Let’s Talk Business

1

Let’s Talk Business Back To Basics Business Solutions - Support for Small Business

Volume 2 Issue 20 - July 2014

Inside this issue

Cover Story - Doing Retail in Australia ......................2

18 Powerful Ideas to Reward

Your Team

Dr Tim Baker …..….............3

Biz Snippets …………….......4

Employees or Team

Members?

Dennis Chiron .......... ...........5

Corporate Psychopaths - Do

you have one in your

Business?

Geoff Butler ………………..6

Health Check Your Business

Jo-Anne Chaplin ………......7

Every Customer You Want, Is

Already Somebody Else’s

Dan Buzer ………………...8

More Facebook For Ideas and

Tips

Karen Ahl ……..………….9

Innovate - Just Do It!

Peter Nicol ………………..10

Inspections, Checklists and

Procedure Audits

Ron Court …..…….….…...11

4 Simple Ways To Be More

Productive

Karen Davey-Thorpe …....12

The Sins of the BIG Banks

Paul Gillmore ….................13

Editor’s BizTips ………….14

LTB Objectives …..........…15

Photograph courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald

COSBOA’s Submission To The

Productivity Study Into The Costs

Of Doing Retail In Australia

“It’s all about Red Tape and Wages”

Let’s Talk Business

2

Cost of doing Retail in Australia is All About Red Tape and Wages

COSBOA’s Submission to the Productivity Study

Initially “sparked” by the Audit’s

Commission wage proposal,

COCBOA (and other business

leaders) came out “firing”.

Business and industry leaders have

warned against reducing the minimum

wage to 44 per cent of average weekly

earnings as recommended by the

government’s commission of audit.

The minimum wage is currently set at

$622 a week or 56 per cent of average

weekly earnings, with the commission

of audit suggesting the reduction be

phased in over ten years.

Under the proposal, the concept of a

nationally consistent minimum wage

would be abolished with the states and

territories allowed to set their own

minimum wages based on the new

benchmark.

The move would cut $136 dollars per

week off the value of the minimum

wage in today’s dollars, reducing it to

roughly $12 an hour or about $480 per

week.

COSBOA focuses on the cost of doing

business for small business. We focus

not just on dollar costs but also on costs

in time and stress for the small business

person.

A small business is after all a person or

maybe a couple but it is inherently

different from big business where

everyone is an employee and everyone

gets paid for what they do.

There should be no expectation that a

small business is just a smaller version

of a big business.

There should be no expectation that a

small business person is just an

employee of a landlord at their beck and

call.

There should be no expectation that a

retailer can compete with large

businesses fairly when costs are high

and costs for the large businesses are

low due to their capacity to use their

dominance not their better management

skills or their better efficiency.

Our response is short but to the point –

the biggest cost to small business in

retail is to be found in rent, wages,

training of employees and time spent

doing compliance and paperwork.

Rent

There is no doubt that rent in Australia is

too high and that is due to the

domination of retail by a few large

landlords combined with a failure to

consider urban planning issues when

assessing whether competition is fair

and reasonable.

As a result we have more and more local

retail monopolies around Australia

where the only viable place to open a

business is in the large shopping mall

and that provides the landlords with the

opportunity to use their position to

unfairly and unnecessarily increase rent.

The large landlords are mainly

Westfields, Stocklands, Federation

Centres (ex Centro) and the Queensland

Investment Corporation (QIC) among

others.

They work closely with large developers

to influence local councils to change

regulations to suit their needs. If the

council does not meet the needs and

demands of the developers appeals will

be made to state appeal tribunals and the

large developers normally win.

The partnership between the landlords

and Coles and Woolworths, who

dominate retail, provides a perfect storm

for small business who cannot compete

giants large retailers when rents are so

high.

This must change.

Wages

The greatest issue to do with wages is

the high penalty rates. COSBOA notes

that recently the Fair Work

Commission decreased penalty rates in

the Hospitality Industry and we hope

and expect that the same will occur in

the retail sector.

Currently penalty rates for Sundays

are at least double time and penalty

rates for public holidays are triple

time.

This makes opening a shop on those

days a loss making event.

Many businesses have had to close on

those days. This is compounded by the

domination f the landlords.

These large landlords will force shop

keepers to open on those days so that

their shopping mall looks like it is

busy.

The shopkeeper is forced to either

work seven days a week with a cost to

health and family well being or to

employ someone to work the whop

which creates a loss to the business

and a decrease in their family income.

