Business Excellence Newsletter

Business

Excellence November 2011

“Business identities Tony Baenziger, Angela Dawson and Guy Grossi tell City of Port Phillip business operators that community involvement makes good business sense”

Calendar of events To start off 2012 we have the following training workshops planned: Wednesday 23 February Starting your Business 5pm to 8pm at the St Kilda Town Hall. The cost is $30 pp Tuesday 22 March Better Thinking Better Business – Whole Brain Thinking with Marie Rosier a certified Herrmann Practitioner and psychologist. Find out how your thinking style affects the “bottom line” of your business.

6pm to 8pm at the St Kilda Town Hall. The cost is $30 pp Free mentoring sessions continue on the last Wednesday of each month starting in February. You can book in to see a finance and/or marketing mentor.

Book online at: www.portphillipbusiness.com.au

Breakfast hears from best in the business One of the key factors in commercial success can be the link a business makes with its community. According to three local business identities, positive business and local community connections are not just a ‘feel good’ thing, they can also be good for business.

the challenges they’d faced and overcome, and their hopes for the future.

Guest speakers Tony Baenziger from Baenziger Coles, Angela Dawson from Republica and Encore, and Guy Grossi from Grossi Restaurants, addressed more than 140 business people at the third City of Port Phillip Business Breakfast for the year.

They explained that a sense of community is not only good ethically, but community involvement can also be good for staff morale, promotion of a business within a community and bottom line performance.

The event, held in September at ­­ St Kilda’s newest venue, Encore ­­St Kilda Beach at the St Kilda Sea Baths, is part of the Council’s popular Business Breakfast series, designed to give local business operators access to innovative and interesting business people.

Tony, Angela and Guy spoke about their business journeys, the people who had inspired and motivated them,

They all had different experiences and personal stories to tell, however, the one thing they agreed on was the value of community/business ­relationships.

Chair of the St Kilda Tourism Association, Tracey Cooper, was also introduced at the breakfast. She presented an overview of the Association’s objectives and introduced the board members to the audience.

Feedback from the breakfast indicates that attendees found it an interesting and engaging morning. And, importantly, a number of attendees have made contact with each other to start business linkages.

– continued from page 1

Small business operators have told Council they want Council to do two things for them: to help organise interesting people to speak to them, and organise events where they can meet, network and make professional connections.

The feedback the Economic Development Unit have received suggest that the final Business Breakfast for 2011 more than met those criteria.

The City of Port Phillip’s next Business Excellence Breakfast is scheduled for March 2012.

The Business Excellence Networking event is scheduled for Thursday 8 December at the Beachcomber Cafe, St Kilda Sea Baths. The theme is ‘Marketing, Global, Local & Online’ with speakers Jon Moses, President of Globe International Australasian market, Alan Brody, Marketing Manager Fairfax Community Network and Jonathon Roberts Managing Director and Co-founder at DDG – Building Better Brands. The MC for the evening will be comedian Corrine Grant.

What attendees said about the September 2011 Business Breakfast: • Over 90% of attendees rated the presenters as “good to excellent” • Over 90% reported that the speakers were motivating and inspiring • Over 90% of attendees said they will come to future breakfasts. fi

Breakfast hears from best in the business

Speaker Profiles …

Guy Grossi

Guy Grossi started cooking with his father, Pietro, at a young age. At 15, he had enrolled in an apprenticeship in commercial cooking at Box Hill TAFE and eventually joined Tolarno’s where his father was working, after a stint at Two Faces, he started his own place, Quadri, in Armadale with his wife, Melissa.

Guy is now a leading Australian chef, presenter and food and media personality. He is the owner and head chef of Grossi Restaurants which include Melbourne’s iconic Grossi Florentino, the colourful Mirka at Tolarno Hotel in St Kilda, Merchant Restaurant in the city and Grossi Trattoria in Bangkok.

In his down time, Guy is also patron of HEAT (Hospitality Employment And Training), a practical youth re-engagement program.

Angela Dawson Angela Dawson was raised in Albury Wodonga and her first exposure to the hospitality industry was at her parent’s hotel, The Terminus, when she was 15 years old. After moving to Melbourne to study she eventually returned back home and fell in love with the apprentice chef, Matt Dawson. Moving back to Melbourne Angela and her brother Tom were tired of working for others and so Republica was born.

Angela is now co owner of Republica St Kilda Beach and the new Encore St Kilda Beach. This is a family run business that she operates with her husband, brother and sister in-law.

