By Amy Lyden, Australian Businesswomen’s Network Advocacy Advisor

© Perth Now

Nick Sherry has stepped down as Minister for Small Business after only 15 months in the role, just prior to a major reshuffle by Prime Minister Julia Gillard this week.

The Prime Minister has appointed Mark Arbib, the 40 year old senator for NSW. Senator Arbib also holds the new role of Assistant Treasurer and retains his previous title of Minister for Sport.

There are 2 million small businesses in Australia, of which women own over 30%.

Senator Arbib quoted, “Small business is the heart of the economy. I… understand the importance of small business to jobs and wealth creation. They (small businesses) are the heart of Labor’s economic policy.” Senator Arbib was previously Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development and Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness.

During the global financial crisis, he worked with small business to form and grow the $100 million Apprentice Kickstart Program whereby over 46,000 young Australians were helped to start apprenticeships, also helping close the skill gap felt by many small businesses.

The Australian Businesswomen’s Network welcomes Senator Arbib to this important new role and we look forward to working with him and his office to ensure the small business sector and particularly women-owned small businesses are well represented.

What issues are important to YOU that Senator Arbib should be aware of? Please post your thoughts and concerns.

MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY AMY LYDEN

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In March 2009, the Australian Businesswomen’s Network raised funds through a silent auction and a series of business webinars to support women in businesses around the world through Kiva, an organisation that provides micro-loans in developing countries.

Last year, these funds were repaid and further reinvested in a number of female entrepreneurs – and we are pleased to announce that this year we are continuing to spread the ABN member support to more women in developing countries this year. Here are the stories and profiles of this year’s recipients.

I share their stories here to demonstrate the parallel between business owners in all countries. Our circumstances may differ (immensely), but our spirit and our goals are often similar. Education, inspiration and networking and connections are the common elements to our success regardless of our location.

REDILLA RUBIO

Phillipines

Redilla Rubio is a 48-year-old married woman with seven children. She and her husband are both farmers. They live in Banga, South Cotabato, where their farm is also located. Rice is the main crop that they grow on their land. Redilla works hard to improve their business. Redilla requested a loan to purchase seeds, fertilisers and other farm inputs. She hopes to have a successful business.

PAULITA

Mexico

Paulita is a very enterprising woman who, despite the economic situation in the country, has a business selling good quality used clothing that she offers to her friends and neighbours at an even lower price. Paulita is the mother of two little ones and wants to provide them a better quality of life. For that reason, she chooses to have a business that operates only on weekends in order not to neglect her family and household chores.

The business has been operating for eight years because of the care and kindness Paulita offers to serve her customers. This business is part of her family’s source of income, apart from what her husband earns working in a factory.

In order for the business to continue generating income, she needs to purchase seasonal merchandise.

MATILDE ALTAGRACIA

El Salvador

Matilde Altagracia is a merchant who works selling pupusas (traditional stuffed corn patties), bread rolls with chicken, soft drinks and natural refreshments. She lives with her husband and has a four-year-old child. She relied upon her husband’s support in starting up her business and is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Currently, she is seeking a loan to purchase merchandise and furniture for the business, in particular chicken, cracklings, quesillo (a soft cow’s milk cheese), bread and drinks. With these materials, she will serve her customers for a good while and generate more sales.

Her objective is to remain in business, grow her customer base and pay off this loan punctually so as to continue on with her enterprise.

MARIA ESTHELA VIZHNAY PANI

Ecuador

Señora María Esthela Vizhnay Pani sells Tiens Natural Products (vitamins, weight loss products, nutritional supplements, beauty products, etc) for a living. She has been selling these for two years and works seven days a week without a fixed schedule.

María will use this new loan to purchase natural products to stock and grow her business. Her goal is to continue selling these products and to expand her business.

ANA CELINA RODRIGUEZ MENDOZA

Nicaragua

Ana Celina Rodriguez Mendoza is a small businesswoman who has a desire to do well in life. Four years ago, she managed to build three rooms with the goal of renting them out. She also built a car wash.

Starting out with loans from other banks, then from Afodenic, she has managed to make improvements to the rooms that she rents out.

What she would like to do now is replace the roof since the existing beams are made from wood. She will buy ‘perlines’ (metal beams) and sheets of corrugated metal, as well as windows and doors. This will increase her tenants’ safety.

