Let’s Talk Business Back To Basics Business Solutions - Support for Small Business
Issue 06 August 2013
Small Business Confidence
Roy Morgan Research’s Business Confidence Survey in July showed an increase following four consecutive months of decline.
Australian Small Business is “doing it tough”
Yet, in spite of this current research, most Australian small businesses are still “doing it tough” with increased costs and reduced consumer spending.
Roy Morgan Research’s Business Confidence survey in July showed an increase following four consecutive months of decline. The July result of 117.3 was well up on the on the June figure of 112.7 and represents a tentative positive sign for economic recovery in Australia. At the same time the Roy Morgan Research Consumer Confidence survey in July also improved to 116.2, up from 114.6 in July. These results are from 2,681 interviews with business decision makers across Australia and 4,165 consumers in July before the $30 billion budget ‘blow-out’ announced Friday August 2nd by Chris Bower, Consumer Confidence fell immediately. Roy Morgan Research is in the unique position of being able to take a more holistic view of confidence in Australia by measuring the confidence of both businesses and consumers. Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
Undoubtedly, a major contributor to the lack of business confidence, is the ongoing instability in federal politics. The question is: Will confidence lift after the Federal election? Will a positive outcome re-ignite business and consumer confidence and kick-start a sluggish Australian economy? Business owners are desperately hoping that this year’s election will end a tumultuous period for Federal politics, or at least provide enough short-term respite to help people feel confident, spend more, save less, and make big-ticket purchases. Queensland small business, in particular, are feeling the mining downturn. A recent survey for the June quarter commissioned by Mining Australia showed Queensland’s business conditions were 5-10 index points lower than the state average. The survey said business confidence Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
for the June quarter stood at 43 per cent, which is eight per cent lower than North Queensland. This is predicted to jump during the present quarter to 50.9 per cent, putting business confidence in neutral. Better Business Network President, Dennis Chiron said: "“Managing and running a small business can be very tough. I think people have been really cautious with their spending and it's all about their available disposal income at the end of the day. From a business point of view, we have seen a lack of confidence for a number of reasons. I"ncreases in our utilities charges for our water, gas, electricity, and service charges associated with delivery of those services to property have gone up and they have increased dramatically in the last 12 to 18 months," he said. Mobile: 0451 184 599
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Corporate Ladder 3 Lessons LESSON 1: A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it. Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up. LESSON 2: A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree. Moral of the story: Bull dung might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there. LESSON 3: A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him! The Morals of this story:
control. "PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS
A MUST" You're walking into a company in perpetual chaos.
WHAT IS: An Economist: A person who
knows more about money than people who have it. Economy:
Going without something you want in case you should want something you probably don't want.
Not everyone who drops dung on
you is your enemy.
Not everyone who gets you out of
the dung is your friend.
Free Speech: Using someone
else's telephone.
And when you're in deep dung,
keep your mouth shut!
Life Insurance: A contract that
keeps you poor so that you can die rich.
SIGNS In the restroom at work, the Boss had placed a sign directly above the sink. It had a single word on it -"Think!" The next day, when he went to the restroom, he looked at the sign and right below, immediately above the soap dispenser, someone had carefully lettered another sign which read -"Thoap!"
Corporate Talk "JOIN
OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY" We have no time to train you; you'll have to introduce yourself to your co-workers.
"FLEXIBLE
HOURS" Work 40 hours; get paid for 25.
