Expert Advice

Australia exists as one of the most regulated economies in the world. As new technology and access to information sweeps through our lives, society's expectations of what businesses should deliver is constantly rising. That expectation shift means increased "risk" for businesses, as our society becomes increasingly litigious. In all skilled trades and professions this increasingly complex world demands that businesses...

All not for profit organisations need to manage risk, from small local associations through to national peak bodies. While the risks vary across operational sectors, the processes and concepts involved in risk management are similar. Once you understand the basic principles, it's not as complex as it sounds - but it's certainly important to undertake the process. An organisation that...

The process of tweaking a website to help it attain better organic ranking on the search engines is known as 'Search Engine Optimisation' and is commonly referred to as 'SEO'. Here is a quick 7 point checklist to help you with basic SEO: 1. Formulate a digital strategy for your business. Analyse and choose your keywords accordingly. Be careful, what...

With the election of the Abbot Coalition Government business confidence has increased. But what can you do to increase your chances of business success? As any thriving entrepreneur will tell you, there is no single, foolproof formula to ensuring business success. But speak to enough entrepreneurs and common patterns emerge. In Growth in a Difficult Decade, a book commissioned by...

The private sector recruitment process is very different to that of the public sector. Key differences are that the cycle is shorter in the private sector and often only takes days to complete as compared with months in the public sector. Some private sector recruitment processes are also less formal. Private sector hiring managers frequently look for candidates with commercial...

Australian residential property buyers are increasingly turning to finance / mortgage broking service providers for assistance. The primary reasons for this are simple: * a residential property finance broker is an expert who specialises in defining what type of financing option will work best for a client * they do the leg work wading through the large range of loan...

McDonaldization is a term used to describe a society with a fast food culture. Although the number of fast food restaurants in Australia don\'t compare to the high number of restaurants in America, health statistics indicate obesity is becoming more prevalent as Australia becomes more industrialized. According to the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 1995, 57% of adults were...

A recent case decided by the Family Court in Sydney is a timely reminder for separating couples to legally formalise their financial and property matters after separating. In the case, the wife had a $6 million win six months after separating from her husband. The parties had been married for 20 years and had not legally formalised a property settlement...

Intellectual Property (IP) - A Risky Generalisation? "I've got IP", "They've taken my IP" and similar phrases are often heard today; however, their users are not always aware that IP is just a label of convenience, one that covers a grab bag of different subject matter and rights. So, we always need to be clear about what falls into which...

A testamentary guardian is a person appointed under your will to be the guardian of your minor children in the event of your death. We often see clients after they have separated from the other parent of their children. Because you may hold the other parent in a less than favourable light, the question often arises - who will look...

There are plenty of opportunities to start a franchise venture in Canberra, however, before forging ahead and buying into a franchise you must do your research: investigate potential and future profit forecasts, carry out marketing studies, read the documentation, and find out as much about the franchise as possible. Certainly, you must step with caution. The franchise agreement that you...

At the moment the number of self-managed superannuation funds is increasing by 3,500 a month. Of this 70% of funds have individual trustees. A lot of trustees are unaware that if a trustee becomes incapacitated, then they can no longer act as trustee for their SMSF. The same goes with being a Director of a corporate trustee. In this case...

How many times have you searched for something online? How did you feel when you found what you were looking for, but couldn't read the details as the site appeared too small to read from? According to the statistics, around 94% of smartphone users have searched for a product or service on their phones and nearly 60% access internet via...

Forget pleading with a bank manager when you need cash to set up a new business. Crowdfunding, where you ask a large number of people for a small amount of money, is fast becoming the way to raise capital. The Pebble, an e-paper smartwatch, is the biggest success story to date, with 68,929 investors pledging over $10m through online funding...

BYOD might just be the biggest security risk the private and public sector has ever faced. Corporate and government security in relation to intellectual property, operational data and national security has never faced a greater security issue. The age of social media, frictionless document sharing and multiple network access points all enabled by mobile devices is any Chief Information Security...

Registering with the right IT recruitment agency is critical to finding the right opportunity for you. Does your agency work with IT clients that you want to work for? How strong is their relationship with their clients? Do they receive exclusive roles? Do they regularly survey their clients to understand what is valued and to identify any areas for improvements?...