GWP M a g a z i n e s
S ydn ey
®
Bu S i n e S S
SYDNEY - ISSuE 50 | DECEMbEr 2012
M a g a z i n e
S i n c e
2 0 0 5
Are You North West Rail Ready?
Page 18
Jobs Explosion Ahead for Parramatta Page 20
Where is Your Cashflow? Is it with Your Debtors?
Page 22
n e r r a D
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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GWP Magazines Distribution
®
Key locations for a free pickup
Editor and Publisher: Dmitry Greku Cover Story: Adrian Payne Editing: Leonie Seysan Contributing Writers: Charlie Lynn Craig McCallum Darryn Fellowes Angry Anderson John Watters Kris Cilia Daniel Moisyeyev
Chatswood CBD
Ryde
Touche
Ryde Planning + Business Centre
Zenith Gourmet Foods
Warriewood Business Park
Cafe II duo
Cafe Quattro
St Leonards CBD
Parramatta CBD
Blue Duck Cafe
Parramatta Council
Macquarie Business Park
TAFE
Avenida Cafe
Di Pacci
Westpac Bank
Caterez Espresso
Cafepronto
Coffee House
Cafe Pinnacle
Cafe 31
Glasshouse
Rendevous Point Café
Cover Design and Cover Story Layout: Xabier Goñi, XDesigns
Presse Cafe
Rhodes Corporate Park
Dural Business Park
Caterez
Cover page & cover story photography: Fred Dwyer, Phil Luyer and Wade Aunger
Get Stuffed Catering
Cafe Rhodes
Lane Cove West Business Park
Castle Hill Trading Zone
wickedfoods.com
Hillz Kitchen
La Kantina
CBA Branch - Home Hub Hills
Norwest Business Park
CBA Branch - Castle Towers
Nexus Cafe
Westpac Bank
Servcorp
Café Gionta
Crowne Plaza Norwest
Cafe Tsakali
Lexin Kebabs
Hills Lodge
The Hills Shire Council
Brookvale Business Park
Westpac Bank
Cafe 20
Telstra Business Centre
Espresso Italia
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Frenchs Forest Business Park
IC Frith
Forest Cafe
QCafe
Equinox Café
Caterez - R esmed
Austlink Business Park
Caterez - Woolworths HQ
Cafe Locco
Brothers Cafe
Wetherill Park
Jazzveh Woodfired Pizza Cafe
Wetherill Park Bakehouse
Century Cafe
Blacktown
Cafe Peregrine
Lander Toyota
Rave Cafe
Rosehill Business Park
Kitchen Inc.
Cafe Grand
Parkview Cafe
Rouse Hill
Morsels Cafe
CBA Branch - Town Centre
The Original Frango
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Photography: Francesca Surace, Stilz Fotografika Printing: Pegasus Print Group Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine® is published by GWP Media® and GWP Magazines® ABN: 82 096 352 064 www.gwpmagazine.com.au Norwest Office: Unit 8, 7 Inglewood Place Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 International Standard Serial Number ISSN 1837-199X Advertising Enquiries p | 1300 889 132 e | info@gwpmagazine.com.au To Subscribe w | www.gwpmagazine.com.au
Copyright GWP Media® and GWP Magazines® 2011. The opinions expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect and are not to be regarded as the official opinion of the editor, publisher or their agents. All information contained within this journal is provided for general information purposes only and on the understanding that none of the content herein constitutes professional advice. The editor, publisher or their agents accept no responsibility for any claim, loss or damages arising out of or in connection with any materials contained in this journal. Readers should not rely on the publications in the journal and seek appropriate professional advice in respect of their own circumstances.
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
CONTENTS
Ancher/Mortlock/Woolley
CONTENTS 21 20
South-West Perspective
Cover Story
8
Regulars
Darren Morgan: Living for Speed Adrian Payne
Regulars leadership
16 Our Melanesian Clock is Ticking Charlie Lynn
Local Government
18 Are You North West Rail Ready? The Hills Shire Council
20 Jobs Explosion Ahead for Parramatta
Parramatta City Council
21 Sydney Festival to Bring Streets to Life
Features
Business Advice
22 Where is Your Cashflow? Is it with Your Debtors? Darryn Fellowes
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CHILDRENS MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 3D VISUALISATION - JULY 2012
This Summer Parramatta City Council
24 HR Advice at Your Fingertips
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Kris Cilia
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Everything Old is not New Again Stephen Frost
38 Classifieds
Adult Students Take Their Advantage Craig McCallum
30 Using Flyer Distribution for Marketing
Daniel Moisyeyev
Society & Life
32
Kokoda Angry Anderson
Australian Sport
34 Heroes and Legends on Display at Rugby League Central Penrith Panthers
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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editor’s letter
Digital Flip Books Vs Real Print Dmitry Greku, M. Sc. - Editor and Publisher - GWP Magazines®
Just like all of us, I have a LinkedIn and a bunch of other social media accounts, where I receive messages from a number of groups on a variety of interesting and not so interesting topics. One of the recent topics was quite engaging, genuine and educational.
It came from one of the groups uniting people from the publishing industry or interested in it. It’s an international group. Hence, I don’t really know those people, their publications and can’t judge them on a base of my personal opinion of them or their product and performance. The heading of this Discussion was: “Are you for or against ‘flip-book’ style digital magazines and why?” Here, I would like to share some of their opinions with you, possibly without my commentary (which is virtually impossible). Please also keep it in mind that all those comments were made by people who produce their own publication(s) and are legally and financially responsible for the prosperity of their businesses and investments of their shareholders, or some of them are interested or somehow involved in the publishing industry. I can divide them into two groups. Group 1, opinions that may stem more from personal preferences, and Group 2, opinions that appeared to be more thought out from a business point of view. Group 1 Personal preference is still an important part of the equation as others may share these preferences, so we ignore them at their peril! Participants in this group made a number of interesting points.
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One pointed out that, quite simply, not everyone owns a tablet or the latest pc. Another found the flipbook displays were too small to read. Another suggested that consumers needed a transition phase, whereby they could be educated to use online magazines by first being provided flipbooks that look exactly like print magazines. My opinion: it’s certainly true that not everyone owns a mobile device suitable for reading flipbooks. Of course, that may not be the case in 5-10 years. There’s also no doubt that people may find the flipbook displays too small for comfortable reading. I’m not at all sure consumers need a transition phase. We took to reading websites quite well. While age and degree of comfort with technology may have some bearing on the use of flipbooks, it’s hard to see them suiting everybody. After all, it’s a bit of a chore to move around and read 60 pages of a magazine on a tablet. Group 2 One of the participants in this group provided very valuable points stressing a point that digital magazines cannot go online in a form of a look-alike of an original form. They must be specially prepared. A specially prepared form of information presented on the Internet in a form we all commonly know as a website. Traditional hard copies of magazines have a different purpose and method of consumption than digital. Digital copy of a magazine is here to only compliment the hard copy – not to replace. Specially prepared smart phone applications can create a comfortable user-friendly environment. The problem is in the fact that we use approximately 70 different devices which use different platforms. So, the HTML-based solution, or a website, is still a universal solution to this problem. Furthermore, HTML5 standard is coming out and will enable more advanced
functionality for web developers. Flipbook magazines are a lazy and cheap, from the investment point of view, version of a magazine. Virtually anyone can put some pages in PDF format, upload the document online to turn it into a flipbook and start a publishing project. The question will be – Who will truly see and pay any attention to this project? It’s also an interesting fact that some online magazines which have a substantial financial and intellectual support go into a hard copy version as soon as they can afford to do so. They understand that they will not be able to sustain the interest of their readers if they don’t provide them with a hard copy in the very near future. I think, these days the “everything must be digital” hysteria is coming to an end or at least another form of its wave. Let’s simply relax and read what we want in a format we want which is the most suitable to our momently mood, need and ability. Can I ask you to ask yourself an honest question and give yourself an honest answer: How many times did you read a printed magazine and how many times did you read a flipbook version of any magazine during last three months? Have a great day. Merry Christmas to you all and your families! G
e | editor@gwpmagazine.com.au
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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Proudly Presented by
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
great austRaLIan BusIness PeoPLe
n e r r Da
n a g r M o for
g n i v li
d e e sp
by Adrian Payne
Usually our cover stories feature people who have been particularly successful in business. But every business manager would appreciate that what Darren Morgan has done with inspirational leadership in his sport is a model for successful management.
