Management Matters
News, opinions and advice on managing business systems and people.
Documenting your next ‘killer’ deal
Even those who can sense a good commercial deal and have the acumen to negotiate the terms are often uncertain how to document their...
Business 101 – Making sure you get paid
The risk of being dudded is reduced by following a few simple rules. It’s surprising how often they’re bypassed or forgotten.
RULE 1: IDENTIFY YOUR...
The Fine Print: Know your art
Published in Australian Anthill Magazine,
Dec 2008/Jan 2009
The most successful companies not only continually innovate but they position their innovations within a framework of competitor...
Top 10 ways to kill your phone costs
Look after the cents and the dollars will look after themselves. You might have first heard this axiom on your mother’s knee, but it...
Before saving the world, you need the right armour
The opportunity
Do you want to save the world and make money doing it? That’s the opportunity that presents itself with the introduction of the...
Selling our IP to the Chinese
An Aussie swimming coach sells training secrets to the Chinese and it hits the front pages of the tabloids. Fair enough. But our precious...
The 168 steps to starting a business (Part I)
We decided to list 168 steps (for want of a better random number). Of course, coming up with 168 steps is even harder than writing them, so we called on our trusty readers via the Anthill blog, in what has since been described as an experiment in Magazine 2.0 (reader-generated print content).
Climate change opportunity
We regularly hear of the “climate change challenge”. Indeed it is. But it also presents an opportunity.
With the policy objective of reducing emissions, the...
IP 101
Editor’s note: We often jump straight into the minutia of intellectual property affairs on this page without sufficient regard for those of you who...
Systems = Sanity
A major challenge for any business owner is how to get others to help run the business, so that it doesn’t completely take over...
Taking on the opposition
Companies that value their own intellectual property (IP) and are aware of their competitors’ and the competitive IP landscape will routinely watch for the acceptance and/or grant of patents by competitor companies or related entities.
How to get IPO ready
Listing on the stock exchange is a complex and expensive process, often consuming up to 10 percent of the funds raised, so it’s important to get it right.
The price is right
In any M&A transaction there is an exchange of value, commonly known as ‘the price’. The seller is after a stellar premium and the buyer wishes to get a bargain. How does this work? The answer is: the seller and buyer can have common ground as they often look at the business differently.
The importance of keeping research records
In the spring of 1997, Alberto Stampa filed a US provisional patent application claiming a process for making loratadine, the active ingredient in the...
Legal: What’s in a name
Today’s consumer is faced with a vast choice of product and ever-increasing advertising.
If you want to be seen and heard in the marketplace, you must develop brands that occupy centre stage in the consumer’s mind and that promise clear benefits. The starting point for creating a strong brand is the careful selection of a brand name.
Legal: What's in a name
Today’s consumer is faced with a vast choice of product and ever-increasing advertising.
If you want to be seen and heard in the marketplace, you must develop brands that occupy centre stage in the consumer’s mind and that promise clear benefits. The starting point for creating a strong brand is the careful selection of a brand name.
Legal: Joint development
THE FINE PRINT
Joint development: covering all bases
Are you working with another company, consultant or research body to develop new or improved products or...
Cashflow: Why profitable businesses go bust
If business is selling products or services and buying labour and parts at the right price, why do so many go bust?
Cash is often...
How to conquer six life and death business scenarios
Life is rarely predictable. So why would business be any different? Paul Ryan and Jodie O’Keeffe square up to a meteor shower of corporate Kryptonite and figure out how to dodge commercial doom. Cyber-attack, idea theft, competitor outsourcing, cash-flow crises, disruptive innovation and fraud. Take a deep breath, assess risk, consider your options…and never turn your back on a clear blue sky.
IP litigation
You might be feeling pretty good about yourself because you've secured your intellectual property. But the reality is, a patent or trademark is not...