Advice

Meet the brother and sister duo behind Palm Beach Collection, the home-grown candle business whose products are in hot demand overseas.

Local SMBs are turning to global sourcing at a growing rate to bring down the costs of doing business, which is blurring the defined borders of international markets. Sourcing internationally isn’t without risks though, which makes it important that businesses learn how to vet suppliers and improve their financial awareness.

Many business owners are worried investors don’t want to inject money into their company while the world remains in a sustained bear market period. The same CEOs seem to think it’s better to keep a low profile rather than actually try to engage with potential investors. Well, one expert says this is a dangerous tactic. Here’s why.

With the ever increasing fast pace of society, a successful business, particularly an entrepreneurial one, often needs to take business risks to stand out. However, risks often bring with them the potential for liability.

We think it’s not just big businesses that should get recognised for being great. Sometimes it’s the little things small business owners do over a 12-month period that make a big difference. We spoke to 12 impressive SMBs making waves this year.

A simple soccer game can train you to run a business effectively. Not convinced? To win at soccer, you need purpose, direction, strategy, team, performance, crowd support, satisfaction, results and much continual learning. The same goes in business, so here are eight ways to turn your organisation into a match-winner.

Running a family business means not only managing relationships with family, but also overseeing leadership skills which may differ from typical values held by your kin. Use these 10 lessons to build a solid leadership structure for your family business, to ensure its longevity.

Your Friday Entrepreneur Fix features Dean Ramler, the young go-getter who’s selling furniture to consumers in Australia and the UK via his wildly successful online venture Milan Direct.

Seventeen years ago, PhD student Margarite Vale found that safe and effective therapies for chronic diseases were being underused. With a vision to bridge this treatment gap, she began developing The COACH Program, which has since become the most widely-used chronic disease management program in Australia, and was named Telstra Business of the Year in 2009. Here, Vale reveals how she turned clinical practice into a viable business model.

Australian Pressure Testing Services began as a one-man consultancy in 2002 after Paul Newbound identified a gap in the resources sector. Fast-forward a decade later, and his business has become the largest pressure testing company in Australia. Here’s how it became 2011 Telstra Australian Business of the Year.

Your Friday Entrepreneur Fix this week features Handle Your Own PR founders Jules Brooke and Simone Heydon, who took the loss of clients during the GFC and turned the bad luck into a thriving new business.

Think you’re too young to start a business? Take a lesson out of Mark Teperson’s book, who gave the boot to his old job to launch the successful Shoe Superstore chain.

Pam and Martin Brook have come a long way since selling macadamia muesli at their local market. Their business Brookfarm was the first food-manufacturing company to win a Telstra Australian Business of the Year Award, and now exports its award-winning products across the world. Despite the global success, the founders say its community ethos remains intact, creating an important point of difference for the business.

When the time has come to sell your business, many factors need to be considered and acted upon before you’re free from any further obligations. This is what should be on your to-do list.

Taking inspiration from Steve Wozniak’s recent trip to Australia, Sharon Williams shares her 10 top tips for inspiring innovation in your business.

Stratsec was launched in its founders spare bedroom, based on a vision to change information and communication technology security in Australia. Since then, the business has overcome a number of challenges to grow into the most-recognised cyber-security firms in the country – an achievement recognised when Stratsec won 2010 Telstra Business of the Year. Here, head of delivery and operations Peter Lilley shares his tips for surviving business setbacks.

As the 2012 Telstra Business Women’s awards open for nominations, Dynamic Business is speaking with twelve former winners about the impact the program has had on their businesses. Here, 2009 winner and Laser Skirmish founder Nicole Lander talks about the importance of an innovative spirit in business.

Yes, it terrifies many of us, but for a business owner, improving public speaking skills can be a real asset. It all starts with knowing your audience, making a connection, telling a story and involves plenty of practice.

In 2001, 22-year-old finance student Fred Schebesta co-founded digital agency Freestyle Media, growing the business into a successful media agency which sold for $1.3 million just a few years later. Here, the young entrepreneur talks about the importance of learning from your mistakes, first time around.

A business owner learns many lessons over the span of their journey, from the need to be open to opportunities to not taking things too personally. One 35-year veteran is sharing the seven most important lessons she’s learnt over her many years in the workforce.