He is a teacher, a motor mechanic, a husband and father, and driver of some of the fastest four wheeled vehicles on the planet!
He was born in Mildura in Victoria in 1965, and has lived there all his life. Growing up with his older sister Leanne and younger brother rohan, darren spent a lot of time in the local pool, and to this day Leanne still teaches diving in Mildura. their grandfather Alan Morgan was a role model for darren. He had a doctorate in automotive engineering. darren remembers that Alan would also turn his hand to repairing electronic equipment like valve radios. He lived in red Cliffs, only about a kilometer away from their home, the children would often walk over to his place where they would take bikes and other things to pieces... to see how they worked.
Take Off, Perth
Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 50 50 || December December 2012 2012 Business
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Proudly Presented by
David Smith guilding dragster into stage, Perth
to race Suiting up ready talie with help from Na
Crew prepar
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up in the pi
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– ter burnout e dragster af up n re Reversing th ar D g nton backin David Thor
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He had been ‘mucking around with cars’ before he left school ... and remembers that his first car was a Holden Monaro which he would drive to drag racing events in Adelaide and at Heathcote in Victoria.
he built and was driving his first open wheel racing car. It was a ‘bantam altered’, powered by a 454 Chevrolet engine. darren built the chassis, engine, gearbox and a trailer to transport it and frequently raced it over the quarter mile in 8 seconds.
so naturally, after leaving school, he wanted to take on a trade and managed to get an apprenticeship with the sunraysia rural Water Authority as it was then called. He was destined to spend twenty two years there, where he completed two apprenticeships; in fitting and turning, and motor mechanics. during his motor mechanics apprenticeship he took over the role of workshop supervisor, and later workshop manager, a position he held until he left the Water Authority in 2005.
by 1988, he had met and married local girl natalie. Well before leaving the rural Water Authority, he and natalie turned their hobby into a small business, supplying motorsport enthusiasts with specialty replacement parts. In the middle of this he had been building several high performance machines including boats and open wheel racing cars. the business steadily grew, and became the foundation for the motorsport involvement that absorbs his time today.
He began racing in a Chevrolet-powered LJ torana that he built when he was twenty. At twenty-six,
since 2000 he has been teaching automotive students, at the sunraysia Institute of tAFe. His
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
inspirational leadership was demonstrated when he saw that many of the students had been dropping out. When darren introduced a handson project into the course, they were back, keen to be involved in building a bF Falcon-based drag racing car. now they are keen to study and even come to class during lunchtimes and days off to be involved in the project and to further enhance their skills. In 1993 darren and natalie went to America where they went to the drag races. Here they saw national Hotrod Association ‘top Fuel’ drag racing for the first time... darren was hooked! He introduced himself to the Cowin Family racing team. He ended up crewing for them for seven years in America and Australia. In the UsA darren was involved with all aspects of maintenance on
great austRaLIan BusIness PeoPLe
Return from the finish line – Darren, Will Morgan, Karyn Beasley and Natalie
the vehicle, the training of new crew and was the mentor for crew members. While on the team in the UsA the car qualified at every meeting against the fastest vehicles in the world. the team was runnerup at the Us nationals. In Australia they won many title events as well as setting and holding the Australian record for elapsed time and speed. In 2004 he put together the team for the Lamattina Family - Lamattina top Fuel racing. He also set up the inventory, including building a trailer and trained their team members. His own licence pass in May 2004 was logged at 4.85 seconds. this is the quickest licence pass in Australian drag racing history and possibly the world. In the 2004/05 season the Lamattina team with darren driving went to every final of the season and won the Australian top Fuel Championship...
y, Sydney
t Terry Saint
Win agains
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this was in his ‘rookie year’. the Lamattina team broke every track record in the country for miles per hour and elapsed time and reset the Australian national record for MPH and elapsed time. darren has always been closely involved in the motorsport community in Mildura. He is a founding member of the sunraysia drag racing Association. With darren’s drive and know-how they were able to build a drag racing facility which is now widely used by drag racers from all over Australia. He and natalie were awarded the first life memberships of the Association in 2005.
to this day, five years later the team is still in the shed on darren’s property, or out at the latest event, working for darren Morgan racing... for the fun of it. What is more, they are winning, against all comers, including teams from America who pay their team members big money to stay on top.
so it’s no surprise that in 2007 when darren and natalie formed ‘darren Morgan racing’, they had the local racing fraternity right behind them.
Currently including natalie there are 17 team members who tend to the cars or who look after the many needs of the team as a whole. somebody has to organise the food, someone needs to arrange accommodation, transport, and other logistics to keep the wheels turning as fast as they do. the cars spares and workshop facilities are transported in a semi trailer rig built for the job. It gets them trackside with everything they need to win again.
they bought a top fuel dragster from the UsA. they had a big shed on their rural property and he went looking for a team to help run the show, but there was no money to pay wages for the people he really needed to get the thing going, and to keep it going. so he sought out a team that would get involved for the love of it!