This also must change.

There still exists compliance that is

unnecessary and detracts from retailers

doing good business.

Removing retailers from unnecessary

compliance will decrease costs.

Two initial examples are:

1. Remove employers from

superannuation collection

2. Paid Parental Leave demands

that are not manageable

Let’s Talk Business

3

Here are ten practical and powerful

ideas for extrinsically rewarding a high

performing team:

Giving verbal praise at a staff

meeting;

Inviting the team to present its work

at a staff meeting;

Prominently displaying a poster

showing team photographs and

accomplishments;

Sending the team on an outing, such

as a boat trip or to a sporting event;

Inviting the team to the business

owner's home for a barbecue;

Placing a photograph and story about

the team in the company newsletter

of community newspaper;

Encouraging team members to attend

and present at professional

conferences by paying travel

expenses;

Asking the GM to attend a attend a

team meeting to praise its

performance;

Sending a letter to the GM detailing

the team's work; and

Giving each team member a T-shirt,

hat, or mug with his or her name (or

team's name) on it.

On the other hand, some people respond

to intrinsic rewards. Here are eight

ideas:

1. Asking the team to accept a new

challenge;

2. Writing timely, thoughtful

comments in the margins on team

reports;

3. Giving the team the opportunity to

meet off-site;

4. Giving the team improved

resources, such as new equipment;

5. Asking the team's opinion about

how to handle problems or new

business opportunities;

6. Asking the team to help another

team start up or solve a problem;

7. offering to pitch in and help the

team directly; and

8. empowering the team to act

independently.

Both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards are

effective in rewarding and reinforcing

exceptional team performance. Their

value will depend on the team's

preference, the culture of your

organization, and the resources at the

disposal of the manager. A

combination is often the most

effective form of recognition.

This is an extract from Tim Baker's

latest book - Attracting and

Retaining Talent: Becoming an

Employer of Choice. This book can

be purchased from Amazon or

directly from the author.

Dr Tim Baker is an international

consultant and author of four

books. (http://

www.winnersatwork.com.au)

He was voted one of the 50 Most

Talented Global Training &

Development Leaders by the World

HRD Congress last year.

Dr Tim Baker

Managing Director

WINNERS AT WORK Pty Ltd

www.winnersatwork.com.au

www.about.me/tim.baker

tim@winnersatwork.com.au

Telephone. +61 7 3899 8881

18 Powerful Ideas to

Reward Your Team

Editor’s Note:

Dr. Tim Baker is an international consultant, successful author, keynote speaker, master trainer, executive coach, university lecturer and skilful facilitator.

In a nutshell, he has conducted over 2,430 seminars, workshops and keynote addresses to over 45,000 people in 11 countries across 21 industry groups.

"“Dr Baker leads the world in

offering an innovative new approach

to appraising employee performance.

His research and energy in the

specialised field of performance

management is evidenced by his

international profile as a renowned

speaker, management consultant and

facilitator". Stephen Hartley,

Australia’s leading expert on project

management and author of "Project

Management: Principles, Processes

and Practices.

Let’s Talk Business

4

Then he looked around and said,

"Make sure the elephants don't see

what the rabbits are up to."

==== that was Management

Japanese vs.

American

Management Style

Two teams of

American and

Japanese corporations have a boat

race. On the big day the Japanese

win by a mile.

The discouraged Americans hire a

consulting firm to investigate the

problem. The findings are that the

Japanese team had eight people

rowing and one person steering while

the American team had one rower

and eight people steering. Based on

these results, the American team is

completely reorganized to include

four steering managers, four steering

area managers and a new

performance review system for the

person rowing the boat to provide

work incentive.

The following year the Japanese win

again, so the Americans lay off the

rower for poor performance and give

the manager a bonus for discovering

the problem.

Ten ways to know

that you are Dating

a Business

Consultant

1. Refers to those "intimate moments" as "Win-Win situations"

2. Valentine`s Day card has bullet points

3. Can`t be trusted with the car (too accustomed to beating up rentals)

4. Celebrates anniversary by conducting a performance review

5. Ends any argument by saying "let`s talk about this offline"

6. Tries to call room service from the bedroom

7. Congratulates your parents for successful value creation

8. Takes a half-day at the office because, "Sunday is YOUR day"

9. Talks to the waiter about process flow when dinner arrives late

10. Referred to the first month of your relationship as a "diagnostic period"

If you see a bandwagon, it’s too

late. James Goldsmith

Run your idea up the flagpole

and see if anyone salutes it.

