Episode 10 - Jacqueline, Insurance & Budgets

In this final episode of Season 1,  we give an update on our fictitious character, Jacqueline and see how she is travelling with her new business.

Gerry and Tina also chat about a whole series of topics, including what insurance a business needs, how to choose the right agent,  the importance of maintaining a budget and things to watch out for.   Gerry shares some of his experiences and lessons he learned early on in his business.

Thanks to Radio 2RDJ Sydney for allowing us the use of their recording studio.

Theme by @rsquareddj - check out their instagram page.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to episode ten of Business Themes and More. Jerry, can you believe we've got to ten? Double figures.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Oh, double figures. I thought one once before I I read somewhere that if you can get most podcasts don't actually get to ten, but if you get to ten, then you've uh reached a first large hurdle. We're just about to cross over that hurdle.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

We we are, and today we're actually recording in a studio, a real studio. So we're here at the studios of 2RDJ. Oh, there you go. A community radio station in Sydney. And thanks to them for allowing us to use these premises, and we're all set up.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Yeah, we are. Well, we had a little bit of a mishap. I didn't want to bring that up, Tina, but I thought it might be worth mentioning. Otherwise, we would have been way into the episode by now.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Okay, so uh I'll tell my side. About a half an hour ago, we were all set and ready to go. Headphones on, microphones on, levels checked, everything. I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't hear Jerry, so I decided that it was his fault. And it was his microphone or his adapter or something, and we have to call in uh John, who's uh stalwart here at the station. And what was the problem, Jerry?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Wow, I mean, my God, I was absolutely well, I couldn't believe you did it. I mean, when you get these headphones, you see, you've got to charge them, otherwise they don't actually work. But we sat here for half an hour, uh up and down, in and out, up pressing buttons, pressing buttons, and I had to go and Tina looked at me and thought, What have you done, Jerry? Now why would she do that? And then we found that you were the culprit.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

I um didn't realise that headphones needed to be charged. I thought one end goes into the headphone, the other end goes into the adapter, and that makes them work.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Well, there's a lot of things like that, Tina.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

But And I should also add that I hadn't switched them on either.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yeah, well I d I was gonna leave that out actually, because uh I thought, no, no, I can't say that. But you said it for me.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

So uh And guess who does all the production on this podcast?

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yeah, well, yeah, you have got some good points, Tina. I've got to admit. But doing headphones isn't one of them.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

It's just the basics, isn't it? Yes. No, people if you're doing a podcast, make sure your headphones are charged. Otherwise you're looking in every possible place to see what went wrong.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Yes, I know. Oh well, we got there in the end.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

We got there in the end, and here we are at episode ten, and we have arrived.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

We have, and uh we've got an update on Jacqueline.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Because we haven't heard about Jacqueline for a couple of episodes. I think the last time was episode six, because then we had some great interviews. Yes, we were. We had your tips and tricks and hope you wrote them all down, but you can always go back and listen to those episodes. But today we are going to check in on Jacqueline and see how she's travelling.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Yes, and I I have to say she has done absolutely she's she's outstripped herself, really. Not literally, but but she has, she's come a long way and she's done done some great things and she was just saying that uh she's been listening to our podcast.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Has she? Yes. So she she won't go broke now.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Well, not at the moment anyway. Uh but uh we'll keep a a very close eye on Jacqueline and our progress as we go forward. But if you remember last time she was in the pro process of actually interviewing some people, because um she's now well into uh tendering and she's got a new person that's joined her who is gonna be a supervisor, but he also very good estimating.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Estimating what?

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Projects.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

Oh well you'll have to explain what that means.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Well, estimating is when you get I think it might cost you five hundred dollars, is that? Yes. Slightly that might buy a few pencils, and that's a bit. But uh yeah, no, so um he's he's very good, he's very adaptable. He was with a a company for about three or four years. He's probably he's in his late 30s. I think she said he was 39. And basically he uh he didn't like the culture. He thought they were very aggressive with subcontractors and and staff, and he uh he wanted something different. So but basically um she liked him. He had a really nice approach, nice way with him, and uh he's keen. And uh he's he's all for more women in the construction industry. And what is this man's name? This man's name is George. George. Good good old George. Good old George. Yeah, and I must admit he's settled in very quickly, and he he helped her with our first project that uh they've almost finished now, which was they they won that project which they were um pricing, uh, which was uh consultancy rooms for a neurosurgeon. Maybe you should go along and see him, T.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

I thought it was an architect.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

No, no, that's the architect is the one who actually did the the drawings for the project. Okay. So he did the drawings with his daughter, and uh that client is a friend of his, so uh he got the job to do the documentation, and then that he put that out to tender uh to three small companies. Um and lo and behold, Jacqueline won the job. It uh it's a project worth about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

It's a small job, but the great thing is it's got her off, it got her off and running. Yeah, and George got in there, he was he's been a really good find. She can't believe her luck.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

So George is actually uh what qualifications does he have?

