/index.php?/news Latest News… en melanie@contactfirst.com.au Copyright 2011 2011-05-02T05:06:52+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/www.becbrisbanebayregion.com.au/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/www.becbrisbanebayregion.com.au/#When:05:06:52Z Get your Business On-line.  Business Enterprise Centres have joined with David Koch and Kochies Business Builders providing workshops and know-how getting Business online, E-commerce and optimising. Contact the Redland Brisbane Bayside BEC or Redland City Business Grow for upcoming E-commerce workshops Doing Business Online. The credibility of the major retailers behind the push to impose a GST for on-line sales has flown out the window like Santa . The truth of the matter is that 83% of us now buy online albeit if the average spend is only $530 for a year .Currently this represents only 3% of retail industry income. Gerry and the others know there’s gold in them clicks. The future is certain. Business will need a web presence , online and social media connectivity with capacity to interact, communicate and transact with their customers. Being online however is not the only gold nugget for business growth and sustainability. Having a web presence is a function of knowing your customer and understanding how you can do business with them. At present only 37% of business have a web presence and of those only 24%  can take online orders. The biggest online business in Australia is done on e-bay. While major retailers have been caught napping with their current business models they a systematically creating and innovating their e-commerce capacities. In future we will all in-time purchase more and become trusting on-line consumers. Customers expect and deserve a choice of “bricks and clicks” options from our favourite retailers. We will always go to a store for the touch and feel or the demonstration of big ticket items but for the simple and known fun stuff hey I’m a busy person , just let me purchase what I want on-line. 2011-05-02T05:06:52+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/choosing-the-right-consultant-for-your-business/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/choosing-the-right-consultant-for-your-business/#When:04:40:02Z One of the questions I frequently get asked whilst I am visiting Redland City Business Grow Participant businesses is “How do I choose the right business consultant for my business?.”  Here are some simple steps/questions to guide you through the process? 1. Has the Consultant owned/managed/operated their own business?  If so for how long? Is it their own business they have created or a franchise model? 2. What are the business milestones/goals/successes have they achieved and enjoyed in their own business? 3. How long have they been operating as a Business Consultant? Do they have relevant ‘Professional” Business Qualifications. 4. What type of industry sectors do they have experience in? 5. Names of businesses they have previously consulted with? 6. What successes have they achieved with these businesses? 7. Are you able to contact three (3) business owners for references and further validation? 8. What do they feel is their major strength and how do they feel they can assist your business. 9. Do they have the relevant experience to help you resolve your business issues? 10. Will there be a focus on skills transfer? E.g. they need to transfer their skills in the particular area of interest to you, so you as the Owner of the Business can affectively deal with the task/problem at hand and future similar issues. 11. Are they willing to undertake a free health check on your business, draw up an action plan/proposal with timeframes of completion and meet with you to discuss the process step by step. 12. Are their fees to undertake the consulting work within your budget? Have they factored in stage payments?  What happens if it doesn’t go to plan? And finally 13. What guarantees are they able to provide you with? Key to engagement of Consultant is to consider your ability to relate to the Consultant on all levels.  From experience most of us will state that first impressions are 9/10 correct, so go with your gut feeling.  2011-05-02T04:40:02+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/redland-city-business-grow/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/redland-city-business-grow/#When:05:02:08Z If you are considering starting a new business in the Redlands, growing an existing business, or looking for general business advice, Redland City Business Grow can help. See more about Business Grow  Free Phone 1800 282 208 Who can apply to participate? All small to medium businesses in Redland City (which make up the city’s largest business segment). The main focus of the program is to assist these small (1-10 staff) to medium (11-100 staff) Redlands businesses with their business development. 2010-11-30T05:02:08+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/free-business-advice1/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/free-business-advice1/#When:04:42:30Z How do we find out what we don’t know? By simply being open to new ideas and concepts, by reading newspapers and listening to business related news on the radio and television and ….by simply engaging us to come over and conduct a free and confidential business health check on your business at your workplace. WHAT BUSINESSES DON’T KNOW? One of our favourite sayings is “ we don’t know what we don’t know”. How do we find out what we don’t know? By simply being open to new ideas and concepts, by reading newspapers and listening to business related news on the radio and television and ….by simply engaging us to come over and conduct a free and confidential business health check on your business at your workplace. So many times we feel the pressure of working in our businesses,  and neglecting to make time to work on our businesses.  