Where Small Business is Leading the Way

innovationNot everything a big business does is right, there are some tips small business can give to bigger firms.

Even without the huge budgets, some small business are doing their marketing right. Some even better than the big firms.

Small businesses are known to drive innovation and some big companies are now realising the importance of fostering a small business culture.

In a recent post on HuffingtonPost.com.au business resilience expert and founder/CEO of the Resilience Institute Stuart Taylor gives his advice.

Taylor explains that in recent times, entrepreneurs and startups have been the ones driving change and innovation, challenging the status quo and most big businesses aren’t yet equipped to follow their lead.

Read more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/05/28/what-small-business-can-teach-the-big-end-of-town-about-disrupti/

Help Coming Up with a Name for Your Small Business

open for businessA recent article on HuffingtonPost.com.au provided some advice and inspiration for those battling to find an appropriate name for their business.

A major challenge that many new business owners face is one that has a massive impact on the success of their business – the business’ name.

In the article some top Australian small business owners share their stories of how they came up with the names for their start-ups.

Read the article here for more inspiration and advice.

Starting A Creative Business? Read This First!

small busines

Starting a creative business can seem like a real challenge but some successful entrepreneurs have provided some advice for those of us doing it for the first time.

In a post on ArtsHub.com.au 3 creatives who have managed to succeed at their creative business start-ups gave this advice,

  • Learn to love failure.
  • Stop talking about your business and start actioning it,
  • Ask for advice when needed.
  • Believe in your idea and seek feedback, not from family but from mentors.

For more go to ArtsHub.com.au

Advice For When You’re Naming Your Business

open for businessMost of us, especially small business owners tend to name our businesses based on sentiment but there are some other aspects that need to be considered.

  1. Check the Australian Business Registry and see whether the name has been taken or not.
  2. Keep it short and clear.
  3. Don’t get overly creative, the name should still fit in appropriately with the business.

Find out more at http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/start-up-entrepreneur/three-must-dos-for-naming-your-business.html

Don’t Fall for These Employment Myths

myths debunkedA number of businesses were recently slapped with fines by the Fair Work Ombudsman because of payment issues with many companies found to have been underpaying their employees.

This prompted an article on Smartcompany.com.au highlighting some of the common misconceptions about employee payments.

Here are 7 employment myths that you shouldn’t fall for as a boss,

  1. You can deduct from workers to cover losses
  2. You don’t need to provide employees payslips if they don’t want them
  3. You can employ young workers as ‘trainees’ without lodging any formal paperwork.
  4.  Employees don’t need to be paid for time spent opening and closing a store.
  5. An employee must work for 12 months before they can take annual leave or sick leave.
  6. A full-time employee can be fired without notice during their probation period.
  7. You can’t ask an employee for proof of being sick, such as medical certificate.

Get more information at http://www.smartcompany.com.au/people-human-resources/industrial-relations/42360-seven-employment-myths-bosses-shouldn-t-fall-for/

Avoid These Five Bad Habits if You’re a Small Business Owner

small businessAccording to a post on Afr.com these are the top 5 bad habits of small business owners that you need to avoid,

  1.  Using the business as your own personal ATM
  2. Don’t just coast along, spending all your time on the day to day operations and never investing time in developing and working towards plans and goals.
  3. Remember that ‘cashflow is king’
  4. Don’t forget to invest in key people.
  5. Have systems in place so that the daily running of the business is not completely reliant on you.

Read more at http://www.afr.com/business/small-business/avoid-the-top-5-bad-habits-of-small-business-owners-20160413-go57a4