Hot Tips
Businesses forget that it isn’t sales that pay the bills, but payment for that stock or service. While chasing debts seems to be the norm for SMEs, there’s a better way to deal with slow payers. Develop a credit policy and explain it to your customers or clients prior to closing the sale. The policy […]
At the top of the employment tree, it’s easy to forget how difficult it is for the staff under you to give you feedback on your performance. Many employees may be afraid to say something positive in case they are seen as brown-nosing by their peers, while others fear that saying something negative could turn […]
A simple way to maintain a professional image is to make sure all your written material is spelt correctly, is grammatically accurate and displays the right punctuation. Stray apostrophes, random quotation marks and obvious misspellings distract from your message and give a bad impression of your abilities, even if you don’t specialise in communication. Don’t […]
If you travel often, provide a plan for your staff so they can run the business smoothly while you are away from your office. If you nominate someone to be in charge, make it clear how much power they have to make decisions and in which areas. Let any key people outside your business know […]
Start-up businesses-whether aiming to service the neighbourhood or export to the world-should not underestimate the power of the local media in generating publicity. Suburban newspapers, local radio stations and even community TV stations love a success story in their backyard, so if you can find a local angle to tout your new business, invite the […]
Both start-ups and growing businesses in the process of restructuring need to know that different types of businesses have different legal and tax rights and obligations. Make sure you do your homework as to which laws apply to yours. The most common types of businesses in Australia are: Sole trader: wholly liable, pays tax as […]
The fundamental function of a trade mark is to act as a badge of origin. Some useful information to bear in mind: Importance of registration: Prevents other traders from using your mark without your permission. Can also prevent other traders from registering an identical or similar mark. Provided your registration is renewed every 10 years, […]
Career management services are the new buzz to assist companies with staff transition. Companies that provide effective career management services are twice as likely to experience increased productivity among remaining staff and 50 percent more likely to increase profits than those companies who do not. Performability, one of Australia’s leading talent retention and development specialists […]
You can save more than the cost of paper if you evolve your office into the electronic one everyone imagined for the 21st century. Although difficult to go completely paperless, there are plenty of good reasons to reduce paper use. Direct savings include buying less reams of paper and needing less physical storage space, but […]
You may have anti-virus software and firewalls for your computer network, but what about your PDA or smartphone? Any policy for safe online practices on your computer network also applies to PDAs and phones that have access to the internet, so make sure you protect your mobile fleet with the same defences.
Regular meetings don’t have to be regular in every way. Encourage creativity in your staff by holding meetings at different times of the day or on a different day of the week or in different locations, if you can. Cafes, libraries, lobbies and even parks can play host to more stimulating meetings than your average […]
While occupational health and safety compliance is a burden for most businesses, it can alert you to inefficient or dangerous practices that you might look to change. One way of doing this is keeping a ‘near miss’ logbook for incidents that might have resulted in physical injury but didn’t. After logging a near miss, you […]
Personal selling, for products or services, is often ignored in favour of volume, but you can often score plenty of quality leads and repeat business from showing a friendly face in initial interactions. Treat every enquiry or browser as a potential customer. They may not buy right then, but if you treat them courteously, they […]
If you’re looking to protect your intellectual property (IP), consider whether non-disclosure agreements with your employees will suit your business better than a patent. Apart from being more expensive than an agreement, a patent has an expiry date and your IP will be available in detail for others to see, whereas a trade secret can […]
‘Would you like fries with that?’ has become a cliche, but selling complementary items to existing customers is often overlooked as a selling technique for both personal and online selling. Placing complementary items near the checkout works as an impulse technique: think of bookmarks positioned at the register of a bookstore. Suggesting or prompting the […]
If you’ve ever thought about a member of staff as invaluable, consider getting key man insurance should anything ever happen to him or her. Many SME functions are built by a handful of people, so it might be wise to identify whether or not you can survive if someone were absent for a long period. […]
Make it a habit to shut down your computer and turn off your screen as opposed to just putting it in ‘sleep’ mode when you finish work for the day. Sleep mode still uses electricity, so if you and your staff shut down completely your business could save between five and 15 percent off your […]
When you’ve been in business a while, it is important to keep track of your customer base, particularly your repeat customers, so you understand your priority market. One way to do this is to develop and maintain an updated customer file that tracks information such as enquiries, types and times of purchases made, average spend […]
If your business is going well but you want to do more, consider donating staff labour to alleviate poverty, help the environment, or advance health research. Ask not-for-profit organisations if they have a corporate program: it may be for a couple of hours a week, which you can rotate among your staff; or you could […]
When hiring new staff, don’t underestimate the value of a verbal referee. A professional referee should be someone who was in the same position as you will be in with your potential hire, and who understood how they approached work and interacted with colleagues. Don’t be afraid to ask for another referee if you are […]
