What have you done for the people who have supported your business this year? Hopefully as a minimum you'll have paid them on time and in full.

But how else have you shown how grateful you are for the great work they've done, or for the fact that they were reliable, or that they put themselves out when you needed them?

Christmas is a great time to do just that...to surprise people with a little thank you gift, or even a card.

It doesn't have to be a major deal. In fact, a little thoughtful gift, or a card with just a few generous words, will go a lot further to cement your relationship than cash ever could.

Think about those people who you may have taken for granted this year, but without whom you may have struggled. You still have a few days left before the big day. Surprise them!

As for me...I'm going to practise what I preach and offer you not one, but two Christmas gifts.

The first is a short report I've been sharing on social media for the last few days...The McFreedom Report
Download your free report to learn "How a teenager could run your business and deliver exceptional standards with more consistency than you do now"

The second is my book Process to Profit, which will be free on Kindle until midnight on Sunday 21st December.

Process to Profit gives you the 'how to' for systemising your business and building a high performing team - a blueprint for growth and success in your business.

These are both unconditional Christmas gifts to you to thank you for reading my Friday Frog Blog every week.  You deserve a little surprise or two just for that!

Hope you enjoy them...and if you do it would be great to get your feedback, either as an Amazon review or in the FB comments section below this post :)

Until then...I wish you a fabulous, fun and turkey-filled Christmas, and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.  2015 is going to be our best year yet!

Merry Christmas
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Marianne xx

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

I’m not averse to paying tax, as my dad always said, ‘If you’re paying a lot of tax, it means you’re making a lot of money’…so bring it on! But staying on top of my tax records, vat returns and payments, has always been a real pain in the neck…and dealings with HMRC a pain pretty much everywhere.

That’s probably why it took me so long to get a system together for my tax planning and management.

I was just never prepared, those important dates always snuck up on me, and the last 24 hours before a deadline were always a mad, stressful rush to get everything together and checked.

So, as we’re fast approaching THAT time of year again, I thought I’d share with you a few tips from my now very organised, system that may help ease the stress for you, both heading towards the coming deadline, and on into next year.

1. Keep it all in one place.
   This may seem incredibly obvious, but how often have you found yourself going through piles of paper looking for that elusive share dividend or bank interest statement?
   If you only do one thing, this is it. Admittedly if all you do is this, you’ll end up with a disorganised mess of paper, but that’s a huge step forward from losing something and having to chase your bank for example, to get a duplicate.
   Grab yourself a couple of box files, or set up two new files in your filing cabinet, and put everything relating to your personal tax in one, and everything relating to your business tax in another. If you are VAT registered, you’ll want a third file just for that.
2. Take time every month to sort.
   For personal tax, the best idea here is to sort your information under the same headings as your tax return. As a minimum sort the information into the basic categories. If you have a lot of one particular thing, maybe shares, then sort that section into sub-categories.
   Keep your expenses and your mileage logs (I use Xero and the Tripcatcher app to log mine) up to date on a monthly basis too.
3. The ‘not sure’ pile.
   There may be things you get through the post that you just aren’t sure about. Do they need filing or don’t they? 

Keep anything that you’re not sure about in one place to review with your accountant.
4. Create a summary sheet for each section.
   This is a life-saver that can be used year after year.
   For each section of your file which, remember, correlates to a section of your tax return, create a summary sheet that lists all of the information that is relevant to that section, and therefore should be present.
   So for example, you may list your bank accounts, the date each was opened, the date any were closed if it falls in the last couple of years, the dates of any interest payments, the gross and net figures, any notes relevant to each account.
   I’d recommend that you create these summary sheets in consultation with your accountant to make sure that they contain all of the relevant and necessary information.
   Then month after month throughout the year simply update them. 

Having been created once, they will then become a great at-a-glance reminder of the information you should be gathering on a monthly basis, and make your life so much simpler!
5. What’s missing?
   When the time comes, your new summary sheets, used in conjunction with last year’s tax return will serve as a useful checklist against this year’s information.
   This process won’t identify any new items - you’ll need to add anything new to your summary sheet at the end of each month as you’re going through the year - but it will help identify anything missing that qualified in previous years.
6. Pulling it all together.
   If you have followed this system consistently month after month, the ‘pulling it all together’ bit will be really easy.
   Your summary sheets will be complete, your paperwork will all be sorted and you’ll have a package of information that can be handed over to your accountant for checking and sign off.
   Even if you only manage to follow tip 1, at least you’ll have it all in one place!

Happy tax planning! Now that would be nice, wouldn’t it?!

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

At this time of year, plans are essential, how else would we be able to achieve our business goals for the end of the year, do the Christmas shopping, buy the necessary food supplies…and of course fit in all the Christmas concerts and parties?!
The truth is though, that plans are always essential.

We all need to have a long term view of where we’re going… a clear Vision of the big picture…our big priorities. When it comes to ‘proper planning’ though, we need to focus in on a more actionable and immediate timeframe.

For me, that’s 3 years - long enough to keep me driving forward - short enough to recognise the outcomes I’m achieving and adjust course if I need to.

3 years

Your 3 year plan is going to be based on how close you want to get to your Vision over the next 3 years. How much profit do you want to have made? How many new customers? How many products? Do you want make yourself replaceable in your business by then? Or maybe you want to achieve that sooner, because there are other things that you want to have achieved in 3 years?

1 year

Your plan becomes even more tangible as you home in on the year ahead and get even more specific.

I love planning for a new year...twelve whole months stretching out ahead, full of opportunity and possibility. Developing a plan that is fully focused on the big game...the important stuff...the things that are going to move me and my business forward and build my personal and professional relationships.

Planning is crucial if you want to achieve...if you want to deliver measurable results. Yet so many of us head into a new year armed with only a broad set of goals and a jumbled list of tasks, and end up wasting time on irrelevant social media conversations and unfocused meetings and activities. Before we know it, we’re into March, and we’ve lost nearly a quarter of the year without achieving anything meaningful.

Getting any plan right starts with that big question: What am I trying to achieve...and why? and builds from there...goals, objectives, targets, deadlines, milestones, measures of success...all essential elements in a robust plan.

You’ll plan and book your holidays…yes, you should do that now, not only as a target to work towards, but also as a re-energiser for your mind, body and spirit.You’re going to need them, and besides, there’s more to life than work.

Quarter

You’ll then break your yearly plan down into quarters, with 90 day goals and targets, that you’ll come to by asking…“Ok, so if I want to be there at the end of the year…where do I need to be in 90 days?”

3-1-Q

I call it 3-1-Q planning, because you assess and adjust at the end of every quarter, every year and every 3 years. Always keeping your big Vision and your big Priorities in full focus. Always moving forward.

Every business owner needs a robust plan…a route map to follow…something that tells you where you’re headed and how you’re going to get there…and then keeps you on track.

Don’t leave home (or into the festive season) without your map!

…If you want want to improve the planning inyour business...if you get the What and want to know more about the How…then do pick up a copy of my bookProcess to Profit which shares a lot of info about setting up the 3-1-Q planning system…or, if you don't have time to read a book, drop me a line, and I’d be happy to talk it through with you.
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​For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk