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News, opinions and advice for fast growth businesses with an eye on the horizon.

Entries now open in 2011 NSW Export Awards

The awards are open to all NSW companies that are doing business in the international marketplace. Award categories recognise the range of exports from the State and include small business, manufacturing, information and communications technology, services, and agribusiness.

Daniel Feiler explains why Australian online shopping is taking off

In this podcast, Daniel Feiler, head of corporate communications for eBay Asia Pacific, talks with Leon and Garry about what's driving the fast growth of online shopping in Australia, how retailers can leverage the Internet to get into the game, and how eBay's bar code-scanning app is gaining popularity with consumers.

Retail takes big fall in April (while most other sectors look promising)

According to the BSI, retail registered the biggest fall of all the industry sectors in April with a loss of 1.4%. The BSI, which tracks spending in the Australian market, indicated that sales fell in April across all sectors by 0.2%. Curiously, if one doesn’t take retail sales account, the BSI found that sales have risen by 0.3%, which is the highest rise since November 2009.

Will Australian students’ growing disinterest in Asian studies affect our economy?

Major media has reported an “alarming” 22% decline in the number of Australian students studying Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese or Korean from kindergarten to year 12 between 2000 and 2008. And when the Australian Industry Group surveyed 380 business organisations, it found that most CEOs neither speak nor understand any Asian languages, and have minimal experience in the region, yet more than half of those surveyed planned to expand into Asia in the future.

CSIRO casting technologies to be used by new Nissan electric car

Nissan Casting Australia (NCAP), a company that manufactures casting and parts for the automotive industry, wins bid to develop components for Nissan’s LEAF electric car with the help of a series of cost-competitive casting technologies developed by CSIRO.

Why companies should never waste a good crisis: An Interview with Deloitte Chief Giam...

This podcast features an interview full of insights from Giam Swiegers, CEO of Deloitte Australia. Advising that a company should always seek opportunity in times of crisis, Swiegers has stayed true to form: Deloitte continues to take on new staff and maintain an aggressive acquisitions strategy. Swiegers also talks about innovative people and his firm's welcoming of social media as a tool to increase accountability.

Australian importers should be cautious, says Travelex

Travelex has issued a a word of caution to Australian importers and SMBs so they be careful with their purchasing practices in a moment when the $AUD is strong.

Australians among the world’s biggest entertainment consumers

According to a new report from the ARC Centre for Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation at the Queensland University of Technology, Australians spent $17 billion in the entertainment industry in 2009, with each Australian over fifteen years old spending an average $756. That ranks us fifth among the world’s biggest entertainment spenders, right behind the United States, Japan, United Kingdom and Germany.

ABS numbers show rise in retail spending, with falls in job vacancies and building...

Talking Business is a podcast review of the Australian economy, presented by seasoned business journalists Leon Gettler and Garry Barker, produced in association with the RMIT College of Business. In this podcast, RMIT economist Jonathan Boymal breaks down the latest ABS figures on retail spending, building approvals and job vacancies.

Jonathan Boymal on housing stats, lending finance and Japan

Talking Business is a podcast review of the Australian economy, presented by seasoned business journalists Leon Gettler and Garry Barker, produced in association with the RMIT College of Business. In this podcast, RMIT economist Jonathan Boymal talks about falling housing stats and lending finance. He also looks at the durability of Japan's economy and how it may impact Australia in light of the tsunami and rebuilding efforts.

One hundred days in, Ted Baillieu assesses the challenges ahead for Victoria [Interview]

In this extended podcast, Garry and Leon talk with Victoria Premier Ted Baillieu about the challenges facing his government – not least of which are the clean-up of the Victorian floods, the cut in GST funding from the Federal Government, and the delay to the regional rail project, issues he describes as “black holes” left by his predecessors. He also cites his pledge to the environment and creative measures to boost the state's sagging productivity.

Talking ’bout my generation: Will Gen X become Generation X-port?

It seems like only yesterday that Bob Hawke and Paul Keating floated the dollar. Australia, the so-called lucky country, made its own luck as our leaders opened up our economy to Asia and the emerging world. Back then, baby boomers began taking their business out of ‘Fortress Australia’; trying their luck on the world stage, often in new lands that weren’t as affluent or familiar as they are today.

How 40 million Easter Eggs will drive the economy this year [Interview]

In this podcast, Garry and Leon speak with AnnaMaria Lapetina, chief executive of Ernest Hillier Chocolates. Founded in Sydney in 1914, the chocolate maker now operates in Melbourne and has been locally owned throughout its history. Lapetina explains Hillier's preference for high-end ingredients to stand out from the competition and the company's plans to roll out 40 million Easter eggs this year.

Australian online businesses had a great 2010 and are expecting an even better 2011,...

OBI found that the main reason behind the online commerce growth is consumer demand as well as an increase in the range of services offered by Australian Post. The rising of the Australian dollar also had a positive impact on eCommerce. According to the survey, a stronger Australian dollar allowed online businesses to import more products from overseas and led more Australian customers to online shopping which allowed online retailers to reduce prices in order to compete with international businesses.

Freelancer’s Matt Barrie defends online crowdsourcing

In this podcast, Leon and Garry talk to Matt Barrie, the CEO of Freelancer.com, a Sydney-based company and recent Anthill Cool Company Award winner. Freelancer bills itself as "the world's largest outsourcing marketplace" with over two million registered users. Barrie explains the keys behind the success of the website and the appeal of online outsourcing in a globalised economy.

Talking Business podcast. Commonwealth Bank: free money for all!

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.”

Does Australia have a bipolar economy?

Talking Business is a podcast review of the Australian economy, presented by seasoned business journalists Leon Gettler and Garry Barker, produced in association with the RMIT College of Business. In this podcast, RMIT economist Sinclair Davidson talks about what’s been described as Australia’s “bipolar economy” with the mining sector booming but other sectors like retail and manufacturing struggling.

The Reserve Bank is spending millions on furniture. Why?

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.

Five things I’ve learned about consumer behaviour (that contradict everything you’ve been taught)

After four years at the healm of business reviews website WOMOW.com.au, Fiona Adler has learnt lots of things along the way – not the least of which are some surprising insights about consumer behaviour. Having access to so much customer satisfaction data has changed her way of thinking about consumers – and changed it for the better. Here are her five lessons to change the way you think about consumer behaviour too.

Anthill launches its own group buying ‘deals’ website… Antmart!

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.
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5 Ways to get more out of your coffee shop meetings...

Far too much time is wasted in coffee shop meetings. More often than not, the conversation falls off topic, interruptions cause distractions and, before you know it, the meeting is over and you’ve achieved nothing. That’s what Antony Gaddie calls a Coffee and Doughnut meeting. You get a coffee and… zero. He’s the founder of Green Ant Marketing and he shared with us (over coffee) five things that you can do to help you make the most of your coffee shop meetings.

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The Alchemy of Negotiation with Matt Lohmeyer [FREE REPORT]

Negotiation is part and parcel of everyday life. Despite this, the idea of honing our negotiating skills doesn’t go down well with most of us. We fear that we’ll end up being manipulative, exploitative, scheming. To help us break the chains of this retrogressive mentality, we have Matt Lohmeyer. He has worked as a professional negotiator in various fields for over eight years and before that, negotiated deals with biotech pharmaceutical and chemical companies. In short, he’s an Alchemist in the Art of Negotiation.

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New Zealand’s Xero eyes US IPO, further disruption as subscribers increase...

Xero recently held its annual meeting in Wellington, during which the company revealed some interesting details about its future. As has been widely suspected, the...

OPINIONS & ADVICE