The Australian Federal Government’s Export, Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) is offering businesses the opportunity to asses their readiness to launch into the global market with an  online ‘Benchmark your Business‘ test. The assessment takes only ten minutes and participants will receive a customised benchmark report that compares individual global expansion plans with national results and other relevant industry sector players.

Currently in its third year, the EFIC Global Readiness index (GRi) researches the current destinations for exporters and offshore investors, their motivations and the barriers they face in an increasingly globalised world. Providing a thorough snapshot of global supply-chain opportunities and obstacles, the 2010 survey is expected to provide some interesting insights into the desire of Australian companies to go global in light of the the recent global economic downturn.

The 2009 Index saw more than 700 Australian businesses evaluate their companies. (A summary can be viewed here.)

To take the test click here.

Sydney-based venture capital firm OneVentures has been appointed as the licensed fund manager for an extra $40 million of venture capital funding from the Federal Government’s Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) program.

The program provides fund managers with $20 million, which must then be matched with private sector capital. This funding will be available for investing in favourable early-stage Australian companies commercialising Australian research within the cleantech, new media, information technology and life sciences sectors.

An additional incentive is that the OneVentures fund will be structured as an Early-Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP), whereby investors are tax exempt on their share of the the fund’s income and capital.

According to Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the IIF has generated more than $500 million in government and private funds to commercialise Australian research.

Fund managers are urged to submit applications under the latest round, Tranche 3 of Round 3, of the program, which closes on 31 May 2010.

The 2010 Australian Innovation Festival celebrates its ninth anniversary by again focusing on the 4Cs of Innovation – Creativity, Connections, Collaboration and Commercialisation. This year’s Festival theme “Building Sustainable Businesses” highlights the importance of innovation during this period of regeneration from last year’s global economic uncertainty.

The Festival aims to showcase the importance of innovation in Australia’s economic, social and cultural environments and, most importantly, create a culture of innovation among all Australians. For anyone looking for up-to-date information on Australian Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or if you want to establish a few new connections with Australia’s cutting-edge innovators, the Innovation Festival is always a good place to start.

The Festival runs from 26th April to 30th May, with over 500 events in all States and Territories. See below for launch event details in each State and Territory.

National / NSW Festival Launch

Date: Thursday, 22nd April 2010
Time: 10.30am to 12.30pm
Venue: NSW Industry & Investment, Level 47, MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place, Sydney NSW
To register: info@ausinnovation.org
Contact: Peter Westfield, Adair Communications, 03 9662 1916

WA Festival Launch

Date: 29 April 2010
Time: 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Venue: Civic Centre, City of Belmont, Perth, WA
To register: events@belmontbec.com
Contact: Carol Hanlon, 08 9479 3777

VIC Festival Launch

Date: 28 April 2010
Time: 10.30am to 12.30pm
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall, Yarra Room, Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC
To register: info@ausinnovation.org
Contact: Euan Westfield, Adair Communications, 03 9662 1916

QLD Festival Launch

Date: 22 April 2010
Time: 6:00pm to 8.00pm
Venue: Australian Institute of commercialisation, BTP Conference Centre, Brisbane Technology Park, Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane, QLD
Contact: Rowan Gilmore, 07 3853 5225 / rowan.gilmore@ausicom.com

SA Festival Launch

Date: 29 April 2010
Time: 8.30am to 2.30pm
Venue: Southern Adelaide Innovation Forum, Ridley Pavilion Wayville Showgrounds, Adelaide, SA
Contact: Greg Boundy, 08 8113 0701 / greg.boundy@innovatesa.com.au

TAS Festival Launch

Date: 18 May 2010
Time: 7.00am to 8.45am (opening breakfast)
Venue: Hotel Grand Chancellor, Launceston, TAS (tbc)
Contact: Vanessa Hortle, 03 6334 2464 / vanessa@autech.com.au

ACT Festival Launch

Date: 27 April 2010
Time: 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Venue:  Finkel Theatre, John Curtin School of Medical Research ANU, ACT
Contact: Lachlan Blackhall, 0412 946 126 / lachlan.blackhall@anu.edu.au

NT Festival Launch

Date: 29 April 2010
Time: 1.00pm to 3.00pm
Venue: Virtual Meeting Place, Cross Border and Desert Knowledge Launch, Business & Innovation Centre, Alice Springs. NT
Contact: Joy Taylor, Desert Knowledge, 08 8951 5578 / joy.taylor@desertknowledge.com.au

Anthill is generally an erudite and affable community of entrepreneurs and business builders. However, there’s something about the subject of company logos — the sourcing and intrinsic value of them — that fires the passions in a good chunk of our readers (see 5 reasons I hate logos and Is your logo a no-go?).