Failure is not an option—it

comes bundled with the software.

Eagles might soar, but weasels

don’t get sucked into jet engines.

A meeting is an event at which

the minutes are kept and the

hours are lost.

Nothing is illegal if a hundred

businessmen decide to do it.

Andrew Young

If it’s stupid but works, it isn’t

stupid.

Corporate

Governance

A crow was sitting

on a tree, doing

nothing all day. A

small rabbit saw the crow and asked

him: "Can I also sit like you and do

nothing all day long?" The crow

answered: "Sure, why not." So, the

rabbit sat on the ground below the

crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox

appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate

it.

Q: What can we learn from this?

A: To be sitting and doing nothing,

you must be sitting very high up.

Leadership vs.

Management

When Noah heard the

weather forecast he

ordered the building

of the ark.

==== that was Leadership

HUMOUROUS SIGNS

QUOTES & QUIPS

Let’s Talk Business

5

Employees or Team Members? Dennis Chiron Marketing Means Business

0451 184 599 www.marketingmeansbusiness.com

dennis@marketingmeansbusiness.net.au Skype: dennis.chiron2

As we start to approach football final

time it becomes clear that some teams

are demonstrably better than others -

these are the ones that still have the

chance to play in and win the Grand

Final.

What is it that makes the difference?

After all, every team has its share of

brilliant players. Is it the team with the

most brilliant players that wins? The

answer is likely to be "No".

The winning "team" is most likely to be

the one that most understands the

meaning of the word itself. Just what

does make a good team?

Whilst the team is made up of

individuals, each one shares the same

vision, the same mission and the same

goals.- To be the best - To win the

Grand Final - To provide the strongest

following and keep the club financially

viable so it can continue to win. To

achieve these, it needs to establish and

follow a plan.

In business, it is exactly the same. You

and your employees are a team. As in

sport, your business will only be as

strong as your weakest link. With

teamwork and planning, even this

weakest link can be made much

stronger thus providing greater support

for your attacking strategies.

As the owner of the business or the

Manager, you are the coach. You are

aware of the Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats of your

business (SWOT).

By working on these with your team

members, you can prepare strategies.

I say "with" your team members, as

they must be part of this planning

process.

If your team members do not play a

part in the planning and do not know

the reasons for your planning decisions,

then you cannot expect them to

wholeheartedly support you.

Gone are the days (thankfully) when

blind obedience of fatuous orders led to

the sort of fiasco typified by the Charge

of the Light Brigade. These days

people are far more educated. These

days most employees actually WANT

to provide input to your decision

making.

If you are truthful to yourself, you

might even come to the conclusion that

many of your employees are actually

brighter than you are. This is an

opportunity, not a threat!

The most important rule for your

business must be to get the work in and

make the sale. If this is true, then the

most important person in your business

must be your client.

This is something that you and your

whole team must be aware of.

Everything must be focussed on client

satisfaction. As a team, every member

must be concentrating on producing

goods or services that provide customer

satisfaction.

Remember - the customer is always

right. If the customer is also satisfied,

then the Grand Final is yours for the

taking!

Defining Roles

Most problems that develop in a team

occur because team roles are not clearly

defined. Supervisors and team leaders

are not the only ones with special roles

and responsibilities. Employees also

must know what is expected of them

and what they will be accountable for in

their new environment.

There are two basic types of roles and

responsibilities that employees should

be expected to assume and to be

evaluated on. The first role is that of

technical expert.

The employee must be able to do the

work well. The second type is the social

role that involves the management of

the processes of the team. Both roles are

important to the team's success and

performance improvement.

In his book, Building Productive

Teams, Glenn H. Varney explains the

importance of clarifying the roles of

team members.

He observes, "During any discussion of

roles and responsibilities, team

members need to clearly know their

specific tasks and the areas for which

they will be held accountable. Everyone

in the team should also know what

everyone else is responsible for. This

will build strength and mutual support."

Let’s Talk Business

6

Most of us at some time or another

have worked in an organization

with someone who had an innate

ability to ‘kiss up and kick down’,

seemingly without the boss being

aware of their actions.

The important thing for us as

owners and managers is to be able

to recognize these individuals, and

take action before they undo all the

effort we have put into building our

corporate culture.

