Small Biz Matters: People, Policy, Purpose.

What’s your Innovation Frustration?

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 14 July 2020

 

At the cutting edge of technology the innovation revolution is fast paced, exciting and inspirational. Many new startup small businesses play in the tech space and there like in all small business worlds, innovation comes in many forms. Each small business at some point adapts or pivots or evolves and that can be considered an innovation.

 

Just like small business and all the hurdles that come with it, those who navigate the techpreneur space have their own Innovation Frustrations. Whether it’s in a corporate environment where the wheels  turn so slowly it can be painful, to those familiar small business compliance issues we all know and love, innovative tech businesses face the same trials as we all do.

 

Laetitia Andrac is highly experienced in this world. She’s worked with multinational giants to get them to move faster and nimble small businesses to get them to move slower! Each of these experiences have brought with them challenges to overcome. And overcome them Laetitia has! She’s with us today on Small Biz Matters to share those experiences from which we can all learn.

 

Welcome to the show Laeticia.

 

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Tell us about your background and what your experience can tell us about where innovation is today
  • Corporate Innovation, StartUp consulting, Bloomberg Cities (bringing innovation to socially driven strategies)
• What are the frustrations you can expect to experience when working in a corporate environment/team?
  • Frustrations driving within a large corporate, they are so slow and labour intensive. The obsession around controls, privacy, but then you can leverage their client base, they leads. Accepting the balance that there will be a slow to start then accelerating.
  • The difference between corporate and startup: fast to iterate, move from ideas to MVP but hard to get traction
• What advice would you give to those trying to innovate when working within a large corporate?
  • Be resilient. If doors are closed find a way to go through the window!
  • Making sure you don’t waste time with the wrong people. Who are making the key decisions?
  • In a practical sense what other departments do you need to be aware of in the process. Which other departments will be working with at every stage of implementation?
• Start up space - Confusion of innovation vs creativity in the startup space. Framework is crucial.
  • Just because you’ve got a great idea doesn’t mean you can bring it into fruition. Discipline of the 10 types of innovation.
  • Cover the 4 key mistakes I’ve observed on innovation: focus on creativity, go after a solution without investigating the problem, focus on product innovation only, launch too late when everything is perfect

To find out more go to their website: https://www.essentialshift.co/

 

About our Speaker:

Laetitia is an innovation and strategist expert, an accredited holistic coach,a proud mama of two little girls. She is born in France, lived in India and Brazil, and moved to Australia ~5 years ago.

 

With an insatiable curiosity and energy, she is dedicated to empower individuals, teams or businesses to bring their innovative project to life with clarity and impact by applying mindful and effective frameworks.

 

For over 12 years, she has designed, facilitated and led significant projects, working groups and seminars from ideation, innovation strategy, strategic planning, process improvement, to performance optimizations. She has worked with global companies, start-up/business owners, NGOs, public sector and local governments.

 

She is currently working part-time for a big corporate on innovation and big data projects and the rest of the time on her own consulting and coaching company: Essential Shift.

 

Through Essential Shift, she wants to share her passion and experience by blending innovation and strategy frameworks with coaching, mindfulness and ayurveda approaches. 

So your team is MIA as they WFH. Why communication, culture and leadership are your most important skills right now.

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 14 July 2020

 

Staff you never see, emails flying around at all times of the day, meetings on a screen… Welcome to the new world of staff and team management for small business. And if you hadn’t already nailed time tracking, online comms and screen sharing you might have just had a steep learning curve in the past few months.

 

So now we’re faced with this new normal being a long term reality.

 

Well, for some of us it’s new but for some tech savvy companies out there who are used to rapid growth, remote staff and everything being online it’s business as usual?

 

So what can we learn from these experts?

 

Well, for starters a workplace culture that evolves, hiring for values and not a creating a monoculture and crystal clear comms are key. Vu Tran the co-founder of GO1, a successful and fast growing tech company specialising in training software - with an interesting journey of his own to share.

 

Welcome to the show Vu.

 

Topics we’ll be covering:

 

How can businesses foster a strong organisational culture as more team members than ever are working from home?