Graphic designers defending their patch, branding evangelists honing their pitch, the crowdsourcing digerati delivering the good message from the mountain top, and a mixture of curious, apathetic and bewildered bootstrapping entrepreneurs all tuning in and out.

Australian-based online crowdsourcing design service 99designs today launched a new logo store. The concept is pretty simple — you chose a template from the gallery of 4,500+ templates and 99designs’ designers swap in your organisation’s name and deliver you customised high resolution and web-ready versions within 24 hours, for $99.

This isn’t going to please the ‘your logo is the window to your soul’ crowd, nor fine arts students presumably, but it is yet another option out there in the marketplace for companies seeking a badge on a budget in a hurry. Potential customers will vote with their wallets.

A national survey, released last week by capital raising magazine Wholesale Investor, has highlighted the need for entrepreneurs to get their deals in front of a wide investor audience. The findings show that investors will evaluate 10 to 30 deals before deciding to invest in one.

The study is compiled from a registered database of 5,400 high net worth, wholesale, professional and international investors for the first quarter (January to March) of 2010. It advises that while this rate is better than the Venture Capital Industry (where investors will easily view in excess of 30 deals before making a decision), an entreprenuer seeking to raise capital from 50 investors would have to put forward their deal to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of possible investors.

However the survey revelaed that High Net Worth investors were apparently more optimistic, sophisticated, had more money and invested in a wide gamut of industries.

The key point from the report are as follows:

• The sectors that received the most funding from investors over the past 12 months are: Financial Services, Property, Internet/IT, Greentech and Mining.
• Sectors that investors are seeking to invest into right now: Greentech, Mining, Property, Internet Financial Services and Healthcare.
• Investors are currently seeking exposure to Private companies (68.4 percent) and Pre-IPO opportunities (55.8 percent).
• Private investors are selective — 64.2 percent of investors review between 10 and 30 opportunities before they invest in one — but not to the extent of Venture Capitals, who review more than 30 deals before investing into one (AVCAL 2009).
• Investors are highly active right now — 60 percent are currently invested into three or more investments.
• Investor confidence in the market is currently very high — 94.8 percent of investors believe now is a good time to invest; 23.2 percent believe now is the best market they have ever seen and are seeking investments right now.
• Funds continue to be deployed into investments — less than 21.2 percent have 50 percent or more of their funds in cash compared with 79 percent in May ‘09.
• Entrepreneurs need to improve their skills and knowledge in the areas of valuations, financial projections, management expertise and exit.
• Investors are still mostly focused on making direct investments into ordinary equity.
• 48.4 percent of investors have a portfolio valued at between $500k and $10million
• 66.3 percent of investors have a net worth of over $1million; 25.3 percent are worth more than $5 Million

If you think garage startups are tough, how does it sound to start five businesses over a 48-hour bus trip?

Twenty-five strangers — including nine Aussies — boarded @TheStartupBus on Tuesday 9 March in San Francisco. As I write, the bus is travelling at 60 miles an hour east while the 25 passengers are brainstorming and building businesses from the coach.

The final destination of their epic bus trip is the South by Southwest (SxSW) Conference in Austin, Texas — the annual gathering of digital entrepreneurs and investors alike from around the world. They’ll be in time for a launch party on 12 March where judges and business mentors await their presentations. The winning startup will receive personal coaching from business angel Naval Ravikant and hopefully grant them “investment status” to be introduced to Silicon Valley’s top VCs and angels.

The “startup camp” type of programme is not in itself anything new — as time pressure and limited resources are also taken-for-granted by most entrepreneurs (remember Sebastian Eckersley-Maslin’s 7 days $500 startup experiment?). But the bumpy road is proving a surprising additional challenge — one passenger from Melbourne, Pieter Peach (@ppeach), reported that after 20 minutes on the road the group had to make a stop to buy motion sickness tablets.

