Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine Issue #70 - October 2014

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BU S I N E S S

SYDNEY - ISSUE 70 | OCTOBER 2014

M A G A Z I N E

S I N C E

2 0 0 5

Why is

a i l a r t AsousExpensive and Who’s ResponsIible?

ICAC Victims of the Shameless

Training - What is the Return on Investment?

Creating a World Class Culture: Burn the Floor

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B E L L A V I S TA B U S I N E S S A L L I A N C E – E X C L U S I V E G R O U P F O R B U S I N E S S O W N E R S Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

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Editor and Publisher: Dmitry Greku Cover Story: Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer Contributing Writers: Charlie Lynn Angry Anderson Daniel Moisyeyev Stephen Frost Caroline Fitzgerald Robyn Lambert

Mike Conway Bailey Compton

Art Director: Svetlana Greku Executive Officer: Daniel Moisyeyev Director of Public Relations: Angry Anderson Cover Design and Cover Story Layout Xabier Goñi, XDesigns 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 Office Address: Unit 31, 7 Hoyle Avenue, Castle Hill, NSW 2154 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

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

CONTENTS

CONTENTS 24 6 Cover Story

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Why is Australia So Expensive — and Who’s Responsible?

Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer

Regulars

Regulars

LEADERSHIP

BUSINESS ADVICE

16 ICAC Victims of the Shameless

Charlie Lynn

24 Creating a World Class

Regulars

30

Culture: Burn the Floor Mike Conway

22 Business Leverage

Getting Acquainted with Your Business - Property

Bailey Compton

28 Value of Web Design &

Development

Daniel Moisyeyev

WORKFORCE EDITOR’S LETTER

6

Investments, Investors and a Government to Outsource

14 Cracking Down on Terrorism Financing

on Investment?

Robyn Lambert

32 Hypocrisy

Angry Anderson

Dmitry Greku

BUSINESS NEWS

18 Training - What is the Return

SOCIETY & LIFE

Tony Abbott

Lifting Apprenticeship Completion Rates with Better Support for Apprentices and Small Businesses

20 Recruiting for Future Success

Caroline Fitzgerald

Features

30 Why is Bartercard

26 Beliefs Validated by

Effective in the Financial Industry?

Research

Stephen Frost

Tony Abbott

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

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EDITOR’S LETTER

Investments, Investors and Outsourcing Government

Dmitry Greku, M. Sc. - Editor and Publisher - GWP Magazines®

GWP Media was a media sponsor of the China-Australia Investment Conference held in Sydney on 27 September. The event, organised by media company SY Marketing, brought together Australian business leaders and major Chinese investors.

The organisation, venue and service were superb, providing an inestimable opportunity to meet the elite of the Australian/Chinese business community, and business people from China, keen to invest in Australia on a large scale. There were about two hundred people at the Conference.

The pronounced absence of government representatives was extremely disappointing.

My understanding of Asian cultures, suggests that this apparent disinterest can be interpreted as both disrespectful and insulting on a personal level.

The only elected representative on hand was Dai Le, a councillor from the Fairfield City Council.

As a very pro-active representative, she is always on the lookout for more opportunities that might benefit her region.

But no one else from one of the forty-eight Greater Sydney local councils, none from State or Federal Government, nor any from the multiple business and economy-related departments, ministries, so-called business support organisations, those which are governmentfunded. And these are so often the people who blather on about the importance of maximising investment opportunities!

Prompted by the official disinterest, one of the guest speakers who had intended to deliver his speech in English, reverted to Mandarin.

There was no harm done to us, representing the

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investor-hungry part of the Australian economy, SY Marketing provided enough individual interpreters to all.

It seems like government at every level, irrespective of which side of politics is holding the economic steering wheel, has lost complete touch, and sadly, this trend appears to be getting worse.

it international co-operation and integration. This isn’t the case with other nations.

It’s great to outsource, it will save taxpayers’ precious resources. In fact, this will save us from those jobs we can’t do here for whatever reason and from seeing our taxes working for us, and in our economy.

International politics is chaotic. Those who were friends of Australia a year ago, are terrorists today.

Support of violent “revolutions” and replacement of democratically-elected governments is somehow democracy at its best. We are jumping from one war into another because Big Brother said so and keep supporting murderous regimes it installs in one country after another.

Then a thought came to me; what if we outsource our government. Two benefits, at least, there are. First, our economy will save considerable sums of money. Secondly, the government will be located overseas where they can carry on with their debates, accusations and dead-boring arguments for the sake of “earning” some extra points in polls, all of which they can enjoy from their outsourced electorate! G

The Australian economy is in deep trouble. This is hardly news and not a secret for us, but it’s not the case for government at all levels. They still live in an old, “lucky country” enjoying all its benefits at our expense. It would be interesting to find out the cost of all jobs that they outsourced overseas. In simple terms, it’s our money that left and went to support other economies. They call

e | editor@gwpmagazine.com.au

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

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PROUDLY PRESENTED BY

Why is

r t s u Aso Expe and Who’s ResponsIible?

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Business Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 70 70 || October October2014 2014

AUSTRALIAN AGENDA

a i l ra

ensive -

by Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer

I

f business wants to complain about the high cost of operating in Australia, it should demonstrate some courage and call out the culprits — other businesses and the politicians that pander to them, Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer write.

Recent months have brought the emergence of one of the perennials of economic debate in Australia — the lament that Australia is a highcost place to do business.

Last week Scottish economist James Mirrlees declared that Australian wages needed to be closer to Chinese levels, or the government would have to subsidise them, in order for Australia to compete for international investment with China. That came after one of the annual winter rituals in Canberra, “Minerals Week”, in

Business Business Resource Resource && Lifestyle Lifestyle || Issue Issue 70 70 || October October 2014 2014

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which the men (and woman) who run our mining companies flock together to collectively insist that Australian workers need to be more “flexible” and cheaper — though no one said aloud what many of them probably think, that Gina Rinehart’s idea of $2 a day was an appropriate benchmark.

whingers on both the Left and the Right, Australia is a well-run, efficient economy where the rule of law and transparency work to our good. But if we lost our AAA stable rating, it wouldn’t be the national catastrophe many will proclaim it to be.

But that’s just wages. The complaint extends more broadly. In May, the World Bank declared Australia to be one of the most expensive economies in the G20, and in March, KPMG revealed Australia was now the second-most expensive place in the world to do business. Both pointed to the strong dollar and the resources boom, which has lifted our national income. So who’s to blame for Australia being so expensive?

Real estate

are because of one basic thing: people in Sydney and Melbourne like it like that. For generations, state governments have pursued policies that have choked off the availability of land and discouraged medium-density housing to pander to NIMBY voters, while the federal government has driven up the price of existing housing stock with negative gearing policies that help push the cost of housing beyond the reach of many Australians.

We all know residential property in Sydney and Melbourne is very expensive — so much so that foreign commentators routinely predict the bursting of the Australian property bubble. But high prices

Who’s responsible? Local, state and federal politicians and (if you own a house or have an investment property) you.

The dollar The Aussie dollar has defied everyone, from the current and former government to the Reserve Bank, and now the plunge in global iron ore prices, which should have dragged it lower. But its strength is the result of a sound, low-inflation economy, a respected independent central bank, the hunt for yield around the world in these days of quantitative easing, and the AAA stable credit rating, not to mention official interest rates at 2.5%, instead of zero or near zero elsewhere.

Who’s responsible? We all are: governments, unions, business and regulators. Despite the hysteria from the current government and

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AUSTRALIAN AGENDA

Foodandgroceries Despite persistently low inflation since 2008 — except when natural disasters intervene — Sydney and Melbourne are also in the top 10 cities in the world for expensive food and groceries. While we buy a lot of overseas food that costs more because of transport and foreign exchange costs, we also have farm-gate access to some of the world’s most efficient food producers, who insist they are struggling. So why is it expensive to buy groceries in Australia? Our homegrown supermarket duopoly (which also act as an effective monopsony for producers), which earned over $4.5 billion in profits in 2012-13.

