March 2007 - Finance Matters

At our March meeting a panel of experts discussed various aspects of finance as it effects home-based businesses. Luke Thomas Small Business Banking Advisor from the ANZ Bank discussed how the attitude of banks to small business has significantly evolved in recent years. He talked about new simplified application procedures and the fact that banks were now able under some circumstances to make unsecured finance available.
	David Philipsen CEO of Donation Home Loans talked about his unique brokerage firm's commitment to providing financial support to Australia's nonprofit sector. He discussed how his business had grown and had developed a new operation Rhino Money which provided finance to businesses. He discussed how fast this sector was growing and what finance companies were looking for when approving finance.
Peter Sank, Partner and Director of Marketing and Business Development for specialist management accounting, taxation and business advisory consultancy firm STM Business Partnership, spoke about how important it is for businesses to first get the correct structure in place before looking at finance. He spoke about different ways the growth and development of a business can be funded without resorting to heavy borrowing. He also talked about the role and importance of good record keeping and accounting in keeping financial problems under control.
	Amanda Freeman is a fully qualified financial advisor and principal of Kaizen Financial Services. She stressed the importance of financial planning and talked about tax effective ways of minimizing interest expenses. She also discussed the need for home-based businesses to plan for the longer term future and the valuable role that superannuation can play even for very small businesses.
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