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ISSUE 44 / APRIL 2014
FRANKSTON / MORNINGTON PENINSULA / DANDENONG
TONY MURRELL KEITH PLATT MARG HARRISON DAVID HILET MELANIE LARKE SIMON BROWN Design MARLON PLATT
Publisher / Director Editorial Director Sales Director Managing Director Material production / Prepress
Inside
Departments
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BOOTING UP: Billi Blues owners make their mark on vintage boots.
News Busy Bites Networking gallery Business Directory
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TELSTRA WINS: Mornington shop picks up national awards.
Columns Networking: Ivan Misner 10 Social Media: Jessica Humphreys 16 Excel: Neal Blackwood 17 Health: Mike Ellis 18 Markets: Richard Campbell 19 Managing: Hamish Petrie 22
A report shows how valuers arrived at a price for South East Water’s Kananook Creek site: PAGE 5
Email: General: inquiries@businesstimes.net.au Editorial: news@businesstimes.net.au Advertising: sales@businesstimes.net.au Artwork: production@businesstimes.net.au
BusinessTimes is published 11 times a year by BusinessTimes Pty Ltd and printed by Galaxy Print & Design, 76 Reid Parade, Hastings, Victoria 3915. Postal: PO Box 428, Hastings, Victoria 3915 Tel. 03 5979 3927 Fax. 03 5979 7944
Make sure every business knows your business. For advertising, contact Marg Harrison on 0414 773 153 or marg@businesstimes.net.au april 2014
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COVER: Nurse and midwife midwife Louise Louise Thomson has built a job agency in the business of care. PAGE 12
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2 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
Potential Rural Subdivision For Sale by Expression of Interest closing Friday 2nd May
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February 2013 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | BusinessTimes | 3
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Elevated parcel of approx 18.5ha (47.5 Acres) with excellent sea views from many potential building sites capable of further subdivision into 2ha lots (S.T.C.A.) Situated on the first ridge line inland from Hastings, this property has 2 potential access points and is almost completely cleared. Mains water is available and there are appropriate easements for outfall drainage.
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“It’s about placing your brand in consumers hands – business analytics, brand genesis, campaign development, communications, social media, business development, sponsorship acquisition and management and event creation and production. The second company, POStek, specialising in point-of-sale marketing technologies, has launched VIPER - the virtual interactive person. VIPER is a two dimensional hologram that instantly engages your customer, providing information that improves customer experience and drives sales.
Fraser Bayne
Former general manager of commercial marketing and racing at Melbourne Racing Club and Mornington Racing Club CEO Fraser Bayne has now set out on his own with two new companies: fraser bayne marketing and events (fbme) “helps small to medium sized businesses ensure that they realise their sales, marketing and event objectives”.
I dreamed of being … the next Jerry McGuire. My first paid job was … teaching gymnastics at the Hastings Leisure Centre. In 10 years I will be … hopefully playing more golf. Our business planning entails … conducting a SCORE analysis which provides a 360-degree overview of the situation including what we do well, what are competitors do well, where we can improve, where are the opportunities and what
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will inhibit those opportunities. That forms the basis of a detailed strategy document which we use to build action plans against. That strategy document becomes the constant that can be referred to at any given point in time. Tip for success … communication is the key positive and negative. Make sure you keep in constant contact providing relevant information and make sure you do what you say you would do. I am inspired by … my father who built a successful local business from scratch which he operated for over 47 years. Anyone starting a business should … develop an in-depth business plan that contemplates success and possible failure. I’ll know I’m successful when … I have created a business that provides a service that benefits others while maintaining a lifestyle that allows me to spend time with my family. My mother and father always told me…treat everyone as equals and maintain your integrity. I wish I had … known what I do now in my early 20s. I wish I had not … waited so long to start my own business.
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BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
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local government
Lifting lid on SEW’s land buy Documents released under freedom of information legislation are beginning to fill in some of the gaps on how Frankston Council managed to lure South East Water to the bayside city. Greater Dandenong and Kingston councils were also interested in having SEW relocate its headquarters – and 700 staff – to their municipalities. A valuation report previously kept secret by Frankston shows how valuers arrived at a price for the site adjoining Kananook Creek. A further 12 pages of the report to a closed meeting of council have not been released. Council argued against releasing valuation details because they were “highly sensitive” and it was an issue “managed in a confidential manner from the outset”. The report by Hawthorn East-based valuers Patel Dore included details of nine sales in Frankston and four in Dandenong. The valuers said prices varied greatly when
it came to commercial land in Frankston “and surrounding suburbs”, from $784 to $2539 a square metre. Based on previous sales, zoning and location, they said the 3537 square metres being offered to South East Water should be valued at $1100-$1200 a square metre, resulting in an asking price of $3.89 million to $4.24m. None of the sites had sea views. The valuation attributed to the site eventually sold to SEW for $4m was based on the land being subjected to provisions of Frankston planning scheme’s Comprehensive Development Zone – Schedule 2. When approving plans for the new building, Frankston councillors freed up the site, abandoning height restrictions and other restrictive requirements of the zone. Cr Glenn Aitken said council officers gave assurances that abandoning planning requirements would be “a one off”. “Since then we’ve approved an 11-storey
tower around the corner in Nepean Highway and are now looking at structure plans for the central area, including the Kananook Creek precinct.” Cr Aitken feels certain that Frankston ratepayers were short-changed by the $4m paid by SEW for its eight-storey headquarters. “Tell that to the people in the [adjoining five-storey] Landmark building,” he said to the planning overlay’s requirement of “view sharing” and optimising “solar access”. A letter from freedom of information commissioner Lynne Bertolini to the Long Island Residents’ Group details correspondence received from Frankston Council when asked why it wanted the valuer’s report kept secret. From the council responses, it seems the valuer gave his finding verbally and that his report was not tabled at a closed meeting – described by council as a “briefing session” where minutes were not recorded. The commissioner noted that commercial in confidence “is not grounds upon which a meeting may be closed to members of the public”. – Keith Platt
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April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 5
BUSY BITES
changes) are the most popular type of bill, are paid late 19 per cent of the time and are late by about two weeks (13 days). • Bills that are paid late are generally smaller in size than the average bill of that type. • People struggle most to pay for utilities and rates with the longest time to pay when late. • More than 65,000 bills in February were used for the purpose of this study.