The group stopped to buy motion sickness tablets (photo provided by @ppeach)

Luckily @TheStartupBus is upgraded with lounges, bunk beds, a kitchen, and, most importantly, WiFi — to satisfy the needs of boarding tech geeks and media. You can follow their twitter account to receive live updates and ask them questions (if they have the time to reply). There is also live video streaming from inside the bus and a geo-tagging app to show you their current location.

View from insdie @TheStartupBus (photo provided by @ppeach)

@TheStartupBus is first conceived by Elias Bizannes, an Australian now living in America. In a world where startups struggle to attract publicity, getting onto @TheStartupBus seems to be a great way to make some noise.

Stay tuned for more updates as we receive insider information from the Aussie passengers.

In February, top level recruitment site Six Figures published its 2010 Executive Career Monitor Report. The report was compiled from a survey in late 2009 (in conjunction with talent site Destination Talent) of 1,332 Australian high income earners, with the findings being released at a breakfast meeting in Melbourne on 2^nd March.

The comprehensive study uncovered both unexpected and anticipated results from this top-tier employment demographic.

Not surprisingly, on the topic of remuneration, 87 percent of those interviewed believed that pay should be increased on a yearly basis.

However, when it came to employer loyalty, while 55 percent claimed that they were satisfied in their jobs, a hefty 77 percent would leave for a better opportunity. This contrasts with the 24 percent that were dissatisfied with their employers.

Career progression over employer commitment was again emphasised when it came to the duration of tenure. On average, Australian executives have worked for eight different employers since joining the workforce, with 72 percent having worked for their current employer for less than five years.

Among other findings, 90 percent believed it more important to promote their own personal brand over that of their employer and 6percent were confident that they could find another job within the next three months.

The full report can viewed at executivemonitor.com.au

It’s becoming clearer with every AIMIA awards that ‘geek’ is the new ‘cool’.

Sure, they may have the coordination of an engineering undergrad in O-week and the optical capabilities of Arthur Dent after three Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, but that didn’t stop Australia’s web glitterati (or is that ‘clickerati’?) from donning their best converse sneakers, their thickest horn rimmed glasses and their favourite irony-fuelled Threadless tees to party hard at the Peninsula Function Centre in Melbourne’s Docklands last Friday night.

Cliches and not-so-subtle mockery aside, I personally felt right at home among this year’s ‘IT’ crowd (step aside Lindsay Lohen), bumping into more than a few Anthillians, including past winners of Anthill’s 30under30 and Cool Company Awards, such as Chris Kettle, Antony McGregor-Dey and Ian Gardner, to name a few.

The ever-shrinking Mikey Robbins, of Good News Week fame, was suitably entertaining and controversial as the evening’s MC, forcing the Hon. Stephen Conroy MP to accept the award of one absentee from government circles.

Impressively, the Minister accepted the award with good grace and humour, a considerable accomplishment as possibly the most maligned person in the room. It would be hard to find a group of greater critics of his internet filtering laws than the Australian web community.

Fortunately for the Minister, web developers are largely a polite lot (when they step out from behind their avatars).

To watch a groovy slideshow of the night, click here.

And without further ado, the winners are…

Best Advertising or Marketing :: Winner
Entry Name: Ask Richard
Company Credits: Naked Communications – Australia; Frank PR -Australia
Creative Developers:
Adam Ferrier – Founding Partner, Naked Communications
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Paul Swann – Ideas Director
Nic Sommer – Design
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital
Techinical Developers:
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital support team

Best Advertising or Marketing :: Highly Commended
Entry Name: 26000 Vodka
Company Credits: Resn
Creative Developers: Resn
Techinical Developers: Resn

Best Children’s :: Winner
Entry Name: Budd:e E-security Education Package
Company Credits: Roar Film and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
Best Classifieds, News, Media or Reference :: Winner
Entry Name: Black Saturday

Company Credits: ABC Innovation
Creative Developers:
Producer – Priscilla Davies
Video Producer – Drew Ambrose
Designers – Bec Smith & Sarah Fawcett
Principal Stills Photographer – Richard Kendall
Researcher & Writer – Aimee Lipscombe
Techinical Developers:
Flash Development – Shane Korin and Michael Archbold (Distriqt)