"DUTIES WILL VARY" Anyone in
the office can boss you around. "MUST
HAVE AN EYE FOR DETAIL" We have no quality
Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
Market Analyst: A person who
tells you what is going to happen within six months, and then after that tells you why it did not. There’s a Little McFat in Everyone During the first court hearing in a highly publicised case involving McDonald's, a lawyer for the fast-food chain urged a federal judge to dismiss a suit claiming the company has deliberately tried to mislead the public into thinking Big Macs and other products are nutritious. McDonald’s is arguing that restaurants are not legally required to tell consumers what they already know – namely eating too many Big Macs and fries will make them fat. Mobile: 0451 184 599
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The Creative Collective Yvette Adams - CEO/Founder Specialty Areas: Business Strategy. Marketing Strategy, Websites, PR, Event Management, Social Media, Webinars, Business Awards & Tender Submissions Yvette was born on the fortunate cusp of Generation X & Y into a techie family which at any one time had several computers littered about the house. She started her first business at the age of 17 – a newspaper – which was bought out by an American entrepreneur after its first issue. She created her second business and first e-commerce site in 2002 – an online tee-shirt business. Within one month of launching she received a Government Grant and won a website award. In 2006 she sold the global business and concentrated on launching The Creative Collective. An international freelance writer of many years and a self-published author (see morethanmeetstheeye.co.nz), she has been the online content editor of a massive player in the UK magazine market (tntmagazine.com), and has consulted numerous businesses in New Zealand, the UK and Australia on their online strategies and built many websites. She started The Creative Collective in 2007 after the birth of her second child from the study nook of her home, and it has since grown to have six staff based from the company's commercial offices in Maroochydore, 2 franchisees and over 30 contractors around the world. She has won numerous business awards including the Commonwealth Bank Business Owner of the Year Award at the Telstra Business Womens Awards Queensland 2010 against a field of 4200, Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
the Entrepreneurial Award at the
Gold Coast.
Women in Technology Awards in 2012, and being recognized as a finalist in the Asian Entrepreneur category of the Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
Founded in 2007 Yvette said that since the beginning we have prided ourselves on keeping up with the ever changing landscape of marketing and communications.
She now promotes this awards program, which also includes the International Business Awards, the Sales & Customer Service Awards and the American Business Awards in the Australia and New Zealand regions. She is an experienced and inspiring speaker who shares her message with passion and enthusiasm and is available for public speaking engagements. She is involved in a number of industry reference groups and a member of several professional associations. She is regularly called on by the media as a spokesperson and for commentary and writes regular columns for the APN group, Marketing Magazine and The Creative Collective blog. See more at: http:// www.thecreativecollective.com.au/meet -yvette#sthash.T4vHfHxg.dpuf The Creative Collective is an awardwinning and full-service creative / marketing agency based on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, with franchisees in Newcastle, NSW and the Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
Increasingly, our focus is drawn to online marketing strategies and online marketing activities as it consistently seems to produce the best results for our clients. We provide website design and development, graphic design and print, PR and marketing, search engine optimisation, pay per click and social media, livestream & webinar services. We also offer an extensive array of training solutions including webinars, BYO Laptop Trainings, programs and more. For a full list of our current training offerings see our events page. See more at: http:// www.thecreativecollective.com.au/ #sthash.65oEMrdA.dpuf
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Dennis Chiron Marketing Means Business 0451 184 599 dennis@marketingmeansbusiness.net.au Skype: dennis.chiron2
Finding and keeping customers is one of the biggest challenges facing new businesses. So how do you entice the customer back after that first sale? With unreasonable advertising costs and no guarantees on returns on investments, spreading the word about your business can be difficult. However, it can be done and here are five tips on how to get the clients coming back time and time again. 1. Build Loyalty You don't need to a set up loyalty card or points scheme to give something back to your consumer base, although it is an idea worth considering if it suits your business. Offering a unique discount to those who have purchased from you before will keep your name in customers' minds and remind them to use your business again. It's the little things you remember to do, which can build a loyal team of customers. If you record how often customers buy goods from you, send them a thank you card, voucher or another token of appreciation with their 10th order. Whichever way you choose, it will remind your clients how important they are and help create a friendly image for your business. 2. Keep Communicating Staying in contact with your customers is essential at all times, whether through newsletters, social media or events. However, it's never more crucial than when something has gone wrong. It's a Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
How To Make Sure Your Customers Come Back
natural reaction to bury your head after a mistake, but this will only help your clients go elsewhere. Setting out a clear and open reaction to any issues within your own company will help explain what went wrong to customers, assuring them it won't happen again. Beyond this, they'll understand and see your business as a more approachable brand, one that sticks in their thoughts for future custom. 3. Never Neglect Customers If you want to hold onto customers, your service to them has to be one of your highest priorities. If people who are trying to contact your business are met with half an hour of boring hold music or impatient and inattentive support staff, you'll never build up the loyal base of clients you're looking for. Make sure everyone representing your business puts forward a positive image and treats customers with the kind of respect which will get them coming back again and again. 4. Stay Human For all the money invested into PR and advertising, having a face and personality for your brand is the most effective way to embed yourself in the memories of customers. Take the time to think how you want to present your brand and how you want customers to think of you. Once you've got this fixed, communicate it to everyone in your business and ensure they present it to customers. Moreover, keep yourself involved with as many stages of the business as possible and interact with customers to keep them coming back.