top Fuel dragsters are known for the dramatic flames that roar out of the exhaust. the fuel is not petrol at all. it’s nitromethane which litre for litre delivers around two and a half times the power of petrol, and the engine is supercharged as well. Interestingly, the reason for the flames, is that nitromethane burns slower than petrol, so by the
Darren and Caitlyn Morgan
Shannons Promotion – start up – with Caitlyn Morgan in the drivers seat
Caitlyn and Rory Morgan, towing back following a race at the Mildura Sunset Strip
Caitlyn Morgan, winner of Junior Dragster, Easter 2011, Mildura Sunset Strip
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great austRaLIan BusIness PeoPLe
DMR Simulator in Action at Extreme Horsepower Show in Adelaide
Rory Morgan on track at Mildura Sunset Strip with Darren
Rory Morgan with his racecar, competing at the Winternationals in Qld 2011
B
t u o urn
Burnout – Australian Nationals, Sydney, November 2012
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Proudly Presented by
Tear Down of engine between rounds of racing, Sydney
l l u f
Hungry Jack sponsorship – Darren enjoying a Hungry Jack lunch
The Crew in the staging lanes prior to race, Willowbank Raceway, Qld Startline interview time the exhaust stroke comes around in an internal combustion engine, the fuel in the cylinder hasn’t finished burning, so continues to do so during the exhaust period. A typical drag-racing engine has a displacement of 8.9 litres, is supercharged and produces about 8,000 horsepower. It can burn close to four litres of nitromethane per second. something like 2 teaspoons (10 cc’s) of nitromethane goes into each cylinder per intake stroke. In terms of acceleration the dMr team’s car can get to 275 miles per hour in 3 seconds from a standing start. Last season darren and natalie worked out the costs, and despite the fact that they pay none of the team wages, the costs are huge. each race, in drag racing parlance is called a ‘pass’ in 12 months they calculated that each pass cost $17,000. so, while there are no big wages bills, the costs still need to be met. Over the past few years dMr has been fortunate to have had a number of significant sponsors. Currently shannons Insurance is one of
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Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 50 50 || December December 2012 2012 Business 49 November
their sponsors, with a major associate sponsor, Victorian American Imports. Associate sponsors include AeG, Hertz and elgas. In 2011, darren organised the construction of a top Fuel dragster simulator – the first one of its kind in Australia. the simulator uses a raceready top Fuel dragster attached to a computer and monitors. the simulator has been used extensively throughout Australia to promote darren Morgan racing’s sponsors. In particular at V8 supercar events in Adelaide, bathurst and townsville plus various other automotive sporting venues including Cairns, Port Augusta and sydney. At bathurst in 2011 and Clipsal 2012 the simulator performed on-track burnouts and startups to delight the crowds, and give sponsors the exposure they deserve. darren says that he has always strived for perfection in everything he’s done. some people around him have been critical about that trait, but even in his job at the rural Water Authority, he was able to redesign pumps and other plant and
machinery that significantly reduced the frequency of regular maintenance. For him that was a period when they had time to invest in doing the job really well, with an eye on the future. today he is a little more philosophical about
great austRaLIan BusIness PeoPLe
Full Noise, Willowbank Raceway, Qld
e s i o n
perfection, saying that if he were to pursue it to the extent that he would like, the cars and the team would “never leave the shed!”. For all that, they are winning against the best of the best. He says “we try to be the best we can be... that makes us hard to beat”. Under the darren Morgan racing banner darren is the Australian Champion, having won the Championship in 2010/11 and 2011/12. In the current race season (2012/13), darren has won the first two events, the Australian nationals held in sydney on 2-4 november 2012 as well as round one in Adelaide back in October. results so far mean he leads in the 2012/13 season’s competition. And it’s a great team effort with every one of them deserving their many accolades...
dMr’s crew chief, ben Patterson at 23 years of age is the youngest crew chief in the world to win a top Fuel Championship... not once, but twice! darren, natalie and their three children Caitlyn (17) Will (16) and rory (10) are in this together... their lives revolve around darren Morgan racing, and they love it!... as do the 16 other members of the dMr team who bring their seriously honed skills to the mix for no reward, other than the sheer pleasure of being on the winning team. darren muses that the teams who are supported with millions of dollars of corporate money, are ‘not happy’ to know that his team is the one to beat... and they rarely do! G
Startline interview
Business Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 50 49 || December 50 November 2012 December 2012
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Leadership
Our Melanesian Clock is Ticking The Hon. Charlie Lynn - Member of the Legislative Council
It is no secret that I have a deep affection for Papua New Guineans in particular and Melanesia in general. I qualify the term ‘general’ with the fact that I haven’t spent the time I would like to in the pristine island chains with more than a thousand cultures to our immediate north.
Melanesia is a Greek term for ‘black islands’. It stretches from West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, to the Solomons and Fiji. The combined population of 10 million is expected to reach 15 million by 2035. The region has an abundance of natural resources and is home to the world’s largest gold mine. The economy of Papua New Guinea is currently experiencing an economic boom with development of its liquid natural gas fields. Melanesians are our closest geographic neighbours. Our bonds go back to colonial days when parts of it were mandated to Australia by the United Nations. We fought together in the Pacific War. Their soil is soaked with Australian blood. From a strategic viewpoint the island chain falls within our international area of responsibility. As a result Melanesian nations are major recipients of Australian aid with more than $15 billion being invested in Papua New Guinea alone since they achieved independence in 37 years ago. Despite the natural wealth of the region and the substantial investment in foreign aid the social indicators measured by infant mortality rates, average life expectancy and personal poverty have not improved. Australians who fund foreign aid through their hard-earned taxes are entitled to ask why this is so. Visitors arriving in Port Moresby after an absence of a few short years are struck by the frenetic economic activity in the city area. Cranes dominate the skyline in the harbour area, heavy equipment is engaged in road construction, traffic jams clog the city, hotel charges outstrip Sydney and modern shopping centres are crowded with the nation’s new middle class.
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Despite this the unemployment rate in the city and adjacent settlement areas is almost 90 per cent. Personal security is therefore the major growth industry. There is not a doorway, gateway or cash register not protected by a security guard. The nearby Sogeri plateau dominates Port Moresby. The Koiari people own the land that provides essential water and power to their national capital. The area also contains a cluster of schools including the Sogeri High School which has produced leaders in politics, civil service, the judiciary and business. A visit to these schools is instructive, but depressing. Primary school students walk up to three hours a day to attend school. Many don’t have breakfast.
of our borders have now been compromised on the alter of political expediency? How do we reconcile the fact that we are spending billions of dollars on illegal immigrants and billions more on their ‘welfare for life’ entitlement whilst our neighbours live in such appalling conditions within our international area of responsibility? Recent headlines in PNG newspapers reveal that the biggest investors in real estate on North Queensland are Papua New Guineans. Many are politicians who have invested in multimillion dollar properties. The PNG government has established a Task Force to investigate the massive transfer of funds. According to the Head of the Task Force, Mr Sam Koim, ‘not all of the $1.2 billion invested in Australia by Papua New
How do we reconcile the fact that we are spending billions of dollars on illegal immigrants and billions more on their ‘welfare for life’ entitlement whilst our neighbours live in such appalling conditions within our international area of responsibility? The school does not have the resources to provide them with lunch. Their first and only meal for the day is provided after they return home to their village before dark. The boarding conditions in another school enough to make one weep. Ablution blocks are worse than putrid. The stench is overpowering. Dormitories have ‘rooms’ comprising torn sheets joined together to provide basic privacy for groups of four students. There are no mattresses, few blankets and no power. One can only wonder how teachers and students can maintain such a cheery attitude in such appalling conditions. The fact they do is a tribute to their wonderful spirit. It is difficult for a layman to reconcile our tolerance of such appalling conditions. If illegal immigrants were forced to live in such conditions in Australia there would be a national outcry. How do we reconcile the fact that thousands of Australians and Papua New Guineans died in these island nations to protect our national sovereignity? What would they think about the fact that the integrity
Guineans can possibly be derived from legitimate funds. This is the world’s worst secret in Papua New Guinea but the silence from Australian authorities has been deafening. One can only wonder how politicians, lawyers, accountants and financiers complicit in these investments can sleep at night. If the legacy of a generation is measured by international social indicators within our Melanesian regions we will be judged harshly. It is not too late to redress the situation but the clock is ticking. G
For more topics and to contact Charlie Lynn, please visit www.charlielynn.com.au/blog.