Angela also finds the time to get involved with HEAT. She was introduced to HEAT through the Port Phillip Liquor Accord and she has since become a partner with the program.

Tony Baenziger Tony Baenziger knew he wanted to be an architect from the age of six when he began to draw things like lighthouses, ships and boats and throughout his whole education he had no other career goal.

Now he and his business partner and wife, Sue Coles, run Baenziger Coles in South Melbourne, winners of the 2010 Citipower City of Port Phillip Business awards in Service Excellence They started the company during a particularly difficult time - the recession in the late 80’s and early 90’s - but have managed to steadily grow the business. Tony and Sue now lead a team of highly motivated and passionate industry professionals in the fields of architecture, interior design and project management.

Baenziger Coles also support South Port Life Saving Club and is archiving of all their material, including historical photographs and memorabilia.

Council strategy – good for business Port Phillip Council has finalised its 2012-2016 Port Phillip Economic Development Strategy.

The City of Port Phillip is a great place to do business Visitor numbers are up, our local economy is In order to do this we work with businesses strong and the first class facilities we are famous and business groups, we promote innovative for have never looked so good. ways of doing business, we partner with State The job of the Council and City in helping local and Federal Government agencies, and we business is an important one. Each year, we conduct activities, programs and campaigns to stimulate economic growth. will produce an action plan which supports our five-year Economic Development Strategy. Council has produced a summary version of our larger Economic Development The strategy has three objectives.

Strategy. If you would like to download either These are to: of these documents please visit our website • Enhance competitive advantage for at www.portphillipbusiness.com.au or call businesses in the municipality ASSIST on +613 9209 6777 for a copy.

• Increase connections between the The City of Port Phillip is a great place to business, not-for-profit sector, visitor and live and it’s a terrific place to work. Local residential communities businesses have an exciting future ahead.

• Drive prosperity across the entire Port Phillip community.

Council’s role is as an enabler of better business. Our job is to create an environment where local businesses can grow and prosper.

Rachel Powning

Mayor

Next business networking event: ‘Marketing, Global, Local & Online’ Thursday 8 December, Beachcomber Cafe, St Kilda Sea Baths Book online for this event at www.portphillipbusiness.com.au or telephone 9209 6420 Price: $25 includes drinks and canapés

In Brief Update: new OH&S laws From 1 January 2012, businesses must be ready to meet new OH&S obligations and responsibilities, when Australia-wide harmonised Work Health and Safety legislation commences.

Replacing existing OH&S laws, the new rules mean that business owners, senior management and employees will all have increased roles in ensuring that workplaces are safe.

Penalties are set to increase, with serious breaches resulting in criminal charges and fines of up to $3 million.

Call VECCI for more info on 8662 5333.

New combined liquor and gambling regulator coming soon A new integrated liquor and gambling regulator will be established in early 2012 for Victoria. Called the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR), the new regulator will have a commission-style decisionmaking structure, with commissioners delivering decisions through a transparent decision-making

process. The VCGLR will be responsible for regulatory, investigative and disciplinary functions under gambling and liquor legislation. For more information on the VCGLR and its role, visit www.vcgir.vic.gov.au

New catering service by HEAT HEAT (Hospitality Employment and Training) is a practical youth reengagement program delivered from the St Kilda Youth Service Training Centre in South Melbourne.

An innovative and practical social enterprise, HEAT helps young people to develop their self-esteem by providing accredited training qualifications in the hospitality industry, work experience in local businesses and preparation for the world of work. HEAT now offers corporate and event catering. For more information, please call Vanessa or Jeanette on 9696 5340.

Congratulations to Melbourne Weekly, ­­our supporting partner for the Business Excellence Breakfasts who won the branding award for the rebranding of its weekly publication.

The announcement was made at the annual Pacific Area Newspaper Publisher’s Association awards ceremony in Sydney.

MISfortune cookies Your business can become a Good Neighbour Trader by helping to promote antipoverty messages.

MISfortune Cookies is a new partnership initiative between Port Phillip Community Group, Red Scooter, Sacred Heart Mission, Stone & Partners Design, WeLikeSmall and the St Kilda Legal Service, and is looking forward to more collaborations.

These sweets-with-aconscience reveal inspiring messages to local consumers. Launched during Anti-Poverty Week in October 2011, the project will encourage ‘Good Neighbour Traders’ (as the participating cafés are dubbed) to buy and serve a MISfortune Cookie with every coffee they sell during Anti Poverty Week 2012 (14-20 October), as well as sell-on cleverly packaged cookie take-home packs.

