WAYS TO SUPPORT YOUR EMPLOYEES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

backpacker, Chantelle, who by chance walked through the door of the bar he was working at in the bustling East Beirut nightlife district.

“We fell in love, and lucky for me, Chantelle had also fallen in love with Lebanon. So she rented an apartment in Beirut, and we applied for a visa to Australia.

“After a lengthy 19 month wait for my visa to be approved, I was on my way.”

Upon arriving in Australia, Soumi was thrown in the deep end culturally as he first lived in rural NSW.

“Chantelle picked me up from the airport, and we had a few nights in Sydney before we headed off to Leeton. I have never spent that much time in a car. Lebanon is literally half the size of Tasmania. Each time we approached a town, I hoped this might be ‘Leeton,’ but we just kept driving, further inland, away from the coast. And for someone who grew up on the Mediterranean, my head was spinning.”

“I’m not going to lie; it was a big culture shock.

“I took a job at the local Soldier’s Club. I called the raffles and the bingo and learned the lingo – ‘22 little ducks’ and ‘88 two fat ladies.’ I also picked up a lot of Australian slang like ‘righto’ and ‘fair dinkum.’ It was a great experience, but all of this came in a hard way. I would frequently be referred to as ‘Bin Laden,’ ‘Muhammad,’ ‘bloody Arab,’ or cautioned ‘don’t blow yourself up here.’”

Soumi insists these names were always said as a joke and weren’t truly offensive, but they did serve as a reminder that he was a “stranger or outside,” going on to say that “these jokes always remind you that you need to make your way to belong. I became friends with those people who used to call me ‘Bin Laden,’ and now they don’t allow anybody to call me by these names.”

“It was my experience that by engaging with people, I won them over. As a result, I was being invited to share my story as a new migrant guest speaker at local community events. People were genuinely interested to learn more about my country and culture. I took advantage of this to help change perceptions of not just me as a person but my country and my culture.” Soumi said.

“I strongly encourage all new arrivals to spend some time out in the bush. I believe this should be part of everyone’s Australian migration story. It is such an enriching experience, and you’ll get a real insight into daily ‘Australian’ lives. You’ll meet locals who will invite you in for a ‘cuppa’. It forces you out of your comfort zone and I believe my time in the Riverina set me up for success in my business.

Sweeping leaves and making friends

Soumi and his wife Chantelle decided to move to Canberra because they felt it was time to get back to city life but were still close to family.

“When we first moved to Canberra, I registered with a hospitality temping agency. I was called into work at the 2015 Budget night at Parliament House, where I served then Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Finance Minister Joe Hockey. This was a surreal experience for me. You are not allowed to see the prime minister in my country; you could get shot if you tried to approach them. Australia showed me this; even the country’s leader is just a person. My mum could not believe that the Prime Minister of Australia was standing beside me, and I served him a beer. She still reminds the neighbors of this story.”

“I will never take for granted how great this country has been to me and continues to be. There is equality and opportunity. You know you are going to wake up tomorrow if you go to sleep, you know no one is going to come and take your home, and you know that if you are struggling financially, the government will give you an allowance to survive so you can keep your dignity as a human.”

“It took me several months to find ongoing employment. I was offered and accepted a very junior position collecting glasses, polishing cutlery, and sweeping the leaves from the outdoor area.

broom skills, and I didn’t hold back. I overheard a customer order a classic cocktail; however, the bartender did not know how to make it. So, I piped up and said, ‘’I can make it’ and jumped behind the bar.

This is how it started for Soumi in Canberra, where he began networking and making friends.

“I was working from ground zero, so every person I met was my friend. This was my focus, to grow my network, making friends with the right people.”

Soumi quickly became a wellknown and respected bartender in Canberra in just a year.

Bar Beirut’s authenticity is its point of difference

Soumi describes his attitude towards hospitality as “making friends,” and that unique approach has paid off. When Soumi opened Bar Beirut in Canberra, two years after moving to the Capital, he said that people immediately followed him and that “without even a phone call or a message they were sitting in front of me at my bar.”

Soumi and Chantelle took on business ownership when others may have shied away. “We had a three-year-old child and a three-month-old baby. Chantelle was on unpaid maternity leave, and I had quit my job. We were at the park with our children when we received a call from a real estate agent who told us about a bar for sale. It felt like a now or never moment. We scraped together every penny we had to open the bar. We had just $6,000 left in our bank account when we opened the doors.”

“We couldn’t afford a big renovation so focused on what we could offer. Our strategy was to win people over with our hearts, not our décor. We built our concept around an exciting and weekly changing cocktail menu that pushed the boundaries served by staff that truly gave a damn. It was critical it had the high vibing energy of Beirut’s nightlife districts. We gave the venue a lick of paint, moved a few bits around, popped up a sign, and off we went. And it worked.”

“We have done things very differently. And this hasn’t always been received warmly. For example, we play a lot of Arabic music, and in the beginning, people would say, ‘what is this crap, play R’n’B.’ Then the next minute, I hear my music played by the bar at the end of the street.

“We have always put our head down and focused on our own business. We don’t worry about trends or what others are doing. We test the waters, we experiment. One of our best-selling cocktails is a Wasabi Martini. Our food is an inspired blend of where the Middle East meets the Med crafted by Scottish chef, Struan Preston. We have burlesque performances every Wednesday danced to Beiruti beats. And if something doesn’t work, we’re not afraid to change it.”

As Lebanon has been colonised so many times, Soumi says that a lot of the charm of Beirut is in the way it is a collection of so many cultures, it has picked all of the best bits. “We have created a social space for people to come and enjoy our drinks, our food, our unique nightlight offering, and good hospitality. I’m proud to be able to share my culture and my country in Canberra.”

“People say our bar is the friendliest in town, and that is all I could have hoped. This means more to me than titles of being the best or biggest or most flashy. I want to be the friendliest bar. A place where people feel comfortable to be their true selves, where no one feels like an outsider.” Soumi proudly proclaimed.

On a more solemn note, Soumi says that after the recent Beirut Blast (which set the community back 45 years), he experienced great loss, and it further encouraged him to keep going with Bar Beirut. Moreover, it gave his success a much deeper purpose.

“I lost many friends in the explosion. Most of the street I grew up on as a kid got destroyed, buildings fell apart.”

Community and values mean a lot to Soumi, and he knows through the success of Bar Beirut, he can assist his mother and siblings in Lebanon, who lost so much in the aftermath of the explosion.

It’s clear that Soumi’s authenticity and values are not only the driving force behind his approach to hospitality, but he believes it is indeed the reason why he is successful in business today.

“The business is successful because of the values we live by and our genuine connection to the people we seek to serve.”

Engineering a new way to do business and succeed.

Elle Likopoulos

Absolute Business Brokers

Interview and Article by

Caitlin Mary Bsale Journalist

Elle Likopolous wears many hats. A successful broker and the principal at Absolute Business Brokers, a specialist in international investor liaisons, a mother and a daughter of an immigrant. All hats that Elle is proud to put on because in her words, “why should we have to pretend we don’t exist outside of our work”. Elle Likopolous recently spoke to Bsale about her experiences during lockdown, the importance of work-life balance and the exciting adventures that lie ahead.

Initially pursuing food science at university and having no intention of joining the family business, Elle said that she “got into it by chance” in spite of her father’s encouragement.

“My father is a director of our company, it’s a family business. I was going on a completely different path and it was during the time I was pregnant with my first son that my dad said ‘you know you’d be really good at it [broking]’. I wanted flexible hours and I didn’t want to stay home, but I couldn’t be on my feet due to complications with my pregnancy, so, I started answering some emails.”.

Before Elle knew it, answering some emails on the side quickly turned into taking over files, going to inspections and then studying to officially be a licensed agent.

“It just progressively was more and more responsibility and my dad was phasing out and retiring. “So it just kind of happened, I found I had a really big passion for it, found my calling.” Elle said.

“What my dad really focused on and what his goal was, was to help migrants, he was a migrant himself he came from Greece. He didn’t know the language and he sort of stumbled into business, used that as stepping stones to grow his wealth because back then nobody would give him an opportunity, it was factory work or you had to buy your own business. Despite the fact that he was an engineer in Greece he wasn’t recognised for that here.”

