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Helix Planning Helix Planning offers holistic business advisory services. All service models are designed to improve both the personal and practical aspects of business.

20/10/2026

Great things happen when local businesses, community leaders and organisations come together with a shared purpose.

Helix Planning was delighted to collaborate with the Maclean District Business Chamber to bring this event to life, creating an opportunity for connection, fresh perspectives and meaningful conversations about the future of our business community.

Beyond the networking, events like these are about building relationships, sharing knowledge and turning good conversations into practical action- which is already happening and we can’t wait to tell you more on this!

A big thank you to everyone who contributed, especially Judo Bank, NRMA Parks and Resorts and Simplicity Maclean, and those that participated and helped make it such a success.

Here’s a little look at what we got up to! 🎬

BetterBusiness

Being busy is not the same as making money, and growing revenue is not necessarily the same as growing a business, which...
05/10/2026

Being busy is not the same as making money, and growing revenue is not necessarily the same as growing a business, which sounds obvious until you look at the maths.

A business running at a 10% net margin that loses $50,000 through a bad debt, pricing mistake or unrecovered cost needs **$500,000 in additional sales** just to replace the profit it lost.

Now think about what it takes to generate that extra $500,000. More leads, more quotes, more customers, more work, potentially more staff and more working capital, all to get back to where you were before the $50,000 disappeared.

It’s why we're usually less interested in hearing that a business wants to “grow” than we are in understanding what growth is supposed to achieve, because sometimes the biggest opportunity isn’t another sale at all. It’s finding the margin already leaking out of the business and fixing that first.

The latest Helix blog gets into the numbers behind revenue, margin and profitability, and why you really can’t out-sell bad maths.

Read it here: https://loom.ly/XicLSg0

One of the things we do particularly well at Helix Planning is take a lot of information, some of it useful, some of it ...
28/09/2026

One of the things we do particularly well at Helix Planning is take a lot of information, some of it useful, some of it questionable and some of it telling only half the story, and work out what actually matters.

Our Lower Clarence Valley Regional Economic Brief, developed to set the scene for the Amplify Our Voices Maclean Regional Economic Forum, is a great example of that work at scale.

Building it meant looking well beyond the headline statistics. We interrogated the data, tested assumptions against what is actually happening on the ground in Maclean and surrounds, and examined the relationships between population, workforce, industry, infrastructure, investment, skills and access to services. The interesting part isn’t finding the numbers but understanding what they mean when you put them together, and that's what Sarah does best.

That analysis gave us a very different picture of the Lower Clarence economy, including some uncomfortable constraints, some significant opportunities and a much stronger basis for deciding where our attention should go next.

It’s the same approach we bring to our consulting work at Helix Planning, whether we’re looking at a business, an organisation, an industry or an entire regional economy. Understand what is really happening, find the connections others may have missed, challenge the assumptions that don’t stack up and use the evidence to make better decisions about what comes next.

The Regional Economic Brief is now available to read here
https://loom.ly/DXzERjc

**If you live, work or do business in the Northern Rivers, it’s worth a read. The Lower Clarence may be our focus in this instance, but many of the pressures, opportunities and decisions explored here reach well beyond it.**

Last Friday, we put the Lower Clarence economy around one table- actually around one very LARGE table!Business, Agricult...
01/09/2026

Last Friday, we put the Lower Clarence economy around one table- actually around one very LARGE table!

Business, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Health, Education, Construction, Finance, Tourism, Infrastructure, Government, Professional Services, Community organisations, and Regional development.
Different sectors with different experiences, and different views about what this region needs next.

And that was exactly the point.

The Amplify Our Voices Changemakers Maclean Regional Economic Forum wasn’t designed to produce unanimous agreement or another wish list of things someone else should fix.

We wanted to understand where the economic opportunities actually are, what is getting in the way, how those things connect and, importantly, what deserves our collective attention.

Economist Warren Hogan opened the conversation by putting the Lower Clarence into a much broader economic context. His no nonsense and to the point style was a breath of fresh air in today's political climate.

Our Conversation Leaders **Mick Corbett, Lindsay McLennan, Haley Hodgson and George Bennett then brought four very different perspectives into the room before we handed the conversation over to everyone else. Kevin Hogan MP also contributed his thoughts on and experiences with the Lower Clarence

There was plenty to talk about.