After all, they can appear to us to be

highly motivated operators who get

things done, and are therefore much

more likely to be rewarded than

removed.

So what is a Corporate

Psychopath?

Robert Hare, a University of British

Columbia Professor is thought to be

the first to use the term when he

compared the similarity of some of

the personality traits of the heads to

some of the world’s largest

corporations to those of serial

killers and other kinds of violent

criminals.

It seems that around 1% of the

general population isn’t burdened

by conscience.

Psychopaths have a profound lack

of empathy, but possess an

astounding ability to fake it. They

seduce their victims with charm that

masks their true nature as

pathological liars, master con

artists, and heartless manipulators.

They crave constant stimulation, so

they seek thrills from real-life

‘games’ they can win – and take

pleasure from their power over

other people.

But wait, you say: Don’t bona

fide psychopaths become serial

killers or other kinds of violent

offenders, rather than the guys in the

next cubicle? That was the

conventional wisdom.

On the broad continuum between the

ethical every-day person and the

predatory killer, there’s plenty of

room for people who are ruthless but

not violent.

New York psychologist, Paul Babiak

says ‘If I wasn’t studying

psychopaths in prison; I’d do it at the

stock exchange.’

Hare continues that ‘There are

certainly more people in the business

world that would score high in the

psychopathic dimension than in the

general population.’

Organizational chaos provides both

the necessary stimulation for

psychopathic thrill seeking and

sufficient cover for manipulation and

abusive behavior.

Corporate psychopaths tend to

exhibit the following traits: glibness

and superficial charm; a grandiose

sense of self-worth, pathological

lying; lack of remorse or guilt;

coldness covered up by dramatic

emotional displays that are actually

play-acting; and failure to accept

responsibility for their own actions.

Sound like anyone you know?

The damage this type of person can

do to your organization is enormous,

both in terms of staff and clients.

The unfortunate thing is that you will

probably find them to be both

charming and high performing, at least

until you become their next target.

Indeed, you’ll probably find yourself

promoting them ahead of their peers.

How can I avoid the fallout?

It’s all a question of risk management,

and we can’t completely eliminate the

possibility of ending up with a

corporate psychopath in our team.

However, I think there are three major

actions we can take to minimize the

risk:

Firstly, use tools such as psychometric

testing during recruiting, to minimize

the risk of potentially inviting one into

the fold, particularly into a position of

influence.

Secondly, 360 degree feedback

mechanisms may assist to highlight

emerging concerns amongst team

members and fellow workers; and

Thirdly, corporate psychopaths thrive

in organizational chaos, so having in

place a strong philosophy of structure,

systems and measurement may be your

best defence against attracting and

retaining them.

Remember they crave constant

stimulation, so if you demand

accountability and performance against

key objectives, they may seek out an

easier target.

There are plenty of other businesses out

there that might not be as organized as

yours.

Geoff Butler FAIM AP, MAITD MACE

Principal/Business Improvement & Implementation Specialist

Business Optimizers

Mobile: 0414 943072

Fax: 3036 6131

Email: geoff@businessoptimizers.com.au

Skype: business.optimizers1

Corporate Psychopaths ….

Do You Have One In

Your Business?

WORKS HERE

Let’s Talk Business

7

Jo-Anne Chaplin

Tax & Superannuation Professionals Pty Ltd

PH 07 3410 8116 / Mobile 0457 960 566

Email : taxandsuperprofessionals@gmail.com

Web: www.taxandsuperprofessionals.com.au

I am a qualified Accountant and will celebrate my 20th anniversary as a

Registered Tax Agent this year. During my time in Public Practice I have

assisted clients to achieve business growth and prosperity. My earlier career

included positions in banking, manufacturing, construction and retail. My

particular interest is in promoting a culture of using local industries and

business in order to build a strong community.

Health Check Your Business

With the new financial year

beginning, it’s the perfect opportunity

to:

1. Review last year’s trading to see

where improvements can be made

2. Investigate problem areas to

identify solutions to avoid the

same problems repeating

themselves

3. Look at new ways of marketing

your business

4. Identify new or more efficient

ways of doing the same work

5. Set some targets – sales –

financial – KPIs for the coming

year

6. Review your plant & equipment –

what capital expenditure are you

going to have to undertake in the

next 12 months

A review of your past year’s trading

will help you understand if your

pricing is right, if your buying price is

the best on offer, your inventories are

at the right level and if your staffing

model is correct.

