New Business Talk - Starting A Business In Australia

Corporate to small business transition - Who really cares about your cat?

Stepping out of the corporate space or family is usually a turbulent time.  You may have great conviction about your reasons for this decision. Unfulfilling work, poor relationships with your peers or management, unending boredom all may serve to justify your decision.  It’s just that most people see the decision as simply that – a decision and they can get on with it.  For only a lucky few – it is.

Recession is coming. What happens if I get retrenched?

The world is spinning.  Interest rates are rising and the cost of borrowing, working and living is increasing.  Some companies will not be able to support the increased costs that they are now experiencing, with the result that they will start to trim staff members.

What happens if you find yourself on that dreaded “retrenchment list”?

I Know What I’m Doing. Of Course I’ll Be Better Off...

It’s time.  You’ve decided to move.  So now you’re going on a long journey to some place you've never been to before.  You've committed yourself and your family to stay there for several years, but you don't have a road map to get there or to show you the way once you’ve arrived.

But how can you be certain it’s the right move for you?

Start Me Up - Branding basics for new businesses

Good branding is fundamental to any leading business, whether it be large or small. But many ‘start-up’ businesses overlook the importance of developing a brand, as it can seem costly and time consuming. Covering the following branding basics will ensure you are able to start marketing and promoting your business from the word go with confidence and professionalism - and without breaking the bank.

Beware The Competence Trap

It’s an unforgiving world, going into your own business.  When you start, it’s quite normal to believe that your particular skill or talent is the basis of success.  After all, it’s the very foundation of your business and what you do.

Then comes that slow, inexorable realisation that you really need to be good at a whole lot of other things as well.  Nobody warned you that the skill you thought was so important would become just a product that you sell.

Getting your bookkeeping right from the word go

Cash flow is the life blood of any business, yet many small business owners have very poor financial management systems in place. This places their businesses at risk, limits their ability to make effective business decisions and slows the reaction to market challenges and trends.

Visualise a business that has enough cash on hand to cover all expenses - at the right time, every time - and I would show you a business that maintains their financial records on a regular basis.

Making the Most of the Corporate to Small Business Transition

A reflection on Personal & Professional Change

Let me plug you in.  It’s 3:30pm Friday and the project management meeting you are in is stretching before you like a never-ending outback horizon.  This space is mindlessly boring - a soul-less “ground zero”.  You do your best of course.  Your Manager’s voice drones on like a freeway hum.  In this banal address, corporate speak, the flat abstract jargon that punctuates the boredom serves to remind you of one thing – this is no place for your future.

And then, phoenix-like, the solution rises and envelopes you. You imagine yourself at peace in an idyllic work setting. You will start your own business!

Recession is coming! What can I do to protect my business?

In the press currently there is all sorts of news relating to the loans problems in the USA. Now that has spread concern to the rest of the world including Australia. The impact that we can see is that the stock market has dropped continuously, losing all the gains made over the past year, with the odd partial recovery.

Individuals and investment firms are selling down shares to clear the margin calls that the banks have placed on them – having a knock on effect to falling share prices; and today I see predictions from the powers that be of 2 years worth of interest rate rises.

Is Your Start-up Business Lost in a Maze?

As you are starting your business, are you being bombarded with “opportunities”? Is everyone promising you the earth and guaranteed success? Have you wasted lots of time trying to evaluate all the opportunities, only to hit many dead ends, or find yourself back at the start again? How much energy, and money have you expended only to find that you have been going round in circles in a maze?

Your New Business: To start or to buy?

For those who are seriously intending to become business owners, the question of whether to start or buy a business is a serious one. Clearly there are advantages and disadvantages for each, so it is important to make an objective assessment of your objectives and your resources before you take the plunge.

The key differences between buying and starting hinge on the fact that when buying an established business, you are (in theory) purchasing a trading entity that is established in factors such as infrastructure, client base, systems, procedures, marketing and cash flow. These have implications both negative and positive on your decision to buy or start a business.

Here are some considerations to get you started: