Using Equity to Reward Staff

Schnecke by ubiquity_zh

Can you still use equity to reward your key people? The general rule under the Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP) provisions is that people receiving an ESOP interest at a discount must include that discount amount in their assessable income in the year of acquisition. This will be the case unless there is a “real risk of forfeiture” of the interest, and other conditions for deferred taxation are satisfied. I consider the ethos of an Continue Reading

How to Pass the Blink Test?

Eye! by _Star_Dust

Will your website or product pass the crucial Blink test or will it suffer the cold fate of being ignored and bypassed despite its deeper merits? First impressions really do count and failing to grab attention or to spark interest in those first few seconds can be fatal to a company’s success. In his best-seller, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell outlined the concept of ‘thin-slicing’: how humans use limited information to make spontaneous Continue Reading

An Image Can Change Your Destiny

Gull against the sea by sub_lime79

Ideas and imagery have an amazing ability to influence our minds. History is studded with examples of the power an image can influence on the human spirit. Millions have fought and died in the name of a flag, religion or monarchy. Thankfully, there are also countless examples of bravery, kindness or endurance that were the outpouring of an intensely held hope, quest or goal. Whether the outcome is positive or negative, there is little doubt Continue Reading

How to Value a Business

Summer Swing by David Hoffman

Before we get into how business valuation works, and how you can achieve a higher valuation for your business, there is a simple fact that must engraved in our minds: A business is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Too often we get so caught up in the theory and the process and we forget a sale is about two minds coming together and making a deal. There are ways to increase the value of your business - just as a garden full of Continue Reading