Yacht club upgrade
Frankston City Council has formally decided to redevelop Frankston Long Island Yacht Club on the foreshore. Council will issue a notice of decision to grant a planning permit for buildings and works associated with construction of a threestorey building. The building will house the yacht club, a cafe, restaurant/function centre and community facilities. Car parking around the club will be reduced and vegetation removed to make way for the redevelopment.
Arts on The Edge Frankston Arts Centre will launch a new creative online arts network – The Edge – (edgearts.com.au) for artists, designers, performers, musicians, sculptors and arts and culture lovers to connect, share ideas, promote events and showcase their work. Frankston Arts Centre manager Robin Batt said The Edge provides a unique platform for artists of all genres to get in touch with other artists. “The idea for an online network came from the consultation the council had with the arts community during the development of the city’s arts and culture strategy – it was the arts community that suggested it,” Batt said. “The Edge will provide a great platform for artists to connect with each other, be part of a creative online community, and get their talents known.”
support ends for windows xp we’re tardy with bill payments A national financial snapshot of 20,000 Australians during February highlighted how late we pay our bills. The Pocketbook analysis coincided with the introduction of new comprehensive credit reforms designed to “risk adjust” all lending practices in favour of the credit provider. Reforms allow credit providers access to more information about prospective borrowers’ financial situation, including the dates when accounts are opened, the number of accounts people have, their credit limits and their repayment history. The changes mean that people who regularly pay their bills late, or develop a bad credit ‘Reforms allow credit history, could be providers access to negatively impacted more information when applying for about prospective future loans. borrowers...’ Survey highlights Pocketbook February Consumer include: • In January, the Spending Series report. proportion of bills paid late was 12 per cent. In February, that climbed to 17 per cent. • Credit card, personal loan and bank bills (that are going to hit consumers hard with the new
Microsoft will end support for the Windows XP operating system and Office 2003 on 8 April. There’ll be no more software updates, security patches or technical support. Microsoft is therefore encouraging those still using the platform to upgrade to modern versions of Windows and Office. It is estimated more than 1.5 million devices in Australia are still running Windows XP, many of them in smaller businesses. Microsoft is warning users who continue with Windows XP that there may be security threats and data protection issues. After 8 April Microsoft will offer no online or telephone technical support. There are many businesses running programs on unsupported software/operating systems without apparent problems. And many will continue using Windows XP either because they are unaware that support has ended or for cost reasons. A few simple precautions for XP users may include ensuring all drivers and virus software is up to date; switching to browsers that are still updatable, such as Chrome or Firefox; or simply unplugging your computer from the internet. All current security patches will still be downloadable from Microsoft’s website. Any businesses still running XP should at least talk to an IT expert about the ramifications for their operation because upgraded software could mean you need to upgrade hardware, like servers and computers.
ss regularly share busine e W . ok bo ce Fa on esAU Follow us ok.com/BusinessTim bo ce fa w. w w s: tip d stories, events an are you would like us to sh If you have something times.net.au act us marg@business nt co se ea pl ok bo ce on Fa g). ; 0414 773 153 (Mar Call us on 5979 7744
6 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
Changes in technology, a global economy and new business paradigms that encourage open innovation and community collaboration are seeing us move away from a focus on control to capturing value from knowledge outside the company. According to Scott Chamberlain, CEO of Chamberlains Law Firm, these new business models use collaboration in innovative ways that can help businesses reduce their expenses and innovate faster. “In a competitive marketplace companies need to think differently about how to compete and remain profitable,” Chamberlain said. “We’re seeing new business models built around crowdsourcing, peer production and collective invention. “However, companies still need to be clear on the impact these collaborative paradigms ‘It is crucial to be have on creating and clear about who owns protecting intellectual the outcomes of property (IP).” collaborative processes’ He covers three issues that should Scott Chamberlain CEO of Chamberlains Law Firm be considered when setting the strategic direction of any company looking at exploring collaborative paradigms. 1. Who owns what? It is crucial to be clear about who owns the outcomes of collaborative processes because the default legal position can cause enormous problems. For example, discussion of ideas may constitute publication and compromise future patents. Further, copyright is owned by the author, so it is possible for collaboration to result in multiple people owning the copyrights, each of whom has an effective right of veto over how those rights will be used or exploited. This is a common problem with independent films and games. It can cripple projects and destroy value.
2. Who is what? It is important to nail down the nature of the collaborative arrangement. Without clarity you may find yourself in unwanted and burdensome legal relationships. For example, a collaboration may be an unincorporated joint venture where people retain their own separate identity, are responsible for their own expenses, and share in outputs not profit. But collaboration may become a partnership with all partners being jointly and several liable for expenses. Wrongly structured, it is quite possible for a collaboration to result in you being liable for someone else’s unpaid bills. 3. Who can know what? Smart businesses ensure that everyone in the organisation, employees and contractors, understand what must be shared, what may be shared or what may never be shared with a collaborative partner. Putting in place confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements (NDA) does not have to be an expensive affair. According to Chamberlain there are a number of online legal document portals where you can purchase confidentiality agreements or NDAs. However, he stresses that many online publishers provide “dead” templates for which they accept no responsibility. You should insist on “live” online documents accompanied by a statement of legal advice. 4. Protecting the other users For businesses that utilise competition platforms whereby users submit an idea or design with the possibility of winning a prize, issues around plagiarism and violation of IP are a potential problem. Having a clear copyright policy, user agreement, code of conduct or terms of service are all proactive steps to discourage infringements. While there are issues to be aware of when it comes to managing IP in a new collaborative economy, excluding these new paradigms can mean missed opportunities, especially around the benefits of scale and diversity, Chamberlain said.
