Small Biz Matters: People, Policy, Purpose.

Understanding the Importance of Data Storage and Backups for Small Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 5 June 2018

The Cloud. We get it, we use it. We count on it.

Every day when operating as a small businesses we rely heavily on the cloud and internet storage. We assume it's safe, secure and backed up SOMEWHERE. We assume it's available anytime and reliable and we assume the content we produce is ours to do with what we wish. But we’re not careful enough.

But like all things (except death and taxes as they say) you can’t be sure of it. You need to be in control with this extremely important tool of your trade. What if you can’t find an important document? What if the storage you relied on suddenly wasn’t there? What if you never backed up?

Well today we have on the show another great expert; Gunnar Habitz to help us navigate through the complexities of Cloud storage but like always on Small Biz we’ll make sure you have practical strategies to ensure you take control.

Welcome to the show Gunnar.

Topics covered in part two:

1. Cloud in general
2. Cloud storage vs. cloud backup comparing different tools
3. How does a typical IT setup of Small Biz Owners looks like and who helps with IT tasks
4. What does RPO and RTO mean and why is it important
5. Business Continuity and Risk Management instead of just backup
6. Cyber insurance
7. Ransomware attacks
8. Cyber security issues
9. What about the new “Notifiable Data Breach” law in Australia
10. Impact of the new “Notifiable Data Breach” law in Australia
11. How to get attention for the topic

 

1. Cloud in general

• Benefits for customers: agility, flexibility, choice, PAYG
• Cloud is a journey instead of destination
• Public, Private, Hybrid cloud
• On-premise, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS - see the Pizza-as-a-Service example below
• What’s in the cloud, stays in the cloud - but getting it back is another topic

 

2. Cloud storage vs. cloud backup comparing different tools

• Cloud synchronisation services: Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive
• Many of them don’t have versioning (Dropbox EVH has at least 120 days)
• What’s deleted on one device gets deleted on another as well upon connection
• Hard to get anything back from the cloud sync providers
• Proper cloud backup provides versioning in all possible local retention possibilities and clients can get back their data as part of the service by themselves of their partner
• Example Office 365 can be added by a backup solution (e.g. SkyKick) which is designed for one-click restoring data straight into the mailbox without an PST file export by maintaining the initial structure

 

3. How does a typical IT setup of Small Biz Owners looks like and who helps with IT tasks

• On-premises: notebook(s), printing, potentially a server for files or databases
• Cloud services like Office 365, Google G Suite, AWS, Xero/MYOB, CRM, specific apps
• Managed Service Providers (MSPs) deliver IT as a service based on SMB demands including backup, but also on-premise infrastructure from capex to opex
• Small Businesses should focus on the business outcome for their clients, not on technology

 

4. What does RPO and RTO mean and why is it important

• Two most important numbers in backup and DR before and after a disaster point
• Recovery Point Objective: maximum targeted period in which data might be lost
• Recovery Time Objective: targeted duration of time after a disaster to be fully restored back on track
• The requirements are included in a Business Continuity Plan and have significant effect on the IT design
• Every company - small or large - need to specify its risk appetite

 

5. Business Continuity and Risk Management instead of just backup

• Provides principles and generic guidelines on risk management
• Worldwide standard ISO 31000 has been created by Australia/NZ initially (2004)
• Example: 6% of data restored * cost of getting it back (but how to estimate?)
• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery include more than IT, in the first place care about people

 

6. Cyber Insurance

• Some see backup like an insurance, but the reality is different
• The cyber insurance covers for lost revenue in a data loss, but doesn’t get the data back
• The backup provider gets the data back, but doesn’t cover lost revenue
• It is a complementing solution usually not offered together
• No cyber insurance without proper backup and DR solution in place

 

7. Ransomware attacks

• Talking about a concrete example
• Can arrive per email or even inside an internet connected printer or scanner
• Attacks not only local infrastructure, but also the cloud if not well protected
• 60% of SMEs went out of businesses in the next six month after a significant breach (Australian SME numbers), 80% don’t survive the second year
• A victim shared his story at the Australian Information Security Association (AISA): the company had a plan to be listed on the ASX within three years, instead they got a severe hack with data breach and it took the owner more than a year to consider working again due to the psychological damage

 

