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WHY WOMEN ARE LEADING THE OUTSOURCE REVOLUTION
October 2011
YOUR COMPLETE OUTSOURCING RESOURCE maxiom
What’s in the Mag? Regular Features Page 2:
A Quick Word
Page: 16: Welcome to the Revolution
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Page 48:
In the “Spotlight”
Special Features Page 4:
The Outsourcing Revolution
Page 12:
The new Leadership, Culture and Management Practices of High-Performing Workplaces Report Links Profits Directly to Employee Happiness & Strong Leadership
Page 20:
Exporting Your Business
Page 26:
How to Hire Employees When You Can’t Afford To
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07 In the Spotlight Page 48: The Fortune Institute
Articles Page 18: How Employee Behaviour & Attitude Can Determine Your Ultimate Success
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Page 22: How to Attract, Target and Retain Customers Page 24: Building Profitable Alliances
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Page 26: Psychographics Vs Demographics Page 32: 6 Things to Outsource in Your Business Page 40: Rethinking the ‘F” Word Page 44: What Will Google+ Mean to Your Business
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A QUICK WORD with Mark Matthews Welcome to the Outsourcing Revolution! And of course the October edition of Outsource Resource Magazine! We hope you find it informative and interesting. We would like to thank everyone from the team at maxiom for all their hard work and diligence in making this publication come together. Welcome to the outsourcing revolution! Thank you for taking the time to read our online publication. Outsource Resource is all about helping your business grow through outsourcing.
We’re also introducing a section called “In the Spotlight” where we take a look at an outsource business, entrepreneur or service. This month we take a look at Siimon Reynolds new venture the Fortune Institute - a business dedicated to helping entrepreneurs achieve success.
We take a look at the reasons why We also take a look at some businesses outsource. The benefits and the range of services exciting new Start-Ups in “Join the Revolution”. This month we that are commonly outsourced. talk to Joanne Solis of integrated We also take a look at the lifestyle OHS, HR, Recruitment & Training provider Building Up Consulting. challenges driving many professionals and other experienced employees to leave We investigate the outcomes of well paying careers to become the Leadership, Culture and freelance outsource contractors Management Practices of Highand .....join the revolution. Performing Workplaces report and what makes a high There is a great article on “how to performing business and how to attain and retain new clients” measure your performance. and 6 things to outsource in your business today! High performing workplaces are directly linked to increased profits, This month Kristin McNicol also so we look into why employee talks about networking in her behaviour and attitude can article about “building profitable determine your ultimate alliances”. success.
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In rethinking the “F” word, we look into the benefits of outsourcing your operations through franchising and why franchising is such a successful business model . There is also some information about Google+ and why psychographics has replaced demographics. And of course information about our recommended outsourced providers ....and a few ads, which is of course why you subscribed to the magazine in the first place! And if you hadn’t noticed, on the next page there’s some information about our other FREE digital magazines. Enjoy the magazine and until next month keep safe and cheers for now.
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Subscribe for Free. Maxiom Online Magazines 11 Different Titles Covering Many Interesting Aspects of Business, Marketing, Franchising, HR & Recruitment, Construction, Green Business plus more....
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Outsource Resource Magazine | 5
THE OUTSOURCING REVOLUTION Entrepreneurs and Business Managers are outsourcing more services than ever. We look into this phenomena and come up with some interesting findings. When we started this magazine 6 months ago, we began receiving regular feedback about some of our articles and it was somewhat surprising to discover many business were outsourcing without any real business purpose nor were they measuring the effectiveness of their contracts. In fact many businesses informed us they had experienced inconsistent results from companies they had engaged to outsource a wide spectrum of services. So we have decided to revisit the reasons why businesses outsource. Ideally a successful outsource relationship enables you to outsource administrative or operational activities that are not part of your normal day-to-day business, or for which you require additional resources. This provides you with the peace of mind that comes with being certain that the required services will be professionally executed in a timely manner, without additional in-house hiring. Know what to outsource and the results you want to achieve. Being clear on what services you do not wish to undertake in house and the scope of services you want to outsource along with the results expected from your outsourced contractor is critical to the success of the relationship.
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Organizations that outsource should be seeking to realize benefits or address the following issues: 1. Cost savings - The lowering of the overall cost of the service to the business. This will involve reducing the scope, defining quality levels, repricing, re-negotiation, and cost re-structuring. It may include contracting production or services offshore, to lower cost economies. 2. Focus on Core Business Resources (for example investment, people, infrastructure) are focused on developing the core business. For example often organizations outsource their IT support to specialised IT services companies. 3. Cost restructuring Operating leverage is a measure that compares fixed costs to variable costs. Outsourcing changes the balance of this ratio by offering a move from fixed to variable cost and also by making variable costs more predictable.
4. Improve quality - Achieve a steep change in quality through contracting out the service with a new service level agreement. 5. Knowledge - Access to intellectual property and wider experience and knowledge. 6. Contract - Services will be provided to a legally binding contract with financial penalties and legal redress. This is not the case with internal services. 7. Operational expertise Access to operational best practice that would be too difficult or time consuming to develop in-house. 8. Access to talent - Access to a larger talent pool and a sustainable source of skills, in particular professional services, consulting, science and engineering. 9. Capacity management - An improved method of capacity management of services and technology where the risk in providing the excess capacity is borne by the supplier.
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10. Catalyst for change - An organization can use an outsourcing agreement as a catalyst for major step change that can not be achieved alone. The outsourcer becomes a Change Agent in the process. 11. Enhance capacity for innovation - Companies increasingly use external knowledge service providers to supplement limited in-house capacity for product innovation. 12. Reduce time to market The acceleration of the development or production of a product through the additional capability brought by the supplier. 13. Commodification - The trend of standardizing business processes, IT Services, and application services which enable you to buy at the right price, allows businesses access to services which were only available to large corporations.
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14. Risk management - An approach to risk management for some types of risks is to partner with an outsourcer who is better able to provide the mitigation.
Outsourcing can assist SME’s compete on more favourable terms with larger organisations if it is used effectively. With the plethora of outsourcing options available to most businesses cutting through the sales hype and delivery promises can sometimes be a difficult proposition in itself.
15. Venture Capital - Some countries match government funds venture capital with private venture capital for start-ups that Knowing where to start, what to start businesses in their outsource, why and to whom can country. be daunting for many SME’s but it doesn’t have to be. 16. Tax Benefit - Countries offer tax incentives to move Some businesses outsource just manufacturing operations because it seems easier, but if the to counter high corporate contracted service scope isn’t taxes within another clear and the delivery expectations country. not documented then the end result may not be what the 17. Scalability - The business owners had in mind. outsourced company will usually be prepared to It makes sense to partner with an manage a temporary or outsourcing specialist who can permanent increase or assist you develop an outsourcing decrease in production. strategy that will enable you to achieve your business aims. 18. Creating leisure time Individuals may wish to No matter what you are looking to outsource their work in outsource the first thing you order to optimise their should check is if the person or work-life balance. company you are considering is capable of managing a key area of your business better than you can do yourself, so you don’t have to worry about it. If you don’t think they can or are unsure…then move on to one who can.