While most modern entrepreneurs are ready to put themselves at the forefront of their brand, there are few examples as clear as Richard Branson and the Virgin Group. There is no need to look any further to see how much an approachable image can help the success of a business. 5. Keep It Current This is particularly important if your business runs a significant amount of its processes through a website. You can't expect customers to come back if there's nothing new to see. Keeping your product information and highlighted aspects of your brand fluid will allow the public to see more of what you offer and maintain an interest in your company. Creating and regularly using a blog for your business is also a great way of spreading exciting news, keeping customers interested and building a personality for your brand. Try to keep what's written friendly and relaxed to help the public engage with your brand. It wouldn't be easy to find a successful business without a blog these days. Many companies tie it in with the use of social media to keep their content regularly updated and give their customers something to be interested in. ďƒž
Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
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Dr Tim Baker Managing Director WINNERS AT WORK Pty Ltd
www.winnersatwork.com.au www.about.me/tim.baker
Why Won’t Managers Talk To Their Staff About Performance?
Telephone. +61 7 3899 8881
Editor’s Note: Tim is an international consultant, successful author, keynote speaker, master trainer, executive coach, university lecturer and skilful facilitator. In a nutshell, he has conducted over 2,430 seminars, workshops and keynote addresses to over 45,000 people in 11 countries across 21 industry groups. Tim points out: “When it comes to performance reviews, my involvement with organisations both big and small, generally hasn't been positive. In fact I regularly hear the following complaints about performance reviews or appraisals:
They are a costly exercise Performance reviews can be destructive They are often a monologue rather than a dialogue The formality of the appraisal stifles discussion The infrequency of reviews Appraisals are an exercise in form filing Performance review are rarely followed up Most people find the appraisal stressful
Why don't managers give employees regular feedback on their performance? Why do they often wait for the appraisal to do so? Over the past 18 years I have talked to thousands of employees and this is a common complain across all industry groups. For example, I recall speaking to an 18Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
year-old female fresh out of school and nine months into her first job in an SME. She was quite distressed. Melinda had not received any feedback from her boss in nine months on the job. I asked Melinda whether she would like me to approach her manager on her behalf and ask him if he could let her know how she was settling into her first job. Melinda was quite enthusiastic about this prospect and I subsequently approached her boss, Ted. I proceeded to explain to Ted that Melinda was concerned that she had not received any feedback from him since she had started and suggested that he sit her down and explain how she was doing in her work.
Employee Performance (Palgrave Macmillan) out in early October. Essentially, it is based on five conversations each lasting about 15 minutes between the manager and his or her employees. Let's look at each conversation briefly.
Before I could finish my sentence, Ted interrupted me and said, ‘No, I can’t do that.’ There was an uncomfortable pause in our conversation. I said, ‘May I ask why you can’t do this?’
I was thinking there must be some rational explanation. Ted retorted, ‘If I do that for Melinda, I will have to do that for all my staff.’ I was rendered speechless.
I think one of the main reasons is that managers are predominantly rewarded on the basis of achieving certain outcomes and therefore maintainance and developmental conversations are not on the priority list. Do you agree, or do you have another possible reason? This is an extract from my latest book - The End of the Performance Review: A New Approach to Appraising Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
Climate review conversation A climate review is about determining the current atmosphere in a particular workplace. Strengths and talents conversation, this focuses on the weaknesses and sometimes neglects to discuss particular strengths and talents. Opportunities for growth conversation This conversation focuses on strategies for improved performance from the employee's individual perspective. Learning and development conversation The Learning and development conversation is designed to discuss the learning needs of the employee now and in the future. Innovation and continuous improvement conversation Conversations around Innovation and continuous improvement are about practical ways and means of improving both the employee's own efficiency and effectiveness and the business in general. systems and process improvements in the business.
