SMALL BUSINESS MINISTER MARK ARBIB • DON’T LEAVE YOUR BANK • GOGET’S FLEET MANAGEMENT TIPS
Official publication of the SME Association of Australia
MARCH 2012 • $6.95 (gst inc.)
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STAY COOL IF
GREECE FRIES BUILDING
WEALTH TO PROTECT A CHILD Equal pay decision equals opportunity BUSINESSES WITH HEART • BRAD SUGARS ON TOUR • SMEAA ON LINKEDIN
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www.mybusiness.com.au
CONTENTS
Cover story
Regulars
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News and Views Gadget Guide By the Numbers
How secure are you online? Our investigation reveals that when it comes to accepting credit card payments, security is less comprehensive than you may imagine.
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small business MP Mark Arbib
Love the bank you’re with Banks are acting up again, but that doesn’t make it a good time to shop for a new one.
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Succession strategies Private Equity investment can offer a powerful and lucrative way to exit your business.
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LEADERSHIP
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My Business meets new Federal Small Business Minister Mark Arbib and asks about his priorities for the portfolio.
Leaving leadership behind Stuart Hayes concludes his series on leadership by showing how leaders can leave their businesses.
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Why people fail Lisa Rubenstein’s research shows how and why some workers and leaders fail and how you can turn them around.
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FLEET MANAGEMENT
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GoGet’s fleet management secrets 42 The founder of boom car share company GoGet explains how he learned about fleet management. Five hidden logistics costs 46 Fleet expert Walter Scremin explains five sources of unwanted costs that can plague your logistics efforts.
TECHNOLOGY With the global economic outlook uncertain, we asked experts how you can shock-proof your business.
The group buying industry has evolved rapidly and now has new ways to help merchants and customers alike.
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Toxic behaviours can destroy your business, so we’ve listed ten of the worst to help you spot them—then stamp then out!
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Table of Plenty is a business with a purpose—providing for a child who will need lifelong care.
Clouds can kill 50 Cloud computing is cheap and powerful, but also a profoundly disrupting force that can hurt your business.
EXPERTS Robyn Anderson Michael Griffiths Phil Lee Tony Gattari Nicole Nott Ivan Misner Sue Hirst Brian Walker
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SMEAA NEWS Caroline Hong SMEAA News
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EDITOR’SLETTER NEWS&VIEWS NEW TED, the global events featuring innovators, thinkers, leaders and change makers, is auditioning speakers from around the world. The press release announcing the auditions says “Producthawkers, jargon-junkies, dullards, wafflers, motivator wannabes, self-promoters and spouters of new-age fluff should not apply.” I want to share that sentence because this is my last issue as Editor of My Business. I’ve decided to do geekier things elsewhere. It’s been my privilege to work with the magazine for eight years as Technology Editor, Export Editor, Web Editor and Editor. I’ve also worked with wonderful people who’ve tried their hearts out, and I’ll never forget or stop appreciating that. My philosophy has always been to bring you practical and timely information. That’s not always been easy because among those seeking a presence in the magazine are plenty of producthawkers, jargon-junkies, dullards, wafflers, motivator wannabes, self-promoters and spouters of new-age fluff.
During my time at My Business I have always tried to apply a BS-filter to that kind of stuff, because if you’ve taken the immensely brave step of starting a business you deserve contributors whose motivation is something loftier than selling to you or fluffing up their clippings book. I can’t judge the success of our attempts to bring you a practical magazine full of actionable advice, but I sincerely hope you have found the contents of these pages have helped you. If even one of you has been able to build a better business as a result of reading My Business, I’ll be very proud of my time here. Magazines don’t exist without readers, so many thanks for the chance to work here. It has been an enriching and life-enhancing experience.
Simon Sharwood Editor My Business
Business population grows EDITOR Simon Sharwood 02 8923 8017 | mybusinesseditor@mybusiness.com.au CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tim Hartridge GRAPHIC DESIGNER Monica Lawrie PRODUCTION MANAGER Russell Montgomery CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Andrea O’Driscoll | andrea.odriscoll@commstrat.com.au NATIONAL COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Tony May 02 8923 8001 | tony.may@mybusiness.com.au WEB www.mybusiness.com.au SYDNEY OFFICE Level 12, 99 Walker St North Sydney NSW 2060 T 02 8923 8000 F 02 8923 8050
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SUBSCRIPTIONS See the inside back cover for subscription information or email Ruth Spiegel at ruth.spiegel@commstrat.com.au ONLINE visit: www.smeaustralia.asn.au/membership PHONE on 03 8534 5009
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ustralia had 2,132,412 actively trading businesses in June 2011, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS’) Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, Jun 2007 to Jun 2011 released in late January. That figure is higher than in the last such count, with business numbers rising from the 2,073,793 businesses operating in June 2007. Australian businesses remain small in terms of employment and turnover, with just 826,389 (38.8%) of businesses employing even a solitary worker, compared to 1,306,023 non-employing businesses. As the ABS’ summary points out: “Of the employing businesses, 739,312 (89.5%) employed less than 20 employees. This comprised 508,674 businesses with 1–4 employees and 230,638 businesses with 5–19 employees.” Just 125,123 (5.9%) businesses have turnover above $2m per annum. Only 6071 businesses employ more than 200 people. In the mid-range, 81,006 businesses employ between 20 and 199 employees. The report also points out that 93.5% of new business numbers counted in the
survey period were micro-businesses employing zero to four staff. That category is also the most likely to have exited business during the survey period, with attrition of 16.9% for micro businesses easily ahead of exit rates from all other sized businesses.
My Business comments One of the oddest things we experience at My Business is companies approaching us with “solutions for small business” which they say suit companies with 200 or more employees. This latest ABS data confirms, yet again, that it is entirely nonsensical to consider businesses of that size “small” in an Australian context. As this data shows, and has shown in every release of this data we have read over several years, the most common type of business in Australia has no employees. The next most common type of business has a staff of fewer than five. It’s time that industry responded with more realistic naming and targeting of its products. My Business will continue to point out the reality of the Australian business population to readers, vendors, interviewees and anyone who will listen!
WS&VIEWS NEWS&VIEWS NEWS&VI ActionCOACH My Business Awards return for 2012
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he ActionCOACH My Business awards will return for 2012. ActionCOACH is back as naming sponsor for the 12th edition of the awards program, which will this year culminate in a gala event at the Sydney Hilton on the evening of September 28th. ActionCOACH will once again decide the award for Outstanding Excellence, an award open only to those businesses that have taken out one of the nine other categories in the awards. GIO will sponsor two of those categories. One is the Best Small Business award.
The other is a new category, the Best Woman in Business. Reckon will sponsor a to-be determined category, as will the SME Association of Australia (SMEAA). Details of all categories in the 2012 awards, plus entry times and judging criteria, will appear in future issues of My Business and at www.mybusiness.com.au. “The 2012 ActionCOACH My Business awards represent a wonderful opportunity for businesses to gain the recognition they deserve,” said SMEAA CEO Caroline Hong. “Even for those who don’t win, we feel there
is a lot of value in going through the process of compiling an entry.” “Cherie Donavan, the owner of the historic Segenhoe Inn which won the award for Best Small Business in 2012, said that just creating an entry gave her the chance to get some perspective on her business, what works and what could use some improvement.” “So many entrepreneurs I speak to are flat out and struggle to get that kind of perspective. I hope every entrant wins a prize on the night, but experiences like Cherie’s show you can win just by entering.”
Economic indicators signal confidence rebound
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onsumers and businesses feel optimistic about the future of Australia’s economy, according to three recent studies. The Westpac/ Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment, for example, jumped 4.2% in February. Westpac’s Chief Economist Bill Evans admitted that most research for the Index was conducted before the Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold and banks increased home mortgage rates, and that sentiment may have changed as a result. But Evans also pointed to some of the index’s individual categories, which saw a belief that family finances have improved over the last year, an expectation of further improvements and a belief the economy will continue to improve in the data. The Index also found that 1.8% more households believe “now is a good time to buy a major household item.” Another positive indicator came from the latest Dun
& Bradstreet National Business Expectations Survey, which says Australian manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers expect big sales boosts in the June quarter, according to the latest. The Survey found expectations of a surge in sales that is at the strongest level since the December quarter 2003, well before the onset of the global financial crisis. Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) CEO, Christine Christian, said the strong sentiment was encouraging and corresponded with D&B trade payments and collections data which indicated that business performance tended to experience a cyclical peak during the second quarter of the year. “Historically, leading indicators of financial stability, such as cash flow, have improved during the June quarter as firms gain momentum. We are also no doubt seeing businesses increasingly factoring in the impact of further interest rate reductions on their operations,” Ms Christian said.
The Survey also suggests this could be a jobless recovery, with business sentiment about future employment falling slightly. “This would appear to indicate that businesses are still taking a cautious, waitand-see approach on trading conditions before looking to expand their operations or their workforce,” Ms Christian said. Another survey, conducted by specialist finance and accounting recruitment firm Robert Half, polled a sample of 300 chief financial officers and finance directors in Australia and found that 82% are confident in their business’ growth prospects in 2012 and over three-quarters (77%) are confident in Australia’s growth prospects. 32% of finance decision makers plan on hiring finance and accounting staff in the first half of this year. “This confidence has been reflected in a strong start to hiring in the finance and accounting industry in early 2012,” said Andrew Brushfield, Director at Robert Half. 3
NEWS&VIEWS NEWS&VIEWS NEWS Feds to burn Phoenix companies
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he Federal Government plans to clamp down on one of the grubbier business practices, namely Australia “phoenix schemes” that see a heavilyindebted company wind up to avoid liabilities, then very quickly afterwards start a new company that offers the same services. The new company often has the same Directors and employees as the old company. Creditors of the first company find it very hard to recover debts from the wound-up company and receive very little of the money they are owed. David McCrostie, a commercial disputes partner at TurksLegal, says phoenix schemes are rampant, especially among companies with under one million dollars in liabilities. “ASIC’s figures indicate that a staggering 75 per cent of all corporate insolvencies involve less than one million dollars in liabilities. Phoenix activity is rife in this sector because as any experienced [insolvency] practitioner knows, it’s practically impossible
to secure funding to recover these relatively modest sums. The upshot is a very large number of smaller unsecured creditors and statutory creditors such as the Australian Taxation Office currently have no realistic prospect of ever getting their money back”, McCrostie said. “Phoenix activity has been a longstanding problem in Australia,” Crostie added. “It is simply plundering and pillaging by another name. It robs ordinary creditors and employees, puts legitimate businesses at an unfair disadvantage and places a huge burden on the economy and public purse.” The good news is that the federal government is onto the practice and in late 2011 published a “Proposals paper: A modernisation and harmonisation of the regulatory framework applying to insolvency practitioners in Australia.” That paper includes a section on insolvency issues that affect small business and mentions phoenix schemes as one of the practices worthy of reform.
