Business Essentials

When someone’s emotional or psychological needs are unmet, they may adopt a victim mentality as a way of drawing attention to themselves. This behaviour is an insidious workplace issue. Its impact can be just as destructive as that of bullies and narcissists, and can ruin company culture. Roxanne Calder, Managing Director of recruitment firm EST10, explains what behaviours to look out for and how...

If you have a client who owes you thousands of dollars or more and who is not returning your phone calls or messages, what can you do? There are several options, says Paul Cott, Principal at Law on Lydiard. Engaging a lawyer or a debt collector is a last resort, which may not necessarily guarantee you getting your money back. You can go to court and win, and still be out of pocket. Paul details th...

A large number of Australian employees are turning up to work unwell due to depleted sick leave and cost-of-living pressures. With no remaining sick days, they go to the office feeling unwell because they can’t afford unpaid leave. Those are the findings from a recent survey from people2people recruitment. Suhini Wijayasinghe, Head of HR Solutions at the company, says the survey underscores the po...

Too many client presentations are self-serving with badly organised and complex content. Moreover, great ideas are often lost in a sea of slides that don’t connect with the audience. That’s according to David Fish, a globally recognised strategist and business leader, who’s worked with some of the world’s largest advertisers. He’s also author of ‘What it takes to create winning presentations’, in...

Numbers have a magnetic effect on people and can anchor their behaviour. Behavioural specialist, Bri Williams discusses a golf study which found that professional golfers tended to take fewer strokes when the same hole was labelled as a par four compared to when it was labelled as a par five. The implications of this research extend beyond golf and into daily business life. It highlights how expec...

How does a busy business person slow down and take back control in a world of constant noise and interruption? Occupational therapist, Angela Lockwood, addresses those issues in her book 'Switch Off: How to find calm in a noisy world'. She has espoused everyday activities to cut out the clutter and bring focus back into our lives, including breathing exercises, outdoor play, healthy eating, laughi...

Whether you’re new to the investment game or not, investing without proper planning or financial organization can lead to poor outcomes. Former financial advisor, Glen James is host of the successful Retire Right podcast and author of ‘The Quick-Start Guide to Investing’. Glen spells out his five steps to an investment strategy: setting goals, determining the time horizon, choosing investment styl...

Building a business that operates independently of its owner increases its appeal and value to potential buyers. Bill Withers understands this all too well, he’s the Founder of ADAPT by Design, and former owner of global, geoscience tech company, acQuire. He’s also the author of ‘Succession Thinking: Build a resilient business and deliver sustained value’. Succession thinking requires building a r...

Give your team the tools to do their job and watch your business shine. That’s one of the messages from Diederik Gelderman, a successful veterinarian, who now advises others – not just vets – on how to grow successful businesses via his consulting firm, Turbo Charge Your Practice. He says being nice to people is important for not only business success but in its own right. Business Essentials Dail...

As business owners, we often get stuck in the day-to-day activities, and neglect working on the business. Systemising business processes will allow us to break free. That's according to Joel Gerschman, Managing Dire­­ctor of The Change Coach, who’s written a book on escaping the shackles of your business to achieve wealth, freedom and fulfilment. ‘The Mindful Entrepreneur’ is all about how to make...

Swearing is becoming more commonplace in the media, in social circles and at work. It’s not necessarily a bad thing – in fact, Adrian Baillargeon reckons it can be good for you and your team. Adrian is a leadership team performance specialist and author of ‘Teams That Swear: By each other, not about each other’. Swearing can be cathartic and it can build connection within the team. But Adrian errs...

Self-motivation driven by a personal need to prove oneself is the first key to entrepreneurial success. Alan Manly believes this internal drive can be both a powerful motivator and a harsh critic. Alan is an entrepreneur and CEO of CampusQ, and he offers his five skills entrepreneurs need to succeed: entrepreneurial flair, finding a good idea, confidence, risk-taking, and having a business plan. B...