This is where we are able to assist our Redland businesses,  We are able to help them readily identify areas where they need to improve and suggest ways of doing so. Where required we are able to suggest a   number of other support programs that are offered to small businesses.  Some of these are heavily subsidised by Government.  Another one of my favourite sayings is one of Confusius “He who aims at nothing is likely to hit it”.  I can’t stress enough about the importance of planning and having that end goal in mind. The lead up to the Christmas holiday period is always a hectic time, completing outstanding projects,  end of year celebrations, school concerts and planning for the family get togethers.  From all reports this Christmas spending is anticipated to be reduced due to the financial pressure that is currently placed on families. If you are a retailer relying on Christmas trade, beware of discounting, understand what your true break even is and make sure you are providing what your customer wants. Please factor in some time for planning and goal setting in your business for next year.  If you need assistance we would be happy to provide our free business support services. Melanie Lavelle-Maloney Principal Contact First Business Solutions. Contact First operates the Redland Business City Grow Program, a free confidential business advisory and mentoring service which is an initiative of the Redland City Council. Telephone 1800 282 208, email: rcbusinessgrow@contactfirst.com.au 2010-11-29T04:42:30+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/need-staff/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/need-staff/#When:05:23:29Z Whether it is full time, part time, traineeship, apprenticeship or casual employment you need to consider the option of employing a person with a disability. There are more than 131,000 Australians with a disability who are ready for work and tapping into this pool of applicants shows astute business judgement. Studies have found that there is a strong business case to support the employment of people with disabilities. Find out more at http://www.dwa.org.au/becneedstaff.htm Whether it is full time, part time, traineeship, apprenticeship or casual employment you need to consider the option of employing a person with a disability. There are more than 131,000 Australians with a disability who are ready for work and tapping into this pool of applicants shows astute business judgement. Find out more at http://www.dwa.org.au/becneedstaff.htm Studies have found that there is a strong business case to support the employment of people with disabilities, such as; Over 90 per cent of employers who had recently employed a person with a disability said they would be happy to continue employing people with disabilities Cost to business in absenteeism and sick leave is lower for employees with a disability than costs incurred by other employees People with disabilities often have a higher retention rate than other staff Assistance of many Commonwealth Government free programs to support the employee and employers Assists you to achieve your business social responsibility and viewed as an employer of choice. The role of DWA is to coordinate the employment of people with a disability for BEC Australia network and members by providing: Disability Awareness Training to the BEC Australia network and its members Job matching by qualified staff to vacancies provided by the BEC Australia network and its members Coordination of all incentives, supports and modifications required when employing a person with a disability A quality national service to all Assistance and solutions to barriers in the employment of people with a disability Support for existing employees with a disability to enable them to sustain employment DWA will partner with BEC Australia to promote the benefits of employing people with disabilities to the hundreds of small business BEC members in metro and regional areas across Australia. The professional teams at DWA are experienced in the field of supporting businesses to employ people with disability at a national level. 2010-11-22T05:23:29+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/franchising-is-there-ever-enough-information/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/franchising-is-there-ever-enough-information/#When:03:10:16Z Franchising is one of the most popular business structures here in Australia with over 600,000 franchised businesses. We’ve even surpassed the US which was originally the home of the franchised model! Last week, Rod and I attended the informative DEEDI Franchising Workshop which was held at Spring Hill. DEEDI host this event every year, and unfortunately it’s a once of event. I spoke to our contacts at the Department after the workshop and fingers crossed we may be able to have one of these super workshops here in the Redlands early next year. Franchising is one of the most popular business structures here in Australia with over 600,000 franchised businesses. We’ve even surpassed the US which was originally the home of the franchised model! What really came through loud and clear through all the presentations was that franchisees do not ever do enough due diligence before they enter into their franchised businesses. The rule of thumb is that for every $1,000 spent purchasing a franchised operation there should be 1 hour of research done, so for instance if a franchised operation costs $250,000 that’s 250 hours worth of research and investigations that should be undertaken before you sign on the dotted line! During the workshop we heard from; the head of the Franchise Council of Australia, a body who represent both franchisors and franchisees, Jason Gerhke, a learned ex-franchisee, who now runs his own consultancy which specialises in franchised operations, a legal expert on franchised models and a McDonalds franchisee who owns 3 McDonalds here in Queensland. A fantastic selection of speakers who informed all who attended on so many aspects of the franchised model. If you would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact us on 1800 282 208, or by email. Melanie Lavelle-Maloney Contact First Business Solutions, Contact First operates the Redland City Business Grow program, a free on-site, confidential business advisory and mentoring service, which is an initiative of Redland City Council. 