A familiar story for many people who migrate to Australia from nonEnglish speaking countries, it can be very challenging to enter the workforce, as Elle says:

“There were a lot of migrants in his position and he wanted to help people that were coming to Australia that didn’t know how to speak the language. That was my dad’s personal passion, which we still focus on and pride ourselves on and have very close ties with migration agents and helping people through their visas and making sure that they have a high success rate and getting their permanent residency. We are really proud of what we have achieved in that respect.” Elle said.

Taking her role as both a woman and a mother very seriously, Elle strives to empower and support women in business. As a woman in this industry, Elle says that she’s “really happy to be leading the way in making sure that women are heard and women business owners have a representation of themselves,”.

“I have a lot of first-time business owners that are women, mums looking to re-enter the workforce and needing to consider a small business because it has the flexible hours and these women have a lot of talent and skill they can put towards the business but they don’t know necessarily the realities of a business and what they need to look out for and things they need to be aware of. #BuyAJob was such a big movement in lockdown and I think it’s definitely been more women buying businesses and registering ABNs than ever before.”

“When I first started in the industry, there weren’t a lot of women doing business broking and it was really hard to find your place within the industry and earn that respect. It was common for me to enter a board room and for the buyer to give me their coffee order and not realise I was the one heading the meeting. That hard work I had to put in initially, the hours, to make sure I was doing double what the men were doing just trying to prove myself, was really hard and it made me realise it can be really hard for women wanting to be in business and earn that same level of respect in certain industries.” Elle said.

the industry and the industry itself diversifies, Elle believes that some of the older bad habits and toxic work environments are on their way out.

“I’m really happy that it is not in all industries, but male-based industries like IT like business broking, you know we can’t pretend that it’s not an issue. Over the last few years, it’s gotten better, I’ve seen a lot of emerging women in business broking but if you look even 5 or 10 years ago, there was only 1 or 2 of us really in Victoria.”.

“It’s good to see it’s changing and that we don’t have that toxic work environment anymore where we feel like we have to do 20 hours a day just to earn our place which is what I was doing at the start. I was working ridiculous hours just to try and prove myself when the reality is, we’re allowed to have kids, we’re allowed to have a family life, men and women are allowed to do that.” Elle said.

Office culture is really important to Elle and Absolute in general. Elle is passionate about changing the toxic office culture and setting new ground rules, actively changing what came before and this positivity helps the company in more ways than just one.

“We pride ourselves on having a really good work-life balance and it shows in our figures.” Elle said, even in lockdown Absolute grew by a further 5 million in the year, “we’re constantly growing.”.

“The business grew, surprisingly against all odds, that really comes down to the fact that as soon as we heard about the first lockdown (and we’ve had 6) I sat my staff down on zoom and I said to them ‘right we’re all doing homeschooling, what are the hours that everyone can do?’. The roster completely changed, it became a matrix of different hours and intervals from all of us and what we were able to do work around homeschooling.”

Elle said that it was incredibly important to her that her team didn’t feel the pressure of ‘I have my kid at the bench not knowing what to do and then I have to answer this email and then I have this call’ and tried to alleviate that where she could.

“I just thought it was crazy that some people expected anyone to work from home with their kids in the middle of homeschooling,

something was going to give. I made sure we were working when we could. I don’t like the idea of these false pretences that I need you to work 9 to 5. I would rather you work 5-to-6, then 2-to-3 and 8-10 if that means that you will give me better work and more quality and be happy.” Elle said.

“It will save on burnout, save on mistakes and you’re gonna have a smile on your face. That I think is a really big part of why we did well, I mean we were all stressed don’t get me wrong it’s not easy being in lockdown for that long, but we didn’t have that added stress of a toxic work environment or being put under the pressure of having to do everything between 9to5. We’re human at the end of the day.”

Elle openly says to her team that “we’re all here because we’ve got bills, I never want you to feel like you’re living to work, you’re working to live,” because, at Absolute Business Brokers, family comes first.

“Because we’ve stayed true to that, we have a very loyal and hardworking team,” Elle said.

It’s no secret ingredient, rather it’s the fact of embracing the family environment rather than fighting against it that is key to Elle’s success she believes.

“One of the hardest things in lockdown was not seeing each other face-to-face, not being a part of each other’s lives. It’s a family environment, dad and I really care about the workers, the agents, and we call each other a family. We have round table meetings, any big decisions we vote on it as a team right from an admin girl that might be doing 6 hours a week to a topselling agent, all have an equal vote and a say in where the company is going and what direction they want to go. So that has always been really important to us that we have that culture where people feel heard and it pays off because they’re loyal and they work hard because they’re happy.”

There is even a ping pong table at the office for when children are there on school-free days. The strong family-oriented spirit doesn’t just help within the company, but Elle believes that quality has been one of the key factors to their success.

“I think that is one of the reasons why people are so attracted to owning their own business because yes the work is hard and there is a lot of work to be done but there is flexibility and fluidity in your work and it is intertwined with your life and that is really important that they have a broker that understands that. Everyone in our team has owned a small business or been part of a small business they know what it takes they know what a business owner goes through in their day to day they know how hard it is to buy a business, the uncertainty, the lack of insight you can get sometimes, the risk generally in stepping into someone else’s shoes and the money at stake. It’s an object, it’s not a product we’re trying to sell. I think the fact that we understand that gives us a point of difference in the market.”

“There were buyers [in lockdown] there were people that were still looking for an opportunity in the market and I personally think they did very well. There were a lot of savvy investors that saw the opportunity in a risk and they took it, so it was important that we still give them the level of service that they respect and needed.”

According to Elle one of the biggest mistakes made in business is looking at it [business] ‘like a business’.

“Yes it’s there to make you money, yes it’s an investment you have to think wisely and make business choices, we always say is this a ‘commercial decision that you’re making?’ All this applies and is very true, but if you want to be very successful, you also need to remember that no matter what you’re doing, no matter what your business is, you are dealing with people. The best business owners, the best entrepreneurs in the world, all have charisma and have this element of being approachable. That is the key to success. You can be good at numbers, you can be savvy and know the good opportunities and the right time, but if you want to stand out from the crowd you need to have that charisma.” Elle said.

“You’ve always got to be positive, at the end of the day if you’re not willing to take ups and downs of business and you’re not prepared to make a lot of money and lose a lot of money, then being a business owner probably isn’t for you and that’s okay it’s not for everyone and any experienced business owner will tell you there are ups and downs and highs and lows and everybody wants to be a business owner in the highs but the successful ones are the ones that can paddle through the lows.

The market, according to Elle, at the end of the day is not a complex algorithm or complicated matrix world that is hard to understand or predict. Instead, in reality, the market is just the actions of people and how a large collective of people behave.

“I’m not a market expert and I don’t claim to be one, but in my experience, I think we’re on the right path and I think the market is really eager to recover and to try and make up for lost time. If you’re able to be in tune with what most people are feeling and saying, that is a very good reflection of the market in my opinion and I can see from my dealings that there is this yearning to recover, this yearning to make up for the lost time. I’m excited personally about what the market will hold and I’m seeing it

in the sales, the work that we’re doing.” Elle said.

For Absolute, the sales have been phenomenal, it’s been a big boom and Elle predicts that we’ll be seeing more of that, especially with so many businesses not being able to survive in lockdown and having to close, there are so many staff members now that were let go and are really forced to consider nothing but buying a business.

“We’re seeing that attitude and that mentality a lot now and there is a big emergence of people from industries that have been impacted who are trying their luck and taking that leap of faith that, before when they were in a comfort zone, they probably weren’t going to do but when you’re pushed out of your comfort zone as we know and as all successful entrepreneurs say is where the magic happens and I think we’re seeing a huge emergence of that. It’s exciting.”

Coming out of lockdown with borders looking to open up “it’s a really exciting time to be a business broker,” Elle says and with borders and immigration looking to open up again in 2022 that provides even more opportunities for Elle. industry in Victoria, the first to be given a formal invitation by the Chinese government to go and speak in China at seminars across different regions to investors and give them basically true information about buying a business and endorse investment opportunities in Victoria in small and medium-sized businesses and given that seal of approval that I’m trustworthy and give sound advice.”

“That was a really big compliment for us when you’re getting that acknowledgement from authorities that are outside of your industry and just recognise that you’re trustworthy and that you’re going to give honest and true information is a really big achievement and that is something that we work really hard at doing over the years, it started with my dad 30 years ago and just having that full-circle moment and we were recognised for that and we can see that it paid off and that honesty was noticed and it was a really big moment,” Elle said.