8. Cyber Security

• 46% of the world population is already connected
• IoT sensors and devices are expected to overtake smartphones still in 2018
• Australian numbers
  • The Government estimated the average cost of a cybercrime attack to a business is A$276,323
  • 43% of cybercrimes attack small businesses as they can’t simply prevent it easily
  • Largest cost factor of cybercrime are information loss (39%) and business disruption (36%)
• Australian Computer Society (ACS) published worldwide data from the Verizon 2016 Data Breach report
  • 63% of breaches are caused by weak, default of stolen passwords
  • In 93% of cases hackers took minutes to break and companies weeks or months to discover
  • 95% of attacks are financially motivated
  • Nearly 30% open phishing emails, 12% clink on the links or open the files (attention on smartphones)
  • Every minute half a million attacks happening in cyberspace
  • Cyber industry estimated US$639B spending in 2023
• So what can we do?
  • The security strategies with biggest return are adding security intelligence systems (67%) and advanced identity and access governance (63%)
  • Top tips the Optus “Small Business Guide to effective Cyber Security”: regular backup, secure passwords and multi-factor authentication, security updates, administrative accounts control
  • Leadership must provide a cyber-aware culture educating staff and clients
  • ACS considers 5 pillars of cybersecurity readiness: education & awareness, planning & preparation, detection & recovery, sharing & collaboration, ethics & certification
  • Managed Service Providers and specialists like Witz Cybersecurity (www.witzcybersecurity.com) consult Small Businesses

 

9. impact of the new “Notifiable Data Breach” law in Australia

• In place since 22 February 2018 to report data breaches within 30 days
• Most often data breaches haven’t been made public not to destroy brand reputation
• Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) reported that 51% of Australian SMEs found out about a data breach when alerted by customers
• Fines: $360K for individual and $1.8M for companies above $3M turnover if not reported in 30 days
• View of the Ransomware programmers: “if you don’t pay me in Bitcoin, then I will breach your data and force you to pay the fines”
• First quarterly report shows 63 published data breaches within six weeks, mostly health service providers, legal, finance, education and charities
• Half of the breaches occurred due to human errors
• The reality might be higher as many companies don’t report or don’t even know

 

10. Impact of the new “Notifiable Data Breach” law in Australia

• Most companies recently sent newsletters with updated privacy policies or partially new opt-in requests
• Background is the European General Data Protection Regulation binding those who are physically in the EU, not just official residents or citizens
• Barrister Talitha Fishburn of Wardell Chambers shows the Australian impact (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-data-so-what-australian-businesses-impacted-new-eu-fishburn/)
• GDPR covers data processing to raise more awareness
• Backup providers don’t see into the encrypted data about any European personal data insight, so better to be compliant
• Consent: continue marketing to B2C with an active opt-in for newsletters and to B2B if business customers didn’t provide a subsequent opt-out
• Many software vendors updated their processes, Marketo as a leader in marketing automation sees GDPR as a worldwide activity
• Portability: users have the right to obtain the transactional history of personal data
• Right to be forgotten: consumers have the right to have their information deleted (how do you know where exactly you stored their data?)
• Data breaches: must be reported within 48h, otherwise fines in two steps up to €20M or 4% of global annual turnover whatever is greater

 

11. How to get attention for the topic

• Don’t think just backup as nice to have (like regular dentist visit fixing one tooth), rather think comprehensive availability (like the winning smile when all teeth are in order)
• Business consultants and MSPs convince owners better than box moving IT resellers

 

KeepItSafe helps Small Businesses in Australia and New Zealand to protect from data loss because downtime is not an option. We consult and discover the right solution for the requirements of SMEs in a tailored approach

To find out more, go to the website www.keepitsafe.com/au, contact sales@keepitsafe.com.au or call 1300 722 344

Leadership Psychology for Business - Top Strategies to Combat the Beast

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 29 May 2018

Today’s expert is Lia Zalums from Success InSight, expert in Business Psychology & Psychometric Profiling who will be sharing her knowledge on the importance of life-long learning in the pursuit of small business success. It’s an aspect of small business development we don’t think about; beyond the compulsory CPD credits we might have to attain to maintain professional affiliations when we the last time you really searched online for good quality education around Leadership psychology?