2010-10-19T03:10:16+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/what-can-the-words-award-winning-business-do-for-you-and-your-business/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/what-can-the-words-award-winning-business-do-for-you-and-your-business/#When:02:21:17Z Lunch at the Courthouse is always a splendid affair, however this luncheon was truly made ‘remarkable’ by the quality of speaker who had all us ladies and the few brave men that ventured along ‘totally engaged” in the messages he was relaying to us. Our speaker the inspirational and motivational Kurek Ashley made the event a truly ‘remarkable’ one. I’m currently reading his book ‘How Would Love Respond’… I actually bought it for my beloved Rod and had it signed especially…”Dear Rod Live Your Dreams.”. I couldn’t resist the temptation to read it first….Kurek put out his line and I was hooked! Two weeks ago I attended the Redland City Women In Business luncheon, and what a fantastic turnout it was. - 77 attendees! Lunch at the Courthouse is always a splendid affair, however this luncheon was truly made ‘remarkable’ by the quality of speaker who had all us ladies and the few brave men that ventured along ‘totally engaged” in the messages he was relaying to us. Our speaker the inspirational and motivational Kurek Ashley made the event a truly ‘remarkable’ one. I’m currently reading his book ‘How Would Love Respond’… I actually bought it for my beloved Rod and had it signed especially…”Dear Rod Live Your Dreams.”. I couldn’t resist the temptation to read it first….Kurek put out his line and I was hooked! I cannot stress enough that during these financially challenging times we need to make our businesses ‘remarkable’ in order to keep our existing customers engaged and to convert prospects into customers. During the luncheon we also head from our local talented artist Brylee Langley on what it means to be an Award Winning Business. Brylee spoke of how winning the Women In Business Award at the Redland City Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Redland’s Business Achievement Awards 2009 has positively impacted upon her business. Brylee gave a wonderful presentation on just how responding to the Awards criteria she was able to gain a deeper understanding of her business and of areas that needed improving. I could relate to all the benefits in applying and winning the Award that Brylee spoke about at the luncheon, because my UK business was a multi award winning business and winning multiple British Safety Council … Health and Safety Awards in our industry…demolition and asbestos removal…was instrumental to our clients choosing us to undertake their demolition and asbestos projects. Winning those Awards 4 years consecutively assisted us to sell our Business in 2005. In an industry where health and safety were of paramount importance, it proved to the new owners that we were a credible and remarkable business. All Redlands businesses have the opportunity to participate in the Redlands City Chamber of Commerce’s Business Achievement Awards 2010. Nominations are now open, and registration’s close at 3.00 pm on Friday 3rd September, 2010. I would urge all businesses who would like to move to that next level to think about nominating for a Business Achievement Award. Here at Business Grow, Rod and I are happy to assist you in anyway we can to make your application truly ‘remarkable’. Melanie Lavelle-Maloney, Principal of Contact First Business Solutions, Contact First operates the Redland City Business Grow Program which is an initiative of the Redland City Council. Phone 1800 282 208; e: rcbusinessgrow@contactfirst.com.au 2010-08-30T02:21:17+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/marketing-considerations-to-suit-the-retail-customer/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/marketing-considerations-to-suit-the-retail-customer/#When:14:02:08Z Needs beats Wants, do you stock what the customer needs, customers with shopping lists are focused and make less impulsive purchases Value beats Difference, I know what I want so please give it to me at your best price. Convenience, where I am beats where I’m going. If i see an item in your store that is usually purchased elsewhere I’ll but it now to save time.Needs beats Wants, do you stock what the customer needs, customers with shopping lists are focused and make less impulsive purchases Value beats Difference, I know what I want so please give it to me at your best price. Destination beats Impulse, I’m going to my regular isle in my usual store and I’m not trying to be distracted. Convenience, where I am beats where I’m going. If i see an item in your store that is usually purchased elsewhere I’ll but it now to save time. Financial Conservatism beats financial Adventure. Retails and manufactures are focusing on the goods they know drive sales rather than risky sales forecasting or worse keeping excessive inventory. Store refurbishment is less risky than new store openings. Marketing is about planning the various components and the steps that bring customers together with your business. Marketing is the whole pie. The various slices or components of that pie are advertising, market research, product, pricing ,public relations, distribution, promotions, customer support, community involvement. Marketing is everything business undertakes to facilitate an exchange between the business and the consumer as a potential and genuine customer Advertising is a component of Marketing. It is the story and