Business Essentials

A. Raptis & Sons is your quintessential migrant-family business success story. In the 1950s, Arthur and Anna Raptis migrated from a Greek fishing village to South Australia, where they opened a fish and chip shop, with a wholesale fish area at the back. Three generations later, Arty Raptis, Arthur Senior’s grandson, is CEO of a multi-million-dollar enterprise with a fleet of boats fishing for...

Has growing your customer base stalled? Are you struggling to attract people to your website? Or maybe you have a tonne of online visitors but they’re just not buying. Whatever the case, it’s time to check for bottlenecks. Amy Miocevich, marketing guru and Founder of Lumos Marketing, has developed a framework, outlined in her book, ‘The Very Good Marketing Guide: How to Grow Your Business on a Bud...

A manager needs to embody a group of distinct archetypes if they are to reach their full potential, according to recruitment expert and Director of Talent X, Marnie Jones. From the pusher to the mentor, the trainer to the policeman, Marnie Jones explains her seven management archetypes and why embracing them all can lead to a better workplace, retention of staff, and higher profits. Business Essen...

How often have you sent an email unsure whether the person you sent it to would read it?  Most of us blithely type an email and click ‘send’ hoping for a good result.  Problem is, with so many emails in their overflowing inbox, yours might not ever be opened, let alone acted upon. Productivity and leadership expert Scott Stein, has five mini hacks to help guide the recipient to open and read your...

Building brand value rather than just brand awareness, and understanding algorithm requirements, is the secret to success on social media, says George Hawwa, Growth Director of social media agency, Attention Experts. George says the social media landscape has changed dramatically in the last couple of years, and that “likes” and “shares” are no longer a metric of success. To help foster business,...

Virtual learning has become a game changer for businesses, according to Sales and Negotiation Consultant Julia Ewert. With the rising cost of travel, companies are turning to what she calls ‘virtual engagement’, to increase productivity. She says smart businesses are upskilling their existing workforce rather than taking on new staff. And by approaching sales with humility and focusing on serving...

If you’re agonising over writing that report or a delicate email to a client, ChatGPT just might be the tool to save you the time and angst. It’s the artificial intelligence tool, which uses information it’s learned from training data, to follow prompts or instructions and provide a detailed response. Productivity expert and author, Donna McGeorge explains how to use ChatGPT in your business. And,...

An online brand personality helps build an authentic connection with your market. That’s according to Joel Gerschman, CEO of Digital Pilot and The Change Coach, who’s identified 12 personality archetypes to help businesses achieve growth online. Joel outlines the six components to build a successful brand strategy. References: Find out more about Joel Gerschman and his digital businesses at Digita...

Is your business an all-round nice-guy Tom Hanks type, a fun Adam Sandler, or maybe an elegant Cate Blanchett? Business coach and digital marketing guru, Joel Gerschman, reckons that adopting a Hollywood archetype can help you differentiate yourself from the competitive online world. Joel Gerschman is a leading business coach, best-selling author, co-founder of  Digital Autopilot and CEO of  The C...

As a businessman, John Wood built Fleetwood Corporation – the largest integrated company of its type in Australia, with caravan parks, park homes, lifestyle villages and much else in between. Then he walked away. Disillusionment set in, followed by a hiatus in John’s life as he explored what really matters in business and life. John discovered a transformative way of thinking. It opened his eyes t...

Sales calls – for some they come with a sense of dread, but what holds a lot of people back is not knowing what to say and a fear of rejection. Bri Williams is a behavioural specialist who’s studied the words that best hold the client’s attention and engage them naturally, to ideally, avoid the brush off. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.au +61 3 9882 8333 See...

A core element to great customer service is a recovery strategy. It’s how you react to those times when, inevitably, your business makes a mistake. Often, businesses do the bare minimum to assuage their customers, when in fact they could and should go above and beyond to fix the error; which will help markedly in a creating a positive impression. That’s according to entrepreneur Roy Osing. He call...