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Well, he was a a carpenter, he did a full apprenticeship, and he went and did his um his building course at uh at TAFE, and uh he passed that with Flying Colours, and he's he's been around two or three companies. But he really was um he he's a very sort of calm person, but uh he's got a good um he's got a good work ethic too, which is so important for all. Yeah, and she's obviously done everything right here, she's given him a proper contract, written down his job specification, and all the rest of it. So they're off and running there. Yeah, so Geor George looks um looks like he's settled in really well.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Great, and you know, we started talking about Jacqueline way back, and you can see that it does take time to get all these things, all the ducks in a row, before you even go out to do the job. And because we haven't heard from Jacqueline in a couple of episodes, it's good to see how she has progressed.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Yes, and uh and and really it um uh you feel quite tough for her in a way. Absolutely. Because uh, you know, she's often running here, and uh we'll come to uh the administration shortly, who she's uh engaged someone there as well. We'll talk about Sarah shortly. But um yeah, so that project that um they're almost finished now. They've been on, it was a project that was about 12 weeks, and um yeah, they come into the end of that.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

And uh and is the client happy so far?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Well, the architect's very happy, and he and the client told him that he's very happy with the progress. And one of the best things is that she keeps a tidy site, and George is right over that. He keeps everything tidy, no no rubbish left anywhere. The contractors that she's engaged, and uh he's been extremely good with supervising them. Oh, I dropped my pencil. But uh yeah, so all all um all looking it is ever everything's uh heading in the right direction, you could say.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Well that's fantastic. That is it's really good that she's been able to get to this point and obviously learning along the way and having that person, you know, with her, George. I couldn't remember his name there for a minute. You know, me and the name's Mark, Paul, John, George, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

That's why you forgot to do the headphones.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

It's the simple things. This is simple things.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

It's the those simple things are the things you remember though.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

No. Big things, yes. Small things like turning something on or plugging something in, forget. Yeah. Anyway, so so she's flying along now what's next? Is she now going to start looking for more work or is she going to get recommended house house? What's the next thing on her list?

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Right. Well, basically the uh architect's very happy with her, uh and uh that looks like that's gonna continue. Uh she's got about another two weeks of the project before it finishes and handed over, and uh he's very happy. So he's gonna he did say that he's gonna give her another project a price. That's a good step forward for her, and of course she's getting on really well with her friend who's obviously her his uh his daughter, but she did do a good presentation with the tender, and it was brought in on time when it was closing. So uh yeah, so I think she's learnt a great deal from that. And George was a big help uh as well in in putting that together.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

And throwing in a curly question, you said that she did do a tender. Obviously, she had competitors.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah, there were three companies that the architect went to, smaller companies, about some a bit bigger than she, a bit bigger than her small operation, but well within the same range. And so he he basically said, Well, you I'll put you in there and uh if you win it, you win it fair and square. Which is what she did. She did, she did really well.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Well done to Jacqueline. So once as she progresses through the job doing doing the work along with George and the contractors, she I guess has to be thinking about the next step while she's doing that, yeah?

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah, absolutely. And uh well, I think we'll just I'll just come back and say that she's uh interviewing some um uh people for the administration job, which is the rolling on of this pro of the whole uh business. And uh so she's she's basically in the process now of doing a few more interviews and uh says she's got someone she's really keen on. And uh so we'll probably come to that next time uh because by that time she would have engaged someone, and uh we can uh put well we can bring that up when it actually happens. But uh but on top of that, uh I think I mentioned last time she was off to an auction to get some um furniture. Furniture, yes, and she's uh in the meantime, but with all of this, she's been uh putting her little cottage together into a sort of business premises, and uh she got very successful because George went along with her to the auction and they um they bought uh furniture for the for the death, they bought desks, they bought uh chairs for she got a little reception area where the trades can come in and talk to her and that sort of thing. And uh yeah, so uh they're doing really well and she she got loads of these. They've got some equipment too. They've got a couple of porter cabins and a couple of portaloos. Uh now the portaloous is the toilets that you put on a site.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