Welcome to the show Lia.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Life long learning in psychological  skills is so important NOT just the technical side but also to psychological skills of running a business
  • Focus - what is the right focus - WHERE are you focusing on making the right choices
• The last thing we invest in is their psychology development and without this you’ve just created yourself a job.
• Vital that the help you ask for and in turn receive in carefully considered.
• How do you choose a mindset coach for your business? What questions should you be asking
• Even as a solo-preneurs sole business owner we need to consider ourselves business owners. We need to arm ourselves with psychological skills.
• The Thinking Model - the frame to start working with.

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

Small Biz Wrap Up

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 22 May 2018

17 April 2018

The Cloud. We get it, we use it. We count on it.

Every day when operating as a small businesses we rely heavily on the cloud and internet storage. We assume it's safe, secure and backed up SOMEWHERE. We assume it's available anytime and reliable and we assume the content we produce is ours to do with what we wish. But we’re not careful enough.

But like all things (except death and taxes as they say) you can’t be sure of it. You need to be in control with this extremely important tool of your trade. What if you can’t find an important document? What if the storage you relied on suddenly wasn’t there? What if you never backed up?

1 May 2018

Video Marketing. No longer the dark art of the past, a mystery relegated to the back-lot AV rooms of last century; it’s now accessible to all as a marketing tool and one you really should have a good understanding of when developing your marketing strategy for your business.

8 May 2018

Debt financing is an important aspect to managing and understanding your finances as a small business. Quite often small businesses will have long standing loans for which they’re not getting the best rate or they set up their finances in a hurry and haven’t looked at the bigger picture. We’ve been talking a lot in the past few weeks on Small Biz about running a business with the end in mind and what better way to end this series with an expert who can assist us as a Debt Advisor?

15 May 2018

Over the last few weeks on Small Biz Matters we’ve been talking a lot about beginning with the end in mind. Today we’re going to focus back in on ourselves as business owners as HUMAN beings and think about our stress points and ways to alleviate them.

Consideration for your own Mental Health and that of your Team

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 15 May 2018

Over the last few weeks on Small Biz Matters we’ve been talking a lot about beginning with the end in mind. Today we’re going to focus back in on ourselves as business owners as HUMAN beings and think about our stress points and ways to alleviate them.

Joining us today is Tim Hoopmann; experienced small business owner, qualified bookkeeper and expert in mental health education for everyone from corporate execs through to small business owners..

He’s going to help our listeners reconnect with valuing ourselves and valuing our staff to encourage a more productive healthier business environment. I think everyone from sole traders through to those with a J.O.B will benefit immensely from his expertise.

Welcome to the show Tim.

Topics we’ll be covering:

So where did your passion for helping small businesses with their mental health come from?

• Understanding of what a small business goes through from the experience of running my own.

• Joining Beyond Blue to give back – volunteering to raise awareness & raising funds. It was my high. Not about the bottom line, no expected return, give and take. Volunteering is giving only with nothing in return. It is joyous

• Then they were looking for speakers – required training. I wanted to tell my story; the pressure of small business & mental health pressures.

So when you’re speaking to an audience what do you like to speak about?

• For example - Men’s Mental Health Week – corporate (teaching about Beyond Blue and your journey)

Start with yourself, the business owner - Valuing your worth, time and yourself

• You sound more confident in emails, onboarding becomes more professional

• Taking care of yourself and your business

• Once you believe in the value in what you do it’s much easier to

Improving Processes – create a better environment for your team

• Question number 1 when sitting down with your employees as a one-on-one How was your last month (NOT tasks, deliverables, targets)

• Valuing time then leads you away from Stargazing (bright shiny things) apps. Trying things out because you’re not confident in yourself so you shop around for apps. This takes time and therefore money.

• But make sure the apps and software you use are specific to the tasks you want them to do. It takes the pressure off.

• Share with your team your goals and make them part of the journey – give them a collaborative environment

  • Working in teams

• Rethink your email systems – “silo” emails removes the team environment and can isolate employees

  • Think of this in terms of supporting your team rather than implementing something new

  • Example of staff member being bullied by client or fearful employees when they’ve stuffed up

  • Helps when the office closes to work out what is really urgent

  • When transitioning COMMUNICATE why you’re doing this and why its better for them. Actually go out and chat to them.