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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LOCAL Government
Are You North West Rail Ready? Big changes are coming Big changes are happening to make way for the construction of The North West Rail Link. Commercial buildings on the corner of Brookhollow Avenue and Norwest Boulevarde have recently been demolished at the site of the new Norwest Station, and major property acquisitions along the rail corridor – including Bella Vista’s Totally Home and the Hills Shire Council’s buildings - are nearing completion. Geotechnical surveys are being carried out across many station sites in readiness for the tunnel boring machines to enter the ground in 2014. Widespread community consultation is taking place, with the State Government distributing leaflets and doorknocking those people who will be most impacted. The State Government says the project is on time and on track, and massive construction works will continue for a number of years. Some of the most impacted sites will be the Castle Hill Town Centre and Norwest Business Park. The way people move around these areas to carry out business, shopping, dining and entertainment activities must change while construction is taking place. Big ideas are needed Have you asked yourself how your business will be impacted by the construction of the North West Rail Link? Will your customers be impacted, for example, travelling to and from your business premises? Do you have plans in place that will ensure your business not only survives but thrives throughout the construction phase? Putting in place business continuity strategies now could help you manage the impacts of this $8 billion dollar major infrastructure project in the future. A good place to start your thinking may be to consider the strategies you use to reach your customer base. Do you need to re-engineer your marketing plan or change the way you do business to reach more customers electronically? Help is at hand A number of programs are available that can help you develop your North West Rail business continuity plan. Small Biz Connect – this is a contemporary, comprehensive and high-quality support service for small businesses in NSW. It provides small
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business operators with local, meaningful support that helps them to understand their business’ strengths, challenges and opportunities, develop action plans with measurable results, develop skills, grow manageably and achieve economic sustainability. The program helps businesses connect with expert advisors, professionals and mentors with real business experience to embrace innovation and become better equipped to deal with change. Small Biz Connect can link you with other business support services offered by local government, the Commonwealth Government’s Enterprise Connect initiative and private enterprise. Visit www.smallbusiness.nsw.gov.au The NSW Small Business Commissioner The Small Business Commissioner can assist business operators with issues impacting their business. If you would like more information, contact the Office of the Small Business Commissioner on 1300 795 534. Council’s THINK BIG initiative The Hills Shire Council’s Economic Development team has developed ‘THINK BIG’ – a ‘Business Impact Game-plan’ initiative that encourages business owners to re-engineer their business for the change the North West Rail will bring. The team can provide market intelligence for the local
area and connections to services that may be able to assist with individual business issues. What’s next for the North West Rail? The North West Rail Link’s Environmental Impact Statement 2 is now on public exhibition, and shows in detail how the stations will look in the landscape, how the trains will operate and how the areas around the new stations will be dealt with. Business people and residents can view the documents online, or visit the North West Rail Link information centre on Old Northern Road, Castle Hill, and the State Government is encouraging comment and submissions. Environmental Impact Statement 2 can be found at http:/northwestrail. com.au. G
Are you interested in a free confidential business visit? Contact Council’s Economic Development Team on 9762 1108.
NEW IDEAS FOR HOME BUSINESS OWNERS Did you know that there are over 20,000 home-based businesses in the Sydney Hills?
Contact us today for FREE confidential business discussion on 9762 1108.
Council understands how important home-based businesses are to the local economy, and how good information can lead to more informed decision making. The two most frequently asked questions by home-based business owners are: where can I get a list of businesses in the area, and how can I find out about new local business activity? And many more people ask: do I need a permit to run my business from home? Council has a range of FREE business information that can answer these questions and more... AN INITIATIVE OF
business
THE HILLS SHIRE COUNCIL
www.businesssydneyhills.com.au
HOW’S BUSINESS? Tell us what you think. SYDNEY HILLS BUSINESS CLIMATE SURVEY • Are you a local business person? • What do you think are the benefits of operating a business in the Sydney Hills? • Which business workshops would assist you and your employees in the future? Take the Sydney Hills Business Climate survey and have your say. VISIT www.thehills.nsw.gov.au and follow the links from the home page.
9843 0555 | www.thehills.nsw.gov.au Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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LOCAL Government
Jobs Explosion Ahead for Parramatta The Parramatta job market is set to rapidly expand with new data showing jobs growth in the area over the next 25 years to be almost double that originally forecast by the State Government.
10,000 more jobs in five years,” Cr Chedid said. Complementing these figures is new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which shows a large increase in the qualification levels of people working in Parramatta. Cr Chedid welcomed the new Census figures, noting that the future looks bright.
The Bureau of Transport Statistics’ (BTS) newly released figures show that an extra 52,000 jobs are forecast for Parramatta by 2036, replacing the 27,000 originally predicted. Lord Mayor of Parramatta, Cr John Chedid said the new statistics indicate strong local employment growth and highlight the need for more investment in economic infrastructure to support growth. “As the geographic and demographic centre of Sydney, Parramatta is well positioned to provide more jobs closer to people’s homes,” Cr Chedid said. “The jobs figures published by the BTS are almost double those previously forecast, but they’re consistent with Council’s goal of having
“The increase in qualified workers has been remarkable. The number of people working in Parramatta with bachelor degrees increased by almost 20%, while those with post-graduate degrees is up more than 40%,” Cr Chedid said. “More qualified workers in Parramatta means growth for a number of local industries, which will be reflected in fields such as technology, accounting, medical research, engineering, government and law,” Cr Chedid said.
“Our home grown talent matches the rest of Sydney. Westmead now has the second highest concentration of post grad qualifications in Sydney,” Cr Chedid said. Evidence of the growth in health and scientific sectors, the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) recently launched the construction of a new seven storey extension to their premises at Westmead. The new tower will more than double the Institute’s capacity and result in 300 new jobs and 100 research training positions over the next 10 years, reinforcing Western Sydney’s place as the home of world-leading research facilities. “Having an increasingly skilled and qualified labour force is a major attraction for business and thiswill help us meet our jobs target,” Cr Chedid said. G
New data shows increases in employment in Parramatta’s high value, knowledge-based industries – finance and insurance industries oolleyprofessional, technical and areAncher/Mortlock/W up 6.7%, the scientific areas are up 7.3% and the health sector is up 9.5%.
Newly An artists impression of the new CMRI building at Westmead
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CHILDRENS MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 3D VISUALISATION - JULY 2012
LOCAL Government
Sydney Festival to Bring Streets to Life This Summer Parramatta will see an increase in visitors and extra dollars pumped into the local economy when Sydney Festival returns in January 2013 with 12 jam-packed days of free and ticketed events.
The Lord Mayor of Parramatta, Cr John Chedid with Sydney Festival Director Lieven Bertels at the Sydney Festival 2013 program launch
In 2012 Sydney Festival contributed $56.8 million to the NSW economy, with $1.1 million directly into the Parramatta economy. These numbers are expected to grow in 2013. Lord Mayor of Parramatta, Cr John Chedid, said Parramatta City Council is proud to be a partner in the Festival. “Council sees Sydney Festival as an excellent investment in the community, as it brings many benefits to Parramatta, including raising our profile as a leisure destination,” Cr Chedid said. “I am excited by the program that has been put together for the 2013 Sydney Festival in Parramatta. With its diverse array of live music, performances and entertainment it is sure to attract even more visitors to the city this year, locally and from afar,” Cr Chedid said.
Parra Opening Party: January 19
Research from 2012 estimated that there were 18,000 unique attendees to Parramatta events, and that 94.4% would attend Sydney Festival events again as a result of their experience.
