Business owners: Are you keeping your eye on the ball, or the scoreboard?
The principles behind winning in business and winning in sport are similar in many ways.
Take tennis, for example. If you’ve ever watched a match on television, you’ll know that along with all the hitting, running and grunting there are a lot of numbers involved.
And we’re not just talking about the score here. Each player’s performance can be measured in other ways—percentage of first serves in, points won at the net, number of unforced errors on forehand versus backhand, and so on.
But while the statisticians may love all those details, everyone else is just interested in the score, right?
You might not be interested. But the players certainly are.
Admittedly they may not know the percentages down to the decimal place. But they’ll know if they’re making too many mistakes at the net or wasting their first serves. And they’ll change their game accordingly—by staying at the baseline or slowing down their first serves a bit—to fix the problem.
Yes, the score is important. After all, the players obviously want to win. But the only way the players can actually change their winning percentage is to change how they play.
And it’s the same when you’re a business owner. You business may actually have several scores—number of sales, profit made, etc. But while they’re a great way to keep track of how your business is doing, you can’t do much about them once they’re available.
They are—quite literally—history.
They’re what we call “lag indicators” (or sometimes “results KPIs”). And apart from putting them in your reports and sharing them with your stakeholders, there’s not much else you can do with them. They’re done.
What you should be more interested in are the things you can change. These are what we call “lead indicators” (or sometimes “activity KPIs”), and can lead to improved results for your lag indicators (your score).
For example, if you want to increase the number of sales your business makes, you might want to measure things such as:
- Your website traffic
- Your website’s conversion of visitors to buyers or email opt-ins
- The size of your marketing database of contacts
- Email campaign open rates and click-through rates
- How many sales telephone calls you make each week
- How many sales meetings you have each week
- Your conversion rate of enquiries to quotes/proposals or sales (depending on your business model)
And for profits, you might want to measure:
- How much it costs you in materials to produce each unit (or service)
- How much time and labour cost it takes to produce each unit (or service)
- How many units are being returned by the customer, and so on.
Once you know what your lead indicators are, you can tweak them to see how much they affect your lag indicators.
For example… Improve your site’s SEO to improve website traffic. Increase the number of sales calls you make each month. Give your existing customers an incentive to tell their friends about your business. Look for efficiencies in your production line so you can produce your items more quickly.
The beauty of focusing on your lead indicators is that when you improve them, then your lag indicators—the scoreboard—will improve as a natural flow-on effect.
And lead indicators are things you can control this month. This week. Today. With measurement of your performance in these areas you can refine your activities and feel a greater sense of control in ‘improving the scoreboard’.
Lead and lag indicators are both vital measures of how your business is doing. But by looking after the lead indicators you’ll be keeping your eye on the ball when it really matters, rather than looking at the scoreboard of what has already happened.
Ask yourself, what lead indicators are you focusing on improving this month? How are you looking at that data? Do you have real-time dashboards and weekly or even daily reports on these lead indicators?
If not, we should talk. We can set up lead indicator tracking for you which is the surest way we know to improve your business’ scoreboard.
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Buying and selling property rarely lines up perfectly. The logistics of it all can be incredibly stressful. If you’ve found the perfect next home but haven’t sold your current one yet, a bridging loan can make your move easier, without having to wait on your current property sale. What is a bridging loan? A bridging loan is a short-term loan that gives you the funds to buy a new property before your current property has sold. It’s designed to bridge the gap between buying and selling. These loans are generally interest-only and are typically offered for up to 12 months, giving you time to sell and settle on your current home while already owning the next one. When would I need a bridging loan? You might consider bridging finance if: You’ve found your next home but haven’t yet sold your current one. You want to avoid renting or moving twice between sales. You want more time to prepare your home for market to get the best sale price. You're building a new home while still living in your existing one. How does it work? Peak Debt: The lender combines your current mortgage, the cost of the new property (including stamp duty and legal fees), and any interest (if it’s being capitalised). This total is known as your Peak Debt. Interest Only: During the bridging period, you’ll typically pay interest only — or the interest may be capitalised (meaning it’s added to your loan rather than paid upfront). Sell Your Property: Once you sell your existing home, the sale proceeds are used to reduce your Peak Debt. End Debt: The remaining balance becomes your End Debt, which then continues as a standard mortgage. An example of a bridging loan. Your current home loan = $200,000 New home = $800,000 Total bridging loan (Peak Debt) = $1,000,000 After selling your home for $600,000, that amount is used to pay down your loan Remaining loan (End Debt) = $400,000 Things to consider. Like any major financial decision, it’s important to understand all the moving parts before you commit. Time pressure: You typically have 6–12 months to sell. If you don’t sell in time, the lender may step in to sell the property and/or charge default interest. This is an extra interest rate that a lender charges when you fail to meet your loan obligations — in this case, not selling your property within the agreed timeframe. Interest costs: If interest is capitalised, it means you're not making repayments during the loan period, so the interest gets added to the loan balance instead of being paid separately. This means your loan grows each month. Making even small repayments can help keep this under control. Equity & serviceability: Lenders will assess how much equity you have and whether you can manage the loan during the bridging period. Loan-to-value ratio: If your End Debt ends up being more than 80% of the new property’s value, you may have to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI). Existing loan setup: If your current lender doesn’t offer bridging loans, refinancing may be required — sometimes triggering break fees if your existing loan is fixed. This means you may have to pay a penalty if you end a fixed-rate home loan early (before the agreed term is up). Is a bridging loan right for you? That’s the big question. Bridging finance can offer flexibility and peace of mind, helping you move forward with confidence rather than being held back by uncertain sale timing. But it’s not without risk or cost — so it’s vital to understand the structure, timeframe, and repayment expectations. If you’re considering your next property move and want tailored advice on whether bridging finance suits your situation, talk to the team at Ascent Property Co. or Ascent Accountants. We can also put you in touch with finance brokers to discuss what is best for you.
That work perk might be costing you more than you think… Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) is charged at a whopping 47% — the same as the top personal tax rate. That means lower salary or fewer benefits. So, while salary packaging can save tax, in many cases it ends up costing you more.
If you’re expecting a higher income this financial year, now is the time to act. We’ve put together 9 Smart Tax Planning Tips that could save you thousands — but they only work before 30 June.
