The Critical Importance of an NDIS Business Strategy

Operating an NDIS business in Australia comes with significant challenges. The disability sector is marked by low profit margins, labour shortages and complex, often changing regulations.

Under half of NDIS providers made a profit in 2021–2022, with almost one in four operating at a loss. NDIS businesses also report struggling to find competent support workers and other skilled professionals, from IT to physiotherapy.

Many NDIS provider businesses are also finding it difficult to stay ahead of changing regulations. 73% of providers agree that “our staff are exhausted by ongoing changes in the NDIS”, while 74% believe that “my leadership team spends too much time on dealing with changes to the NDIS”.

You need a strategic approach if you wish to be one of the 46% of NDIS provider businesses that make a profit. A well-developed plan will enable your NDIS business to target areas for improving profit margins and reducing costs. It will help you manage issues such as compliance regulations, look after your finances and create systems for growth.

These strategies will support you in identifying the most efficient ways to allocate resources. In particular, they will help you better understand staffing needs so you can be proactive about addressing the skills and labour shortages.

Essential Strategies for NDIS Businesses

Focus on these strategies so you can improve your support services and achieve financial sustainability in the new business year.

Monitor Your Cash Flow

Maintaining healthy cash flow is critical for your NDIS business. It ensures you can meet ongoing operational costs, pay staff on time and invest in resources for service delivery.

Low-profit margins across the disability sector in Australia make cash flow particularly important. Having a steady stream of available funds provides financial flexibility. It allows you to offer additional services, invest in equipment and technology or pay for unforeseen expenses. Having access to cash means your NDIS business can operate effectively and grow sustainably.

To protect your cash flow, pay attention to your invoicing process. Make sure you're correctly bulk billing the NDIS so that you're paid on time. Ideally, your invoicing software will be able to pull the details directly from your shift records to avoid errors.

Analyse financial reports to spot areas that eat into your available funds. Reviewing this information will help you structure your finances so that you always have access to the cash you need for your business operations.

Build Relationships

As a business owner, building relationships is key to ensuring that your disability support company will thrive. Relationships with NDIS support coordinators and plan managers can be pivotal in connecting you with new clients. They have direct contact with the people who need your services, facilitating quicker — and less costly — client acquisition.

Additionally, building relationships with mentors and other industry contacts can provide valuable guidance, insights and referrals. This network can support you through challenges such as understanding NDIS regulations and the SCHADS award.

Strong relationships with staffing agency owners can also streamline your recruitment process. They have a valuable role to play in helping you bridge skills gaps.

Don't forget about the most important relationships of all: those with your clients and support workers. NDIS businesses that maintain positive relationships with their staff and their customers will find it easier to retain them.

Focus on Scalability

Growth can be expensive. And the smaller your business, the more expensive growth tends to be. Taking on new clients requires additional admin work and support staff.

Scalable systems, however, reduce the costs associated with growth. They require a minimal amount of admin time to onboard a new client or team member.

Scaling your NDIS business also makes it easier to be profitable, no matter how small your margins are. You'll see a small increase in costs, but a significant increase in your income.

Ideally, your NDIS software will make onboarding and rostering new team members simple. Features such as document templates, expiry notifications and a jobs board will reduce the time you need to spend on admin work.

Implementing Your Strategies for Ensuring Your NDIS Business Thrives in the New Financial Year

These practical steps will help you put your strategies into action.

1. Create an action plan, complete with time frames for key achievements. Make sure that each point is actionable: focus on what you will do rather than just your desired outcome.

2. Encourage team members to add their proof of expenses to the shift record. This will make it easier to auto-generate accurate invoices for bulk NDIS billing and develop a stronger understanding of your finances.

3. Auto-generate financial reports so you have a better understanding of how your company is performing.

4. Use technology to share updates with your clients and their friends and family members, from progress reports to support plans. This will improve your business relationship with them.

5. Post shifts for new clients to a jobs board so that your team members can bid on them. Make sure this jobs board is fully integrated with your scheduling software so that you can automate the process of adding new shifts to the roster.

Technology that Supports You in Implementing Your Business Strategies

ShiftCare's NDIS software is built around the needs of disability support providers. With rostering, invoicing, client funds management and NDIS integrations, it streamlines the admin side of running your business. Auto-generated invoices and financial reports will help you ensure a steady cash flow. And, thanks to the jobs board, you can onboard new clients and get their first shift rostered in minutes. 

Discover how the right tools will help your NDIS business thrive in the year ahead. Try ShiftCare for free.