What can you achieve in 90 days?
June 30, 2011
By Alycia Edgar, Coastal Accounting Services
How’s business? Travelling along okay? Or are you busily focused on end of financial year, just trying to make it so you can start fresh again on July 1?
Forget the End of Financial year guff going on; forget tax planning; and get back to what’s real – your business. Because if you don’t have a business, you certainly don’t need tax planning. I want you to answer the following questions:
- What is your core product or service?
- Who is your ideal customer/client? Are you attracting them?
- Are you serving their needs with your products or services?
- Are you the absolute best in your market? If not, why not?
- Are you profitable?
After answering those questions let me ask you this. Are you focusing on your core product or service/ideal client, serving their needs, being the best in your market and your profitability? Or are you being distracted by the latest and greatest new fad? Maybe you’ve become comfortable within your business, settled for the status quo and checked out?
Be really honest here. It’s super easy to laugh off questions such as this with, of course, I am, but are your daily focus and actions in business in alignment with the above? If not, you’re not giving 100% to your business and, like a child, it deserves kindness, encouragement and your attention.
What can you do?
Develop a three-year vision and quarterly bold goals.
With your vision, get really clear on where you want to be at the end of each of the three years. Write down all of the points, for example: revenue of $500,000 by end of year one, five new stores at the end of year two. List every goal for each year.
For the current year break down your vision into bold goals for each quarter. Bold goals are simply goals that stretch you beyond where you are now; they are uncomfortable but do-able.
Don’t stop with the list, what needs to happen for each goal to be reached? A bold gold is really a project and has tasks that need to be completed to reach that goal. Write down each task.
Now you’ve determined exactly which tasks you need to be working on each quarter to achieve those bold goals, get to it! Crossing those tasks off your list should be your primary focus each and every day. This laser focus will take your business to new heights; I dare you to try it.
What will you achieve by September 30th?
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY ALYCIA EDGAR
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Alycia Edgar – Coastal Accounting ServicesAs an accountant and former surf shop owner Alycia understands the issues that small business face everyday. She believes you can work on your business effectively simply by understanding your business numbers. She creates innovative systems and processes that enable business owners to be highly focused and productive in their business, including Bookzkeeper – The Accounting Survival Kit for Small Business. To get tips on how your numbers relate to working on your business, simply visit here
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Guy Kawasaki tells us how to be more enchanting – Enchantment
June 30, 2011
In preparation for my interview with Guy Kawasaki, author of numerous book, his latest being Enchantment – The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions, I’ve been reviewing the book and writing my questions.
In reviewing the key areas of the book I’m thrilled to be able to ask Guy first hand:
- How do we become more enchanting (likable, trustworthy, engaging and ethically influential)?
- How do we enchant while maintaining our integrity and a good sense of self (smarmy influences irk me as I’m sure they irk you!)
- What technology tools can we use to make this job easier. (I know that now, more than ever we have access to free communication tools – so how do we use them to enchant and not repel our audience?
There’s a whole lot more that we’ll talk about – including how he ended up having Richard Branson shining his shoes!
And, we’ll have a LIVE Q&A so that you can ask Guy your questions too!
Join us today, 30 June, at 12.00pm AEST.
You can register here. It’s free.
Today’s interview is part of the BOOKED for Lunch series. BOOKED for Lunch are free lunch time webinars with the world’s leading business book authors and thinkers – brought to you by Citrix GoToWebinar and the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.
Today’s webinar is also supported by Dynamic Business Magazine, Australia’s leading magazine for small business.
How Can Blogging Promote My Business?
June 29, 2011
By Johanna Baker-Dowdell, Strawberry Communications
My introduction to blogging was not as a tool to help promote my business, but as a personal diary of a new mum when my first son was born in 2006.
I explored the blogosphere and discovered other bloggers while documenting my thoughts on motherhood and experiences with a newborn. This led to further opportunities as a ‘mummy blogger’ with Essential Baby and Parenting Australia.
When I launched Strawberry Communications in 2007, I’d already been blogging for more than a year, so I felt confident enough to launch a business blog as part of my website. Here I post news about my clients and the business, as well as articles I’ve written and the odd item of interest. This blog has led to guest posting opportunities including ANZ’s Febusave initiative, Media140 for Foodies and Connect2Mums.
I’ve since launched the T-changers personal blog about our move to Tasmania and Business & Baby on Board blog to accompany the book I am writing for business mums. I guess you can say I love blogging.