CHRISTINE KATO’S GROUP

Uganda

Christine Kato‘s Group is comprised of three hard-working young women. Christine is 18 years old and lives in the town of Kyengera in the Kampala central region of Uganda. She is single and has no children. Christine has a beauty salon, which she has had for five years.

To help expand her business, Christine has requested a loan. The loan will be used to purchase braids for the hair for resale. With the help of the loan, Christine hopes to generate greater profits.

MARLENIS ARRIETA REYES

Colombia

Marlenis Arrieta Reyes lives with her husband and two children, who are 14 and 16. They live in the Crespo neighborhood in the city of Cartagena. There, she sells clothes that she offers through a specialised product guide.

Four years ago, when Marlenis started providing transportation for children, she saw the market with the mothers of these little ones – the opportunity to sell them merchandise. She started with encouragement from a friend, who was already in the business via a catalogue. In this way, she got her first customers and gradually, with good service and what she was offering, her clientele grew.

At present, the market segment that is by Marlenis is located in exclusive areas of the city of Cartagena, where she has found profitable customers who recommend her to their acquaintances. With the loan, she will buy a large volume of merchandise that comes with good discounts.

Her goal is to have an effect on her customers every day. She wants to make her dream come true of making more income that will allow her to save and offer a better well-being to her family, so that her children will become successful people in the future.

MOMOGUL HASANOVA

Tajikistan

Momogul Hasanova lives in the city of Vahdat and is involved in retail sales. She opened a mini-market near her house.

Momogul has been in this business for eight years now and is requesting this loan for the purchase of a new refrigerator and dairy products.

SYLVIA BOSIRE

Kenya

For the past two years, Sylvia Bosire has operated a cosmetics shop selling to her neighbours and passersby. One major challenge to Sylvia in her business is competition from other cosmetics shops. She dreams of expanding her business to a wholesale shop in the future.

With this loan, she wants to purchase a photocopier machine so she can add photocopying as a service she offers to customers.

We invite you to make a donation to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries at kiva.org. Or, if you would like us to invest with Kiva on your behalf, contact us at info@abn.org.au and we can include you with our next round of support.

The Australian Businesswomen’s Network community initiatives have raised over $40,000 in donations to support women around the world.

By Susan Wareham McGrath, Susan Wareham Immigration Services

In recognition of its role as the only Australian organisation dedicated to the political representation of women in business, the Australian Businesswomen’s Network (ABN) was invited to participate in this week’s national Small Business Forum, convened by Senator the Hon Nick Sherry, Australian Minister for Small Business.

The Minister addressed an audience of 80 industry representatives and advocates of small business. He briefly presented the government’s current position on issues relating to Australian SMEs, then took questions from audience members.  The ABN was represented by community leader, Suzi Dafnis.

The minister started his presentation by acknowledging that the current overall business climate is very mixed especially for small business. He said that some areas of business are very flat and subdued, especially in retail, and cited the following contributory factors:

• As we emerge from financial crisis, Australians are saving more and spending less. Some areas of retail are very flat.
• The higher Aussie dollar makes it a tougher environment especially for exporters and tourism.
• There are still financial issues overhanging from the global financial crisis that are impacting on consumer and business confidence. Certain perceptions of federal and state government   also impact confidence.

He noted that online selling was seeing a rapid uptake and that this was having an impact on many industry sectors, making less relevant the geographic base of the distribution of goods and services. The Minister strongly recommended that small businesses try and stay up to date with web-based business distribution and activities – particularly since only 3 in 10 small businesses are currently active online. He also stated that the rollout (over the next decade) of the NBN would be a significant enabler of online business activity.

In his opening address, the Minister also commented on carbon pricing, which, he said, would in most cases have an indirect impact on small business. He advised that the Small Business Support Line has taken 35,000 calls and been provided with additional funding and that a new Business Resource Kit was launched in May, as a USB flash drive that contains a wide range of resources for small business owners.

The ABN had the opportunity to ask two questions, both relating to topics  identified by our members as significant public policy issues.

SMALL BUSINESS ONLINE

Question:

Taking businesses online, the Small Business Online program, closed in June with $14 million in grants given to support small businesses. There is still an incredibly large number of businesses not online which require training on how to make the most of the online opportunities. Will there be more funding for this?