As a larger business how do you draw on that experience of adapting to change from when you were a startup?

• We’re agile & nimble, we continue to evolve. The business keeps ticking away in the background whilst we continue learning
• As you start you hire what you know. As you grow you need to think of what the culture has to grow into Hire for cultural contribution not cultural fit – hiring for cultural fit makes for a monoculture.
• How do you grow towards values rather than a culture.

 

How do you find the different staff?

• Sharing the same values as you are a must
• Cultural contribution is the difference – age (diversity of experience), diversity of business backgrounds (NOT typical startups, different industries), culture (different backgrounds)
• Adapting & problem solving more valued than history of what’s been achieved.

 

How do you remain clear in communication with a larger staff base?

• Example – doctor patient comms.
• When a leader can’t communicate to their managers this has a trickle-down effect of the whole screen
• In crisis’ clear communication from government & health has flowed on to the whole economy
• Think about your customer journeys for one example. They need to feel confident in the product to continue engaging.
• As your team grows it’s important to keep reviewing your business plan and goals every quarter.

o   Focus on key areas & metrics and then subgoals. Everyone in the company knows which goes we contribute to

o   OKR’s is the system; setting objective and goal setting around this. Stretch goals so individuals know where they sit in achieving those goals. The objectives are met from bottom up not top down.

o   Even though we’re digital we still use butcher paper!

o   K.I.S.S

 

How do you remain clear in communication in this remote workforce?

• Worried about the incidental engagements which aren’t happening.
• What’s going through your mind at this time? Don’t have the answer, keep working,
• It’s not about the TECH TOOLS you use but the culture of communication.
• As leaders we need to be constantly communicating, keep calling people

o   Straight up Q&A with the leaders

 

How are you dealing with anxiety in your workplace?

• We’re big enough to have support staff
• Find those services which can support you to support your staff like Beyond Blue
• Make the opportunity to talk rather than diving into specific issues. It’s about the communication channels
• The most important thing is to be able to identify mental health issues
• Dispelling the myth  of asking Are You OK achieves nothing. Starting the conversation really does help.
• Not everyone’s a navy seal and has to be ridiculously strong

 

 

To find out more go to their website: https://www.go1.com/en-au/

 

About our Guest:

 

Vu Tran is the co-founder and Head of Growth at GO1.com, the world’s largest onboarding, compliance and professional development platform; a global business founded in Brisbane, Australia. Vu oversees GO1.com's structure and strategy, manages projects and stakeholder engagement while also working part-time as a practicing GP.

 

About GO1

GO1.com makes it easy for businesses to train their staff, with the world’s largest compliance, professional development and general training marketplace. By providing a single platform that extends from first aid training through to degree bearing courses, GO1 makes it easy to find and compare the best training options available. The marketplace features over 500,000 courses and other learning items created by local and international experts. Customers include SEEK.com.au, Oxford University, State and Local Governments and St John Ambulance.

Update from ASBFEO & Small Biz Matters

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 7 July 2020

Small Biz Matters is proud to announce a new collaboration with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterpris­­e Ombudsman - regular updates from Kate Carnell about all her office is doing to advocate and support small businesses. Kate Carnell, as an independent advocate for small business owners, has the legislative power to influence our nation’s lawmakers, ensuring legislation and regulations are put in place to help small businesses grow and in these times, survive.

Small businesses are the engine room of the economy and it’s ASBFEO’s role to do all they can to ensure they have the freedom to innovate, employ and thrive well into the future.

We’ll be regularly broadcasting information on small business strategies, programs and legislative updates which you, as a small business owner in Australia can rely on from the office of ASBFEO and Small Biz Matters.

In the first of the series Kate’s speaking to us about the COVID-19 recovery plan, improvements to payment times and updates in the areas of taxation and procurement.

