The end of the week has rolled around again, so take a few minutes out to catch up on the most important small business headlines of the week gone by. This week, the small business community was saddened to hear of the death of former COSBOA CEO Jay Radisich, Apple was named the world’s most admired company and PayPal launched revolutionary smartphone technology.
Digital industry celebrates at the AIMIA’s
The winners of the 18th annual Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) Awards have been announced, in front of more than 600 digital industry leaders at a ceremony in Sydney Harbour.
The awards, held at Sydney’s Cockatoo Island, celebrate the best work from the digital industry across a broad range of consumer, business, government and not-for-profit categories.
Former COSBOA chief Jaye Radisich has died
Dynamic Business was saddened to hear of the untimely death of Jaye Radisich last weekend at the age of 35.
The immediate past CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) was a passionate advocate for the rights of small business in Australia. The youngest woman ever to be elected to the WA Parliament, Radisich’s short life was full of achievement.
Tributes have flooded in for Radisich, who had a rare form of kidney cancer.
Apple named world’s most admired company
Apple has been announced as the World’s Most Admired Company (WMAC) of 2012 by Fortune Magazine and Hay Group, with BHP Billiton ranking fourth in the mining and crude-oil industry.
In the 15th annual study of the World’s Most Admired companies,Apple took out the top post and was followed by Google, Amazon, Coca-Cola, IBM, FedEx, Berkshire Hathaway, Starbucks, Procter & Gamble and Southwest Airlines..
Australian company BHP Billiton came in fourth place globally in the mining and crude-oil production industry.
PayPal launches new smartphone transaction technology
New PayPal technology is enabling small businesses, service providers and casual sellers to accept credit card and PayPal payments via their smartphone, allowing them to complete transactions and monitor cashflow wherever they like.
PayPal Here is a fully digital and mobile payment solution designed to eliminate the friction in payment processes by allowing merchants to process, manage and track their payments while on the move.
Line between work and life blurring further, report finds
Over half of employees are now mixing business with pleasure, with some 50 percent receiving work-related phone calls or emails outside of regular office hours, leading experts to urge businesses not to place added pressure on staff after business hours.
According to a new report by Randstad, 52 percent of employees handle work-related matters in their private time and 51 percent manage private matters at work.
Randstad CEO Fred Van Der Tang believes these results are a reflection of the evolving nature of the modern workforce.
Harmony Day kicks off to promote diversity in the workplace
Businesses around the country celebrated Harmony Day on Wednesday, an event designed to eliminate racial discrimination in the workplace and promote diversity by breaking down cultural barriers
Diversity Council Australia CEO Nareen Young said businesses should use cultural diversity to gain a wider customer base and foster greater employee productivity.
“We need to move way beyond tolerating other cultures. Embracing and celebrating cultural difference is the only way forward,” Young said.
Facebook fans ‘Like’ businesses that give away freebies
Three in five local consumers will ‘Like’ a business’ Facebook page if they’re offering discounted products or freebies, a new report has found.
According to a Crossman Insights survey, while discounts and freebies migh initially attract consumers, many are genuinely interested in interacting and discovering more about the companies they ‘Like’.
This means businesses and brands need to find more inventive and exciting ways to engage Facebook fans, which means finding the right balance of interesting and relevant information.
Twitter celebrates 6th birthday, 140 million users
In March 2006, Jack Dorsey launched Twitter with the tweet “Just setting up my twttr.” Now, six years on, the social network has over 140 million users who tweet over 340 million times per day.
On its blog, Twitter said founder @jack could not have predicted the success of his new communication tool, the idea for which he first sketched onto a pad of paper (pictured).
Half of Aussie SMBs now have websites
Over half of the country’s small businesses are now online, according to a new Google survey, up from last year’s result of just 35 percent.
Some interest statistics the survey uncovered include Tasmania having the largest proportion of tourism and retail-related sites, while Western Australia leads the rest of the country in websites created in the construction and trades category, which represents a quarter of all sites created in the state.
Baby boomers prefer spending cash with local eTailers
As the older generations spends more and more money online, they’re showing a preference to buy Australian, according to new MasterCard research.
The MasterCard Worldwide Survey on Shopping Behaviour found 71 percent of purchases made by shoppers aged 50 to 64 are from onshore retailers.
“More and more, shoppers are rewarding local stores who invest in and update their online presence,” MasterCard Australia country manager Andrew Cartwright said.