Best Classifieds, News, Media or Reference :: Highly Commended
Entry Name: BresicWhitney Estate Agents Website
Company Credits: Moon Communications Group

Best Cross-Platform :: Winner
Entry Name: Tourism Queensland – Best Job in the World
Company Credits: Tourism Queensland & Sapient Nitro
Creative Developers: Sapient Nitro – Merrin McCormick, Cristian Staal, Ralph Barnett
Techinical Developers: Sapient Nitro – Horia Traian, Glen Peterson
Best Cultural or Lyfestyle :: Winner

Entry Name: Gallipoli: The First Day
Company Credits: ABC Innovation
Creative Developers: Harvey Broadbent (Consultant Historian, Macquarie University) Roberto Salvatore (Sound design and composition)
Techinical Developers: Plastic Wax Party Ltd (3D character modelling)

Best Enterprise :: Winner
Entry Name: Viocast
Company Credits: Viocorp
Techinical Developers: In House team led by Andrew Walls

Best Entertainment :: Winner
Entry Name: We Are Hunted
Company Credits: Wotnews
Creative Developers: Native Digita

Best Export Achievement :: Winner
Entry Name: AURA Interactive
Company Credits: AURA Interactive

Best Export Achievement :: Highly Commended
Entry Name: Traction – MassMedia Studios
Company Credits: MassMedia Studios

Best Financial Service :: Winner
Entry Name: Macquarie Edge: The new way of online trading
Company Credits: Macquarie Bank

Best Integration with an Offline Campaign :: Winner
Entry Name: Ask Richard
Company Credits: Naked Communications – Australia; Frank PR -Australia
Creative Developers:
Adam Ferrier – Founding Partner, Naked Communications
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Paul Swann – Ideas Director
Nic Sommer – Design
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital support team
Techinical Developers:
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital support team

Best Learning & Education :: Winner
Entry Name: Change2
Company Credits: Change2 & 2and2

Best Mobile Advertising or Marketing :: Winner
Entry Name: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Company Credits: AURA Interactive & Mediaedge: cia
Creative Developers: AURA Interactive
Techinical Developers: AURA Interactive

Best Mobile Product or Service :: Winner
Entry Name: 3 mobile content portal – iPhone & Android
Company Credits: Vodafone Hutchison Australia & Front Foot Media Solutions
Creative Developers:
Rod Farmer – VHA, 3 Mobile
Eric Scheid – VHA, 3 Mobile
Paul Drummond – VHA, 3 Mobile
Andrew Palmer – VHA, 3 Mobile
Techinical Developers:
Rod Farmer – VHA, 3 Mobile
Julian Guica – Front Foot
Damien Le Berrigaud – Front Foot

Best Non-profit or Government :: Winner
Entry Name: Ask Richard
Company Credits: Naked Communications & Frank PR
Creative Developers:
Adam Ferrier – Founding Partner, Naked Communications
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Paul Swann – Ideas Director
Nic Sommer – Design
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital support team
Technical Developers:
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital support team

Best Retail :: Winner
Entry Name: Holden.com.au
Company Credits: Visual Jazz

Best Science, Health or Environment :: Winner
Entry Name: Greenpeace Action-Pact
Company Credits: Circul8; MeTTro; The Inspire Agency; Greenpeace International
Creative Developers: Circul8
Technical Developers: MeTTro

Best Sport :: Winner
Entry Name: Carlton Natural Blonde – Match Centre2009
Company Credits: Telstra Media & WeAreDigital.

Best Student Project :: Winner
Entry Name: dboard
Credits: Institute for Interactive Media and Learning, MIMM at University of Technology Sydney
Creative Developers:
Michael Connerty – Project Manager, IA, content production & usability / user experience testing.
Gary Chan : Creative Director – Secondary Role : Research & IA User research, Training manual
Technical Developers:
Victor Mok – Web Manager
Joomla Manager – Website Development, Programing and Coding
Karee Fu – Flash Developer, Technical Arch System Arch design, Touchscreen Development, Technical Testing

Best Student Project :: Highly Commended
Entry Name: SoapBox Project
Credits: University of Technology Sydney & Institute for Interactive Media and Learning
Creative Developers: Natalie Lorentzen
Technical Developers:
Diana Runkle
Victor Mancilla
Doreen Ee
Natalie Lorentzen

