12/10/2026
DON'T RUN OUT OF PETROL BEFORE THE FINISH LINE!
What a finish to yesterday's Bathurst 1000! An avoidable disaster and a valuable lesson for business owners.
Imagine driving brilliantly, your team working tirelessly, and victory almost in your hands. Then, on the final lap, you run out of petrol!
Imagine how Anton De Pasquale must have felt watching victory slip away, while Brodie Kostecki took the chequered flag.
Devastating! But there's a lesson here for every business owner.
You can have the best car, the best driver and the best team, but without enough fuel, you're going nowhere.
Small business is no different. Even great businesses can fail because they haven't planned for what's around the next corner.
In business, your fuel is CASH FLOW.
You might be profitable on paper, but without a plan for the next 12 months, you could find yourself running on empty.
Tax, GST, increasingly frequent employee superannuation obligations, loan repayments and unexpected expenses don't disappear simply because business is going well.
And just like Bathurst, it's no good discovering you're short of fuel on the final lap.
Whether you're driving a Formula One car, racing a Supercar at Bathurst or running a successful family business, the principle is the same.
Success means nothing if you haven't got enough fuel to reach the finish line.
Don't just put your foot down and hope for the best. Prepare a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast, monitor your cash reserves, plan for upcoming commitments and build a buffer for the unexpected. Know where your business is heading, not just next week, but over the next 12 months.
At Gartly Advisory, we believe good business advice isn't just about reviewing last year's figures. It's about planning ahead and making sure your business has the financial resources to succeed.
Don't wait for the warning light to come on. Plan ahead. Monitor your numbers. Keep your tank fuelled.
Because in business, just like Bathurst, it's not enough to be leading the race. You've got to finish it
