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Top 5 business tips for surviving the holiday slowdown

The December and January period is normally a slow time for small-to-medium sized businesses, with most customers on holidays, suppliers operating on skeleton staff and budgets on hold. The Interface Financial Group’s David Hechter offers his top five tips for surviving the Christmas slowdown.

Plan your cashflow this holiday season – or it could get very ugly

March is consistently the worst month of the year for company insolvencies. Why? Because businesses don’t plan for the inevitable drop in cashflow over the holiday period. Tim Lea offers some great advice on how to keep all the balls in the air while you and your customers are enjoying the summer break.

The Great Recovery and soaring dollar create headaches and opportunities for Australian companies

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.

Commercialisation Australia and the Valley of Death

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.

Untangling the Red Tape – Standard Business Reporting starts July 2010

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.

5 reasons I hate logos

Okay, maybe that's a tad on the dramatic side. What I hate is this faffing around with logos as an excuse for not doing other, real, important stuff with your business.

Who really benefits from the Rudd Government’s new Commercialisation Australia program?

The news yesterday that the Federal Government has unveiled details of its $196 million Commercialisation Australia (CA) initiative has been welcomed by many entrepreneurs and innovation consultants. These same intended beneficiaries might also be forgiven for wondering whether it is an improvement on the $1 billion Commercial Ready Scheme it is designed to replace.

Who really benefits from the Rudd Government's new Commercialisation Australia program?

The news yesterday that the Federal Government has unveiled details of its $196 million Commercialisation Australia (CA) initiative has been welcomed by many entrepreneurs and innovation consultants. These same intended beneficiaries might also be forgiven for wondering whether it is an improvement on the $1 billion Commercial Ready Scheme it is designed to replace.

Opportunities in the US for high growth Australian firms

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.

8 steps to buy out the boss

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.

I survived the GFC by ignoring it

When I started my business I knew it had to grow from a foundation of personal contact and referrals. To do this people said I had to network. This scared the crap out of me.

Who else is fed up with Freeple (“Free Stuff People”)?

If you're going to give something away, you need to know what the value of it is and what your ROI is. Too many people are caught up in this 'giving stuff away for free and hoping money happens later' thing. I'm guessing that's because they're afraid of selling.

Who else is fed up with Freeple ("Free Stuff People")?

If you're going to give something away, you need to know what the value of it is and what your ROI is. Too many people are caught up in this 'giving stuff away for free and hoping money happens later' thing. I'm guessing that's because they're afraid of selling.

Are your customers taking over 50 days to pay you? According to D&B, that’s...

According to Dun & Bradstreet's (D&B) latest trade payments analysis, the payment terms of Australian firms have declined for the second consecutive quarter. A fall of three days since the previous quarter and 5.6 days in the past six months has reduced terms to 51.8 days – just above pre-crisis levels.

Are your customers taking over 50 days to pay you? According to D&B, that's...

According to Dun & Bradstreet's (D&B) latest trade payments analysis, the payment terms of Australian firms have declined for the second consecutive quarter. A fall of three days since the previous quarter and 5.6 days in the past six months has reduced terms to 51.8 days – just above pre-crisis levels.

Offer less choice to get more sales

Regular Anthill contributor Steve Sammartino published an interesting post on his blog this morning. Steve is in the process of tweaking the pricing model for his company Rentoid and relayed a nugget of advice offered to him by fellow entrepreneur Chris Pearson (founder of Skitch and Comic Life).

Matthew Bourke, 2009 Anthill 30under30 Winner

For those of you who think accountants are beige bean counters, introducing Matthew Bourke – the new wave of accountant / business leader. He has, perhaps, the most diverse business interests of any of this year’s 30under30 winners.

The 7 principles of a successful restructure

Chances are, you’ve had to make some changes to your company’s internal structure in response to the economic downturn and in preparation for the slow recovery that appears to be underway. As with everything in business, restructures can be done well and they can be done poorly. Here are seven principles to help you avoid unnecessary complication.

Tasmanian innovator Travellr raises growth capital from World Nomad Group

Later in the evening, perhaps after a second or third round of cocktails (all the pubs were closed), Cummings shared his views that raising capital is a time consuming process and that, in particular, he would be seeking a strategic partner. That's why I was particularly pleased to receive news yesterday that Travellr.com has secured growth capital from none other than the travel insurance and travel services company The Worlds Normad Group.

Why the green shoots of recovery will strangle some Australian businesses

It looks like this recession-that-wasn’t-actually-a-recession is coming to an end. As a business owner, you are right to be proud to have survived a frightening 18 months, when so many others have gone to the wall. But beware. It is not a given that survival in the downturn will equate to success and riches in the upturn. Indeed, there is a strong risk that recession conditions have deceived you about the general health of your organisation.
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Recorded guerrilla-style in the basement of York Butter Factory, the linked video course is a rollicking, authoritative lesson (with some colourful language, mind you) from someone who has been through it all. In this Cheat Sheet, we cover three hot tips from the lesson, with a focus on helping business owners grow and increase profitability: Why entrepreneurs need to think about “the end," why cash flow is king – no matter what you’ve heard, and why you need to have a vision for success.

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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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