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RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS....AND WIN!!! Would you like to promote your business to pre-qualified customers regionally, nationally or internationally for very little or no cost? Once upon a time advertising to a marketing tool that many more wide audience was limited to only readers are interested in receiving the largest of companies. and will open every time it hits their inbox. The Internet has changed that forever. The playing field, at least After all they have asked us to as far as the Internet goes, is far send it to them! more level and enables almost any business to promote and market All our magazines are FREE to themselves regionally, nationally or subscribers meaning that more internationally at a very small cost. people are likely to subscribe and more people will see and hear SME’s now have the opportunity to your message. take advantage of Internet Marketing and grow their business All magazines are compatible with in a manner to meet their business iPads & Smartphones and are aims. structured in a way to maximise the readership via mobile media. Maxiom is an Australian leader in the field of online publications and Being an online publication has Internet Marketing. With over many other advantages, enabling 120,000 subscribers to our online you to incorporate links to your publications, and growing daily, the web site, video & audio opportunities for our clients to presentations, including YouTube, exploit permission marketing are PowerPoint presentations, RSS enormous. Feeds, blogs, social media links all of which can be accessed from Publishing your own company’s or any computer, laptop, iPad or organisation’s magazine is a Smartphone. terrific way to been seen in the market place. With many more Advertisers also get the same companies targeting email functionality, meaning readers can marketing it is sometime easy for immediately click through to your your message to get lost amongst site for more information or to take the plethora of messages received up your offer. everyday. It offers instant and constant By publishing an informative and communication with your target appealing online magazine, market and is supported with businesses now have an online email marketing campaigns and
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other Internet marketing tools all included in the packages available. Every publication has its own dedicated account manager and marketing consultant whose sole function is to assist our clients maximise the effectiveness of their Internet marketing. We earn the bulk of our revenue from selling advertising in the publications which means for most companies who partner with Maxiom to deliver their online message, there is very little cost in preparing, publishing and distributing the online publications. You can find out more about how Maxiom can help your business grow by contacting one of our consultants:
maxiom Maxiom Group Pty Ltd Level 2, 710 Collins Street Docklands Vic 3008 Tel: (03) 9097 1606 Fax: (03) 9097 1607 Email: info@maxiom.com.au www.maxiom.com.au
Outsource Resource Magazine | 9
RECRUITMENT SOLUTIONS THAT DON’T COST THE EARTH We believe many recruitment solutions are overpriced. Finding you excellent candidates shouldn't cost the earth. Given the high calibre of our talented community, our costs & services provide fantastic value for money. Our Candidates
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Our members are top performers; high-fliers looking for challenging, meaningful and fulfilling careers opportunities.
If your opportunity fits the bill we'll bend over backwards to help you find excellent candidates from within our community.
We believe many recruitment solutions are overpriced.
We're talking the top 2% - high achievers. Thousands of ambitious young professionals with widespread corporate experience & training. What distinguishes these people is that they don't want to be small cogs in large machines. They want to do work that matters, they want to have a significant impact in their organisations. They want to Do Something Different. They want to make a difference. In fact, they want to BE the difference.
Unlike job listing sites and many traditional recruitment companies we focus on quality over quantity. Listings get a manageable number of exceptional applications. Our team are experts in their field of specialty, most having over 10 or 15 years experience in that field before becoming a recruitment expert.
Finding you excellent candidates shouldn't cost the earth. Given the high calibre of our talented community, our costs & services provide fantastic value for money. See our ad -on the next page or visit our website: And see what a difference we can make to our organisation!
This way we can help you get the best people who can make a difference to your business.
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Outsource Resource IntelBuildMagazine Magazine| |11 3
WHAT ALL BUSINESSES CAN LEARN FROM THE NEW LEADERSHIP, CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF HIGH-PERFORMING WORKPLACES REPORT The new Leadership, Culture and Management Practices of HighPerforming Workplaces report shows that companies that have a culture of high performance generally make greater profits. Better Outcomes This landmark report provides insights and evidence gathered from over 5600 Australian employees of what in our own everyday work experience is obvious; the better the capabilities and practices of the managers we work for, the better the performance of our organisations and the outcomes we produce. The study shows that leaders in higher performing organisations prioritise people management as a key priority, involve their people in decision making processes; are more responsive to customer and stakeholder needs; encourage a high degree of responsiveness to change and learning orientation, and enable their staff to fully use their skills and abilities at work. 12 | Outsource Resource Magazine
There is now a culture of organisations that are high performing - and all businesses can learn a lot from them.
More Profitable & Greater Innovation
High performing organisations are not just much more profitable In monetary terms financial data and productive, they also collected shows that these high perform better in many important performing companies generally “intangible attributes�, such as have a correlation with higher encouraging innovation, profitability. leadership of their people, and creating a fair workplace The study found that high environment. This higher level of performing companies spend innovation encompasses more time and effort managing services and products, their people than leaders, have operational processes, clear values, have a higher managerial structures and occurrence of giving employees strategies, and marketing the opportunity to lead work methods. assignments, encourage employee development and This report is a call to action. It have a clear vision and goals for provides clear evidence that the future. improving the effectiveness at work and performance of our employees is and will be largely a function of our commitment to develop leadership and
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management capabilities across all organisations in our economy. It is time to invest in this vital and undervalued lever of Australia’s productivity performance. High Performing workplaces have significantly lower levels of employee turnover and higher levels of job satisfaction.
This is a significant difference and shows that companies that invest in training that has a direct impact on improved staff performance and happiness, stand to benfefit right across their business and will achieve an excellent return on this investment.
Leadership skills has one of the strongest correlations with productivity, so focusing on those capabilities and management is a key characteristics of the higher performing companies.”
The report also points to higher levels of responsiveness to There is also a correlation changes in stakeholder and between profitability and customer networks, higher levels But bigger financial benefits of employee participation in were identified. The report found happiness. In low performing workplaces, one in four decision-making processes, a considerable difference employees had symptoms of higher level of behaviour and between the profits of low depression, while in higher skills flexibility in employees, and performing companies and high performing workplaces, that ratio effective use of quality IT performing companies. was just one in seven. systems as aspects of higher “The profit margin difference performing businesses. between high performing The higher performing workplaces and low performing companies have cultures where We pay attention to the business workplaces is large and reaches they care about the employees, plan and finances and so on, and a staggering $40,051 per fulland they have that emotional that is important, but leadership time employee.” support in place, and it comes capability and emotional stability out in the financial data as well. are just as crucial. Lower performing workplaces Focus on Leadership So how do you become a high have an average profit margin performing company? Oddly ratio of 5.44% whilst higher Training enough the answer is quite performing workplaces have an average profit margin of 15.63%. This report teaches companies straight forward. to focus on leadership, and There are just 3 things that In other words, the profit margins training leaders to empathise generally differentiate high of High Performing Workplaces with staff, in order to promote performing companies from low are nearly three times higher higher performing workers. performing ones. than their lower performing counterparts.
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1. High performing companies have strong leadership. The business owners and operators have learning and development programs in place that build leadership capability. 2. The second thing is training. Regular assessment of employees skills and achievements improved performance dramatically. 3. The third thing is amazing and delighting your customers. This is also centred around your employees‌and again the level of training they have undertaken to ensure that your organisation greatly surpasses customers expectations. How do you measure a high performing company from the others? The report goes into some details about how they formulated their results. But there is a proven simple method.
Repeat business and word of mouth promotion often has a higher profit margin over a longer term then new customers who just happen across a business. Because NPS is easy and straightforward, anyone can grasp exactly what it means and use it to improve customer service that will keep existing customers returning. While NPS is not a "passive" number, and making sense of the information requires realtime communication, on the fly alterations, and empowered employees who can put current customer feedback to direct use, it is basic enough that one need not look at the numbers as though it is a code that only a few have the ability to put to use.
The NPS is derived from answers based on a single question, "how likely is it that you would recommend this company or its’ products or services to a By measuring your Net Promoter friend or colleague?" with the answer being given on a scale Score or NPS. The NPS is actually very simple. The metric of 1-10. is designed to hold industry Many businesses now link accountable to their level of employee bonuses to their NPS. customer service.
