism. Know your price and how it fits customers' needs Price can be a real differentiator, so you need to be aware how your prices compare to those of your competitors. Is your product cheaper than others? Or are you pitching your price at the top end of the market? It’s important to be clear about whether you’re offering a premium, standard or economy product, and how this fits with your customers’ expectations of the brand. Offering good value for money will be an important draw, so keep an eye on the competitiveness of your prices. Build a valued community of brand advocates Do you have a strong network amongst your customer base, or is a competitor gradually winning market share and undermining your supremacy as the market leader? This needs to be regularly reviewed and assessed. A focus on customer relationships is vital. Offer discounts and unique offers to your long-standing customers to keep them on side. Ask for comments and feedback, so you know what customers want from the brand. And turn your existing customers into advocates for the brand – so they get out in the real world and refer you to the rest of their network. If you would like help working on your Competitive Advantage, please contact Michele on 9367 4199 or michele@prestoncorporate.com.au Benefits provided to employees or their associates in addition to salary or wages are known as fringe benefits. These benefits are paid for by the employer from pre-tax earnings, making the provision of benefits attractive to employees as it may reduce their taxable income while receiving payment in other forms.
However, this isn't all good news as Fringe benefits tax (FBT) may apply based on the type of benefit provided. Employers can generally claim a tax deduction for the benefits and related tax payable, but at 47% tax, this is not the best outcome for everybody. Tax is payable because the benefits are a different form of payment by an employer instead of salary and wages. The tax is calculated on the taxable value of the benefit, which reflects the grossed-up salary the employee would have had to earn to pay for the benefits from post-tax earnings. Types of Benefits There are many different types of fringe benefits employers may provide to employees. These include:
Amounts below $300 (inclusive of GST) spent on employees on an infrequent basis, are not subject to FBT. Tax deductibility may depend on the expense. For example, entertainment expenditure (meals, movie tickets, sporting events, airline tickets) would be non-tax deductible. However, gifts such as hampers, gift vouchers and bottles of alcohol will be tax deductible. FBT Administration The fringe benefits tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March. You must then include the reportable amount for each employee on their Single Touch Payroll finalisation by 14 July, so it flows through to their annual income statement. As with all business transactions, keeping accurate records is essential to determining whether FBT applies and how much needs to be included on the employee's income statement, if any. There are two methods to calculating the FBT on benefits:
FBT on the Christmas party and gifts Christmas is an opportunity for employers to say ‘thank you’ to the team for a job well done, and to celebrate the wins. Unfortunately, Christmas expenditure can attract the interest of the taxman! Let’s take the information above and work it into a non-FBT Christmas function example; When booking a restaurant, or similar, ensure the cost per employee and their associate (e.g. spouse) is less than $300. You can also give them a non-entertainment gift such as a voucher, hamper or a bottle of wine. The gift must also be less than the $300 and not something you do often, making it an infrequent gift. If you have any questions about FBT and how it may affect your business, please don't hesitate to contact us. On 25 October 2022, the Federal Government handed out its first budget. It was aimed at relieving the cost-of-living pressures, specifically at reducing the inflationary pressures. Whether you’re refilling the petrol tank or paying at the supermarket checkout, the higher cost of living is hitting every household hard. Across the world, everyday essentials are surging in price, up 7.2% year on year across the OECD. Unfortunately, experts predict that prices will keep rising for at least the rest of the year, and into 2023. What can you do to try to keep up with the increasing cost of living? Here are our 12 top tips: Look for ways to earn more
If prices rise by 7% this year, it won’t be easy to increase your income by the same amount. But if you can increase your income by 5%, then make up the rest through savings while also investing for the future, you can still come out on top once inflation settles down and prices stabilise. Worried about money? Talk to us. We have years of experience through many economic cycles, including previous periods of high inflation – and we’re always here to help. A capital gain (or loss) occurs when an asset is sold. The difference between the purchase price and the sale price is the gain or loss. Capital gains tax (CGT) applies to money you have made from selling an eligible asset. Capital gains tax events occur when an asset is sold, or other triggers arise, such as the loss, theft, or destruction of an asset, or creating contractual or other rights to an asset. Not all assets are subject to CGT. Common exemptions include the main residence or family home, granny flats, cars and motorcycles, personal use assets such as boats, furniture, household items or loans to family and friends. Many types of lump sum payments are also not subject to CGT, and business sales may also be exempt depending on the circumstances. Most property is subject to CGT, including land, commercial premises, rental properties, holiday houses and hobby farms. CGT also applies to shares, investments, cryptocurrency, many collectables, foreign currency and intangible assets. Visit the ATO list of CGT assets and exemptions here. There are special rules for some specific situations, for example, inheriting assets, relationship breakdown, foreign residents, insurance or compensation payments. How is the tax calculated? Tax is calculated on the net gain of an asset sale. Tax is payable on the difference between the purchase price and sale price, less any discount allowed. The type of CGT event affects how and when capital gains tax is calculated. For example, if an asset is destroyed in an accident, the CGT event occurs when the insurance payout is received. Good record keeping is key to working out capital gains tax accurately. Make sure you keep all documents related to asset purchases, including contracts, expenses valuations and disposal. CGT is calculated at the time of completing your individual, business or self-managed super fund tax return and is included in the income tax assessment. Talk to us to ensure you’re claiming all you are entitled to and not paying more tax than you should. We’ll make sure you’re receiving any exemptions, discounts or small business concessions allowed. Selling an asset and want to know more? Contact us to discuss your personal circumstances. Sign up to our newsletter to find out about helpful and insightful articles when they are published and keep up to date with important tax-related dates. |
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