Yeah, oh so they're not for her office.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Oh no, no. She's got the proper uh it's a cottage, you know. There's there's plumbing in there. Thank God for that. Well the portaloos are quite interesting because um they're they're tricky out on site and they're not very well looked after, no. Uh very mm, I wouldn't uh you wouldn't want to sort of uh spend too much time in there. Well you won't want to get locked in there, put it like that. Fall over. But no, honestly what she's done is um she's got George to actually uh modernise one of them so that she can put it on the site for the women that are um who go going to be on site because there's a number of contractors she used with women in it, which is which is good. There's a plumber and that sort of thing. You had another woman in a in an apprenticeship, believe it or not, which is great, heading in the right direction. And yeah, so she bought a lot of uh little things, desks, she's uh she got a printer, she got a couple of other bits and pieces. She's already got her c um her computers now and uh all her software on there. We'll come to that shortly again. And yeah, so she's she's really really happy with that. And of course, she's modern uh George modified the uh one of the portalous, which has got a combination lock on it. So that will be used by the women only. So uh there'll be a men and well I might just give him a little pointer on that. Yes, do that.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

Well, look, when you gotta go, you gotta go. You do. And to try and fiddle around with a combination lock. Mm-hmm. Don't know that that's a great idea.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Well, I think there has to be some sort of barrier.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Especially if you're a middle-aged woman, there is no waiting.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

I don't think there'll be any middle-aged women on the site, Tina.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Just the point, just the point. I know I couldn't be dealing with it.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Well, the thing is the o uh the it's a very easy combination look to use. You got you got three numbers, and you'd be there all day if you didn't know the numbers. But uh that takes them seconds to do. Uh so she did think of that.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Did she? Well, we'll we'll have to wait and see how it goes, won't we? We will, we'll I'd be very keen to hear about that one.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yes, I'm sure you will. Well, anyway, so so that's um that's a good point though, because then then those separation uh portal's are perfect for uh for the job.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Which just brings a a little point to mind as I jump in and and think about stuff like this, is that sometimes when somebody is running a business or in charge of a business and they think that something is a good idea and that's the way they want it to be, such as a combination lock on a toilet, uh which may not be a great idea.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

You could be very right there, Tina.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Or other other things where so is it worthwhile consulting with your staff or not?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Well, no, I think that's a great idea. The thing is here, it hasn't been tested yet.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Alright, so so she can do it very quickly, very easily, and uh it remains to be seen. If people have a problem with it, then she'll get together with them and she'll sit down and say, Well, how can we improve it? How can we make it really quick for everyone to get in there and get out? We don't want to be left in there, do we?

SPEAKER_02 14:40

We don't want to be left in there, we don't want to be left standing outside jigging around either.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Oh especially if it's raining or or or something all the site's muddy or or whatever it is. But um but yeah, no, I'll take your point. And it's a very good interesting topic. Yeah. Yeah. What toilets?

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Well, you know, it's one of the basic bodily functions, you know. Everyone needs one.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

And the last thing you want to do is to mix up the men and the women's toilets. Well, uh but that's happening a lot these days. Well, not on uh Jacqueline's site.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Not on Jacqueline's site. It's a lot it is happening in a lot of places.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

I can imagine it's it's not very I don't think too many people are fond of it, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

In theory, maybe yes, in in practicality not, but however.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah, so um but yeah, you made a good point there, Tina. I th I think that's something that uh she's quite passionate about too. I mean, it's about engaging people and people that you work for. It's a part of her culture. I mean, she's not gonna do anything unless it's r it's she'll make sure that she she carries on in that sort of frame. So I think that's uh that's a a good little tip for be you know, you've got to engage your staff if it's something that they're all gonna use, and that that's the way it should be. But yeah, so she's done really well at the auction. She's got a couple of uh cabins that she can put on site for her offices as well. Okay, so they they've done really well, and they've got the storage out the back, which we said before, and so gradually they're building a book, um, got a few bits of scaffold as well. Oh, and that's it that's another point. Um uh just while I say about scaffolding, we're going to be talking to someone who runs a scaffolding company. Very good. Yeah, in one of our um episodes to come up. So, yeah, so very good start. She's like I said, she's now and uh the architect looks like he's gonna give her another project a price, which is fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

