Business Essentials

We’d all like to sail through business life without legal hitches – but sadly, they happen. In fact, Paul Brennan, Principal at Brennans Solicitors tells us, it’s easy to get caught up in a legal wrangle if you’re not careful - which is why he’s drawn up his hit list of the ten biggest ones, the most expensive legal mistakes you’re likely to make, and how to avo...

We all have stories to tell – they may reveal our vulnerabilities, our very personal thoughts and feelings, but we shouldn’t be afraid to tell them because those who work around us, or who buy from us, will respond positively. Colin Pearce reminds us that we’re not just business people, we’re human beings too! Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcarte...

Are you overwhelmed by urgency? Do the distractions throughout the day feel as if you don't have the time to get the important things done? Productivity expert Dermot Crowley has pointed out the problems many of us have in taming urgency in his new book, 'Urgent!' In this episode, he outlines how we control urgency and improve productivity, all the while keeping our stress levels in check. Busines...

So you wake up one morning and say to yourself “Today I’m going to sell my business – and I’m going to get top dollar for it”. If only it was that simple. But the reality is that preparing a business sale can take years. In fact, according to business sales expert John Blight, the process should begin on the day you first started the business. Business Essentials Dail...

If there are any lessons to come out of our experience with COVID, it’s how we’ve learnt to adapt to change. Many businesses have discovered that flexible workplaces, for example, have empowered employees to get on with doing what’s important. Karen Gately, CEO of Corporate Dojo, says we’re seeing a move away from a command-and-control style of leadership. Business Essentia...

There have been many business lessons we’ve learned because of COVID, particularly in sales. For one thing, says Sue Barrett, CEO of Barrett Consulting Group, the pandemic has underlined the importance of ethical behaviours and virtues like trust, cooperation and gratitude. Sue says your strategy, processes, people, and culture, should be underpinned by a holistic approach. Business Essentia...

Being on time matters. In business, punctuality reflects your integrity and builds trust with others whom you honour with a promise of not being late. That’s according to business coach, productivity guru, Les Watson, whose own punctuality you can set your watch to. Les has some tips on how to combat distractions which can prevent us from arriving to events on time. Business Essentials Daily...

Changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct are rolling out in 2021, after years of scandals and enquiries into the sector. Bruce Billson is the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, and it’s ASBFEO that handle initial disputes between franchisor and franchisee. Bruce says that while there are many outstanding examples of Australian franchising, there are those who’...

With 13 years’ experience as CEO at iconic Australian fashion brands, Sportsgirl and Sussan, Colleen Callander is a leader who walks the talk. She says that leadership is inside all of us – you just need the tools to let it shine. Those tools can be found in her book, ‘Leader by Design: Be empowered to lead with confidence in business and in life’. She shares her lessons fr...

Business names can sometimes have a use-by date. If you’re thinking about a name change, there are important things to consider. Luke Faccini, Founder and Brand Strategist of The Sponge branding agency, says sometimes a name change is unavoidable when you move into new markets, for example, and your current name won’t work. Luke takes us through some of the biggest mistakes businesses...

Want to know what your business is really worth? Well instead of “maybe...” or “hopefully...” or “if we’re really lucky…”, why not eliminate the guess work and get a proper valuation done? According to financial advisory expert at Mazars, Angie Winton, there are many benefits, and it needn’t only apply when you’re ready to sell up. Busin...

Let’s be honest, COVID’s exhausting. But are you coping? Or are you reaching the end of your tether - which can be a whole lot more dangerous, according to corporate psychologist Rhonda Andrews. Rhonda tells us how to differentiate between tiredness and emotional exhaustion, and how to gain some resilience during a pandemic which just goes on and on. Business Essentials Daily is produc...

We pick up from the previous episode, talking to Founder and CEO Jeremy Meltzer, who explains the practicalities of integrating with his successful online retail giving platform, i=change. How ‘marketing-return’ should no longer be seen as a cost and ensuring that giving back becomes a profitable exercise for all stakeholders. Reference: If you haven’t already, listen to the prev...