• Bring the kids and enjoy an afternoon of music and activities in and around Riverside Theatres and Salon Perdu Spiegeltent • The Megaphone Project turns Church Street into a participatory musical installation for all • Matthew Timmis’ Car-Cophony creates a symphony of car stereos • Tokyo Love-In’s Tablatronics fuses classical music with electronic beats • The world’s largest Pyrophone explodes with flames and irresistible beats
Last year’s hit Parra Opening Party (POP) is back, with the heart of Parramatta transformed for a day of free entertainment that will bring the city streets to life. Across the road in the Parramatta Festival Garden, the superb Art Nouveau Salon Perdu Spiegeltent will host amazing local and international talent that will excite locals and visitors alike. In a coup for the city, Latin street circus troupe Circolombia brings its internationally acclaimed performance URBAN to the Riverside Theatres for an exclusive two-week season of jaw-dropping acrobatics, brazen attitude and high-voltage energy. Sydney Festival Parramatta comes to a close on Australia Day, with a free performance from Archie Roach in the evening, alongside Parramatta City Council’s traditional Australia Day celebrations and Lah-Lah’s Big Live Band for the kids. Sydney Festival Parramatta runs from January 15-27, 2013. For more information and to book tickets, visit sydneyfestival.org.au/parramatta. G
POP wraps with a free performance from Texan funk all-stars Kashmere Stage Band and Malian superstar Rokia Traoré City streets and parks: 4pm – 11pm FREE Circolombia brings its performance URBAN to the Riverside Theatres
Family friendly and suitable for all ages sydneyfestival.org.au/pop
Parramatta City Council p | 02 9806 5730 e | seggert@parracity.nsw.gov.au
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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Business Advice
Where is Your Cashflow? Is it with Your Debtors? Darryn Fellowes, Wealth Adviser - Skeggs Goldstien
With many businesses having cash flow issues at the moment, it is an opportune time to review your debtor’s collection policy. The June quarter saw Australian firms average 53.6 days to pay their accounts1. If this is reflective of your business, this means that on average someone else has had use of that money for 53.6 days when it could have been put to use in your business more effectively and relieve your cashflow concerns.
However, for many business owners the collection of money is not a pleasant process, so if you feel like that then you need to remove yourself from the process and look at formalising it. Whilst every business is different, we recommend taking some time to run your business through the following steps: • Work out your average collection days. To work this out take your average debtors divided by your annualised sales then multiplied by the number of days in the year. • Compare this to your industry benchmark. This will give you an idea of what your competitors are doing. • Review your account opening process. Review what guarantees are in place and the terms of the account and, ensure credit reports are obtained prior to opening large accounts. Given the current environment, you may also wish to review your credit term offering. • When reviewing your credit term offering take into account that some customers will only deal with you on certain terms so consideration needs to be given to the profitability and business reliance of each customer. • Review your current accounts by identifying accounts that are consistently overdue and look at closing accounts that are not over a certain amount as the cost to maintain these can be high. Also review your large account holders credit report on a regular basis and consider a collection agent for debts you are not collecting
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• Review your collection policy. Do you have a rigid process in place? More often than not you are involved and in charge of collections but it generally occurs only when needed and is not structured. Consider a structured process as follows: 1. Appoint a project owner – someone who will be responsible for driving the initiative and reporting the outcomes. 2. Set realistic objectives for the process that everyone has had input into. 3. Map out your current debtor’s process – people involved, time frames, monitoring tools. We recommend having all your key staff involved in the collection policy review, for example the sales people and/or account managers need to have input into the process. 4. Map out your new process and ensure all stakeholders are consulted prior to implementing this process. 5. Assign the debtors collection responsibility to a designated person that is not the business owner (consider outsourcing as an option). 6. Ensure debtors reconciliations occur on a regular basis. 7. Once an account becomes overdue, put in a process to contact the customer and request payment. This request is then confirmed in writing and any agreed payment to be monitored and follow-up. 8. If the account still remains unpaid, send a letter of demand and make another phone call to the customer. 9. If the account remains in the same state and you cannot contact the customer, send a final letter and commence legal action to recover the money after the payment period stated in your letter is reached. 10. For clients that you agree to receive payment over time, monitor payment deadlines and follow the agreed timeframe. If these time frames push out, request additional funds in order to continue the payment plan. 11. Establish a policy for ceasing credit. Many businesses have a reliance on key customers and unfortunately when their business suffers so does yours. To demonstrate the effect of a collection process, we recently reviewed a client’s debtors policy with the view to implementing a formal process. As a result of this new process we were able to improve the collection days by four days. To
most people this does not sound like much. On the contrary and by way of example, a business that has turnover of $3,560,000 and average debtors of $450,000 has average collection days of 46.14. An improvement of 4 days translates into an additional $38,981 in the bank at year end. The benefit we have not measured yet is the bad debts reduction as a result of the structured process. The most important factor of effective collection is sticking to the process. It is a worthwhile investment in processes that all businesses need to undertake. Consider setting your business a debtors improvement goal! As time progresses other processes can be reviewed and documented in a similar way to your collection policy e.g. stock policy, creditor policy. This time investment in your processes will add value to your business and allow stakeholders involved to focus on their core activities. G
1 Dun & Bradstreet (Australia) Pty Ltd trade Payment Analysis June quarter 2012
If you would like to understand why your business cashflow is under stress, Skeggs Goldstien has the software available to model the outcome of an effective debtors policy.
Skeggs Goldstien Associates p | 1300 753 447 e | admin@sgapl.com.au w | www.sgapl.com.au
skeggs golds ien
Commercial/Industrial/ Retail & Bulky Goods Asset Management Investment Land Sales Project Marketing
Ph 9680 9200 www.hillscommercial.com.au info@hillscommercial.com.au
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
23
Business Advice
HR Advice at Your Fingertips Kris Cilia, Consultant - The HR Department
Successful small business owners are fabulous at what they do whether they are in manufacturing, designing, marketing, or IT. The industry is immaterial - they all know their core business. What they can find challenging is managing employees and the raft of legislation surrounding this. No longer are they experts. Instead they spend precious time and resources looking for answers as questions arise. Many would love to have resources to help them navigate the complexity of employment legislation, but cost can be a barrier.
Small business owners often need quick and simple expert advice straight away but not every day. Many small and medium businesses (SMEs) are not large enough to require a dedicated human resources manager to handle staffing issues, grievances, manage poor performance and provide support to payroll on employment conditions and modern award changes. However doing the wrong thing in these areas could result in a complex claim for wages, back payments, complaints that escalate to irreparable scenarios, or even worse, being called to defend yourself in a tribunal.
What if you could have the answers to all of your requests at the other end of the phone? An experienced HR consultant who can assess your specific issue and answer all of your questions… The HR Department Helpline is exactly that - the answer to your employment related questions at your fingertips.
By simply subscribing to the HR Helpline Service you will have peace of mind about any of your concerns around employee entitlements, awards, work health and safety and unfair dismissal. No more wasting time trawling through the internet and trying to decipher the results. Subscribe to the HR Helpline and focus your energy on the financial success of your business. The HR Helpline is a cost effective subscription service providing prompt phone advice and expertise answering your employment questions. This service also provides your business with basic HR templates and forms for you to use.
So how do you manage your obligations and commitments, keep up with the changing legal landscape, and keep your staff engaged so that you can focus on what really matters to you your business?
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
retail, transport and logistics, mining, training, community services, and state and federal public services. The HR Department provides quality cost effective services to individual companies, associations and membership organisations on people related employment issues. From telephone helpline services or specialised consulting right through to building your HR management framework we are there to help. More details about
Many small and medium businesses (SMEs) are not large enough to require a dedicated human resources manager to handle staffing issues, grievances, manage poor performance and provide support to payroll on employment conditions and modern award changes.
Regardless of whether SMEs have dedicated HR resources or if these activities are ‘farmed out’ amongst management or supervisors, there are critical legal obligations that all businesses must comply with including the Work Health and Safety Act, Workers Compensation Act, the Fair Work Act and their associated regulations.