Welcome back to the show Kate Carnell.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• The COVID-19 National recovery plan
  • What is ASBFEO’s role in these sort of discussions & who does ASBFEO speak to when advocating for us?
  • Is it similar to a lobbyist’s role?
• Taxation update
  • We know about the instant asset write-off which has been extended but in terms of tax (particularly with it being EOFY) what other developments has ASBFEO been working on for small business?
• Procurement panel update
  • What is the intention of the procurement panel and why does ASBFEO believe this is an important reform?
• Payment times
  • Something we are passionate about here at Small Biz Matters is accelerating the economy through ANY sort of improvement to payment times for small business.
  • Have any of the recent reforms made any difference in reality for small businesses?
  • Is mandating payment times a reality or even a possibility?
• Access to justice
  • One of the roles of ASBFEO is to support small business in business disputes. Can you give some examples of the sorts of scenarios and businesses you’ve helped?
• IR reforms – federal level, small business award
  • Industrial relations is a real minefield for small business. In some ways it actually restricts our ability to employ and as Australia’s largest employer in these times of employment crisis it’s not ideal.
  • What’s currently happening in this space to reduce the compliance burden for small business?

To find out more go to their website: https://www.asbfeo.gov.au/

About our Guest:

The Ombudsman - Kate Carnell

"In this role I will seek to bring together the many voices within the small business community in a way that promotes growth in this vital sector."

Kate Carnell is the inaugural Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO).

As the ASBFEO, she is an independent advocate for small business owners.  Her office has the legislative powers needed to effectively influence our nation’s lawmakers, ensuring legislation and regulations are put in place to help small businesses grow.

The ASBFEO office also provides small businesses and family enterprises with assistance should they find themselves involved in a business dispute.

Small businesses are the engine room of the economy; it’s a big reputation to live up to, so we need to do all we can to ensure they have the freedom to innovate, employ and thrive well into the future.

About ASBFEO

Australia is a nation of small businesses and family enterprises.  It’s a dynamic and exciting sector that allows people with an entrepreneurial spirit to pursue their dreams.

One of the fastest growing in the economy, the sector presents many opportunities – and challenges – for those who dedicate themselves to pursing a small business venture.

The ASBFEO's role is to support small businesses and family enterprises to enable them to grow and thrive.

The ASBFEO was launched on 11 March 2016 and has two key functions: to assist and to advocate for small businesses and family enterprises.

ASSIST:

We understand the challenges facing small business owners. We provide access to dispute resolution services for those who may be involved in a disagreement, so they can try and find a solution to their problem without having to go to court.

ADVOCATE:

There are a number of different activities the Ombudsman may conduct in fulfilling the role of small business advocate. Broadly these include:

• Conduct inquiries and research
• Work with other arms of government
• Contribute to other inquiries
• Promote good business practice.

The Accidental Pivoting Champion

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 7 July 2020

Whilst everyone interested in small business is trying to reinvent themselves through pivoting and adapting there’s one small business who is living it … and everyone is talking about their story. From the Prime Minister, to the media, to national advocates the story of StoryKings is reinvigorating our faith in the small business economy to dust themselves off and reinvent to success.

So how did StageKings do it? With amazing speed and efficiency actually. They saw an opportunity and grabbed it with two hands, hung on to their employees, and collaborated with other small businesses who supported them.

StageKings are as passionate about small business as the rest of us and we’re proud to welcome Jeremy Fleming, the CEO to share the story of their overnight (haha) pivot success and help out other small businesses to learn from their journey.