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The outcomes of the Leadership, Culture and Management Practices of HighPerforming Workplaces report echo those in the PwC Franchise Sector Report. That is, additional training in building ledership capacilty is required to ensure the continued growth and high peformance of the franchise sector. This report found that growth and profitwise franchises outperformed other industries by a significant margin, even in retail. Those organisations that employ greater levels of learning and development to improve leadership capabilities and employee performance are more likely to result in higher profits, happier staff and more staisfied and loyal customers The Leadership, Culture and Management Practices of HighPerforming Workplaces report can be downloaded here
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NEW MEDIA SOLUTIONS Digital Magazines Email Marketing Social Marketing Ever wondered how you can reach hundreds of thousands of customers without spending a fortune? Reaches more people who are interested in your business Follow up scheduled email campaigns to support your advertising investment Marketing mentor to help you get the most out of your marketing efforts Outsource all your New Media Marketing needs for one low monthly price Month to month with no contract - so you can cancel at any time for any reason should you wish Artwork including magazine advertisement and email template design are all included in the packages so there are no hidden costs You can change or update your advertisement or the magazine you advertise in at any time without penalty (Upgrading from standard ads to rich media ads will require package upgrade) Include A & B advertisements or emails at no extra cost Add web design, stationery design, social marketing or any of our other services to build your own tailored New Media Solutions package.
For more information on Digital Magazine Advertising & other New Media Solutions www.maxiom.com.au call us on 9097 1606 or visit our website: maxiom
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“WELCOME TO THE REVOLUTION” This month we welcome integrated OHS, HR, Recruitment & Training Provider - Building Up Consulting. We take a look at the serious business of OHS which is about to undergo some significant changes with new National Laws coming into effect soon. Building Up Consulting provides businesses with “peace of mind” says Joanne. Knowing that their OHS systems, manuals and training comply with legislation provides business owners with the confidence that their employees can go about their business with minimal risk to themselves, others and their employer. “At Building Up we make it our business to ensure your risks are minimised and your potential maximised. We hold the solutions to your OHS problems, so you can rest assured that your business is able to tick all the boxes” Joanne proudly states. With new National OHS Laws coming into effect from January 1, ensuring you tick all the boxes is important. As a former HR & OHS manager in the building industry, Joanne says that clear communication and training is the key factor in ensuring that employees follow safe work practices.
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The new legislation makes that even more vital to minimising risk to business owners, directors and managers as well as employees.
Outsourcing your OHS to experts like Building Up is the ideal way for SME’s to ensure they do tick all the boxes.
So in the end it’s about managing risk?
For no more than a few hundred dollars a year, you can have an OHS expert review your Safety In the end, says Joanne, a Management Systems and OHS workplace accident can have a Policies & Manuals. “Building Up devastating effect on the employee provide standard policies and involved and their future, family manuals to suit most small and health, so employers have a businesses from as little as lot of responsibility in this area. $99.00 a year, includung updates” When employers don’t take their says Joanne. responsibility seriously enough and an accident happens, then the Complete Safety Management new Laws will see some very Reviews start from a lttle over significant penalties imposed. $700 so there is really no reason why any business shouldn’t make So minimising risk to everyone sure they tick all the boxes. involved is paramount, says Joanne. If you would like some more information about OHS for your The new rules are quite complex, business you can contact Joanne and will require changes in your at jsolis@buildingup.com.au or OHS policies and Safety call (03) 9001 0265 Management systems, so it’s important to get it right from the start.
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New National OHS Laws coming into effect soon WILL require you to make significant changes to your OHS practices, manuals & training. The good news is that you will only need to learn about one set of rules. The bad news is that the rules are complex, and will require changes in your OHS policies and Safety Management systems, so it’s important to get it right from the start. There is now just over 8 months to fully review your OHS safety systems, documentation, training and education to be compliant on January 1, 2012 At Building Up we make it our business to ensure your risks are minimised and your potential maximised. We hold the solutions to your OHS problems, so you can rest assured that your business is able to tick all the boxes.
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TRAINING EMPLOYEES WHY YOUR EMPLOYEES BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDE CAN DETERMINE YOUR ULTIMATE SUCCESS By Elise May
Once you’re business starts growing one of the challenges new business owners face is hiring and training employees. The success of your business ultimately depends on the quality, performance and behaviour of its employees.
In other words, once you’ve conquered the marketing challenges and have customers coming into your business, the ultimate success of your Training staff to be effective at business is directly related to the customer service, marketing and quality of your employees' creating a positive brand behaviour and attitude. And of experience is a challenge for course your own and the The challenge is particularly any business operator, example you set for your staff. relevant in retail concepts, or especially new businesses with professional & trade services little or no background in human Any business owner that is truly where the quality of staff resources, marketing or interested in their business performance and customer relations. success will provide training for communication with customers their employees. is vital to the success of the Everything your staff does business. Front-line employees makes an impression on each After all continual learning and are the face of the brand, customer - creating a positive development is the key to your dealing directly with each experience, driving satisfaction own self development and customer every day. And your and loyalty, or driving them to a business success so why “brand” is the experience competing brand. As a business wouldn’t you also implement customers have in their dealings owner, it's all about managing programs that will improve your with your business. the "customer experience," and staff performance too? training staff in the ways to Creating productive employees deliver it, in every interaction Consider outsourcing this whole with a positive attitude is a key with customers, every function a company that can ingredient for success. In fact, transaction, every day. manage the entire process for many experienced business you. There are now some very people follow the adage: "Hire well structured and cost effective for attitude, train for skills." options out there.
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A good attitude goes a long way in a team-oriented environment; skills can be learned. Attitude is inherent.
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Don’t forget OH&S either. There are very hefty penalties for failure to comply with OHS Laws, Standards and Regulations.
If you hire for attitude, then training for skills is both something the outsourced recruitment & training company can assist with, as well as your business in its day to day operations.
These are going to be much tougher and more strongly enforced with the introduction of This training will differ from the new National Standards in business to business and January 2012. between industries, as every business will have unique Even failure to have basic training needs. This is where it is paperwork up to date will attract best to rely on the guidance of large penalties. your outsourced provider in how to best train your staff. There is an old saying in staff recruitment - "Hire slowly, fire Most of these providers have quickly." Taking the time to been through this hundreds or screen and interview new even thousands of times and employees is crucial. should have distilled best practices in how to train Many small-business owners employees most effectively for find themselves under time their brand.your industry and pressure and need the should be able to first additional staff “yesterday." understand and then implement these practices to suit your Balancing the urgency of filling a business and your brand position with finding high-quality employees is an ongoing Managing staff can be an art. challenge. Poor hiring decisions, Business operators must not and insufficient training is certain only be adept at judging to have an adverse effect on character, they also must comply your business performance. with a long list of laws and regulations if they want to stay out of trouble.
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A minefield of potential legal traps and penalties can trip up even the best-intentioned employer. If you need help, or if you don't know what to ask, say, or do, or what not to, consider contracting with an outsourced specialist who can help you through the minefield without setting off any of the mines. If you can find a recruitment agency that understands your business and your needs, it can lead to excellent results. Make sure you fully explain what you are looking for in an employee so the agency knows what type of person to send you. The costs can be very reasonable and having a specialist do it is usually much more effective than than doing it yourself for most businesses, (but shop around as some still charge hefty placement fees). More often than not, the additional time you spend interviewing, doing paperwork, HR & OHS compliance is better and more profitably spent on your business than on these tasks. Outsource Resource Magazine | 19
EXPORTING YOUR BUSINESS. With conditions in certain segments of the Australian economy still challenging for business growth, some enterprising local companies are spending their marketing dollars on growing their business overseas. “This makes good sense” says international export consultant Marjane Beaugeois. With the Australian dollar at an all time high against most foreign currencies local businesses now get more bang for their marketing buck by carefully targeting overseas expansion opportunities. “The conditions for exporting particularly services or technology businesses has never been more favourable to Australian companies,” Says Marjane. “There are a number of things you should consider before embarking on an overseas growth plan.” adds Marjane. What you Must Know About Developing Your Business Internationally
technology or even your intellectual property.
