Funding & Finance

If you are a director when your company is found to be trading while insolvent, then you face penalties of up to $220,000 and/or 5 years’ imprisonment! And that’s even if you didn’t know about it, because Australian law says that as a director, you should have known. Crikey! Fair suck of the sauce bottle! (And insert other intentionally overt Aussie slang tirade here.)

Economist Alberto Posso recently sat down with Talking Business’ Leon and Garry to chat about the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) release of trade figures and Australia’s new surplus.

Promotion: On the back of Hobert Pitch Club last month, we are back in Melbourne (14th April 2011). Pitch Club assists aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their new business ideas. We provide a forum to Pitch ideas; tools to manage and syndicate ideas and match you up with quality advisors and business angels. Pitch Club chapters are in most major cities in Australia.

According to a new report, the Australian private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) industries generated attractive returns over a one, three and five year period, as of June 2010, in comparison to traditional stock indexes.

According to Michael Blythe, Commonwealth Bank Chief Economist, “The divergence between retail and non-retail spending trends, where women and men’s spending dominate respectively, correlates with the divide in gender sentiment. Department store sales, for example, where women are responsible for 59% of spending, is soft. And this softness is linked to the less positive sentiment of female consumers.”

Private Sydney-based angel group AngelLoft has launched an Entrepreneur in Residence Program to help grow new ventures and secure funding. In addition to place to a bunker-down and hang a shingle, participants score a seat at AngelLoft dinners, where they can shoot the breeze with the group’s high-powered business types.

In the latest edition of Talking Business, Leon and Garry have a natter about Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s push to turn the prospective carbon price into an election issue. According to the chaps: “The horse trading’s begun already.”

Everyone’s aware that obtaining capital is a tougher task now than it was before the 2008 global financial meltdown. While there are constant murmurs about the markets bouncing back and lines of credit being freed up, those at the coalface will vouch that it remains tricky out there.

The NSW government is set to earn serious brownie points with aspiring business folk. It’s launched an online resource for entrepreneurs to facilitate high growth. Serial angel investor Dr Tom McKaskill joined forces with Industry & Investment NSW and the Australian Technology Showcase to develop the High Growth Diagnostic, currently in beta.

Peter Chambers, an independent consultant for Australian SMEs, talks to Anthill about how businesses can use a seven-point plan of attack to unlock cash flow so the funds can be used to invest in things such as innovation.

On 25 March, Anthill is hosting a full-day Capital Raising, Acquisitions & Exit Masterclass, facilitated by Domenic Carosa. Learn the benefits of growing a business using acquisitions as a strategy, and the processes involved in approaching, negotiating, closing and integrating acquisitions or mergers.

A new report by analysts Dun & Bradstreet has found a 23% increase in business failure in 2010. The relative strength of the Australian economy was no match for rising costs and delayed payments, with many businesses folding despite Australia's success weathering the global financial crisis, in comparison to other nations.

Promotion: On the back of Melbourne Pitch Club last month, we are off to Hobart next week (17th March 2011). Pitch Club assists aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their new business ideas. We provide a forum to Pitch ideas; tools to manage and syndicate ideas and match you up with quality advisors and business angels. Pitch Club chapters are in most major cities in Australia.

In the latest episode of Talking Business, Leon and Garry discuss the bucketloads of profit BHP Billiton recently announced – a 71.5% jump to over $1.1 billion, no less. And it seems it’s something of a trend, with Westfield, Wesfarmers, Bendigo and Adelaide Banks, and Dominos Pizzas also announcing significant profit growth.

Generally, in Australia, there are two main types of government funds available: Government Grants and Research and Development Tax Breaks. There can be a lot of appeal in trying to access Government Grants. However, if I had to pick a government funding program for my business, I know which one I would choose: R&D Tax Breaks. Here's why.

Last Friday, with great excitement (coupled with a small amount of nervousness and a hint of embarrassment), we were finally able to unveil Antmart -- Anthill's take on the 'group buying' model. In summary, it's a group buying website (sometimes also known as a 'collective buying' or 'daily deals' site) developed specifically for business builders.

Lesson #1: There is definite value in pitching unprepared. One of the pitchers on the night had not pitched before. You could tell he was hungry to get in front of the crowd and tell his story. This is because few of us ever get the opportunity to have our ideas challenged.

Angel investing in Australia is alive and well! That’s the message from day one of the 4th Annual Australian Association of Angel Investors (AAAI) conference which opened in Newcastle yesterday. The conference, in its fourth year, was created as a forum for Australian angels to network, learn and showcase industry best-practice.

The Australian Government invests big bucks in research each year. But which nerdy boffins pocket the cash, and at what benefit to the community?

Despite a lower number of businesses offered for sale, private business values were relatively stable in the final quarter of 2010, according to the latest BizExchange Index.