• Rather than increasing the pressures of more clients, more work – look at streamlining your processes through automation (in your finance processes as example) and then the burden of work on your staff is reduced.

  • Understanding cashflow

  • Who can help?

  • The solution is really much simpler than you think – Dashboards with key measures, intuitive and easy to use, automate with programs like RB

• Good communication is the key be clear what you expect your clients  

What can small businesses owners learn from the failures of culture in corporate?

• Split system – high achieving pressure split to those without the pressures and they become more insular

To find out more go to their website: http://learn.beyondblue-elearning.org.au/businessinmind/

 

Tim Hoopmann – Founder and CEO of Spinn Business Solutions

Tim Hoopmann has owned and operated a bookkeeping practice specialising in cloud services for over 10 years. He transformed his business from a desktop and paper based practice to a cloud bookkeeping practice, 100% online and paperless with streamlined and automated processes.

Tim utilised technology to change the way he serviced his customers by moving them online and streamlining their bookkeeping and finance. Showing them how to take back control and sit in the drivers seat of their business thus allowing them the freedom to focus on key revenue generating areas of their business instead of being buried in day to day processes.

Prior to running his own business Tim worked for Shell and Lion Nathan Brewing, gaining experience in sales, marketing, finance and operations. Tim has a big business mindset and transfers this to small business by focusing on his key pillars of success; strategy, people, process and systems.

Tim is passionate about helping businesses make the transition to being fully automated and cloud based though enabling the power of todays technology. This will allow for

greater freedom and the ability to enjoy a powerful work/life balance.   Twitter: @timhoopmann

LinkedIn: TimHoopmann Website: timhoopmann.com

Understanding How Debt Impacts Your Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 8 May 2018

Debt financing is an important aspect to managing and understanding your finances as a small business. Quite often small businesses will have long standing loans for which they’re not getting the best rate or they set up their finances in a hurry and haven’t looked at the bigger picture. We’ve been talking a lot in the past few weeks on Small Biz about running a business with the end in mind and what better way to end this series with an expert who can assist us as a Debt Advisor?

Welcome to the show John.

Topics we’ll be covering:

Why is it so important to approach an independent broker and how can you tell if someone is or is not?

• Ask to see their credentials – Are they an authorised credit representative
• What’s their experience and background; do they understand the needs of small businesses?
• Ask about their ownership structure
  • Financial planners?
  • Accounting firms ownership?
• Ask your colleagues in the small business world
• Background of the person you are dealing with is important too. - Ask!
• Lure of one stop shop is very appealing to small businesses who are so time poor.

Debt advisory is one of your specialisms – what does that mean?

• Cashflow for debt management – do you need a number of different loans or should you restructure.
• Big questions to ask
  • What is your debt?
  • What is it for?
  • Is it for the right purpose?
• Classic example is those who use the equity in their home but you should review this. After all, it is a long term loan rather than a higher interest rate over a shorter term.

Preparing yourself for loan application as a small business

Be open and honest. Half way through the application if there is information which is incomplete or missing that can really change the loan prospects. In particular around tax debts. As of 1Jul17 the ATO can now, for any unpaid debt over $10k, they can list that as a default on your credit file ! But don’t panic there are options for dealing with the debt    

Brainstorm where all of your debt is

Top tips on preparing for the application process

• Keep your books up to date – always lodge with the ATO ontime especially for BAS
• Be prepared to be open and that will make you well prepared for the application process
• Know how to structure yourself and your businesses in the family but with VIEW to how you’re going to access funds / lending. Let your accountant know what your plans are and think ahead.
• Low income = reduce tax OR high income = increased lending capacity
• Think in ten years time – where do you see your own personal funds NOT just where your business will be in ten years time

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

The Benefits of Video Production in your Small Business Marketing Strategy

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 1 May 2018

Video Marketing. No longer the dark art of the past, a mystery relegated to the back-lot AV rooms of last century; it’s now accessible to all as a marketing tool and one you really should have a good understanding of when developing your marketing strategy for your business.

