What’s in a name?

Posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Apple was inspired by Steve Jobs’ love of fruit, Reebok was named after a South African antelope and Google reportedly started as a joke between friends. It’s easy to get over-awed when trying to come up with your business name, but here’s my tip: just have some fun with it! Step 1 – coming up with your name. There are lots of ways of coming up with a business name – it could be descriptive, abstract, based on colours, actions or words. I reckon asking your kids is a really good starting point. They’re really in tune with what’s attractive to them and won’t be biased by everything that’s going around in your head. Step 2 – make it real. Nobody wants to be dealing with joebloggs@yahoo.com when they’re doing business. In the age of spammers trying every tactic under the sun to get into your inbox, you need to be more professional than that. So the second step is checking whether your business name’s web domain is available, eg. joebloggs ... Read the rest of entry »

You're either a disruptor, or you're being disrupted!

Posted on Monday, March 11, 2019
Cast your mind back to 2009. Twitter was in its infancy, the iPad hadn’t been invented yet, and you could really only remember 4-5 phone numbers off the top of your head.   Fast forward just one decade, and the world has completely changed. Technological advances have disrupted every industry from food delivery to accounting, and your small business has to find a way to keep up.   Last night on Let’s Talk Business on the Macquarie Radio Network, I highlighted three careers that didn’t exist 10 years ago, that are now pivotal to your small business’ survival:   SEO Specialist – This person can be contracted by your small business to make sure that your website (you’ve got one, right?) is completely up to date with all the search engine keywords necessary to ensure you appear in Google searches when someone is looking for businesses like yours. If you don’t appear in Google searches, you’re in strife.   Cloud Architect – This pers ... Read the rest of entry »

Are your bank credit card reward points safe? I don’t think so!

Posted on Monday, March 11, 2019
Credit card companies know exactly how to market to our wishes. They know we love our points and rewards and we’re falling for their offers blindly. The issue is we become complacent with the points programs. The credit card rewards system goes a little something like this: the more money you spend, the more points you rack up. Once you hit a certain threshold, you can trade in those points for some kind of “reward”—usually appliances or flights. But the value of these rewards is questionable to say the least. Unsurprisingly, new analysis by financial comparison website RateCity has found some of the worst returns on cards are offered by the biggest banks. In some cases providers give customers just one quarter of a point for every dollar spent. To be rewarded a $200 SMEG kettle some of the worst value cards include: • ANZ’s Frequent Flyer — spend required $133,470. • Westpac’s Altitude Qantas — spend required $77,860. • NAB ... Read the rest of entry »

Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, and cash is a reality.

Posted on Monday, February 25, 2019
Cashflow is the key to running a successful small business, but it’s the thing that many small business owners struggle with the most. In my opinion revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, and cash is a reality. This means it’s time for business owners to put themselves first.   On last night’s episode of Let’s Talk Business, I shared a few more of my tips for small businesses to boost cashflow…   Guru tip 1 – Put profits ahead of revenue by offering fewer products or services at higher profit margins.   Guru tip 2 – Don’t be afraid to get a loan to solve short-term cashflow problems, but if you do, make sure you don’t put up bricks and mortar as surety.   Guru tip 3 – If you can’t get a loan, get creative by introducing a post-purchase payment system like Afterpay or Splitit to increase your up-front cashflow.   Guru tip 4 – Cut your liabilities by employing sub-contr ... Read the rest of entry »

Flood devastation: the beginnings of a fix

Posted on Monday, February 18, 2019
I don't think many of us realise the enormity of the Queensland floods. Land the size of Victoria has been inundated, causing financial and emotional heartbreak and devastation.   Australia’s 150,000 farmers produce enough food to feed 80 million people. Not only do they provide 93% of the domestic food supply, but they support an export market valued at more than A$40 billion per annum – that’s over 13% of national export revenue.   As a result of this catastrophic flood, much of that has been left in tatters. In North Queensland 800 properties have been affected but due to prohibitive insurance costs, most commercial breeding herds were not covered for losses arising from floods. It is estimated the value of these losses is in the hundreds of millions.    Neither is it likely that insurance will cover the property damage caused by the flood, as the damage came from the ground up (flooding), instead of the roof down (storm damage).   This presents an extr ... Read the rest of entry »