You can spend time on the internet researching published material or similar cases and arrive at what you think might be an appropriate solution. You can try to decipher fact sheets, industry updates and magazines. But can you be sure that
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the solution you have identified is appropriate to your specific issue?
these products are available on our website www.thehHRdepartment.com.au. Our goal is to free you up to focus on your business, knowing that we have taken the worry out of managing your people. G For more information about the HR Helpline or for an obligation free discussion please call Elly Beck our Practice Manager on 02 8850 6124.
The HR Department
Our team of HR Consultants has extensive knowledge gained through many years in Senior HR and IR roles. Collectively they have expertise in manufacturing including heavy engineering,
e | elly@thehrdepartment.com.au w | www.theHRdepartment.com.au
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www.inoneprojects.com.au Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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Business Advice
Adult Students Take Their Advantage Craig McCallum, Director, Strategic Marketing and Media Relations, TAFE NSW - Western Sydney Institute (WSI)
The great American industrialist Henry Ford once said that anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.
While the bulk of formal learning for many occurs before the age of twenty, mature adults who work towards qualifications have a distinct advantage and receive many benefits. One example of this is Michelle Anderson. As a mature aged student, Michelle could have been nervous about taking up study but instead was quietly optimistic. Confirming a solid grounding for her optimism, Michelle achieved excellent results at TAFE and is now excelling at university. Michelle was prompted to ‘up skill’ by a desire to open up her career opportunities. Unable to reach beyond entry level roles, and having an interest in Human Resources, Michelle looked into her options for gaining the piece of paper that she says employers are crying out for from job applicants. Michelle puts her own education success and that of other mature aged students down to having a greater understanding of the value of studying. As a mature aged student you have a more established sense of self, are more attuned to your rationale for studying and as a result have more motivation, Michelle says. And, I would like to add, greater planning skills. Michelle had the wisdom and resources to choose a particular path to gain her qualification. Because she completed a Diploma (in one year) at TAFE, Michelle gained a year’s academic credit at university which she claims saved her more than $10,000 off the cost of the two qualifications. She also gained the practical skills of TAFE and the critical thinking tools of university. Australia has one of the world’s highest rates of participation in education for the mature aged, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These rates showed that 13.4% of Australians aged 30-39 were participating in formal education and training in 2008, compared with an average of 5.9% for other OECD countries. Australia had the highest rate of participating students aged
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40 and over at 5.8%, compared to and OECD average of 1.6%. According to recent findings reported by the National Centre for Vocational Education and Training Research (NCVER)1, mature aged people (25 to 64 years) find that their study results in a number of benefits. According the study, an increase in disposable income was a significant outcome for mature aged females who undertook certificates and diplomas. Mature aged males who engaged in certificates and diplomas achieved higher levels of job satisfaction, higher use of skills in their jobs and a reduction in weekly hours of work. You may be surprised to learn that around two thirds of WSI’s students in 2011 were aged 25 or above. These students take up a wide variety of qualifications and often bring to their classes a great deal of knowledge. Particularly popular with the 25 plus age group are the health and community, IT, building services and business services qualifications. Business is a great example of a qualification that is suited to mature aged students. Many mature aged students who come to WSI for business qualifications are armed with impressive experience and have suitable qualifications within their sphere of expertise but are hampered in their quest for promotion due to a lack of business qualifications. Many organisations, particularly large organisations, now include ‘suitable qualifications’ as a part of their manager-level job descriptions. To climb the corporate ladder, therefore, these promotion-seekers will need to take up further study.
the study load is often considerably lightened, leaving students to work on the skills that they need and to develop practical skills for the jobs they aspire to do. Where possible in these qualifications, assignments are aligned to their organisation, for example, creating a business or marketing plan for their business. Such assignments provide not only relevant learning for the student but result in a usable resource for the business which has been reviewed by TAFE’s expert teachers. Those who catch the ‘learning bug’ can continue on to the Advanced Diploma and then Bachelor of Applied Management, through the University of Ballarat, all of which is facilitated at their local TAFE campus. The pathway is efficient for these students in terms of time and money. Many such ‘pathways’ exist and give students like Michelle Anderson the opportunity to find their niche as adults. G
Perhaps the time is ripe for you to take up further training or education. If it is, one of your best resources may be our Career Counsellors – who can be contacted on 131 870. Coelli M, Tabasso D, Zakirova R, (2012) Studying beyond the age 25: who does it and what do they gain? National Centre for Vocational Education and Research.
1
Taking up this further study need not be as daunting as it sounds, Management Head Teacher Annmaree Bernie tells me. Annmaree says that the part-time, evening courses are popular with mature aged students, and although some may feel a little uneasy about the commitment at first, they soon relish their decision to study. The adult students enjoy meeting with other professionals in their courses, who are often in a similar circumstance to their own. And the training is relevant. Students get recognition for their skills and experience, so
TAFE NSW - Western Sydney Institute (WSI) p | 02 9208 9304 e | craig.mccallum8@tafensw.edu.au w | wsi.tafensw.edu.au
FAST>>TRACK
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For more information contact our FAST>>TRACK program co-ordinator (02) 9865 1144 wsifasttrack@tafensw.edu.au wsi.tafensw.edu.au/courses-and-careers/fast-track Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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FEATURE
Everything Old is not New Again John Watters, Executive Officer – AusSIP
By the time this article is published, HSC results and ATAR scores will be received. For many, it will be a time of surprises. The current generation of young people is the first generation where attaining Year 12 qualifications rather than Year 10 is the norm rather than the exception.
Up until the past couple of decades, Australia has somewhat enjoyed splendid isolation, perceiving itself as being exempt and outside many global forces and trends. Competition was largely locally and possibly regionally based. Indeed, this was reinforced by parents and friends outlining their own experiences. Career pathways were perceived to be both deductive and fairly linear. Those days are gone. As Australia has expanded trade and interaction globally, the realisation that we are part of a global community has become more evident. At a very minimal level, this realisation may have manifested itself in overseas travel resulting from a strong Australian dollar, or possibly through interacting with the many thousands of international students. In any case, when young people apply for employment or education, they could potentially be competing not against hundreds of peers, but literally millions of people from across the globe. Mark Twain once wrote, ‘Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness and many of our people need it solely on these accounts.’ While I am not advocating a mass exodus from Australia to explore labour market competitors, I am suggesting like Twain, to be unaware and perhaps ignore external forces is to the detriment of oneself. Completing Year 12 is an achievement that should be celebrated. Nonetheless, in the global world, this celebration should be tempered with the reality that completing school is a transition into the next phase. Too often we focus on finishing or surviving high school. Stories from students and parents are often more akin to battle tales describing heroism and challenge. The aim becomes finishing rather than transitioning. Our young people and parents need to be reminded that the outcome of school is not to finish, but to transition through it. While it is easier to focus on the immediate outcome of finishing the final exam
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
or attending the last day, our young people haven’t finished, they’ve transitioned. For employers, this transition can mark a world of new opportunities. Students who were undertaking school-based apprenticeships and traineeships
Organisations such as AusSIP, BREED and Penrith SIP work with businesses, schools and communities to make these transitions smoother and more sustainable. We work together to focus on transition rather than mere completion.