Download your complimentary self-assessment checklist from www.mariebexportlink.com
While this is true there are many challenges to operating away Choose carefully your target from a familiar environment. markets The decision of entering foreign markets implies a long-haul commitment with financial and operational consequences and is likely to impact the course of your business, for the better we all hope! But taking the opportunity of a larger customer base doesn’t need to be a guess work! Assessing your ability to export your business is a start and along with good preparation is primordial as the success in exporting requires a lasting presence in the markets.
Exporting your business may be a strategic decision or it may simply be a solution for selling more and selling fast a surplus production or seasonal stock or even an opportunistic move, taking advantage of an enquiry for your goods or services in which case, beyond the initial phase, there is still a need for adopting a more diligent approach in selecting the markets in which you would like to do business. Selecting similar markets
You would select these markets for their fairly familiar business The export diagnosis environment. They are limited in questionnaire is a tool to explore number and are usually safer but the strengths and weaknesses are likely to be mature, 1 Assess your potential of your business through a stagnating markets in which, you simple checklist and helps Your business should not are likely to encounter a similar evaluate your readiness for necessarily be restricted to your level of competition. New developing internationally. domestic market. There are Zealand is a good example. many more customers for your goods and services or
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Other markets with the high potential for growth You would consider these markets if your company is specialised in niche technology or your domestic market is too narrow for a fair return on investment or may require fast, seasonal, higher volume sales. In such scenarios, markets with high level of similarities do not always offer the best business opportunities. It makes sense to identify countries that have greater potential for growth. Needless to say that these markets are likely to be riskier and require stronger commitment Know your markets Regardless, of what market you would choose, it is essential that you familiarise yourself with the target country. Business ethics and culture vary hugely from one country to another even within the same region. Visit relevant international fairs, go on a discovery tour of the country joining, why not, business and leisure, find out about supply
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chains and the market players in your industry, identify your competitors, seek advice from government bodies and chambers of commerce and industries and seek assistance from international market specialists.
For all but the largest companies better value might lye in B2B professional solutions of specialised advice and accompaniment.
In fact, being assisted in international negotiations, handling of international sales An inexpensive method is the and commercial contracts, DIY planning for export, using selecting reliable readily available international representatives, area managers communication tools such as or partners, distributors or sales Internet. That is if you know agents are important to make where to start and what to do. sure that your brand, image and reputation are not damaged and Conducting a comprehensive to minimise the risk and the cost market research by specialised of doing business in a foreign organisations may be useful to environment. larger businesses with dedicated financial resources. Marjane Beaugeois is the principal of Marie.b.exportlink By targeting the country, the right experts in international entry strategy and the adequate business development and consumer segments you can global marketing. decide where to allocate the resources. However, there is a Marjane has held international good chance that you would not sales management positions make full use of the statistical within leading multinationals in tools, economic data and Western and Northern Europe graphs and illustrations of such and the Middle East. She has comprehensive research. degrees in Science and International Business and a This type of research is Masters in Commercial Project expensive and the cost is not Management. Marjane is always justified for smaller based in Melbourne, Australia players.
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HOW TO ATTRACT, TARGET AND RETAIN CLIENTS. By Kris tin M c N ic ol
With tough conditions for many businesses, particular those in retail, attracting, targeting and retaining customers has never been so important. Every business will need to formulate their own sales and marketing plan to attract, target and retain customers. Many tradition forms of marketing have begun to lose their lustre. People just aren’t responding. With so much advertising bombarding potential customers and fragmentation of advertising media many businesses are asking where is the best place to start to get their attention? Well the good news is you really can rapidly grow a loyal following but you may need to rethink the way you market your business. Your Focus Is your focus on: Winning new clients; Retaining existing clients Up-selling existing clients; or Growing your business by acquiring other similar businesses or competitors
Whatever your focus, have you noticed that everything is changing? Your industry advances, ideas expand, products are upgraded, new products appear and your customers move on. Just when you think you have everything figured out, it all changes! The one thing that remains constant is people.
concentrate on providing valuable information and insight in order to help people solve their problems, they are more likely to become and remain customers of your business. Concentrate of your customers needs, not your own. Provide them with valuable content on your website, start a blog, offer them something free that solves small problem and they will more likely come back to you when they have a bigger one.
Whether it’s you, your friends, your family, your peers, your When you provide engaging “howcustomers, your prospects and to” information and assistance in your partners. the form of valuable gifts (without strings attached), it triggers the Some might jump to the “How much more?” Question. competition, but at their core they don’t really change. “How much more value will I gain if I hire this company or buy this Everyone wants access to product?” is the response many valuable insight, great people and will have when they see the great recognition before they want value you provide for free. products or services. If you can focus on the true desires of Work with your employees on people, you’re halfway there. these tactics. So where’s your focus? Are you focused on yourself, your products or services and your company? Or are you looking outward?
Partner with an outsourced marketing firm which has the experience and marketing teams dedicated to helping you achieve your business aims, such as maxiom, of course!
Regardless whether you want to grow by winning new clients, retaining or up-selling to existing www.maxiom.com.au customers or by acquisition, if you
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BUILDING PROFITABLE ALLIANCES. B y K r i s t i n Mc Ni c o l
Building alliances in a fast, low cost way to add value to your existing service offer and create opportunities without the need to commit to expensive internal expansion that go beyond your core activities. Strategic alliances, (collaborating with other businesses) can give you powerful leverage. This marketing strategy can deliver exceptional results with the right preparation and planning. But it is all in the preparation and planning. Having clear expectations, a written agreement and a solid understanding of responsibilities is vital to the success of any alliance. When choosing an alliance partner it is not just about considering the business synergies but also the people involved. Personal factors are quite often what determines the success or failure of an alliance, so you need to be sure you are working with the right people.
3. What are their values? Do they match yours? 4. What is their attitude towards customer service? Quality? Are they likely to deliver? 5. What is the culture of their business? 6. Do you feel confident that they will honour their end of the alliance agreement? 7. Are there any hidden agendas? 8. Is there personal chemistry? Are you confident that they will show both you and your clients respect, be accountable and act with integrity? 9. What is your desired outcome? What is the purpose of working together? 10. Who owns the clients? If they were your client originally, does ownership stay with you, or do they become a client of your alliance partner as soon as they engage their services?
by your clients. After all it is your reputation that will also suffer if your alliance partners don’t fulfil their obligations to clients. To ensure the success and profitability of any alliance both you and your alliance partner must have clear and mutually beneficial expectations and boundaries. Ensuring a win:win:win outcome for you, your alliance partner and your clients is the key objective of an alliance partnership. People will always look at what is in it for them so demonstrating that you are interested in how they will benefit from the alliance shows you are not just using this as an opportunity to sell your products to their database without consideration to their needs.
Follow these steps to a successful alliance and reap the rewards: 1. Know your outcome 2. Do your homework 3. Prepare and plan 1. What is the history of the 4. Put together a professional proposed alliance partner? proposal How professional and 5. Meet and discuss any credible are they? questions that come up 2. How long have they been in Before entering into an alliance 6. Negotiate any changes to business and have they with a potential partner, it is ensure a win:win outcome always been in the important to understand their 7. Clarify areas not clear industry? Is this their core capabilities, their strengths and 8. Do up agreement business? weaknesses in order for you to be 9. Develop KPI’s confident they will do the right thing 10. Meet & review regularly
The key questions you should be asking yourself about the alliance are:
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A Smart B2B Business for the Smart Operator Every now and then a business opportunity comes along that looks almost too good to be true. Fifo Capital is that opportunity. Thanks to a simple formula; proven finance business, reputable and widely accepted in a rapidly growing market, Fifo Capital has delivered triple-digit annual turnover growth since entering the Australian market in 2008. And, our franchisees have experienced success they’d only ever dreamed of. Fifo Capital is a B2B business capable of first year bottom line return exceeding the cost of entry. Not only this, it has few fixed outgoings beyond telephone line charges in the first year of trading. A business that can grow to whatever size you want. If you’re a professionally minded individual looking for a unique and proven business, talk to Fifo Capital today on 1300 852 556 or visit www.fifocapital.com for more information.