Best Tourism or Travel :: Winner
Entry Name: Tourism Queensland – Best Job in the World
Company Credits: Tourism Queensland & Sapient Nitro
Creative Developers: Sapient Nitro – Merrin McCormick, Cristian Staal, Ralph Barnett
Technical Developers: Sapient Nitro – Horia Traian, Glen Peterson

Best Use of Social Media, Word-of-Mouth or Viral :: Winner
Entry Name: The Sims 3 Ultimate Aussie Fan Competition
Company Credits: Profero
Creative Developers: Profero
Technical Developers: Profero

Best Online Video :: Winner
Entry Name: Black Saturday
Company Credits: ABC Innovation
Creative Developers:
Producer: Priscilla Davies
Video Producer: Drew Ambrose
Designers: Bec Smith & Sarah Fawcett
Principal Stills Photographer: Richard Kendall Researcher & Writer: Aimee Lipscombe
Technical Developers:
Flash Development: Shane Korin and Michael Archbold (Distriqt)

Effectiveness Award :: Winner
Entry Name: Samboy is Back
Company Credits: Pusher
Creative Developers: The Pusher Crew
Technical Developers: The Pusher Crew

Best of the Best :: Winner
Entry Name: Tourism Queensland – Best Job in the World
Company Credits: Tourism Queensland & Sapient Nitro
Creative Developers: Sapient Nitro – Merrin McCormick, Cristian Staal, Ralph Barnett
Technical Developers: Sapient Nitro – Horia Traian, Glen Peterson

People’s Choice Award :: Winner
Entry Name: Ask Richard
Company Credits: Naked Communications – Australia; Frank PR -Australia
Creative Developers:
Adam Ferrier – Founding Partner, Naked Communications
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Paul Swann – Ideas Director
Nic Sommer – Design
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital
Techinical Developers:
Glen Cassidy – Communications Strategist
Julia Thomas – FBI Digital support team

Outstanding Contribution Award :: Winner

Sally Mills, CEO, LaVolta

“Love them or hate them, recruiters have an integral role to play in industry. But what other industry has a Sally Mills? She has been with us from almost the very beginning in the mid 1990’s, giving many of us our first breaks in a very young and vibrant industry that wasn’t supposed to catch on, let alone thrive.

She stayed with us through the dark days of the dot com bust when many left the digital industry. And she is still with us, an unstoppable contributor to the growth of the digital industry in Australia.

Sally Mills is no ordinary headhunter. Her Fourth Estate Domain nights are legendary networking experiences and a mandatory first stop for anyone wanting to understand the Australian digital industry.

Her Digital Bullets video series has highlighted the triumphs, wisdom and follies of the digital senior service for newcomers to the industry and helped promote digital to the broader business community.

And her unswerving support for AIMIA, as both a long-standing member of the AIMIA NSW committee and as the longest-serving sponsor of the AIMIA Awards, has done much to help drive the growth and effectiveness of the industry body. All of which takes a lot of hard work and dedication to a cause of only tangential benefit to her own company, Lavolta, not counting the countless opportunities for a drink that her efforts have created.

Sally is an outstanding contributor in the industry, whose efforts are worthy of the Outstanding Contribution Award. Sally, we look forward to your continued contribution to our industry, but tonight, for your contribution to the digital industry in Australia to date, we salute you.”

Did you know that approximately 40 percent of the world’s population — 2.6 billion people — has no access to a toilet? That fact is sobering from a humanitarian perspective and presents a profound market opportunity for any entrepreneur who can develop a simple, cheap, scaleable solution to this serious health problem.

According to a report in the New York Times, Swedish entrepreneur Anders Wilhelmson has developed and tested a biodegradable plastic bag that acts as a single-use toilet for urban slums in the developing world. The Peepoo can be buried after use, where a layer of urea crystals kills off pathogens that produce disease and converts the waste into fertilizer.

Millions of people in the developing world die every year as a result of open defecation. Wilhelmson has tested the Peepoo extensively in Kenya and India and is now planning to sell his product for about two or three cents a bag.