But like all new technology it takes time to learn and develop these techniques in order to implement this in your business. So today is a bit of cheat sheet we’re welcoming our guest Geoff Anderson from Sonic Sight 

Welcome to the show Geoff.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Tell me a little about your small business journey (including your book) and why you’re passionate about educating small businesses
• Why it’s crucial for small business to understand the power of video for their marketing strategy
  • Not just marketing tool but also communications tool for positioning yourself as an expert
  • Using video content to educate your audience - but WHO is the audience and what are you hoping to achieve from the video content?
• Top tips for producing video content
  • Do’s and Don’ts for shooting
  • Audio is VERY important
  • When do you invest in the right equipment
  • When SHOULD you engage with a professional rather than trying to DIY
• How can video content be used?
  • Like all forms of marketing measuring the metrics/diagnostics on your website is key
  • Don’t bury the website on “page 5” where no one will notice it
  • Add it as a link in your email signature!
  • Where SHOULD you showcase the video and what platform is best?
• What are some examples in your experience of when small business has really leveraged video to promote their business in a really different way
• Niching, and how your experience shows its important in helping to find the elusive work-life balance.

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

 

About Geoff Anderson

Geoff Anderson loves helping his clients tell their stories through video. Since 1993 he has owned and operated Sonic Sight, a video production facility in Sydney Australia.

He has worked on productions throughout Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the US. Geoff is a video producer, a camera man, an editor, a director and a scriptwriter.

Geoff is the author of Amazon best seller, Shoot Me Now - making videos to boost business a how to guide for small businesses looking to create videos for their business.

Geoff also presents on the power of video at workshops and conferences.

 

Visit www.sonicsight.com.au to download

• 30 Types of Videos to build your business
• 30 Ways to maximise your video return on investment
• 30 Ways to share your videos

 

Understanding the Importance of Data Storage and Backups for Small Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 17 April 2018

The Cloud. We get it, we use it. We count on it.

Every day when operating as a small businesses we rely heavily on the cloud and internet storage. We assume it's safe, secure and backed up SOMEWHERE. We assume it's available anytime and reliable and we assume the content we produce is ours to do with what we wish. But we’re not careful enough.

But like all things (except death and taxes as they say) you can’t be sure of it. You need to be in control with this extremely important tool of your trade. What if you can’t find an important document? What if the storage you relied on suddenly wasn’t there? What if you never backed up?

Well today we have on the show another great expert; Gunnar Habitz to help us navigate through the complexities of Cloud storage but like always on Small Biz we’ll make sure you have practical strategies to ensure you take control.

Welcome to the show Gunnar.

 

Topics we’ll be covering:

1. Cloud overall
2. Cloud storage vs. cloud backup comparing different tools
3. How does a typical IT setup of Small Biz Owners look like
4. Who should provide help
5. How long to keep data
6. How and how often to get data back
7. Why isn’t all safe in the cloud
8. Why storing in Australia is important (Dropbox stores in the US)
9. The CEO view: Business Continuity and Risk Management instead of just backup
10. Cyber insurance
11. Ransomware attacks
12. Example case of a disaster that really happened
13. What about the new “Notifiable Data Breach” law in Australia
14. What to backup how
15. Practical tips
16. How to get attention for the topic

 

1. Cloud overall (see graphs at the bottom of this document)

• Benefits for customers: agility, flexibility, choice, PAYG
• Public, Private, Hybrid cloud
• Cloud is a journey instead of destination
• Fear, trust, proof, procedures, risk management

 

2. Cloud storage vs. cloud backup comparing different tools

• Cloud synchronisation services: Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive
• Many of them don’t have versioning (Dropbox EVH has 120 days)
• What’s deleted on one device gets deleted on another as well upon connection
• Hard to get anything back from the cloud sync providers
• Proper cloud backup provides versioning in all possible local retention possibilities and clients can get back their data as part of the service by themselves of their partner

 

3. How does a typical IT setup of Small Biz Owners look like

• On-premises: notebook(s), printing, potentially a server for files or databases
• Cloud services like Office 365, Google G Suite, AWS, Xero/MYOB, CRM, specific apps

 

4. Who should provide help

• Managed Service Providers (MSPs) deliver IT as a service based on SMB demands including backup, but also on-premise infrastructure from capex to opex
• The Small Biz owner should focus on the business outcome, not on technology

 

5. How long to keep data?

• Legal companies often require 7 years, some even longer
• That makes moving between different backup technologies rather difficult

 