Welcome to the show Jeremy.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• What gave you the idea to produce remote working office furniture when your company sits squarely in the events industry?
  • Did you draw on your own experiences or your staff’s skills to meet the need?
  • How did that conversation develop with your staff?
  • After trying other ideas like pop up testing facilities and temporary waiting rooms, it was a discussions with a friend in Ireland with a similar company to mine that sparked the idea.  He discussed their plan to start making furniture, and suggested that we had the same machinery and know-how, and that we should look at doing similar.  We’d seen that other desk suppliers were out of stock and, relying on deliveries from China, they likely would be for some time.  So our Head of Production, Mick Jessop, and I decided that work from home desks was the idea to run with.  With a history of design, and a furniture building hobby, Mick ran with the idea, and overnight had 2 designs ready for production. 
• You had the idea, what steps did you take to get it up off the ground? What did you do first and then later, how did you recognise and chase the organic growth?
• We moved very quickly with the idea that we had at 11am on Sunday morning, to having prototypes build on Monday, the eCommerce site written overnight on Monday night, a photo shoot on Tuesday morning, and on sale 3pm on Tuesday afternoon. I started with an open letter that I posted on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, which focuses solely on our story, and what we planned to do to keep our people in work.  That post quickly went viral, and withing days had been seen, shared or liked by a million people.  The organic growth is due largely to us focusing on our story, and not trying to sell a product.  Of course it helps that the products go together very easily without tools, they look great, and are very functional, but the story is what got people interested.
• Did you know it would succeed in those beginning days or were you really throwing your business and all its resources at a possibility
• We worked on the idea not realising how big it would actually get. We thought it would keep some of our crew working, and that Mick and I would do the sanding, and deliver to people on our way home.  We thought we might sell 100 desks in a month.  We quickly realised that it was going to be bigger than that, when on our first weekend we were featured in multiple newspapers, and on the TV news.  Within 3 days of starting we were taking 200 orders per day, and needed to bring back a bigger crew than we had when Covid hit.  We now have over 50 crew working, made up of out of work event industry workers.
• What advice would you give to small businesses out there who are fearful of the risks associated with Pivoting?
• It starts by being agile by nature. As a staging company, nothing we ever do is ever exactly the same, so we really pivot the way we work frequently.  One day we could be building a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and the next week we could be building a 26m tall lion as the centre piece of a stage (which actually happened last year).  We looked at the furniture as another project, and looked at what we needed to do to make that work.  Outside of that the biggest thing for me was to move quickly.  Don’t over analyse.  If getting started is not going to put a huge strain on finances, and you have the equipment to get going, do it, and learn along the way.  We didn’t get a lot of things right when we started this, but had we procrastinated for another week, we would not have had the same reaction, and we wouldn’t have done near as well as we’re doing now.      
• Has this experience changed your core business forever or simply split you into two niches? How can a small business recognise when it’s NOT working?
  • Has it re-invigorated your staff
  • How will it change your outlook? What lessons have you learned from this side business that crosses over to your core business?
  • We will still build stages again once the live event industry opens up, but we will also continue to manufacture furniture, likely as a separate company. With the focus returning strongly to Australian Made, and Shopping Local, I see a very good opportunity to grown our product range, and partner with other designers to grow that part of the business

Recognising when a small business isn’t working can be difficult if you’re embedded in that business day in, day out.  It often takes removing yourself (emotionally and sometimes physically), to take a look from the outside.  This allows you to scrutinise things that appear to be working, but maybe not well enough, and consider a better way.

To find out more go to their website: https://www.stagekings.com.au/

About our Guest:

“Jeremy Fleming is the Managing Director of Stagekings, the company responsible for some of the most well-known temporary event structures of the past 5 years.  Building stages and sets like the Opening Ceremony at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the set for Ninja Warrior, the replica Edinburgh Castle at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Sydney, Shakespeare’s Pop up Globe Theatre in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, Ultra Music Festival, and the Adelaide 500 Concert Stage. 

Jeremy is currently navigating Stagekings through the most difficult time the event industry has experienced, since the outbreak of Covid-19.  Seeing a chink in the supply chain he has pivoted the staging business to manufacture work from home office furniture, and now return to work office furniture to fill the gap in the market, and to keep Stagekings in business.  By doing this he has reemployed staff, as well as employing many more out of work event crew to help in the manufacturing of the IsoKing desk range.  On top of this over the past 3 months Stagekings has raised over $41,000 for Support Act – the Heart and Hand of Australian Music, through the sales of the desks.”   

Getting prepared for (possibly the weirdest) End of Financial Year

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 30 June 2020

You may have been distracted by a couple of international crisis’ in the past few months but here we are again; end of financial year! Hopefully 2020 will keep moving this quickly so we can get back to some semblance of normal small business life but in the meantime your requirements haven’t changed as a small business.