One of the biggest barriers to expanding your business overseas is not knowing where to start. Well, according to Cynthia Dearin, Managing Director of Dearin Associates, you could be missing out on massive opportunities if you don’t give it a go. The key is not to rely on your gut feel. To truly achieve success overseas, she says, you need crystal clear vision, a powerful plan, momentum and the re...

No doubt there are some in your team who are facing money worries. Financial stress, like any forms of stress, can have a negative impact on performance and can lead to further problems, including depression. As a boss, you can help with support and education, says Jacqui Clarke, author of ‘Stop worrying about money – start planning now to secure your financial future’. She explains how you can en...

Too often we’re fixated on finding new customer leads. It’s what sales guru Tony Gattari calls “lead madness”. First and foremost, he says, you need to be able to accurately measure the different variables in your sales and marketing process: customers, transactions, and average dollar sales. If you increase the variables by 10%, you could potentially increase your profit margin by 61%, without ha...

Federal Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers, has announced a budget surplus, but, in spite of reports, it’s not the first time in 15 years. Plenty of governments over that period have announced budget surpluses, says our regular economics commentator, University of Melbourne Professor Neville Norman, but few have actually delivered one. Is this budget going to worsen inflation? Will interest rate increases...

A perception still exists among many in business that sales is a combat sport. In order to be good at sales, you need a thick skin and be hardwired to win at all costs – qualities that tend to favour men. Well, those stereotypes fall well short of reality, says Sue Barrett, CEO of Barrett Consulting Group. She says women bring specific qualities that differ from traditional sales stereotypes leadi...

What’s the difference between a team that is merely functioning and one that is flourishing? Well, a high-performing team is able to build trust, create accountability, and unify around a common purpose. How do you achieve that? Leadership Coach Bernard Desmidt has a formula to build great teams, which he outlines in his book, ‘Team Better Together: 5 disciplines of high performing teams’. He outl...

Who wants a more profitable and stress-free business? We all do, right? Well, Tony Gattari of ActionCOACH has eight ways in which you can build a business with more value, and which will allow you to free up more of your time. Not only will it be a better business, but a potential buyer will pay top dollar for it. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.au +61 3 9882...

Barriers to growth are many - none more so than finding capital. Small businesses in particular struggle to find extra money to fund growth because of a lack of time and resources. Business mentor, John Di Natale offers some interesting alternatives to the traditional means to raising capital. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.au +61 3 9882 8333 See omnystudio.c...

Do you know your responsibilities under Australian consumer law? If you think it only applies to certain types of businesses, think again. According to Business Lawyer, Tracey Mylecharane, it’s absolutely vital that you do everything necessary to comply with this law. She says it’s important to look at your documents, systems and processes to ensure both you and your potential customers and client...

The problem with most business proposals is that they’re too focused on selling the business to the potential clients. A better tactic is to focus on the client’s needs and wants. It’s outlined in Alan Weiss’s book, ‘Million Dollar Consulting Proposals’, a well-worn copy of which is in the hands of Nicole Ashby, Founder of Mentoring to Success. Nicole and her clients swear by the million-dollar pr...

An increasing number of business owners are realising that a good workplace culture is important for business health and success. Problem is, they’re not sure what they can do to improve their company culture. To help is culture change specialist, Colin Ellis, who shares a whole range of ideas from his book, ‘Culture Hacks’. Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.au...

COVID changed the world, and now many businesses find themselves having to undertaking sales work over the web, with videoconferencing replacing face-to-face encounters. Sales and negotiations consultant Julia Ewert says there are some important things to remember when conducting sales meetings over the web. She said that on the web, speed kills, so dedicating more time to asking open questions, a...

Small business owners who’ve not yet gone digital are wasting more than a day in every week. That’s according to Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia, a small-business software as a service company. She says that although the thought of digitising tasks can be incredibly intimidating for some, even taking the first steps can save time and money. She says the trick is to do it in stages — start...