We explored the opportunities we may be overlooking, the constraints limiting investment and growth, the issues with the greatest flow-on effects across the economy, where this region actually has influence, and where organisations could achieve more together than separately.

Some views aligned, some definitely didn't. Meaningful regional economic conversations shouldn't require everyone to agree. They should help us understand the system better, challenge some assumptions and identify where there is enough common ground to actually move something. Yet on the whole, there was certainly a concensus around the priority of education and training for Maclean.

The best take away from the day is that our future requires collaboration, shared goals and a desire to achieve it and it's fair to say this event was certainly the start of that.

A huge thank you to Warren, our Conversation Leaders, our sponsors Judo Bank, NRMA Parks and Resorts, Simplicity Funerals Maclean, Helix Planning and SFE Loans and every person who gave their time, experience and perspective to the conversation.

The ideas generated in that room belong to this region.

What happens with them next is the interesting part.

Do you know how much card payments actually cost your business?From 1 October, the rules around card surcharges are chan...
01/09/2026

Do you know how much card payments actually cost your business?
From 1 October, the rules around card surcharges are changing.
If you currently pass those costs on to customers, now’s the time to start thinking about what that change could mean for your bottom line.
How much are you currently recovering through surcharges?
Will you absorb that cost?
Do your prices or margins need another look?
And have you checked everywhere a surcharge is currently being applied?
These are exactly the kinds of questions we’ll be getting businesses thinking about at tomorrow’s free Mind Your Business workshop.

📅 Tomorrow, Tuesday 1st September
⏰ 1pm–2.30pm or 5pm–6.30pm
📍 Business @ Yarrila, 27 Gordon St, Coffs Harbour
🎟️ Free to attend

There’s still time to book your spot:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/mind-your-business-tickets-1997930368515?

25/08/2026

Are you joining us?

Every business has moments where the path forward isn't obvious. Sometimes you're growing faster than expected, sometime...
19/08/2026

Every business has moments where the path forward isn't obvious. Sometimes you're growing faster than expected, sometimes you're facing a difficult decision and sometimes you've simply reached the point where what got you here won't get you where you want to go next.

Those moments don't always require bigger risks or longer hours. More often, they require a different perspective.

I work with business owners who are ready to challenge their thinking, ask better questions and make decisions with confidence. The result isn't just a stronger business. It's the confidence that comes from knowing you're building it with purpose.

If that's where you are at, I'd love to hear your story.

11/08/2026

The greatest transformation isn't found in a spreadsheet or a strategic plan. It's the confidence that comes from understanding your business, knowing your numbers and having a clear direction for where you're headed next.

You probably didn't dream about chasing invoices, putting out fires or wondering if you're making the right decisions. Yet that's where many business owners end up.

Working together isn't about creating another job for you or telling you how to run your business. It's about helping you step back, see the bigger picture and get back to building the business you set out to create.

✔️ You stop reacting and start leading.
✔️ Your numbers finally make sense.
✔️ Your business works for you, not because of you.
✔️ You enjoy being a business owner again.

If you're ready for that, let's have a conversation. Book your Business Strategy Session via the link in my bio.

Quick decisions. Expensive consequences.In business, the fastest decision isn't always the smartest one. Choosing the ch...
06/08/2026

Quick decisions. Expensive consequences.

In business, the fastest decision isn't always the smartest one. Choosing the cheapest supplier, hiring in a hurry, skipping the planning or putting off the strategy.
They all save time today, but they often cost far more in rework, lost opportunities and reduced profit tomorrow.
Good businesses aren't built on quick fixes. They're built on commercial decisions that stand the test of time.

Before you ask, "What's the quickest way?", ask, "What's the smartest decision for the business?"

Ready to make better business decisions? Let's have a conversation. Book a Business Strategy Session via the link in my bio.

29/07/2026

Most business owners don't need someone to run their business for them, but they do need someone who can challenge their thinking.

A good Business Advisor doesn't have all the answers. They ask the questions that uncover the ones you haven't considered. Sometimes those questions are about improving cashflow, sometimes it's about refining strategy.
Sometimes it's simply having someone who can step back, see the bigger picture and help you make better commercial decisions.

If you've ever felt like you're too close to your own business, you're probably right.
Perspective is one of the most valuable investments a business owner can make.

Stop guessing. Start planning. Book a Business Strategy Session and let's build your next move together.

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Briar Hill, VIC
3088

Telephone

+61421079415

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