Who’s responsible? Major retail outlets, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and the fact that there’s only 23 million of us.

Cars Electricity Electricity prices have rocketed over the last decade as that industry has taken advantage of the flawed rules around pricing regulation to bloat their maintenance budgets. As a result, Australia has household electricity prices higher than in the European Union, the United States, Japan or Canada, even after exchange rates are taken into

account. But on the positive side, that’s meant a de facto carbon price has been in operation, creating the circumstances in which electricity demand peaked in 2008-09 and has fallen every year since then.

Who’s responsible?

State and federal governments, electricity transnationals, stateowned power companies.

Australians still can’t buy cars as cheaply as they should — a Mazda 6 in the US starts at around US$22,000 while they start at $37,000 here. Even with the closure of the local car industry, we’re still in the process of cutting automotive tariffs via the inefficient mechanism of free trade agreements, and there’s no sign that the absurd 12% tariff on second-hand imports will be removed to put serious downward pressure on Australian car prices.

Business BusinessResource Resource&&Lifestyle Lifestyle | | Issue Issue70 70 | | October 2014

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Who’s responsible? Successive governments (the Abbott government honourably excepted), rentseeking manufacturing unions and car transnationals.

Financial advice According to the Reserve Bank, Australia has higher costs in superannuation than many other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, and retail superannuation clients face “considerably higher” fees than

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elsewhere. That reflects the capacity of the banking cartel/AMP-owned retail funds and financial planners to skim off fees by exploiting disengagement among clients. The previous government’s Future of Financial Advice reforms partly addressed this by requiring planners to get their clients’ approval every two years for fees. The current government is now trying to repeal as part of its plans to gut FOFA. Who’s responsible? The big banks and AMP, financial planners and the Coalition, which is determined to make it even worse.

IT products Australians pay far higher prices than people in other countries for IT hardware and software, particularly for high-profile brands like Microsoft and Adobe, and music. Worse, the gouge is backed by local business, which are the victims just as much as consumers. Last year, in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into high IT and content prices, the Australian Industry Group claimed that prices shouldn’t change to reflect currency fluctuations because consumers liked stable prices

AUSTRALIAN AGENDA and it would be “impractical”. This is the same AIG that usually complains about how “businesses are struggling to cope with high costs”.

Who’s responsible? IT companies, local business groups who lie to protect them.

Taxis Sydney and Melbourne have some of the world’s most expensive taxi fares, ahead of cities like Paris, New York and Rome. That’s because in the most blatant example in the Australian economy of industry capture, the taxi oligopoly in effect controls industry regulators and politicians, enabling it to minimise new entrants and block emerging competitors like Uber (like retailers are trying to do with online shopping).

Who’s responsible? The taxi industry, those who purport to “regulate” it and politicians too gutless to take it on.

Management Australia has an ongoing problem of underperforming management and boards that perpetuate some of the worst practices of Australian business, particularly in the resources sector (Rio Tinto in aluminium and coal, BHP in nickel, Newcrest Mining in gold), where tens of billions of shareholder values have been destroyed.

Multifactor productivity continues to be weak in Australia despite labour productivity improving in the past couple of years. As Treasury has argued, Australia is far behind its overseas competitors in management practices, and this is flowing through to our poor MFP performance.

Who’s responsible? Australia’s boards, and cheerleaders on the Right who insist the only problem in Australia is the need for lower wages and poorer workplace conditions.

HHH Have you spotted a recurring theme here? It’s the role of industry itself, and governments, in perpetuating the conditions in which we all pay more than they have to. Rare are the businesses prepared to say this, however — usually they’re content to lay the blame on unions and politicians who fail to “deregulate” — so long as deregulation doesn’t allow new competitors in. Most Australian businesses are like the hypocrites of the Australian Industry Group on IT — always ready to wax lyrical about how expensive it is to do business here, but when they have a real opportunity to call out those responsible, they go silent.

Decades ago, Donald Horne described Australia as a lucky country run by second-rate people who share its luck. Thanks to the rise of China and the rest of Asia and geographic proximity, the former still holds true. When it comes to why “Australia is an expensive place to do business”, the latter remains true as well. G Source: www.crikey.com.au Business BusinessResource Resource&&Lifestyle Lifestyle | | Issue Issue70 70 | | October 2014

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BUSINESS NEWS

Cracking Down on Terrorism Financing Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia

The Government is determined to detect and disrupt terrorism financing in Australia and take action against people who provide support to terrorist organisations.

A new report released today – Terrorism financing in Australia 2014 – reveals that while there is a relatively low incidence of terrorism financing in Australia, the practice continues to pose a national security risk to the Australian community.

As part of the Government’s $630 million counterterrorism package, $20 million has been provided to AUSTRAC to improve detection and disruption of terrorism financing.

The report finds the conflicts in Syria and Iraq currently pose the most significant terrorism financing risks to Australia. Some perpetrators attempt to disguise funds collected for terrorist groups by mixing them with legitimate business or fundraising activities.

Terrorist groups need both material and financial support to carry out their operations.

Anyone who chooses to support terrorists is playing a direct part in the atrocious and violent acts they commit, and is putting Australian lives at risk.

The consequences of participating in terrorism financing are severe and penalties of up to life imprisonment can be imposed on those found guilty.

New analysts and intelligence systems will significantly increase AUSTRAC’s analytical capability and enable complex financial intelligence analysis to better detect the financial enablers of terrorism.

fight overseas from receiving financial support; identify opportunities to disrupt attempts to undertake terrorism; and monitor financial activity relating to foreign conflict hotspots.

Using its existing powers, AUSTRAC will also increase cooperation with business and security agencies to identify transfers of money into and out of Australia. G

Source: Licensed from the Commonwealth of Australia under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. Commonwealth of Australia, Cracking down on terrorism financing <http://www. pm.gov.au/media/2014-09-11/cracking-downterrorism-financing> viewed 11 September 2014.

Security agencies will work with AUSTRAC and its new national intelligence team to help: prevent individuals who have departed Australia to

Lifting apprenticeship completion rates with better support for apprentices and small businesses The Commonwealth Government will invest $200 million each year to establish a new Australian Apprenticeship Support Network to lift apprenticeship completion rates.

The Australian Apprenticeship Support Network will give young Australians the best opportunity to get a job and provide employers with the skilled and productive employees they need to grow their business.

Apprentices will be assisted to find an employer to begin their apprenticeship and receive mentoring through to the successful completion of their apprenticeship.

Apprentices will be able to access career advice with dedicated support outside their workplace throughout their apprenticeship.

The new Australian Apprenticeship Support Network will also undertake community employment outreach by working with employers, industry groups and local chambers of commerce to identify job opportunities and employer skills needs.

The new Network will provide a one-stop-shop for employers, particularly small business, looking to hire a new apprentice suited to their business.

The Government is answering the call of employers,

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industry groups and feedback from apprentices to improve the current system which has been in place since the 1990s.

and administer the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program including employer incentives and trade support loans.

The current system is largely administrative – processing paperwork for contract sign-ups and administrative compliance for employers, state and Commonwealth departments – without the appropriate support that apprentices and employers need.

Apprenticeship completion rates are currently around 50 per cent. To lift completion rates the Government is delivering the reforms and support apprentices and employers need.

There is too much red tape, with apprenticeship centres spending more than half their time filling out paperwork.

The true success of the VET sector must be measured in how well it connects skilled workers to real jobs, not how much paperwork is completed.