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Business expo Your Time Matters founder Kerryn Powell is planning an expo to bring business owners together with industry leaders, experts and exhibitors. The 3 June Successful Business Matters expo will be held at Woodlands Golf Club, Mordialloc. Powell said that out of concern about challenges business owners face, she was opening her network to owners wanting to find the solutions that will boost their operations. “The expo will link owners to experts who can provide insights about achieving success and allowing these owners to get the information they need one place,” Powell said “The expo creates the opportunity for business owners to discover products and services, build their network, and attend a range of thought-provoking presentations and information sessions with something for business owners big and small. Details: Successful Business Matters Expo Tuesday, 3 June from 3pm to 8.30pm, at Woodlands Golf Club, White St, Mordialloc, Tickets: yourtimematters.com.au/
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April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | BusinessTimes | 7
NETWORKING gallery
1. Frankston Wine and Food Society held its fourth lunch at The Rocks Mornington on Wednesday, 5 March. Pictured are archaeologist and film producer Peter Jupp with Lisa Hemmingway, of the Ranelagh Club. 2. Rob and Dianne Thurley .
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3. Jill Gordon and Faye Wickes. 4. Joe and Karen Russo, of Core Health Centres. 5. Proudly Frankston chairman Alan Wickes, of Thinking People, and Mark Engwerda, of Belmar Real Estate. 6. Ray and Carolyn Warner with Michael Lee, winemaker for Foxeys Hangout. 7. Bloom Networking Hosted an event at Mornington Golf Club on Tuesday 18 March with Jackie Mitchell, of Brandstorm, as the morning presenter who won the audience with her knowledge and humour. She is pictured with Jo Schutt, of Bloom Networking.
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8 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
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8. Julia Symington, of Symphisis, with Yvette Switalski and Bianca New, of New Pursuits.
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9. Frankston Business Network’s monthly get together was hosted by Frankston Dolphins on Wednesday, 19 March. Pictured are Edy Wilfling, of Action Coach (centre) with Bonny Cullen and John Dimos, of The Groove Train, newly opened in Frankston. 10. Mary Ioculano and Jeff Cornock, new owners of Melbourne IT, with Frankston Business Network executive officer Karin Hann. 11. Douglas Spencer-Roy, of Connect East, with Wayde King, of Carr Barnett accountants, and Stan Barnett, former owner of Carr Barnett. 12. The latest in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Breakfast Series was held at Mornington Racing Club on Thursday, 20 March. Pictured are Pitcher Partners’ tax director Greg Howes and manager Daniel Doherty. 13. Guest speaker Sam Kekovich with Frankston councillors Suzette Tayler and Rebekah Spelman. 14. Courtney Lavis, a business development officer with the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation, and Susan Dawson, of Paramedic Services. 15. Ashley Robertson, business development manager of Mornington Racing Club, and Frank Torcasio, of NAB Frankston. 16. Alison Howe, of Frankston Business Network, and Jonathan Reichwald, Frankston City’s business development coordinator. email marg@businesstimes.net.au if you have something to share.
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April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 9
NETWORKING
The secret of balance Many of us tend to reflect on the past and then look forward to what we would like to achieve in the year ahead. It is not uncommon for us to ask ourselves, “how do I create more balance in my life?” Well, I am pleased to tell you that I believe I’ve found the answer to creating balance in your life: Forget about balance, you’ll never have it! However, although I don’t think balance is possible, I do believe you can create harmony in your life. This differentiation is more than semantics; it is a critical approach to looking at life that can free you up to see the world in a different way. Balance assumes that we spend an equal amount of time in all or most areas of our life. It is like the image of the scales where everything is completely in balance and equal. It assumes that we must spend a certain portion of each week devoted in some equal measure to every item important in our life. Well, the problem with that is that almost
Dr lvan Misner*
Networking specialist
no one can really achieve that; especially business professionals, entrepreneurs and sales people. We tend to live such hectic busy lives it is incredibly difficult to fit it all in. Women often tell me that this issue is even a bigger problem for them. So, what do we do about this? For me, it’s about creating harmony. Sometimes I work crazy long hours for several days in a row. Or, I may be on the road travelling for business for many days at a time. On the other hand, I am a husband and a father. I need and want to be there for my family as well as have time for myself. Long ago I figured out that daily balance is almost
impossible, but I found I could create harmony using a few strategies. First, three simple words make a big difference to me: “be here now”. Wherever you are ... be there. If you are at work, don’t be thinking about the time you did not spend with the family the night before, or what you should be doing with you significant other right now. A few years ago I was talking to my teenage son about whether he felt that I was gone too much. I was concerned that he looked at me like I was a little crazy and said, “What? You’re around all the time.” I said, “Not really, I travel almost every other week for business.” He then said, “Yeah, but when you’re here – you’re totally here.” Wherever you are, be fully present in that place. It helps to create harmony – even in an unbalanced schedule. Second, make sure to set aside time to do all the things that are truly important in your life. I know, everyone says that but here’s my twist. Be creative about how you manage this. For example, when I wrote
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Bayside office space being taken up A spate of recent deals across Brighton, Hampton and Frankston has given renewed confidence that small to medium officebased businesses are once again prepared to show confidence. Nichols Crowder Moorabbin office reports that more than 1000sqm of office space has been leased since the start of 2014, including 350sqm at 479 Hampton St, more than 500sqm at 419 Bay St Brighton and a further 400sqm at 19 Carpenter St Brighton. Leasing agents Matt Spicer and James Glen, of Nichols Crowder, report that rents have been done at a range of $280sqm to $320sqm net with lease terms starting from three years. James Glen reported that the recent take up of space in the Brighton office market has seen vacancy levels reduce to their lowest levels
in some time. There is suddenly a shortage of space in this market which is often seen as the best location in Bayside Melbourne, James Glen said. The agents also report that there is an additional 600sqm of space which is currently under offer which is not included in the above figures. It is anticipated that this space will be off the market within the next two weeks, further reducing the amount of available stock. Nichols Crowder Carrum Downs office has seen similar activity in the Frankston/Mornington Peninsula commercial market with 3672m2 of office space leased since January. According to leasing agent Michael Crowder, “rents are hovering around $175psm. We expect this trend to continue.” Nichols Crowder Carrum Downs has been appointed to lease a
brand new 1247m2 office building in the heart of the Frankston CAD. Rents will start from $260psm. This building is expected to be finished in December. Nichols Crowder has taken a proactive approach with the vacancies it has had in the bayside office market. This included working with clients to ensure that their buildings are presented in the best way possible. To ensure this was the case, buildings have been re painted externally, had old style partitioning removed and also some larger tenancies divided to cater to the demand for space up to 350sqm.