6. How and how often to get data back?

• User can retrieve data by themselves or via partner
• Restoring should be free as part of the backup pricing, not to pay extra for every restore
• According to a worldwide study of 2016, about 6% of restored data comes from accidently deleted files
• Database operation restoration is slightly less

 

7. Why isn’t all safe in the cloud

• Tricky balance: hard to get anything deleted when needed (e.g. wrong posting) while on the other side hard to find what has been there when needed
• Cloud sync providers run their own backups to provide their service with best possible availability rather than helping clients getting it back (even against $)

 

8. Why storing in Australia is important

• Many industries require data to be stored in Oz like healthcare for legal reasons
• Even NZ companies often cannot store their data in Australia
• The marketing departments of those companies often store data on Dropbox (no-go!)
• Storing data encrypted in the US is possible, but NSA might want to see on the way back
• Dropbox stores in the US for the premium experience vs. local law, but how to proof?
• Microsoft runs Azure in Australia and not in New Zealand (yet)

 

9. The CEO view: Business Continuity and Risk Management instead of just backup

• Worldwide standard ISO 31000 has been created by Australia/NZ initially (2004)
• Provides principles and generic guidelines on risk management
• Example: 6% of data restored * cost of getting it back (but how to estimate?)

 

10. Cyber Insurance

• Some see backup like an insurance, but the reality is different
• The cyber insurance covers for lost revenue in a data loss, but doesn’t get the data back
• The backup providers gets the data back, but doesn’t cover lost revenue
• It is a complementing solution usually not offered together

 

11. Ransomware attacks

• Talking about a concrete example
• Can arrive per email or even inside an internet connected printer or scanner

 

12. Example case of a disaster that really happened

• Usually we talk about statistics that 60% of SMB companies go out of businesses after a severe disaster within a year, 80% don’t survive the second year
• Spoken to a victim of a real story at the Australian Information Security Association (AISA)

 

13. What about the new “Notifiable Data Breach” law in Australia

• In place since 22 February 2018 to report data breaches within 30 days
• Most often data breaches haven’t been made public not to destroy brand value
• Fines now official: $360K for individual and $1.8M for companies if not reported on time
• Many IT resellers told at an ARN event that their customers are not ready yet
• European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from 25 May goes even beyond, it aims primarily to give control back to citizens and residents over their personal data
• View of the Ransomware programmers: “if you don’t pay me in Bitcoin, then I will breach your data and force you to pay the fines”

 

14. What to backup how

• Different areas: Cloud Backup, Cloud DR, Endpoint Backup, Cloud to Cloud
• On-premise server into the cloud using leading software such as Veeam
• Some services are already in the cloud such as Exchange into Office 365
• Even Office 365 is not covered by backup, therefore it needs e.g. SkyKick

 

15. Practical tips

• Forget about the rotating external HDDs which often have unencrypted, easily visible files in it
• Most important is redundancy, even use RAID 1 in a NAS to ensure availability
• Guidance rule of 3-2-1: 3 copies of the data, 2 kind of media, 1 offsite location
• Think to fail: what happens if building gone, NAS drive stolen, computer hacked
• Think to be back fast not to lose revenue and keep serving customers: use Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service
• Use risk management to calculate the probability with the options
• Making sure you can not only save but extract the data

 

16. How to get attention for the topic

• Turning from backup (like dentist) into business continuity (winning smile)
• Business consultants often convince owners better than box moving IT resellers
• “World Backup Day” every 31 March (even backward) to raise attention to the topic
• Software vendor Veeam has even taken the 30 March as “Availability Day” to make the point not “you don’t have backup” but rather “you want to aim for availability”

 

To find out more, go to their website: www.keepitsafe.com or contact sales@cloudrecover.com.au

 

Property Investing Concepts, Tips and Hacks for Small Business Owners

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 10 April 2018

When was the last time you planned for the future. No, I don’t mean revisited your business plan or thought about which beach you’d be retiring on, but REALLY thought about your plan.

How many more years do you plan to work for? Are you even putting money aside for your own super? Is there a end goal or plan for you financially?

Let’s face it, Small business owners have very specific challenges, needs & motivations when it comes to investing. They often spend every available moment focusing on their business and fail to see the bigger picture or take the long view.