Blogs are an excellent resource for promoting your business for the following reasons:
- You show your knowledge on your topic and assert your credentials as an expert in that space
- A blog will express your personal views, adding a human side to the business for readers, which hastens the relationship-building process
- Search engines love new content, so regular blog posts increase your online presence and rankings
- You can link to all the websites, articles, videos etc that you mention and others can do the same when mentioning your business
- Blogs can be integrated with other social media platforms so you can automatically post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc and vlogs (video blogs) can go to YouTube
- A blog will enable you to build a community around your business, which again is good for building relationships
- Blogs are conversational by nature, so they are the ideal venue to conduct market research or test new products and services and see what type of response you get.
Blogs are an easy way to get information out quickly, and if the information is good, people will subscribe and become regular readers.
Essentially, blogs are great PR for your business, so they should be included in your marketing mix.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY JOHANNA BAKER-DOWDELL
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Johanna Baker-Dowdell - Strawberry CommunicationsJohanna owns and runs writing and public relations service Strawberry Communications. The agency builds relationships with the media and key stakeholders on behalf of its SME clients. This service is provided through careful research and strategic communication, then maintained by telling the business’s story through amazing publicity and expertly crafted words. Strawberry Communications is based in Launceston and was launched in 2007. Johanna has more than 16 years experience in the media industry and is also a freelance journalist and blogger.
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The Price of Success – Suzi quoted in Sunday Life Magazine
June 29, 2011
Courtney Cox is featured on the cover of Sunday Life magazine’s May 2011 issue. The article features the debate on whether or not the more successful a woman is, the more likely it is that her (male) partner will be threatened.
The ABN’s Suzi Dafnis is quoted on the issue and disagreed with some of the opinions.
Grow Your Business Magazine – Suzi Dafnis feature
June 28, 2011
This July 2007 article from Grow Your Business magazine, features an article about Australian Businesswomen’s Network’s Suzi Dafnis.
Suzi tells her story of personal development, taking risks, and becoming successful in the world of business. She portrays her love of learning, networking and helping others fulfil their needs.
Click here to view the whole story
We’re in the Money – Daily Telegraph reports on new breed of millionaires
June 28, 2011
The Daily Telegraph exclusive from 18 September 2010 reports how many Australians have come out of the Global Financial Crisis in a better condition than they started. A record number of entrepreneurs and property owners have emerged from the crisis as millionaires.
Suzi Dafnis is quoted as saying, “People have now learned to make money in good times and bad times because there are always opportunities to fix a problem. And that was the case for Australia.”
Business Insurance: How to Prepare for the “What Ifs”
June 27, 2011
By Nerida Gill, Admin Bandit
You never know what’s around the corner: a recent mountain bike accident left Nerida Gill (far right) running her business from bed
A recent encounter with a tree trunk while mountain biking taught me that running a small business is not very compatible with a couple of cracked ribs. I also learned that “resting” — that is, continuing to tap away at the laptop in bed, propped up with extra pillows — is neither productive nor comfortable.
Not surprisingly, my rather annoying situation got me thinking about insurance, so this month we’re discussing how to plan for those… err, unplanned little incidences.
Why have insurance?
“It’ll never happen,” you say. Yeah? Tell that to my friend who, as a teenager, found himself in the awkward position of needing to streak naked across the lounge room in front of his mother and her girlfriends.
Unfortunately, the impossible happens all the time. My friend’s story is hilarious (he laughs about it now… 20 years later), but very few disasters have a funny side, as we saw with the Queensland floods over Christmas and New Years.
The fact is that you’ve worked hard to build your small business — you work on average an extra 10 hours a week than other people and have most likely gone without a few of life’s luxuries to get where you are today.
Still tempted to overlook insurance or pooh-pooh the price of premiums? Consider these statistics:
- Crime risks are higher for small businesses than for households
- 49% of respondents in the Small Business Crime Survey experienced at least one incident of crime in the last 12 months
- A fire costs a small business an average of $72,235
- 1 in 3 Australians are disabled for more than three months and have no income during their working lives
- For every home lost to fire, 48 homes are lost to disability
- 127,000 employers and self-employed Australians were injured at work in the last year, according to the latest ABS statistics
What insurance to get
By law, any business that employs people, even if you’re the only employee in your own incorporated company, must have WorkSafe Injury Insurance. Many business owners mistakenly believe WorkSafe is all they need.
What they don’t realise is that this insurance does not cover those operating as sole-traders or in partnerships. What’s more, it only covers accidents and injuries that occur during work hours or illnesses that are a direct result of employment. Statistics, however, show that 70% of accidents happen outside the workplace and that an equal number of trauma claims are for cancer, stroke and heart disease, which are rarely work-related.