Benchmark your results against those

for your industry. Were last year’s

profits enough to carry your business

into the next year?

If there were problems during the past

financial year, how were they

overcome? Was the action taken

successful? What procedures have

been put in place to identify future

problem areas before they arise. What

would you have done differently (with

the benefit of hindsight)? Have you

changed your policies and procedures

and taken the matter up with your staff?

What did you spend on advertising and

promotion last year? Was it effective?

Is it time to look at new approaches to

your marketing?

Setting targets is all about staying on

track, and managing your business.

Small business owners tend to get lost

in the day to day working of their

business. This is because they ARE the

business!

To make sure that some attention is

placed on where the business is headed,

use targets to measure progress, and

review them at regular intervals.

Financial targets, are a budget to make

sure that cashflow will be available for

known expenses, and for estimated

expenses.

Model the new year’s budget on last

year’s actual trading, then uplift for the

expected increase in turnover. When

finalised you will see where the slow

months will be, and be able to

provide for them early.

New ways of doing the same job are

always confronting to owners and

staff alike. Some of the new

technology being offered is not as

good as it claims, but there are other

ones that will help you save time and

money within your business. Put on

your creative hat, and think outside

the box. What are your competitors

doing?

Does your industry association have

some information that will help?

KPIs are Key Performance Indicators.

These are only limited by your

imagination. The main ones are of

course, those which relate to main

work procedures.

Examples are statutory reporting, HR

management, staff training, licensing

etc. You could also develop

measurements which relate solely to

your business – ie a retailer may like

to implement a KPI over the sales of

widgets per square metres of floor

space.

My firm offers Chief Financial

Officer services to small business, in

which we review all the matters

raised above, and more. If you would

like a business health check, then

please contact me.

Let’s Talk Business

8

“..Every Customer You Want, is Already

Somebody Else’s Customer! ..”

Mike is a great car mechanic. One of

the best! His business is good at what it

does, has been around for many years

and has hundreds of long-time repeat

customers that trust him with their

vehicles.

But an important part of Mike’s

business is completely broken. Let me

explain …

Often Mike is asked by his customers,

“Hey Mike, who would you

recommend for x, y, z”? Mike picks up

one of the many business cards on his

counter, passes it over without another

thought and in that one action commits

three of the most common, wasteful

and business stagnating sins there are.

Let’s break them down …

1. Gave up Control of the Referral:

Mike will probably never know if

that customer actually used the

services of the person he

recommended.

2. Missed out on Credit: How will the

referred business know that Mike

referred them? If they don’t know

about the support they’re getting its

likely sending people back to Mike

is not at the top of their mind.

3. A Bad Referral: Every time we

refer another person’s products or

services we’re taking a HUGE risk.

If his customer doesn’t get what

he’s after that could reflect badly

on Mike.

But the biggest thing Mike is losing out

on is something that successful

business owners spend their waking

hours pondering almost non-stop.

“What is a great win-win opportunity for

me to help my customers and at the same

time get introduced to other prospective

ideal customer’s?”

What if Mike compiled the business

cards of the people he recommends the

products and services for into a booklet?

It could be called “Mike the Mechanic’s

Guide to Local Tried & Tested Vehicle

Industry Professionals”. It could have

$10,000 of value if all the people in the

booklet had a special offer each (40

people with offers valued at $250 each =

$10,000). A local map pointing out

where everyone was located and more!

Now, what if Mike didn’t just stack the

booklets up on his counter and let

‘anyone’ grab one?

He could bring it out when listening to

what the customer wants before the work

even starts. Mike explains to his

customer that at some stage they might

need tires, bull-bars, body work, car

detailing, windshields and more.

Now Mike has become a ‘portal’, or a

central hub of anything to do with the

automotive world in his area. A force to

be reckoned with!

But Mike could be even savvier than

that. He could say “Mrs Jones, you’re

in need of an auto-electrician. I’ll email

Rob at Rob’s Auto Electrics with your

details, your vehicle’s details and the

work we have discussed that you need

done. That way you don’t have to

remember everything yourself.

Would that be helpful for you?” Notice

how many boxes this one easy process

ticks and everyone wins!

Then, at the end of this unique service

from Mike the mechanic and Rob the

auto-electrician, Mrs Jones gets a

‘Thank You’ letter in the mail

personalised by Mike.

Within the folds of the letter slips out a

free car wash voucher from Mary’s

Local Mobile Car Detailing company

valued at $60.