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10 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
my first book I didn’t want to be holed up in my office writing in the evening and not be available to my family. So, I decided to find a creative way to find that time that was in harmony with my family time. A few evenings a month, I’d stay up with the family, put everyone to bed and then go into my office and start writing at 11 and work almost all night on my manuscript. I’m a late night person and this worked for me. It may not work for you. However, my point is to be creative and inventive in finding ways you can accomplish what you need to do yet still allow you to spend time doing the other things in your life that bring you harmony. Nothing pleased me more when I showed my eldest daughter the book when it was published and she said to me... “When did you write that?” They had no idea I was up late working several times a month. That was harmony to me. Third, find ways to integrate various elements of your life. For many years, I have spent weeks at a time up at a home in the mountains. Each year I spend a week or
two working remotely from the lake house. Now, I bring up my staff and management team for short retreat/work days. Then, the last week or so, I take off completely and spend the time with the family. By integrating my two worlds – I create a sense of harmony. Remember that when you are 70, you are not going to wish you spent more time at the office. You don’t need to be a workaholic to be successful. Harmony is created where harmony is sought. Focus on creating harmony in your life. Be creative. Most importantly, don’t just try to do the things I do. Find ideas that work for you and the life you live. Make the time and be innovative. Balance may be elusive but harmony is possible. *Dr Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is founder and chairman of Business Networking International (BNI), the world’s largest networking organisation. Dr Misner is also senior partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company.
Retail has rosy future: survey Despite less than inspiring seasonal figures and online shopping, the number of people working in the retail sector is expected to grow 8.9% in the next five years. There are now more than 1.2 million across 140,000 businesses whose future, the Retail workforce study report says, “lies in offering a seamless mix of physical and online shopping channels and customer experiences”. The report by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency in partnership with the Industry Skills Council, Service Skills Australia says retail workers need higher levels of digital literacy, deeper levels of knowledge on products and more sophisticated interpersonal skills. Managers need innovative business models and high-end ICT solutions. The study found that retail is transforming in response to forces like globalisation; new competition; technologies and the growth of online sales; and changing economic conditions and consumer preferences.
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Opt A: 17,674m * $618,590 p.a Opt B: 8,610m * $301,350 p.a Opt C: 9,064m * $317,240 p.a Outgoings borne by the Lessor 6 roller shutter doors Office accommodation Close to freeway 400 cars on site Fully sprinklered 1200 KVA substation on site * Sizes approximate + Gross 2
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Michael Crowder 0408 358 926 1 Colemans Road Carrum Downs 3201
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April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 11 25/02/2014 3:49 pm
COVER STORY
Louise Thomson and a painting by Queensland artist Hazel Mary Cope, who works as a nurse for Thomson’s caompany Caring For You.
12 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
NURSE AND MIDWIFE SEES NICHE IN JOB MARKET
KEITH PLATT TALKS TO LOUISE THOMSON, CREATOR OF ‘CARING FOR YOU’
T
here is little indication from the outside that two unpretentious houses in South Frankston are the head office of a company that has 2500 names on its employment list. But that is the beauty of Caring for You, there is no need for glitz and glamour or an impressive foyer. The people answering to the names on the books carry out their duties at other work places. to home, “so there’s really two degrees of separation [between people] here, not six”. Thomson spent about six months doorknocking for customers having “learned the trade” when setting up her friend’s franchise. Advertisements were placed in local newspapers for nurses wanting part time work. “Basically, I interviewed [prospective] staff and had to find work quickly or I’d lose them,” Thomson says. “I would hit the road, mainly to nursing homes, and try to get an audience with somebody. This didn’t happen overnight. “Those first three to six months were pretty heart rending, with no calls coming through for staff.” It what would be a salutary lesson, when a call did come through for a nurse from an aged care home, Thomson was “so excited I forgot which one it was”. There were two nursing homes in the Chelsea area, but neither admitted to making the booking when Thomson’s nurse presented for work. Undeterred, Thomson “basically got out [on the road] again the next day”. “It took six months to get about 20 shifts a day.” On Sunday nights Thomson would be up to three or the four the following morning doing the payroll. In the first week of business there were three nurses to pay. Now, a decade later, the company has a weekly turnover of about $300,000 and $18 million a year. There are usually 300-400 people on the company’s weekly payroll. All applicants undergo a face-to-face interview before being added to the staff list. These days applicants are also required by law to undergo background checks as well as answering questions that differ little since being devised by Thomson more than a decade ago. Because of the relatively small pool, nurses often cite the same referees when applying to go on the books at Caring for You. 14
s s
Caring for You is an employment agency, supplying part time and permanent staff to hospitals, nursing homes and private homes. Core knowledge could be seen as the central strength of the agency. Louise Thomson’s experience working as a nurse and midwife places her in an ideal position to know what nurses and patients need. The people she provides to clients know that she understands their working environment. Nurturing relationships with nurses and her clients is high on her list of priorities. Being a “nurse-led” agency is a big selling point. “Everything we do is done from a nurse’s perspective: the standard of care we provide, shift allocations, our members’ pay, and the working environment,” Caring for You’s website states. Louise Thomson entered the world of running her own business after establishing a franchise for a friend supplying aged care workers to nursing homes on the peninsula. During that time she saw a niche for nurses to fill in for nurses calling in ill or taking leave – “you can’t do without them”. After a bout with illness the friend “changed tack” and now runs a boat hire business in Vanuatu. “We supply temporary and permanent staff,” she says. “I still sometimes slap myself to see how this happened.” “My background is nursing and the whole purpose of our business is supplying quality staff and great service for our clients and caring for our nurses. “I’ve been a nurse working for agencies that didn’t give a rip for the nurses [they hired out]. “We look after them, they’re the key.” Thomson says the medical employment agency industry is “very competitive” and there were already a couple operating on the peninsula when she decided to enter the field. Nurses living on the peninsula preferred to work close