The proceeds from the sale of MISfortune Cookies will

form circular capital for a new Vocational No Interest Loan Scheme. These loans will be made available to unemployed residents who wish to undertake certified training, purchase a work uniform or trade equipment.

For more information or to order your cookies go to www.misfortunecookies. org.au or call 8598 6615 to discuss how your business can participate.

New City of Port Phillip business website The new City of Port Phillip business website is here!

Log onto www.portphillipbuisness.com.au to have a look. Featured is a new easy-to-access information section which includes useful tips and information for your business. The latest training and events are also listed. And a new news and media section includes videos and photo gallery.

Let us know what you think.

You can email business@ portphillip.vic.gov.au

Get your business involved in Council’s St Kilda Festival 2012 The St Kilda Festival will run 4-12 February 2012.

Festival Sunday on the 12th February will see thousands of visitors flock to our streets. If you would like any information about how to showcase your business, please call the City of Port Phillip’s Festival Trader Liaison Officer, Angela de Mel, on 9209 6266 or 0434 316 784 or email her on ademel@portphillip.vic.gov.au

Did you know?

• Facebook has more than 500 million active global users.

• Around 250 million people use Facebook on a daily basis.

• There are more than 60 million status updates on Facebook each day.

• The site has more than 590 million unique hits a month, with some 760 billion page views and some 30 billion pieces of content.

• 65% of international companies use Facebook as part of their marketing strategy.

Create a killer Facebook page for Social media is revolutionising not only the ways we connect with each other on a personal level, it’s changing the way we communicate in business.

Facebook Pages, for example, are incredibly useful tools to engage customers.

Creating the best Facebook Page for your business takes time, planning and resources. You can set up a Facebook Page for free, but if you want to do things properly, put in some think time up front.

To begin with, you need to ask yourself what you want to achieve. Involve your team and figure out what you want to do. You might want to interact better with your customers or community, increase your sales, promote events

and campaigns, learn more about your customers or improve your service. All good and valid objectives – just make sure you know what you want.

Unique, helpful, interesting In a functional sense, add the right apps to your page to create a special experience for your Facebook visitors.

Don’t just put a link up and expect visitors to do the rest.

Tell them what will happen if they do. A clear call-to-action button and descriptive labelling will increase your click through rates and make it easier for new visitors to interact.

As far as design and words are concerned, get your message across clearly.

Use plain English and not PR speak. Don’t use too much text and don’t be afraid to use interesting or engaging fonts. List your services and/or use a large product image.

Offer incentives. One way of encouraging people to subscribe to your page is to offer them a reward to do so. Things such as click on the Like button to see special promotions and competitions.

your business Start planning your page by putting yourself in your customers’ shoes - consider your landing page. Which landing page you choose says a lot about your company and your priorities.

You only have one chance to make a first impression – so make sure it is a good one.

Effective landing pages should turn potential customers into subscribers.

Once you have attracted someone to your page, you need to convince them to subscribe. They will do this by ‘liking’ your page.

Push your visitors to the Like button. Once they click it, your content and status updates will appear in their news feeds.

Publish interesting content.

Before inviting people to your page, make sure you have plenty of high quality content to show them. Use things like exclusive videos, competitions, promotions

and giveaways, news stories and blog articles, discounts and offers, take a poll, invite comments, link to other social media, promote a loyalty program.

The St Kilda Festival is a great example of Facebook success. Adele Denison, Festival Producer, says that in February – the festival month - they had 33,748 active users and 1,944 new ‘likes’.

1,854 of those new likes were in the first two weeks prior to Festival Sunday.

The Facebook presence contributed to a record festival turn-out.

“Basically, we were clear what we wanted, understood our audience and didn’t interfere,” she explains.

“Our Facebook strategy was based on linkages. Our objective is to promote the individual bands and thereby promote attendance. We did this by linking to band pages and encouraging them to tag us, making badges for all the bands, offering cross-promotions and acting as a facilitator of conversations. The result was terrific and gives us a great basis to help promote next year’s Festival.”

“It’s imperative for a brand or business to have an engaging and meaningful digital presence,” explains St Kilda brand and design expert, Andrew Hoyne. “In the past, having a quality online presence created a portal for additional sales and profit opportunities. However now it’s an expectation and the cost of doing business. In 2011, to have an inadequate digital solution, is a backwards step and would be likely to turn away sales that would have normally existed in a previous bricks and mortar only reality.”