Disagreements are crucial for a high-functioning team that makes effective decisions. However, we’ve lost the art of disagreeing effectively, which can lead to unnecessary conflict. In an increasingly polarised world, both on social media and in the workplace, it’s vital to relearn how to debate ideas without attacking each other. Communications specialist Leah Mether offers several tips for disag...

Consumers trust word of mouth 2.4 times more than branded content. With this in mind, James Smith, CEO of digital agency, Smith Brothers Media, believes that making people feel like they’re part of the experience, and having users generate their own content for your brand can be a match made in heaven. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.au +61 3 9882 8333 See omn...

If you find that you’re spending more time working on your business but getting little reward for it, you may have hit an ‘entrepreneurial ceiling’. Now’s the time to look at your systems, redesign your strategy and shift your mindset.  Chris Green is a mentor, strategist and author of ‘Business by Design: Take your business from chaos and overwhelm to scalable and rewarding’. He says, if you’re t...

One of the issues facing struggling sales teams is a lack of consistency. If they have a sound strategy and process in place, then the results can flow from that. Sales expert Sue Barrett says online consumers are inundated with advertising, which makes it tough for any marketing to cut through all the noise. Businesses need to adopt the old-fashioned sales technique of prospecting – that ability...

Investing in your customers’ growth is a smart strategy, according to Trent Innes, Chief Growth Officer at SiteMinder. Trent calls this approach “win, love, grow”, by focusing on continually winning the customer every month, not just at the point of sale. By making your customers’ growth a priority, he says, you create a foundation for mutual prosperity and long-term business success. Business Ess...

Now is the perfect time to reassess your current marketing strategy for the year ahead. Now's the time to reflect on the last six months, make adjustments and revise new targets. Christopher Melotti, Founder and CEO of Melotti Content Media, walks us through his 10 steps to kick-start a mid-year marketing plan. He says it’s important to regularly measure and adjust the marketing plan based on data...

With so many marketing channels to choose from, how do you know which is the right one for you and your business? How do you turn strangers into paying customers? Well, rather than a scatter-gun approach, the best strategy is to choose one marketing channel for 90-days with 100% commitment. Amy Miocevich, Founder of Lumos Marketing says, if it doesn’t work, then move on to something else. If it do...

With employment remaining low at close to 4%, employers still continue to face sharp competition for talent. Added to that is the recent increase in the national minimum wage. Stephen Roebuck, Associate Director of Advice & Consultancy at Employsure, says although the wage increase impacts only a small percentage of workers directly, it affects a significant portion of the workforce through mo...

Living up to the expectations of others can be a heavy weight. From childhood to our working lives and beyond, we’re largely driven by what’s expected of us. But what if those expectations tie us down and prevent us from reaching our dreams? As a keynote speaker, author and mentor, John Di Natale knows first-hand about managing expectations of others and going his own instead. Business Essentials...

Too many superficial fads, like juice diets and fitness gadgets, permeate the self-help market. They do nothing in the long-term for a healthy and happy life. Jim Penman, founder and CEO of Jim’s Group, wants to change the way ordinary Australians approach their lives. He has started a new division with renowned life coach, Sue Thomas. The new franchise is called Jim’s Life Coaching, specifically...

Have you been relying too much on a handful of your most diligent employees, to do everything in the business? You’re leaning on them to complete projects and deliver results daily. Well, you risk leaving them frustrated and burnt out. That’s according to Ishan Galapathy, an expert in operational excellence, mentor and author of ‘Unlock: Engage the Seemingly Disengaged’. The challenge, he says, is...

When it comes to influencing people to change their behaviour, we tend to use logic. That doesn’t work, says behavioural specialist Bri Williams. Humans are emotional creatures: we’re lazy, scared and confused, she insists. By lazy, she means we’re creatures of habit and therefore behaving in a new way takes effort. We’re scared because we don’t want to try something different in case it fails. An...

Sales teams tend to focus a lot on efficiency, for example, how to make cold calls, how to overcome objections, and how to spot a good lead. But by focusing solely on efficiency, they’ve forgotten about the importance of effectiveness . Entrepreneur, Roy Osing says that rather than being comfortable with sub-par performance, sales needs to be transformed into a strategic asset, demonstrating outst...