Articles

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.

When the global recession hit, Robert Castaneda packed his bags and moved his family to California. To him, the financial crisis was a perfect opportunity to launch a USA office for his company, CustomWare, a business integration and collaboration services firm.

My focus this week has been on drawing up the first draft of our Information Memorandum (IM). Unlike the business plan, I haven't found this particularly easy at all.

Firstly, let's clear up some confusion. Commercialisation Australia is not going to pay for your marketing campaign, help you with advertising or fund you to break into your desired market. CA will help you up to the point that you are ready to go commercial. That is, it will help with pre-commercialisation.

The tangle of red tape is shortly about to be made much simpler and more seamless as a result of an initiative led by the Australian Treasury called 'Standard Business Reporting', which will be available from 1 July, 2010.

As one of this year's 30under30 winners, Clint Walker was instrumental in building, running and selling the enormously successful Rising Sun Research (RSR), which was also named the Coolest of the Cool at Anthill's 2007 Cool Company Awards. He's now in startup round two with his second company, Run with Robots.

You don't have to be a Vulcan to grok the good stuff that can come out of an international mind-meld as big as Global Entrepreneurship Week. Matthew da Silva sits down with the organisers and profiles some inspiring young entrepreneurial attendees.

Why do we think that fast is better and why do we so often mistake speed for efficiency in the workplace? John Freeman, author of 'Shrinking the World', thinks it's all a bit wrong-headed. Persephone Nicholas reports.

Oodles.com founder Steve Sherlock has set himself the goal of raising a multimillion dollar Series A funding round by the end of January 2010. He is documenting his trials and tribulations and seeking feedback from readers on AnthillOnline.com. This is the third post in his series.

Frustrated Australian consumers are voting with their mice, with huge numbers choosing to spend their hard-earned cash on overseas retail websites that give them a far more enjoyable shopping experience. Last year, 43 percent of Australia's total online spend went overseas. No wonder brands based in the UK and US dominate the top 10 retail sites visited by Australian shoppers.

In recent months, several companies have carved out innovative niches for themselves in the beauty industry, launching ground-breaking products and services designed to meet the needs of cosmetics consumers in unique, cutting-edge ways.

The US remains the largest developed market in the world and a big influence on other global markets. It remains important for any company with global ambitions. The current economic environment does not do a lot to encourage Australian firms to focus on the US. However, innovative new models and technology have dramatically changed the cost of entering and developing the US market. Australian firms can now do much of the early market development work without having to hire a US-based team.

Online star rating systems are a great idea in principle, but unfortunately, they don't work. And no, not because of all the know-nothing trolls out there who saturate these ratings channels with their narcissistic critiques. The problem is that, when it comes to rating products online, the crowd is too nice.

If you ain't the Big Cheese, it's likely you think (at least occasionally) that you could run the company better. So get a team together and make it happen! Here are eights steps to buying out your boss and seizing the reins.

We laugh at the people in Australian Idol auditions who are completely oblivious to that fact that they can't sing. But hang on... These people pop-up in business all the time. You might even have had an 'Idol moment' yourself when you were younger.

Karly Chan has a pathological fear of boredom. Though she's pretty sure she's never actually been bored in her life, she dived into the world of entrepreneurship to ensure that she never has to experience it at all.

Being perceived as professional by outsiders is a common challenge for small businesses. Many startups reach a stage where meeting clients in cafes no longer cuts it. Here are 10 simple ways that your company can make itself look bigger it is.

Oodles.com founder Steve Sherlock has set himself the goal of raising a multimillion dollar Series A funding round by the end of January 2010. He is documenting his trials and tribulations and seeking feedback from readers on AnthillOnline.com. This is the second post in his series.

It's becoming impossible to get through the day without hearing some expert or other holding forth about personal branding. But could we be at risk of taking ourselves too seriously?

The more I have seen in business, the more I’ve learnt the importance of learning from people who have achieved the results you are looking for. These days many people are willing to give advice. The question is: what advice do you take on?