SME Inspiration

Nobody understands the pressures you face on a daily basis and the threats and challenges you have to overcome to succeed. You might say it’s a bit like being a superhero.

The concept of working to live rather than living to work reigns true in many people’s minds and issues like limited work-life balance, unsatisfactory pay and lack of development opportunities become big reasons why staff leave.

For all of the well-known entrepreneurs, there are many who take too great a risk, only to fade into insignificance, never to be heard of again.

With the end of the financial year behind us now is the time of year to come up with resolutions, especially for small to medium sized enterprises.

Have you ever stopped to think what it was like being an SMB just a decade ago? For some of you, this scenario might even have been a reality.

The last few months, we have been reverse engineering our business, website and services to evolve and the process has been interesting, but challenging.

In today’s super-connected, always-on era, businesses of almost any size can reach markets and customers beyond their borders with unprecedented ease.

The accessibility and advancement in technology is increasing the scope of learning strategies within small business. As a result, there has been a conscious shift away from traditional learning techniques that were often perceived as dull and boring.

Even small business owners are project managers — no matter what business you may be involved in, from construction to Internet services, you are involved in project management.

Competition is no longer linear. The ‘unknown unknowns’ are waiting around every corner. Every industry, every sector, is suffering from the competitor they didn’t realize they had.

Everyone has the same frustrations – it’s always about being exhausted with no time, having no team or a dysfunctional one, and seeing no profit. But did you know that turning your business around starts with you?

Have you ever wondered why someone with a great idea can turn it into a billion-dollar business, whilst someone with exactly the same idea (and resources) runs it into the ground? Clearly, it’s all about the person behind the idea.

Competitions are an under-resourced marketing opportunity for most small businesses. By outlining a clear goal, you will be able to craft a competition to best suit your needs.

When reality hits, if we manage to survive the first year in business, we are more than likely living the life of our nightmares, rather than the dream we imagined. What went wrong?

Unfortunately, for the time-poor small or medium business owner, innovation often gets pushed to the back of the pile. If SMEs are going to commit to investing time on innovation, it needs a new image.

Everyone knows about the difficulties and the risk of failure, but you took the plunge anyway. Here are 5 things that are essential to your ability to succeed.

Successful industries are constantly reinventing themselves. Thus, to remain relevant in tomorrow’s world, the ‘beige’ leader, in whatever format, needs to be removed and replaced so a new curve can be started.

The current crop of marketing automation tools was a luxury affordable only to larger organisations, but it’s now possible for small businesses to share a slice of the pie as well.

While the $5.5 billion package has been well received, the questions facing Australia’s two million-plus small business owners are two-fold: what does it mean for me and what to do with the incentive?

Drive and determination is what makes many entrepreneurs successful, but as well as being your greatest strength, it can also be your greatest weakness.