The Government’s new streamlined and effective system will replace the unwieldy and overly bureaucratic system that has become bogged down in red tape.

The Australian Apprenticeship Support Network will: connect apprentices and employers through targeted job-matching; provide advice about different course options and training delivery options; deliver personalised mentoring and support to apprentices; provide advice to businesses taking on apprentices, including their roles and responsibilities; manage the administration of an apprenticeship including the training contract;

The Government has already introduced new Trade Support Loans offering up to $20,000 over the life of an apprenticeship to encourage more young Australians to start their career with an apprenticeship and complete their qualification.

The new loans are spread over four years and provide greater assistance by easing the financial burden in the early years of an apprenticeship when the apprentice’s income is often lower.

The new Network will commence from 1 July 2015 and will make it much easier for employers to recruit, train and retain apprentices and trainees.

Apprentices and businesses will be able to access the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network’s services at no cost. G S o u r c e : < h t t p : / / w w w. p m . g o v. a u / media/2014-09-08/lifting-apprenticeshipcompletion-rates-better-support-apprentices-andsmall> viewed 8 September 2014

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

15

LEADERSHIP

ICAC Victims of the Shameless The Hon. Charlie Lynn - Member of the Legislative Council

NSW is set to endure a state of political paralysis for decades as a result of the ongoing ICAC inquisitions.

The public saga surrounding developer donations is a political tragedy – not only for the MPs involved but for their wives, children, relatives and friends. The stigma attached to the public show trials has shredded the reputations of some of the most dinkum, honest blokes I have known in my 19 years in the NSW Parliament.

I’m not talking about dishonourables such as Obeid, McDonald, Tripodi, et al who used their privileged positions to enrich themselves and their sleazy mates. They have already been dealt with by their own comrades for bringing the Labor Party into disrepute. We now wait for the wheels of justice to prevail.

But shaming such characters in a public ICAC show-trial doesn’t work because these crooks have no shame.

This is not the case for others caught up in the political donations scandal.

I have known Mike Gallacher - a former police officer, loving husband and proud father - for almost two decades. Mike has dedicated his life to giving his wife and boys the love and security he never had as a child from humble beginnings in Mt Druitt. His leadership in the NSW Legislative Council was beyond reproach and he earned the respect of colleagues across the political divide.

Those who know him know there is not a corrupt gene in his political DNA. Air Commodore Tim Owen AM is a former Deputy Commander of our Australian Forces in Afghanistan. Only our nations finest are selected for such important assignments and he served with distinction. Tim was recruited by the Liberal Party at short notice to contest the seat of Newcastle. He was swept up in the heady momentum for change in the 2011 election campaign and was destined for higher political office after gaining political experience.

Unfortunately his lack of political nous and a naïve faith in the Liberal Party organisation led to his tragic downfall. Those who know him know there is not a corrupt gene in his political DNA.

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Andrew Cornwall, a highly respected and popular veterinarian in Cardiff, was recruited to contest the traditional Labor Seat of Charlestown in the same heady environment as his political neighbour, Tim Owen. He was also swept into office in the 2011 landslide and also destined for higher political office. You could not meet a better bloke and those who know him know there is not a corrupt gene in his political DNA. Whilst Owen and Cornwall were given an outside chance of winning their seats in traditional Labor

conducting investigations but these should be heard in camera until they have evidence that will stack up in a court of law. Politicians charged with corruption as the result of in-camera hearings should expect no mercy from their colleagues, the public or the courts.

In-camera hearings would provide proper protection for political representatives who will inevitably make errors of judgement from time to time. Without such protection high calibre political aspirants will be deterred from political

Politicians charged with corruption as the result of in-camera hearings should expect no mercy from their colleagues, the public or the courts. strongholds nobody expected Gary Edwards to win. Edwards, a junior athletic champion, successful businessman and Deputy Mayor of Lake Macquarie, is regarded as an all-round good bloke who lives for his family and his local community. He is as honest as the day is long and those who know him know there is not a corrupt gene in his political DNA. These four blokes, who have selflessly devoted themselves to their families and their local communities, now risk being labelled ‘corrupt’ and ‘disgraced’ forever. I cannot begin to imagine how they and their families will cope with such an undeserved act of public shame.

Whilst they may well have made some errors of judgement in the heat of a frenetic election campaign the stigma of having their reputations publicly trashed is out of all proportion to their alleged misdeeds. They will be permanently scarred even if no corruption charges are ever laid against them.

They are victims of a flawed political system that stigmatises one of the most entrepreneurial sectors of our economy and a corrupt factional underbelly within the NSW Liberal Party.

If real political crooks such as Obeid, McDonald and Tripodi cannot be shamed by public inquisitions then why hold them? The proper way to bring such people to justice is via the judiciary.

ICAC certainly has an important role to play in

office and the vacuum will be inhabited by selfinterested political hacks.

It is interesting that nobody has yet investigated the motivation behind the establishment of the Eightbyfive fund which triggered the ICAC inquisition and led to the political carnage we read about daily. Why would Liberal Party members establish such a campaign fund when one already existed in their Head Office? The answer lies deep within the book, Education of a Young Liberal, by John Hyde-Page. According to Hyde-Page the dominant Left faction of the NSW Liberal Party seemed to have no shortage of Eastern Suburbs cash for the branch stacking necessary to control State Executive – and State Executive determines which candidates receive the lion’s share of campaign funding!

If you are not a favoured son or daughter of this faction you have to find other ways to fund your campaign. And herein lays the rogue gene that has so damaged the integrity of the Liberal Party in NSW. G For more topics and to contact Charlie Lynn, please visit www.charlielynn.com.au/blog.

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

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WORKFORCE

Training - What is the Return on Investment?

Robyn Lambert - Senior Training Consultant TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute (WSI)

The old adage goes: ‘People are our greatest asset’.

Assets require investment, yet when we delve into investing in our people, we usually hesitate when it comes to good quality training.

And there are good reasons for this. Time, loss of productivity, cost, competition for resources and lack of perceived tangible return on investment are all reasons why employers are hesitant about putting staff through training.

Let’s be frank. Training takes time and time results in loss of productivity. Training costs money and there is always strong competition for resources.

In my experience (which includes 25 years in training and development), the major reason management baulks at providing training is that the tangible return on investment is difficult to quantify. If it were easy to see a clear link between training conducted and measurable improvements, we’d all be doing it. So how do we measure the return on investment?

The simple approach is to look for measures in the four key areas – people, speed, quality and cost. Examples of ‘people’ measures include promotion opportunities, increased participation, motivation, satisfaction, absenteeism, retention, recruitment and the number of safety incidents. Examples of ‘quality’ measures include reprocessing costs, product rejects and complaints. ‘Speed’ examples are the time taken to complete individual tasks, overall production time (start to finish), lead time and downtime.

‘Cost’ measures can include productivity, sales and waste.

Before we measure success we need to know exactly what we expect as a result of the training and we need to know what is really happening now.

Let’s take for example installing new computer software for ordering or invoicing. In this instance, what would you expect as an outcome of the training? It could simply be that employees can input orders and send invoices. Or, you may want to improve accuracy or reduce time taken to process. All would be good outcomes. But before you can make the case for releasing staff

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for training you will need to know some baseline information.

This information could include the number of transactions per person (these are ‘people’ and ‘speed’ measures), processing time per transaction (a ‘speed’ measure), the number of questions asked (‘quality’ and ‘people’ measures) and the number of errors made (a ‘quality’ measure). By collecting this data we can benchmark performance, evaluate the performance of the system, investigate modifications to reduce errors, improve processing time, and identify if employees need further training.

So imagine the training was a great success.

All participants achieved the required speed of 80 seconds per transaction however when the system goes live they gradually drift back to a comfortable (and expensive) 120 seconds per transaction. By far the most common complaint I hear about training is that the training was great but nothing changed. What we most want from training is to see the required changes sustained from the training room into the workplace.

