The Business Behind Your Business - Real Advice to Help Small Business Owners Build, Lead and Thrive

What are your business and personal goals for the year? What plans have you made? How will you implement these plans? How will you assess if your goals are being met? If these questions leave you feeling overwhelmed, never fear! It's NEVER too late to make a business plan. Find out the benefits of making a business plan, plus some simple tips to get you started. Learn about the simple framewo...

The 2023 calendar year has drawn to a close. For many, it was still a year of hangover effects from covid and poorer economic conditions. For many others, it was a year of substantial growth and increased profits.  So what set those businesses apart? In this episode, our host Paul Sweeney reflects on some of the key takeaways from conversations with our guests and business owners. From all of the...

What do you need to consider when choosing an accountant for your business? It's an important decision -  getting the right accountant for your needs can help you build a profitable and healthy business.  Here are some key factors to consider: What services does your business need?  What are your values? What are the qualifications and experience of the accountant? Benefits of using an accoun...

One of the accepted risks of running a business is being audited by the tax department. Nowadays, there are multiple government agencies that you and your business  may need to deal with, apart from just the Australian Tax Office and possible income tax audits. With increased data sharing between government organisations, it has become much more common to have audit activity triggered for things l...

What can you do to give yourself the best chance of success in your business? Following on from our last episode on business health checks, Paul Sweeney shares the 7 steps you need to take to create some positive changes in your business. What kinds of outcomes can you expect? Your business will be more profitable, you'll be less stressed, and you'll feel more in control. It's very...

In general, small businesses are not healthy. Here are some alarming statistics - Australian Small Business and Family Enterprises Ombudsman (ASBFEO) has found that 49% of small business owners make less than average wages, and two out of 5 micro and small businesses are not profitable. Interestingly, there are also businesses who are thriving in the current conditions, at the same time these othe...

Events have long been a go-to strategy for businesses aiming to showcase their products or services. However, it's not uncommon for these efforts to fall flat despite the considerable investments of time, effort, and money. In this episode we address the questions of:  How can we turn the tide and make our events successful?  How do we extract real value from hosting these gatherings? And mos...

Knowing your business and providing amazing products or services is only part of running a successful venture. Another crucial aspect of business success is building positive relationships.  From fostering business-to-business ties, to encouraging return customers, to keeping fantastic staff - how you manage relationships is integral to your business. We are joined by Jason Owen, the Managing Dire...

Business owners -  here's an important question to ask yourselves, "Do my customers actually know what I do for them?" We are joined again by Nathan Williams (Customer Return) to look at this crucial issue - and how the use of storytelling can help bridge the gap in understanding and build your relationship. You can spend a lot of time and energy providing amazing services or produc...

We hosted The Business Behind Your Business Meet Up – a fun celebration for our podcast community. All of our podcast guests and listeners have been a special part of our podcast and we wanted to say thank you, plus hear from everyone about their business journeys. It was a great opportunity to network and build our small business community. We also enjoyed morning tea and gave away some podcast m...

One of the biggest issues for business owners is managing cash flow. Healthy cash flow is crucial for the success of any business. Cash flow is a term that is often confused with profit. Business owners often say, "My business is busy and profitable, so why don't I have any money in the bank?" Find out why it is so important to understand your financial reports and learn some simple...

We are joined by Anna Ruth from Freedom for Humanity for an eye-opening chat about modern slavery.  Freedom for Humanity is an organisation committed to creating a world where human rights are upheld, and all individuals can flourish and thrive. In this conversation we delve into Anna's profound insights, her passion for human rights, and the incredible work being done by Freedom for Humanity...

As a small business owner, have you ever thought about doing business with large companies and decided it was never going to happen because it was just 'too hard' or the differences between your business and theirs were just too great? Find out how to successfully bridge the gap between small businesses and larger businesses. Learn about why small business owners can struggle to get cont...

We are joined by our special guest, The Honourable Bruce Billson, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO). Bruce explains the role of ASBFEO and the different programs and services available to assist small businesses. Helping small businesses with dispute resolution A policy and advocacy space to help small businesses deal with governments and regulators Sharing the...

The end of the financial year is swiftly approaching  - so what does that mean for you as a business owner? What activities do you need to do to set your business up for the best start in the new financial year? There are two types of essential business planning that you should be doing at this time of year. First of all, there is tax planning and secondly, there is strategic planning. Tax plannin...

If you have a business in Australia, you may have noticed that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) is putting a lot of effort into recovering debt from businesses. This is because over the last few years, debt collection had been halted because of Covid and it's many issues like lock downs. We are joined by Bruce Gleeson (Jones Partners Insolvency) to look at ways that businesses can better engag...

The Melissa Caddick Ponzi scheme rocked the investment world when it came to light a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, this kind of fraudulent behaviour is nothing new or unusual and we all need to guard against it. Our special guest, Bruce Gleeson (Jones Partners), is the liquidator for Melissa Caddick and has been very busy working on this case. Bruce shares some advice to help investors prote...

Are you curious about starting a business? Do you want to learn more about the SaaS industry? Maybe you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur yourself? Listen in and gain some insight from our special guest, Stuart McLeod, co-founder of Karbon.  Stuart has had many experiences as an entrepreneur. He started off in his early days with creating a tool to solve his own business problem, and luck...

Did you know that a series of changes to industrial relations laws have been happening in Australia? Some have come into effect in Dec 2022 and others are happening throughout 2023. Many business owners are not aware of these changes. It is necessary for business owners to keep on top of this information - ignorance is no excuse. Penalties will apply to businesses not following the new rules, once...

Do you feel like you are stuck in a rut making the same goals for your business every year because these goals are never achieved? Maybe it's time to take a closer look at how you are setting your goals. Paul Sweeney (Pretium Solutions) explores how goals are developed - and asks the all-important question of what lies underneath your goals, the why . Find out how you can create a plan for yo...

Business owners spend a lot of time thinking about the things they should be doing. What are the latest trends to get on top of? What are the newest tools you need to be using? What are your goals and targets for the year ahead? But few business owners take the time to think about what they need to stop doing .  We all pick up habits, some good, some not so productive.  And sometimes it's use...

Are you feeling stuck in the day to day routines of your corporate job? Have you ever dreamed of running your own business? You are not alone! Many people take the plunge into the SME waters - but is it worth it? And is it the right decision for you? If you are thinking about making a move, then this is the episode for you! We are joined by Wendy Minne from Nova Mentis, an accredited business coac...

Paul Sweeney, the host of The Business Behind Your Business, is back and ready for another exciting year of delving into the world of small business.  We are settling into 2023 now with the Australian summer holidays fading into memory and busy routines returning. We are also seeing a push from many businesses to have staff back in the office after the last few years with many of us working from h...

Maybe you've been wondering how this podcast came about? A bunch of factors coming together resulted in Paul Sweeney wanting to create a podcast focused on content to help small business owners. First of all, Paul comes from a small town where he saw first hand the implications of local businesses succeeding or failing and how this affected the whole community. This background inspired Paul t...

Are you guilty of mindless spending at work? Maybe you have cash leaking from your business and you don't even realise it! Paul Sweeney (Pretium Solutions) explores some of the most common areas where money is wasted: Unused or under-used subscriptions Unnecessary licences Old subscriptions from past employees Automatic renewals These areas are often overlooked by business owners. Take contro...