Last Wednesday, during the Launch of Napkin Competition at the University of Melbourne, a student audience asked the two speakers “Is it worth pursuing a market where no gap exists, which is already saturated by competitors?”

Webjet founder David Clarke gave a straight, “No.” “Just don’t do it.”

But Salvatore Malatesta, founder of Malatesta Corporation, said, “It’s not impossible.”

Malatesta is the first in Melbourne to charge $12 for a cup of coffee. He operates the micro-roastery St. Ali, which sources premium coffee beans from around the world and supplies them roasted to a number of specialty cafes in Australia, including his own Outpost and Sensory Lab.

The food and beverage industry had always been a saturated one, yet it’s never short of successful newcomers.

Malatesta makes a mindful distinction between cost-conscious consumers and premium consumers. “The first group wants things quick and cheap, whereas the latter base their purchasing decisions on brand and perceived value.”

While businesses serving cost-conscious customers are fragile if thin margins are not immediately compensated by large market share, it’s another story in the premium market. Malatesta says opportunity is plenty even in a saturated market as long as the entrepreneur can create unique value for this type of consumers.

This point is probably best illustrated by Malatesta’s newly launched Sensory Lab online subscription, where customers pay to have premium coffee beans delivered to their door, as well as receiving a number of value-adding services such as barista training, in-store discount, vouchers and a Sensory Lab coffee pin.

It’s an innovative business model that turns the hard-to-scale brick-and-mortar business into something scalable, leveraging the power of internet. By providing this extra value, Malatesta hopes his finely roasted coffee beans will help build relationships with end users, with the monetary benefits to come in the long run.

David Clarke, who in 1998 started Webjet — now Australia’s largest online airline booking website — is a pioneer for his time. He is adamant that if you can’t identify a value-adding gap in the market you want to enter, don’t do it. Market saturation is somewhat irrelevant.

Clarke says the premium market is all about selling “fantasies”, but a justifiable ones.

The travel industry today views airline tickets as pure commodities, and the recent success of low-cost budget airlines seems to suggest that the pursuit of “quick and cheap” is in the right direction.

But Clarke is appalled by this proposition even though Webjet is often associated with low-cost traveling. He says the airline industry has “just lost it”, and committed themselves to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Clarke argues that the value-adding gap doesn’t have to be price advantage; it can involve spectrum of services, status and tapping into emotions. “Travel is also a fantasy where you get to meet different people in different places,” says Clarke. ”The cheapest way to do that, of course, is to use conference calls.”

He praised the short-lived “Spirit of Australia” campaign run by Qantas years ago as an example of creating fantasy for travellers. Unfortunately, the campaign failed when the economy hit a downturn.

And the difference in opinion? Malatesta suggests opportunity lies in every market and it’s up to the entrepreneurs to create unique values that connect their brands to the consumers. Clarke argues that if you can’t identify a value-adding gap or be able to create a business model to tap into that gap, it’s not worth your effort.

So the debate between the two speakers was almost two sides of the same story. Indeed every market nowadays tends to become quickly saturated with competitors.

And the key takeaway: focus your business on creating unique values that address a specific market gap.

The Napkin Competition is an business idea competition run by Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change.

Tian Yang is the founding member and vice president of Student Entrepreneurs | Agents of Change, an organisation dedicated to creating and cultivating entrepreneurship communities in Australian universities. Tian is currently completing his Bachelor of Commerce/Media & Communication degree at the University of Melbourne.

The 2010 Telstra Business Awards have opened for nominations. This year, entrants have been offered a ‘free Business Health Check’ to help identify opportunities to grow and expand.

It’s the 18th year Telstra has run the Awards recognising excellence in small and medium business both nationally and in every state and territory. They offer a combined prize pool of more than $400,000 in cash and prizes, as well as the kudos that comes from taking out Australia’s best-known and most prestigious business prize.

Deena Shiff, Telstra Business Group Managing Director, says 2010 will be a milestone year for the Telstra Business Awards with the added value of the new “Business Health Check”.

“Running a small business can be a lonely job at times with owners usually working long hours often on their own – they don’t readily have the opportunity to get an independent assessment of how they are really travelling,” Ms Shiff said. rnrn”Every year we get great feedback from entrants and finalists that entering the Awards has helped them focus and plan their businesses.