Again, this is where measuring and monitoring come into play. Continue to monitor performance, and use targets to motivate. Don’t rely on the goodwill of your employees to keep up the pace.

Case Study A process worker participated in a Certificate III qualification course.

Through training the employee improved his processing time by 50%.

This resulted in an annualised cost saving of $60000. The other benefit was an increase in available capacity which supported additional sales during busy periods. The payback on the investment in this case was two months. The return on investment was 500%.

Not only will the data help you to reconcile the effectiveness of the training but allow you to analyse the overall effectiveness of the change and identify potential blockers to the achievement of better performance. This will also help you quantify how much the problem is costing you now. For example, you may be experiencing five hours per week of non-productive time relating to unnecessary questions or three hours of rework relating to errors being fixed. Use the training as an opportunity to remedy these problems.

Having some baseline data will assist you in measuring the effectiveness of training. It will also help you to define your requirements to your training and service providers by clearly describing your needs. Imagine the difference between telling your training provider you want employees to be able to enter transactions and telling them that you want to reduce errors from 5% to 2%, reduce processing time from 120 seconds to 80 seconds per transaction, etc.

This sort of training brief will completely alter the design and focus of the training.

They will need attention during the ‘normalising’ phase of the change. Consider this attention as a wedge to stop things going back to the way they were before. It also gives you the opportunity to obtain vital feedback which can be used to further improve your systems.

Training is not always the panacea and not all benefits are tangible, however it works in conjunction with good management practise to ensure that improvements are sustained. G

TAFE NSW - Western Sydney Institute (WSI) p | 02 9208 9573 e | Robyn.Lambert3@tafensw.edu.au w | wsi.tafensw.edu.au

I FORGE THE FUTURE

Good things come to those who work.

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mix + match TAFE Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

19

WORKFORCE

Recruiting for Future Success Caroline Fitzgerald, Recruitment Coordinator – The HR Department

Recruitment within your business should be seen as an opportunity for future success. A new employee not only needs to make economic sense for your current requirements, but you should also be looking at the potential gain and growth you can achieve with your new recruit. This is an opportunity to recruit someone who can provide the skills presently needed and has the potential to develop their skills further in the future. Be clear about the strategic direction your organisation is taking, and then hire the talent to help you achieve it.

applications. A business that keeps possible candidates updated on whether they are successful or not will be respected and may stand out against a large number of recruiters who do not take the time or effort to notify unsuccessful candidates. Remember that whether or not a candidate is successful, the way you handle the candidates during your recruitment process may have a positive or damaging effect on your brand.

Firstly recognise the investment you are making in this recruitment process e.g. the time, energy, cost and the length of time it will take to get your new employee inducted and working effectively.

Screen and review candidates against your selection criteria. Then ensure you have everything in place to manage the interview process. How many people will you interview? Where will you interview? How long will each interview take?

How will you schedule and communicate the arrangements to your candidates? Once you have these things in place you are ready to think about the interviews themselves.

Establish a foundation for the position you are recruiting by ensuring you have an updated job description. One that identifies the duties of the job and the skills and experience needed to do that job.

Create the job advertisement. This is a marketing tool, time to think about your brand and how this is an opportunity to promote your organisation.

The advertisement should specify the criteria you want in a successful candidate. Tailor your recruitment advertising to target and appeal to the candidates best suited to the role. Recruitment advertising is changing. High cost traditional mediums such as newspaper advertising, are being replaced with more cost effective online advertising. Are you looking locally or do you want to draw candidates from far and wide?

What will suit your business?

Remember to publish your vacancy on your own website or social media pages, you may find candidates are actively looking for a role within a specific organisation.

Develop suitable tracking systems to record applications to ensure all candidates are aware of the status of their applications. Many businesses undervalue the negative impact poor communication has on their brand, with the excuse of being “too busy” to reply to all

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

pay rate isn’t the only factor in the decision by a candidate of whether to accept your job offer.

Consider additional employment benefits such as flexible work conditions, training opportunities and rewards.

So you’ve decided who you’d like to employ.

The next step to successful recruitment is preemployment checking. The traditional format

Many businesses undervalue the negative impact poor communication has on their brand, with the excuse of being “too busy” to reply to all applications.

Interviews should be consistent so that each candidate is provided with the same opportunity to convince you they are the best person for your job. What questions will you ask each candidate? We would recommend that you create an interview guide, which is a template of questions to provide structure to your interview.

After you have completed your interviews you will be able refer to the interview guide to reflect on the candidates you have met and to assist with making a selection of the most suitable candidate to fit your recruitment needs. A good interview guide is designed to provide a scoring system to assist with comparing the candidates.

Remember the interview process is not just a one way street for the employer to select their preferred candidate. The interview process is the time for the employer to “sell” the job and business to the candidate. You should consider that the position you are recruiting and your business may be competing with other opportunities for the prospective candidate. Ensure that your business is the preferred choice for your candidates by promoting the opportunities that the role and the business can offer. Offering a competitive

to verify the credibility of the information given to you by the candidate is through reference checking. We recommend that you conduct a structured and thorough investigation of the suitability of the candidate. Contact at least two references who have worked in a supervisory capacity to the candidate. It is becoming more popular to also conduct pre-employment check such as functional assessments to ensure that the candidate is physically capable to undertake the role. This checking process is designed to minimise workplace injuries and their associated costs, it is not designed to discriminate. G

If you would like to learn more about effective recruitment or the tools we can provide to help you recruit successfully call The HR Department on +61 2 8624 3333. One of our experienced consultants would be more than happy to assist.

The HR Department p | 02 8624 3333 e | caroline@theHRdepartment.com.au w | www.theHRdepartment.com.au

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

21

BUSINESS ADVICE

Business Leverage Getting Acquainted with Your Business - Property Bailey Compton, Director & Senior Trainer – Leverage Group

Leverage Group is a business advisory practice which has merged law with training. Leverage Solicitors is a Law Firm that prides itself in its provision of advice and supply of services in business that are designed to build a persons’ business with depth and width. The Law Firm was created and an academy, Leverage Academy, that trains professionals to enter the business sector with the skills to succeed.

Leverage has been operating now for in excess of 15 years. This unique business experience blends Leverage to provide insights different from a run of the mill business commentary.

These articles are designed to be a little off centre.

I will attempt to merge all businesses into one to provide a single business outlook. Too often in business, business owners are faced with advice from so many sectors, with different viewpoints that it is difficult to make a decision. The articles will be practical, but may challenge commonly held beliefs.

Beyond anything, these articles are designed to provide the business owner with the ability to analyse their business in a manner that tells you of its real strength. Too often again, professionals play with smoke and mirrors and health and sickness of a business is illusional. There is no illusion here, and you will be given some guidance in relation to how to think of your business. This first article will deal with “property interests” in your business.

We should own and conduct/run a business for two reasons: • Income and asset. An income to provide us with the lifestyle we wish to have now and an asset that can be sold to provide for future business opportunities or a lifestyle in the future.

• We should love it, however businesses undertaken just for love end up like most marriages, in divorce and dissatisfaction.

Lets’ start with the common that most businesses do not know what they own. Most businesses can tell you what they are doing, but they don’t know what they own. In an English legal environment, Lawyers refer to it as property. You want to be able to identify property for two reasons: • It is a demonstration of what can be sold; and

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

• The asset can land itself to raising capital for future ventures.

In Australia, there are four types of property: 1. Real Property – real property is land or anything attached to it, another words, it is the land and the building that is real property. You can either own real property or hold an interest in property by way of lease or licence both have a different outcome.

