Tag: Australia

Even before the floods in December and January, business confidence was already on the wane, according to the quarterly business survey released by the National Australia Bank on Tuesday. The survey of 900 businesses found there was a drop in the business confidence index from 9 points in the third quarter to 5 points in the fourth quarter, with a decline in profitability, sales and trading being significant factors.

With work to be done from Far North Queensland to Victoria and WA, as the rebuild after floods, fires and Cyclone Yasi kicks down a gear, Prime Minister Julia Gillard is asking tradesmen to consider packing their bags and mucking in to help, aided by a new apprentice or two.

Facebook addicts, and mobile business people, the world over can soon get their hands on their very own super smart android phone, purpose built for social media. Brand HTC – which is rapidly becoming synonymous with “Google phones” (phones built on the open source, android platform) has launched two new smartphones at the World Mobile Congress in Spain.

Australians may be addicted to a bargain and flocking to the numerous collective buying websites in droves but are some better than others, and is the customer base large enough to go round? If the answers is “yes”, and “no”, that may explain why the various daily deal sites are tripping over each other to proclaim themselves leader of the pack.

Australia’s biggest steel maker, BlueScope Steel, said higher raw material costs, the strong Aussie dollar and reduced local demand resulted in a loss of $55 million for the first half of the 2011 financial year. This compares with a loss of $28 million for the same time in the previous year. Speaking at the half-year results briefing in Sydney, BlueScope Steel’s Managing Director and CEO, Mr Paul O’Malley, said “the result is ‘in line’ with the Company’s guidance at the Annual General Meeting and reflective of the developed world steel industry performing near the bottom of its cycle.

Pretzel World is on a path to franchise world domination (in Australia) with the company looking to expand its footprint across the country following a rise in enquires and a tripling in sales in some stores.

I was doing some research recently and came across some Australian software developers working hard at being big, by helping small businesses.

Online ‘presale’ shopping is expected to double in 2011, with presale shopping portal Lasoo.com.au recording a record 5.6 million product interactions in December last year, with the exponential growth of online pre-shopping expected to continue in 2011.

It’s always a good time to find new clients, suppliers and partners.That’s why business travel remains a great way to take your company to the next level. David Flynn shares some tips on planning a trip that’ll be efficient, productive and even enjoyable!

If you plan to sell your company or business, the business’ title to IP must be clear and established, to avoid problems in the future, you must be able to prove now that your business owns what you say it owns.