“The new Business Health Check really takes that a step further offering all businesses entering the chance to check their vital signs and get an even better picture of where they stand and how well placed they are to take advantage of opportunities to grow and expand.”

Free Business Health Check

The Business Health Check is based on international benchmarking standards including the Global Reporting Index and Innovation Standards, current legislation and accepted industry best practice.

It was developed by Telstra Business in consultation with the NSW Business Chamber which has been using it to coach and develop businesses over the past four years.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) entering will automatically qualify for the Health Check, which forms part of the entry process and provides an objective snapshot of how a business is currently performing. It can also help with plans and adjustments for the future on their approach to key management functions.

From the responses provided in the Awards entry submission, businesses can receive advice designed to deliver opportunities to achieve effective competitive advantages in key aspects including customer and staff management, product development, social responsibility, financial management and marketing.

Ms Shiff said the value of the Health Check was evident in a recent Telstra Business survey of more than 300 SMEs which showed almost half believed that a strong business plan was critical to their business improvement.

“For almost two decades the Telstra Business Awards have helped improve hundreds of successful businesses, propelling them forward to further big achievements. We look forward to building on that this year,” Ms Shiff said.

Dr Margarite Vale, Founder and Director of the Victorian company, The COACH Program, which won the 2009 Telstra Australian Business Award, said the Award has had an ongoing impact on her business.

“Winning the Telstra Business Award was great recognition for something I have been working on for 15 years and it has given us wonderful exposure,” Dr Vale said. rnrn“Since being named as the Telstra Australian Business Award Winner last year, The COACH Program has experienced business growth, including some existing customers expanding the program, others extending contracts and some new customers.”

“It has enhanced our reputation as a business and given us great kudos among our customers – both existing and new. All of our customers were thrilled and said they were proud to be associated with us.”

Telstra Business Award Categories

There are five award categories:

1. businessowner Micro-Business AwardFor businesses with five employees or fewer.
2. MYOB Small Business AwardFor businesses with more than five employees, but less than or equal to 20 employees.
3. Panasonic Australia Medium Business AwardFor businesses with more than 20 employees, but less than or equal to 200 employees.

All entrants will also be considered for the following two specialist Awards:

• AMP Innovation AwardFor businesses that have successfully introduced an Innovation.
• Sensis Social Responsibility AwardFor demonstrated leadership and contribution by a business to the environment, people, education or the community.

State/Territory Awards

All category winners will be announced at the State/Territory presentation dinners. Winners of the three qualifying categories will also be eligible to win the overall 2010 Telstra Business of the Year for their State or Territory.

National Awards

Category winners in each State/Territory will be eligible to represent their business at the national awards ceremony in their respective category. The winners of the overall Telstra Business of the Year in each State/Territory will also be eligible to be named the 2010 Telstra Australian Business of the Year.

How to Enter the Telstra Business Awards

The Awards process is a simple one:

1. Any eligible business – your own or someone else’s – may be entered
2. Entry forms must be submitted by 5pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on Friday 16 April 2010
3. Entries are assessed by a judging panel which selects finalists
4. Finalists receive a site visit
5. Winners are announced at the Awards ceremony

Finalists and winners could enjoy national exposure, an unparalleled business network and a competitive advantage.

To nominate and enter, click here. Entries close at 5pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday 16 April 2010.

Online business trading site BizExchange recently published its 2009 fourth quarter findings for Australian Private Business Values.

Overall, market sentiment surged for the second quarter running – in contrast to the lows experienced nine months previously – and has reached its highest levels since the Index survey began in 2006.

However, this has not resulted in higher business values, with the past six months seeing a significant number of low-priced micro businesses entering the market, thus depreciating the overall average.

The total number of businesses listed for sale has remained stable, albeit without a remarkable presence of medium and mid market business owners.

Brokers have also claimed that tight bank lending criteria have hampered trading in some quality businesses.

Generally, the past twelve months delivered relatively stable business values, particularly when compared to publicly listed companies, although ‘actual’ market business values are likely to be less than published as a notable number of business listings (at the smaller end) are being carried on from previous quarters.