Green business

means better business Late last year the City of Port Phillip interviewed 375 local residents and business people regarding their thoughts about greenhouse emissions. And the results demonstrate just how ecofriendly we are!

The objective was to determine community appetite to reduce our carbon footprint. Almost 80% of respondents said they were moderately or highly motivated to reduce their greenhouse emissions and 78% of people have taken positive eco-friendly steps in the past year.

The most common actions were walking, cycling or catching public transport (31%), changing light globes (29%), recycling (15%) and reducing standby power (13%).

Small business and the carbon pricing mechanism The Federal Government is delivering new measures to help small business improve their energy efficiency and lower their costs. For example, businesses which upgrade equipment will have instant asset write off for any new asset worth up to $6500, free advice will be available to small businesses on energy efficiency opportunities, and funding will increase for programs that assist small and medium businesses in the clean technology industries.

And, the government says that the carbon pricing mechanism will impose no red tape on small businesses - they will have no reporting or compliance obligations.

For more information go to http://www. cleanenergyfuture.gov.au/helping-business/ business-and-a-clean-energy-future/

And, going green can be good for business.

Embedding sustainability into a company’s DNA makes for a more comfortable, healthy workplace; is good for morale and productivity; can lower energy and water bills; and is good for your reputation.

While the City of Port Phillip has 10 registered community gardens with over 400 members and friends, more and more companies are investigating the benefits of a business garden.

A kitchen business garden provides practical benefits

like fresh produce, an interesting new environment for meetings or functions and gives the opportunity for improved business links.

There is also the possibility of promotional opportunities through sponsorship and creating a more positive profile.

Living walls, vertical gardens and sky farms are becoming popular all over the world and do not require a lot of space or time and are relatively easty to start up.

Eco enterprises will not only be able to see business benefits, they are terrific ambassadors for a community which has proven itself to be motivated by sustainability and positive environmental action.

The Council’s Greenhouse Plan was adopted in November 2011. It is a strategic action plan for managing and reducing both community and Council’s own greenhouse gas emissions. The community actions section provides information about where primary emissions sources are for the community of Port Phillip, and provides some information for local business and industry on tackling their own emissions.

To obtain a copy of the Greenhouse Plan, please visit www.portphillip.vic.gov. au/greenhouseplan

Green Business Pilot Program 26 businesses, mostly from Ripponlea and Albert Park, have participated in the green business energy audit pilot which will help inform the City of Port Phillip’s green business policy.

This innovative scheme was piloted by Council, working with Eco Vantage, a company that specialises in sustainability advice to business and community organisations.

operate in a more environmentally sustainable manner and potentially improve their bottom line.

Participating businesses received a simple report with recommendations on energy saving solutions and approximate savings they could make.

For further information on the Green Energy Audit or to discover some tips for your business, go to www.portphillip.vic.gov.au

Emma Danchin from Ki viva in Ripponlea, Mayor Rachel Powning and Nick Balgue from Eco Vantage.

The free energy audits helped assist businesses to

CitySwitch Green Office

Rebate for water efficient products

The City of Port Phillip is proud to deliver the CitySwitch Green Office program in partnership with the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra, and co-funded by Sustainability Victoria.

A 50% rebate of up to $2000 is now available to small businesses for a wide range of water efficient products. Eligible products include: waterless or low flow urinals, mains connected toilet flush valves, dual flush toilets, showerheads, shower timers/ automatic shut off valves, rainwater tanks, waterless wok stoves, commercial glass washers, water efficient dishwashers and washing machines, pool covers, water data loggers, flow control devices, hot water recirculators and commercial high pressure water cleaners.

CitySwitch Green Office is a growing national partnership between businesses and local government acting as environmental leaders. The program works with office tenants who are committed to improving energy efficiency. As a tenant, you can significantly reduce the carbon pollution your office produces by improving office energy efficiency.

By signing onto CitySwitch Green Office your ­organisation can demonstrate and promote its commitment to ­environmental sustainability. You will also reduce operating costs, gain a competitive advantage and have the ability to promote your organisation as a greenhouse-friendly place to work and do business with.

The program also promotes CitySwitch signatories’ energy efficiency achievements through case studies, media and other marketing opportunities. Organisations which commit to the program can use the CitySwitch signatory logo to promote their green credentials, as well as receive the support and shared knowledge of a network of ­environmental leaders.

If you’d like your business to be involved, please contact the Council’s CitySwitch Program Officer, Jeff Elliott at jelliott@portphillip.vic.gov.au.