I'd recommend you try this approach if you either have no performance review system in place or the current system you have is not working. Mobile: 0451 184 599
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Geoff Butler FAIM AP, MAITD MACE Principal/Business Improvement & Implementation Specialist Business Optimizers Mobile: 0414 943072 Fax: 3036 6131 Email: geoff@businessoptimizers.com.au Skype: business.optimizers1
Are You Happy With Your Network? “You are the average of the six people you spend the most time with.” If you think about the above statement, are you happy with your network or is it time for an upgrade? It’s a fact of life that if you want a million dollar business, you will need a million dollar network around you. On the other hand if you want a five million dollar business you will need a five million dollar support network to help you make that happen. The people who helped you establish your business all those years ago may not be the ones you need to take it to the next level, and it is often because of an inappropriate sense of loyalty that we fail to look at who we really need to take us toward our ultimate goal. I’m not saying you should be ruthless and hold no personal sense of ethics in growing your business. What I’m saying is that over time our businesses change direction and may grow beyond the area of expertise of those we initially needed to get started. I’m often the first one to suggest a client may need a higher or more specialised level of support as they grow beyond my area of comfortableness, or indeed competence.
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I would be more concerned if your advisors don’t do this. That being said I read an interesting article recently that put forward an interesting perspective on the key people you should have in your team from both a personal and business perspective. I liked the concept and thought it might provide a context to review ‘your team’. Nothing incredible is accomplished alone. You need others to help you, and you need to help others. With the right team, you can form a web of connections to make the seemingly impossible practically inevitable. Have you got these people on your side? The Instigator: Someone who pushes you, who makes you think. Someone who motivates you to get up and go, and try, and make things happen. You want to keep this person energized, and enthusiastic. This is the voice of inspiration. The Cheerleader: This person is a huge fan, a strong supporter, and a rabid evangelist for you and your work. Work to make this person rewarded, to keep them engaged. This is the voice of motivation. The Doubter: This is the devil’s advocate, who asks the hard questions and sees problems before they arise. You need this Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
person’s perspective. They are looking out for you, and want you to be as safe as you are successful. This is the voice of reason. The Taskmaster: This is the loud and belligerent voice that demands you get things done. This person is the steward of momentum, making sure deadlines are met and goals are reached. This is the voice of progress. The Connector: This person can help you find new avenues and new allies. This person breaks through roadblocks into finds ways to make magic happen. You need this person to reach people and places you can’t. This is the voice of cooperation and community. The Example: This is your mentor, you hero, your North Star. This is the person who you seek to emulate. This is your guiding entity, someone whose presence acts as a constant reminder that you, too, can do amazing things. You want to make this person proud. This is the voice of true authority. Have a look at your team and see who might be missing, or indeed who might need upgrading to get you to the next level. This may not always be easy but in the words of Tom O’Toole, the famous Beechworth Baker ‘You’ll never find what you’re looking for in your comfort zone’. Mobile: 0451 184 599
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Dan Buzer Profit Mechanics 0414 567 188 www.profitmechanics.net/
“Is Your Business Stuck In A Rut? Some Say A Rut Is A Grave With The Ends Kicked Out!” Do you ever feel like you’re going around in circles in your business, filling your day with different activity, but at the end of the day, week, month, year the results are the same? Unfortunately most businesses experience this ‘Stuck in a Rut’ scenario. It’s common for people in business and can be a sign that the business is not growing … often times this is just a nice way of saying it’s on its last legs. Experienced, profitable and happy business owners are continually learning new ideas and applying them intelligently to their business. This keeps them energised, attractive to others and most importantly … profitable! If you know how new skills are learned it makes it easier for you to grow. You greatly increase your chances of being able to break the ‘rut’ cycle. The following diagram explains how we learn …
The 4 Steps to Learning