While Elle hasn’t been able to go overseas yet due to lockdown, working in Europe is also in the very near future for Absolute as they met with the Prime Minister of Greece just before lockdown. recognised accreditation that we were to be the trusted source of contact for 188 Visas and any visa-related sales with them. So we are really looking forward to kickstarting that again and we are really excited about what we can do in Europe. We have been doing what we can over zoom and there are a lot of exciting things to come but it’s been difficult because of the border closures but that is probably the next step for Absolute.” Elle said.

“Growing our reputation with visa buyers and moving towards Europe now. We made some really good contacts and really big groundbreaking steps, lockdown was a bit of a setback with borders closed but we’re really looking forward to starting that when it’s safe to do so.”

We may still be experiencing a pandemic but the future looks bright for Elle and Absolute.

Take the Step from TR to PR:

CONSIDER BUYING A BUSINESS

With borders being restricted for the past 2 years due to Covid, there has been a decline in the number of temporary visas being issued. As of October 31, 2021 there are 1.6 million temporary visa holders in Australia, this is down from pre-covid numbers of 2.3 million. Of these, around 655,000 are New Zealand citizens on special category visas. The next major group is people on bridging visas at 338,674. The other major categories of temporary visas include Students (308,812), Temporary Skilled (94,713) and Temporary Graduates (91,607).

Transitioning to permanent residency is the desire of many people currently within Australia. Once students graduate from colleges and universities they have the option of transitioning onto a skilled migrant visa which can involve working within their profession or through business options, such as buying a business.

“I have just finished my masters in accounting. It’s hard to find a full-time position to get my 491 (visa) so I’m moving to Canberra in the new year and will buy a business” Haroon R. Australia has a skilled migration program that aims to support and encourage professionals to continue to work and stay in Australia.

“The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) visa allows points-tested skilled workers and their families to live, study and work in designated regional areas for a period of 5 years. If you are granted a Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) visa, you may be eligible to apply for the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (subclass 191) visa, which provides permanent residence and the right to live and work anywhere in Australia.” Visa Envoy

The 491 Skilled Work Regional Visa has a small business owner scheme. We take a look at 3 states currently offering the SBO pathway.

Buy a Business in the ACT with a $200,000 Turnover

The small business owner scheme has made it easier for people to buy a business and continue on the path of migration. You must be living in the ACT for the last 3 months before being eligible and be committed to staying in the ACT for at least 2 years from the date the visa is granted.

To be part of the Small Business Owner pathway of the 491 Visa in the ACT, you must demonstrate the following:

• Own at least 51% of an eligible registered business located in the ACT • Your business must have a minimum turnover of AUD $200,000 per annum (or prorata). • The business must have actively traded in Canberra for at least 6 months from the date established or purchased. • Your business must be profitable • Your business must be paying you the following salary: • 190 nomination: at least $26,000 for six months.

• 491 nomination: at least $13,000 for three months. • You must employ at least one

Australian citizen, permanent resident or New Zealand citizen for at least 13 weeks (minimum 20 hrs pw). • You must be able to claim

Canberra Matrix points in the Small Business Owner

Category. • Your spouse or partner must be a resident in Canberra for the last 3 months, or living overseas

When buying a business it’s important you are aware of the criteria and options - you don’t want to purchase a business only to find out you’re not eligible for the Small Business Owner (SBO) scheme. The following businesses are not eligible: sub-tenancy, ride-share, taxi, delivery, courier services or an on-sold business previously used to qualify for ACT nomination.

Read more on ACT Government

View Businesses for Sale in ACT

Buy a $100,000 business in Regional Queensland

Like the idea of living in regional Queensland and experiencing the country lifestyle? The QLD government is currently offering a Small Business Owners Scheme pathway in the 491 Visa.

Businesses purchased after 1 April 2021 must have been in operation for 2 years and be purchased for a minimum price of $100,000 and be 100% owned by the visa applicant. The applicant must have owned and operated the business for 6 months before applying. Operating a profitable start-up for a minimum of 2 years with a turnover of $200,000 in the year directly prior to application is also an option. Franchises such as petrol stations and home-based businesses will not be considered. To be eligible for this visa people need to be under 45 years of age, have a points-test result of 65 or higher, meet minimum English language requirements and employ 1 Australian resident, working a minimum of 20 hours per week.

This pathway is for migrants who are currently living and operating a small business in regional QLD in the following postcodes: 4124–4125, 4133, 4183–4184, 4207–4275, 4280–4287, 4306–4498, 4507, 4517–4519, 4550–4575, 4580–4895.

This visa is only available to people who have full-time working rights and are not currently studying.

Read more on Migration QLD

View Businesses for Sale in QLD

Head to Tassie and Earn at least $53,900 a Year

Whilst Tasmania may be one of Australia’s smallest states, it has a lot to offer! 2020 saw the population of Tasmania grow by 3,237 to a total of 541,506 people according to ABS.

To obtain a 491 Visa on the small business owner scheme you must be a 100% owner of a business in Tasmania for at least 6 months. You need to demonstrate that the business is capable of paying you a salary of at least $53,900 per year for at least 3 years. Franchises, service stations, massage clinics and taxi/uber A key part of this visa is demonstrating your ability to learn and understand business in Tasmania. Providing a comprehensive business plan with details into target markets, environmental impacts, and understanding business requirements in Tasmania is a crucial part of the application. Previous business ownership experience will also be assessed.

Read More Tasmania Migration

View Businesses for Sale in Tasmania

Next Step

If you’re considering your options and buying a business to further your migration into becoming a permanent resident of Australia it’s important to obtain professional advice. There are specialised migration lawyers who can help you during the process.

There are business brokers who specialise in assisting people to buy businesses with the aim of obtaining a visa, so you don’t have to go on the journey alone. There are multiple business visas available in each state of Australia. Whether you are currently living in Australia on a temporary visa or looking to migrate, purchase or start a business is a real possibility to obtain permanent residency.

Vanessa Lovie

CEO

P. 02 8006 7558 E. vanessa@bsale.com.au

bsale.com.au

BUSINESS VISA UPDATE

NEW LAWS EFFECT 1ST JULY 2021

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/business-innovation-and-investment-888

ELIGIBILITY

Age Business Turnover Personal & Business Assets Sydney

Under 50 years $1.25M AUD $1.75 AUD

Rest of Australia

Under 55 years $750K AUD $1.25M AUD

NOTES

• Based on existing business, generally overseas • Turnover assessed can be any 2 of the past 4 financial years • Personal and Business Assets can include partner/spouse assets as well • Business Ownership does not require to be 100% shareholding • This is a simple table of the eligibility criteria, there are further specific criteria that also must be adhered to

VISA 188 DETAILS

• Advantages • Visa Validity • Work Rights • Travel • Family • Permanent Residency Sydney

No Initial Investment Required | No COVID Travel Ban | No IELTS Required 5 years (extendable to 8 years) Full Work & Business Rights Full Travel Rights Family included Establish or Acquire a Business for 3 years to qualify for PR

TRANSITION TO PR

Business Investment Ownership Any 2 of the following Sydney Rest of Australia

$500K AUD 3 years $300K AUD in business assets, $600K AUD n personal assets or $2x F/T employees $300K AUD 3 years $200K AUD in business assets, or $400K AUD in personal assets $2x F/T employee

Some of my vendors will only sell to international buyers due to the small pool of operators nationally in the plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery sector and the confidentiality required for a sale. If a business can be run under management, then the buyers don’t have to work in the business or have experience in the sector. Whilst an overseas trained doctor (OTD) may struggle to get registration here as a clinician due to the extensive requirements from AHPRA to get assessed and registered in this country, a great option for an OTD is to buy a health business and manage it. That way, they are still working in the field that they love potential at the same time that they are undertaking the requirements needed for registration as a physician. Read more about Sally here

SABRINA

LINK Business Broker sabrina.xia@linkbusiness.com.au

• Liquor Stores and supermarkets are popular with immigration/visa buyers.