The solution is to hold sickness and accident, and income protection policies. Experts also strongly recommend business owners hold public liability, product liability and professional indemnity insurance, depending on the industry you’re in.
Other significant policies to consider include:
- Fire and perils
- Burglary
- Equipment and general property
- Goods in transit.
And others to research or be aware of are:
- Business interruption
- Directors and office bearers liability
- Employee dishonesty or Fidelity guarantee
- Electronic equipment and breakdown
- Employment practices liability
- Glass breakage
- Income protection insurance
- Key person insurance
- Loss of money
- Machinery breakdown
- Perishable food or stock deterioration
- Motor insurance
- Product recall
- Tax audit
- Trade credit
- Unregistered equipment
- Weather.
Where to get insurance
The same companies that provide personal insurance generally also deal in the various business products. In fact, many providers offer insurance tailored specifically for small business, and have products to fit the distinct needs of individual sectors, such as hospitality, retail or the manual trades, or allow you to build a package to suit your personal needs.
It goes without saying that packaging your policies together is generally cheaper, and that it’s wise to compare quotes and the fine print from several providers. Alternatively, an insurance broker can offer a more independent and over-arching view of the business insurance policies available, not to mention do all the leg work for you! A good one can:
- Expertly match your needs to available policies
- Make sure you’re not over-insured and, thus, paying unnecessary premiums
- Help you make a claim or negotiate a settlement
- Work as a consultant to manage the insurance side of your business.
How to minimise the risks
Not surprisingly, all the insurance in the world won’t keep your business operating smoothly if you snorkel a little close to a swarm of electric eels or a plague of locusts devours your entire inventory. If this happens, won’t you be pleased you listened to this advice:
- Keep back-up copies of important documents in a second location
- Keep an address book of important contacts
- Prepare a procedures manual or train staff how to do important tasks if you or other key personnel are not available
- Have a loss prevention strategy if you’re in retail
- Review your postcode — some locations have higher crime rates or are more susceptible to natural disaster. It may never happen, but you’ll still be charged higher insurance premiums
- Train your staff in occupational health and safety and, please, find ways to make it appealing. Continually look for ways to make the workplace safer and happier.
And finally, back to those bruised and painful ribs of mine … please contact herBusiness if you’d like to send me a “get well” card or, even better, a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates!
MORE GREAT POSTS BY NERIDA GILL
- Your Business Plan: The Best Road to Success
- How to Be an Inspiring Speaker (and Promote Your Business for Free)
- Put Down Your Gloves: How to Resolve Conflict the Right Way
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Nerida Gill – Admin BanditNerida Gill is the creator of Admin Bandit, a web-based accounting package designed specifically to make keeping the books easy for volunteer treasurers in community groups. After winning numerous business awards, Admin Bandit is in a growth phase after recently attracting external investment.
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ABN Member Penelope Beveridge in Central Magazine
June 23, 2011
Award-winning photographer & Australian Businesswomen’s Network member Penelope Beveridge was featured in the May 2011 issue of Central Magazine.Penelope was one of ten former students invited back to display at NSW TAFE’s ‘Captured’ exhibition.
Penelope currently has ten works in the exhibition and also hosted a Food Photography and Styling workshop for foodies and up-and-coming photographers to share insider secrets and tips.
Read full article here
View Penelope Beveridge’s member profile here
ABN’s Advocacy Advisor in Smarter Business Ideas
June 23, 2011
The Australian Businesswomen’s Network’s Advocacy Advisor, Amy Lyden, was quoted in Smarter Business Ideas in an article called, Government prioritises cars over childcare: female entrepreneurs.
The article profiles how the Federal Budget provides a lack of support for working families and provides examples of how the Government could be doing a better job.
Amy says, “All legitimate child care should be tax deductible. This includes approved and registered daycare centres, nannies and so on. Families should have a right to decide the best option of care for their children.”
“Also, the child care rebate should be extended to registered child care and not limited to only approved child care.”
Read the full article here
View Amy Lyden’s member profile here
ABN in The Stalk-Free Guide to Networking – CLEO Magazine
June 23, 2011
Suzi Dafnis of the Australian Businesswomen’s Network has been featured in Cleo Magazine’s April 2011 issue in an article entitled, The Stalk-Free Guide to Networking.
The article discusses the correct procedures for successful networking – and what you should avoid. For example, bluntly telling someone “I want your job” is a big no-no. Suzi also discusses the importance of LinkedIn as a networking tool and gives an example of how using LinkedIn managed to land someone a great job.
Click here for the full article