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HOW TO HIRE EMPLOYEES WHEN YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO! If you’re like most small businesses these days, then you’re careful before committing to any new expenses or hiring decisions.
By using this valuable tool, you won’t have to pay any of the traditional expenses associated with a regular employee, but you will reap all of the benefits - quite possibly more than with full-time The reality is that businesses can’t employees. Let’s start by taking run without labor, and hiring a look at those benefits. employees costs money. After all, a new employee will have to be 1. Cost. By hiring an recruited, trained, paid a salary, independent contractor (which given sick days and vacation time, can either either another there’s payroll tax and perhaps business or an indivual), you will your new emplyee will have to be likely be able to save thousands given a mobile phone, laptop & in costs. And with the global fully maintained company car or market, you can hire a qualified car allowance + FBT. It can all add person from another country for up - in fact, according to much less. Entrepreneur Magazine, the average cost of hiring a new For instance, if you need a employee is $4,000. graphic designer, you can hire an excellent one for as little as This cost can be much more for $10 per hour. You can find these educated professionals and valuable contractors on job executive positions....and this sites, such as freelancer.com. doesn’t include Recruitment Agency Fees! 2. Focus. An independent contractor is typically hired for But the fact is that a business one aspect of a project or to must march on if it expects to look after an aspect of your survive. The good thing is that business that is not a core it’s possible to hire an employee activity, such as IT or HR. Their without all of the related costs. goal is focused, and you’ll be able to measure the results in How? real-time. For example, if you hire a writer to create an e-book By hiring an independent for you, you’ll know in advance contractor to do a specific job how much you’re paying and for you. what you’ll get in return.
26 Magazine 10| Outsource | CareersResource Magazine
3. Qualifications. When you hire a traditional employee, you’ll have to train them to do the job. But an independent contractor is already an expert in their field. Whether it’s a project manager, an SEO specialist or a website builder, they already have the skills needed to do the job, and are ready to go to work for you. 4. Options. With an independent contractor, you get to decide which projects they work on, when they’re finished, and whether or not to continue to use their services. With a traditional employee, you have to be careful about hiring and firing because of the laws that govern employers, but those laws don’t apply to an independent contractor. If you’re unhappy with his work, simply don’t renew the project. This way of doing business certainly seems to be the trend in the global marketplace. If you’re a business owner, and think you might benefit from hiring outside help, there are some things you should be prepared to ask before assigning a contract.
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For starters, you should ask to see samples of their work. For example, if they’re a web site designer, ask them to point you to websites that they’ve designed. The same goes for other types of contractors. Writers, graphic and video experts should have portfolios of their work, while project managers, social media campaign managers and administrative assistants should be able to tell you which projects they’ve worked on, and be able to give you referrals. If you use a system like freelancer.com, you will have access to a rating system. On it, employers post valuable information about the contractor's job performance and skill level.
This has additional benefits for both the business and the contractors as you have verifiable and independent testimonals to their previous success.
If this sounds like something that’s right for your business, why not start looking for an independent contractor today by logging onto either:
A third option is to look for an www.freelancer.com organisation that can provide you with an experienced professional www.goodes.com.au on a part-time or project by project basis. Some recruitment or www.casualcareers.com.au placement firms provide this service. We found a specialist in this area called Casual Careers was very helpful, particularly for ongoing projects. Next, you’ll need to determine whether or not the contractor’s schedule will allow them to complete your project on time.
Ask them to commit to a predetermined date, and offer to pay their fee once you’ve received the Another option is to use preproject (this may depend on the checked contractors from an scope of the project). This way, organisation such as Goodes & you’ll be able to keep control of the project, and the contactor working Company. The service is free to find a contractor and you have the studiously toward the end goal. peace of mind that the contractor has performed to high standards Hiring an independent contractor of service, delivery and quality on just may be the wisest thing you can do. You’ll pay a fraction of the past projects. Goodes has the cost of a traditional employee, they added benefit of being based in will be an expert in the field that Australia and the majority of you require and you will be able to contractors available are locally maintain control over the process based.
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PSYCHOGRAPHICS HAS REPLACED DEMOGRAPHICS Using psychographics, we know exactly who is likely to be interested in specific product or content recommendations at a specific time. By Chris Gregory
Demographics have defined the target consumer for more than half a century - poorly. Now, with emerging interest graphs from social networks, behavioural data from search outlets and lifecycle forecasting, we have much better ways of targeting potential customers.
But now, that entire system has broken down. The year that someone was born will not tell you how likely he is to buy your product.
small, so fragmented, and so temporal, that no overarching top-down approach could be successful at driving marketing performance.
Fragmentation is now the norm Marketers have responded by because the pace of change is adding more demographic accelerating. Generations have information to the mix, but even been getting smaller because that is a losing battle. Recently, a The rise of mass-produced there are fewer unifying company introducing a new consumer goods also brought characteristics of young people product, had identified a target the rise of mass-market today than ever before. For market of “connected advertising. With the launch of instance the “Baby Boomer” consumers.” Connected television in Australia more than generation lasted 18 year but consumers were 30-55 half a century ago, the goal was “Gen Z” only 10 years. professionals, had a household to aggregate the most possible income over $100k and read eyeballs for advertisers. In order With the advent of Social Media, business magazines. This target to convince consumers that an people self-select into groups so market represented 2.4 million advertising message was consumers. relevant to them, consumers had to buy the idea that they were Number of Years In Generations just like everyone else. Marketers created that buy-in by bucketing people into generations. When you lump millions of people into one group called “Baby Boomers” or “Gen X”, it’s much easier to sell them stuff, especially when consumers accepted their generational classification.
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Baby Boomers (1946 - 1964)
18
Generation X (1965 - 1980)
15
Generation Y (1981 - 1994) Generation Z (1995 - 2005)
14 10
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They were targeting 2.4 million consumers to sell 2,000 units of their product - that means they were hoping for less than 1 sale for every 1,000 people with whom they connected through their marketing.
they don’t change careers, so someone who starts out studying accounting usually progresses to a long-term accounting career. What age group they are in doesn’t have a major effect on their career interests.
Social profile data, behavioural data and customer lifecycle data can now finally be leveraged to contact people who are ready to buy. Social Profile Data
Profile data from social networks consist of all the fields users grant permission for brands to use on their behalf. It’s possible through Most things that users track on psychographic profiling. social networks can be Demographic Overview: leveraged to create a closer Mum Psychographics look at the relationship with a customer. Age 24 - 34 mental model of the consumer in Fields like relationship status, Household Income - $85,000 education, interests and the context of a customer lifecycle. Amazon.com has long occupation can all be managed been a leader in this space, through social profile data Psychographic Overview: through innovations like management tools. Woman “recommended products” and Social profile data is the critical Working Professional “users like me also bought.” cornerstone of psychographic Children aged 1 & 3 years insights. The level of nuance and Spends $800/month online Its algorithms have learned to insight provided by social data, Lives 500kms from parents & predict its users, and what they when compared to standard In-laws are interested in. And now, there demographics, is the difference Lives within 2.5kms of are a number of tools that any between performing surgery with existing centre business can use to leverage a scalpel or a chain saw. psychographics. Previously unimaginable Psychographics provide much questions are now routine. Another factor is career. While more useful information about people change jobs more In addition, companies such users. There are multiple data frequently now compared to 20 sources making this possible as GraphEffect are measuring or 30 years ago, in the main, purchase intent by doing today. semantic analysis on Facebook What if, instead, you could get 500 sales from every 1,000 people you marketed to?