April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 13
cover story
CARE FACTOR s s
13 To avoid referees becoming being annoyed by regular calls from Caring for You, Thomson “rewards” them with Lotto quick-picks. Caring for You has branched out across Melbourne, south to Geelong and north to Brisbane and the Gold Coast in Queensland, where it is run by business managers. Thomson refers to her husband Steve, a former policeman who has also been a builder and worked in insurance, as “the backbone behind the throne”. “I wanted a little boutique business, but Steve said we could go bigger.” The couple moved to Somers on the peninsula 15 years ago. In those early days Thomson, a nurse and midwife, worked at nearby HMAS Cerberus “taking calls while I was doing the rounds to fill other facilities”. “The income kept us going. We had three young kids and they still remember me taking calls going to and from school. Nothing comes from nothing. I didn’t give up, I was like a dog with a bone.” Although increased life expectancy and Australia’s growing aging population would seem to make providing nurses for medical and aged care centres recession proof, the global financial crisis “really did hit us”, Thomson says. “The aged care industry got crushed, with budgets being tightened and nurse to patient ratios being lessened.” Caring for You gained more customers but, individually, they were hiring fewer nurses. “We had to get tighter and meaner on budgets. But the lessons learnt meant our business now runs better.” Steve Thomson: “We’ve had 30 per cent growth since the GFC, which is above the national average in aged care. But the crisis did see us circle the wagons.” Louise Thomson says things “look a lot shinier” this year, with the change from a Labor to Liberal federal government. “The new government is really helping,” she says, adding that although a Liberal voter “that doesn’t mean they are always right. I’d really prefer a Liberal federal government and a Labor state government because Labor will spend more in the health industry.”
Steve and Louise Thomson in the Frankston South offices of Caring for You. ABOVE: Working on software to streamline the operations of the employment agency.
Without being specific, Thomson says management of the state health system as going through “a horrific time – which is not good for patients”. Caring for You supplies staff to hospitals and aged care centres as well to private homes. Thomson names two high profile clients who have sought her company’s services. The first is Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, “salt of the earth, a tough lady and I can see where the strength comes from in that family”. The second is the mother of selfproclaimed billionaire federal MP Clive Palmer. The original business plan was “to make money”, but Thomson never lost sight of making sure her nurses were right for the job. Thomson grew up at Kingscliff on the New South Wales north coast, working as a nurse at Lismore before following her parents back to Melbourne and a job at St Vincent’s Hospital. She originally wanted to be a social worker or a physiotherapist (“I didn’t quite get the marks”) but after working as a nurse and midwife realised “I was better at managing people and getting things done”. The almost-mandatory 18 months’ backpacking “to see the world” also filled in some of the time before settling into the nursing profession. Steve Thomson runs the IT side of things
14 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
and is working with programmer Sachin Nischal on software that will make it easier for contract nurses to access shifts as well as allowing clients to let Caring for You know their requirements. The software – being written in India – to streamline the day-to-day operations reduces administration and will be marketed to other businesses. “We’ll sell it to other agencies and recruitment companies,” Louise Thomson says. “If it can be used for nursing, it will be good for any business. I still believe a face-to-face interview is best, but applicants are first screened when they fill out our online forms.” The Thomsons appear to have no qualms in facing challenges, but have trouble hiding their disappointment over recently losing a government contract. They have retained part of the long running contract, but are critical of the decision for it to be shared with a company that has yet to recruit staff. “They’ve [the government] asked us to extend our current agreement by 60 days while the new contractor gets ready [to take over],” Louise Thomson says. “There’s always something ready to come and hit you in the face.” But, as in those early days, there is no way the Thomsons won’t be out tomorrow “knocking on doors” and fulfilling requests for nurses.
booting up
Buyers in line for the boot that fits BY KEITH PLATT
Jaye Wearne and Lulu Harris with their latest batch of Billi Blues hand decorated “vintage” cowboy boots.
sales and markets, eventually finding a more plentiful supply in the US. It took about eight months from having the germ of an idea to completing their first batch of 50 pairs. When interviewed by BusinessTimes Wearne and Harris were getting ready to photograph their latest batch of Billie Blues. It was their third batch of 50 pairs and 30 had already been sold.
Previous “collections” were sold online to customers from as far away as the US, Scotland, Thailand and Malaysia, and from the back of their pop-up shop – a van. The boots are also stocked in several shops, Design Space, Chapel St, Windsor (formerly Brunswick St, Fitzroy), Jane Cooper, Frankston and Rosebud and Sabrina Moda, Mornington. A shop in Sydney will probably be the next stockist. At $299 a pair the boots aren’t cheap, but “the shops take whatever we can give them,” Wearne says. Boots sold online are $260 a pair, plus $24.95 freight in Australia and $59.95 overseas. Unlike a traditional shoe store, customers have to like what’s offered – colours, patterns, styles – and hope what they see online comes in their size. “It’s like a Cinderella shoe – if it fits, it’s 21 the one,” Harris says.