2. Personal Property – personal property is anything that is tangible that is not real property. In businesses, we refer to them as chattels and other industry referred to as plant and equipment. In simple terms, it is anything that the business owns that is not real estate.

3. Intellectual Property – intellectual property has three components and is the sleeping giant of assets within your business. (a) Trademark – a trademark is a logo, phrase, picture, symbol, mark or any visual display which relates for business. A trademark can exist without registration, however to protect your assets, a trademark should be registered with IP Australia. (b) Patent – a patent is an invention. Patents are used to protect the person whose invention for 16 years within the borders of Australia. (c) Copyright – copyright is a written, auditory or video production. In most businesses, people don’t believe they have copyright. Your data base, your policy manuals, marketing material, website, and standard letters, etc. all form part of copyright. (d) Contract Property – in true legal terminology, it is referred to as a chose-in-action. This is a bundle of legal rights that can be transferred from your business to another business. These chosen actions are very valuable and set up the asset value of your business. In some cases, they are the value of the business, and in others, may give your business a more saleable outcome.

The traditional lawyers would probably roll over in their graves regarding the simplification that has been provided here to complex legal documents.

What we want the readers to understand is that, business is simple and it does not need to be complicated. Throughout the group of subjects, we will periodically return to show how each of these assets are valued. We will provide you with an explanation of how these assets can be built, how you can raise money against them and more importantly how they can be sold.

These articles are designed to provide you with a simple tool to start analysing your business. At

the end of each one, we will provide you with an exercise that will allow you to develop a better understanding of your business. For this month, you need to do an inventory of your property.

Complete the table below: Categories of Property

Property

Interest in property

Real property Personal Property Intellectual property Contract property

Property – This is the list against each of the categories set out in column 1 the type of property you own.

Interest – This is for you to identify how you have this property in your business; is it owned, leased or financed.

Understanding what property and asset property you have in the business will allow you to determine its’ value. In the next article, we will consider the corundum raised by lawyers, accountants and business consultants in relation to value, saleability and tax ability.

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

23

LEADERSHIP

C R E AT I NG A W O R L D CLAS S C U L T UR E B Y

M I K E

C O N W A Y ,

On a rare occasion in business life, you get the chance to participate in something unique and special. For the XVenture team, this happened in the first half of this year. Our business focus is working with people to help them be the best they can be so we are in the fortunate situation of constantly seeing people grow, develop and improve more than they could ever imagine.

Working life has also taken me to all corners of the globe and from this, I have had the benefit of observing many great, good and poor leadership, team interaction and non-interaction and organization cultures.

It’s well documented that a strong culture can have a significant impact on performance when compared to ‘unremarkable competitors.’ (James L Heskett: (The Culture Cycle: how to shape the unforeseen force that transforms performance.

FT Press 2012). However, it’s difficult to imagine that I would find one of the great examples and contemporary models of organisational culture in a ballroom dance show. This isn’t ‘Dancing With The Stars’, or ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, or ‘Strictly Ballroom’. It’s a brand that’s been around longer, taking it’s origins from Elton John’s 50th birthday party when Harley Medcalf saw a group of young dancers captivating all the party goers. ‘Burn the Floor’ was born. Together with World Champions Jason Gilkison (now known as one of the World’s great choreographers and TV judges in ballroom dancing) and Peta Roby, Harley has quietly created a dance company that is without doubt the World’s great ballroom dance company.

C E O

&

F O U N D E R

commentary on Burn the Floor. (http://blogs.hbr. org/2013/05/six-components-of-culture/).

Coleman observes six ‘common components of great cultures’: Vision, values, practices, people, narrative, and place.

VISION - This guides a company values ‘and orients every decision employees make’.

Burn the Floor set out to provide the best dancers in the world a place to show their art. From the outset, Harley committed to only the best.

O F

X V E N T U R E

His first action? Bring into the fold the World champion ballroom dancing pair, Jason Gilkison and Peta Roby. Setting the bar at the highest possible level has been a fundamental element of Burn the Floor culture.

VALUES - The core of an organisation’s culture, setting out the guidelines for attitudes and behaviours of how employees treat each other, their partners, suppliers and clients.

Burn the Floor has set out to provide a home for World Class dancers. The Company is called a

Burn the Floor will perform to 750,000 people in the next year. Here, they are on stage on the luxury Norwegian Cruiseline ‘Getaway’

Tasked with creating a documentary about Burn the Floor, I travelled with the XVenture team from January to April this year, interviewing and filming every element of Burn the Floor: staging; rehearsals; planning; preparation; scheduling; performance; expert observers; fans and the stars of the show, past and present. On locations across the World: Los Angeles, Miami, the Caribbean, New York, London, Perth and Sydney.

Much has been written about culture, particularly in the last three decades: Handy; Johnson; Deal & Kennedy; Kotter; Hofsted; Schein; Harris; Senge; Peters and many others have all contributed to the subject. Most recently John Coleman wrote an excellent piece in the Harvard Business Review blog network in 2013 on organisational culture. This provides a useful template for a

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October 2014 Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | Octobert 2014

Committed to being the best they can be involves up to 12 hours of rehearsal

LEADERSHIP ‘family’, with the focus on making Burn the Floor the very best in the World. The Company’s show sets the standard. The run on Broadway of over 190 shows is still legendary, not necessarily by the number of shows which is considerable, but by the energy and intensity of performance.

Every dancer has to be able to achieve the same level of performance at every show, on every occasion. Not even being a world champion can guarantee the physical and mental toughness required to cope with the regime.

often spent a number of years with Burn the Floor prior to their TV careers. ‘Dancing with the Stars’ judge and dancer, Kym Johnson started with Burn the Floor. As did US ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Peta Murgatroyd, Sasha Farber and Sharna Burgess.

BBC ‘Strictly Come Dancing Stars’, Kevin Clifton, Joanne Hauer, Robin Clifton, Janette Manrara and Alijaz Skorjenac have all been with Burn the Floor prior to their tv celebrity status. As has Australian ‘Dancing with the Stars’ performers Jessica Raffa, Ash-Leigh Hunter and Trent Whiddon.

When we interviewed past and present dancers to confirm if the values that had been set by the Company’s principals had been embraced, there was 100% connectivity. Language, emotion and experience of each were so consistent.

As significant as this, were our interviews with

To be a Burn the Floor dancer requires an acceptance and commitment to practicing to perfection; of twelve hour rehearsal days sometimes even on show days; of long busy touring schedules and shows that are more arduous than a two hour high-intensity workout.

PEOPLE

- The people employed need to embrace the values of the business fully and hence the choice of people is absolutely paramount.

Sharing vision

Burn the Floor only recruits the World’s best.

Most of the dancers who are offered contracts have either been national or World champions in ballroom dancing but have also proven their work ethic, dedication, and commitment to their art and have got the attitude and spirit to work

The camaraderie is evident in the ‘family’

delivering this is fundamental to the creation and continuity of culture.

The Burn the Floor story is very much connected to its culture. Every dancer knows that Harley Medcalf started the organization to provide a platform for the greatest dancers to be seen. In the next year, Burn the Floor will play to somewhere around 750 thousand people. The narrative is so important to the culture that Harley commissioned a special documentary connecting the story to the dancers from past and present. The process was fascinating with the doors thrown open with no holds barred. Such a positive outpouring of support and belief in the Company was seen at first hand. This documentary, released firstly in Japan in May 2014, is now given to every new member of the Company as a source of how the culture and organization are shaped.

PLACE - Place certainly shapes culture.

Financial sectors live and breathe in New York and London, and tech organisations reside in the thousands in Silicon Valley.

In sixteen years of touring, the Ballroom dance company BURN THE FLOOR has climbed mountains. From taking on the best of Broadway and the West End, through three hundred cities, the company have set a standard of high level, athletic performance, second to none.

- This is where the values are translated into specific practices and procedures.