Answer:

I’ve had a lot of discussion with BECs discussing how we can increase the penetration of education. It will require more resourcing of money for education and training.

If I can make an observation – I think in the case of many small businesses, it’s a generational issue. If you didn’t go through high school with any contact with computer based technologies – and indeed also through universities, there is an education and training gap that is very tough to overcome.

We should devote a lot more money across government. Can’t give a specific answer at this point.  Upskilling in this area has to be a major focus, because for some business at least, they’ll die if they don’t adapt to this technology.

As much as I struggle with it personally at times, it’s here, it’s growing – and if we don’t adapt we won’t survive.

The New Digital Enterprise Program – for businesses and non-profit organisations will be introduced incrementally, initially in the areas where the NBN is being rolled out.  It’s a USB flash drive that contains a wide range of resources for small business owners.

Many of the BECs offer one-on-one courses and they are oversubscribed.
There is a huge thirst for knowledge and training.

When you have so many small business the pressure is on time and there is some fear about the technology. A lot of issues to overcome.

CHILDCARE

Question:

Senator, the rebate introduced in 2008 has had a significant  impact on SMEs. To small businesses owners, every staff member is an important part of the team. When women want to get back to work – and as employers its very important to have them back – Is it likely that all legitimate childcare can be subject to rebate?

I’m not an expert or responsible for childcare but based on what I know I suspect the answer is no because of the costs involved. I’d be happy to get more details from the relevant government representative.

The ABN will follow up on this issue and report back on the government’s response.

Other issues raised by the audience related to:

Access to finance

The Minister agreed that access to small business finance had become more difficult and that something needed to be done about the situation.

He also noted that reform for some businesses could relate to the personal property security reform, which will be classified as a secured asset rather than unsecured asset.

Red tape and regulations

The Minister expressed his strong support for deregulation. He said there are 27 reform agenda items currently being reviewed – a complex and diverse list. He believes that one item that will likely be approved relates to business names regulations, with proposed changes including a reduction in overall business names registration costs, due to registration in one state applying nationally.

The Minister feels that two areas of concern that may not obtain approval relate to the duties and responsibility of directors, and regulation around plastics and chemicals

Definition of small business

An audience member raised the issue of current inconsistent definitions of small business having the unintended result of some businesses being ineligible for some government programs.

The Minister indicated it would be unlikely that one definition would be put in place, as there are differing reasons why different definitions are used.

Government procurement policy and small business

The Minister agreed that it is currently difficult for small business to win government contracts due to the onerous conditions placed by government; for example, insurance and liability cover, which are often too expensive for small business

He said that there is a lot more to do in this area and that he would raise the issue via the COAG agenda, as “it would be an assignment worth doing.”

As your advocacy body, the Australian Businesswomen’s Network is currently drafting a follow up letter to the Minister, elaborating on our members’ concerns about the issues above. To ensure that we are as inclusive of members’ interests as possible, we would be interested in hearing of any other issues you’d like us to include in our submission to Senator Sherry.

Please contact Suzi Dafnis on 1300 720 120, or via suzi@abn.org.au, or include your issues as a response to this post.

MORE GREAT POSTS BY SUSAN MCGRATH:

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• Getting on board to overcome professional isolation
• Quotas on Boards. What’s the real issue?

By Julie Wise, The Silver Owl

On Sunday, the Australian Government announced the details of its ‘Clean Energy Future’ package.
Suzi Dafnis and I, along with all the ABN’s resources are working hard to bring out the details on how this change will impact the small business owner. This is a complex and fundamental change to our economy and the devil is in the details, that we’re only just going down into.

However, let’s start our journey by first going through the package’s design, the context and the timeline.  This special edition post will attempt to look at it in parts, 1) FAQs; 2) what has been announced; 3) economic analysis from our leading analysts and 4) where to now.

Is Australia going in alone on carbon pricing?

No. Carbon pricing schemes have already been introduced into many countries who adopted the Kyoto Protocol earlier than Australia. Carbon pricing has been active in New Zealand (2008) and throughout the European Community since 2005.

It’s a fact that Australia’s institutions and institutional investors – including some superannuation schemes -  already trade in carbon credits in these overseas markets just like any other share market.

Is it a price or is it a tax?
Economics define a price as something that is paid ‘once’ for the purchase of a good/commodity/service. While, the definition of a tax is a fee payable on income on a recurring basis. World-wide carbon trading schemes are seen as a price, as users or producers only pay once for each tonne of carbon emissions.