The paper suggests it may be possible to reduce the use of phoenix schemes by introducing “The ability to take civil action to recover company property inappropriately dissipated prior to business failure and hold directors liable for insolvent trading.” To fund such actions, the paper suggests small business should be able to access the “Assetless Administration Fund”, a pool of money retained by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission which “finances preliminary investigations and reports by liquidators into the failure of companies with few or no assets.” Already earmarked to hunt phoenix schemes, extending the fund to finance civil cases would give small businesses another way to recover funds from phoenix schemes. TurksLegal’s Crostie likes the proposals and welcomes them, but warned that “the devil will inevitably lie in the detail. The challenge now is for Parliament to back these promising ideas with firm legislative action.”
Venture capital dries up Established businesses beat start-ups to venture and private equity funding last year.
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f your bank has tightened its purse strings and gone cold on the idea of a loan, don’t put your house on a venture capitalist (VC) or private equity investor coming to the party – they’re getting pickier too. That’s one of the key findings in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) new research, “Venture Capital and Later Stage Private Equity, Australia, 2010-11”, which found that “As at 30 June 2011, investors had $15.9b committed to investment vehicles, a fall of 8% on the revised $17.3b committed as at 30 June 2010.”
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The value of investments also fell, down $200 million to $ 8.7 billion in 2009/2010 (which is also bad news because the dominant category of VC investors is pension funds). These investors are also very hard to impress: the ABS says just two per cent of potential investments reviewed by venture capitalists and private equiteers ever see a cent. Indeed, the ABS reports that just 875 new investees won funding in 2010/2011. Among those investees were only a
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handful of companies under a year old— start-ups—while even companies that are two to four years old struggled to attract investment last year. Outfits with histories spaning five or more years did better. In past years companies of that age were prime territory for these investors, but in companies five years and older became the most-invested-in category last financial year. Forget VC, too, if you’re outside NSW or Victoria: 66 per cent of investment was made in those two States, with Queensland the only other state in double digits.
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S&VIEWS
VIEWS MY BUSINESS MEETS NEWS& MARK ARBIB SMall BuSInESS MInISTEr
australia’s new Small Business Minister speaks to Simon Sharwood
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IMon SharWooD (SS): What’s your vision for the small business portfolio? What do you want to get done? MarK arBIB (Ma): I want to deliver the small business tax package that’s connected to the Minerals Resource Rent Tax. We have to get that in place because it will help so many businesses. SS: But that’s only a one per cent cut to company tax and it won’t apply to nonemploying businesses, which are the majority of businesses. Ma: Yes, but there are 700,000 incorporated small businesses so the tax cut is not insignificant. On top of that there are the asset depreciation changes to assets under $6500. That’s not just for one item – you can get the benefit for as many items as you purchase. I think that’s important for small businesses, and farmers in particular, so they plan for the next 12–18 months. The other area in terms of tax is the changes around carbon. One of the big changes is to tax scales, so those whose businesses operate on a pay as you go basis the low income tax threshold triples to $18,000. SS: Do you think that higher tax-free threshold will encourage more people to start businesses? Ma: We want to make it easier if people want to start up a business. One of the things I would love to see expanded is the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS). If you are unemployed and have a big idea, you can go to Centrelink or a job service Australia provider and if approved you can receive 12 months of unemployment benefits paid up front, in bulk, to set up a small business. 6
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SS: How’s the national dispute resolution scheme for business coming along? Ma: We are in the consultation phase. I want to take the time to look at the feedback. When you are looking at future policy you do not want to add to regulatory burdens and in this case there are State dispute resolution procedures and small business Commissioners and franchise laws to consider. I want to tread carefully and will take my time. SS: Tell us about a small business you admire. Ma: In my local community there is a small business that really stands out—Walsh’s Pharmacy at South Maroubra. It’s in a pretty tough part of Sydney near a big housing commission estate. Two brothers run it and it is a very friendly place. One of the brothers is usually there. They have great trust with the customers and treat people like part of their family.They put on events for the local community. I know of an art show, Christmas carols, they’re involved in sponsoring fun runs. In terms of community interaction their work is incredible. They also have services for new mums. It is a successful business but at the same time they make Maroubra a better place to live. SS: Once again, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that the majority of businesses in Australia are non-employing businesses. Is it time to change the definition of a business, given that so many of those non-employing businesses are sole traders or independent contractors? Ma: Definitions are a very, very difficult because the small business sector is so diverse. You go from micro-business, sole traders, partnerships right up to incorporated companies. At the heart of everything is enterprise—that is the most important term, because these are enterprises that are generating wealth and jobs.