announcement, the message from and identified business promoting its products and services to potential and existing customers. Marketing 2010-07-04T14:02:08+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/measure-up-or-else/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/measure-up-or-else/#When:13:47:26Z Aside from tragedy and loss associated with an aircraft crash the most vital piece of equipment to be retrieved is the aircraft flight data recorder. The early version “black box” used film to record data showing fuel, attitude, speed and other basic measurements. Data recorders today have the computer capacity to log all the vital performance and functions of the aircrafts systems. This data is a snapshot of all the measurements and setting that were in place during flight and pre impact. Aside from tragedy and loss associated with an aircraft crash the most vital piece of equipment to be retrieved is the aircraft flight data recorder. The early version “black box” used film to record data showing fuel, attitude, speed and other basic measurements. Data recorders today have the computer capacity to log all the vital performance and functions of the aircrafts systems. This data is a snapshot of all the measurements and setting that were in place during flight and pre impact. Every business should operate with its own version of an in-flight recorder. Here is a killer question, What measurements are in place for your business operation. Aside from the basic data from a sales transaction, bank statement, debtors and creditors figures, what measurements and data does your business utilize . The maxim is clear ‘if you fail to measure, you fail to manage’, meaning how can you plan and make critical decisions for your business if you don’t capture and use all the relevant data regarding the current activities, performance and results. If business failed to measure sales and expenses how would you determine a break-even figure , the amount of sales required before a profit was achieved. Let me give you an example, if your sales mark-up was 50% on cost items and your weekly expenses were $1000 , the break-even for the week is $3,300. From this data business sales can be managed to achieve the required results. Measurements can be made on all areas of business , including productivity and marketing. Let’s look at a marketing example. If your advertising was driving say a 121 customers into you shop each week and the sales figures only recorded 9 sales would you spend more money and change the marketing. The short answer is no. The measurements show there is a conversion problem. Money would be better invested in your staff with sales training or customer service skills. Business success and replicated profits are more likely with sound management. Effective management is possible when   the data from the business systems has been collected and analysed to ensure planning and business decisions are non reactionary and congruent to the owners’ and the businesses objectives. Business Systems 2010-07-04T13:47:26+00:00 http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/has-your-business-improved-in-the-last-12-months/ http://www.contactfirst.com.au/news/has-your-business-improved-in-the-last-12-months/#When:13:45:32Z When we ask businesses this question, here are answers we often hear…….. I’m so involved in the day to day tasks, I don’t get time to look at the business at a high level. Nobody can do things the way I do them. The buck stops with me so I get bogged down. I don’t have time to look for long term solutions to problems so I end up putting out fires all the time.When we ask businesses this question, here are answers we often hear…….. I’m so involved in the day to day tasks, I don’t get time to look at the business at a high level. Nobody can do things the way I do them. The buck stops with me so I get bogged down. I don’t have time to look for long term solutions to problems so I end up putting out fires all the time. I can’t get the right people. Nobody cares about things like I do. I don’t have the time or money to change things. I pay taxes, wages, suppliers. Everyone else gets paid and there’s nothing left for me. Nobody knows the business like I do so how can anyone help me. It’s just the way it is, business is tough. Things will be better next year! In another week we will be coming into the new Financial Year.    This past financial year has been another year of ups and downs, for many of us (particularly those in retail) the remainder of this 2010 year will be spent riding the rollercoaster. If your business hasn’t gone the way you intended it to, in the past 12 months, perhaps it is time to consider what you can do to make some improvements. You won’t be able to readily solve all of your problems in an instant but if you choose some key areas you would like to improve you can start to make improvements and see results. What most businesses need to do is something different. Sometimes we need to think outside the box. It is sometimes easy to procrastinate, leave it a month or two and sit back and wait, sit tight for the economy to turn around, wait until sales pick up etc.. but the reality is that you can begin making improvements whenever you want, and benefit from these improvements in a short time.. You have to be motivated to make the change or accept the consequences of doing nothing.  The reality is the economy isn’t going to do a 360 degree turnaround, we have to deal with the way things are now!  Sometimes it is difficult to think outside the box when we work so hard in our businesses.  Redland City Business Grow offers free business advice and mentoring assistance to Redland Businesses.  We would be happy to assist and facilitate for you to think outside the box and problem solve. For further info please contact our Consultants on 1800 282 208 or email; rcbusinessgrow@contactfirst.com.au Local News 2010-07-04T13:45:32+00:00