‘If an organization values ‘flat’ hierarchy, it must encourage more junior team members to dissent in discussions without fear or negative repercussions.’

Critical to the success of Burn the Floor is the belief that the show and the delivery of the show is greater than any one dancer. Big named dancers known on TV’s biggest shows around the World

FOUNDER & PRODUCER...................................................... Harley Medcalf ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHER ..............................Jason Gilkison EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / COMPANY MANAGER ........................... Peta Roby EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / MERCHANDISE MANAGER.....................Nic Notley PRODUCTION MANAGER ........................................................Bruce Bolton ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER................................................... Diane Fang SOUND DESIGN AND SOUND ENGINEER ................................. Derek Wilson LIGHTING DESIGN AND LIGHTING ENGINEER ............................ Scott Rogers ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGNER...................................................Rick Belzer SET DESIGNER ................................................ Ray Klausen, Bruce Bolton MUSIC PRODUCTION................................................................. Charlie Hull COSTUME CREATIVE CONCEPT / HEAD OF WARDROBE............. Brett Hooper COSTUME PRODUCTION....................................................... Sharon Brown ORIGINAL COSTUME DESIGN ...................................................... Janet Hine DUET OFFICE MANAGER ................................................. Jaccinta Medcalf DIRECTOR, SPECIAL PROJECTS ................................................ Zoe Burgess BRAND CONSULTANT ............................................................ Mike Conway GENERAL MANAGEMENT UK ...................James Williams, TOCC Limited COMPANY ACCOUNTANT ................................................................ Rita Yao

www.burnthefloor.com

Behind the Scenes of the World’s Toughest Dance Company:

(Acknowledgement: J Coleman HBR blog May 2013). By Mike Conway Founder and CEO of XVenture © 2014.

ACCOUNTING SERVICES ................ Marcia Hyman USA, Rob Chester UK ART WORK AND WEBSITE ................................. Millmaine Entertainment TOURING LOGISTICS ......... Damon and Rebecca Sugden, Nomad Office TRAVEL ............................Jezel Jabbour, Flight Centre, Perth. Australia FREIGHT .................................. Chris Seroukas, Sound Moves, Australia INSURANCE BROKER........................................................... Peter Hourigan

VIDEO PRODUCTION

DIRECTOR, WRITER, PRODUCER. ............................................ Mike Conway PRODUCTION MANAGER.......................................................Daniela Kraus DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY .......................................... David Sheerman CAMERAS AND SOUND............David Sheerman, Graham Tilley, Ian Batt,

Chloe Scapelhorn, David Le May

EDITOR............................................................................ David Sheerman ASSISTANT EDITOR ........................................................ Chloe Scapelhorn INTERVIEWER....................................................................... Mike Conway EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS..... Mike Conway, Daniela Kraus, Harley Medcalf ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE JAPAN ............. Kansai Telecasting Corporatation WARNING: Any unauthorised copying, editing, exhibition, renting, lending, public performance, diffusion and/or broadcast of this video, or any part thereof is strictly prohibited.

© 2014 Dance Partners Inc.

BTF_Breaking _Ballroom_DVD.Slick_AUS_2014.indd 1

PAL

BTF14-BB-002N

PRACTICES

PAL

INC L 20 UDE 14 S F TO OO UR TA (53 GE F min RO s) M

BURN THE FLOOR

several of Burn the Floor’s key partners, expert observers and fans. Absolute clarity on what Burn the Floor represents and presents was consistent amongst everyone we spoke to.

PG

It was hard work, sweat, and politics, amongst a unique and developing family like culture, made up of Dancers and Producers with a “steeled to win” attitude.

BURN THE FLOOR® BREAKING BALLROOM

Jason Gilkison gives notes before the opening the 2014 tour which is headed to Japan.

Burn the Floor’s home since its inception is wherever the audience is. On the stage at: Broadway, the West End, Korea, Japan and Australia. Wherever that stage is, is where Burn the Floor resides. Providing a location for the greatest dancers in the World to be seen performing their art form at the highest possible level.

21/05/2014 11:59 am

in a team rather than as an individual. They have to be flexible enough to travel and perform often for weeks at a time in different parts of the World.

Despite each performer being at the elite level, they are all grounded and level-headed with a ‘low ego’. Sometimes they could be living with little down time and personal space. All the performers need to have the highest levels of physical fitness and mental toughness to survive.

Burn the Floor provides a fantastic model in creating a World Class culture.

The documentary will soon be available for release globally. You can register your interest at www.burnthefloor.com Feel free to make contact with the author: to discuss this article or any other matter relating to XVenture: mike@xventure.com.au www.xventure.com.au

NARRATIVE

- Every organisation has a unique history and story. Unearthing this and

BusinessResource Resource&&Lifestyle Lifestyle | | Issue Issue70 70 | | Octobert October 2014 Business

25

WORKFORCE

Beliefs Validated by Research Stephen Frost, Managing Director, BREED-Education, Employment, Economic Development

Over the years that I have been contributing articles to GWP, I have commented a number of times on my belief that the best way for youth to develop an idea of what they want to do when they leave school and to be “work ready” is when they have exposure to the world of work during their school life. This could include traditional work experience, job shadowing, having a part time job, attending industry career days or talks from a variety of industry representatives.

e.g. Job offers through work experience,

referrals and references • “Cultural Capital” – values and identity o Identity, e.g. providing models of future

careers, supporting aspirations o Attitudes, e.g. perceptions of qualifications and pathways.

It is always good when your beliefs are validated by research. During the past month I attended the Vocational Education and Training National Conference where a number of papers were presented. Of particular interest to me were Dr Anthony Mann, Director of Policy and Research in Education and Employer Taskforce (UK) on Employer Engagement in Education and Dave Turner on Preceding and then Participating in the Swiss Apprenticeship System.

Nearly 70% of all Swiss young people undertake an apprenticeship between the ages of 15 – 19 and there is a 91% completion rate.

There are lessons to be learnt from this research for Australia. Some of it could be viewed as “back to the future” in that the evidence strongly supports early interaction between employers, the education system and schools. This is not dissimilar to when larger organisations, government departments and instrumentalities recruited and trained younger employees, developing their skills and a skilled workforce for the nation. Today there is the option for students and employers to be involved in school based apprenticeships and traineeships but this is either not widely known or undertaken. There are many opportunities for employers and industry to partner with schools and youth to assist in their career direction and transition to the workforce. G

Teenage (15 – 19 years) unemployment rates in Switzerland are lower than 5%. By comparison, in Australia national youth unemployment rate is at 12.4% representing just under 40% of all unemployment in Australia. In parts of NSW, including areas in Sydney, youth unemployment is well above 20%.

Stephen Frost is BREED’s Managing Director.

BREED has managed a variety of youth, education and business programs across Western Sydney for more than 20 years with the philosophy that “Education + Employment = Economic Development”.

I have extracted some of the findings worth highlighting: • “Individuals who attend four or more (industry) engagement activities will earn on average £3,600 ($A 2,537) more than their peers who did zero activities. Each activity related to average earnings premium of £900 ($A 1,679) (4.5%)”; • Across range of models, higher level employer contacts relate to lower likelihood of (youth) NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) outcomes than comparable peers; • “School-mediated employer engagement and labor market outcomes for young adults (leads to) wage premia, NEET outcomes and career confidence”.

In relation to the impact of employer engagement with youth the research summarised it around three areas: • “Human Capital” – skills and knowledge o Qualifications, literacy and numeracy skills o Employability skills o Technical skills o Experience, placements, internships • “Social Capital” – people and networks o Roles, relationships and practical support,

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

The “Swiss Apprenticeship System” is embedded within the school curriculum with one to two days a week at their school and three to four days in the workplace. In general terms one day per week is spent on occupational related training, and one day per week on Language, Communication and Society (general education).

