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After declining or remaining stable for 9 months, Australia’s construction industry expanded during the month of August. The Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI) increased by 6.7 points to 53.8. Readings above 50 indicate an expansion in activity. The expansion has been driven by improvements in the new orders and activity sub-indexes, as well […]
With devices keeping us connected just about everywhere, many of us are struggling to justify the use of the “Out of Office Auto-Reply.” But to what benefit? According to the latest Roy Morgan research, one in five Australian full-time workers now access their work network remotely. The data showed that almost 1.5 million full-time workers […]
Competition and a hunger to succeed is driving small business to learn how to do their own Public Relations saving themselves thousands in advertising dollars. Morning television, radio shows and newspapers used to rely heavily on big business or celebrities as a voice in their stories but that’s starting to change. Small businesses are becoming […]
Meetings often become a work based social function on company time and at company cost. The thought of socialising with fellow staff and being paid at the same time is sure to keep meetings a popular distraction to lonely work routines. Many companies have a tendency to gravitate toward their objectives by the sheer momentum […]
How many complaints does your business get every week or month? Hopefully it’s not very many but even a small number of dissatisfied customers can cause a lot of damage, especially to businesses that rely on word of mouth referrals or who don’t have hundreds of customers buying from them every day. While complaints are […]
In a move that could be regarded as inconsistent with previous rhetoric showing support for small business, the Government has resolved to defer reforms that would strengthen section 46 of the Competition Act with the implementation of an ’Effects Test’. The reforms proposed by Small Business Minister, the Hon Bruce Billson were designed to stop […]
In celebration of 70 years of diplomatic ties since 1945 and to promote continued cooperation for trade and investment, September will be known as ‘the month of Brazil’ in Australia. Australia and Brazil, the Southern Hemisphere’s two largest economies, have shared a strong bilateral relationship that has in recent years become an even more important […]
We’ve all experienced the monotony of online training, typically characterised by a series of slides where the only shred of interactivity comes through the “next” button. But according to Ben Roulston, learning doesn’t have to be like that. After forging a career in the consulting space and gaining a wealth of experience from various customer […]
When we think about the bottom line in business the immediate jump is fiscal performance – how much value do we have in terms of cold hard cash? What sort of reserves do we currently hold; what sort of profit margin do we have in place? Are we in the red, or the black? In […]
If there’s one thing that separates great companies from the rest of the pack, it’s that they are never afraid of change. When the world or their industry changes around them — as it often does — great companies rise to the challenge, and ensure they aren’t left behind. Innovation can come in different packages. […]
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) will be targeting up to 90,000 small businesses over the next three months as part of a major compliance operation. The ATO will be obtaining details from 11 financial institutions including American Express, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ for credit card payments received by small business for the 2014-15 financial year. […]
Founded upon the principle that “access to justice is a basic human right but legal knowledge today is trapped in the minds of lawyers” a new Australian startup has sought the power of technology to “democratise the legal profession.” These are the words of Brennan Ong, founder of LawAdvisor that launched this week. Brennan Ong was […]
In August, Google announced that they would be creating a holding company called Alphabet, effectively rebranding and becoming a conglomerate with ‘Google’ reverting to its largest subsidiary. Alphabet would also own a variety of businesses including Nest (home automation), Calico (bio-tech) and Google X (self driving cars, innovations) signalling it was no longer just a […]
According to the latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, the Android OS has shown continued market share losses for the three months ending July 2015. In Australia the Android share has fallen by 10.5 pts compared with a 7.9 pt increase for iOS. Share losses have also been seen across Europe’s largest five […]
If you’re considering buying a new iPhone – it might be worth holding off for a little while longer. On September 9 the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco will play host to Apple’s next event where it is expected to launch the new iPhone 6s. It is also rumoured that the next iPad […]
It’s a common assumption that working for a large organisation is the best way to develop in your professional career. In reality – when it comes to the question of where we will excel as individuals, there is no right or wrong. But with scores of graduates attracted to the bright lights of large corporations […]
The NSW Government’s Dispute Resolution Unit (DRU) has handled over 37,000 enquiries over the last three years according to new data. The number of enquiries from small businesses has increased each year over this period. Minister for Small Business John Barilaro said new data shows how the government is sparing small businesses from the burden […]
The average workday is 8 hours, but you certainly shouldn’t be working that entire time. There is no end of research showing that our brains aren’t designed to stay focused for long periods of time. The best recipe for efficiency and producing quality work is taking breaks. Much like any solution, one size never suits […]
The Reserve Bank of Australia has left the cash rate unchanged at 2 per cent for September. This will be the fourth consecutive month the rate has remained unchanged. RBA Governor, Glen Stevens said “the economy is likely to be operating with a degree of spare capacity for some time yet, with domestic inflationary pressures […]
After a joint investigation by Fairfax and Four Corners uncovering widespread underpayment of staff by 7-Eleven franchisees, 7-Eleven has said in a statement that it will pursue franchisees to repay money owed to present and former staff. Chief Executive Officer, Warren Wilmot said “the viability of the 7-Eleven system is in no way, never has […]
