September 2016 Issue 119

What a difference twelve months can make in a lifecycle of a business. That's exactly what Pink Frosting's CEO, Louise Curtis is saying about the business she acquired in August of 2015. Pink Frosting, a party and wedding supply business, established in Canberra in 2005, quickly grew to amazing heights and was twice listed in BRW's Fast Lists for turnover...

Beth, the owner of My Adelina Cleaning Services, migrated from the Philippines to Australia with her four children in 1995. Her first husband had passed away and Beth wanted to do the best for her children. "I brought my children to Australia for a good life and a better education," Beth explained. Beth first moved to Albury to be close...

Much of the whopping 25 percent jump in the uptake of bank debt recorded within our thinkBIG survey 2016, may be attributed to an increasing number of SME's buying their own premises. Having picked up on the rare opportunity of 'owner-occupying' being a cheaper option than leasing, more SMEs now favour buying office space in the name of their self-managed...

I could not stress enough how important Customer Service is to the success of bookkeeping business. Once, a young graduate staff asked me: "why did our client stay with us for years?" Up until then, I thought that accounting industry is competitive. A slight reduction in the fee of the competitor could make us lose a client. I explained to...

When starting a new business, a franchise can be an attractive prospect. Entrepreneurs often find the promise of a well-established brand, bankable goodwill and the guiding hand of the franchisor too good to resist, a seemingly safe alternative to starting your own venture from scratch. Success stories, neatly captured on the franchisor's website, might well convince you that a franchise...

No business can afford to toss money out the window, including on electricity. Across the ACT, many businesses are acting smart and going solar. They've discovered the benefits of solar and are enjoying the savings. Let's start with the facts: 1. Solar photovoltaic (PV) prices are decreasing and becoming increasingly affordable. 2. Solar PV is a proven technology. 3. Electricity...

Invoice finance is becoming an increasingly popular choice for businesses looking for cash flow solutions. We look at scenarios where invoice finance could provide a smart answer to cash flow needs. 1. If customers take a long time to pay, or are late to pay… Long and late paying customers can quickly absorb a company's capital, making it hard to...

Organisations are continually investing in protecting and defending against substantial online threats. Significant levels of IT resources are being invested into costly technologies aimed at protecting against these new threats. Unfortunately, many of these investments fail to understand the methods of an external attacker and as a result fail to prevent a system breach. An external attacker has a number...

As a further step towards combatting illegal phoenix activity, the ATO has sent a clear message to accountants, pre-insolvency advisors and other 'facilitators' that they are firmly in the Commissioner's cross-hairs. Recently, ATO Assistant Commissioner Scott Parkinson foreshadowed further "access visits" (ATO code for search warrants), aimed squarely at the advisory space around company 're-birthing'; suggesting if the pre-insolvency industry...

We often meet with clients who are surprised to learn that their registered Australian trade marks do not extend to registered rights in other countries. Like other forms of IP, trade marks are registered on a per country basis. If wishing to extend protection of your Australian trade mark rights to other countries, do you need to engage lawyers or...

One of your top performers asks to see you and hands you their resignation letter - what do you do? Many employers are tempted to make a counter offer in the hopes it will retain the employee, but this is rarely a successful strategy. Even if a resigning employee does accept your counter offer, their original motivation for looking for...

Over the past couple of years I have delivered a series of education courses through Wisdom Learning on the subject of Strata Management. In addition to a Certificate II course which is delivered over an extended period of many months, we have also provided full day "CPD" courses aimed at real estate professionals who are not directly working in Strata,...

The primary purpose for most websites is to convert clicks into customers. If you are getting heaps of traffic and have difficulty getting qualified leads, go through these basic checks first. 1. Are you talking to the right audience? If you fail to define your target audience for your website, the visitors may misunderstand your services. You need to connect...

The ACT Government has received a performance rating of 'A' for responsible investment practices from the world's leading proponent of responsible investment. Backed by the United Nations, Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) supports investments that are environmentally and socially responsible and have strong corporate governance. This strong result reflects the government's commitment to responsible and measured investment and shows that...

Our senses are a driving force in shaping our imagination, perceptions and desires. A song can revive a childhood memory, a smell might make us crave a certain food, and an image can help us create a vision of a place we love or would love to visit. Research tells us people better remember what they see than what they...

I have been watching with amusement the first weeks of the new federal (autocorrect from feral) parliament. I've got to say I still don't get it. The Coalition seems to be wandering around all hairy chested saying things like: 'We are the Government', 'The people have given us a clear majority', 'We have a mandate'. Seems a little arrogant to...