SS: But a sole trader doesn’t generate wealth or jobs. If the sole trader is hit by a bus, there’s no residual value. Ma: There are a lot of contractors who work for labour hire companies or job agencies and would consider themselves an enterprise. Part of it comes down to how the individual sees themselves and part of it comes down to how they structure their tax. I think we need to be careful not to be too prescriptive. I want to make sure all Australian businesses and contractors get access to tax breaks. SS: I understand you’ve met with SME Association of Australia CEO Caroline Hong. What’s your impression of the new organisation? Ma: Caroline is a livewire and has a lot of energy that I like! I think the organisation fills a big hole in our economy because while we talk a lot about small enterprises, a lot of medium enterprises miss out. We need to make sure that their importance to the Australian economy is recognised and we don’t want them to miss out on government support. The second thing that impressed me was the Association’s vision in terms of creating greater links to some of the Asian economies. As the Treasurer has said, in the past Australia has been in the wrong part of the world. For the first time we are in the right place at the right time. The future for business in this country is to try to tap into the growing middle class of Asia, not just providing minerals—we have services and expertise. We need to be working at the high end in terms of technology and higher education to sell our wares. Once the NBN is in place we will be able to do it properly because it will empower business in all parts of the country. You won’t need to be in Sydney or another capital to do business with the world.
&VIEWS
SEcTIon HEAdER
NEWS&VIEWS VIEWS CAROLINE HONG I’VE WORKED IN THE HEALTH SECTOR AND KNOW MEN AND WOMEN IN THAT INDUSTRY DESERVE EQUAL PAY
Caroline Hong CEO of the SME Association of Australia. Caroline can be reached at info@smeaustralia.asn.au, where she welcomes comments on this column. www.smeaustralia.asn.au www.twitter.com/#!/SMEasnAU Join us on Linkedin Discussion group SME Association of Australia-SME Forum www.linkedin.com/groups/SMEAssociation-Australia-SMEforum-4213012 www.facebook.com/ SMEassociationAustralia 8
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Equal Pay Equals Opportunity
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he February 2012 decision by Fair Work Australia to grant large pay rises to many in the community sector is a fascinating moment for business. This applies to the social, community and disability services industry throughout Australia. As I see it, the case centred on pay rates for workers in the community sector, especially in occupations like nursing and caring. My Business Editor Simon Sharwood last year met with the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, which works to ensure equal pay for women. The Agency explained how largely feminised occupations tend to pay lower wages, in part as a hangover of old attitudes that women deserved lower pay. Even when occupations like nursing require years of tertiary study, pay rates remain below those on offer in occupations that require equivalent qualifications. My reading of the situation is that the Australian Services Union, which brought the case, wanted to iron that bias out of the wages offered to its mainly female membership so that their wages became closer to those paid to other public sector employees with similar qualifications and duties. That’s a position that is very hard to argue against. Furthermore, I’ve worked in the health sector for many years and know from firsthand experience that men and women in that industry deserve equal pay. Yet it’s also not hard to see that the headline outcome from the case—a pay increase of 40 to 65 per cent over eight years—is challenging because it involves pay rises way beyond inflation. The fact that many of the workers covered by the decision are in the public sector won’t be a salve—the money has to come from somewhere and we all know where governments get their money from. It is also worth considering the wider impact on Australian businesses. Our ageing population means that we’ll need more of the kinds of services the
workers who’ll receive this pay rise provide. We all know that baby boomers are retiring in growing numbers and that retirement savings policy has been developed, in part, to make as many retirees as possible at least partially self-funding. That means many retirees will be encouraged to use private firms for aged care and other medical services. The private sector will need to match these wage rises, so costs will rise and retirement savings may not last as long as hoped or planned. Private companies—many of which are SMEs—will therefore find this decision by Fair Work Australia very challenging. Smart entrepreneurs will also feel it creates opportunities. Every disruption to an industry means new chances emerge to do things smarter. I expect that SMEs will do so in this industry to meet this challenge and that the result will be vibrant companies that help Australia to prosper. I also feel that the logic of this decision is right. SMEAA’s mission is prosperity for Australia through successful SMEs. A great many SMEs are started by women and SMEs employ many women. Recognition that women’s skills are worthy of the same remuneration is surely and simply just the right thing to do in a society as wealthy as Australia. I hope every SME recognises that position and also recognises that we cannot collectively ignore women workers. We all know how hard it is to find good staff. We all know how hard it is to retain staff. Many employers I speak to who take the extra step to offer genuinely flexible working practices tell me that women appreciate that practice and become more engaged, more loyal employees when offered the chance to achieve a good balance between work, life, and a role as a primary carer. This pay rise may, I hope, accelerate that process by encouraging greater workforce participation by women. That will in turn keep their valuable skills in the workforce for longer, and that will benefit us all.
It’s a team that works with you to protect your business better 13 10 10 At GIO, our team of Business Insurance Specialists will help you to protect your small business better, over the phone or face to face. So, should you find your business in a smoky situation, you can feel better protected. Call 13 10 10 for more information. Insurance is issued by GIO General Limited ABN 22 002 861 583. Please read the Product Disclosure Statement before deciding to buy this product. Call 13 10 10 for a copy.