Here are a few reasons to explain their popularity: • They are an essential business • they had shown strong growth during pandemic period • whatever the condition of economy, people have to eat and drink • this underlying demand support the stability of the business, for example most of these businesses performed extremely well during lockdown • Asset value is high as bottle shop and supermarket usually operate with high stock levels • this will help qualify the minimum investment amount request • liquor has a long shelf life, so buyers see more reserve value for the stock • little labour to run, a typical bottle shop can be run by 1-2 staff. Immigrants may have language barriers, so it is challenging for them to have too many staff to manage, so they prefer a simplified business model. Read more about Sabrina here

AMIT

LINK Business Broker amit.gupta@linkbusiness.com.au

As of January 2021, there are more than 20 million registered vehicles in Australia. The country’s continued reliance on fossil fuel means that petrol stations or service stations represent a fairly low-risk investment; delivering a steady flow of revenue & profit over a typically long lease. A service station with a convenience store or a bottle shop is an ‘easy to operate’ business without the need of any special skills or training. Perfectly suited as a family operated business, ownership of a service station can provide a reliable source of steady income along with provisions of permanent residency visa for the family. Read more about Amit here

SHAKE IT OR MAKE IT: ASH NEVER LET ROADBLOCKS GET IN HIS WAY.

Ashvin Sridhar is the CEO of Shakez, a successful shake bar in Melbourne’s South East suburbs. Ash recently spoke to Bsale about how he went from being an immigrant kid from India - after many failed business attempts - to a successful business owner.

Ash arrived in Australia in 1996, when he was just 6 years old. Originally from India, his parents had big plans for their life in Australia but as life tends to happen, sometimes those plans change.

“Back then it was different moving to Australia. We relied on mum’s hard work and she’s worked hard ever since, still working at the same place 25 years later. Majority of the time it was only mum that went to work, so we didn’t have a lot growing up.” “We need to make something of ourselves. I failed miserably in high school, I did so many courses after I did engineering, I did IT and I thought ‘why am I wasting my parents money?’ and I realised I’m an entrepreneur, I want to do something for myself. Our parents have always worked very hard, so for me, I didn’t just want to get another job and live an ordinary life. We always had big dreams but didn’t have the money to do that.” Ash said.

This is a familiar story that many immigrants and children of immigrants can relate to. When Ash turned 20, he decided that he didn’t want his parents to work forever, that he wanted to work hard for the next generation.

“I wanted my kids to have so much more than I did, so I started a partnership business with my uncle that failed terribly.”

“My uncle came to Australia on a 3-month visa and he said ‘Ash why don’t we do something together?’. He sent me to Cyprus and while I was there, he took all my money. Everything I had. I was stuck in Cyprus with no return flight, and no money to get back.” Ash said.

With the help of his girlfriend at the time, Ash of course did make it back to Australia, but having to start from scratch again with nothing was not easy, he took on factory work until he was able to make another attempt at making his business dreams a reality again.

“I can’t just do that normal life, I could earn $10 a day for all I care as long as I’m doing something for myself that I’m happy about,

that I can really build something because realistically in our family I’m really the only businessman, I

“If you have the money you can buy yourself a business, you can buy

yourself a job, that’s one way to do it but with us, my wife and I didn’t have much at all we literally had to start from ground zero.” Natalia Moses, Ash’s wife, is the cofounder of Shakez and Ash credits a lot of the companies success to her. Not just Natalia’s financial involvement but her neverending encouragement and support for Ash, even when the odds weren’t in their favour.

“When we opened in 2016 the goal was to open Australia’s first protein shake bar. I was very much into health and fitness and I wanted a place for people to go to after the gym. I could never find a [suitable] place so I thought, Australia needs a good shake bar people can go to but I want this to be in shopping centres, I want this to be mainstream locations. So how can we do this? In the early stages we were looking for locations to open our first store and we decided to start with a food truck and eventually got the yes to put it in a shopping centre.”. Ash said. Unfortunately, before Shakez could even officially open they hit a roadblock. Right before they were supposed to open they were told they didn’t have the right permits, so it was back to the drawing board and seemingly another failure for Ash.

Later that day, Ash found himself in front of a Wendy’s in that same shopping centre where he was supposed to open. The Wendy’s still had a fitout with almost everything Shakez needed. So Ash started the day with the worst news possible, all that money down the drain and having to start from scratch again, to signing a lease and taking over the old Wendy’s shop that evening.

“That morning I was at the lowest point where we literally lost everything with a lease that’s already signed, but that evening we had a shop ready to go, it was seriously like a miracle. So we thought alright “Sometimes you get these signs, things happen and you just have to go with it. There are so many people out there that tell me ‘why didn’t you plan, why didn’t you do some research, why didn’t you do the due diligence?” Ash said, responding with a simple “I dunno, I was a young naive kid.”

“If you knew what that [due diligence] was at that age, then you’re way ahead of the rest

of us. To begin with, we weren’t even charging enough, we had to learn operations and how to employ staff AFTER opening. We love what we do. We want to be the leading shake bar in Australia and until that happens, we’re going to keep moving forward.”

“When we first opened our store 6 years ago, I think I saved up about $30,000 and I invested all of it. Then we literally had the majority of that money stolen from us. We were literally in the deep waters and learning to swim. I didn’t know much about business, I literally just signed a lease and said let’s just learn, if it fails we fail who cares. Sometimes you have to do that, you know you trust yourself more than people around you.” Ash said.

Ash never gave up his entrepreneurial dreams, he said he just wanted somebody to give him “something and I can work with it, I just need something to start with.”. Getting that first leg up in business, getting your foot in the door can sometimes be the hardest part of business, especially for people who not only have no experience or background in business but also don’t know anybody in business who can help them.

“100%, we’re very thankful to be in Australia, the opportunities you’re given here, it’s so much more than where we’re

Not only does Ash and the ShakeZ team know what works they also know what doesn’t work, as Ash says they “learnt the hard way, not the easy way” and now all of that hard work has paid off with Shakez looking to franchise in 2022. “Franchising is not as easy as it sounds, it’s not just about creating this product and putting it out here for sale, you have to actually deliver. We’ve got 6 years worth of history to show so when I speak to our potential franchisees we’ve been operating for 6 years and built this from the ground up, we’ve got a passionate team we’re not going to let you down.”

“Franchising has been in the back of my mind since day one. It was along the way though, that it actually started to become a reality, it became not just a dream anymore it’s a mission. It was last year during COVID, we were really busy and our sales were up. We’ve already got inquiries, we know we’ve got a great product, so yeah, 2022 is what we’re aiming for.”

“All I’ve had since the beginning was my wife, if I didn’t have her believing in me I wouldn’t have made it. They always say there is a woman behind every man’s success and behind my success? 100% I give her most of the credit.”

Caitlin Mary

Bsale Journalist

Blessing In Disguise Results In

BUSINESS SUCCESS

Zoran Sarabaca

Business Analyst - Business Broker

Iwas born in Libya in 1970, 2 years later due to the revolution in Libya we had to move back to Yugoslavia. Initially we were in Croatia then 2 years later we moved to Serbia. In 1991 trouble in Yugoslavia started, I had just finished my National service and I received call papers to join the Army. I had family in both Serbia and Croatia and did not want to join. I was now a refugee who left the country because I didn’t want to participate in the civil war.

I then spent the next 4 months traveling by land through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka then back to India when I finally got my visa to enter Australia. Soon after arriving in Australia I fell ill and learnt that I had contracted hepatitis in India and not having any access to Medicare, I had to borrow money to pay for the treatment. Although I only had a three-month Visa, the Australian Government granted Yugoslavs a special condition allowing them to stay in

Australia for the duration of the unrest. Had I returned, I would have been drafted into the either the Serbian or Croatian army, depending on where I landed. This is because my parents were Croatian but I grew up in Serbia.

Yugoslavia was divided and I was not eligible for Serbian citizenship because I was born in Libya and I was not eligible for Croatian citizenship because I never had permanent residency in Croatia.

When I arrived in Australia I had no job, spoke no English and had no money. Because of my lack of language skills, the only work I could find was as a labourer, but as I dug ditches, I dreamt of one day owning my own business. My father had been a businessman and that was my dream, but it seemed very remote in the early days, as I struggled in a new country without family support.

When my Yugoslav passport expired, I was unable to return home for my father’s funeral and I realised my future was in Australia. I applied for permanent residency and two years later became an Australian citizen.

I had a degree from the former Yugoslavia as an electrical technician, and after several years in Australia I started an electrical contracting business called Odyssey Electrical. At the time it was formed I had no money and no contacts, so I had to work tirelessly to build the business from the ground up.

Although the business flourished, there were always cash flow issues, and when two customers went into liquidation things worsened, and I had no choice but to put the business on the market. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it led to the creation of Xcllusive Business Sales.