As Australia has expanded trade and interaction globally, the realisation that we are part of a global community has become more evident. At a very minimal level, this realization may have manifested itself in overseas travel resulting from a strong Australian dollar, or possibly through interacting with the many thousands of international students. can transition into full-time employment. Parttime employees can increase their hours more easily or alter work schedules with flexible study timetables. Previous work experience students can be integrated into work teams more easily. More than anything, it is a time of transition rather than completion. Compounding this need to transition rather than complete is the life expectancy of our current generation. Based on projections, this generation will not only live longer but also work longer. While this will bring a smile to many a parent, our young will also need to transition more frequently. By default, they will be transitioning from one area of education and employment to the next. Completion will be more defined as movement rather than cessation. G
For more information on Partnership Brokers, please contact your local office listed below.
Members
Blacktown admin@breedcp.com.au p | 9853 3247
Parramatta info@aussip.com.au p | 9633 7100
Aus SIP
explore.inspire.engage
Penrith info@schoolsindustry.com.au p | 4725 0310
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
29
Business Advice
Using Flyer Distribution for Marketing
by Daniel Moisyeyev, B. IT – GWP Media
If you gather a couple random people and politely ask them if they like receiving flyers and leflets stuffed into their mailbox, you will probably get some negative reactions (that is why there is a “No Junkmail” system in operation in Australia for mailboxes). However, once you are in the position of a proprietor, you often have no choice but to be the one responsible for distributing flyers. It is very difficult to engage potential clients and there are not many avenues available for this task. Chances are, flyer distribution is one of the options you have considered or already used for your business.
Issue #1: Flyer Design and Overall Company Presentation
What are some of the methods you can use for flyer distribution?
False expectations are another issue that affects starter business owners. There are some odd numbers floating around, such as an expectation that an astronomical 5% response rate from a junk mail campaign is a normal average and 10% from direct mail is good. Some business owners are very surprised when I tell them that what they can actually expect is very far from these numbers.
There are a number of distribution methods that are available to a business: 1. Unaddressed mailbox distribution. Stuffing flyers into residential or business mailboxes is one of the most common methods used 2. Unaddressed business PO Box drops. The same principle as mailbox distribution, but used to specifically promote B2B products 3. Direct mail. A letter specifically addressed to a targeted recipient with a commercial proposition 4. Unsolicited deliveries under doors, into offices by hand or personal flyer distribution by some other means 5. Handbills. Handbills are given out by personnel standing near public places. They are specifically regulated by Australian Law. You will find this method commonly used in shopping centres. There are some other less commonly used and not-so-legal methods, such as stuffing flyers under windscreen wipers and throwing them off buildings during parades. I won’t go into those. Please note that flyer distribution is bound by Australian Laws to reduce environment impact. If you have invented your own flyer distribution channel, please make sure it is legal before proceeding. What I would like to expand on in this article, are some of the most common issues that arise while using these marketing tools.
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It is an extremely common companies with a poor base a poorly designed logo/brand attempt to do a mass flyer problem usually affects starter with little real world experience.
scenario to see presentation (i.e. and no website) distribution. This business owners
When a company has no professional branding and a poor excuse for a website, it usually follows with a badly designed (read: homemade or designed by a talented brother/sister/cousin) flyer. Coupled with false expectations (see next point), the results are often disastrous. Over the years at GWP Media, we have seen some real shockers come through. Issue #2: False Expectations when doing ROI calculations
The reality is that it is not uncommon to receive 3 or 4 genuine responses from doing a 10,000 flyer residential distribution. How do you actually do a ROI calculation? The below examples are crude, but realistic in terms of what is possible to get after a direct mail campaign. Case 1 A company is selling an expensive B2B service valued at a range of $7,000-$15,000. The service is a one off and clients do not incur recurring costs. The service is applicable to the average business. The labour costs to the company are at half the cost of the service. The company proceeds to do a Direct Mail Campaign to a database of 5,000 businesses at a cost of $1 per record. The company receives 3 genuine calls that turn into 2 clients averaged at $10,000 ($20,000 total). Even after taking out labour costs, the company is well in profit. The response rate was a mere 0.06%.
If the response rate was in fact the 5% often expected, life would be a breeze for business owners and companies offering direct mailing services would never have a need to advertise. Case 2 The company is selling computer hardware. A product sells on average for $500, however the margin for the company is a mere $50. There is no recurring costs to the client, barring the clients that may come back and buy something else at a later stage. The company proceeds to do a Direct Mail Campaign to a database of 5,000 businesses at a cost of $1 per record – exactly the same as Case 1. The company receives 25 in-the-door customers who buy various products and end up spending $500 each on average. The profit from the sales is $1,250. However, the company spent $5000 on the campaign and ends up at a loss. Unless the customers keep visiting the shop in the future, the campaign is a failure. The response rate was 0.5%. You would need a 2% response rate from this campaign to break even. Case 3 The company is selling a useful accounting service that costs $100 per month. The service is a recurring charge, however few companies unsubscribe after signing up. The company proceeds to do a Direct Mail Campaign to a database of 5,000 businesses at a cost of $1 per record – exactly the same as both cases above. 50 genuine calls are received. 33 new clients are signed up for $100 / per month. The company takes just 2 months to break even on the cost. Since clients continue paying well after the campaign is over, the results are very good. The response rate was 1%. This example is optimistic, however this campaign would still succeed with a 0.5% or less response rate due to the nature of the service. As you can see from the examples below, the kind of responses companies receive are based on the product, service, market conditions, demand, time of the year, total price (a product with a premium price is always less attractive and harder to sell than something that costs $99 on special). Even weather comes into play. There are far too many factors to give a clear cut answer.
What you can control, however, is the presentation. A substandard presentation is guaranteed decrease your response rate two-fold or more, and can mean the difference between success and failure. Issue #3: Message and Call To Action Besides a good overall company brand and presentation, you also need a correct message and call to action on your flyer. The best flyers tend to carry just one straight forward message – having a lot of excess information tends to take away the focus of the reader. It is crucial that you have the following in your flyer: 1. The product or service that you are trying to sell right now 2. A relevant image to capture attention – preferably one of the product, but a generic stock photograph can be efficient if used correctly 3. Price 4. The phone number to call or website to visit. Please make sure that full contact details are included and working – it seems to be a common issue for contact phone numbers on advertisements to lead to nowhere
While consumers may be dazzled by a 50% discount that ends tomorrow or a free iTunes voucher, our experience has shown us this often doesn’t work with savvy business owners at all. When marketing to other proprietors, you need to think of your offer in terms of a solution that helps save valuable time, decrease expenses or increase revenue – not simply as a standalone product or service.
If your business needs any help with flyer distribution for either residential or business, ask GWP Media about how we can help. We staff our own walkers to flyer distribution and have ourselves used almost every distribution method to this date. If your business can benefit from flyer distribution, we can certainly let you know how.
Issue #4: Not standing out enough As providers of a B2B flyer distribution service, we have quite a lot of samples go through us. It is quite rare that we receive something that captivates attention. Some ideas for standing out: • Odd-shaped flyers. E.g. a flyer shaped like a mobile phone, a footprint or tooth • Delivering useful and long lasting promotional products, such as mouse pads • Delivering an envelope • Promotional Calendars • Use of extreme color schemes (e.g. black/yellow, red/yellow) Unique presentations always stand out from the competition and are more likely to leave an imprint in the memory of the recipient. G
GWP Media p | 02 8090 1730 e | daniel@gwpmagazine.com.au
Marketing to consumers (B2C) and businesses (B2B) requires a completely different approach.