s s
No way! Is the immediate response from Lulu Harris and Jaye Wearne to a suggestion that they might need to employ someone to help decorate their boots. The two have a habit of answering in unison and it seems adding the bits and pieces that make their Billi Blues boots so distinctive is the best part of the job. Although, taking a peek at their Facebook page and listening to how their pop-up shop operates gives a good indication that there’s not much of the job they don’t like. Harris and Wearne make and sell one-of-a-kind vintage cowboy boots. In reality, there’s nothing new about the boots: they may be imported but they have been worn before. Vintage is the fashionable and polite way of saying secondhand, although Wearne is comfortable with “pre-loved”. Pieces of material, leather, buttons and buckles are the bits and pieces the two stitch and glue to decorate the boots. Each boot is a work of art. In fact, each one of a pair of boots is a separate work of art to its partner. Harris and Wearne put their creations together in an aging, weatherboard house at Mt Martha. The million dollar views across Port Phillip provide a stunning background for their cottage industry. The pair met at the hairdressers and found a friendship that, through a shared passion for fashion, has developed into a niche business. Wearne is a fashion designer and Harris a youth worker. Both enjoy travelling and envisage a trip to Texas on the horizon, where they can catch up to their boot supplier and decorate a few pairs on the spot. They originally sourced old boots from garage
April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 15
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Do you own a franchise? Thinking of buying a franchise? We understand you have special business needs BNR Partners are part of the Franchise Accountants Network; a national group dedicated to helping both Franchisors and Franchisees. Talk to us about how we can help you: • Assess a franchise opportunity • Set up your business wisely • Improve your financial position Jason Bertalli, Director of BNR Partners and leads the firms’ Business Service and Franchise divisions. Having over 15 years experience as Business Advisor, Jason and his experienced team work closely with businesses across Victoria bringing practical solutions and an easily understood approach to enhance the development and growth of his clients’ businesses.
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franchises: more than just the marketing Franchises usually help with marketing and business operations, but what about the money side of the business? According to Jason Bertalli, of accountants BNR Partners, it is important to carefully consider all the financials, preferably with professional help. Bertalli urges franchisees to think about the financial aspects, before they start and as they go though the business life cycle. “Most people don’t have experience of preparing the type of budgets and cash flows needed. That’s one reason it’s important to get advice from an accountant before you sign a franchise agreement,” Bertalli said. “Once the business has started, questions turn to how to improve profit, how much owners can afford to pay themselves, and planning for tax bills. “A franchisee will need to plan for reinvestment in the business. This must be considered when spending decisions are made. It’s also important to take account of the limited term of franchise agreements. This can have a significant effect on your financial plans. Some people want an accountant who will help them pay the least tax. “However, I think it’s important to consider the big picture”.
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Much of Excel’s power comes from its Neale Blackwood* built-in calculations. Excel’s functions Business software specialist can perform complex calculations that enable you to build dynamic reports that can be customised to suit your needs. Excel’s SUM function is the most commonly used function, but is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of dedicated functions that can handle calculations based on: • Statistics: averages, counting, standard deviations and other statistical calculations • Dates and times: workday calculations, days, month and year • Text manipulations: extracting first and last names, as well as combining text • Conditional summing: summing values based on certain conditions being met • Decision making: include programming-like logic structures that can handle different situations, differently • Data extraction: extract detail or summary data from a data listing • Error handing: functions that handle Excel’s error messages. You can create formula-based reports in Excel that work with imported external data that will automatically update as soon as the file is opened. Thus, you can create daily, weekly or monthly reports and charts that automatically update. When building reports you need to incorporate validations into the file to ensure that the reports are accurate. Excel has many functions to enable those validations.
April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 17
HEALTH
The stories we tell My best memory of that limbo year of secondary school, Year 9 – in my time they called it Form 3 – is sitting in a sultry classroom waiting for a new history teacher (a Mr Robinson our timetables said) and cursing our misfortune at having drawn such a tedious subject on the first day back. Why couldn’t we be at PE? After all, how many 14-year-old boys are interested in history – dates, battles, fleets, prime ministers, treaties … yawn ... where was I? Sorry, I’ll try to concentrate. Late due to his unfamiliarity with the school, the young teacher eventually strode into this class of fidgety, underwhelmed adolescents. He advanced directly to the blackboard while cracking open a box of chalk, and after plucking out a fresh white piece wrote this in big, squeaky letters: “What is history?” Blank looks all round. Bloody hell it’s hot in here. What is he asking for – some intellectual definition of history? Thirty-two students studiously avoided his expectant eye. He addressed us for the first time. “What is history?” he said. “Come on, what is it?” A few smart-arse murmurs began … “aren’t you meant to tell us?” … “the most boring subject on the curriculum” ... “facts from the past”. He seized on that one. “Facts. Is that right? Is that what history is?” Murmurs that might be interpreted as assent. “Whose facts?” he continued. A smarty piped up: “The ones in the history books?” “Oh, so there is an official history? Who writes that then?” “Um … the historians?” “Right, and what are they telling?” Now we’re on a roll: “… the story of what happened?” “Yes!” declared Mr Robinson triumphantly. “The historian is telling a story. And that is your answer. History is a series of stories and nothing more. What we accept as historical fact depends on who is telling that story. Generally, on the big matters of history, the victors tell the stories. The winners write the history. Do you understand?” Erm ... sort of. “But aren’t there agreed facts? The Magna Carta was signed in 1066, wasn’t it? That’s history and not in dispute.”
Michael Ellis*
Chinese Herbalist
You are, in effect, creating something new every time. So in illnesses characterised by memory loss, like dementia, it’s not so much a loss of the archives but a deterioration of the brain’s ability to function – to re-create its memories in any meaningful way. And, as psychiatry and the legal system has come to understand, memories can easily be coloured by other factors as time goes by – such as, for example, how you came to feel about the events, or those people involved in them, or what you learned subsequently
‘Mostly, history is propaganda.’ “Yes, but the story of how it came to be signed depends upon who is telling it, don’t you see? A history is just one person’s – or one group’s – interpretation of the politics, the battles and the settlements of the time. Mostly, history is propaganda.” “Propaganda? But …” That’s about all I recall of the class (and Form 3 for that matter) but my memory was jogged recently when reading some research about the brain. Because everything we think about how our memories work turns out to be mistaken. Most of us have the quaint impression that our brains are like vast storage vaults into which everything our senses experience is filed away just waiting for the right circumstances to be retrieved. It’s all in there – somewhere. If only we were lucky enough to have a “photographic” memory, or one like an elephant, we would never forget a birthday. But those archives get dusty and neglected by disuse, so they fade in detail and intensity to the point that they are irretrievable. But in reality our brain is not like some complex computer filing system at all. Studies of the brain show that when you retrieve a memory you actually re-create it.