I appointed an agent to sell Odyssey Electrical and was so disappointed with the performance of the broker that after three months I decided to sell it myself. I bought a dozen business sales books, talked to as many people as I could and in no time developed a sales and marketing strategy designed specifically to sell my business. Four weeks and 30 enquiries later I had four offers on the table. Four weeks after that, I sold my business for the exact price that I wanted.

At that point I realised that I could come up with a formula that could sell businesses other than my own, and, committed to a process that worked in the best interests of the seller, Xcllusive Business Sales was established.

This whole experience gave me an appreciation for what it takes and I wanted to also hire staff from a diverse range of backgrounds.

IMMIGRATION AND BUSINESS SALES

We all know that the Covid 19 pandemic has put our lives “on hold” for much of the last two years. This has been particularly true for prospective business migrants with Australia’s travel restrictions and borders closures.

During the pandemic, LUX Business Sales and Advisory has successfully sold many businesses to business Asian migrants for 188A visa and 491 Regional Skilled visa. With Australia opening its international borders from January 2022, it provides the opportunity for successful business migrants to enter the local market once again as prospective business buyers. Our Brisbane business brokers are specialists in helping migration business buyers successfully purchase a business that suits all their business migration visa requirements.

Each state and territory have different requirements for the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) Subclass 188 visa, and you should check their respective business migration websites for more information. In Victoria, there is a focus on STEM related expertise and businesses. For NSW, the government requires a minimum investment in target sectors of $500,000 in Sydney and $300,000 in regional areas. The South Australian government seeks to attract investment into businesses that drives innovation and employment into the local economy. In my home state, Queensland, the minimum investment into a business is $400,000 in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and $300,000 in regional areas of the state. The most preferred industries include agribusiness,

wholesaling, manufacturing, tourism, hospitality, and retail. And many migrants come to QLD to purchase a business.

Queensland was also the first state to introduce the Small Business Owners (SBO) program utilising the 491 Regional Skilled visa. For the SBO, the migrant must purchase a business for a minimum of $100,000 in a regional area and have operated it for six months prior to applying for the 491 visa.

The most popular SBO businesses includes restaurants and cafes, convenience and grocery stores, home improvement, handyman services, massage business, newsagency, and IT consultancy services.

The origins of business migrants are mainly from Asia with Chinese heritage (same as ME!!) leading the way, but SE Asian countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia being more prevalent. In other parts of the world, India, Pakistan, the Middle East nations like UAE and Iran and South Africa make up the emerging markets. We all know Brisbane is going to host next Olympic Games in 2032. As a result, the surge in interstate migration and business migrants to Queensland will create a great opportunity for current business owners to sell their business.

LUX Business Sales and Advisory recent successful sales are in the Gold Coast-Convenience stores, commercial laundry, wholes and suppliers, Australian made goods exporting, retail stores, sushi shops, cafes, Asian restaurants. In Sunshine Coase-Grocery stores, Play centre, Commercial cleaning, sushi shops, cafes, gift shops. Brisbane-retail shops, massage shops, tea houses, sushi shops and Cafes.

Most business migrants and skilled visa applicants don’t have business experience in Australia. So, an experienced business broker can help migrants choose a suitable business to help them successfully gain their permanent residency.

LUX Business Sales and Advisory, Is a boutique business brokerage firm with over 17 years of successful business experience. Our brokers have many years of experience and are licensed, qualified business brokers and advisors. We are experienced and specialized in 132, 188A and 491 SBO business migration sales. If you are looking for business brokers in Brisbane to sale your business in Queensland, you need to contact LUX Business Sales & Advisory. The Winner of Queensland Business Broker of The Year 2020.

LUX Business Sales & Advisory boast an extensive database of international investors and buyers and have a great connection with overseas and local businesses. We also hold qualified cash buyer’s data base. to sell their businesses to the right buyers and helping the buyers purchase the right businesses. With conjunctional businesses agents, we are listing businesses for sale Australia wide.

Our team are qualified, licenced, and experienced business brokers and advisors with experience running their own successful businesses. Our brokers often attend professional courses and conferences. We are well versed in the many regulations and requirements of a business sale. Our warm, engaging personality and eagerness to deliver winwin results ensures sellers and buyers enjoy the business transaction process with us. Most of our clients come from referrals. Our team has the expertise to undertake most business sales engagements.

If you want your business to be SOLD to a business migrants cash buyer, contact us now- LUX Business Sales & Advisory

Lily Small

Director

P. 0427 674 974 E. info@luxbusiness.com.au

www.luxbusiness.com.au

What A Difference A Year Makes:

PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS NOW

Business buyers in 2021 have been more optimistic when searching for and buying businesses than they were in 2020.

In Xcllusive’s 2020 State of Business Sales Market Report, 34.1% of participants who responded to its buyer confidence survey indicated that they were on the sidelines watching and waiting, with 32.6% seeing opportunities in the current “New Normal” environment. By 2021, 42.5% already see opportunities in the current environment while 39.6% are cautious but considering less affected businesses. Only 11.3% remain on the sidelines, signalling buyers’ confident return to actively engaging in the business sales market.

This is further indicated by how keen buyers are now to be on the market for longer than 12 months (55.7%) compared to last year (34.8%). In addition, 49.1% now foresee a reasonably fast recovery compared to last year where half of the survey participants foresaw a slow recovery. Even in the current environment of curtailed economic activity, serious buyers are out there looking for good businesses to buy.

Why Buyers Are Looking

Xcllusive’s 2021 State of Business Sales Market Report shows that buyers’ main consideration in searching for good businesses to buy is still for investment (at 35.8%, up by 4% from 2020). Compared to last year, though, where the second topmost reason given was to change lifestyles (30.3%), this year it’s to expand their current businesses (30.2%) -- again signifying a more gung ho take on the market. buyers last year expected prices to be significantly reduced, only less than half (43.4%) this year expect it to be so, indicating an expectation of increased business values as well as market competition.

In both years, two-thirds (64.1% in 2020, 65.1% in 2021) of buyers indicated that they would be willing to buy a percentage of a good business now with an option to buy when the pandemic situation is resolved later.

What Makes the Difference?

Three possible reasons could be causing the difference in business buyers’ outlook: increased vaccination of the population, government financial aid, and economic prospects.

15, 2021, around 70% of

Australia’s population has already been fully vaccinated, while 6.4% has been partly vaccinated. With close to three-fourths of the population vaccinated, there is an increased likelihood of more health protection for more people, and therefore, increased confidence of opening up the economy as well. When economies open, there is more business activity, so prospects for future increases in business values and returns on investment are looking up. 2. Government financial aid.

There are several Australian government financial assistance programs for businesses in the following industries: accommodation and food services, administration and support services, agriculture, arts and recreation, construction; professional, scientific, and technology services; rental, hiring, and real estate services; tourism, and transport, postal, and warehouse services. Government support range from support payments, fee waivers, and rebates, to funding through loans and outright grants. With government assistance, businesses in these industries are particularly attractive to buyers who are also looking for good businesses that can more easily transition into the “New Normal”.

3. Economic prospects. As of

May 2021, the Australian economy is forecasted to grow by 5.1% in 2021 and 3.4% in 2022, driven by domestic demand, with labor demand strong and consumer confidence high. Rising incomes and declining saving rates will fuel consumption, and unemployment rates will further decline. These, in addition to current low interest rates, support business buyers’ optimism and robustness in looking for good businesses to buy, in preparation for meeting the incoming tides of anticipated prosperous times when they come.

So, if you’re a business owner considering selling your company soon or soon as an exit strategy, now is a good time to learn about the market so you will be prepared when you finally decide to sell your enterprise.

Xclussive Business Sales

P. 02 9817 3331 E. info@xcllusive.com.au

www.xcllusive.com.au

What You Need To Know About *Stock Image BORDER RESTRICTIONS

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are restrictions on entry and exit from Australia. However, as vaccination rates against COVID-19 increase in Australia, border regulations are changing frequently. Following the significant changes that were introduced on 1 November 2021, regarding who can enter and leave Australia and what quarantine arrangements will be in place, additional changes were introduced on 15 December 2021. As a result, significantly more people will be allowed to enter Australia without a travel exemption. This article will explain the changes to Australian border policy that were introduced on 1 November 2021 and 15 December 2021.

Can I Leave Australia?

The Federal Government has made important changes that apply to all states and territories of Australia.

As of 1 November 2021, fully vaccinated Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens who normally reside in Australia will no longer have to apply for a travel exemption to leave Australia.