Rebates are available for small businesses with a current ABN which have 20 or fewer employees, are

connected to an urban reticulated water system and are charged a non-residential/commercial tariff.

To receive the rebate, businesses must have purchased and installed the products after 19 July 2011 and before 30 June 2013. Claims for all rebates must be submitted by 30 September 2013.

Further information, including claim forms and a list of eligible products and services, is available at: http://www.sewl.com.au/ business/BusinessRebates/ Pages/BusinessRebates. aspx; or http://www.water. vic.gov.au/saving/home/ rebates or call the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment on 136 186.

Port Philip Profiles St Kilda Tourism Association Update from the Chair For, arguably the first time in over 100 years when many of St Kilda’s iconic landmarks came into being under the St Kilda Foreshore Trust, local businesses are uniting to promote St Kilda’s attractions to residents and visitors.

The St Kilda Tourism Association (SKTA) is the result of a Port Phillip Council led initiative begun in late 2009 and formally constituted in June this year. Council recently provided initial funding which has been matched by the Fitzroy Street Traders Association and the St Kilda Village Traders Association.

As Chair, I lead a board comprising Travis Atkins, Robert Buckingham, Neil Croker, Bianca Dawson, Gail Donovan, Rée Izett, Denise Scrafton, Roger Wyndham, Frank van Haandel and Council representative Cr Serge Thomann.

The SKTA will provide advocacy, destination marketing and industry development.

As the local tourism association, it will also enable St Kilda businesses to formally link into highly successful initiatives run by the Council and Destination Melbourne, Tourism Victoria and Tourism Australia.

Membership is available to all business within the 3182 postcode. Existing Traders Association members are automatically offered membership, although they can upgrade to receive additional benefits.

For full details of membership and benefits go towww.visitstkilda.com. au or email us at info.stka@ gmail.com Submitted By Tracey Cooper South Melbourne Business Association (SMBA) Update from the President The SMBA is driven to develop the South Melbourne Business Precinct as a pre-eminent shopping, business and community destination. Our objective is to become recognised as a diverse and significant activity centre.

It has been a very exciting year for the SMBA with the first issue of SCOUT being published and distributed

to over 30,000 homes in the Port Phillip area.

Showcasing the best of the area’s cafes, restaurants, galleries and unique boutiques, the second issue of SCOUT will be released in time for Christmas with a special product catalogue showcasing our finest retailers.

We are currently organising our first annual South Melbourne Summer Festival, planned to take place down Coventry Street on 19 February 2012. A family style event, the festival will showcase our unique characters, businesses and flavours. It is an opportunity to increase the ongoing community attachment to businesses and services of the precinct, and will be a chance for visitors to sample and taste what South Melbourne has to offer.

With the festive season just around the corner, it is clearly a busy time for all retailers, with SCOUT, Summer Festival, the SMBA website and more exciting events in the pipeline, it is certainly a busy time for South Melbourne!

To find out more about the work of the SMBA, call 9694 9200 or visit the website at www.southmelbourne.com Submitted by Sam Tresise

Habitat HQ win again Local St Kilda 4.5 star backpacker and budget accommodation Habitat HQ, winners of the 2010 Citipower Port Phillip Business Excellence Awards in the Tourism category, have won another two prestigious awards.

They were crowned best Victorian ‘Backpackers ­Accommodation’ at the RACV Victorian Tourism Awards gala dinner at Crown Casino in November. This was their second consecutive win in this industry based awards for recognising the St Kilda based tourism operation the best in its sector .

Habitat HQ were also awarded ‘Best Backpacker in Victoria’ at the Golden Backpack Awards for a second consecutive year.

The Golden Backpack.

Awards are the only Australian backpacker specific industry award run and audited by TNT Magazine. The awards are voted by over 18,000 independent travellers via the magazine’s annual online campaign.

Business Excellence Awards – stay tuned!

The Citipower Port Phillip Business Excellence Awards will be held in the second half of 2012. A call for entries will start early in 2012. For more information please call Anne Warner on 9209 6420.

Power up your Port Phillip app Promote your business through the new Port Phillip app, coming to a phone near you this summer. Find out about all the exciting things to discover in the City of Port Phillip, including up to the minute information and specials in our thriving and vibrant shopping strips. You can download it free at the app store. To find out how you can market your business using the app call Dalique Knight on (03) 9209 6443.

visit us at: www.portphillipbusiness.com.au email us at: business@portphillip.vic.gov.au