So with the with the the Port Toulouse and the scaffolding and the other bits and pieces, uh these things that she is now prepared for her next job. Is this something that she learned from the first job? You know, she goes out, she does the job, herself and George do it, and then it's like, do you know, the next time I go to a job I'm going to need this, or I'm going to need that, or I'm going to need two port to loose, male-female. You learn from every job.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Oh yeah, and of course, um of course Jacqueline's been on uh sites for the last fourteen years, uh and she's an electrician by trade. And George, of course, has been out there as well, he's been on scene all it all. So so they're well versed on on their pro on their sort of trades, and uh they've they've seen a great deal between them. So I I think it looks very rosy. Uh good. But one thing I will bring up uh that is very um interesting and uh and it's important that you really do this, uh, and it's um it's to get your insurances uh up to speed. And that's uh I'll just run through a couple here that really should be um essential for builders is your public liability, of course. And uh also your contract works, tools and equipment, commercial vehicle, which uh which George has got now. And there's a whole range of insurances that you've got to do. You might go into that a bit like that.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Like public liability and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Well, yeah, public workers' comp. Yeah, contract contract works, uh tools and equipment, which we've already said, commercial which we've already said, professional indemnity, uh cyber liability, those sorts of things. And uh and and that's just the start. Uh it's um office property insurance for our business, personal accident or income protection, portable electronics like phones, tablets, laptops. So there's a whole range of things, and you you really need a checklist and check them off. Sounds like uh that you've got everything covered, uh, which is it's a checklist. It's got to um give you some ideas what you haven't got.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

And where would you find that information?

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Well, the thing is you can do a couple of things. You c you can sort of go along and see an insurance specialist, uh, because you're gonna need someone anyway. Um and you might go to a broker, uh, you might go to someone that's uh you know or someone that that's uh spoke very highly of of somebody else or another company. Uh but it's important to uh to try and build a relationship with someone in an insurance company that you can rely on. And sometimes you can get some uh a bit of flexibility about things, which uh is worth doing, I think. And I've always stuck with insurances and uh and I've I've been with the same insurance company oh for 30 years because they do a really good deal. They've got me at some real sticky spots in the past.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

Well that's good to know because I think uh a lot of people, probably myself included, are a bit sceptical about insurance companies and how do you know ones that are going to look after you or ones that come to have your best interests that you're you're paying all the time for their service? I think that's a good a good thing to know. How did you decide that this insurance company was good?

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Well, I I looked at about three or four, uh went to see them, sat down with them, got a bit of an idea. This is a family business. And uh I used to speak with his father, the the um the son who's now running it, has that ran it for the last 20 years. But I I liked his father, had a good uh good good approach, and he really passed most of these uh skill sets on to his son who was in the business from a very early age. So it worked out really well uh for us, and I might even um have a chat to them again and see if they want to have a chat about insurance.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

That would be great. I because I I think if you're going into something initially, you just don't know. For example, I'm going off track again here, but just for example, I've involved this community organization and we wanted to uh decorate an area for Christmas and we were applying for a council grant to do it. And there was no guarantee that we were going to get the grant. However, part of the grant application had to include us either having public liability insurance or being eligible for public liability insurance. So it stopped us right there and then because as a community organization of volunteers, we basically didn't have the money. So we had to rethink that and go, that's not going to work for us. But how would we go about getting, should we want to do stuff like that in the future, how do we go about getting the best deal for our for uh ourselves because it's so much bureaucracy.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

And you know, I know we talked in a previous episode about things being boring, you know. And there's some lot of the stuff is really boring, but you've got to do it, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Yeah, and it's so important. I mean that if you're running any business, it's there's insurance all over it. So, well, h here you go. Well, Jacqueline could actually go onto her AI and say, I want a list of things I need to talk to an insurance company about and I want all the ethical parts to be included and the the right sort of approach and uh see what they come up with and uh have a good look at it. But Part of this is, and I I didn't have AI in those days, but I made a list of the things I needed to ask them and spoke to a lot of people and other people in business and got a good idea what was needed. But it's so important insurance. And by the way, when you engage other people, you should, you should make sure their insurances are all in order. And that's your subcontractors. Even down to the architect. And you know, make sure that they're licensed and they they can't go and do something that that's not been approved or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