Single Touch Payroll reporting, super obligations, BAS deadlines and wrapping up your end of financial year finances and still there, whether you’ve bounced back from this weird economy or not.

One positive aspect of experiencing a slow down is we can all focus a little more on your admin and bookkeeping and what the EOFY requirements are from the ATO.

Joining us today is Andrew Watson, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Small Business Experience, Small Business, at the Australian Tax Office. He’s going to share with us what the ATO expects, supports and how they assist if you’re one of the many many businesses experiencing hardship.

Welcome back to the show Andrew.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• What should small businesses do to prepare for Tax time 2020?
  • Record keeping and who’s responsible for this?
  • Increase in digitising of document and record keeping - recording and reporting are getting faster
    • Mention of e-invoicing
    • How does e-commerce feed into this? Digitised businesses are more likely to keep on top of their obligations
    • New developments in the business platform
  • Typical errors we in EOFY processes inc - apportioning incorrectly business/private especially home office expenses
  • How is this different due to covid.
  • STP Finalisation - how is this different from the old payment summary for the first time
  • Instant asset write-off timings - installed and ready to use rather than when it was ordered and paid for - beware of self assessment. The affect of the supply chain changes
  • Give examples
  • Shout out to bookkeepers & accountants for their help with bringing the legislation to small business

• What do small businesses need to know about the stimulus packages and EOFY?
  • Coding the stimulus measures on your tax return - Jobkeeper / Cashflow boost credits / talk to your accountant about the state based payments

• What if a small business is impacted by multiple disasters (i.e. bushfires, COVID-19, and drought)?
  • ATO relief and support thats available - deferments, PAYGI drop to NIL but bear in mind you can’t amend once the next quarter’s BAS is generated
  • Switching from quarterly to monthly
  • Debt relief
  • If they’re not happy with the service then escalate, and of course

• So how do businesses access this assistance? Through the Business Portal? I’ve heard about myGovID changes. Do Businesses need to use myGOVID to access the Business Portal?
  • Extension to availabilities of the ATO - giving 1800 number out, which is for tailored, specialised support and available indefinitely at the moment. Struggling with different issues like losing homes, losing records
  • Changes to MyGovID system

To find out more go to their website: www.ato.gov.au

About our Speaker:

Andrew Watson is an Assistant Commissioner for the Australian Taxation Office in the Small Business line. He is currently responsible for understanding how small businesses engage with the tax and super systems, collaborating with small businesses, industry groups and government agencies to shape the client experience and drive improved digital services. His area also helps small businesses manage cash-flow and digital readiness so sustainable and viable businesses can thrive, and advocates for small businesses within the ATO.

Statistics - How can small business access, digest and use the ABS data?

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 23 June 2020

As small business owners we are often reminded to learn who our ideal client is and research this with gusto until we have a perfect image in our minds as to who they are and what makes them tick. We normally gather this info from anecdotal experiences and conversations with other business owners or mentors. 

But what about the ideal location, B2B details, demographic, political persuasion, customs and habits, and social media use? This would be great info to help with your marketing strategy but where can you find it?

Luckily there’s a government department who are real boffins when it comes to collecting, analysing and delivering this sort of data right into your lap.

Its there for the taking and today we welcome John Shepherd the General Manager, Industry Statistics Division at ABS to explain how and why we should tap into this goldmine of data.

Welcome back to the show John.

Topics we’ll be covering:

The ABS has been doing a lot of new and interesting things recently.

• What sort of changes has the ABS made in response to COVID-19?

Here John will highlight some changes (ie Rapid surveys, modifying work programs)

• What is the ABS hoping to achieve with these changes? (eg collecting data from small businesses owners, getting a pulse on Australia to understand how they are being affected)

Here John will highlight some key findings from the COVID19 surveys, general impacts on small businesses and how the info has been helping decision making

The ABS collect data from a range of businesses. Can you run through the processes with how it’s done with small businesses?