Now ask yourself … if you were a

customer of Mike’s, would you tell

your friends about this extraordinary

experience?

Of course you would! It’s not hard or

expensive, but it does take a little bit of

guidance and know how.

If you would like to experience a

complimentary review of your business

that takes less than an hour, call Dan at

Profit Mechanics on 0414 567 188. An

easy to understand business

performance questionnaire will be

rushed to you so you can see where

profit may be leaking from your

business and how to fix it.

Dan Buzer

Profit Mechanics

0414 567 188

www.profitmechanics.net/ dan@profitmechanics.net

Let’s Talk Business

9

In a previous issue of Let’s Talk

Business, I covered a simple

Monday to Sunday Facebook

strategy [click here to read it online].

It covered the ‘type’ of posts that

suits each day of the week and helps

gain the most amount of response

from your Facebook efforts.

Due to the popularity of this topic, I

thought I would go a few steps

further.

Some ideas to get started

Use your own photos

If you are at all handy with a camera

(and even if you are not)…take your

own photos. You can transform

these into cool Memes (they are

those images with words on them).

Your Meme can be funny,

meaningful, inspirational or

factual...just be interesting. Here is

one I created in about 3 minutes for

FREE at imgflip.com.

Upload your own image to http://

makeameme.org/ or https://

imgflip.com/memegenerator and

make your own Memes – there are

heaps of other free programs and

Apps for your smart phone...just

search.

Like other Business pages

Once you have your Business

Facebook page set-up, YOUR

BUSINESS PAGE can LIKE other

Business Pages. Go to the effort of

clicking of switching your identity.

[Find a Youtube video on how to

switch…it is different on smartphone

apps vs computers].

Then, while logged in as your business,

use the search bar to find other

businesses, famous people, brands and

organisations. Find pages that you

would like to follow or align with your

business. You can also like pages where

your potential customers ‘hang out’…

e.g. pages for mums, health nuts or car

enthusiasts. Once “your business page”

likes them, “your business page” can

follow these other pages via your

Business Page “home” feed.

Share other people’s content

Now that you have liked a bunch of

other pages, you now have a Feed

bursting with updates from them.

SHARE their posts where relevant/

appropriate onto your business

Facebook page. This is a great way of

creating the illusion activity on your

business Facebook page without

needing to create it each and every time.

PLUS, whoever runs the page you just

shared something from will get a

notification letting them know…it’s a

great way to network and subtly get

your business name in people’s faces.

Promote others

By posting, and sharing helpful

information about, events, fundraisers,

causes and businesses (that are not

yours) you can improve your business

reputation. This can also open some

doors in terms of being invited to

participate in different events/projects

due to your online ‘connections’. It is

also a great way of being seen

associated with or at least supporting,

local business and events.

Manage via your Smart phone

Using an App like “Page Manager” is

highly recommended to, more easily,

manage your business page/s vs your

personal profile. This is a great tool if

you have more than one page to

manage.

Scheduling tools

See the little clock icon in the bottom

left hand corner of this graphic? This

little icon allows you to schedule your

post to appear on a future date. Going

away on holiday? Don’t have time to

commit each day? THEN USE THIS

TOOL! You can schedule your “Merry

Christmas” message RIGHT NOW. It

will appear on your business page while

you are tucking into your Christmas

lunch without you so much as looking at

your Facebook account. This feature

only works for Business Pages –

Personal Profiles (or Friends pages)

only allow you to backdate posts.

Just send us your Facebook Questions

and we might even do an article

answering them all.

For further information, please feel free

to email Karen ~ The Webgirl.

Karen Ahl Bac. Bus (Mark, Man), TAE40110,

Cert IV IT Caboolture, Queensland

Ph 0415 142 178

www.web-sta.com.au info@web-sta.com.au

More Facebook for Business Ideas and Tips

Let’s Talk Business

10

Peter Nicol

Wisdom Marketing & Management Services

0417627097

www.wisdommarketing.com.au

manager@wisdommarketing.com.au

Innovate …. Just Do It! Some years ago I was struggling with a

problem at the newspaper I worked for

as the Marketing Manager. It was a

complex problem, and one that I

needed to resolve. In those times

newspapers before the internet, and the

digital age were a most unique medium

(they still are). They were the retailers

medium. However, like any industry

enjoying its time in the sun some

arrogance had slipped into the style

and delivery of advertising by many of

the proprietors. Retailers hungry for

sales began to use catalogues to convey

their message.