Unfortunately, Australian citizens and permanent residents who are unvaccinated must still apply for an exemption to leave the country. The Australian Border Force (ABF) will only exempt unvaccinated outbound travellers if the travel is: • part of the response to the

COVID-19 pandemic, including providing aid; • for your business/employer; • to receive urgent medical treatment unavailable in

Australia; • because you will be outside

Australia for a compelling reason for three months or longer; • on compelling or compassionate grounds; • in the national interest; or • because you are ordinarily resident in a country other than Australia.

As of 15 December 2021, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders will no longer have to apply for an exemption to return or enter Australia. The eligible visa must be granted. If the eligible visa has been applied for but has not yet been granted then they are not an eligible visa holder.

Temporary visa holders who normally reside in Australia who are not eligible visa holders can continue to depart Australia at any time. However, they are required to apply for an exemption to return or re-enter Australia.

Can I Travel to Australia?

The following categories may enter Australia and are exempt from having to request permission to enter: • Australian citizens; • permanent residents of

Australia; • immediate family members of Australian citizens or permanent residents; • New Zealand citizens typically resident in Australia and their immediate family members; • individuals who have been in

New Zealand or Australia for 14 days or more immediately before arrival by air in

Australia; • diplomats accredited to

Australia, including their immediate family members (each member of the family unit must hold a valid subclass 995 visa); • individuals transiting Australia for 72 hours or less; • airline crew members and maritime crew members, including marine pilots; • individuals recruited under the Government approved

Seasonal Worker Program or

Pacific Labour Scheme; • individuals who hold a

Business Innovation and

Investment (subclass 188) visa; • individuals who hold a Temporary Activity (subclass 408) visa in the

‘Post COVID-19 Economic

Recovery Event’ stream and is supported by the

Global Business and Talent

Attraction Taskforce; or

The immediate family members of Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens who usually reside in Australia, refer to:

• spouses; • de facto partners; • dependent children; and • parents/legal guardians of dependent children.

As of 1 November 2021, parents of Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand Citizens who usually reside in Australia are also eligible to travel to Australia. The definition of parents includes:

• biological parents; • legal (including adoptive) parents; • step-parents; and • parents-in-law.

Immediate family members and parents must hold a valid visa, apply for and receive a travel exemption before entering Australia.

Temporary visa holders who do not hold an eligible visa are generally not permitted to enter Australia unless they are individuals in critical sectors or with critical skills, hold an AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) or a Business Travel Card (ABTC). Importantly, temporary visa holders are not eligible for reduced quarantine arrangements should they be granted a travel exemption to enter Australia unless they are an eligible visa holder.

You must note that while the Commonwealth border policies are changing, each state in Australia has their own quarantine and entry requirements. Therefore, check with individual state authorities before attempting to enter.

Steps for Travelling to Australia

Step 1

Step 2

Only fully vaccinated Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible visa holders. Immediate family members or parents may be eligible for reduced quarantine arrangements. However, this is dependent on each state or territory of arrival.

You must hold a valid International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate (Australia) or foreign vaccination certificate.

Step 3

You must complete an Australia Travel Declaration at least 72 hours before your flight.

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

You must undertake a pre-departure PCR COVID-19 test before travelling to Australia.

You must present your vaccination certificate and negative COVID-19 test result to airline staff when you check in for your flight at the airport.

You must conduct post arrival COVID-19 testing requirements as determined by each state.

Key Takeaways

As of 15 December 2021, eligible visa holders have been added to the list of people that can enter or re-enter Australia. The situation is rapidly evolving with new travel corridors announced with certain countries deemed an international travel safe zone. However, not everyone can enter the country, and it is important to be aware of the changing rules. If you intend to travel soon, you should be up to date on the latest border controls and quarantine measures to ensure a smooth exit and entry to Australia. If you have any questions, LegalVision’s immigration lawyers can help. Contact them on 1800 532 904 or fill out the form on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can temporary visa holders enter Australia?

As of 15 December 2021, temporary visa holders who hold an eligible visa are able to enter Australia without an exemption. Other temporary visa holders are generally not able to enter or reenter Australia.

Can parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents enter Australia?

As of 1 November 2021, fully vaccinated parents of Australian citizens are allowed to enter Australia. They must hold a valid visa and apply for an exemption before entering.

Legal Vision

P. 1300 544 755 E. info@legalvision.com.au

legalvision.com.au

Managing Key Stakeholders in a Business Sale HOW A BUSINESS BROKER CAN HELP

Abusiness sale can be a complex process with multiple interested parties, all of whom can play a role in determining the timing and ultimate success of the sale. Whilst recognising the primary importance of the seller and the buyer, the impact of advisors such as lawyers and accountants, and other stakeholders such as franchisors and landlords should not be underestimated. As it is commonly the buyer and seller’s first experience of a business sale transaction it is critical to engage a business broker to manage key stakeholders to maximise the chance of a successful business sale.

Business Buyers

The average business in our experience receives 34 buyer enquiries before the right buyer is found, however it is not uncommon for a business to attract enquiries in the hundreds. The number of enquiries is dependent on the type of business, the quality and reach of the marketing and the asking price. Agreement’ and partake in a phone interview to establish the seriousness of their intent to purchase and the appropriateness of the business for them. Suitable candidates who complete the Confidentiality Agreement should receive a detailed Prospectus or Information Memorandum which will provide highlights of key performance metrics e.g., recent profit and loss reports, critical contracts e.g., leases or franchise agreements and current staffing levels.

request clarification of information in the Prospectus and more detailed financial or operational information. A business broker is well placed to know when to provide appropriate information e.g., detailed customer information is usually not disclosed until after exchange of contracts.

In addition to handling incoming buyer enquiries, better brokers also discretely approach potential buyers that they believe may be interested in purchasing. With a thorough understanding of the buyer’s situation, a broker can confidently communicate the relevant benefits of acquiring the business.

Buyers are expecting guidance through the sale process by a skillful business broker. The broker can call on their past experience to inform the buyer of the normal timing for information provision and assist them in interpreting data. A key step in this process is arranging an initial inspection, where the buyer will view the facility and importantly engage with the existing owner to gain a deeper understanding of the current position of the business.

Once a buyer determines that they would like to move forward the broker can extract an offer and work with the buyer and seller to negotiate an acceptable price and the conditions of sale.

Business Sellers

From the initial contact from a business owner considering selling, a business broker is well placed to help all owners understand the selling process and the important role they play. The first part of this is the Business Appraisal, which will help owners set an appropriate asking price.

Prior to listing the business for sale, the broker will consult in depth with the business owner to prepare a prospectus and develop a marketing plan to ensure the right potential buyers know the business is for sale. Additionally, the broker should provide feedback regarding your marketing plan and its activity, the level of enquiry, the profile of any prospects and the progress of your sale.

The owners have an important role through the sale process in ensuring timely provision of information and open and honest discussions about the business and its future opportunities.

Once an offer has been accepted, the business broker will continue working with the buyer and seller on the finer points of the agreement. Often an objective view is critical to ensure both parties remain focused on a successful outcome and are not overly distracted by minor obstacles.

Trusted Advisors

Accountants, lawyers, and business financers prefer dealing with a skilled business broker who is working on the owner’s behalf. The broker should co-ordinate the financial and legal information flows to and from the advisors. This allows the business owner to concentrate on maintaining the smooth operation of their business.

Occasionally advisors do not have specific business sales experience, e.g., a buyer or seller’s lawyer may be a long-term trusted advisor on property or family matters but has not frequently been involved in business sales transactions. In these cases, a broker can provide advice on standard business sales procedures to encourage a successful outcome.

Franchisors & Licensors

Franchisors & Licensors have a vested interest in ensuring potential buyers will be able to continue running the business in line with the requirements of the franchise. A business broker can work with the franchisor to incorporate these requirements into the campaign marketing and initial questions for potential buyers.

Landlords

A lease is generally a critical component of a business sale which makes the landlord a key stakeholder. The business broker can identify potential areas of concern in a lease which may need to be further investigated by the seller’s lawyer prior to a sale or acted upon after consultation with the landlord e.g., ensuring a lease option has been taken up.

The broker will identify the right time to introduce a potential buyer to a landlord and work with legal advisors to start the lease transfer process.

In summary, a business broker is best placed to work in an objective way with all stakeholders in the business sales process. Engaging a dedicated, experienced business broker will give a business the best chance of a smooth and successful sale, whilst allowing business owners to remain focused on running their business.