The diagram shown is the process of learning. The cycle never ends. By understanding this, your ability to learn and educate others more effectively increases dramatically. This is how mentors help their mentees. Using their experiences and resources, they can guide people on a learning experience. People can be introduced to quicker, easier and more effective methods. “We repeat the lesson, until we learn the lesson” Step 1: Unconsciously Incompetent - You don’t know what you don’t know There was a time you were not even aware that you could not drive a car. You were travelling in cars most days of your life, however you still did not click to the idea of a cars existence. Just because you may see something, does not mean you understand it. Step 2: Consciously Incompetent – You know that you don’t know At some stage you realised that something existed that was called a ‘car’. Driving was something parents and other adults did. It was dangerous for you to drive until you had more personal and life experience. Step 3: Consciously Competent Decision to change and start to practice * Here is the important bit for people in business …
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This step is what Michael Gerber calls an ‘Entrepreneurial Seizure’. The employee makes the decision to ‘be their own boss’. They believe they have business skills, when really they only have technician skills. They convince themselves that they ‘have to learn by trial and error’, unaware that they could hire a professional teacher and it would cost them a lot less in the long run financially, physically and emotionally. At some point you make the decision to learn how to drive. You pay more attention to other people driving. You practice in safer areas where there is less chance of causing damage. You have sweaty hands, remind yourself to check the mirrors and are focussed on remembering where the controls are. Step 4: Unconsciously Competent – Mastery by practice After driving for a while you soon forget all the little things it takes to drive. Driving becomes a part of you, second nature. You have confidence because you have done it so many times and have a history of more challenging situations whilst driving. Driving at night, in the rain, changing a flat tyre are learning experiences. You may even give others some advice from your experience, not that this qualifies you to be a driving instructor! Dan Buzer Mobile: 0451 184 599
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Peter Athey Specialized Management Services 0405 318 449 www.specializedmanagement.com.au peter@specializedmanagement.com.au
Is It All About The Cake? Why do you go to work? Hint – The thinking is that it has more to do with cake than it does with doe. Here is a better question. Would you like to get more productivity out of yourself and your employees? Ask any 10 people and you may get 10 different answers or 10 exactly the same, however the question, “why do you go to work?” is important because you will find that understanding your motivations will be a key consideration in increasing your own performance. Whether you are an employee, selfemployed, an owner operator or a business operator with your own employees, you will do well to ask the question. There is a commonly held belief that money and other remunerative compensation is the most effective form of motivation to an employee. Every time I ask the question directly, the answer is nearly always “money” however we know through extensive research and proven productivity improvements that this is not necessarily true. A psychologist called Herzberg postulated in the 60s that high levels of what he labelled ‘hygiene factors’ such as pay, job security, status, working conditions, fringe benefits, job policies, and relations with co-workers would have a calculable effect on productivity, but then came some cake from Ikea. The Ikea Effect basically says “labour enhances affection for its results.” Research indicated that housewives resisted instant cake mixes because they were too easy. Ikea took the powdered eggs out of the cake mix so that housewives had to put an egg back in. Just that little bit of extra labour made the difference and increased the value of the cake. Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
Another study in the Harvard Business Review found that people undervalue products that they don’t contribute to, and tend to overvalue those on which they have contributed to. Professor Dan Ariely built on this research and found that people are willing to perform even menial of tasks, for very little pay, as long as they considered the work meaningful or are recognized for their contributions. He asked volunteer subjects to circle some words on a sheet and paid them a trivial amount per sheet and less for successive sheets. He had 3 scenarios. In one, the supervisor checked the work briefly and gave a brief positive acknowledgment. In the second scenario, he had the results put onto a pile without checking and with no comment and the third scenario, the completed work was immediately shredded without comment nor even a glance at the work. He said that the third group could have easily cheated and made more money by just submitting incomplete or incorrectly done work. It is not hard to work out that the shred scenario was going to give the poorest performance. Subjects quit sooner and netted less income than the other two groups. The first scenario netted the best results by far but the concerning result was the second scenario. It was virtually the same as the shred scenario. Ariely devised some more research with origami. In one group he gave instructions and the other none but the subjects were allowed to purchase the finished product. The subjects without instructions origami finished products were not as good quality as the ones built with instructions and other subjects with no connection to the Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