Jeremy Meltzer is the Founder and CEO of i=change, a company that makes it simple and powerful for online retailers to give back. At a moment when it feels strange to promote things that seem meaningless in the midst of a pandemic, but like everyone retailers need to put food on the table, how can we unlock the power of business that makes it simple and powerful to give back in a meaningful way an...

How many times have you said or heard “I’ve got a great business idea!” Well, if indeed the idea is sound but lacks the funds or tech know-how to build, then Dovetail Ventures is for you. Think ‘start-up in a box’, Dovetail’s VC ecosystem that helps small businesses bridge the resource gap to become fully fledged companies. Keith Davison, Dovetail Partner and CO...

NSW property purchasers take heart! If you’re fed up with the onerous transaction costs associated with buying a property – especially those upfront stamp duty payments - you’ll be interested in moves by the New South Wales government to reform the property tax system. Proposed reforms will offer purchasers the choice between the existing stamp duty and land tax regime and a new...

Do you know what you really stand for? Perhaps you’re too busy running your business to ask such deep-seated personal questions. But delve deep you must! says John Di Natale, mentor, keynote speaker and author, because these days it’s more important than ever to consider what you represent. It’s all part of personal branding, he says, it’s important for business, and by the...

Colleen Callander is a self-confessed recovering workaholic. Indeed, her hard work, street smarts and passion for retail catapulted her to the heights of CEO of Sportsgirl and Sussan. But, on the way to the top, she had faced burnout by saying yes to everything and not giving herself a moment to stop and recharge. Today she understands the importance of setting boundaries to maintain physical and...

Have you got a story to tell? Colin Pearce will say “I hope so!”. Colin has told us many times that a story will beat a power point presentation hands-down if you want to make a meaningful, memorable connection with your audience. So for something a little different this morning, we asked Colin to tell us HIS favourite story. And he ends up taking us on quite a journey…but there...

With all the challenges that businesses have faced since early 2020, you would think that many would have gone to the wall. So, are insolvency rates up? Not at all, says restructuring and insolvency expert Sean Wengel, in fact the opposite is true. But it could be a very different picture from here on, he warns, as he tells us what’s going on in the insolvency world, an update on the safe ha...

Ian Whitworth sees so many people attempt to build their own businesses but are stymied by big business myths. It shouldn’t be so complicated – success, Ian insists, is built on simple rules, including Year 6 maths, basic decency, and no jargon. His own business, Scene Change – Australia’s leading AV hiring and production company – is testament to his no-nonsense way...

Don’t let bumps in the road get in your way to success. That's the message from former Hoyts Cinemas CEO, Peter Ivany, who faced many bumps in his journey to take Hoyts from a 40-theatre chain to more than 2,000 theatres a decade later. He spends much of his time these days giving back to the community with several chairmanships of not-for-profits in sport, the arts and charities. Peter&rsqu...

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok – where’s your audience and how do you reach them, standing out in the big wide social media world? Well here’s a tip from Leanne Peard, Social Media Specialist & Trainer: don’t be afraid of the camera – get in front of it and start rolling! Business Essentials Daily is produced by: SoundCartel soundcartel.com.au +61 3 9882 8333 See omn...

One of the biggest differences between professional football and business is football's focus on talent and teaching. As an AFL CEO for close to 25 years, Cameron Schwab saw first-hand how elite sport focuses almost entirely on the players and how they work together. Cameron, founder and CEO of designCEO, reckons that a lot of business leaders don't go deep enough to improve the performance of the...

If you’ve found business planning just a trifle tricky, what with COVID, you’d be only one in many thousands of businesses across Australia struggling with the same issue: what lies ahead? So, who better to turn to at this mid-point of the calendar year – and the start of a new financial year - than our trusted economist Professor Neville Norman, from Melbourne University. Listen...