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Here’s how a psychographic profile might look different from a traditional marketing profile target for childcare:
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status updates. This type of qualitative analysis can move users into specific marketing funnels from their very first online experience with your brand.
Site content and product recommendations will also be informed by clickstream analysis. Companies such as RichRelevance, Certona, Baynote and Monetate all offer the ability to personalize Behavioral Data information to specific visitors based on their behavior. Retargeting advertising messages is gaining popularity Leveraging those alongside a payload of social profile data among marketers, but its very can turbocharge those services success has jeopardized its from the first moment a new user effectiveness. Ads that follow users around the web have been visits a site. implemented - usually poorly. Customer Lifecycle Data Every ad network quickly incorporated the ability to place Social profile data can also be cookies in users’ browsers, and used to predict customer display specific ads to them any lifecycle. Imagine knowing not time they visit a site that’s part of only if a customer has children, their networks. but the exact ages of those children. In addition, key The next generation of ad indicator purchases, like buying targeting will focus more on nappies for the first time, telling the customer a story over indicate a customer entering a time, based on specific new lifecycle. Other key behaviour triggers. That means indicators, like address ad networks and clickstream changes, first purchases of data aggregators will work furniture, or first purchases of together to trigger when a substantially higher-value goods customer moves forward in a can all indicate the start of a new mental model toward a purchase customer mentality and event. behaviour pattern.
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These patterns are predictable, so you know future behaviour by looking at current behaviour. By using demographics alone, all people in one broad group would be marketed to identically. Using psychographics, we know who is likely to be interested in specific product or content recommendations at a specific time. This vision is starting to gain traction among serious marketers. Using psychographic data, you don’t have to waste any impressions. We have seen a similar upheaval in marketing before. In the 1960’s, marketers who embraced the power of television, broad-based insights into psychology and demographic data created world-class brands and billions of dollars in value. At that time, if you didn’t advertise on TV, you lost. Today’s new tools offer a similar choice. Build a deep understanding of your customer, or risk irrelevance.
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6 THINGS TO OUTSOURCE IN YOUR BUSINESS. By M ik e Burns ide
Outsourcing your business functions can get you better talent and at a much lower cost. Outsourcing small business resources can spur on great success. Many small businesses outsource their functions that are not a part of their main business. By doing so, you add more value to your main business.
3. Outsource Your Human Resources (HR). Recruiting and training staff can be time consuming and costly if you get it wrong. Plus the constant changes in industrial relations (IR) law can be a minefield to navigate through. Consider Outsourcing these functions can outsourcing to a firm that can give your small business the help you with all aspects of HR opportunity to grow faster. including recruitment and training and that can grow as your small 1. Outsource Your Marketing business continues to grow. Use For any small business to one that doesn’t charge continue growing, you need to placement fees when you employ have a well thought out marketing new staff plan. That plan may include outsourcing your marketing and 4. Outsource Your Legal possibly a marketing mentor to Matters. Outsourcing your legal help implement your plan, keep it matters to a law firm that on course and so that your specializes in small businesses business will grow. can help you navigate through the local, state and federal laws. Avoiding legal roadblocks is 2. Outsource Financial Services. Financial services so what you need to not only save money but to also grow. that you can save money. Consider hiring an outside 5. Outsource IT Resources accounting team and as you grow possibly a for-hire CFO to There are many great local IT firms that you can outsource your help you get some great strategies without paying a high IT need to. price for them. 32 | Outsource Resource Magazine
There are also some good offshore options though to maintain quality and security a local IT company would be preferable. Some basic IT functions or tasks could be outsourced offshore. Check out taskarmy.com.or freelancer.com 6. Outsource Your Website The cost of having a full-time web designer or developer is usually prohibitive for most SME’s. Having the access to outsourcing your website is essential. A website needs to be well designed, easy to navigate, have the right search engine optimisation (SEO) tools, and other marketing functions to be successful. Outsourcing this part of the business happens first as it is the easiest to hand over to others to run. There are many web design companies that will compete for the chance to develop and maintain your website.
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TRAINING YOUR STAFF WITH CLARIFY TRAINING Wouldn’t it be great if all your staff had the same passion and vision for your business and you? Clarify Training can help you create a dynamic culture where your staff thrive enabling you to reach your business goals faster. Our organisation has a deep commitment to you and your people and offers a unique service based on the values of Accountability, Respect and High Performance. Our professional services are tailored to be tightly aligned to the commercial aims of your business: In line with your organization’s strategy, we will formulate, lead and implement a learning framework that is linked to business performance, maximise individual capability and builds leadership competence. Coach business leaders in your organization so as to ensure the optimal delivery of all tactical people programs and to ensure business results are achieved.
As accomplished practitioners your business to ensure business they can help your people display results are achieved. effective influencing skills, the Attract & Recruit the Best ability to inspire and engage others Talent and the capability to lead and Provide an Environment empower change in a for Your Talent to Thrive performance driven setting. Optimise Individual Capacity With extensive experience in Build Influencing Skills and helping organizations analyze their Leadership Capacity needs and design strategic Ensure Business Results learning and development Are Achieved solutions, our highly qualified See the Results in Your consultants will work closely with Bottom Line you to determine your company’s individual requirements. We can design tailored solutions for individual employees, project teams, departments and entire companies.
We will help you implement a suite We can also help you develop a of HR practices and policies to learning culture, while fitting in with reflect contemporary, consistent the overall strategic goals of your best practice. organization. Our consultants are individuals Our programs are strategically who have carved their careers within leading, complex business aligned to the commercial aims of environments.
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If you want to optimise your business, give Clarify Training a call.
CLARIFY T R A I N I N G
CT
Clarify Training Pty Ltd Level 2, 1 Riverside Drive Melbourne Vic 3000 Ph: (03) 9982 4545 Fax: (03) 9982 4546 info@clarifytraining.com www.clarifytraining.com
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DON’T LET YOUR COMPETITORS OVERTAKE YOU!
Wouldn’t it be great if all your staff had the same passion and vision for your business and you? Clarify Training can help you create a dynamic culture where your staff thrive enabling you to reach your business goals faster. Attract & Recruit the Best Talent Provide an Environment for Your Talent to Thrive Optimise Individual Capacity Build Influencing Skills and Leadership Capacity Ensure Business Results Are Achieved See the Results in Your Bottom Line
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ACHIEVING THE BEST RESULTS FROM EVENTS! The tactic of marketing to bring qualified sales leads into your business and reduce the cost of sales has never been more important than it is today. With the growth and reach of the Internet, you can communicate with more potential customers and existing customers than ever before. One thing to remember though, is that the internet can be quite impersonal. So what is the most effective way of peronalising your online marketing? Combining it with events gives you the perfect solution that can be tailored to suit your individual business aims and maximise the return on your marketing dollar. Event Marketing is proven to provide the greatest ROI due to the face-to-face interaction that it yields. Now more than ever, companies are finding that the results produced by event marketing far outweigh the return from other marketing platforms, such as print advertising, tv, radio, public relations and even Internet Marketing. Studies have shown that the conversion rate can tripled as a result of face-to-face events and meetings. The profit from your next event or meeting can be considerably higher, if you know what steps to take. Combining Internet Marketing and Events can provide you with an extraodinary ROI compared to all other forms of marketing. Building stronger and lasting relationships, converting prospects, retaining customers, and investing in people are the key reasons for which companies hold eventsand meetings. Our online marketing, meeting and event management specialists are trained to recognize the specific needs of each client and will work along side you to ensure that your meeting includes all vital elements, NWE Events will focus on creating a customized marketing campaign designed to meet your business aims are achieved and that the maximum results are achieved.