18 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
from other people’s stories. If on re-telling a story you have reason to emphasise one aspect of that memory (say, the pain of it), that aspect tends to become more “real” in retrospect. Even a lie repeated a few times becomes indistinguishable from the “truth” over time as you continue to re-create your story. This, of course, makes everyone’s memories inherently unreliable. (And is a stake to the heart of most “talk” therapies.) The famous exercise involving eyewitnesses to an accident who produce wildly differing versions of events is the classic example of this phenomenon. So in the end, all we have of the past are our stories. My stories and your stories. Official histories and unofficial ones. Of course, everyone’s history is different – unique. A few years ago I bumped into Mr Robinson at a social event and mentioned my appreciation of his history lesson. He gave a wry smile at the compliment then looked sheepish. “I don’t remember that at all,” he said. *Michael Ellis is a registered Chinese herbalist in Mt Eliza. Visit www.mtelizaherbal.com
MARKETS
Cramming another billion people into the world’s cities is a big ask of our resources, our engineers and, for that matter, our daily tolerance of each other. Sprawling urban clusters like Mumbai, Lagos and the ever spreading Sao Paulo and Mexico City are making increasing demands on strained and ageing water, sewer and power systems. Invariably, cities find the cost of modern infrastructure prohibitive. One solution is solar. Once installed it is free in perpetuity, but it is – literally – a half-baked idea. The sun often shines where populations are largest, but new electric cities require power day and night. This means engineers have to double up with coal driving base load power both day and at night. Solar is often an extra, a mere veneer: no use at dawn, dusk or when cloud is thick. Land cost is another issue. Low cost desert acreage may be fine for the big power utilities of California and Texas (Houston has a 50% renewables target) but costly when food acres are precious. In India’s Gujarat State some bright sparks got around the land problem by placing solar panels across irrigation channels. This had a triple benefit. It didn’t waste land; it cut evaporation by 80% and its energy conversion lifted as the cool water allowed the panels to work at rated efficiency. Beyond 43C solar efficiency falls by 10 to 15%. Excellent, but the sun goes down in Gujarat, too. If solar could be 24-hour power, the economics would be very different, but up until the past three to four years there hasn’t been much progress
Richard Campbell* Stock Analyst
beyond the toxic, costly and inflexible lead acid battery. Liquid salt is one solution for storing solar heat, but not efficiently. Heat must be converted to current with loss of energy on the way. Vanadium flow batteries looked promising for a while as they could store kilowatt-hours reliably in banks, but vanadium is expensive and the battery is not economic in smaller units. Still, the concept of storing off-peak power has great appeal for reasons becoming alarmingly clear. Coal fired power is helping Greenland’s ice melt quicker than Andrew Bolt can type a column denouncing climate science. Enter in one corner two thoughtful engineers from Brisbane. To squeeze 15 years of development and $28m of research into a sentence they developed a “flow” battery which works on different principles than lead-acid – a long shelf life, capacity to fully discharge without damage and no corrosion of metal as part of the process. The components are 90% plastic; the unit is about the size of a small freezer, but can be paired or grouped and each one can store 8kwh of energy with a continuous power rating of 3Kw. A house, farm, hospital or small town can run on stored solar power. Applications also include back up for
* Richard Campbell is Executive Director of Peninsula Capital Management, Tel. 9642 0545. rcampbell@peninsulacapitalmanagement.com.au
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Redflow: storing the sun
radio transmission towers and “load levelling”. Strategically located batteries allow a grid to be managed remotely. If an industrial zone needs more power at 8 am, it can have it without cranking up a coal fired power station, calling on hydro or bringing in a burst of gas fired power. A global contract manufacturer will begin high volume production towards the end of the year serving customers like the US Defence Department. The Pentagon accepts climate change and has been told to save money. It plans to cut the power costs of its 1000 homeland and offshore bases by up to 50%. Market research says total demand for energy storage by 2017 will be more than $100 billion a year with flow battery share around 20%. So, the flag is up. It will take a few more months before the race really starts, but Redflow‘s battery is the first of its type to attract serious commercial interest. As the cost is expected to be around 10% of the first prototype, the market looks like extending from the US Air Force bases in Nevada and Diego Garcia to villages in Gujarat. This could be timely for Europe. Germany imports 36% of its gas from Russia but at midday on May 26, 2012, sun happy Germany lifted solar to 40% of demand. Great PR for the Greens, but by five o’clock it was zero as no one had bothered much about storage. But times change. No gas, Mr Putin? Don’t worry, we can store the sun.
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April 2014| Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 19
national telstra recognition
Enthusiasm for the job and a commitment to customer service has paid off big-time for staff at Mornington Telstra Store.
Store licensees Peter and Melinda BennettHullin are “over the moon” after Téa Dale won the 2013 Telstra’s national Manager of the Year award. Four other employees have either won awards or received national recognition for their customer service. Dale was judged best of 39 nominees from Telstra stores across Australia, including many who had been nominated for the second year running. She initially won the Victorian/Tasmanian state award, before going the extra step to take the national award. Peter Bennett-Hullin, said, “This is an outstanding achievement that recognises Téa’s passion for Telstra, her contribution to our
Mornington
tops awards
team, and her ongoing dedication to creating exceptional customer experiences in our Mornington store. “We are all very proud of Téa and everything that she and her team have achieved this year. “We’re really looking forward to see if she can go back-to-back next year.” Bennett-Hullin thanked customers who provided “such wonderful encouraging feedback” over the past year Another national winner was James Young who received the Customer Service Legend award. Young, who now works in the Telstra Store in Bellerive, Tasmania, after moving back there to be with family in December, also was recognised at the Telstra Licensee Association National Awards as the top customer advisor nationally for his efforts in 2013 while part of the team at Mornington. Young’s legend award recognises his highest individual customer satisfaction score nationally. Mornington Telstra dominated the award this year with another staff member, James Buckley, placing third. “I can only say to anyone who doesn’t know what all the fuss is about, walk into our 20 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
ABOVE: Australia’s top Telstra store manager Tea Dale (centre) with Mornington Telstra Store licensees Melinda and Peter Bennett-Hullin. LEFT: James Young, winner of Telstra’s Customer Service Legend award.
Anyone who doesn’t know what all the fuss is about, walk into our Mornington store and experience the customer service for yourself.