Plus there’s risk to consider  Small biz is risky, there aren’t a lot of anchors. A well planned property investment serves as a ‘safe point’, a plan B that creates psychological wellbeing and alleviates (financial) stress which equates to better personal and business performance.

Here today is a property expert who is different from the rest. Not only does he truly value the future but happily presents on his expertise; sharing knowledge about the market and strategies to help people and small businesses get a foot hold.

Welcome to the show Daniel.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Succession planning
  • Beginning with the end in mind. (i.e. having a strategy) how much do you want to retire on? This is important because 4 out of 5 Australians will outlive their super.. For example if you wish to retire on $1000 a week income (in today’s terms), in 25 years time that will be the equivalent of $1950 a week because of inflation. Assuming a 4% return you’ll need $2.5M in income producing assets (property, shares, cash in bank) to fund that. How much do you have today? Can you get to $2.5M? How?
• Purchasing property is ‘the play’’
  • Small biz generates revenue but more often than not isn’t an asset that appreciates with time (benefitting from compounding). The smart guys use the revenue from biz to fund the acquisition of assets (property). That’s how true wealth is built.
• Take the emotion out of investing:
  • Run it like a business. Idea: property investing is buying a piece of dirt and putting a structure on it that someone else will pay to stay in it which repays the cost of the dirt whilst the value goes up.
  • Having a property focus is a great way for Small biz owners to maintain financial discipline/a savings goal/motivate us.
• Some important facts to remember:
  • property in australia doubles every 12 -15 years. E.g. a property purchased for $500k today should be worth $2M by the time you retire.
  • The family home, is it an asset? Hint, if you have a $4k a month mortgage and you can’t work/have no income now is your home an asset?
• PLAN the process:
  • If you’re self employed, borrowing is tough! How to find and work with a broker that loves small biz, is prepared to work extra hard for you and understands what lenders have attitudes and products sympathetic to small biz - such as only needing one year tax returns.
    • How can you find the right experts to surround yourself with?
  • Working with your accountant to show your income in such a way that you’re looked upon favourably by the bank.
    • What can this look like?
    • How much to borrow/gear when you’re self employed? Tip - don’t overstretch. Leave yourself choices.
    • Negative gearing = a really crap idea. Small biz owners should be cash flow neutral (but negatively geared just for depreciation) heres how to do it.
• HOW TO Use an SMSF to purchase property.
  • This one is a no brainer. If you have $200k in super (combined with spouse) you can purchase a $450k property that will be worth $1.8M in 25-30 years time, will be fully paid off and will be returning $72k a year (in rent.) Leaving your $200k in a managed fund, it will only be worth $610k and return $24k a year.
  • How small biz owners should be structuring their purchases.
    • Tip. Use family trust or choose tenant in common arrangement with % of ownership with their spouse in such a way it ensures maximum tax savings.
• Use The Family Pledge to get started/ahead it is a great vehicle.
  • What does this mean?
• What are the best types of investment property for a small biz owner?
  • Tip- must have a land component (the land is where the value is)
  • must save you stamp duty
  • must be new (low maintenance, no repair bills, rent easier, command higher rents, allow you depreciation)
  • must be in high growth area.’
  • Dealing with tenants and keeping the property profitable. Tip- put your rent up often! It must at least follow inflation!

To find out more go to their website: http://www.dpn.com.au/

Introducing a new Social Networking Tool for Small Business

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 3 April 2018

Marketing strategies. With each new day there’s another online platform, snazzy new way to access clients and suggestions of extending your reach, collateral or some other buzz word to market your small business. It’s constantly evolving and as a small business it’s overwhelming to keep up with these techniques, let alone learn another piece of software.

So how do we educate ourselves to think outside the box? Well, you listen to great shows like this one and learn from our next guest. Having spent thousands of dollars on membership fees and wasted valuable time and money at breakfasts and dinners with the aim of networking with potential clients, co-founder and CEO of The Sticky Handshake, Shaun Mahoney, wanted a way to build valuable connections. His biggest frustration was that he rarely met the right people at these networking functions and would not get the opportunity to speak to enough of the right sort of business owners.

Welcome to the show Shaun.