Justin Bunt

Business Sales Consultant

P. 0411 544 598 E. business@mmj.com.au

www.mmj.com.au

What Is A Professional Online Identity And Why Is It Important?

Blinq is the world’s top-rated digital business card provider, providing individuals and businesses with ways to share their professional identity with anyone, wherever they go. But what is a professional identity and why is it important?

A professional identity is a way to showcase your; skills, expertise, beliefs, values and experiences. When considering the different and often disparate ways we share who we are online, it’s important to have a single place where people can highlight their professional identity and share who they are, what they do and what they care about with others. A digital business card is a great place to start!

Business owners and brokers tell us they love using Blinq, the most common question business owners ask us is “can I download my card’s QR code?” The good news is, yes, you absolutely can download your unique QR and add it wherever you like. We’ve seen users add their QR codes to billboards, brochures, their websites and more. It’s a great way to help grow your network and make sure contacts have your most up to date information.

While the pandemic has served as a catalyst for widespread adoption of QR codes their usage has been growing since Apple and Google decided to build them into their products. We’re really happy more people know how to scan and use this great technology for themselves.

The benefits of SaaS

The growth of SaaS adoption has been accelerated by the pandemic, but this was a trend we were seeing beforehand as well. Importantly the number of organisations using at least one SaaS product continues to expand and as these products continue to innovate, their pull for businesses will also continue to grow.

Aside from the benefits of recurring revenue we see the biggest benefit of being a SaaS business in our abilities to be flexible to customer needs and to provide regular updates to our product, providing features that add value for our users. Speaking to customers and adding their suggested features to our roadmap is a really exciting feeling.

If you’re thinking about starting or buying a SaaS company, do your research, start with your friends and family. Share the product or product idea with them, get their honest feedback, would they use it? What do they like/not like about it? And would they be prepared to pay for it? From this you’ll get a decent idea of where your potential product-market fit could be (or not be as might be the case!)

Looking forward to 2022

When it comes to networking, important face to face meetings, conferences and networking events are back on the agenda. However, now more than ever brokers need contactless ways to share their professional identity. At the same time when brokers can’t attend meetings and events in person, they will still be able to share their card using Blinq virtual backgrounds for video conferencing programs like Zoom and MS Teams.

As a team, we paid close attention to the trends at CES2022 and saw a couple of things emerge. I’m expecting to see more successful businesses emerge in the EV and autonomous automotive sector, the remote and personal healthcare industry and the continued growth of auxiliary businesses supporting greater business sustainability efforts.

Networking tips for 2022

Turn up!

It’s been so long since we’ve had the opportunity for face-toface networking and we need to embrace every opportunity to get back out there.

Be Tactical.

During breaks at events, don’t succumb to the temptation to bow your head and check your phone. Turn to the person next to you and ask them what they’re doing for lunch or if they’d like to grab a coffee. These moments are the perfect time to strike up a conversation and if you provoke them, more than likely the other person will follow your lead (plus they know there’s a time limit on how long you can both talk for!).

Matt Strutte

Head of Growth

M. 0448 109 164 E. matt.strutte@blinq.me

blinq.me

7 Ways to Support Your Employees

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Keeping your employees happy and ensuring they feel supported to grow in the organisation is essential to the success of your company.

Employee retention, productivity and your company’s reputation can hang in the balance. Any CFO worth their salt knows that if you are not keeping employees happy, you will lose them. Likewise, if an employee is not feeling appreciated or challenged by their role, they will become complacent resulting in a loss of productivity and general morale.

This discontent can spread through the company, ravaging a once healthy work culture, and breeding a general dislike of and disenfranchisement with the company.

That is why it’s essential to support your employee’s growth and create an environment where they can thrive. Try these seven ways to support your employee’s professional development. • Recognition • Constructive feedback • Adapt your management style their learning style • Try an LMS • Organise a mentoring program • Make space their upskilling • Taylor the role to the employee not the other way around

Recognition

Everyone needs to feel that their work is appreciated, and your employees are no exception. Say you have a motivated, hardworking employee who stays late and comes in early going above and beyond to get the job done.

If you are not acknowledging the extra work that employee is putting in, they will stop going the extra mile very quickly. The employee is going to start to feel as though they’re being taken advantage of, as if no-one appreciates the extra effort they put in and they are going to start to wonder why they do it at all. This can lead them to looking for another more fulfilling role or just becoming complacent.

A simple thank you, or an email acknowledging the extra work they have done, offering a day in lieu if you know they’ve done a lot of extra hours or praising their work in the company newsletter can really go a long way to shifting their perception on the situation. From ‘I’m being taken advantage of by the company’ to ‘I do important work that makes a difference to the company, and I am appreciated for it.’

Constructive Feedback

Similarly, if you have an employee working hard and they’re just not quite getting the job done the way they need to, providing constructive feedback can make all the difference.

Constructive feedback can be difficult to navigate while maintaining an employee’s morale. If given incorrectly you can demotivate an employee rather motivate them.

Try the sandwich approach. This is a technique where you sandwich the piece of constructive feedback between two positive performance notes you want to give. This helps the employee to feel as though they are not doing everything wrong but just have something to work on.

And remember to keep constructive feedback constructive. By that we mean provide actionable feedback that will improve their performance. Be clear about what can be improved and if applicable offer resources to help your employee learn. Constructive feedback coupled with access to additional mentoring or learning resources will help them feel supported to succeed.

Adapt Your Management Style

You should be adapting your management style to your individual employee’s learning style. If you have an employee who is a visual learner, you’re not going to get through to them with lengthy documents about a project. However, graphs and a visual presentation might help them to understand what the project goals and plans are.

Obviously, this isn’t something you can do all the time but when dealing with specific employees and training them, it can be helpful to adapt your style. This will ensure that your employee gets the most from your meetings and training sessions and feels individually supported.

Try An LMS

A LMS or a Learning Management System can be a real game changer for your company’s professional development program. These systems can be installed software or web-based applications and they can be used to monitor and track learnings for your staff.

It can take the pressure off your HR department by automating some of the administration and data entry involved. It gives your employees the ability to take responsibility for their study and complete it in their own time frames. You can learn more about different LMS systems here.

Organise A Mentoring Program

It can be in house, or you can set an employee up with an external mentorship program but encouraging employees to engage in mentoring programs shows you are invested in their future and their professional growth.

Mentorship programs have a number of benefits for your company and your employees.

They help employees to gain confidence, and refine their career path, while providing a helpful outsider perspective to their dayto-day operations.

Mentoring staff can be great for your higher-level employees as well. It helps to build and refine their leadership skills; it can build out their professional network and elevate their professional standing in the industry.

Make Space For Their Upskilling

It’s not much use telling employees you want them to grow in the company and pursue professional development and then not giving them the time and space to do that.

Facilitate your employee’s professional development programs by offering them allotted time each month for PD. Open a dialogue with them and ask them directly what they need to complete their professional development activities and work with them to set them up to succeed. Employers should place great importance on their employees learning and development.

Tailor The Role To Employee, Not The Employee To The Role

Your people are your most valuable assets. They make or break your business. So, cultivate employees that love to work with the company, that are passionate about the work you all do and want to do better every time.

Treat your employees as people. Talk to them about their hopes and dreams, their passions and plans and find a way to make their role more rewarding for them. If they are passionate about data analysis and currently work in administration, help them to achieve their career goals by organising professional development courses in data analysis and giving them more data related tasks in their role.

Your employees are going to give 110% if you offer them the chance to do work that they find meaningful and that supports their overall career goals.

Brooke Shellback

Marketing and Communications Manager

Visa Changes To Support The Reopening Of Australia And Our Economic Recovery

The Morrison Government is making it easier for highly skilled migrants to remain in Australia and to continue working in critical sectors as Australia’s economic recovery continues.

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke said these measures recognise the contribution of skilled migrants who remained here during the COVID-19 pandemic and encourage them to stay in Australia.

“Eligible skilled workers, already in Australia, will continue to support local businesses facing critical shortages, particularly in health, hospitality and our regions,” Minister Hawke said.

“This recognises the economic value-add of these critical workers, and retaining them will greatly assist in Australia’s economic recovery.”

“The changes complement the Government’s recent announcement that fully vaccinated eligible temporary and provisional visa holders may enter Australia without a travel exemption from 1 December 2021,” he said.

These visa changes will improve access to permanent residence for:

• Existing Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa holders in the short-term stream • Legacy Temporary Work Skilled (subclass 457) visa holders who no longer meet the age requirement.