At the age of 19, Swiss apprentices are ready to build on their apprenticeship platform. They can take a range of options – vocational, professional and university degree studies. Apprentices who have strong academic skills can also undertake a vocational Baccalaureate and apply to a university without taking an entranced exam. Figures available indicate that 13% of all VET graduates had obtained this accreditation.

The early age for making such a decision must be seen in context with the connectivity of the mainstream (academic and vocational) pillars of education and training. Parents and students firmly believe that the young person can change their mind and / or progress their learning beyond the apprenticeship. Apprenticeships are not seen as limiting options, and they are definitely not considered to be second rate.

Professional and Industry Associations and Work Councils are influential. They design the curriculum of a relevant apprenticeship, they are passionate advocates for skills, training and apprenticeships for young people. Many parents, relatives and family friends of the teenager are workers themselves;

employees who are connected to the skills agenda.

The social capital between employers, schools and family seems to be strong.

If you would like more information on how you can assist our local youth, please contact your local Partnership Broker listed below.

Members

Blacktown www.breed.org..au p | 9853 3200

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

27

BUSINESS ADVICE

Value of Web Design & Development Daniel Moisyeyev, B. IT

How do you value a website? Should a website cost $299? $2900? $18500?

There are all kinds of offers out there that promise a complete package for next to nothing. Is it worth to take up these offers or are they too good to be true? In this article I would like to explain why websites cost what they do. After all, it’s an intangible product and people have trouble parting with their money for something they can’t hold in their hands.

Furthermore, additional services such as content creation, photography and logo design can easily become a prerequisite if they were not professionaly prepared in advance.

You get what you pay for

The key issue with website production costs are the steep requirements for customer service.

Compared to, for example, a service such as commercial printing where customer service may not even exist (as is the case for trade printers), the web design and development process involves working with the client throughout the stages – a key component that influences the price.

First of all, a website built in Australia can’t cost $299.

Where are the expenses?

Although you may have seen these oddball offers getting about, good luck to yourself when you decide to use the same developer in one year when you need some changes or upgrades done. Most likely they will have already packed up and got a job doing something else – and you will be up for a new website as website developers do not tend to take up work on existing jobs completed by competitors (I will explain why this occurs later in the article).

The most elementary company website done to a high standard will cost you at the very least $1500+gst.

Why does it cost so much for a basic company website?

In order to understand why a website costs what it does, it is important to understand some of the steps that need to be taken in the web development process.

1. Initial consultation with the client; 2. Requirements analysis and quotation preparation; 3. Plan the development project; 4. Produce graphic design and layout; 5. Revise graphic design until satisfactory; 6. Produce a real web based layout based on the approved graphic design layout; 7. Integrate the web based layout into a Content Management System (CMS); 8. Fill out the rest of the pages with content; 9. Implement Search Engine Optimisation (SEO); 10. Test the website; 11. Deploy to production web hosting account.

The list above highlights the relevant steps that need to be taken to design a basic company website –

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the whole approach becomes far more complicated once custom features need to be implemented and database design and programming are required.

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

If we are to place all of the industry-specific expenses incurred by web developers on top of the usual business expenses on paper, it would be something like this: 1. Costs related to client acquisition: e.g. advertising and marketing; 2. Costs related to customer service – meetings, discussions, emails, problem resolution etc; 3. Fees or salary for professional graphic designer; 4. Fees or salary for professional programmer; 5. If applicable, fees for search engine optimisation specialists, content writers and photographer.

Unfourtiunately, the Web Design and Development industry has attained some sort of an image where it would seem that the companies in the sector have no running overheads, clients simply march in because the company advertises on social media for free and a nerdy genius hyped up on energy drinks produces brilliant websites with a snap of a finger.

No, this isn’t the case. Web designers and developers face some of the highest overheads purely due to the customer service. Since you can’t eliminate or outsource customer service overseas in this industry, websites will remain expensive for what they seem.

DIY

that is a deciding factor for a client that is stuck choosing between you and competitors. Your competitors now have the edge over you as their presentation is superior - the money you have saved on development resulted in less business for yourself over a longer term; 2. You will not able to implement the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) component correctly. Your website will not rank as well as it could and you will obtain far less clients than possible; 3. Bigger potential clients are picky will simply disregard your business as unprofessional.

You don’t build a website yourself for the same reason you don’t engineer and build your own car, do your own plumbing and perform electrical work yourself. It’s technically possible – but there are profesisonals in the industry that have invested years of their lives to learn how to do it well. You will never match their expertise.

Why don’t web developers take over on existing projects?

The diversity and variety of requirements of all the different kinds of websites and IT projects has also spawned creation of an obscene number of toolkits and technologies readily available for development.

There are so many Content Management Systems (CMS), back-end programming and scripting languages and development toolkits that offer shortcuts in existence, that it’s simply not viable for a developer to even remotely learn all of what is available.

Hence, web developers tend to stick with what they know or prefer. When delivered a half-finished project completed using unfamiliar tools, a web developer would have no choice but to tell the client they need to re-do everything from scratch.

Some developers will be happy to save the graphic components – but few will take up back-end work from where the previous developer left.

There is also the case of some technologies becoming dated and irrelevant to modern web design and development. G If you are interested in web design and development services, please do not hesitate to contact GWP Media.

Do not attempt to do a website yourself unless you’ve been trained to do it.

GWP Media Yes, you will save on the initial development cost mentioned before. However, you have just unleashed massive problems for your business: 1. A website is a core part of your presentation

p | 1300 889 132 e | daniel@gwpmagazine.com.au w | www.gwpmedia.com.au

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

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FEATURE

Why is Bartercard Effective in the Financial Industry?

Within our series of interviews with Bartercard members from various industries, we thought who better to talk to about the positive effects that Bartercard has on cash flow than two Accountants! Dev Chand, Principal from Sydney Accounting Taxation and Finance Professionals, and Glenn Rawcliffe from Rawcliffe and Associates, talk about how they utilise Bartercard in their business and industry.

Q. Why is Bartercard effective in the financial advisory services industry?

A. (Dev) As a service provider, Bartercard is very attractive. We can earn trade dollars easily as it’s effectively our time and labour that are our only costs.

A. (Glenn) Bartercard provides a means to find clients we wouldn’t otherwise have. I keep a steady stream of Bartercard clients as I charge 100% trade.

Q. What are the biggest benefits your business derives from Bartercard?

A. (Dev) We’re able to pay for lots of promotions on Bartercard which brings us cash business.

For example we can pay for our printing, our promotional products such as pens and various stationery items that we can give away to clients.

Also the networking opportunities are great not only to build awareness of our business to attract new clients but also to meet other business

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

owners who can provide services and products to us.

A. (Glenn) A major benefit of being a Bartercard member is that you meet a lot of people in business. Bartercard hosts a number of events during the year. These include large state trade shows, local one-on-one networking nights and seminars with guest speakers. These nights are a great opportunity to learn something new about business and meet like-minded business owners.

Q. What are your most memorable purchases and or experiences that involves Bartercard?

A. (Dev) Ours would be have to be our Christmas party last year. We took our staff and families to the Gold Coast for a 5 night break. There were 14 of us in total and we paid for the accommodation on Bartercard. It was a fantastic way to reward our staff for the year. We all had a great time!

A. (Glenn) If it wasn’t for Bartercard we wouldn’t have a holiday home in Cairns. Whilst holidaying in an apartment in Yorkies Knob, paid for on Bartercard, we meet the owner and local real estate owner. Later that year we purchased a unit from her. Bartercard helps you meet people and things happen from there. Look laterally for spending opportunities. You don’t have to limit yourself to spending directly on business expenses; you can spend on discretionary items also.