Source: Direct Marketing Association (DMA) 2012 Response Rate Report Released on June 14. See the-dma.org for more details.
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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Society & Life
Kokoda Angry Anderson
Kokoda, the very name conjures up images of a truly grammatical romantic adventure. Romantic in the real sense of high drama, impending peril, gloriously brave heroics, danger and life lived to the fullest when all that stands between ourselves and oblivion are the bravest of men doing the seemingly impossible.
The history of those boys, youths, young men is there, documented in many books for all to read and having been there. After reading of the campaign, I am of the opinion that everyone interested in our history should put themselves to task and become educated to the amazing story that is Kokoda. Kokoda for me has very personal memories and I want to share them with you before I take you with me as I once again walk the trail sixteen years after my first crossing. Sixteen years ago I was doing ‘The Challenge’ program for Channel 9 and I was told by the then producers that we were going to walk the Kokoda trail taking along a group of celebrities. The idea was to bring about some recognition and acknowledgement of the trail and its importance in Australian military history. The feeling had long been that Kokoda was not so much forgotten but undervalued by the government and the general public at large. The public were not well enough informed so it wasn’t that they didn’t care but more that they just didn’t know enough about what went on there and the amazing story of an amazing time in our history. The governments of the past had not paid the Kokoda campaign it’s proper due and there were several reasons for that depending on who you spoke to. For me personally it was, as I have said before, the experience that would change me forever. To say that I was ill prepared for the adventure would be an understatement of the highest order. I was not prepared, either physically or emotionally for the ordeal that lay before me. Looking back now, as I stood ready to return to the jungle, I was flooded by memories so clear, some for the first time, since returning. This time however, I was much better prepared and still it was one of the hardest things I have done in my
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
life. I am so very glad that I did go back this time. I remember having only a few months to get fit for the walk and I started reading as many books as I could to give myself some idea of what I was in for. I already knew a little but not really all that much in the real scale of things. One early memory that came back was our first meeting with Charlie Lynn, the larger than life but real life leader of our impending trek. I remember also briefings that I had with him to help me prepare. I remember him saying once that it was important to always have in mind that the weight we chose to carry was the weight we would have to carry. In the event that we were not able to carry the weight someone else would have to carry it for us and that would meant that one of the Papua’s would end up carrying that extra that we would burden them with. This at the time made sense but it would later reveal itself to be of greater significance. What I didn’t realise at that early stage was that Charlie not only meant the weight of the pack but the weight that we carried on our person, our actual body weight. We were told that it was no shame to claim a lighter pack and that an extra porter could be added to carry what we thought we could not but once we had started the walk we would be responsible for our own pack. Not thinking this through was to get me into a lot of trouble before long. The lesson learnt or was there to learnt was a lesson about life itself, only ‘carry’ what you know you can and you will seldom be a burden to others,.. know your own limitations and the journey will be so much the easier, knowing that to test yourself from time to time can bring rewards. We were advised to take on a training schedule that would go some way to prepare us for the coming ordeal. We were not to know, of course, that little can prepare you for what was to come. In my case I was not in any shape to undertake the journey and that was to become one of my life’s great lessons. I was over weight and unfit.
me, as it had been teaching me throughout my life thus far, with pain, learning to live at the school of hard knocks. After the excitement of arriving in Papua New Guinea, a truly wild frontier, the reality quickly began to reveal itself. The humidity was overwhelming and when it rained that first night it really rained and I remember thinking that this was not what I had expected. The afternoon of that first day we were again briefed on our first day going into the jungle, pace yourself, keep hydrated, rest as often as you need, don’t worry if you fall behind, you will not be left alone. So it was with all this good advice that we rose the next morning to begin our adventure. The first day was horrendous and we were only in the foothills. The heat, the climbing going up for what seemed hours then the going down that was only marginally better than going up, crossing the rivers was a blessed relief and fun in a frightening sort of way. Day two was more of the same but worse, as we climbed and climbed, higher and higher, the heat and humidity was just bearable but was taking its toll on all but it was deadly on some of us and I was beginning to suffer badly. The pack, which weighed somewhere about twenty to twenty four kilos, was becoming my worst nightmare. Day three I hardly remember as I was in so much pain. Day four was a searing blur of physical and mental torment, I had begun to wander in my mind and I was in serious trouble. It was that night that broke me in mind, body and spirit. Day five I was unable to continue. But I knew that somehow I had to. I was, with others, rested that day and was flown from one ridge to the next. Day six I picked up that pack and continued, as I knew I had to. G e | angry@angryanderson.com
This is where I know that ‘The Divine’ stepped in and sent me where I needed to go. Put me where I needed to be to test me as I had never been tested before or since, to force me to discover who I really was and who I could be,.. to teach
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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Australian Sport
Heroes and Legends on Display at Rugby League Central The Penrith Panthers board, sponsors and Junior League team this month enjoyed taking a look back at the founding years of the NRL, and celebrating the greatness of the game today, during a tour of the brand new Heroes and Legends Museum at Rugby League Central, Moore Park.
The museum opened in September, and includes stunning displays of items like players’ gear from as early as 1910; interactive photo albums and newspaper articles; cabinets holding the prized trophies handed to winning teams past and present; and even a screen where you can watch those rugby league ads featuring songs we all learn the words to each season. The combination of historic items and present-day technology meshes in a unique way to appeal to rugby league fans of all ages. Panthers Chairman Don Feltis, Panthers Board Members John Hiatt, Terry Heidtmann, Keith Rhind and Steve Robinson, sponsor Peter Rech from Penrith Light and Sound, three of the team from sponsors HostPlus, and Penrith & Districts Junior Rugby League team members Jenny Toohey, Jan and Alan Cameron, Jessica McGrath and Breeghan Pulch, were all part of the tour, and would recommend a visit to all Panthers fans. Former Panthers star Frank Puletua is the Museum Manager of the Heroes and Legends collection, overseeing this special project from its early beginnings and beyond, and gave his perspective on what makes it such a drawcard for rugby league fans. How did the idea for the museum come about? It was a collaborative team put together by Shane Mattiske and Paul Kind, whom I understand initially drove the idea of the space coming to fruition. The final museum design and layout was a collaborative effort by a group including myself, Guy Hanson, Ben Baker, Terry Williams, Vanessa Cheeseman, Shane and Paul.
The Panthers tour group
Panthers jerseys from 1968, 1988 and 2008 What do you consider to be the most treasured item in the collection? Personally I love the contact board on loan from the Western Suburbs Magpies Archives. It has so much character and history embedded in there, that it poses questions and queries about a certain time period in the game and a particular organisation. Is the search for more items for the collection ongoing?
What process do you go through when deciding what items to include in the collection?
Yes - like any museum the growth of a collection is ongoing as history is created now.
Many of the items selected were those objects displayed as part of the 2008 Centenary Season Exhibition. Other objects were obviously included such as the Australian Game, 100 Greatest Players and Fans.
Can you tell us a little about the project you’re undertaking with the different NRL clubs including Penrith, to ensure their own items are well looked after? This is a Collections Development Strategy which
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
I am looking to roll out over the next five years. All clubs have vast collections of objects and items, some more than others. The purpose of the Strategy is to be able to provide all clubs with the support that they need to identify, preserve, manage and showcase their collections for all the generations of their club supporters and stakeholders to access an feel proud of. G The Heroes and Legends Museum is located at Rugby League Central, Driver Avenue, Moore Park. It’s open to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11am until 2pm. Entry is free.
Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 50 | December 2012
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