Consequently, advertising volumes

declined. However, the retailers used

newspapers to carry them, as the paper

was a welcome guest in the home. The

longest journey a catalogue had to

make was from the post box into the

house. Many catalogues ended their

journey at the letterbox and into the

rubbish.

People trusted newspapers and,

catalogues inserted into them usually

got outstanding results. Nowadays,

with circulations dwindling coverage

of a market is difficult using paid

papers, as they simply do not have the

coverage of days gone by.

New players came into being who

offered to deliver the catalogues and

systemised a difficult job and, today

catalogue printing and distribution is a

booming industry with massive presses

around the country producing

catalogues by the millions in one print

run.

My problem? Well I did for a while

prove that my audience of readers was

better than a letterbox drop and for a

while I won this battle. However

innovation on the part of the letterbox

delivery people and Australia Post

brought in millions of dollars and a

new industry was born and, I got the

little that was left.

In Toowoomba where I live there was

a family Company that made cordials

and aerated soft drinks. It had done so

since about 1913. They were a

generational business with father and

sons passing the business on. In the

late 50’s early 60’s the introduction of

better roads and transport; larger

aerated soft drink makers from outside

the region were able to deliver their

goods cost effectively.

The Company could see that there was

a need to innovate. The family

reasoned that if they could supply a

cold drink at the point of sale then they

would have the “edge”. The family

commenced making small refrigerated

cabinets that held their drink

exclusively. Sales soared. Then their

competitors asked if they could make

refrigerated cabinets for them. You

guessed it, they did, and, the business

some 20 years later was the largest

supplier of refrigerated display and

merchandising cabinets in Australia.

Here are two examples of how

innovation has changed the way

businesses are run. It also shows how

you have to take the long term

view of how your thinking must

work.

Businesses have to make change

their mantra. Just like a restaurant

changes its menu every so often

then, so must all business have a

culture of being prepared to

change.

Innovation can be subtle but

nonetheless it must still have a

positive long term impact on the

business, the customers, and

indeed the profitability. Every

inventor tries to build a better

mouse trap.

Do NOT let your business

languish for a moment. It is your

responsibility to make sure that

that you are vigilant and keep your

eyes and ears open for that funny

little knock or rattle in your

economic engine room.

See if it is a threat and, make

decisions strategically not

reactively. Having the enemy at

the gate can be a folly so look and

assess dangers and scale the

responses accordingly. Innovate

where needed not just because it

feels good.

Innovation can be internal change

with little impact on the client’s

perception. New processes to

make things better or faster are the

keys to a successful enterprise and

profitability. Innovate or perish.

Let’s Talk Business

11

Periodically, say quarterly, the

supervisor should conduct a separate

assessment of the inspections.

The purpose of workplace inspections is

to identify those hazards to which

employees may be exposed, so that risks

can be assessed and controlled where

necessary.

Persons conducting inspections can

develop "tunnel vision" if the person

works in the same area he/she is

inspecting.

This phenomenon occurs due to the

familiarisation of hazards in the

workplace and results in the failure to

clearly identify hazards.

The minimum requirement is that a

written procedure for inspections is

developed which:

defines responsibility;

stipulates the frequency of

inspections (which should be on a

regular basis);

gives precedence to consultation

with worker health and safety

representatives;

recommends appropriate corrective

action within specified timeframes;

sets priorities for corrective action;

assigns personnel for corrective

action;

provides feedback to the health and

safety committee;

provides feedback to work groups;

and

has a follow-up or review of

corrective action.

Problems and benefits of checklists The checklist is a widely used

instrument and is ideal as a starting point

in workplace inspections.

There are numerous checklists provided

in occupational health and safety

literature and predominantly there are

two different standard rating systems for

Ron Court, AMC, Dip (Funerals) ,Cert IV OH&S, Cert IV Training & Assessment TAE, MQJA, JP (Qual)

OH&S Advisor

0419 679 619 roncourt@aapt.net.au

Inspections, Checklists and Procedure Audits

describing hazards:

Yes/no or satisfactory/

unsatisfactory;

and

Scale system

Adequate training must be provided

to overcome this problem. It may

also be good practice for inspecting

to be done by someone from

outside the work area..

Use specific work area checklists Checklists should be developed for

each different type of work area.

If an incident (injury, damage or

near miss) is reported, a review of

the checklist must be undertaken to

ensure that all necessary aspects are

being checked.