Q. Do you pay your staff in trade dollars?

A. (Dev) We’re in the process of incorporating Bartercard trade dollars into our payroll. All full time staff who generated sales will be paid

a proportion of the sale in trade dollars. This is a simple strategy that we encourage all our Bartercard clients to put in place. Bartercard makes it easy for the business owner as they can facilitate staff accounts at a minimal cost for each staff member. So we can transfer funds into these accounts and each staff member can then spend the trade dollars on things they want and need.

A. (Glenn) Yes we do. We don’t pay them a regular wage in trade dollars rather we reward our staff with short trips. We’ve taken them to Queensland and to Fiji all paid for on Bartercard.

Q. Do you recommend Bartercard to small to medium size businesses?

A. (Dev) Absolutely! It’s a great way to conserve cash in your business and assist cash flow.

A. (Glenn) I definitely recommend Bartercard.

I make the suggestion to think of Bartercard not just as a trade exchange but as a network of people who will bring you new clients – be they trade or cash. The great thing about being a Bartercard member is that members actively seek you out. They want to spend their trade dollars with you. G Bartercard Australia p | 1300 BARTER (1300 227 837) e | info@au.bartercard.com w | www.bartercard.com.au

Feeling your business can grow but don’t know how?

Bartercard will: • bring you new customers • improve your cash flow • help move stock or fill seats • fill downtime • improve your market share • increase your networks

Bartercard has been helping Australian businesses for over 22 years. With 55,000 cardholders Australia wide, it’s a great way to build value in your business.

1300 BARTER bartercard.com.au Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

31

SOCIETY & LIFE

Hypocrisy Angry Anderson, AM

The dictionary defines Hypocrisy as: the making of false claims to virtue.

It defines Virtue as: moral excellence: goodness, chastity. esp. of a woman.

I use an Oxford Modern dictionary as a reference for my definitions. I am aware that both Hypocrisy and Virtue have come to mean more, to most of us, than these narrow definitions, just as so many of our words have these days but the Oxford definitions are at least a good place to start are they not.

I am constantly amazed, if not disheartened, by the breathtaking hypocrisy that surrounds us each and every day.

Here is a case in point.

We have all witnessed the growing conflict in Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries.

We have been shocked and saddened by the seemingly endless list of atrocities committed by the ‘Islamic State’, ‘Islamic Freedom Fighters’ or whatever they choose to call themselves. Not only are they turning on their ‘own’, that is to say that they are hunting down and butchering other Muslims but they are openly committing Genocide, their words, on any and all Christians that they can find. By the way, a report presented to the United Nations by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti declares that the most persecuted religion/people in the world today are Christians.* Yes you heard right! Not Muslims as the political correct Left would have us believe. Not Africans, not Asians, not Jewish, not Hindu, not any other, Christians!

This view is further supported by Reuters religious reporter, Tom Heneghan. **

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

I take no pleasure in what I am about to write but these things need to be said out loud.

The truth always takes precedent over diplomacy.

That same ‘correctness’ has lead to the establishment of ethnic enclaves that have become hot beds, breeding grounds for these malcontents that now brazenly reveal themselves

...a report presented to the United Nations by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti declares that the most persecuted religion/people in the world today are Christians.* These IS Neanderthals are raping women and children, executing them and the men folk in the most vile ways imaginable. Suffice to say, without any further need for examples, that there seems to be no limit to their barbarity, their butchery, their inhuman treatment of their fellow human beings. They have no mercy, no compassion, no humanity, they are worse than animals because animals kill for instinctive reasons. There is no malice, no sense of revenge or premeditated cause for them to kill. They are just answering the call of the wild. Man can claim no such exemption.

I think it is worth mentioning at this time that Political Correctness has partially created this problem. I say partially because, in the interests of being fair, the problem is the result of multiple factors colliding at this time producing this disastrous result. There can be no doubt what so ever that Political Correctness has nurtured, encouraged and abetted this result, Political Correctness, as I have mentioned before, ad nausea, is a flawed Left ideology, badly conceived and tragically implemented.

as those that would bring us down to their level.

They make no pretence to disguise their aim, which is to destroy the very life we have come to enjoy as our natural freedom. In other words they have set out to destroy our country, our way of life as we know it.

That same ‘correctness’ has labeled and branded those of us, who have spoken out of the injustice of it all in the past, as racist.

I have said many times before, as many others have, that Multiculturalism is an extremely delicate proposition at best, fraught with danger if not managed properly, justly and humanely with no preference or bias given to anyone, that is not given to all, no special treatment or consideration given to anyone, for any reason, that is not for the overall benefit of all. This must be achieved, I believe, with a consideration for the host Nation as it is the host Nation’s responsibility to get it right.

SOCIETY & LIFE

In other words the Democracy, that is the Host, must always remain so. A democracy that administers justice for all.

The Left would have us believe that we should surrender our Democracy in order to be a better nation, a more compassionate people a more humane host. Wrong!

I need to now mention that the women of the Left, usually the most vocal whenever there is evidence of crimes of violence against women and children, and rightly so, have been deafeningly quiet on this very issue, for fear of offending the minority voting block that they so depend upon to keep those crucial seats that are largely held because of the Islamic population, enough said.

However, moving on. Left to our own devices ninety nine percent of all of us are decent human beings. We are more than able to make our own choices about these matters based on our morals, our inherent humanity, our god given sense of right over wrong. We do not need a Big Brother State telling us what to do.

The spokespeople for this ‘correctness’ have revealed themselves in their true colours by telling us that we are wrong to label these Neanderthals of the IS as terrorists, as the butchers they so truly are. The Greens of the Left have said that we should call these butchers by some other name which is less offensive, less inflammatory, less divisive.

You see now don’t you that the only thing that matters to these people is their agenda, their ideology, their propaganda. They obviously have put aside their concern for those suffering at the hands of these butchers to further their own needs. They would convince us that this flawed ideology is correct and right to the detriment, unto death, of those innocents being slaughtered in their thousands.

In other words they will keep telling the lie until it becomes the truth.

Angry Anderson AM is available for the following public speaking.

I cannot ever be happy about the circumstances that have bought about this revealing of themselves but I’m glad that they now reveal themselves for who and what they truly are.

Subjects covered: • personal life journey experience, overcoming obstacles along the way like his battle with alcohol and drugs, humorous anecdotal stories about his life on the international stage with his band the legendary Rose Tattoo;

I will leave you with a couple of thoughts. I was thinking recently, after reading in the news that Tony Abbot had assisted a well known acting identity in their efforts to make adoption easier for people in Australia, that it must be difficult if not irksome for some to have to admit or give credit where credit is due. I remember seeing said well known identity in company with a group of well known Lefty female showbiz types celebrating the announcement that this government was finally going to do something about this very important issue, no mention that it took a conservative Prime Minister to initiate this as opposed to the previous government that had the same opportunity but chose not to support it, enough said.

• inspirational messages on his ability to deal with surviving all his tribulations; • stories about his involvement in Television which introduced him to his dedication to helping others in need; • his commitment to Men’s Health; • his life long battle with depression and his dedication as ambassador, to spreading awareness regarding Prostate Cancer.

Also the same lack of support or acknowledgement for the great job Julie Bishop is doing not only for Australia but also for women and womanhood, again no support from the ‘sisters’ on the Left, seems their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Go in peace, go with your God. Always your friend, Angry. G

Sources: * Archbishop Dominique Mamberti’s presentation to the sixty-sixth General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, 27th September, 2011.

w | www.angryanderson.com

** Report by Reuters US, religious editor, Tom Heneghan, states that 100 million Christians in 65 countries are currently being persecuted. Dated Jan. 2013. (Paris)

Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014

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Business Resource & Lifestyle | Issue 70 | October 2014