But you do hear stories about that, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 22:36

Well you do, and it's it's rare, I've got to say. And really you do your due diligence on the architect as well. I'm not gonna go to any architect, I want to go to an architect that's gonna be fair, reasonable, and you know, have a number of projects that I can be hopefully successful.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

And pay you on time.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

Exactly. But that's the same thing, it it's about paying your contractors on time. And a lot of the problems in the industry and always has been, is people holding back money. And some do it very unscrupulously, and they they don't need to hold the money, but they'll think of any excuse to do it. And it and it can it can come from any any quarter.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

I think too that it's important if you're starting out to not be afraid of the things that you don't know and not be afraid to ask the questions. You know, you might think, oh, there might no, I take myself for example, you know. There's a lot of stuff I don't know. And going into say an insurance company and saying, I want to organise for insurance, and they'll say a load of words to me, most of which I probably won't understand. I don't mind actually going back and say, I don't understand that. What does that mean? What does it mean in a day-to-day level? What does it mean? Do I have to fill something out? What does this mean? What does that mean? Because it is easy to be taken in by all this paperwork and phrases and you really want to know all I want to know is if I insure this car, are you going to cover me if I have an accident? That's keeping it very simple, you know.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Hmm. Yeah, well definitely. And and look, y that's your due diligence. That's what you're doing. You're sort of making sure that you fully understand every item. And this is where you can pick up the the sort of uh approach from them too. And you're if you're feeling comfortable and they're giving you the the you know, making sure that you fully understand what you're doing, you could then say, Well, I've really liked that person. Or they came over a bit sort of bit brash and yeah, I didn't like them or that all that much. So again, it gives you that uh that feeling. So you should do that in a lot of things, really.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

I have a friend who was starting a business and it was a catering business, and they had put in a tender to do the catering at a canteen in a college. And so obviously when they were starting out they had to apply for a loan. And this particular friend has always been really self-conscious about her spelling.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Not good at spelling, and constantly told at school that she was not good at spelling. And she went in to see this accountant and he was, you know, here's the form, here's like page twenty-five, and she took a big deep breath, and she says even now, she doesn't know where she got it from. She's like, Do you know what? I'm paying you, you fill in the form.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

And you talk me through it. But you fill it in. And it was the most liberating thing for her because all these years she thought, I can't do this sort of stuff because I can't spell.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

Yeah. Well, that's that's great. I mean nothing wrong with that. And and that's about being honest with yourself.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Being honest with yourself, being honest with the person, and also saying, I don't understand, or tell me more, or you do it, or give me advice. Yeah. Now you ha you can do things with Chat GPT. Tell me how to do this, tell me how to give me some phrases.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

But that that's all right doing it with Chat GDP, but they don't give you the personality that you're going to be dealing with. They don't give you the sort of feeling that I can trust this person, or they really explained it very well. Um that's the difference. It's it's that that's that uh uh connection that you won't get from any AI or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 26:13

Of course, and and that's a thing to remember, isn't it? You know you at the end of the day you're going to be paying these people to for your business. So you have to have a good relationship with them. You have to be happy with what they're offering you. Otherwise, you know, they'd be all become an enemy of authority, you know. Not not well, not quite an enemy, but you know what I mean. Like you say, oh god, the tax man is really the accountant, is going to meet the accountant, I'm dreading it, you know. So it's good it's good to uh get an understanding. And she's got so much going on.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

She has.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

She's starting a business, she's hiring people, she's got subcontractors, she's trying to get more work, she's done all the things up to now, business plans, bank loans, all that sort of thing. There's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

It is a lot. And and that's the whole thing about getting and we'll come to this. Uh the a good point is the delegation for delegating things to people that can save you the time, but you feel comfortable in doing that. But the only way you're gonna do that is to go and meet them and sit down and feel comfortable with them. And that's that's um that's across a whole spectrum of things that you're gonna need, whatever business you're doing. So that's it's really that's really important. It's the same with the accountant. Now, the accountant is a cornerstone of your business and and a really good accountant that you're gonna work with. You and and look, to be quite honest with you, you've got to really do that same approach to just about everything. And then that way you're gonna make sure that you do make the right decision. So, well the what one thing uh we'll just leave. We we'll come back to Jacqueline again, I think, in in a while, but uh that there's a lot of things that she's gotta still do, of course, and uh we'll probably catch up and see how the job finished off. And she's gotta get her administration person. She does, and uh look, that's gonna probably we'll have to get back to Jacqueline probably in a an episode or two. Uh because we don't want to leave her too long out in the cold here.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

