Lorna Brett

Accounting and legal practices have reported a slow down in SMB growth over the past three months, as the middle market faces rising international and domestic economic pressures.

Plenty happened in the business world this week, from ACCC and Choice commenting on Metcash’s federal court win and the first Masters hardware store opening, to Melbourne being named the world’s most livable city. To keep you up to date, Dynamic Business has wrapped up the week’s most important news.

Optus has formed an alliance with Qantas Frequent Flyer (QFF) to reward its personal and SMB customers with frequent flyer points.

Your Friday Entrepreneur Fix this week features Emma Welsh and Tom Griffith; the childhood friends that went on to found Emma & Tom’s juices.

Jetts Fitness has partnered with Westpac to secure high-level franchise accreditation for its fast-growing franchise network.

Google has updated its web apps offering to deliver offline access, with Gmail Offline now available and offline access to Calendar and Docs to roll out over the next week.

Retail turnover rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in July, much to the relief of many small businesses, after registering consecutive falls in the two months previous.

Online entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan has issued a challenge to his big bricks and mortar retail competitors, in the belief he delivers Australia’s cheapest electronics.

According to Gerry Harvey local consumers should be “as happy as pigs in sh**” and spending their cash, given low unemployment and the resources boom.

The Australian Businesswomen’s Network (ABN) is inviting women looking to get ahead to take part in its “Spring into a New Career” initiative, which launches today.