Management Matters

The "suburban accountant" may be fine as far a plain personal tax return goes but when addressing the complexities of scaling an innovative business – a boutique startup accounting firm already in the space is likely to be the better route.

While many believe that shoppers are overwhelmingly moving to online, 79% of Australians are very/fairly likely to choose a store over online if there is an enjoyable atmosphere (music, visuals, scent).

With that being said, collaboration marketing is an alternative way for brands both large and small to achieve their business goals by looking for smart ways to drive growth. That means, working with each other—and the key to this is looking for business synergy by creating win-win scenarios.

Successful businesses are often the most difficult to improve, but without constant progression, it is easy to reach a plateau. Knowing where to look may be difficult, but here are seven areas to consider.

Large Australian companies and institutions are infamously bad at paying smaller businesses on time. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reports that nearly three quarters of all invoices are paid late.

It is becoming common place for companies to offer their employees free lunches, or at the very least, free snacks and drinks. It’s a trend that started popping up at tech giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter, but stories of the successes of these programs have spread and the idea seems to be taking off.

If you’re not a transgender or gender diverse person, then you have work to do. If you don’t know much about the issues, get educated. Get educated and then help educate your peers. Advocate for change in your workplaces

According to a 2018 report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in the United States, smaller businesses were reported to lose almost twice as much per fraudulent scheme due to their lack of anti-fraud controls implemented.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about 2.5 million Australians are currently employed on a casual basis, reinforcing experts’ beliefs that this is not a passing fad but a global trend that is set to redefine the workforce.

With a remote workforce nationally, its important to promote inclusiveness and transparency, and technology plays a key role in enhancing communication and team cohesion.

99designs recently completed a study that reveals 65% of entrepreneurs are choosing their logo colours based purely on personal taste and preference, with around half doing little to no research on the wider implications of their brand colour choices.

Digital giants like Amazon and Netflix have changed customer expectations dramatically. No matter the size of your business, standards have shifted, and consumers are demanding personalisation, choice, 24/7 responsiveness, and a good user experience from all of the brands they engage with, regardless of size.

We don't have any control over customers, but we can invest in our front line. When you focus on nurturing your staff, then everything else comes together and that in turn increases the chances of attracting and retaining customers.

Winning a contract with a major retailer as a SME is often a cause for celebration. Along with the prestige of being associated with a big brand, it can often mean a higher and more secure revenue stream. There are, however, a few downsides to dealing with a much bigger client, so you need to handle the relationship correctly so the advantages outweigh any negatives.

Mondayitis. The Monday Blues. Manic Monday. Call it what you like, but that feeling of dread that sets in on a Sunday night is not a figment of your imagination. Mondayitis is very real, and while a mild case can result in a struggle to get out the door on time, extreme cases can result in not being able to get out of bed at all.

In fact, of the 38 OECD countries Australia was ranked 30th for work-life balance with 13.2% of our population working very long hours. That may not sound like much, but when you compare it to the 0.5% of the Netherlands, it puts things in perspective.

Services firms are finding themselves needing to adapt - or risk being left behind. Reacting to the situation, services leaders are designing new operating models that allow them to better connect, orchestrate and optimise their businesses.

Businesses like Uber, Deliveroo and Airtasker are booming thanks to more and more people choosing to gain a second income. Some will pursue the gig economy as a full time option and a study predicted that by 2020, 43 percent of American workers would be independent contractors.

Even businesses that conduct all their transactions online are not exempt from the law. With more companies looking to compete with giants like Amazon, there is a large retail market appearing on the Internet. The government is constantly enacting new laws and rules to adapt to the evolving environment.

Working ON your business involves the development of growth strategies through planning, goal-setting and process automation. Whereas, working IN your business comprises those day-to-day activities such as paying invoices, meeting clients and answering queries.