Newsletters

Welcome to Jones Business Solutions inaugural newsletter

We plan to issue a newsletter every two months with some brief updates on what we have been doing, along with some tips and advice to help you run your business.
Jones Business Solutions has been operating for just over two years, working with some great clients with diverse business activities – ranging from Body Art to Panelbeating.

The beginning of 2009 has seen a change for us in taking on a team of part time staff. This has enabled us to expand our client base and further develop our level of service. Working with multiple clients makes us a great resource to help solve problems, we can use our experience gained from addressing one client's issue to assist another with a similar one.

We welcome your feedback on this newsletter and our website – particularly with what you would like to see covered and included.

Leaine Jones, Managing Director

Property Hot Tip!

Did you know that if your house is built before 2000 it is eligible for the new Energywise funding programme?
Tenants who have Community Services cards means as their landlord you are eligible for 60% of the total cost of insulating the rental property, as well as $500 (including gst) towards a home heating option. Check out this link for other eligibility criteria and further information.

Client Profile – FitzBeck Creative

FitzBeck Creative is an award-winning Wellington-based communications and design agency... Our passion is to bring ideas to life for our clients – we design websites and create web content, we make DVDs, we create brands, and we write and publish magazines and books. We've been in business for 15 years and work with a wide range of organisations. The key to our success has been to enjoy what we do and those we work with. One thing we learned early on is to make sure you've got the right financial advice – that's why Leaine is a much-valued part of our team.

To see examples of our work visit www.fitzbeck.co.nz or to get in touch, ring Mike or Nigel on 04 801 9669.

Accounting Hot Tip!

Debtor Management

In these current economic times we have noticed with most of our clients some slowdown in debtor receipts. It is more important than ever to monitor your debtors regularly; and be proactive with following up overdue accounts promptly.

Our suggestions are:

Reconcile your bank account at least weekly
Follow up all overdue acounts – even those who are just a bit late
Keep notes of all letters/emails sent/received and phone conversations made
Review your payment terms
Write up a Terms of Trade document for your customers

Contact us for a copy of our detailed Debtors Management procedure guide, or for help in drafting your Terms of Trade. We can also undertake your debtor management for you – we have a thorough and well documented process that we follow and report back to you regularly. You maintain a good relationship with the client and we get the money in for you!

Jones Business Solutions Website

Paul Clarke of Blackbox Design worked with Leaine and Bob developing the Jones Business Solutions' website. We are really happy with the end result and look forward to future developments on our site. A key area is the Client Login Area we would really like some feedback on the type of material that would be useful for you as clients to have in this area. At present you can login and update your business contact details – go ahead and register and contact us with your suggestions for this section of our website.

Team Member Profile

Lucy Victoria University has an exchange programme with partner universities throughout Asia, America and Europe. Our team member Lucy is currently in her third year of study with Victoria towards her Commerce degree. Lucy was accepted by the Victoria Overseas Exchange programme as a good ambassador for NZ and with an academic and extracurricular activity record that was also accepted by her host university – Leeds University in the UK. Lucy will be studying Medieval and Renaissance Europe History and Business Finance when she commences her studies in early September. Lucy is a valuable and versatile member of our team and we wish her all the very best for her overseas experience, and look forward to having her back next year. Well done!

Recruitment Hot Tip! With a 1,000 people a week now joining the growing list of unemployed you should start to see an increase in the number of applicants applying for roles. This is great as it will give you a wider range of choice when filling a role, but it is important that you continue to follow some basic principles when recruiting:

Create a short list – don't try to interview too many candidates, set the number of interviews you wish to complete before the applications start to come in
Set interview questions – have questions that you will ask every candidate that you interview, this will allow you to make direct comparisons
Take notes – this will ensure that you don't forget how each candidate responded to the questions when choosing the best candidate for the role
Complete phone reference checks – this step cannot be skipped, too often it is discovered that a candidate has exaggerated their experience and history when it is too late. So no matter how confident you are that you have the right person you must ALWAYS complete at least one phone reference check, and preferably two!

For more assistance with your recruitment don't hesitate to contact Leaine at Jones Business Solutions.

Sitemap

"Jones Business Solutions provided us with a very effective recruitment solution for our office administrator position. Leaine led the entire process - from reviewing and updating the position description, to managing all the applications and shortlisting, and conducting the interviews, referee checks, and in-house testing. We are very...read more >>
Paul McGough

Managing Director, Auto Image

Need more information?
For further information, please consult us at info@jbsl.co.nz or use our contact form.