’
Mornington store and experience the customer service for yourself,” Bennett-Hullin said. Tom Smith and Anthony Selmo also have been recognised for their outstanding customer service. Selmo scored 19 perfect 10 survey scores from customers while Smith is among the top 10 Telstra consultants nationally after 21 top survey scores from customers in January.
BILLI BLUES
BOOTS TAKE OFF ONLINE s s
15 Boots that form the basis for Billi Blues are sourced from the United States (the third supplier tried was also the most dependable) and with each shipment Wearne and Harris keep their fingers crossed that they will mainly be sizes six to eight. “We’ve sold a lot of 10s and even 11s,” Wearne says. “And we get lots of messages from women looking for even larger sizes.” Promotion comes by word of mouth (“Whenever we wear them in the street we get stopped,” says Wearne), Facebook, Instagram and, once at least, downright good fortune. A pair of Billi Blues was bought online by Allison Cornell - a violinist with Canadian country and western star Shania Twain - who has also spread the word through her own blog and wears them in a music clip. “They became one of the most popular items on her blog,” Wearne says. “We’re
getting contacted constantly, especially from wholesalers in the states, but we can’t keep up.” Despite this popularity and limited production runs, Wearne and Harris are also intent on extending their global social media presence “playing” with Twitter and Tumblr.
When boots were first placed up for sale on their new online store one pair sold within one second, eight pairs in two days. They have a waiting list for sizes and have discovered a market in weddings, where highly decorated, clumpy white boots have become a hit. Going by sales alone, the future of Billi Blues looks anything but blue, but the two partners insist production will be kept to a manageable level. Asked again if they’ll need hired help: “We’re getting quicker all the time and it’s exciting going to op shops and markets to source our decorative materials,” Wearne says. “Hiring others [to do the job] would defeat our purpose, our excitement, our passion,” adds Harris. And of course they’d miss the buzz of selling out of the back of their van. The next pop-up van sale could be coming to spot near you. All you have to do is check www.facebook.com/billiblues
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April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 21
MANAGING
The four foundations Among the myriad issues that a business leader must manage there are four fundamental ones that stand out as being essential to the creation of a sustainable business. Let’s call them the four foundations and they are: values, strategy, customers and people. If you just focus on doing each of these really really well, then your business is virtually assured of success. The very first article that I wrote for BusinessTimes was focussed on organisational values and now, nearly four years later, they are just as fundamental to success as they have ever been. Organisational values are the basic beliefs that shape every individual’s behaviour and every action taken within an organisation should be compatible with its stated values. Particularly in times of stress and uncertainty, well-developed values will guide great decisions. Take some time to review the handful of values that you have chosen for your business and consider if they are still just as important as they were when you first developed them. To help with this, do some research by identifying some businesses that you really admire and then look at their values. Most great companies are proud of their values and make them very evident on their website, so this sort of research should not be difficult. Some interpretation may be needed as companies call them by different names including core values, ethics and code of conduct, but they all carry the same intention. There is often a debate about updating values. Some people argue that they should be written in stone and never changed. Others argue that they should evolve over time and remain in harmony with the company as it evolves. I support this view so it you haven’t reviewed your values for some time, then it may be a good time to do so now. The second foundation is strategy. This encompasses the heart of your business purpose and should explain and dimension your goals for the next three years or more. Everyone in your business should understand your headline strategy and their specific role in supporting it. You should be able to ask everyone in your business to explain how their job connects to the headline strategy and how their work that they are doing now connects to it. No business can exist without
Hamish Petrie*
Business Consultant
supportive customers, so they form the third foundation. Totally embracing your customer experience and building relationships with them helps to assure your business of long-term success. This can be difficult to do in small retail businesses, so you need to use clever methods to find out who your customers are and how to connect them more strongly to your business. This has become easier in recent years with the development of social media technologies where you can build a virtual interface with customers to keep them up to date with your products and services. The critical issue with these technologies is to keep them up to date with interesting information. Stale websites are a fast way to turn off customers’ interest, so work out how often you need to update your information and make sure that someone in your team has clear accountabilities to do it often, even if this is you. Once you can understand your customers’ current behaviour, you can then examine how to enhance the value that you create for them, so that you can build their loyalty over time. The final foundation is your people. While all businesses strive to recruit exceptional and talented people, the reality is that this is very difficult to achieve and sustain over time. These sort of people usually become bored with their work in a relatively short time and will then move on to bigger and better jobs. The leader’s real challenge is to build a culture where average people can collectively achieve well above average results because of their alignment and commitment to the business. Even in large organisations, it is usual to have a normal distribution of people where there are about 10% in the two
22 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | April 2014
tails of high and low performance and about 80% in the middle. The leadership of average people does require some great communication to ensure that the people understand the business, its strategies and goals and their specific job, but the greatest requirement is great feedback. Providing short and long-term feedback on individual performance is critical to success and the business leader who can do this in a constructive coaching style will be assured of success. While these four foundations stand alone as the basis of success, there is one other factor that is common to each of them which cements these foundations in place: implementation. The implementation of each of these foundations requires daily reinforcement by the business leader through their words and actions. When this is well done, there is no doubt that everyone in the organisation will be strongly connected to the business. The real measure of success comes not when the business is running comfortably, but when it is under stress. This stress may come from many sources, including being too successful with too many customer demands, but it is during these times when you can really see if your people will volunteer to put in the extra effort to build the business’s success despite having to sacrifice some of their own free time. Action Planning Questions: 1. Are your organisational values current and clearly deployed throughout your team? 2. Have you tested that your business strategies are clearly understood by your people at your customer interface? 3. Do you have clear accountabilities to keep your customer interface active and up to date? 4. Are you committed to providing constructive coaching to your average people so that they can help to achieve well above average results? 5. Have you a methodology to identify gaps in your implementation of these four foundations? *Hamish Petrie had a 37-year corporate career including 25 with Alcoa Inc. His latest position was VP People and Communications for the Global Alcoa Corporation based in New York. He can be contacted at hamish@nitroworld.net or on 0404345103. © Hamish Petrie 2014
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April 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 23
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