John will be highlighting and running through the following:

• How ABS collects data (ie: Sending out letters with login codes, what it looks like)
• Letting businesses know how they can find out if the letter is legitimate
• Detailing why it is important for small businesses to complete surveys – this includes touching on sampling, provider burden
• Answering the questions “Do I have to do this?”

What insights does ABS data provide about small businesses?

This is where John can highlight some findings that ABS data highlights from various surveys including:

• CABEE (Counts of Australia Businesses, including Entries and Exits)
• COVID
• Business indicators
• Other relevant surveys

What sort of data and statistics are available for small businesses to use?

Here John can go over high-level info that ABS collects and how small businesses can use it, which will include things like:

• High level overview of what data ABS collects – ie demographic, business
• Give “high level” examples of how businesses use data – CPI for to adjust for inflation etc
• Overview of where small businesses can find more info – ie on website (including points of interest), social media
• Then go into detail about HOW small businesses can use the data through “data story examples”

To find out more go to their website: www.abs.gov.au 

• All about the ABS - https://www.abs.gov.au/about?OpenDocument&ref=topBar
• ABS response to COVID-19 - https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/ABS%20responds%20to%20COVID-19.
• A handy calendar that lists statistical releases for the coming six months - https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/webpages/ABS+Release+Calendar

 

Our Guest: John Shepherd

John Shepherd is the General Manager leading the Industry Statistics Division. The Industry Statistics Division is responsible for developing, compiling, analysing and disseminating statistical information across a range of sectors including Agriculture, Environment, Building and Construction, Transport, Tourism, Financial Institutions, Innovation and Technology. The Division also produces Main Economic Indicators including Private New Capital Expenditure, Retail Trade, Business Indicators, Building Approvals, Job Vacancies, New Motor Vehicle Sales and Housing and Lending Finance. The Division includes the Statistical Infrastructure and International Branch, encompassing the International Relations & Regional Statistical Development section, the Business Register Unit and the Statistical Standards and Infrastructure section. The Division is focussed on working with its partners to provide a strong information base for policy development and evaluation. John joined the ABS in June 2019 after a lengthy career at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

At the ATO, John held a number of senior roles in his 28 years, including leading significant change programs and projects focused on improving the client experience. John’s most recent role was leading the implementation of the Single Touch Payroll (STP) initiative, enabling employers to report their tax and superannuation information for their employees at the same time as they paid staff. STP aims to streamline business reporting to government and support better tax and super experiences for all employees. John also played an active role in superannuation reform, including leading the implementation of SuperStream and a number of other superannuation reform initiatives including online superannuation account consolidation.

John is a passionate Movember ambassador and fundraiser for men’s health initiatives.

John holds a Masters of Taxation from the University of NSW and is based in Canberra.

2020’s Top 5 Tech products to get you remote working like a pro!

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 23 June 2020

Last time we ran a show all about top tech products it was hugely popular so we’ve invited a TechHead back to Small Biz Matters to learn what his favourite tech products are for 2020.

Tech is there to support your business through improved productivity, efficiency and right now, work remotely. But you can waste a lot of time testing out time wasting tech too.

In the words of Ferris Bueller “The world moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to take a look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So, time to bring in Carl Robertson, the Sales & Marketing Director for Cat Rugged Phones, to share some industry knowledge on the best tech products to help you with remote working.

Welcome back to the show Carl.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• In today’s environment, what are top 5 Tech Products you’re using right now to improve efficiency, productivity and save time working remotely?
  • Cloud Based Computing.
    • Office Suites - Microsoft Office Suite or G Suite
    • Accounting Software
    • Book Keeping Apps
    • Customer Relationship Marketing Tools
  • Team Communication Tool
    • Skype
    • Slack
    • Google Meet
    • Pragli
    • Zoom
  • Note Taking Apps
    • Evernote
    • OneNote
    • Google Keep
    • Rocketbook cloud connected notebooks for pen and paper users
  • Smartphones
    • Choose a device that matches your work and lifestyle
    • Look for well known brands sold through reputable channels
    • Warranty and commitment to security updates
  • Video-based education
    • YouTube
    • Businesses should be making videos to become the authority
  • How to research technology products before buying
    • Product websites
    • Google Reviews
    • YouTube Videos
    • Facebook Pages
    • Expert Reviews
  • What are the essentials for a tech savvy home office?
    • Mobile Phone reception. If it is poor look at enabling Voice over WiFi on your device.
    • Good Internet - check if you are in an NBN supported area. If your office is in an area of the house you can look at wifi boosters
    • Dedicated Workstation with Printer/Scanner/Tools of the Trade set up
  • Do you have any recommendations around cyber-security?