Which we we already did, shame on us.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

I know, but she's progressed really well, and it's great to come back and see what she's been doing. Just on this, I would just mention that from July the 1st, 2026, uh-huh, employers will need to pay super at the same time as wages, not quarterly. Ah, and the aim is this to give employees more timely and transparent super payments. But it will mean updates to payroll processes and also cash flow planning, which is really interesting, and reporting. So there's a little tip that um I just throw out there that some people might already know that from their accountants, but you know, and also on top of that, super, and it's really important this super will need to reach the fund within seven business days of payday. So, and the ATO will use uh single touch payroll, STP, data to monitor compliance in real time. So, so they're really pushing down, and and the great thing about it, Jacqueline sort of got that straight away from her accountant.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

Yeah, who knew it was coming.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Who knew it was coming? Yeah. So she's really, really pleased with the the person she's got now. And we might uh we might talk to them actually. I might see if Jacqueline can uh give me the name of those people and uh I might even it might do you think it's worth an interview?

SPEAKER_02 29:31

I think absolutely. I I think anything that helps people understand the ins and outs of the stuff that they have to do is is helpful.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

Yeah, it's those nounces that really sort of those little things around the edges of your business that you really need to to co concentrate on and and and get some sort of uh process in place.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Well, I I think that the stuff that we've covered so far, we've done we've you know delved a lot into business planning and the amount of things that are in your business plan and I mean and I have to admit, when we first started talking about business plan, I was terrified because I thought, I don't even know what that is, what does it look like? How big is it, how small is it, but do I know how to do it. But covering all of those things and as we've gone from episode to episode, we've gone two ways. I think one we've with the interviews that we've had, yeah, we've had uh insight from people who are in business and have been in business for quite a long time. I'd love to actually have a chat with someone who's just starting. Like a Jacqueline.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

You know, if we found somebody that is, you know, just starting off a small business, it'd be lovely to have a chat with how how are they travelling through all the bits, what do you say? Planning. Planning.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

But but that's why it was good to have Jacqueline uh someone that we could really follow, and that's what we're doing. But obviously, I mean we can uh we can get out there and see if we can find someone.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

We'll talk to anyone, won't we, Cherry?

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Well, yeah you'll talk to anyone. Um But so you must need well what you should do is talk to someone who knows things about headphones.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

Technology.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

So you didn't know that you had to charge them.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

I did not.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

I had no idea. I and that has actually, as John said, that has actually happened to me before. That I came in here huffing and puffing and giving out that my headphones weren't working, not realizing that they needed to be charged.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

I must admit I didn't realise that either. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

You think you just plug them in and away you go?

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Yeah, well that's right. Well I I haven't charged these, the ones I've got on.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

Well, if you drop out, we'll know.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

I'll have to have a look. Oh dear. Alright, well um I suppose then from here uh we probably might need to um what would you like to mention now?

SPEAKER_02 31:49

Well, just so you know, we are at 34 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Right, okay. Well that what we could do is just uh have a look at Jacqueline, uh what she's um in the process of looking ahead slightly.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