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Events with Impact! A lifestyle business that’s full of life and has plenty of style Our meeting and event planners have one of the most exciting and rewarding lifestyles assisting in creating an unforgettable experience for our clients and their attendees. Product Launches Charitable Causes Meetings Conferences Corporate Events Awards Nights Marketing Events
Join one of the world’s fastest growing industries and have fun at the same time If you’d like to help create a memorable, lasting impression on your client’s attendees and you have a professional outlook and a desire to build your own lifestyle business, then this opportunity could be for you. Our franchisees enjoy a comprehensive induction and ongoing training, low establishment costs, great head office support plus a lifestyle and rewards that most people envy. For more information or to receive a franchise kit visit our website:
www.nweevents.com or email: franchise@nweevents.com NWE EVENTS
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Outsource Resource Magazine | 37
WE CALL IT PART-TIME .......OUR CLIENTS CALL IT PERFECT! Looking to hire an additional staff member, or need to outsource a particular job or project? Having a committed, responsible & educated professional join your workforce part-time, to complete or manage a project, or on flexible work arrangements offers the ideal solution for many organisations looking to employ additional staff but without the added cost or risk of a full-time employee. Casual Careers are the experts in recruiting educated professionals looking for a more flexible work environment or for outsourced projects. Employers Ever wish you had an experienced, intelligent, capable person in your office without spending valuable funds hiring another full-time employee or using an uncommitted temp? Having a committed, inspired and educated professional join your workforce part-time offers the ideal solution for many organisations looking to employ additional staff but without the added cost of a fulltime employee. With more and more companies looking for high calibre staff and more job seekers looking for a better balance between work and lifestyle, Casual Careers offers the perfect solution to meet your needs. We have the highest calibre of professionals - high achievers all who are seeking a more flexible or part-time work environment. We can provide you with a
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professional, experienced, parttime employee that meets your needs . You can even leave the Human Resource issues to us Ÿ We search all our proprietary databases to find just the right person to fit your needs Ÿ We handle all Payroll (inlcuding Payroll Tax, Superannuation & Workcover) Ÿ We bill you weekly only for actual hours worked Ÿ You have to option to employ directly for a fraction of traditional recruitment fees at any time Ÿ Perfect for long-term or short-term staffing needs and special projects
Looking For Work? Ever wish you had a job that met your work/life balance requirements? Looking for something flexible that still fits in with your lifestyle? Casual Careers has the perfect answer whether you are looking for work or looking for a new member to join your team.
Casual Careers Casual Careers Pty Ltd Level 2, 710 Collins Street Docklands Vic 3008 Ph: (03) 9097 1606 Fax: (03) 9097 1607 info@casualcareers.com.au www.casualcareers.com.au
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We call it part-time...
Looking for Staff
Looking for Work
Have a Question
...Our clients call it perfect!
Contact a Consultant
welcome Casual Careers specializes in placing educated professionals into long-term, part-time careers. Having a committed, responsible & educated professional join your workforce part-time offers the ideal solution for many organisations looking to employ additional staff but without the added cost of a full-time employee. With more and more organisations looking for high calibre staff and more job seekers looking for a better balance between work and lifestyle, Casual Careers offers the perfect solution to meet your needs. Casual Careers offers both the employer and job seekers the ideal solution between staffing needs and work/life balance. We even look after the Human Resources issues to help make it even easier for you.
Educated
Professional
Flexible
Experienced
Solutions for Employers
Solutions for Employees
Why we’re Different
Ever w ish you had an experienced, intelligent, capable person in your office w ithout spending valuable funds hiring another full-time employee or using an uncommitted temp?
Ever w ish you had a job that met your w ork/life balance requirements? Looking for something flexible that still fits in w ith your lifestyle ? CasualCareers has the perfect solution.
Whether you are an employer or w hether you are looking for w ork Casual Careers is all about solutions that suit YOU.....thats w hy our clients call it “PERFECT!”
www.casualcareers.com.au maxiom
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RETHINKING THE ‘F’ WORD By Vicki Prout
We are often asked “What is the difference between licensing and franchising and what is an appropriate solution?” says Vicki Prout, Chief Sherpa, Sherpa Group On a very basic level, licensing and franchising both deal with the selling of certain intellectual properties, whether software, trademark, or business process and systems, to third parties. However, franchising, under the watchful eye of the ACCC, has a much greater deal of control by the owner/franchisor than licensing has by the owner/licensor. For a business that is seeking to grow their brand across Australia and potentially internationally, franchising offers a methodology that can potentially allow you to reach a larger size in a relatively short period of time due to: Ÿ Efficient leveraging of your Intellectual Property, systems and processes Ÿ Fast growth with less risk and less of your own funds and sales representative Ÿ Learning from a talented group of franchisees – human resources
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The licensor is often free to sell similar licenses and products to other people in the same geographic area. Licensees Ÿ Sharing your success with don’t usually receive much in the others way of training or ongoing support from the licensor. On the Ÿ Increased marketing other side, license opportunities spend and power are often less expensive than Ÿ Increased brand franchises in both the up-front awareness, strength and investment and ongoing fees. viability The major negative aspect of licensing is a lack of control over Ÿ Substantial financial licensees to get them to follow rewards after critical crucial systems such as sales mass for stakeholders techniques, which can eventually hinder the success of the Some remarkable businesses that have been hugely successful operator and the business. utilising the methodology of Businesses need to be aware of franchising include Cartridge their crucial success factor World, Wokinabox, Gloria within their business. For Jeans, Poolwerx, Telcoinabox example, if it is a critical and Wendy’s to name a few. component for the business to Whereas Licensing in most respond to client enquiries and cases only distributes goods address how they service clients and services and the licensee does not retain rights to use the every time, then to duplicate this level of service would usually licensor trademark and licensees usually don’t receive require comprehensive training and strict compliance to exclusive territorial rights. business systems. This would normally not occur within a licensing relationship. Ÿ Accessing difficult local markets and increasing buying power
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Perfect for Your Next Event Site Selection Vendor Negotiations MC & Guest Speakers Seminars Awards Nights In order to enable third parties to conduct business in accordance with the business methodology and business system, third parties must be licensed to use a range of business know-how and intellectual property (such as software, documentation, trademarks and so on). It is therefore clear that a license agreement is required. A franchise agreement is, in essence, a license agreement, but one that is regulated by the Franchising Code of Conduct (Code). The Code is a proscribed industry code under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA). The question of whether a particular license agreement will be regarded as a 'franchise agreement' under the Franchising Code of Conduct (Code) depends on a strict set of elements. Whether a particular agreement,
arrangement or understanding will be regulated by the Code depends entirely on if the elements of a 'franchise agreement' as defined under the Code are present. The Franchising Code of Conduct specifically defines a structure as a franchise if it contains all of the following four elements: 타 An agreement between the parties, written or oral (Contract) 타 A payment, either up-front or ongoing for the provision of goods or services, (except at wholesale price) 타 Provision of a marketing plan substantially determined, controlled or suggested by the franchisor (Control) 타 Use of Trademarks, Brands or Names owned by the franchisor Cont: next page >>
Business & Trade Functions Product Launches Promotional Products Corporate Gifts Online & Onsite Registration Budget Creation & Management Travel Arrangements Catering Signage
Events With Impact! CLICK HERE
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Outsource Resource Magazine | 41
Perfect for Your Next Event Site Selection Vendor Negotiations MC & Guest Speakers
RETHINKING THE ‘F’ WORD continued... By Vicki Prout
Seminars Awards Nights Business & Trade Functions Product Launches Promotional Products
Growth Option
Financially
Sub-Entity Productivity
Level of Control
Growth Rate
Service
Franchising Licensing
Corporate Gifts Online & Onsite Registration Budget Creation & Management Travel Arrangements Catering Signage
Events With Impact! CLICK HERE 42 | Outsource Resource Magazine
Take action: Rethink the “F” word – its true value, its compliance, overall control, its systems and processes and blueprint framework. Seek expertise advice early and ask yourself: Why would businesses remove any of these critical elements from their offering to avoid relatively modest compliance requirements? It falsely hinders and limits their growth, quality and brand values, which in return lead to poor performance and limited growth of the business.
