Client story: Frank and Ruth Anderson

March 18, 2019

Think you’re too old to start your own business? Think again. After retiring from full careers in other industries, Oreon clients Frank and Ruth Anderson both decided to pursue their dreams of running their own businesses. Today, those businesses provide additional income during retirement while keeping them healthy and active. Read their story and how Oreon played a role in making this happen.

Life after the navy

After serving in the merchant navy since 1963, Frank retired in June 2018 and – at age 72 – decided to establish a high-pressure hot water cleaning business (AAAcleanaway) so that he would have the freedom to work as little or as much as he wanted while enjoying fishing and leisure activities.

Ruth also served in the merchant navy for 10 years (until 2016), as well as earning degrees in research and nursing (she’s a Registered Nurse too) and working for a cosmetics company. She bought the business “Paper Flourish” in March 2017, which is now the largest scrapbooking and paper craft store in South Australia. Within two years, she developed an online store, established a mobile shop that goes to rural areas across South Australia, brought in the product range Seven Paper Dolls, employed internationally-recognised teachers to run lessons and began specialising in crafting lesson packs that are distributed across Australia.

Today, Ruth has 10 staff members, including 2 disabled persons. At 62, Ruth is able to stay involved with the community, enjoy her crafting and keep her brain and body active.

Starting out with Oreon

Frank and Ruth originally began their relationship with Oreon at a time when they wanted to accelerate their wealth accumulation. The Oreon team introduced them to the NRAS assisted property investments, which via the government-assisted rebates and additional tax refunds helped them quickly pay off their home and achieve their investment portfolio goals outside their day jobs.

Running two new businesses

Frank and Ruth needed Oreon’s advice in the early stages of their businesses, largely for help with:

  • Asset protection (in order to preserve the wealth they had worked so hard for in the past)
  • Tax advice
  • Setting up a business structure for Ruth that allowed for succession planning for a key employee.

We also helped Ruth assess the financials of Paper Flourish before she bought the business to ensure she was getting what she paid for, particularly regarding the stock and the employees and their entitlements.

We then worked with Ruth to introduce her to Xero’s cloud-based accounting software for both businesses and to payroll software for Paper Flourish. Prior to using Xero, Ruth was using Microsoft Excel for record-keeping, but she soon found that this was inadequate in a business where many transactions were made on a daily basis. We assisted Ruth in transferring data from her existing records into Xero and provide her with the training and information required to start using the software herself.

Ruth’s next challenge was being introduced to GST and the lodgement of quarterly Business Activity Statements. Oreon provided Ruth with guidance and advice about the GST system and how to correctly record and report income and expenses. Within a short timeframe, Ruth was able to learn how to keep records for GST purposes and how to lodge her own BAS every quarter.

Critical in the first year of operation was ensuring that both Ruth and Frank maximised the tax concessions available to them. We made sure they both accessed the small business write-offs with respect to accelerated depreciation for equipment under the value of $20,000. This assisted them in maximising their tax claim and preserving their cash flow for the growth of their respective businesses.

We congratulate both Ruth and Frank for taking on the challenges of running their own businesses during retirement and wish them many additional successes in the years to come.

If you would like to start your own business, no matter what stage of life you’re at, we can help. Contact Oreon Partners.

 Author: Jarrad Dunn

 
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