So, Jerry, one of the things that you mentioned is uh earlier on was about Jacqueline and her budget.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Yes, yes, and look, the budget is so so important because um ri and this is a good thing to have a chat to your accountant with. If you're not sure on how to put a budget together, what Jacqueline did, she actually went on to AI and said, Look, can you set up a a spreadsheet for me uh for my so I can put my budget in, and I want a budget of what I'm gonna turn over. Just to give you some examples. You say what's your turnover? What turnover do you need to cover all your costs? And basically you've got to put all your costs in that's wages, tax, all the all the things, your expenses, and so on. And look, the the thing is we can go into we could do a whole episode on a on setting up a budget, what do you include, how do you actually monitor it, and basically just the the highlights here, because we'll come on to this at uh at another um episode, I think, which is I think it's important for people to get a real handle on their budget because um really and once you get your budget formulated and put together, you can then sort of monitor it. And uh the accountant has already said to Jacqueline is that she can review and update every three months. So you always know where you are, and really you can refine it right down to knowing where you are every single day. And it's so important, it's one of the the things you really need to get. Part of your business plan should be the budget, but obviously that will change as you actually set your business up because there'll be a lot more costs, there'll be uh uh there'll be people uh that'll come on board and you've got to have wages and payroll and so when she went to the bank initially and she had her business plan, she had a set amount that she was applying for, and that was I'm guessing the start-up budget.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Yeah. And now she's got everything done and she's got her office set up and she's now taken on uh an employee, she's gonna take on another one, so that has to go into their monthly annual salary or whatever. And then all the other costs where i it's just your date like your bills, even like your electricity bills, or your if you're leasing premises, obviously your rent. And then i is it projecting what you think you might need to spend?

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Well, the bottom line is you've got a certain amount of cost. Even if you didn't do anything, you have a certain amount of cost. So that's your base, and then from there you would build up what what other things you need to include in your budget. And the big key is here, once you get that budget and you start it, you've got to you don't just put it in the bottom drawer, forget about it. You actually get it out and you sort of should be reviewing it at a minimum of every three months, even every month. But then you want to get that, refine that almost down to a daily so you know exactly where your business is in every single day.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

One question is do you pay yourself? Of course. Do you employ yourself?

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

You do.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Yeah, and you keep that in a separate account. And if you go to the governance episode, they we were very clear about how you sit how you do that and how you set it up. And uh the same with the episode on insolvency and bankruptcy with Victoria, that is there's a lot of good items in there that you should be including in your budget.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Sometimes I've heard people say when they started a business that uh for the first twelve months or so they didn't pay themselves, they didn't have a salary. And would you assume that to be the case when you're starting out, or would you say, well, you know, in my last job I was earning ninety thousand a year, so I'm gonna pay myself ninety-five?

SPEAKER_00 35:54

Yeah, well, I mean you've got to be realistic, of course, but but I did the same thing when I started my business. Uh I paid myself next to nothing. Uh just enough to get by and and get into uh paying my bills, etc. And I think from there you you sort of uh you start to sort of progress. But you do. I think in your if it's your own business, then you can be a bit more liberal about how you actually set it up and how you want to sort of uh progress with it. But but obviously be realistic with the budget uh and don't don't look and say, well, I wanna I want to earn 20 million this year.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Come on, you know, you've got to really have a good look at that. But it's it's something that is so important to any business you're running. Is what comes in, what goes out, it's pretty simple to a lot of things, but you can really sort of articulate that budget to be very, very um effective by um uh getting it right down to daily, weekly if you want. Uh but certainly uh like if you go back to the episode with uh Steve Steve McGrath, uh he did that right uh and it's having the systems as well, so that you know exactly where you are, and the budget can do that for you. And uh so you and it's fluid, so it it's changing all the time. You know what jobs you get, and you know, you know how far you can you can go with bad debtors. It might be out of you, you know, you should have a little cache of of money in one one particular separate account which you shouldn't touch because you should leave that a lot. But that's in there as a bit of a a buffer in the early days anyway, so that uh you can sort of have you ever bad debtor, then you can sort of ride the storm. I I must say, with I mean, I was in my business of twenty two years, and I I've got to say that I had I only had two bad debtors in all those years, which was I thought pretty good at the time. But it again it's about doing your due diligence on the people you're actually gonna work for.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

So would you say that you learned m most of the things that you know on the job?

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Well, I d I made a lot of mistakes on the job too, I can tell you. Uh especially um I mean if I only could listen to a podcast like this when I first started, I wouldn't have made half of the errors I did. But that was part of it for me. I th I think and a lot of other people out there too who who started their their own business.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

It it's uh once you decided to start your own business, what did you do? Did you did you look up something or did you just say, I'm just gonna give it a go?

SPEAKER_00 38:29

No, no, I I think I planned it for some years before that. Uh I just thought that there was a there was an opportunity, there was a uh a space in the market for for something that I I thought could work really well and I built my business around that that space.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

And and the other bits aside from the actual business, so all the other bits that you were talking about, like insurances and taxes and all of that. Did you learn that before you went in?