The “F” word needs to be taken seriously and the business owner needs to ensure it will underpin the best business model for their business and manage the resulting compliance issues in a cost effective and efficient manner. The best model whether franchise or licence, from our point of view, depends on only one factor - the level of CONTROL. If you asked any of the top 100 businesses what is their one tip for success, the answer would be to maintain control! Vick i Prout is Chief Sherpa at Sherpa Group, leading franchise and business growth specialists. Vick i has been awarded the FCA - SA Franchise Woman of the Year 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010. For more information contact Vick i on +61 2 9267 6277 or Email: vick iprout@sherpagroup.com.au
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Goodes & Co The unique Goodes business model enables you to work from home or our offices with minimal overheads, access to marketing campaigns and head office support to grow your professional services business across a varitey of disciplines. An excellent return on their investment No Staff to manage No premises to rent No inventory to acquire No long or unsocial working hours No extensive business travel No custom designed equipment or signage
Goodes & Co
When you want someone to deliver the “Goodes� for your business. www.goodes.com.au maxiom
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NOW THAT GOOGLE+ IS AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE, WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS? With Facebook luring more online advertising spend away from Google’s cash cow, AdWords, Google has had no choice to respond.
You can group your friends into these shared interests, which means you can share things in a very targeted way with like-minded friends (and potential customers).
If Google can get enough people to join up it could mark the beginning of a Social media war between these two online giants.
There’s also an Android-based mobile app called Hangout, which allows you to chat with your friends in small social huddles.
First off is the ‘Circles’ feature, where you get to properly organise your family and friends, workmates and acquaintances into groups. This means you can make sure you’re sending a shared status update to the appropriate people.
But we should not forget though, that this is all about advertising.
reach with a partner program like Google’s AdSense. With Google+, the minute you start using the Sparks, feature you’ll be segmented for companies to deliver you targeted advertisements. Imagine the opportunities created by sending location-specific or interestspecific deals to your customers phone.
As you work your way through Google’s content text-work of One of the things Google hasn’t partner sites, you will probably been able to do with its advertising also find ads based on the is target demographics and interests you told Google about in interests very well. Facebook has Sparks, together with any other nailed this and that’s why it has interests they earn about you This feature will have definite become so attractive to along the way. benefits to businesses looking to advertisers. provide highly targeted information Google’s already offering to particular groups of customers. Google had a crack at something similar with its demographic targeting in Remarketing platform, so it won’t Even though Facebook offers Google AdWords - there’s a be too much of a stretch for it to friend lists and groups, hardly setting in your account which do the same thing with Google+. anyone uses these features and allows you to target people of status updates tend to be a lot certain ages and of either sex Google has a huge user-base of more of a broadcast. Circles through the Google Content people and businesses using its enables you to be more organised Network - but it hasn’t been various products, but they are all and on target. particularly successful. It certainly fairly fragmented. Google+ could doesn’t have the finely tuned just bring it all together. The other feature worth noting is targeting of Facebook Advertising. Sparks, where you can list your To make it truly successful all interests - be it cricket, hangOn the flip side, Facebook hasn’t Google will have to do is give it a gliding, SEO or bread tags. (yet) extended its advertising decent name!
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HOW DOES OUTSOURCING FIT INTO MODERN BUSINESS? Outsourcing has been used by business for centuries but has recently become a “buzz word� for gaining efficiency and flexibility. We look at how modern business can utilise outsource specialists to increase competitiveness and gain new customers. In recent years business has become globalized, which in turn means that competition has globalized too. Many small businesses that may once have occupied a local niche are now forced to compete with similar businesses all around the world. In some cases, this presents a costing problem; labor can be cheaper, yet equally skilled in countries outside of the Western world. Many Western-based companies find that they are being outbid for projects or undercut on price simply because far greater staffing costs mean that they cannot afford to sell or bid more at a lower rate. In Australia, where we see the higher dollar make imports cheaper there are competitive pressures from all directions, the retail sector finds this particularly challenging.. Outsourcing enables such companies to procure the staff or services they need at a competitive price and, more importantly, as demand requires them rather than hiring them as full-time employees. In being able to call upon a workforce of outsourced specialist or even freelancers, the small
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business is then able to dynamically scale itself to fit the needs of any project or competiveness level. Traditionally, the first consideration for many professional businesses when tendering for a new contract or project is that of resources: does the company have enough resources on hand to tackle the project in the timeframe required? In some cases, the answer would be no, meaning that small business would have to turn down an opportunity and lose out to a competitor. However, if the company has access to a readily available team of outsourced staff or companies, this problem disappears; the business simply uses these outsourced businesses and freelancers to make up the shortfall in resources. The small business is able to take on the additional work, safe in the knowledge they can acquire the resources required to complete the project. There can be no doubt that a small business that is able to utilize outsourcing is more dynamic and able to adapt itself more quickly to the needs of its clients.
Let us consider another side of outsourcing: that of cost. Modern commerce is ever more competitive, which means that prices often need to be cut in order to maintain a market share against emerging competitors. If prices need to be cut, this means that logically, overheads need to be cut to maintain a healthy profit margin. Staffing costs are usually the major overhead faced by any small business. Reducing staffing costs is a tried and tested way of increasing net profit and outsourcing is a great way to tackle this problem. Outsourcing operations by franchising has been proven over many decades to be one of the most effective, productive and profitable outsourcing strategies. If handled correctly, the use of oustourcing will provide a far more flexible work force that is able to tackle more complex and demanding projects that require a greater diversity of skills.
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The Siimon Reynolds Strategic Entrepreneur
THE AUSTRALIAN MARKETING EVENT YOU SIMPLY CAN’T AFFORD TO MISS! This is the business workshop of the year. They have organised a lineup of expert business speakers over the three day event. These are the professionals that Siimon Reynolds uses to create businesses online and in the real world. They have a multitude of disciplines involved and will cover everything from copywriting, pay per click advertising, exit strategy, backend systems, search engine optimization, webdesign, sales technique, social media, remarketing, public relations, franchising, online marketing and raising finance. You name it - they have an expert that specialises in it!
The Next Siimon Reynolds - Strategic Entrepreneur Seminar will held in Melbourne - coming soon! Stay tuned for the dates... AND YOU WON’T BELIEVE THE PRICE!
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Complimentary gift Thanks for taking the opportunity to grab this fantastic book! Simply go to our website and fill in your details and we will immediately email you a copy of Siimon's book. We will also send you our bonus series of short business building videos that are packed with tips and tricks for success. Over the last 25 years, Siimon has created multimillion dollar businesses from the ground up and is now teaching other entrepreneurial business people his systems for success. He started the Photon Group and grew that company to be worth over $500 million while employing over 5000 people so he can definitely help grow your business. Siimon has a passion for helping entrepreneurs build and grow so definitely read his book and check out his short videos asap.
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About Outsource Resource Magazine Publisher Maxiom Group Pty Ltd 2/710 Collins Street Docklands Vic 3008 Australia www.maxiom.com.au Editor Tam Hannan Digital Magazine Created By Outsource Resource Magazine www.outsourceresource.com.au Advertising Enquiries (03) 9097 1606 (within Australia) + 613 9097 1606 (International) advertising@maxiom.com.au Editorial, Media Releases & Article Submission editor@maxiom.com.au
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