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I’m a firm believer that if you micro-manage or clock watch an employee, you’re setting them up to deliver the bare minimum. I’ve had it done to me. I’ve found myself sitting in front of a disgruntled manager, trying to explain why I was 10 minutes late back from lunch. They were not sympathetic to the […]
The world is in midst of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, an era characterised by an avalanche of digital innovations changing what customers expect from businesses. In the realm of small business, operators are having to embrace technologies like the cloud, social, mobile, and artificial intelligence (AI) to find, win and retain today’s consumers –more connected […]
When local companies rely on imported imagery to speak to “the world’s best BS detectors” (i.e. Australian consumers) they risk eroding their brand loyalty and support, warn the designers behind stock photography startup Austockphoto. Co-founded by Claire Bonnor and Kassandra Hunt, the entrepreneurial duo behind Sydney-based design agency Boheem, Austockphoto is a stock photography library […]
To lay the foundations for future success, the are some key boxes all startups need to tick in the early growth stages, regardless of the nature of their business. Having participated in Y Combinator’s seed accelerator program, my co-founders and I gained some fantastic insights that helped put our edtech startup GO1 the right track right from […]
In this article, we look at the key take-aways from this year’s Federal Budget for Australia’s small businesses and startups. In addition, readers will discover how dozens of thought leaders responded to this week’s “Let’s Talk…” question, which asked them to weigh-in on the budget – was it a win for businesses, a missed opportunity… […]
Deloitte and Google Australia have released their Outstanding 50 LGBTI Leaders list for 2018 to promote workplace inclusion and role models for LGBTI workers. The 2018 list comprises public figures across the corporate and public sectors, politicians, government officials, and business people from small, medium and large companies. There are 24 women and 26 men on […]
Combining their expertise in marketing and pharmaceuticals, Queensland father/daughter duo Glenn and Pip Summerville have wasted no time in taking to the global stage with their natural elixir company. In the space of 18 months, Tonik has achieved 250% sales growth and successfully courted international stockists such as Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. Pip Summerville, who […]
Obtaining finance can be challenging for any business but it is an acute difficulty for micro and small businesses in their start-up phase. Having the Best Business Idea in the World won’t necessarily be enough to convince sceptical, risk-averse banks to approve a loan, especially if the business owner doesn’t have a proven track record […]
Collaborations between startups and corporates can be a fantastic way for the former to build brand credibility and gain scale and for the latter to innovate quickly. Of course, not all collaborations are guaranteed to bear fruit. For this week’s “Let’s Talk…” feature, we asked nearly two dozen thought leaders to identify the key ingredients […]
Geographical isolation sharpens Australia’s tech entrepreneurs, giving them an advantage over their counterparts in Silicon Valley, according to Terry Gold, Managing Director of Techstars Adelaide. He and fellow US-expat Chris Chang, Program Manager with Techstars Adelaide, spoke with Dynamic Business about the global entrepreneur network, why “unique ideas” raise a red flag for them and […]
The challenges SMBs inevitably encounter as they outgrow their original technological infrastructure can become compounded if they’re experiencing rapid expansion and find themselves overseeing a national workforce. Social entrepreneurs Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, named the 2016 young Australians of the year, know this all too well. Editor’s note: Just as Cisco Start is helping their […]
Startups contemplating an IPO must have all their ducks in a row and be willing to get their hands dirty, says Andrew Ward, founder and managing director of recently-listed fintech company SelfWealth. Launched in 2012, the online, cloud-based share trading platform offers investors flat fee brokerage, regardless of the trade size, as well as access […]
B2B Talent mobility platform BenchOn has raised $650,000 in seed capital to meet market demand for its software solution to employee underutilisation, estimated to cost the Australian economy $305 billion each year in lost productivity. [Related: Can ‘For-Profit’ businesses still have a Social Impact? BenchOn’s founder provides answers and Why the startup ecosystem needs more non-technical […]
There is no doubt the big banks remain major players in the SME lending market however, there has been a steady rise in the number of non-bank lenders offering fast and flexible lending options in this space. They are able to move much faster than the traditional banker with their unique ‘fintech’ approach, giving small […]
“Repeat business is both an honour that confirms you’re doing something right, and a reminder to push yourself to keep serving the people who love what you’re doing,” says entrepreneur Kyla Kirkpatrick. Here, she shares her secrets to earning repeat business. It has been 10 years since I started The Champagne Dame and I am […]
Taking a lead in Australia’s home improvement sector has involved eliminating friction points for home owners, letting go of the past and an equal commitment to consumer and culture, according to David Vitek, CEO of online tradie marketplace hipages. The Sydney-based entrepreneur said that Australian homeowners are using the hipages mobile app to advertise more […]
Employers who equate mentor-mentee relationships with a quick coffee catch-up risk missing out on the huge financial gains of having a structured mentoring program, according to Melissa Richardson, the Managing Director of Art of Mentoring. The mentoring program design and implementation business was spun out of Horizons Unlimited, a mentoring consultancy where Richardson is a […]
Gender equality startup WORK180 has secured $1 million from seed investors including Skip Capital – the private investment fund of Atlassian Co-CEO Scott Farquhar – to fuel the international rollout of its unique jobs platform. WORK180 (formerly known as DCC Jobs) was launched in 2015 by co-CEOs Gemma Lloyd and Valeria Ignatieva to disrupt the […]
Today is Youth Homelessness Matters Day. Homelessness is often seen as a challenge for governments and charities to solve, but the private sector can play a part too – beyond throwing money at the issue. Youth homelessness is growing at an epidemic rate, and SMEs should take notice. These young people are future job candidates […]
Customer obsession and innovation are “very much on a continuum”, Russ Grandinetti – Amazon’s Senior Vice President, International Consumer – told the audience at Amazon Innovation Day in Sydney, last week. Grandinetti, who was amongst Amazon’s first 2000 hires and sits inside its top 40 employees in terms of tenure, spoke of the need for […]
