#Growth
Resilience as a leader and the importance of scalability
In today’s Kickstart Monday article, RateMyAgent CEO Mark Armstrong shares his advice on resilience as a leader and the importance of scalability in a business model. Mark Armstrong is a property entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in the real estate industry. Prior to founding RateMyAgent, Mark built a reputation in the property industry giving […]
Failure will help us win
Byline: Petr Adamek, CEO of Canberra Innovation Network In Australia, we love to celebrate success. Whether it’s kicking a goal on the football field or passing a final exam at school, we hold winners in high esteem. Same applies in the business world. Those who succeed are lauded at awards and in media while those […]
Growth in loans to businesses evaporates
RBA statistics for April recorded the slowest annual growth in credit for mortgages since the data was first collected in the late 1970s. The growth of lending to businesses flatlined in April while personal loans retreated for the seventh month in a row and annual property credit plummeted to unprecedented lows, central bank statistics suggest. The […]
How to scale up your business globally – and effectively
Byline: David Link, CEO & Founder of Verrency Overseas expansion is often considered for homegrown companies looking to increase their revenue and customer base. While the lure of international expansion can be promising, it is no easy path in understanding a new environment and also being able to upscale existing operations. Your capital and human […]
Preparing for an IPO? Here are 4 things to consider in your PR strategy
Going public is a huge step for any company. Taking a company from private to public through an IPO (or ‘initial public offering’) and listing on the stock exchange is a process that can take months, or even years, of planning, preparation and execution. Amid the myriad of tasks involved in preparing for an IPO, […]
Growing your business insights from entrepreneur Janna DeVylder
A mix of curiosity and compassion led Janna DeVylder to study psychology and anthropology. These disciplines proved to be the launching pad that sparked a strong desire to work in ways that would improve people’s lives. How? She co-founded a design collective to help organisations understand their customers and deliver them better services and products. […]
Five things you need to know before selling overseas
The advancement of technology has radically changed the way that consumers browse for items and make purchases. Shopping online for items overseas has become as normal as picking up a bottle of milk from the local corner store. Consumers around the world now expect to be able to browse international brands at anytime, anywhere and […]
Ombudsman supports Business Growth Fund for high growth SMEs
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Kate Carnell today welcomed the announcement of an Australian Business Growth Fund, a recommendation in the ASBFEO’s Affordable Capital for SME Growth report. “Our report identified the need to address a critical funding gap for long-term, patient capital to enable our up-and-coming, high growth potential small […]
Is podcasting the new team learning?
I’ve noticed something dramatic occurring in my field of work. As a facilitator of change for teams and individuals I used to be invited to spend several days with teams over a year or more to undertake long term engaged learning that was face to face. People wanted to sit together in a room and […]
Small business tax cuts pass first hurdle
Kate Carnell welcomes support from the Coalition and Opposition.
RBA small business report backs Ombudsman’s recommendations
Getting access to finance in order to start or grow a business is a still a big challenge.
Guzman y Gomez secures $44m investment
Mexican food chain scores major investment.
A tale of two SMEs: what distinguishes a growing business from a declining one?
What are the attributes of an SME that is growing, and how do they differ from a business with static or declining revenue? [Related: SMEs trading banks for fintechs, poll suggests] Twice a year, when more than 1200 owners or leaders of SME businesses are interviewed for our SME Growth Index, one of the first questions […]
We doubled our staff overnight: How to manage an explosion in business growth
Businesses often experience growing pains when their success requires them to expand their workforce. If not managed well, the business can be held back by inefficiencies, costly mistakes, existing employees leaving and clients feeling the stress. However, it is possible to grow in a way that brings your team and clients along for the journey […]
Scooter Tutor’s software is driving efficiencies in other sectors, says edutech start-up’s co-CEO
In the course of developing technology to generate efficiencies in their own ‘fragmented” sector, the co-CEOs of Scooter Tutor, Cameron Schmidt and Sam Robertson, have been helping organisations from other industries to better manage remote workforces and customer service. Scooter Tutor is a software-driven tutoring organisation that enables the parents of primary and secondary students […]
Intuition trumps data when you truly know your customers, says Pet Circle’s co-founder
Despite operating in an era where data-driven strategies are the norm, the founders of rapid growth start-up Pet Circle have come to realise that trusting one’s instincts can often lead to better results. Launched in 2011 under the name ‘Paws for Life’, Pet Circle (as it is known today) is the brainchild of Michael […]
KeepCup’s 690% enquiry spike shows consumers demand more sustainable businesses, says MD
Melbourne-based reusable cup manufacturer KeepCup has reported a 690% increase in sales enquires since the final ABC’s three-part documentary series War on Waste concluded last week. Presented by Craig Reucassel of The Chaser fame, the series finale focused on Australia’s coffee industry and highlighted the fact that 1 billion disposable cups are sent to […]
How to get balance in your marketing budget
Determining the right marketing budget for your business can be difficult – it’s a fine balance between not spending enough and spending a lot more than you need to to be effective. The first thing you should do is look at your budget and how much you CAN afford to spend, before assigning numbers to different […]
Westpac announces 200 Australian businesses that will help unlock $70b in economic value
As part of its Businesses of Tomorrow program, Westpac has today recognised 200 ‘outstanding’ businesses, including 20 ‘high-potential’ organisations, that have “demonstrated a clear vision to shape Australia’s economy… as it transitions to a services and knowledge-based economy”. The 200 ‘Businesses of Tomorrow’, which have a collective turnover of approximately $2 billion per year and […]
If you don’t know where you are going in business… any road will take you ‘there’
This may be a passage from Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland but it perfectly sums up the strategic approach of many Australian businesses… “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here” said Alice. “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to”, said the Cat. “I don’t much care […]
Tom Caesar on the growth trajectory of his bootstrapped, digital-first finance start-up
Tom Caesar co-founded Positive Group, a financial services provider, with his father Mark in 2009. The duo, both veterans of the industry, initially operated the start-up out of their home office in Adelaide. Rather than take out a loan or engage investors, they resolved to bootstrap the operation. This decision, together with the company’s transformation […]
Stashd CEO Jessica Wilson on what she gained from EY’s Accelerating Entrepreneurs program
Jessica Wilson, the CEO of fashion app Stashd, was one of two dozen start-up founders from the Asia Pacific to receive support from EY to accelerate their business growth plans. Last month, she attended a strategic growth forum in Rome as part of EY’s 2017 Asia-Pacific Accelerating Entrepreneurs program, which provided participants with mentoring, coaching […]
A fresh outlook, a second opinion, a critical friend: the case for business consultants
In some ways, running a small business is a lot like being a plate spinner, especially if you’re overseeing several projects. You’ll need excellent coordination and a watchful eye; otherwise you’ll end up with smashed chinaware. As you grow in confidence, you might seek to add more and more plates to the mix. At some point, you’ll require an […]
How EY’s Accelerating Entrepreneurs program will help Data Creative to take the world stage
Based on the global growth potential of her personalised video marketing start-up, Data Creative, Renece Brewster was recently selected to participate in EY’s 2017 Asia-Pacific Accelerating Entrepreneurs program. The program, which involved a strategic growth forum in Rome, earlier this month, provided the Melbourne businesswoman and 23 other entrepreneurs with support, expert guidance and network […]