About our speaker:

Carl is the Sales & Marketing Director for Australia and New Zealand for Bullitt Mobile, the manufacturer of Caterpillar Rugged Mobile Phones. Carl is a technology professional with over 10 years experience in telecommunications and consumer electronics and has launched multiple brands and new technologies to market.

Cat Rugged Phones are phones that are built for tough environments. Cat Phones are innovative, strong devices that won’t let you down in tough situations. Durability is at the heart of every Cat product and Cat Phones are no exception.

To find out more go to their website: www.catphones.com

Pivot, Pirouette, Adapt and rewrite your business story

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 16 June 2020

So do you remember when you first started a business and everybody was telling you it would be a really good idea to find your niche? And now we find ourselves in this weird world where we suddenly been asked to pivot away from that!

So what exactly does that mean? Do you have to throw your original business idea out with the bathwater and start over? Or is it a matter of lateral thinking and tapping into new skills you never thought you had! It could be an opportunity to find a new passion.

Today we are joined by Stu Lloyd, an expert in pivoting; he’s even written a book on it! He’s going to be sharing with us some excellent ideas on how to tap into your own potential and perhaps shifting your business in a new, more positive direction.

Welcome to the show Stu.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• It’s a crisis and a recession. Should small business owners and entrepreneurs be panicking, or what can they do?
• Pivoting is a buzzword in this crisis, but what does it actually look like in practice?
• Any good examples of small Aussie businesses pivoting successfully?
• Where and how do small business owners start with pivotting?

To find out more go to:

Website -  www.hotheads-innovation.com

LinkedIn – Stu LloydStoryteller

Twitter: @RealStuLloyd

About our guest:

Born in Zimbabwe, Australian citizen Stu recently celebrated 30 years at the intersection of creativity and commerce.

As an advertising guy with a psychology background, he was a creative director for agencies such as Ogilvy& Mather, Saatchi & Saatchi, Bates, etc, before co-founding integrated agency, LloydMartin, in Singapore, which he successfully built up into a $20 million dollar company and sold it to US-listed group DraftFCB.

Apart from a psychology and mass communications degree from Macquarie University, Stu has certifications in Neuro-science and Neuro-marketing from Copenhagen Business School.

He has published 13 books that have sold over 100,000 copies, on topics such as questioning skills, entrepreneurial mindset, and disruptive challenging (plus travel, military history, etc).

Little known fact: he was once contracted to Warner Music as a songwriter. (Taylor Swift had little need to be nervous!)

Stu was a founding lecturer at the Singapore Institute of Advertising, has addressed a UN WTO forum on innovation and trends, and MC’d a TEDx event on Creativity & Collaboration.

As Chief Hothead @Hotheads Innovation, Stu helps Fortune 500 companies like Citibank, Adidas, Pfizer, DaimlerBenz, Cargill, GE, Intel, etc to turbocharge their creative thinking skills and innovation capability.

Does working online mean you need to charge less... even remotely?

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 16 June 2020

I’ve heard way too many times in the last few weeks of small business owners heavily discounting their rates simply because they were delivering their services online. So I asked myself, why was this occurring? You still have to prepare, research and deliver the same skills, experience and content.  Nothing has changed apart from the vehicle of delivery.

Sure, budgets are being slashed all over the place and many of our corporate clients are running scared for their own J O B s and asking for temporary discounts for services. But why are we so quick to accept? Is it because we are used to discounting as soon as we are asked? Or is it that we’ve had our own self worth devalued in this covid world.

