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News, opinions and advice on starting and building companies.

Top entrepreneurs in Victoria and Tasmania named

The six best entrepreneurs from the Southern Region (Victoria and Tasmania) were named at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Melbourne last Thursday night.

Work ON and not IN your business… Thanks heaps for the advice.

I’ve heard it a hundred times. Entrepreneurs need to work on their business as opposed to in their business. However, getting stuck in the day-to-day happens to most of us, and the obvious question is ‘why?’ Especially when we know it is not in the best interests of our company. Are we just inherently forgetful, or is something else in play?

The market-building dilemma

Having a strong market-based business is great. You are a power broker and can often profit from both sides. But how do you get over the chicken and egg problem? From my experience working with more than 12 market-based businesses, there are two things you need to do.

Stop trying to monetise Twitter. You’re killing the golden goose!

There’s no getting around it – utilisation of social networking as a form of marketing requires an input of time. This bugs a lot of business owners, looking for a shortcut. Isn’t there some way in which we can just, like, advertise on it or something? Do we really need to spend hours in front of our computers tweeting, LinkingIn and Facebooking?

The state of angel investment in the current market

Much has been written and said about the frigid state of both bank and venture capital funding for growing businesses in the current global market. But how are angel investors and their investee companies coping? Prominent Australian angel investor Jordan Green provides this handy snapshot and some advice for investors and entrepreneurs alike.

How to spend a marketing budget of $5,000

So you’ve got $5,000 to market your business. What do you spend it on to get the ‘best bang’ for your buck? Here are the top five marketing activities you should focus on to promote and grow your business with an investment of $5,000 – in order of importance.

How a picture of a punk can boost your creativity

Recent research indicates that people think more creatively when looking at an image of a punk. Pinning up deviant images could be just the trick to introduce a little controlled anarchy to your brain.

Angel Investor Workshop and COMET Company Showcase

This event is for angel investors and anyone interested in learning how to be effective as an angel investor. It will also include a...

When the contest is between selling out and risking death

It takes a lot of guts for an entrepreneur to turn down an offer from a US venture capital investor, particularly when the alternative means staying put when you have just two months cash left. Brad Howarth follows the plight of innovative start-ups down the road to commercialisation.

Raising capital – Who gives a damn about the numbers?

People ask me quite regularly if I can look over their numbers prior to them talking to potential funders. I have generally been happy to do so, but the truth is that I will have no clue. Neither will the potential funders. And, most likely, neither will you. The thing about most new ventures is...well, they are new. So we put down our best guesses, present them as the gospel truth and everyone pretends they know more than everyone else. What a crock.

Every journey has a start

Today we launch a new blog. ‘The Entrepreneurial Truth’ is written by mag nation fopunder, Sahil Merchant. In this, his first post, Merchant admits that his new venture has yet to turn a cent of profit and offers his own brand of unspun entrepreneurial truth, direct for the coal-face.

Your new business = The job from hell

It’s a familiar story. You, a technically-minded professional, leave the comfort of a salaried job to venture out on your own in search of greater autonomy and prosperity. Soon enough, you’re out of your depth, writhing around trying to manage costs, staff and responsibilities far beyond your area of expertise. Congratulations! You’ve created the job from hell. And it’s all yours.

Are assumptions killing your business?

Assumptions – those nasty things that sit around in the back of your head and stop your thinking going anywhere interesting – are one of the biggest creativity killers in organisations of all sizes. Chances are, if you have a problem you are trying to crack, your assumptions or pre-conceived notions are boxing in your thinking. Set them free.

Handheld medical device named Next Big Thing

The winners of Innovic's International Next Big Thing Award, which identifies innovative products with the potential to change the world, were announced last Friday.

Pitch Club delivers a knockout to Melbourne

Pitch Club in partnership with Melbourne Angels hosted its latest event in Melbourne last week. Over 140 people attended the event at Life.lab in the...

Customer convenience makes a comeback – Foodies lead the charge

Bucking the trend of customer inconvenience, some savvy entrepreneurs have carved out a lucrative niche for themselves in the online food industry by reinstating consumer convenience as King.

Survey: high-net-worth individuals are looking to invest in private companies

With business and consumer confidence languishing, it would be logical to think that investor confidence would be similarly depressed. However, according to a recent survey of 4,169 Australian investors conducted by Wholesale Investor, investor sentiment is buoyant.

Will the future ever deliver?

Are you sick of waiting for the future to deliver on its promises? We let the boffins get away with announcing stuff, taking our money and then hiding. Our generation X and Y attention spans mean we forget to hold them accountable. Oh look over there, something shiny...

Sales people learning foolproof selling techniques at NIDA?

Actors training salespeople how to mesmorise their targets with stage techniques. Not as crazy as it sounds. In fact, what a great idea! Now we're on the hunt for any other unusual sales training techniques or initiatives you've come across. If you know of any, let us know below.

Protecting your business psyche

You are the sum average of the five people you spend the most time with. Assess who these people are and the influence they have on you. Surround yourself with people that nurture your psyche. Make subtle changes to this circle of influence.
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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...

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