Like other countries, Australia relies on its taxation system to deliver a government’s economic plan. So this is why everyone plays the language – price vs tax - to suit their occasion or opportunity.

What’s the package?
The elements have been widely published (probably to death). Let me do it one more time at a high level so that we’ re on the same page.

The Carbon Pricing Mechanism:

What are the economic impacts?
Talking to some of the economists inside Australia’s banks and the RBA, their summaries are:

• The introduction of the plan removes some of the uncertainty that has been dogging the Australia economy.
• The policy is broadly neutral in economic terms.
• The compensation packages are very complicated so it is still not clear if all the policy uncertainty has been resolved in all sectors or all industries.
• Smaller impact than the GST: The direct impact is smaller than the introduction of the GST – i.e., it raises just 1/3 of the income that the GST does so the impact on prices should be the same.
• There should be no implications for monetary policy: As the direct impact on prices should be small and transitional, the RBA should look though the temporary spike in inflation. Thus the carbon price has no direct implication for interest rates or money markets.
• Minimal impact on overall economic growth or jobs: This does not mean there may not be significant adjustments within and/or between industries. For example, the estimated carbon price burden on the coal industry appears to be relatively small ($1.80/t) but some mines may face higher cost structures and/or higher emissions burden than the average. So while the coal industry, on average, can still grow at solid rates, not all mines may be able to grow with the industry.
• Compensation: Lower income households will be over compensated, while higher income households (around 10% of households) will receive no compensation at all. It has been estimate that up to 1/3 of households will be worse off after the introduction of the carbon price (i.e., no or under-compensated).
• The compensation payments will be delivered in the 2nd quarter of 2012 (worth around $1.5bn).

Unfortunately, the mountain of debate has overshadowed the significant taxation reforms involved in the package.

The tax-scale changes contained in the package are those many have been calling for and formalised in the Henry Tax Review. Very important to expanding Australia’s workforce is the raising of the tax free threshold from $6,001 to $18,201. Not only does this help to offset the impact of the package, it removes the point that for some ‘benefits were more economical than earning and paying tax.’ In turn, this should help expand our workforce, especially in the areas of skill shortages. It will be particularly relevant for part-time and casual workers.

What’s Next?

• The carbon price scheme will be legislated in September/October (it does appear that the Government has the numbers to secure safe passage of the package through both the House of Representatives and the Senate).
• Obviously, we will continue to see fierce political debate on this issue.
• Australian business will adapt, innovate, improvise and overcome.

As I mentioned, there are many more details to pour through as this is not simple and the real analysis has only just begun. I will update as I learn more.

One thing you and I DO know! What’s said in opposition stays in opposition. A new government will not roll back a revenue raising scheme. Change it yes, roll it back no! And so, just like when Australia introduced decimal currency, the metric system,  floated our dollar,  the GST and the online revolution, we adapted, learned and now live with the changes. It will be the same with the carbon price scheme.

MORE GREAT POSTS BY JULIE WISE

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By Jaye Radisich,  Navigate Business

Things could be looking up for small business owners now that we have a minority Labor government, despite small business receiving close to zero attention during the Federal election campaign.

For any legislative change to happen in the next ten months, Labor must win the support of the independents in the lower house. As rural representatives, it is fair to expect that the independents would be acutely aware of how important small businesses are to local communities – so this concern may well be extrapolated to national small business issues.

But, we must remember that governing the nation involves a lot more than just legislating. Arguably, it is far more efficient to govern without legislating at all. From here on in we need to keep a keen eye on policy changes and be ready to scan the next budget line by line to identify the addition or deletion of initiatives that impact on small business. These won’t all show up under the Department with responsibility for small business either.

During the election campaign Labor contained its commitments to small business to promises that had been made earlier during the 2010 budget and the Henry Tax Review announcements. These included a reduction in the company tax rate and a depreciation bonus for small business, not due to start until 2012, and funded with revenue from the mining super profits tax. The Gillard Government has committed to a Tax Summit that will revisit the Henry Tax Review, so here’s hoping that some tax-savvy ABN members will be around the table at the Summit.

