The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provides a game-changing opportunity to increase the quality of life for many Australians. With the massive growth in this scheme, however, it also creates a big opportunity for NDIS Providers, many of whom are small and start up businesses. At The Business Plan Company we work with many NDIS Providers, often at the very start of their journey.
This is often a daunting process, going into business for the first time and also navigating through NDIS registration. With more hundreds of business plans now completed for NDIS Providers, here are our top tips for preparing your business plan, particularly for NDIS audit.
- Governance is a big deal, so make sure your team has people that can demonstrate skills in financial management, compliances, regulation, risk management, safety and also clinical experience. That can be difficult for small NDIS Providers, who won’t’ have capacity to employ all of these roles, and they may not be covered by Key Personnel. In that case, you can demonstrate this through advisors and mentors.
- Prove your worthiness to be the owner. The NDIS want to be reassured that all business owners have demonstrated skills and abilities to effectively manage a disability support business. In the sections that describe the Key Personnel, be thorough – you can easily have skills that are overlooked that can show your skills.
- Don’t dodge the detail. Auditors are picky and will go through your plan with a fine tooth comb.
- Be realistic in your plans. You may have big plans for your business, but this can look unrealistic if you go too ambitious, lowering the credibility in your plan.
Related: Business planning - how to make it work.
- Consistency is key. All parts of your plan need to match up, so keep an eye on small details that are also reflected in other parts of your business plan. For example, the wages in projections need to match the stated team members in the organisational chart.
- Research the market. There are lots of reports on NDIS performance, many of them free, so take your time to put together information on the market in your area.
- Cover your compliances, drawing attention to applicable regulations and the policies and procedures that you have already developed. You don’t need to include these in the plan, just reference them.
- Get help. For many new NDIS Provider business owners, the process of starting and getting through registration is daunting enough. If you are finding it all too much, reach out to professionals that do it every day