“This is a special concession recognising those highly skilled migrant workers who chose to stay in Australia throughout the pandemic, while continuing to address Australia’s acute shortages. This allows them to stay here, with a pathway to Australian citizenship,” Minister Hawke said.

“There are currently about 20,000 primary Temporary Skill Shortage and 457 visa holders in Australia who may benefit from these arrangements. Most of these workers are employed in the highestskilled occupations and the largest cohorts of workers benefiting from these changes include those currently employed in the health and hospitality industries, including many workers in regional Australia,” Minister Hawke said.

The Government will also extend visas for skilled regional (provisional visa) holders (subclass 489,

The Hon Alex Hawke MP

491 and 494) in recognition that this cohort has been adversely affected by COVID-19 related travel restrictions. “Current and expired skilled regional provisional visas will be extended, providing additional time to meet regional work requirements for permanent residence,” Minister Hawke said. “There are currently around 9,000 skilled regional provisional visa holders overseas. These visa holders can enter Australia from 1 December 2021, and they will also be eligible for an extension of their visa,” he said.

In recognition of ongoing border arrangements, the Government will also extend by a further six-months Visa Application Charge waivers for new Visitor visa applicants overseas where their visa expired, or will expire, between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2022. “This measure will support the tourism industry by welcoming back visitors once it is safe to do so,” Minister Hawke said.

The Government has announced further measures to support the return of international students and graduates, bolstering the international education industry by:

Allowing Temporary Graduate visa holders, who have been unable to travel to Australia as a result of COVID-19 international border restrictions, to apply for a replacement visa;

• Increasing the length of stay on Temporary

Graduate visas in the Masters by Coursework and Vocation Education and Training (VET) streams; • Simplifying the requirements for Temporary

Graduate visa applicants for VET sector graduates; and • Extending the existing measure for student and temporary graduates to recognise time spent offshore studying online to count towards qualifying for a Temporary Graduate visa application.

These changes are consistent with the National Plan to safely reopen Australia and follow earlier changes which have seen us welcome home fully vaccinated Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members.

For more information please visit the Department of Home Affairs website.

Royal Stacks Expands Its Kingdom

Monday, 13 December 2022: Royal Stacks has announced plans to expand its kingdom, now offering its innovative burger restaurant as a franchise model for Victorian based owner-operators. Franchisees will have the opportunity to own a Royal Stacks restaurant, immerse themselves in the brand culture and benefit from comprehensive education and training programs.

Despite continual Covid setbacks, Royal Stacks has seen exponential growth and will open four new locations in the next four months doubling its restaurants to eight, and significantly increasing its footprint over the next two years.

Royal Stacks Founder, Dani Zeini said gradual and considered growth is important in retaining the distinctive burger culture and character of the brand that he and his team have worked tirelessly to achieve.

“The plan is not to be the most franchised, but to service the franchise well. Franchising the restaurant gives others the opportunity to build their own kingdom and we have taken our time to ensure that every piece of the project is world-class,” says Dani Zeini.

To ensure a smooth transition into business ownership and running a restaurant the Royal Stacks way, a bespoke training program has been created including a four to six weeks in-restaurant experience and ongoing head office support.

Speaking to the growth of the franchise model, Dani Zeini says, “This is all about sharing success with people, providing others with an interest in our brand to build something of their own. Royal Stacks is a family at the end of day, I want to make people happy and this is the perfect opportunity to do so.“

“This is only the beginning for our Royal Kingdom. We are so looking forward to having franchise partners on board and are 100 percent committed to supporting our franchise partners every step of the way, sharing our innovative ideas and unique concepts in many more places,” he concluded.

With plans to expand nationally in the second year, the franchise business predicts it will add over 200 to its workforce across its new locations, meaning the total business employs 300. Along with the fan-favourite menu, each Royal Stacks venue has a unique design element, currently ranging from a state of the art podcast booth to a vintage Flavour Shot machine.

With a reasonable buy-in of $350,000 which covers the store fit-out, kitchen equipment, capital and the franchisee fee, Royal Stacks predicts a return on investment for partners within two and a half years, with six percent royalty and a one percent marketing fee back to Headquarters. The burger empire hopes to stand out in the franchising industry by offering a transparent and collaborative business model.

Enlisting DC Strategy to launch the franchise model, Founder and Chairman of DC Strategy Group, Rod Young sees growth in the burger restaurant category.

“Royal Stacks is a well-established brand which sees community and culture at its forefront. We see great potential for further growth through the franchise model and we look forward to seeing its presence nationwide soar,” says Mr Young.

Founder, Dani Zeini has transformed Melbourne’s burger culture which all began with a secret burger menu at Dandenong Pavilion, followed by the opening of Grand Trailer Park Taverna and Truck Stop Deluxe. Not long after, in 2016, Royal Stacks was born. The burger empire presents a unique take on classic fast-food Australians have enjoyed for years.

For more information on how to become a franchise partner via Royal Stacks.

DC STRATEGY

P. 1300 993 624 E. lana.willard@dcstrategy.com

dcstrategy.com

Founded by Rod Young in 1983, the Australian end-to-end consulting, legal, recruitment and brand and marketing firm was created to assist entrepreneurs from start-ups and SMEs to NGOs, government bodies and large corporates to develop sustainable franchise networks.

My Cabin Mate Introduces Flexible Cabin-Rental Business Opportunity

Australia and most of the world today are increasingly adopting the following trends:

• Work from home • A separate home-office space • The ability to operate a business without commercial and retail costs • The growing short stay vacation industry (Airbnb) • and the luxury of exploring the outback in the comfort of tiny homes and portable cabins.

My Cabin Mate has partnered with DC Strategy to set in motion its plan to expand around select Queensland neighbourhoods and further key cities around Australia.

Australia’s leading long-term cabin provider evolved out of a need to service the portable cabin, tiny home and home-office space sector. Made to be an affordable way for people to extend and expand their space to live and work out of without the hefty expenses of relocating or renting an expensive office space. With the rise of Airbnb and other platforms offering lucrative short term stays, My Cabin Mate has helped people grow new revenue streams as the market booms by means of cabin hires. While also supplying cabins for the expansion of office space, portable homes, granny flats and a space for aspiring entrepreneurs to be able to operate their business with far lower expenses. The goal - as ever - is to make it affordable to combine living and work spaces, without the fuss of council consents or commitments to permanent structure.

Gavin Aiken, the founder of My Cabin Mate has been in business for over 30 years’ operating successful businesses ranging from transport, earthmoving, and the construction industry. He saw a gap in the market not serviced effectively which was placing portable cabins on residential addresses providing extra space to accommodate a growing family or a work from home business.

Without the fuss of council consents or commitments to permanent structure, the cabins are set up and removed within an hour in most cases. “All of our exceptional cabins come hassle free, they are very easy to deliver, and once our team has installed it for you, there is nothing left to do but enjoy your new space.” said Gavin Aiken.

“Our world-class cabins are hand crafted and built from the highest quality materials that money can buy”. Every single cabin is fully insulated and elevated with high quality wooden flooring and curtains which create a welcoming space for you and your guests.

Key Benefits of franchising with My Cabin Mate range from full marketing and training support, and working out of the comfort of your own home whilst owning multiple sites if desired.

My Cabin Mate has obtained a central platform where franchise partners will have access to videos and training manuals, making it an attractive business opportunity with simple systems and processes.

New franchise partners will benefit from customers who are actively placing orders directly off the website, ensuring continued growth and loyalty through their ongoing marketing campaigns both online and off. Compulsory business hours don’t exist and living a balanced life is important.

My Cabin Mate offers the benefit of multiple site ownership. As a franchisee, you’ll have the first right to refusal and the opportunity to expand into neighbouring territories. This is a truly unique aspect within the My Cabin Mate franchise model and could lead to exponential growth. With a business model as simple as booking in rental cabins, delivering them to clients, collecting and maintaining the cabins, and proactively repeat; why would you not own and operate a My Cabin Mate site from home?

My Cabin Mate is searching for owners to successfully launch and grow its franchise business network across Australia by means of a tried and tested business model obtaining a low entry costs.

DC STRATEGY

P. 0435 168 575 E. nadia.evans@dcstrategy.com

dcstrategy.com

Founded by Rod Young in 1983, the Australian end-to-end consulting, legal, recruitment and brand and marketing firm was created to assist entrepreneurs from start-ups and SMEs to NGOs, government bodies and large corporates to develop sustainable franchise networks.