For entrepreneurs, now is definitely the time to ‘go digital,’ get NBN-ready and to pursue business ideas that are clean and green. Labor and Green policies should favour initiatives under these banners.

by Suzi Dafnis

In a move that puts to bed once and for all her statement at  AIM’s Women in Management Great Debate in 2005 that “This is Australia – women don’t lead”, Julia Gillard today made history by becoming Australia’s first female Prime Minister.

In an environment where:

• less than 50% of ASX200 companies have women on their boards
• the percentage of female directors in those organisations is only 8.7% and
• the gender wage gap is steadily increasing,

Ms Gillard’s appointment both inspirational and a very welcome wakeup call to corporate Australia.

“This is Australia – women don’t lead”

Along with ABN Advisory Board members and herVoice champions Amy Lyden and Susan McGrath I’ll soon be writing to Ms Gillard, to congratulate her on her appointment and introduce the Australian Businesswomen’s Network as Australia’s peak representative body for Australian businesswomen and female entrepreneurs.

I’d like to include a list of public policy issues of concern to our members in that letter, so if you’d like your voice to be heard and your issue included in the list, please contact me via policy@abn.org.au, or on 1300 720 120. Or, better still, add a COMMENT below.

Best wishes,

Suzi Dafnis
P. S. The 2010 AIM Women in Management Great Debate will be held in Canberra on 2 July and Sydney on 27 August. I hope you’ll join me. Who knows who will say what?

Heads Over Heels is a new initiative that selects a small number of high-growth companies to support each year.  Support can come in a variety of ways including providing access to mentors and business advisors, assistance with strategic and operational challenges, and exposure to potential customers through our extensive network.

Heads Over Heels portfolio companies are businesses with high-growth potential.  These enterprises are led by committed, talented, women owners who seek to grow their companies, have impact in their chosen industry and establish ongoing, sustainable business operations.

Heads Over Heels holds four events per year including company presentation events and themed discussions.

You can learn more at the Heads Over Heels website. And, for more information contact co-founder Sue Klose on 0423 826 344.

Interview by Susan McGrath, Special Projects Advisor

As Australia’s peak representative body for female entrepreneurs and women in business, the ABN recently met with the Hon Craig Emerson, Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy, to garner his thoughts about the future of small business in Australia – and to find out whether the Rudd Government has moved on from its policy of ignoring the specific needs of female business owners.

Susan Wareham McGrath, Advisory Board Member and National Special Projects Manager interviewed Minister Emerson, and reports that she was heartened by his thoughts about the future of small business in Australia; but less than impressed with his Government’s continued refusal to address the specific needs of female business owners.

Craig Emerson | Minister for Small Business

ABN: Minister, what are your thoughts about the future of small business as we emerge from the downtown, albeit slowly?

CE: Small business has a strong future in this country. There’s no doubt small business has played a major part in helping get the Australian economy through the downturn. No doubt that small businesses have kept on staff, remembering the previous era of staff shortages and believing the sector will come out intact. This has had an important, sound consequence of putting a floor under unemployment in Australia. The original Budget forecast was for it to peak at 8.5% – we are now estimating 6.75%. This is due in a substantial part to small business keeping their staff – in some cases they’ve reduced hours, but that’s a lot better than having employees lose their job. As well as making an incredibly valuable economic contribution, this also equates to a valuable social contribution – the scourge of unemployment can last for a long time. It’s likely that small businesses will be rewarded by the loyalty of staff, who will stay on and contribute to profitability as recovery takes place.

Our stimulus package also assisted small business – the original cash payments, for example, helped stimulate the economy at a critical time; they helped avoid negative growth in two quarters in a row. If not for the stimulus, economic analysis indicates that the difference would have been a recession.

ABN: What do you see as growth industries over the next few years?

CE: One growth industry will be retailing. This will be driven by our strong population growth (in comparison with negative growth in some countries), which is higher than expected due to natural increase and our strong immigration program. This will lead to strong demand for retail goods and services. To remain competitive, retailers will however need to develop innovative ways of reaching customers.

Tourism and associated industries will also grow over the next few years.

In terms of women in business, we know that the majority of home-based businesses are run by women who can tap into a huge potential market. Our new broadband network will enable women in particular to develop online activities where they are currently unable to do so – currently downloading can take enormous time, but when our 100 megabits per second broadband network is implemented, women operating from home will be able to reach far more customers.