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Well, I had the basic idea of what I had to do.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Um, and it was basic. But generally I knew I had to get a good accountant, I had to get some I had to get a good insurance um agent that I could use. So the the the fundamentals were there, but but you really sort of there's so much to do, as you as we know from uh seeing Jacqueline. Yeah like you were saying earlier, there's so much that you have to do. Yeah. But that you've really you you've gotta you've gotta have a hat on, you've got to have your your leadership hat on one day, and then you've got to have your working hat on another, and then you're swapping hats all day.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

Yeah. It's interesting, isn't it? Because there is sometimes it can sound a bit overwhelming, but really it's not.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

Well th that's again uh You just have to know But you come back to that planning part again. Uh and uh it was a lesson I learned um not straight away, but I I really realised very quickly that I've got to really get this down on paper and r and analyse it and see where I've got the gaps, how do I fill the gaps and all the rest of it, right down to winning jobs, uh what do we do when we lose jobs, we spent money on that trying to get that project, and so on and so on. But but honestly, I I think there's um there's the basic principles that you start with and and you've got to elaborate all of those and then you start to formulate all sorts of ideas.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

And the budget is one of those.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

It's a key. Yeah, it's a real key, and and you're right, she had a start-up budget, but uh but as soon as uh she start she pressed go, the whole game changes then.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

And then she she has to pay these subcontractors, so she's gotta allow for that. And if she goes into the next job and she goes, Okay, well now the neurosurgeon was really happy with the job, but the architect's really happy with the job. So now they've got someone else that wants a job done, and I know I'm going to need three subcontractors, I'm gonna need a plumber, I'm gonna need, you know, I can do the electrics myself. Then she'll have an idea again of so would she do that budget first and then say to them, okay, this is gonna cost you five hundred thousand or two million or whatever it's going to cost.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Well, that's where the estimating comes in. So you you sit down and you you formulate uh your estimation of that job from your knowledge of the plans, the drawings, how things are gonna happen, what sort of trades do you need, who's gonna be the uh I've got some great stories later on about uh some of the things uh that we did. There was some great tips for later on, which I'll I'll come to, I think, which uh it's gotta be a way in the market. Once you do something uh and you get ahead of the the competition, they'll pick it up very quickly. So you've got to be continually thinking about how can I beat the opposition? How can I get my tender uh more competitive than they can? And uh there's all sorts of ways that you can do that. I managed to win a few projects like that, but uh you soon lose the advantage.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

You didn't do it like a sun and down threatening, did you?

SPEAKER_00 41:57

Uh no, no, but I had batteries and all my gear and and I made sure that I had the batteries in the calculator and things like that. So You're not gonna let me forget this, are you? Oh, I thought it was a classic.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

No, I don't you know I I di this sort of terrifies me. I I am terrible with figures. Terrible with figures. So the other day I was transferring some money overseas and basically passing it on from one person to me to another person. And so the person A gives me the amount in dollars. I take that amount, supposing to give it to person I'm person B, by the way, to person C. I tripled it. I don't know why I tripled it. I think when I went on the exchange I put it the wrong way around. You know, instead of like dollars to pounds, I did pounds to doll. Anyway, I came up with this random figure. So then I spoke to person C and she said, You paid me this much. And I said, Why? She goes, Well, I don't know. I need an I have an accountant.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

Yes, and I think you should listen to him very closely.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

But uh almost at the end of this episode now, okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

Well this has been really fun today.

SPEAKER_02 43:16

It has been fun and it's nice in the studio. Uh we're going to put some pictures on our socials um of this lovely studio that we're in. Oh yeah. And hope that you have uh enjoyed catching up with Jacqueline as we have, and touching on budgets, which is something that we're going to go back into at some time. At some stage. And we will be back for the next episode.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Yeah, and and those points about insurances and and all those things we've discussed uh today, I think it's been really interesting. And it's a great view out of this studio. Isn't it? Oh, it's a beautiful tree.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

It's gorgeous. Yes, it's beautiful. So big uh shout out again to Radio Two R D J for uh allowing us the use of the studio.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

Yeah, it's been really fun.

unknown 43:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

Especially about that phone.

SPEAKER_02 44:01

Well you know, I'm only curious.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

We live and learn.

SPEAKER_02 44:03

We live and learn.

SPEAKER_00 44:04

We do.

SPEAKER_02 44:04

Until next time.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

Until next time, Tina.