BRAD SUGARS NEWS& NEWS NEWS&VIEWS & DISCOUNTING WILL BRING LOWER PROFITS AND HARDER WORK
The high cost of discounting
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ere’s a fantastic business strategy you can put to work right away to guarantee lower profits. It will also make you and your team work harder than ever before just to break even. If that doesn’t sound appealing, then make sure you commit to a simple two word mantra for the rest of your business life: “never discount”. Just to illustrate this, I’ve included the table below, which we continually use to coach business owners out of the discount game. It shows very simply the amount you need to increase your sales by to compensate for any price discounting strategy. For example, if your margin is 40 per cent and you reduce your price by 10 per cent, you need your sales volume to increase by 33 per cent to maintain your profit. Is this a winning strategy for any company? No.
The alternative to discounting Instead of discounting, give these tactics a try. Learn all of your numbers so you have the knowledge and clarity (which boosts your confidence) to set your prices to allow for great margins, then courageously hold them by developing a very clear and concise value proposition for your customers. Find low-cost or no-cost ways to increase and enhance the overall buying experience, especially if you are in an industry that has defaulted to discounting as the conventional way of doing business. In reality, the higher the perception of a product or service as a If your present margin is:
20%
And you discount your price by:
Brad Sugars is Founder and Chairman of ActionCOACH, the world’s number one business coaching firm. 10
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30%
commodity, the more opportunity there is to create both legitimate and perceived points of difference with what you can offer. Train your salespeople to dig deeper to find the true reasons for not buying, rather than reflexively reacting by cutting price. Yes, this may take more training and patience, but the payoff long-term will more than cover the short-term inconvenience. Whatever you do, think twice about running a “10 per cent off sale.” Cut out the discounting chart below and post it in a highly visible place to remind yourself how much pressure you’re putting on your numbers, your team and yourself when you play the discounting game. Instead, think in terms of how you can grow your services, how you can create a better customer experience, or how you can simply lop off the bottom 80 per cent of your “C” and “D” customers who are only interested in cutting you down on price. Then, you can focus more on the top 20 per cent of “A” and “B” customers who drive the success of your business. When you discover new ways to cater to those customers, you’ll never need to discount again. Except the amount you’re currently spending on marketing campaigns. Why? Because if you focus on those who deliver the most profit to your bottom line, you’ll have the start of a true referral-based business—one that relies on effective wordof-mouth advertising—which just happens to be the least costly and most effective type of marketing you could ever “buy.” 40%
50%
60%
Your sales must INCREASE by the amount shown below to keep the same margin...
2%
11%
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100%
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233%
88%
54%
39%
30%
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–
200%
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67%
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–
500%
167%
100%
71%
30%
–
–
300%
150%
100%
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“THERE IS AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME DURING WHICH CREDIT CARD COMPANIES OR BANKS KNOW A CARD IS LOST OR STOLEN, BUT RETAILERS ARE STILL LIABLE FOR PURCHASES MADE WITH THE CARD.” 12
MAR 2012
hen Mel Barassi realised that customers had defrauded her using stolen credit cards, she says she felt “violated”. Barassi runs The Hip Infant (hipinfant. com.au), an online store that sells cute products for little kids. The store is sufficiently successful that many of its clients come from overseas, but some of those have turned out to be crooks. “They order all sorts of sizes and ask for delivery to Singapore, sometimes with a home address in Nigeria,” Barassi says. “The orders are always for around $300 of goods and are in lots of sizes.” Barassi screens these orders carefully but like any small business is also keen to provide prompt service. She also trusts the online payments gateway provided by her bank, Westpac. “My understanding was that every credit card transaction is checked,” she says. “I’ve learned that’s not the case,” as several transactions that passed through the payment gateway were later cancelled by the bank because the credit cards were stolen. The cancellations came after she had shipped the goods, leaving her out of pocket for her goods, postage and – in a final insult – a $30 fee the bank charges for handling a dud credit card. Barassi thinks that’s unfair. “If I see an order come through and it
seems suspicious we email the customer and try to figure it out, but there is not a phone line you can ring and it is a big effort to check. A lot of it comes down to gut feeling.” “The Bank says we should ask for a copy of their driver’s license but you don’t want to invade a customer’s life like that. And I certainly don’t think the bank should be charging us $30 for the pleasure.” Kathie Thomas has had similar problems. Thomas sells books online and recently noticed a pleasing surge in orders. “It sometimes happens when a bookseller runs a promotion,” but in this case the pattern of orders started to get a little odd. Thomas checked the source of the orders, which seemed legitimate or at least not much different from other sites that had signed up as affiliate sellers of her books in the past. But things soon got weird. “A few weeks later I got an email from someone saying I did not order this book and why did you send it to me? Her husband had died and the book had been charged to his credit card. Then I got a letter from National Australian Bank (NAB) with a chargeback fee and asking for proof of the order. That’s when I found out the email address being used on the orders was not the real email address.” Several more chargeback letters
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AUSTRALIA’S RETAILERS ARE TOLD CREDIT CARDS ARE SAFE, BUT BANKS & CARD COMPANIES STILL MAKE THEM WEAR LOSSES …EVEN WHEN IT’S NOT THEIR FAULT. followed and Thomas tried to contact all the “customers” who had “bought” books to make sure they hadn’t fallen victim to the same scam. Along the way she asked NAB why its payment gateway had not detected and rejected the stolen credit card numbers. “I asked if they match up information and they said no but we don’t advertise it.”