build, put a higher value on the instruction built origami. Out of the two groups of origami builders, guess which group paid a higher price for their own works? It seems that the less instructions given, the higher value is placed upon the finished article (by the builder, not the disconnected buyer). Maybe the secret ingredient is pride or even love. Can we conclude from this that giving workers work that demands more effort and thought to it, that they will value the work more? A thing made with love is always more special to the maker and the receiver. Is this why the results of the business owners efforts are always more likely to get better outcomes than those of their staff? So, back to the original question. Why do you go to work? If you are a small business owner and you don’t love what you do, we need to talk. Do you acknowledge the work of your staff? Or do you shred it because it does not come up to your incredibly high “love” standard? The biggy! Do you acknowledge your own work? Professor Dan Ariely says that we need to look at a revised model of labour. Payment is a component of worker motivation whether it is you or your staff. He asserts however, that meaning, creation, challenge, ownership, identity and pride all play a bigger than expected and key part of the solution. Cake anyone? Peter Athey Specialized Management Services
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Janelle Macpherson BBusInfMgt, DipMgt, Certified NLP Practitioner , Cert MHSS, Accred Life Coach. Business Owner/Life Coach/Consultant emPOWERful Solutions Sub Company – Express Life Coaching Brisbane North ABN 76 594 335 474 Blue Card: 1161688/1 0409728579 empowerfulsolutions@yahoo.com.au http://empowerfulsolutions.com.au/
Can Do or Can’t Do Attitude - which is better for business or life? This month I want to start off the article with a brilliant poem that was created by M&C Saatchi creative director Andy Fleming. Anyone who saw Toni Collette on TV quoting the poem will know it was for The Commonwealth Bank. When you read the poem really think about what the words are saying to you. Ode to Can There's a four lettered word As offensive as any It holds back the few Puts a stop to the many. You can't climb that mountain You can't cross the sea You can't become anything you want to be. He can't hit a century They can't find a cure. She can't think about leaving or searching for more. Because Can't is a word with a habit of stopping The ebb and the flow of ideas It keeps dropping itself where we know in our hearts it's not needed And saying "don't go" when we could have succeeded. But those four little letters That end with a T They can change in an instant When shortened to three. We can take off the T We can do it today We can move forward not back We can find our own way. Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
We can build we can run We can follow the sun We can push we can pull We can say I'm someone Who refuses to believe That life can't be better With the removal of one Insignificant letter. I remember when I first heard this poem I thought how incredibly true this is, we find it really easy to say I can’t but imagine taking off the T and saying I can. As I said in my first article—words are very powerful. Do you have a can or can’t attitude to work or play? For the next month I would like you to stop saying I can’t and say I can. Not just in your home/play life but in your work life too. Imagine how your customers or clients might react when instead of saying I can’t do that for you, you say what you can do for them. For example as a Life Coach I get asked if you can do counselling. I could easily say “I can’t do that as it is not my profession”. Instead I say to the potential client, “let’s have a talk about what you are really wanting in life and if I feel that you need counselling I can certainly give you some names for you to consider.” I could have easily just turned that person away and missed out on business. As it turned out, that
Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
person became a valued client and they didn’t need counselling. How many times have you encountered the can’t word and you think, come on all you have to do is ……..(you fill in the blanks) I can remember going to a burger joint and getting a works burger and asking can you take the egg off my burger and put it on my husband’s. I was told they couldn’t do that. “what do you mean you can’t do that?” I asked. Think about what it would have entailed. They would have cooked the egg for me and instead of placing it on one burger they would have placed it on the other burger. Lets just say I don’t really go to the burger joint anymore as I have found one that said that they could do this. One of the worst words you can say to a customer is NO! If you can’t do it because of rules then learn to say it in a positive mode like “I would love to do that for you except I would be breaking the law, however I could do this for you……. By coming in with an alternative, you are seen as wanting to help and being positive instead of being negative. So from this time forward, let’s all remove the “T”. ©Janelle Macpherson 2013.