It’s easy to underestimate the digital revolution – business has increased opportunities to find better ways of contacting customers via the internet – especially young people. Finding ways of accessing a young customer base will require innovative thinking, for example to find sites they’re visiting and make contact with them there.

Another example is tourism. If you’re enquiring into accommodation, a one page website says nothing – and tourists are likely to say “I’m not going to ask”. They expect a virtual tour through the property – not easy to do if you don’t have an online presence. Online tourism is, to an extent, one area in which we could do better. We have relied too much on Australia’s natural assets, which has made us not as sharp as we could be.

China and India’s economic growth is creating a very large middle class in each country, which will want to go overseas on holidays and innovative online marketing is the ideal way to promote Australia to these potential tourists.

ABN: What about the green revolution?

CE: There is potential for the green revolution to become overcrowded. Good, innovative green offerings will be successful, but a lot of people are coming up with similar ideas.

ABN: Has the situation changed since your advice at our last meeting that the Government is not planning to provide any specific funding, programs or initiatives to women in small business?

CE: What we are trying to do is support small business, in which women play a very important role. It would be very difficult to exclude males, particularly where women and men own or run businesses together. We will continue to work to increase the economic context for small business to develop and focus on growth.

ABN: What trends and issues do you see arising for small business over the next year?

CE: The main trends and issues I see will relate to employment. Shortages of skilled staff will re-emerge in some states, particularly in Western Australia, where business organisations are already discussing staff shortages. Consequently, the attraction of skilled workers from eastern states to work in Western Australia will create some shortages in those areas.

by Amy Lyden

It’s been a week of the budget – through every media outlet including a top trending topic on twitter (globally). Much anticipated, yet the Rudd Government delivered a fairly bland, beige budget. Not much cash-throwing about to try to grab votes, the Government is trying to show us that it is responsible and conservative in its efforts to get Australia back on track financially. It claims we will be back in black within 3 years. The budget may be beige but the Government is banking on Australians viewing them as the way to get us out of all this debt. We’ll see.

ABN member Anna Kyriacou has written an overview of the budget so I won’t go too much into detail into the specifics. However here is my take on the 2010 Budget:

The good news:

Business:

Lower taxes, less red tape. This is good news for everyone in business.

There will be a reduction in company tax to 28%, with small businesses having a year jumpstart (2012-13) before all companies benefit. This will enable extra investment back into the business to fund growth. Good move. Of course there is also the 3% superannuation guarantee hike for businesses to fund (up to 12% by 2020). But with an ageing population there has to be some more investment into retirement. We always knew that one was coming.

When I was a member of the Federal Small Business Council the #1 complaint from small businesses was the amount of reporting and compliance required by the Government. This budget has addressed part of this with the simplification of asset depreciation. Small businesses will be able to write off assets under $5000 immediately and write off all other assets at 30% (except buildings).

Also, there will be a new national business name registry. This eliminates the need for businesses to register their trading names in each state (with a fee each time).

Health:

Growing up in the US, aka the land of super expensive health care, this has always been a hot topic for me. The Government is providing $2b in extra funding for health. I think this is good news for all Australians. Some of the initiatives will include: 23 new super clinics, 400 upgraded clinics, training of more nurses, funding for 5,000 nurses in GP clinics, and a new nationwide system of after-hours medical care.

The other exciting thing is the Government is introducing electronic personal health records in 2012. This will make it much easier for doctors to send your health history to referring doctors etc. Welcome to the digital age!

The Bad News:

There is one area where the Government has seriously let down families: Childcare.

The Government has rolled back the Child Care Rebate cap to $7500 (previously $7778). $278 per year doesn’t sound like a lot but with childcare costing as high as $125 per day per child every bit helps. The skyrocketing cost of childcare is a major problem for many families. Women who choose to work must balance this cost with what they earn and for many women working has become a luxury.

And there isn’t going to be relief. With the introduction of the one-carer-to-four-children ratios childcare fees will only increase.

The other problem with the current system is the CCR (Child Care Rebate) is only available for “approved care” not “registered” day care centres, many of which are family day care and the preferred option for many families. But that is another blog….

Summary:

Overall, I think there are some positive changes for small business and business generally (if you’re not in the resources sector!) in this budget. Also Health will certainly get a much-needed boost. But the Government must address the childcare issue – it will not go away and is becoming a heavy burden on many Australian families.

