As you grow your new business and enjoy the fruits of your hard work, you must not neglect to consider how to protect your business and your family’s assets in the long-term, therefore proper consideration of asset protection strategies are very important.
Asset protection is not something that you should only think about at the commencement of a business, but something that should be reviewed constantly to ensure that it suits your evolving needs at all stages of the business cycle. Prosperity recommends regular review of business and family estate planning strategies, especially at major milestones in life such as marriage, birth of children, purchase of a house, etc. We can assist you through this as part of our yearly tax planning service or arrange a confidential discussion with our licenced financial advisers.
During the lifecycle of your business, a number of strategies can be adopted to protect your hard work, including:
- Ensuring proper legal structure to separate family assets from business assets – to ensure your business is operating in the most tax-efficient manner and your family assets are separated and protected from your business;
- Using proper insurance to protect the capital and revenue of your business – just in case anything unforeseen were to happen to you or your business;
- Keep up to date on your tax obligations – in order to avoid the burden of unplanned tax debts and the time and financial costs of being subject to ATO compliance activities; and
- Having proper business succession planning – so that you can exit from the business when the time is right, or to pass on your legacy to the next generation.
Colin Samuel, Director of Business Services wrote about how not to jeopardise the future of your business by making proper use of business succession planning strategies.
Hamish Landreth, Director and Financial Adviser and Brendan Campbell, Director of Business Services also spoke recently on the topic of Why it’s important to grow wealth outside your business (watch the webinar here).
Beware of scams!
Scams had cost Australian businesses $18 million in 2020 according to data from Scamwatch – a 260 per cent increase over 2019. As a small business owner, you must be extra-vigilant in your business-dealings in the same way you must be vigilant in your personal life. Common business scams include non-payment for goods or services, unlicenced financial or insurance products, suppliers selling counterfeit goods and cyber-attacks such as ransomware.
By taking action now, as you start on your small business journey, you will ensure there are less pain in the future as you navigate the complexities of a growing business while at the same time thinking about ways to maximise and protect your family’s assets.