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Ron Court, AMC Dip (Funerals) MQJA JP (Qual)
Emergency Management
OH&S Advisor 0419679619 roncourt@aapt.net.au
Do you have or even know what an emergency plan is?, it does not matter is you are a leader in a small or large business in fact you can even have an emergency plan at home. A French study, estimated the proportions of persons' reactions to a fire situation: 5 per cent were not prone to panic they awaited informed advice before taking action; 20 per cent were likely to panic - they acted alone and attempted to leave as quickly as possible; and 75 per cent were influenced by those disposed to panic. These people may react incorrectly unless a leader emerges within the first few minutes to guide them. The role of anyone in charge of an evacuation is essentially to provide leadership - to prevent panic and guide the occupants of a building through the set evacuation procedures. There are many different types of emergencies not only fire, some others include Hazardous Chemical Spills, Toxic Fumes, Bomb Threat, Explosion, so the idea is if we are confronted with any Emergency we need to have a plan to deal with it. Aims of emergency Planning: At all times, emergency workplace evacuations will be a part of an emergency management. Emergency planning should aim to: *Reduce the level of risk to lives, property and the environment; *Control any incident and reduce its impact on the workplace; and *Provide the basis for the training of all people who could be involved in any emergency at the workplace. Hazard
Identification;
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Risk
Assessment; and Risk Control: The work at a workplace should be analysed to identify potentially hazardous situations where the work processes could involve emergencies of all types.
evacuation. Practical training is essential: In a worker's usual workplace, practicing evacuation procedures by actually walking through the escape route to the nominated gathering place is the best way for workers to learn the procedure. Active involvement is always better than passively receiving information. PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
The final step is to determine the control measures that need to be in place. Workplace evacuations are a risk control measure, because they remove people from the hazardous situation, thereby reducing the risk of injury or harm.
During training, special needs must be identified: In most workplaces, the emergency evacuation procedures will account for the special interests of an individual worker who may be disabled or require assistance leaving the workplace in an emergency.
Monitoring and review of control measures: Control measures need to be monitored and regularly reviewed for their effectiveness.
Capabilities and limitations must be considered: The difficulty where a group has special needs is in understanding the capabilities of the group and the limitations that will interfere with each person's ability to evacuate.
Consultation with workers: Workers have a significant amount of expertise and knowledge to bring to the process. Measures developed and implemented jointly between employers and workers are often more effective because they have workplace acceptance. Planning for emergency evacuations: Planning for emergency evacuations follows the same risk management process described above. Hazard Identification: In a workplace where hazardous substances are used, there could be serious contamination of the atmosphere requiring emergency evacuation while the situation is brought under control. Risk Assessment: The assessment would consider all of the factors that may affect an orderly evacuation, Risk Control: Decisions are made about the action needed to safely evacuate the workplace and the training required to ensure everyone knows what to do in an emergency Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
Staff must have clear guidelines BOMB THREATS: Treat every threat as genuine. Bomb threats
require a management
slightly different approach when
compared to other emergencies that may require evacuation. Check escape route is clear: In the event that evacuation of a particular area is to proceed, the escape route is checked to ensure it is clear before workers use it. Comprehensive procedures are essential: Bomb threat procedures should cover contact with the Police, search procedures, and what to do if a suspicious parcel or bag is found.
A FINAL WORD Be prepared for emergencies: There is no substitute for planning and preparation. Mobile: 0451 184 599
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Paul GILLMORE DFS Founder and Director Southern Cross Financial Services 07 5429 5561 0402 685 032 paul@sc-fs.com.au
FEDERAL DEFICIT – Fine or Folly? Much has been said about the federal government policy of running an ongoing budget deficit but what are the implications. One school of thought says that it’s O.K. to run a deficit. Otherwise it could cost jobs and throw the economy into recession. There is merit in this. The other side says that we should not spend more than we earn. There is merit in this too. So which is right? The job of government is not only to administer but to assist to lay the foundations of the future. Therefore it falls to governments to generate momentum and seed the capital to create projects that individual people or companies cannot through lack of scale or critical mass. A wonderful example of this is the Snowy Mountains Scheme which manages water supply and generates carbon free electricity – a truly inspirational project well ahead of its time (notwithstanding the concerns about insufficient annual flows along the Snowy River). Australia borrowed to fund this project and of course we had to repay the principle plus interest. This is justifiable because the project has and will contribute to our economic and social wellbeing for decades to come. Economists call this the ‘Multiplier Effect’ because for each $1 invested for Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