Why banks penalise merchants The transactions that landed Barassi and Thomas in trouble are called “card not present” transactions, a category of credit card purchase used for phone and mail order shopping. If card not present transactions go wrong, banks place the burden of proof on merchants, demanding as much paperwork as possible to prove the legitimacy of the purchaser. Merchants are forced to pay for fraudulent card not present transactions and sales when stolen cards are used in store, even though the cards used may be stolen, a source of much anger among retailers. “Anyone in retail from Coles and Woolworths down will tell you they are frustrated,” says Russel Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Australian Retailers Association. Chris Hamilton, CEO of the Australian
Payments Clearing Association (APCA), opines that one reason for merchant frustration about being made to pay for goods with a lost or stolen card is that retailers are considered the best-equipped party to prevent fraud. “What in principle the system is trying to do is work out who had the best chance of preventing the fraud in the first place and aligning responsibility with capability to act,” he says. “You can see it [fraud] in a physical environment more obviously – if the card has been used in store the person who used the card is defrauding the shopkeeper. The philosophy of the card companies is that neither the card company or the issuer is in a position to say if the person is being fraudulent whereas the merchant may be able to because the customer looks dodgy or the signatures don’t match.” Thomas and Barassi, as online retailers conducting card not present transactions, never have the chance to verify a signature or ask for secondary ID like a driver’s license to help them make a more informed decision about a transaction, yet Hamilton says “I think they [card companies] translate their principles into the online world where it is harder to assess if the card is valid.” Online retailers, meanwhile, can easily find promotions talking up the security of online payments gateways offered by banks. My Business visited the websites of
each of the big four banks to see what they say about the security of their payment gateways. We also asked banks, and the three major credit card companies (Visa, MasterCard and American Express), how it is possible for secure payment gateways to permit purchases to be made with stolen credit cards. The banks’ sites make simple and bold claims about security. The page for ANZ’s ePOS product says it offers “Real-time payment authorisation.” Westpac says its third party payment gateway provides “Fully authorised live transactions” and that “Westpac authorises credit card transactions providing you with an immediate approve or decline response.” NAB says, on the page for its “Hosted payment page” product, that the service “Automatically checks every card for available funds and whether the card has
THE BANKS’ SITES MAKE SIMPLE AND BOLD CLAIMS ABOUT SECURITY…IT OFFERS “REAL-TIME PAYMENT AUTHORISATION.” 13
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CREDIT CARD TRAP “THE SYSTEM IS TRYING TO WORK OUT WHO HAD THE BEST CHANCE OF PREVENTING THE FRAUD AND ALIGNING RESPONSIBILITY WITH CAPABILITY TO ACT.” been reported lost or stolen at the time of the transaction.” None make prominent mention what Hamilton says is the most common source of credit card fraud: criminals who use cards before anyone knows about their theft. This can happen when criminals acquire credit card numbers and choose not to use them for several weeks or months. On other occasions, consumers simply don’t notice a stolen card or pay insufficient attention to their credit card statements and don’t detect unauthorised purchases. Merchants stung by fraudulent buyers under those circumstances are liable for any purchases, even though banks’ payment gateways approve them. Barassi and Thomas feel that is unfair, but the small print of at least one Bank’s merchant services guide makes it plain that an authorised transaction is no protection. Passed to My Business by a source within one of the big four banks, the document is titled “Merchant Business Solutions. Protecting business against credit card fraud.” In a section called “Authorisation”, the document explains that a transaction will be authorised when “The card has not been reported lost or stolen (although it may in 14
MAR 2012
fact be lost, stolen or compromised [card details improperly obtained or copied] and the card owner is unaware).” The document goes on to say that “An authorisation does NOT confirm that the person providing the card number is the legitimate cardholder. The risk remains that the person providing the credit card number has either stolen or improperly obtained the card.”
Window of danger My Business does not know if other banks’ guides for merchants spell out this issue in similar detail, but we did ask each bank how long it takes for transactions to be refused once a card is reported stolen. None responded to the question. American Express said “Once a card is reported stolen it is tagged by one of our customer care professionals (a term we use) and is immediately invalidated.” Visa’s response to our inquiries offers some insights. The company told us that “Once an account has been identified as being used fraudulently or suspected of being compromised in some fashion the card issuing organisation loads details into Visa’s global authorisation system where it will be blocked from authorising all future electronically processed transactions.”