In the studio we welcome Tim Hoopmann, Founder of Spinn Business Solutions & Beyond Blue Speaker who is once again share his wealth of knowledge and experience to help us navigate this weird world.

Welcome back to the show Tim.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Valuing your online content as much as the delivery in person - tips on having that conversation with clients and collaborators
  • I will start here and talk about the importance of strong self-worth and how this increases your confidence.
  • Understanding the different way you may now be delivering your services and the impact this will have on your clients.
  • Online will often mean it is recorded and available ongoing
  • Be clear upfront with clients
    • firstly on their expectations and their budget. How have things changed for them?
    • Secondly how your business has been impacted and that your fees have not changed
    • Often there is pressure to discount in this challenging environment
  • All these conversations are easier when you have a strong sense of self worth.
  • That's not easy and it’s important to focus on your mental health to ensure you are as resilient as possible

• Losing your content and licencing issues
  • remember that when a presentation is recorded you lose control of who has access to that; so in fact you should charge more since this grows the audience!
  • How will they be using your content now that it is online?
  • What control will you have over it once it is recorded and distributed
  • Have the difficult conversion up front and do no assume that their ideas are in line with yours
  • Letter of engagement and clarify of terms and conditions is vital
  • g - clients ask of Tim his hourly rate

• But on the other hand everyone is expecting a discount and the reality is budgets are not what they used to be. Are we all expected to tow the discount line, or will some of us thrive in this environment where others fail?
  • Everyone is experiencing financial hardship differently
  • We all need to be honest and upfront on the impact it has had on our business and those around us
  • Some have been impacted severely while others are doing very well.
  • Before providing a discount a better understanding is required of each business situation

• Resources available on Beyond Blue & Headsup website
  • Beyond blue for support if you are struggling wiht mental health. Plus lots of COVID19 support information around work and teams
  • Headsup for resources for business - including all levels within the organisation.

To find out more go to their website: https://www.headsup.org.au/healthy-workplaces/for-small-businesses

Top Tips for Nailing Online Meetings

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner.
Date: 9 June 2020

It’s been a brand new world where we collaborate, communicate and interrelate with everyone from family members to key stakeholders in our business on a screen. Those of us who’ve moved quickly to adapt to online meetings are fine but there are probably practical things you can implement to make it a better experience for the person you’re interacting to.

From the tech you use to the background to how you present.  Ask yourself, what professional impression does your audience leave with after this online encounter? Yes being online clunky and impersonal but there are tricks you can easily use to engage on a more personal level with the person sitting at the other end?

Who better than to give advice on presenting online that a professional master of Ceremonies. For years Greg Ward has been moderating the content of hundreds of events from week long conferences to round table discussions. He’s funny and entertaining but importantly he’s ENGAGING. And now with taking his own business completely online he’s here to share his secrets.

Welcome to the show Greg.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Top strategies to improve your online meetings
  • Tech - what simple devices can a small business owner use to improve their audio and visual
  • Noise
  • Dress & background - why are these important?
  • First impressions - how to introduce yourself to the attendee (waiting rooms, your name on the screen, other)
• What about taking it to the next level - is there really a difference between what you use and the typical small business owner can use?
• What has this massive change meant to your own industry - that of events?
  • Adapting to online
  • Is this change going to continue?
  • The ongoing impact to small business community not being able to learn, participate and network at events in the near future.

To find out more go to their website: www.gregwardspeaker.com

About Greg:

How you present yourself on screen has a significant impact on the effect you wish to achieve – and in this brave new world, the truth is, you don’t know, what you don’t know.  With the move to working from home, and with the challenges of effective remote connection, Greg Ward (Vice-President Professional Speakers Association NZ, MC of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, World Class Speaker Awardee, ) wants you to know what he knows:  That with a few simple modifications to your physical environment and online setup, and a focus on how you sound and appear on camera, you can make a profound impact in how you and your message is perceived.

Bio: With more than 20 years at the forefront of conferences and events, Greg Ward is a keynote speaker, virtual & live event MC and in-demand corporate performer.