Topics we’ll be covering:

• Broadly your small business journey and what led you to start your own business?
• The face of marketing is changing and moving away from the giants; Facebook, Google and LinkedIn. Small business is adaptable and agile why is it that we struggle to move away from these unsustainable marketing strategies?
  • These strategies are often short-lived and disappointing in terms of results.
  • Small business expects to throw money at these walls and for the advertising to “stick” - why does this method fail us?
• We recognise as small businesses the importance of our own local client base so why do we target the worldwide market with social connections and advertising?
• Why do you believe face to face networking is time-consuming, daunting and largely ineffectual?
• So if we strike these two off the list what are we left with?
• How do online platforms like yours differ from these now old-fashioned methods?

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

 

Testimonial from a New Zealand Sticky Handshake member (where it launched first)

Catherine Watson - www.documentsbydesign.co.nz

"The Sticky Handshake is a refreshing and exciting way of getting to know fellow business owners not just in your own area but around the country. I love that it's free to get started so you can try it out first and it is so easy to search by industry and make contact with other users. I've already had business referred to me and have been able to refer my clients to other Sticky Members. Best of all everybody is so friendly."

catherine@documentsbydesign.co.nz

 

About Shaun Mahoney

Phone: 0447711145 Email: Shaun@thestickyhandshake.com.au

Shaun has always thought out of the box. Born in NZ, he went on to complete his University degree in 2 years before chasing his dream and getting a green card and moving to Las Vegas to work with Teenagers. Over 5 years, Shaun created one of the largest youth gatherings in Las Vegas with over 250 teenagers attending weekly.

Shaun entered the finance world of Las Vegas in 2004, and was featured as a Rookie Superstar in the National Mortgage Originator Magazine in May, 2005. Shaun invested 2,000 a month for 2.5 years in the toughest coaching program available in the USA, resulting in his business growing by 20% in 2008 when the market shrank by 50% during the GFC. In 2009, Shaun was selected out of 3500 people to join a national efficiency team, resulting in MetLife Home Loans being ranked number 2 by JD Powers in Customer Service in the USA in 2010, against all banks including Bank of America, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo.

Shaun Moved to Australia in late 2009 to pursue a “beach” life. Shaun published the book “Keeping it Real” and created the 100 Day Foundation Pack for Small Business Owners which he still teaches today. Shaun was then hired by a big 4 bank and was asked to open the first of its kind multi mullion dollar regional bank in Queensland.

It was here that Shaun suffered a critical neck injury in late 2013. Shaun spent all of 2014 in and out of Hospital, before having his 6th procedure in January of 2015, spending 6 hours in theatre with 2 Neurosurgeons inserting a second titanium cage into his neck.

In 2015, Shaun made the decision to chase his dream, to support small business. Despite his injuries, Shaun has tirelessy created www.ULetters.com.au, successfully creating a profitable tech startup in less than 2 years.  After working on ULetters with his mother leading the growing tech team in NZ, as a team, Shaun and Carol created The Sticky Handshake, a revolutionary new solution for small business owners, professionals, consultants and freelancers to network and grow their business through referrals.
 

About Carol Mahoney

Carol is based in Auckland and is the ex CIO of Bunnings (NZ) and EY (NZ) amongst other International Corporates and was one of the first woman CIOs in NZ. She has led multiple Technology teams and been amongst the forefront of NZ technology for over 30 years. Carol created her first opportunity in the sector by literally building her first computer and entering it in computer shows to forge the role of first woman CTO/CIO in NZ.

Carol has always been a ‘geek’ and throughout her career has invariably been the first woman employee in many situations, especially in corporate executive teams.  Though this meant that she always got her own room on the team building retreats!

Carol runs our growing team of Software Developers and support staff of six people in Auckland

Carol is an active member of various IT and Tech Start-up Groups and has a strong ambition in helping young women get into the Tech area and growing their own business’s.

Carol also has this dream of building a company of the future, which meets the needs of its team, its customers and its investors in a unique and rewarding way.

Top Admin Biz Hacks from Alexi Boyd

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: 20 March 2018

1. Strategies to get your Admin under control
2. Top areas where small business feels out of control
   1. Emails/Filing
   2. Invoicing, cashflow & bookkeeping
   3. Diary Management
3. Philosophy of Systemisation
4. Tips for going PaperFree
5. Great Admin Apps
6. Tasks to control the Receipt Beast