As a small business owner, there are many obstacles you will have to overcome in order to become successful. You might have to overcome financial hurdles or other burdens, but one such obstacle you should avoid is that of bad health. This is why having one of the many affordable medical schemes in South Africa is so important. Outlined below are just some of the advantages of having a medical aid as a small business owner.
Your health is an investment too
Small business owners and start-up creators are well known for overworking themselves in order to make their business a success. While this hard work is admirable, it can be debilitating to your health, causing stress-induced illnesses such as ulcers and migraines.
Your health is arguably one of the most important investments you will ever make as a small business owner, which is why having a medical aid or being part of medical schemes is so important. Your health should be as important to you as the health of your business – after all, if you are not functioning at your best, your business will suffer too. By keeping yourself healthy, you will eliminate business problems too.
Medical schemes fees tax credit
Medical schemes fees tax credit or MTC is a tax rebate that applies to people who are a part of a medical aid scheme, and it applies to both employees and employers. This is a huge financial advantage to having a medical aid scheme for yourself and your business.
This tax benefit can help a business with a smaller budget, allowing you to spend more money on other important business expenses. However, it is important to find out all the information you can about this tax credit, as there could be stipulations that affect your business’s claiming ability. You, as the employer, will have to ensure that medical aid tax is deducted from your employee’s account correctly and timeously.
Your family will be covered
As a small business owner, the support of your family is highly valuable in times of crisis. Having one of the many affordable medical schemes in South Africa as support for their health is showing them that you care about them.
Having your family covered by a medical aid will also help to reduce the stress that you feel on a daily basis, as you will not have to worry about what will happen to them in case of an emergency hospitalisation or medical procedure.
Many medical schemes allow extended families as dependents, but be sure to find out what the rules are as well as the monthly contributions per dependent.
Your business will continue to run smoothly
You are the owner, and most likely, the manager of your small business, which means that in order for it to run smoothly you need to be in good health. Staying healthy is important for your business, and for your employees, as it will allow you to continue operations in any season (including the infamous Flu Season).
However, if something does go wrong, a medical scheme can help immensely in keeping your business up and running while you are in hospital or recovering from an illness. This will also enable your cash flow to continue, alleviating stress and allowing your employees to still receive a salary while you are unable to work.
Promoting wellness in the office
Having group medical schemes in small businesses has shown to help promote wellness, which in turn encourages employees to live healthier lifestyles. This will increase productivity and help the profitability of your business too. Healthy employees help to build a healthy business.
Promoting wellness in the office extends to the business owner too, meaning that you will also be encouraged to make healthier choices and practise wellness in your daily routine. Living a healthy life promotes a holistic office, allowing both you and your employees to work at a high productivity level and make clients happy without the worry of someone falling sick and lagging behind on work.
The risk of penalties
If you are a young business owner, it is best to join a medical scheme now, rather than waiting for later. You will have to pay a late joiner’s fee if you join a medical aid late, and it can be a significant amount depending on how late you decide to join.
Luckily, this will not affect your employees but is rather applied to your own personal medical aid. Having to pay these extra monthly fees will eat into your finances, so it is best to join a medical aid while you are still young and able to afford it. As a business owner setting up a medical scheme for your employees may or may not incur these fees, so it is important to find out from your provider beforehand what the late joiner fees will be, if any, for your group medical scheme.