Amy Lyden - Advocacy Advisor – Australian Businesswomen’s Network

An entrepreneur and specialist in ecommerce and online strategy, Amy has had over 13 years of practical experience in these areas. Launching her first website in 1998 Amy was at the forefront of an online revolution without even realizing it. Within a year this site became and remains today a #1 ranking site and global community of pet lovers that attracts over 4 million visitors a year.

This Australia-based business, Bow Wow Meow, now sells product online to over 100 countries worldwide. Amy sold this business in 2007 and turned her energy to the nonprofit sector.

Amy is the recipient of numerous business awards including the 2006 NSW Telstra Business Women’s Awards for Innovation, the 2002 National Telstra Business Award and the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World Grant.

Amy is an Ambassador and former Chairperson for the Australian Businesswomen’s Network, an organisation that supports female entrepreneurs. Amy was also invited to serve on the Commonwealth Small Business Council, an initiative by the Federal minister for Small Business.

Amy is currently the CEO of Australian Scholarships Foundation, an organisation that facilitates scholarships for education and training for people who work in the nonprofit sector. Amy is passionate about using technology to connect people globally for positive change.

By Anna Kyriacou, AKA Group

What can I say about Mr. Swans 3rd Budget Speech, besides the fact it was no Sex & The City 2 (i.e. thrilling)? Instead, we got a very conservative announcement, to say the least.

The good news was there were no real surprises. No ‘effective from 11.00pm EST on the 11 of May 2010′-type announcement (with the exception of the Capital Gains Tax which is effective from 7.30pm 11 May). No surprises means we can stick to our business plans to grow our businesses.

It is also assuring to think that we as a Country could be out of the RED within three years.  This is good news – we do not wish to go down the path of Greece.  Mr. Swan has forecast that the economy will grow by 3.5% in 2010/11 before reaching 4% growth by 2011/12.

Now, although that is a good growth compared to the rest of the globe, can I make a suggestion?  Do not let these rates stop you from aiming for double digit growth within your business.

With this growing economy we will also see unemployment fall to 4.7%, meaning that as business owners we need to focus on our businesses being the place of choice for new team members. We need to focus on being leaders to attract the right staff, as lower unemployment rates often do lead to greater difficulty and employment costs to business owners.

There were no sensational handouts to business owners as in past budgets.  We did though manage to get a few scatterings of very very small pearls, but also some disappointment as follows:

• Immediate claim for GST Paid on assets financed via Hire Purchase Agreements for Small Business that account for GST on the cash basis. In the past GST could only be claimed on each monthly repayment.
• The Government will spend $125.2 million during the next four years to establish a single national register for business names. This will result in business owners not needing to register business names in each state and territory, as well as making searching for trademarks, providing licensing requirements and monitoring your business registrations easier.
• $660 million will be allocated over the next four years in improving skills and job creation, with 39,000 new training places been made available in industries suffering from skills shortages along with support for 22,000 new apprentices. Not sure if this goes far enough as no additional support to encourage employers to employ untrained workers and train on the job.
• $2.7 million will be injected into services to support businesses to be able to access early intervention dispute resolution services that operate under the Franchising, Produce and Grocery Industry and Horticulture and Oil Code of Conduct, reducing businesses legal costs to resolve disputes.
• The Recreational Boat Building and Film Industry will also get some boost from this year’s budget but will be subject to public consultation and will require states to be in agreement.
• Raising the effective tax-free threshold to $16,000 from 2010/11.
• A 50% Tax deduction on the first $1,000 of interest earned on deposits, debentures, annuities and bonds from 1/7/2011. All the small business owners with savings put your hands up.  I suspect we all pay interest rather than earn it. Well the gesture was there we cannot complain, can we?
• The Medical expense tax offset goes from $1,500 to $2,000 before you can qualify for the 20% offset.
• Taxpayers will also be able to opt to accept claiming a flat $500 from 2012/13 and $1,000 from 2012/13 for work related expenses without having to produce receipts or the need to use a tax agent if all they have is salary and work related expenses.  This is good news for taxpayers, not so good for H&R Block and ITP.

All up though not the fan fare of fashion week, no shockers either.  The only thing to hope for now is that the Resources Tax passes through the senate.  Coming out of the red is heavily reliant on that extra revenue.

For a more detailed analysis of this year’s budget, please contact us.