Intellectual property. It’s a hot topic.

Why?

Because, in the globalised and ultra-connected world we live in, the intellectual property (IP) of individuals and businesses is increasingly at risk.

It’s not just famous cases like Ugg Boots that are making the news. Trade mark, patent and copyright infringements in general are on the rise – both from the work of unscrupulous individuals/organisations and through innocent breaches of IP... Read more

In a lot of situations, hiring a contractor to get a particular job done makes perfect sense. It may require expertise or skills none of your employees has. You may only need someone for a short timeframe to clear a backlog of work. Or maybe you just want to avoid having to go through a formal recruitment process.

But be careful. Even though you hired them as a contractor, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) may actually see them as an employee. And the penalties for disguising an employee as an independent contractor (known as “sham contracting”) can be up to $51,000 per instance... Read more

 “I get all my business from word-of-mouth marketing.”

“I’m a referral business.”

“I don’t have the budget for marketing.”

“I’m just too busy to market my business!”

If you find yourself saying any of the above, it’s likely that you experience considerable peaks and troughs in your small business...Read more

Still using spreadsheets for rosters, timesheets, and payroll?

The administrative load involved in efficiently rostering staff, preparing accurate timesheets, and ensuring that everyone is paid correctly can be a huge burden on a small business – especially if you are doing it all manually.

If your business involves shift work or hourly work in hospitality, retail, healthcare, construction, security, or similar fields it can be even more challenging... Read more

If someone gave you the opportunity to attend a meeting where thousands of your prospects were also present, you’d be silly not to take them up on the offer…right?

This opportunity might be staring you in the face.

LinkedIn is the world’s largest database of professionals; hundreds of millions of professionals waiting there, ready to be connected with and engaged... Read more

They say only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. For a lot of people, there’s also a third certainty in life: the pain of keeping track of every receipt when it’s time to do the taxes.

How many times has your bookkeeper or finance manager asked you for a receipt (that you swore you stuffed somewhere in the wad of receipts in your wallet) that you’ve then had to scramble and search everywhere to find?... Read more

The world has changed. Work has changed.

The possibilities provided by cloud and mobile technologies are beyond what most people would even have considered possible just a decade ago.

But have you adapted and updated your systems to keep up with — and take advantage of — these exciting and fast-moving changes? Or are you still determined to drive the steam engine?...Read more

“The cloud” is a phrase that means something very different these days, due to the increasing use of cloud computing. But what exactly is cloud computing? And is it a good option for small businesses?

First, a quick definition. Without getting lost in ‘geekspeak’, cloud computing simply means both the software apps you use and your data are stored on remote servers on the Internet, rather than ‘locally’ on your computer’s hard drive or your own server(s)...Read more

Think back to the days before you started your business, when you were working for a boss. Chances are you were rewarded for your hard work with a regular salary. It may not have always been the same amount, but it came through like clockwork. And for the next week, month or however often you got paid, you’d do your best to make it last.

But now you are the boss, and so you don’t need to be restricted to a set salary, do you? You can simply draw money out of the business whenever you need it, right?...Read more

As a business owner, do you or your managers spend a lot of time recruiting, conducting exit interviews, and onboarding new staff?

When the ‘revolving door’ in and out of your business doesn’t stop revolving, it can impact so many parts of the business that it soon becomes a priority to address the problem.

A high staff turnover rate doesn’t just impact those doing the hiring. It is damaging for general motivation, performance and productivity; it may lead to negativity in the workplace culture; the cost of hiring eats into profits; training and development costs go through the roof; and, worst of all, the chaos that can result from a constant flow of new faces in the business flows outwards to customers – and may cause them to look elsewhere... Read more