Window of doubt We pressed Visa to ask how much time typically elapses between reporting of a stolen card and its rejection by payment gateways and were told it happens “As soon as possible, however every situation is different and it will depend on the circumstances of each individual case.” My Business took that response to mean that there is an unknown period of time
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between a card being reported as lost or stolen and notification to banks that the card should be rejected. Banks and card companies did not define that window, and the the closest thing to an explanation we received came from a banking industry insider who said that “This is entirely an operational question for banks and card schemes.” But the problem is real. ACPA’s Hamilton says transactions that make it through this window are rare, but the ARA’s Zimmerman is aware of it as a problem. “There can be a lag time,” Zimmerman says. “Some of that lag time can do with local banks and banks overseas. But I think a card has got to be stopped on every machine, worldwide. There shouldn’t be a lag because if there is real-time processing for purchases it should be real-time for cancels too.” Zimmerman has raised the issue, along with the penalties imposed on merchants under other circumstances, with the Reserve Bank through its Merchant Payments Forum of which he is Chair. Other industry bodies are also concerned about the gap. Bruce Linn, Chair of the Internet Industry Association, was personally involved in early online credit card processing efforts and says he is concerned that today’s schemes seem not to have become more sophisticated. “More legacy processes and systems and procedures are taking longer than they should to become appropriate to the online world,” he says. “The same is true of legal and regulatory frameworks.” “At a general level we would have hoped that credit card authentication would capture lost and stolen cards, and if things are online you would expect them to be real time.”
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COVER sToRy
HowOneBusiness
SURVIVED AWEBSITE HACK
Rahul Bagharva spends about $5000 a month on Google AdWords and relies on the service to drive traffic to his outdoor signage businesses RollupSigns and Bannerchain. So when the sites went offline it was a heavy blow. “We get 50 to 60 hits a day from AdWords,” Bagharva says, with the steady stream of inquiries from online advertising helping the company to grow beyond steady clients like Subway, Pepsico and Diabetes Australia. But in January 2012, when Bagharva was holidaying overseas, the websites stopped working. Google explained why – the sites had been infected by malware and Google suspended Bagharva’s AdWords campaign to protect unsuspecting users. Web browsers also detected the malware and warned visitors that the sites were dangerous places to visit. Bagharva’s outsourced IT team quickly identified the source of the problem: malware had been uploaded to his sites with the tool intended for uploads of custom art for signs. Removing the malware and repairing the sites took more than a
16
MAR 2012
day and represented unwelcome and unplanned costs. Eventually the sites came back online and Bagharva had to make his case to Google for reinstatement of his AdWords campaign. Google was understanding and acted within days, but also said it has a dim view of sites whose security is compromised. “We don’t have the power to pull strings to make it faster,” Bagharva says, but also praises Google for offering a dedicated customer service line staffed by actual humans. Bagharva now plans to change the hosting company he uses for his websites, as it proved hard to work with his US-based host. He is also considering action against his current host, given its assurances of a secure service proved false. “We reported it to the guy who looks after the hosting company,” he says, but has not pressed hard for resolution. “These things take time especially for a small business like us.” At least the sites are back online and producing new leads, a fact for which Bagharva is grateful. “Overall the web is a big positive,” he says. “We just signed up for Twitter and from now on our business will be focussed more towards the website.”
7
MY BUSINESS ASKED SEVEN LEADING SECURITY COMPANIES TO OFFER THEIR ADVICE ON IMPORTANT SECURITY ISSUES
CRITICAL SECURITY QUESTIONS
WHAT TACTICS ARE CYBERCRIMINALS USING TO TARGET SMES? ANSWER FROM ALISON HIGGINS-MILLER, VICE PRESIDENT ASIA PACIFIC SALES, WEBSENSE
S
MEs should not take comfort in the fact that cybercriminals focus mostly on larger enterprises. Cybercriminals want anything of value—from personal bank account information to classified data. They take advantage of security gaps and exploit employee error. And as larger enterprises move towards more effective real-time defences, SMEs become the new lowhanging fruit. The web is the main attack vector, especially in blended attacks that see an email arrive containing a link to a malicious website. The user lands on the site and criminals lurk where users gather, luring unsuspecting users while they browse social networking sites. SMEs should also be concerned about Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) too. These were all the buzz last year, and even though they target governments and big businesses, a million-dollar, well-planned, high-profile attack can quickly become something that low-level hackers can use. With such sophisticated exploits spreading this way, the odds are high that masses of business will fall victim to an attack at some point. In 2012, Websense anticipates three main trends that will impact SMEs: First, your social media identity may prove valuable to cybercriminals. If a bad guy compromises your social media credentials there is a good chance that they will infect your friends and colleagues too. Second, expect more blended attacks that propagate through social media networks, mobile devices, and through the cloud. Third, watch for attacks targeting mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Businesses need real-time security
defences that prevent users from visiting what they believe are trusted links and that stop cybercriminals from stealing confidential data.
What security precautions do small businesses need to take in order to protect their servers and other technology infrastructure? Answer from Trevor Iverach, Solution Practice Lead—Security, CA Technologies
I
t is important for small and medium businesses to understand that security attacks are not just limited to larger organisations. In fact, attacks on SMBs are on the rise. In order to minimize the risk of attack, SMBs must evolve from a basic layered security approach to a more datacentric approach. This is not to say that the layered security approach is redundant. In fact, it is still crucial to SMBs. Investment in anti-malware, firewalls and threat-based technologies are still an important deterrent to external or internal threats. These tools may be the first lines of defence in protecting technology infrastructure. Considering what is happening with an organisation’s data is also a key defence mechanism. It is increasingly important to ask simple questions like: does your business know where your most important data assets sit? How is it being used? Where and how does it move around the organisation? And can I provide controls around that? Consider a medium-sized business in which private financial information held by the company is stored on a shared server.