example, $5 or more might be returned over time. Naturally this makes sense but it begs the question “How did we arrive at our present day deficit?” It should be noted that Australia started with a surplus federal budget in 2007 plus money set aside for future costs. This is very smart and very prudent. DEBT? What’s the Problem? The problem with our deficit is that it was created with no multiplier effect i.e. no future income to justify the borrowing. We all know of the inappropriate school halls program, pink batts which created rorts, burned down houses and resulted in deaths of young Australians; and $900 cheques, 70% of which went to the gambling and hotel industries. This “Structural Deficit” is an ongoing cost built into Australia’s annual budget that does not have an income source to offset or fund it. One does not have to be too bright to realise the folly of this. A much better way would be to bring forward infrastructure projects to stimulate our economy. This is exactly what China did when they did their own economic stimulus after 2008. They built port facilities, rail, road and public housing. ALL of this stimulus contains the multiplier effect where little of Email: dennis@b2bbs.com.au
Australia’s stimulus contained any multiplier effect. In other words, the federal government ‘blew’ the surplus and then ran up debt with no way of paying it back. This is fundamentally irresponsible. It is also the reason why despite repeated promises, the federal government has not been able to reign in their debt. If our national debt is $280 billion @ 5% interest = $14 billion per year in interest payments alone. Sufficient to pay for Disability Care AND Maternity Leave at full wages PLUS change ! You can see the problem, can’t you? We want to do things but we have to use the money to repay debt. The nasty taste comes from the fact that we still haven’t paid ANY of the $280b back. Stuck We are stuck now because we MUST repay the debt to stop paying the interest to be able to afford to do things in the future. Therefore very careful management is required to reduce debt and maintain economic bouyancy. This MUST be done sooner not later.
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Miriam Battersby, dip Multimedia, International Webmaster CertificationWoorim
Like the Eagle we see the Big Picture
, Bribie island
ph 3410 1071 admin@on-line-biz.com http://www.online-biz.com.au
MIMBEE MULTIMEDIA (est 2002)
Online Business Website Consultants
Browser Trends Do you know how they affect your website? According to Stat Counter figures released recently, July 2013 may have been Internet Explorer’s worst month ever.
In last month’s analysis, Chrome outnumbered Firefox users two to one. Internet Explorer dropped a massive 2.29% in one month. Firefox went back above 20%, Safari has exceeded 8% and Opera gained by a small margin. While Internet Explorer 10 continued to perform well with a 1.2% increase, the previous versions fell by almost 3.5%. 20% of PC owners are still using Windows XP. IE8 isn’t terrible, but it’s aging badly. If those users cannot/do not want to upgrade their OS, IE is a dead-end and Chrome, Firefox or Opera offer a better alternative. While newer versions of IE may be a match for the competition, there are few compelling reasons to switch back if you’ve already adopted another browser. PCs are losing ground as mobile phones and tablets become increasingly viable cloud computing devices. Different operating systems and browsers apply to these devices.
Do you need to add a Mobile App to your Website? FREE Website Analysis and Review
We’ll help point you in the right direction
No obligation Just a friendly chat! Ph 3410 1071 web: online-biz.com.au Web: www.b2bbs.com.au
What has this got to do with your website? A Web browser is a translation device. It takes a document written in the HTML language and translates it into a displayed Web page. Like giving two human translators a sentence written in French and asking them to translate it into English, different browsers will interpret the instructions differently. The basic rules for translating HTML documents are established by the World Wide Web consortium, which publishes the official HTML standards. But there's considerable room for interpretation within those ground rules. For example, the HTML standards say that the TABLE tag should support a CELLSPACING attribute to define the space between parts of the table. But standards don't define the default value for that attribute, so unless you explicitly define CELLSPACING when building your page, two browsers may use different amounts of white space in your table.
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Good websites are built to be cross browser compatible—then one will upgrade and change the rules—pain for the webmaster!
Summary Website display is very different
from print media. It is not just displaying each formatted page as a slide show! There
are many different browsers in use and many different resolutions and device window sizes.
Sometimes it can be impossible
for your website to display EXACTLY the same across all browsers/devices. The browser you use may not be
the one that most of your clients/ viewers/users use. Browser updates can break the
layout of older website designs. You need to update your website
design regularly.
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KEEP IT LOCAL Business Working Together BRIBIE BETTER BUSINESS INC. “Aspiring to achieve a Combined, Progressive and Dynamic Culture for all Local Businesses” Proudly supporting our Members and other Local Businesses
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