Tax season could easily be a small business owner’s most dreaded time of year. So how do you set yourself up ahead of time to avoid tax paralysis? And how do you overcome it when it does set in? This week on Xero In Rob Stone and JV Douglas are joined once more by Peter Strong, CEO at the Council for Small Business Australia (COSBOA) and a strong advocate for small businesses when it comes to getting through the tax season. “A small business is a person,” Peter told Rob and JV. “And most of the time if there’s a problem with a small business it’s because of confusion or they’re going through some life crisis or some business crisis, but it’s certainly not dishonesty that causes the problem.” Tune in to find out what you need to know when it comes to working with the tax office, and how to prepare your business ahead of time.

Good business idea? Check. Great sales record? Check. Plans for world domination? Check. In this episode of Xero In we track the process from good idea to franchise success, and what it takes to get there. This week on the show, Rob and JV are joined by franchising expert and founder of the Franchise Relationships Institute, Greg Nathan. With experience on both sides of the table, Greg debunks some of the myths around what it takes to build a thriving franchise empire. “At the end of it all, if the franchisees are not profitable then you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Why would I want to invest a whole lot of money in a business concept and barely make a wage out of it?’ I might as well go and get a job.” Tune in to find out whether franchising could be the right fit for you.

Advertisement, application, interviewing – it’s the tried and tested method for recruiting based on education and experience. But how do you measure potential employees for cultural fit? And how can you update your recruitment process to make sure you find the perfect person for the job, every single time? This week on Xero In, hosts Rob Stone and JV Douglas are joined by Dr Glyn Brokensha, founder of Expr3ss and all-round expert when it comes to recruiting the right people for the right roles. “The first thing you have to do is turn the whole recruitment thing on its head and say to yourself who cannot possibly do this job? Ask yourself, ‘Who doesn’t have the essential criteria that we actually must have for this job,’” Glyn said. Tune in to find out how you can improve your recruitment process today.

Hiring, firing: They’re two of the most dreaded words among leadership teams everywhere – and rightly so. What exactly should you look for when you’re building your dream team? And how do you know when it’s time to let employees go? This week on Xero In, Rob and JV are joined once more by Steve Vamos to talk about building a collaborative work culture that will last. With many decades of experience in leadership and management roles, Steve shares insights that will help you when it comes to the recruitment and HR process. “I think that probably the biggest thing you can do in hiring people is spend time with the person you’re about to hire and find a way to get them to help you on a project,” Steve said. Tune in to discover how to build, and keep, your ultimate collaborative team.

Disruption is a fact of small business, but how do you ride the wave when you don’t see it coming? What can you do to keep your small business going strong in an industry that’s failing? This week on Xero In, we speak to Peter Strong, CEO at COSBOA and former bookstore owner, about his many successful years in retail and overcoming the downturn in printed book sales. “The people that embrace technology of course are the ones who are going ahead,” Peter said. “The ones who see disruption not as disruption but as a challenge to develop new processes and new products, they’re the ones who are going ahead.” Tune in for tips on embracing disruption to make your small business thrive.

We’ve come a long way since the days of the office with four walls, a door and a desk. So what does the office of the future look like? And will architecture alone get us there? This week Xero In hosts Rob Stone and JV Douglas are joined by Justin Kabbani, managing director and owner of Hardhat Digital, a creative agency that is pioneering the way forward in office design. “One of the things we like to say at Hardhat is that our office is our temple. The office is the body of the company and everything that comes in here should follow the same kind of guidelines that you would about diet,” Justin told Rob and JV. Tune in to find out how office design is key to fostering innovation and creativity in the workplace.

We live in a world of great creativity, innovation and social enterprise – an entrepreneurs dream. So how do you go about creating something that’s never existed before? And is uniqueness alone enough to get people talking? This week the founder and owner of Frank Green, Ben Young, joins Xero In hosts Rob Stone and JV Douglas to talk about building and marketing a unique business empire. “You’ve just got to believe in your purpose and just also celebrate your milestones of success,” Ben said. “I think it’s really important, getting your first product in the market or just getting it designed, then getting it manufactured and getting your brand right.” Tune in to discover how to create a unique business, and what it is that has made Frank Green such a success story.

With the rapid pace of change and increasing access to technology, it’s vital that all industries evolve. So what technology is the construction industry embracing in order to build success? This week on Xero In, hosts Rob and JV speak to the founder of TradiePad, Clinton Cowan about how to be resilient in the construction industry. With more paperwork now than ever before, Clinton shares his insider tips on how tradies can reduce costs, save time and embrace technology. “Instead of seeing a tradie jot something down on a wall or on a bit of a paper or on a bit of wood, we’re starting to see people using the technology to actually create a job, an appointment, and they get reminders about these things, things that the business world has had for decades,” Clinton said. Listen in to find out how the construction industry is changing with the times.

People. They’re at the centre of everything you do in small business, which is why people management and culture building should be a top priority for any leader or manager. This week Steve Vamos joins Xero In hosts Rob Stone and JV Douglas to share insights from his three decades of experience in leadership roles across companies including IBM, Apple, Microsoft and Ninemsn. "The mindset of leaders, the way that leaders think and the people around them think defines an organisation’s fate," Steve said. Tune in to find out how to frame your leadership approach for the current, turbulent times, and why people management should always come first.

You’ve built a successful small business and it’s going well - but over the horizon comes retirement, a new venture, or a family concern. So how do you plan for your exit? In this week’s episode of Xero In, we speak to business broker Kev Ryan about the many options available to small business owners when planning their exit, as well as what new business owners should look for when deciding to invest in an existing business. “There’s skill involved, but if you give yourself plenty of time like any strategy, time is the key. Start early and work out where and how this is all going to transpire,” says Kev. If you’re thinking about selling up, getting out, moving in or investing, this is the episode for you. Tune in to hear tips and stories from Kev’s two decades of experience as a business broker.