Alison Higgins-Miller It is important to regulate who is able to access this information and when, by putting strict controls in place over access to it—for example, providing warnings or barriers when unauthorised access is attempted. With these type of data-centric security measures, organisations of all sizes will further limit the risk to their most crucial assets. Depending on the size of the organisation, identifying these privileged users can be a manual process or an automated and controlled one. Either way, a very important aspect in avoiding a breach is to focus on securing the data and the access to it.
Question: What threats, if any, do social networks pose to small business and how can they protect against them? Answer from Michael McKinnon, Security Advisor at AVG (AU/NZ)
S
ocial Networking sites are amazing tools for communicating on a very personal and often emotional level with close friends and family, and it is when we’re in this vulnerable state that they also create the perfect environment for connecting us with fake stories and links to malicious content from scammers and tricksters. The major issue with threats in Social Networking, apart from us vulnerable users, are the risks associated with clicking on malicious web links combined with web browsers that can be exploited. To defend against these types of attack, it is critical that the first line of defence be at the web browser on the desktop, laptop and all mobile devices. Larger businesses often add expensive technologies to monitor, block or scan 17
COVER sToRy Trevor Iverach
“CONSIDERING WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH AN ORGANISATION’S DATA IS A KEY DEFENCE MECHANISM.” access to common Social Networking sites. Many small businesses usually make do with Internet connectivity solutions and their use of social networks escapes any scrutiny, which puts them at a disadvantage. We always recommend keeping operating systems up to date with the latest patches, plus the use of an Internet Security solution that scans web content actively to prevent known malicious content being accessed. These two tactics should stop the nasty consequences that can arise from the malicious links used on social networks, which include data or identity theft, fraud or reputational damage.
How can small business owners protect mobile devices like smartphones and iPads to prevent them bringing extra risks into the organisation? Answer from Andrew Mamonitis, managing director Kaspersky Lab Australia & New Zealand.
M
obile devices, specifically smartphones and tablets, are the new frontier for cyber criminals when it comes to attempting to access your organisation’s network. An employee’s tablet spans the divide between work and personal activities, for example the same device that hosts sensitive work documents can also be used to access social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Tablets and smartphones are vulnerable to a similar range of attacks that currently affect desktop computers. This can include the installation of malicious programs, theft of confidential data and the use of compromised mail accounts to distribute spam. Criminals use several different tactics to gain access to mobile devices including, key logging malware inserted into popular apps, Trojan malware in text and email messages and mobile bots amongst others. It’s important for SMBs to develop a unique security strategy for mobile devices. Strategies for management can include: 18
MAR 2012
• Software that protects all mobile operating systems Mobile devices run a variety of operating systems including Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Nokia’s Symbian. Look for software that supports protection for these operating systems and ensure that all new devices brought into contact with the corporate network are protected. • Best practice protocol Develop standards that are easy to follow and well explained, staff of all technical knowledge levels should be educated on the procedures they need to follow when using a mobile device to access the business network. This should form part of a new employee’s orientation, to ensure best practice security is used from day one. • Avoid complacency Stay updated on trends, new threats and updates from your security provider is crucial to fending off attacks from cyber criminals. The latest tactic used by criminals could very well be the next attempted hack you experience
Question: How can small business owners protect portable computers and prevent them bringing extra risks into the organisation? Answer from Glynn Stokes, Product Marketing Strategy, Trend Micro ANZ
L
aptops can be a major vulnerability in a number of ways. According to an IDC report last year, 45% of SMB managers and employees reported a laptop theft, and an average of 2.2 laptops were lost or stolen from each firm every year. But there are several practical measures you can implement to safeguard your company. Travelling is obviously a vulnerable time. 900 laptops are lost at London’s Heathrow Airport every week. A laptop is a prime target for opportunistic thieves and you can minimise the travelling risk by avoiding using a laptop bag, and instead
use a backpack or tote bag to make it less conspicuous. Never leave your laptop unattended and be careful when putting it down. Even in cars, make sure the laptop is out of sight. There are several ways to protect the information residing within the laptop. Passwords should be robust and complex. For the strongest passwords, don’t use words at all. Use random letters, numbers and special characters. Encrypting data adds an additional level of safety, while making backup copies of the information is also a basic precaution. Firewalls and antivirus software are essential safeguard technology. The best security software will go beyond standard protection and will reside on the computer without hindering the performance of your laptop or network. It will protect you no matter where you are and encompass identity theft, risky websites and hacker attacks within a single solution. Care should also be taken when connecting to public wi-fi networks. People are a critical factor in the security equation, with up to 80% of all data loss caused by human error. Employees should be aware of rules of behaviour and best practices to protect information. Let them know it’s their job to reduce the risks with their vigilance.
How can small business owners protect their wireless network connections, both WiFi and wireless broadband? Answer from Scott Robertson, Vice President Asia Pacific Channels and Alliances, WatchGuard Technologies
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mall business owners would be well advised to follow four simple steps to ensure that their wireless network connections are protected from cyberthreats: Step 1: WiFi security should start with the hardware itself. Businesses should ensure the devices they use are modern and support the latest security protocols
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