The BizExchange Index forecasts and interesting new phase for the business market considering the following contributing market factors:

• Equity markets in Australia are recovering quickly from the Global Financial Crisis but are still tentative about smaller listings.
• Australia’s immigration policy continues to encourage wealthy immigrants to buy existing Australian companies.
• High household debt levels among Gen-X and Gen-Y make them reluctant or incapable purchasers of existing businesses.
• Over 100,000 businesses owned by baby boomers are still to be placed on the market as baby boomers go into retirement.

The full report is embedded below:

BizExchange Index Dec 2009

The North Coast Innovation Festival was launched in 2009 to raise public awareness of the Mid-North Coast’s reputation as an innovative and entrepreneurial region, and harness this culture in a way that will help ensure the region’s sustainability and future economic growth.

Following on from the successful 2009 MNCIF and the Northern Rivers Innovation Awards, the 2010 Festival will expand to include the Northern Rivers. The North Coast Innovation Festival will encompass the entire NSW North Coast from Tweed Heads to Foster-Tuncurry covering a population of almost 600,000.

The 2010 NCIF is a series of individual events that are designed to showcase the intellectual capital and innovative creativity on the NSW North Coast. Each event will incorporate aspects of innovation, sustainability, research, knowledge and entrepreneurship with the aim of bringing together businesses from all industry sectors to share new ideas and approaches on how to work smarter.

Festival events cover a wide range of businesses and organisations which will involve the entire community including community groups, students and industries.

North Coast Innovation Festival – How can you get involved

Attending an event – Download the event calendar. Full details of events including registration details are coming soon.

Hosting an event – businesses or organisations can host an event that will showcase their innovative work practices, products or service.

Sponsoring the festival – we encourage the business community to support the festival through sponsorship. There are packages that suit all budgets and marketing needs. Download the sponsorship prospectus.

Advertising in the festival guide – 10,000 festival guides distributed along the NSW North Coast. Download the advertising fees.

Sign up for the e-newsletter – launching in March and will contain information on festival events, local innovative businesses and products and success stories for entrepreneurs from our region.

Festival events will help facilitate networking between innovators and investors that will reinforce the innovation and entrepreneurial process, from idea to market. Businesses, organisations, students and entrepreneurs will also benefit from sharing new ideas and approaches on how to work smarter.

The overall management and guidance of the NCIF is undertaken by a Management Committee made up of regional stakeholders and each of the events held during the festival month are developed and managed by individual Event Managers.

In an Australian government first, the Victorian parliament has adopted Creative Commons (CC) licensing as its default licensing system for access to public sector information (PSI).

Not all information will be covered by CC licensing and the government has been advised by the Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee to implement a hybrid scheme where restricted data will be covered by other licenses.  However, based upon evidence by provided by the GILF project, the Committee has proposed that around 85 percent of material could be appropriate for CC licensing.

Creative Commons Australia believes the most salient recommendations were:

• Recommendation 11: That the Victorian Government develop a consistent copyright licensing system for use across all government departments
• Recommendation 14: That the Victorian Government adopt the Creative Commons licensing model as the default licensing system for the Information Management Framework.
• Recommendation 15: That the Victorian Government adopt a hybrid public sector information licensing model comprising Creative Commons and a tailored suite of licences for restricted materials.

In a further move to showcase and endorse the Government’s dedication to information access and innovation, the Minister for Information and Communications Technology John Lenders has invited Victorian Innovators to compete for $100,000 and develop applications that make use of the new licensing system.

The online competition, entitled ‘App My State‘, is designed to encourage innovators to create applications that will benefit residents, visitors, businesses and government. Website, social networking and smart phone applications will be judged on “their innovation, design and development, usefulness, accessibility and general excellence.”

Limerick-based software startup Goshido recently completed its first round of private fundraising in only eight days. What is more impressive is that it accomplished this feat solely via the social media networking site LinkedIn.

Investors were offered 10 slots valued at €25,000 each and representing two percent of the company. Executive chairman Frank Hanigan has taken one of the slots.

The company sent 700 emails to possible candidates on LinkedIn that resulted in 200 replies and ultimately generated  €162,500 (approximately A$256,000) in just over a week.

Goshido produces a web-based application of task-sharing tools as well as more complex enterprise workflow software.

The company plans to raise an additional €200,000 from Enterprise Ireland later this year.

The full article in the Irish Times can be read here.

Photo: Ceslava.com