Anthill Magazine

‘Bean-talk’ — a golden egg for small business

Running a small business inevitably means becoming a jack of all trades, including ‘doing the books’. This, in turn, requires one to learn tricky accounting packages, spreadsheets and accounting jargon. The result is waving goodbye to your evenings, weekends and regular sleep. On the plus-side, there are ...

Why startups don’t need a budget

OK, you’ve taken the plunge — gone out on your own — told the boss to stick it and set up your own business. You’ve left the corporate world behind and you’ll be playing by your own rules from now on! No more management hierarchies, ...

Are you seeking venture capital for 2010?

During this two hour seminar and networking event, attendees will learn from five of Australia’s leading experts on venture capital and business development – real investors, currently seeking investment opportunities, and successful entrepreneurs, who have ‘been there’ and secured private funding. Enter the discount code ANTHILL ...

Top 5 business tips for surviving the holiday slowdown

The December and January period is normally a slow time for small-to-medium sized businesses, with most customers on holidays, suppliers operating on skeleton staff and budgets on hold. The Interface Financial Group’s David Hechter offers his top five tips for surviving the Christmas slowdown. “Hope for the ...

Plan your cashflow this holiday season – or it could get very ugly

March is consistently the worst month of the year for company insolvencies. Why? Because businesses don’t plan for the inevitable drop in cashflow over the holiday period. Tim Lea offers some great advice on how to keep all the balls in the air while you ...

The Great Recovery and soaring dollar create headaches and opportunities for Australian companies

It is generally thought that a soaring Aussie dollar is terrible for exporters. However, as Austrade’s Chief Economist Tim Harcourt reveals, there are two sides to every coin. The Australian dollar is now in 90 US cent territory and there are fears this could affect our ...

Commercialisation Australia and the Valley of Death

For many years, the leap between development into commercialisation has seen multitudes of startups fail. Many organisations die or simply disappear due to lack of support. At the recent AusIndustry-hosted consultative discussions seeking input into the proposed new changes for the R&D Credit program, this troublesome ...

Untangling the Red Tape – Standard Business Reporting starts July 2010

It is probably not news to many business owners that red tape is a pain in the neck. A typical business can have many government agencies to report to, including the Tax Office (primarily Business Activity Statement and Income Tax), ASIC, APRA, ABS as well as ...

5 reasons I hate logos

Okay, maybe that’s a tad on the dramatic side. (What, Leela? You? Dramatic? Just to get attention? Never!) I did just get a new logo designed for a new venture. So, it’s not exactly logos that I hate. What I hate is this faffing around with ...

Who really benefits from the Rudd Government’s new Commercialisation Australia program?

Illustration: Sam Griffin The news yesterday that the Federal Government has unveiled details of its $196 million Commercialisation Australia (CA) initiative has been welcomed by many entrepreneurs and innovation consultants. These same intended beneficiaries might also be forgiven for wondering whether it is an improvement on ...