Sample Checklist Are aisles clear?

Are the aisles clear of electrical

leads?

Adequate work space?

Is the workplace adequately lit?

Are electrical leads in good

condition?

Are electrical leads tagged and

maintained?

Is the floor surface slip

resistant?

Are safety signs displayed?

Are there emergency

procedures to follow in case of

an accident or fire?

Is there an appropriate first aid

kit nearby?

Have the extinguishers been

recently serviced?

Are there adequate directions

towards fire exits?

You can get information about your

OH&S obligations and other

valuable OH&S resources both in

hard copy and online from their

websites.

http://www.deir.qld.gov.au

Purpose of inspections

Inspections are necessary to:

identify aspects of the working

environment and work tasks that

could contribute to injury/damage -

and thus allow unacceptable

conditions or conduct to be

addressed;

review workplace standards in

accordance with legal and company

requirements; and

provide a systematic means, for

those who are at risk of injury, to

help control the working conditions.

Inspections are an essential element

in hazard reduction because issues

must be identified, assessed, fixed

or reported. In this way hazards are

reduced and thus the workplace is

safer. Inspections are only part of

the hazard control strategy. They

are complemented by:

plant and equipment audits;

task analysis and introduction of

safety procedures;

control and monitoring of

materials;

employee training; and

consultative procedures.

Develop inspection procedure

As a minimum, it is recommended

that all facilities be inspected at least

once a month.

Depending on the risks, the dynamics

of the work and the results of

inspections and other factors, this may

need increasing.

The inspection should not be by the

same person each time but should be

done with the worker health and

safety representative.

Let’s Talk Business

12

to spend your ‘extra’ time any way

you like.

1. Find out what activities you are

wasting your time. Before you

can solve a problem, you need to

understand it. If you’re not sure

where you’re losing time, track

what you do for a week. There

are a myriad of tools you can use

to do this. From the good old

fashioned pen and notebook, to

the planner in your smart phone.

You may be surprised just how

much time you are spending each

day checking social media sites

or getting distracted with articles

on the web. Just like a diet

journal, recording how you spend

your time can help you

understand what you are

spending your time on and what

you need to change.

2. Utilise apps to help you block or

limit your internet usage. To

reduce or prevent you wasting

precious time on excessive

Internet use, there are a range of

software apps you can use to

block your online distractions.

For example, the app called Freedom

bans you from surfing the net for up

to eight hours at a time. At the end of

your time offline, the app allows you

back on the Internet. You simply turn

it on, tell it how long you want to

focus (which may be anything from

15 minutes to 8 hours). You can even

pre-schedule the times you want it to

run. Apps to block social media sites

Karen Davey-Thorpe AAIDC CC

Smart n Savvy Business Solutions

1800 899 198

clientservices@smartnsavvybusinesssolutions.com.au

and specific functions on your

smart phones are also available for

a small monthly fee.

3. Delete software applications

that are a distraction. Given

there is an app for just about

everything, it doesn’t mean you

need to have it or use it. Get

rid of apps such as games or

anything that isn’t providing

value to you. Cutting down on

these apps will remove the

distractions from you.

4. Have a No-phone policy for

specific hours within your day.

Schedule hours in the day when

phones aren’t allowed. This

may be a set period of time

outside of your primary

business hours. Turn your

phone off. Place it in another

room or leave it in the car.

Look for creative ways to

completely remove the

temptation of making or

receiving phone calls.

Whether it’s your phone, the

Internet or some other distraction,

when you eliminate your biggest

distractions, you create a more

productive environment conducive

to getting more done.

What tools, techniques or methods

have you used that have helped you

create a more productive

environment? Please email me

with your ideas, tips and tricks. I’d

love to hear what’s worked for you.

Given some of the creativity displayed

in YouTube clips of late, clearly some

people have more time on their hands

than they know what to do with. This

is not the case for business owners.

As we all know, no business owner

can afford to waste their time on

something that produces no benefit for

themselves or their clients.

These days there are a lot of

distractions that keep us from being

productive. In fact, there are some

major time-vacuums that can take an

enormous amount of energy to resist.

The incessant ping and buzz of email

and text notifications being delivered

to your phone, surfing the Internet

with a particular aim in mind, then

being distracted by the plethora of

information at your fingertips…

Wasting seconds, minutes and

sometimes hours during the day on

these can put a serious dent in your

productivity. Turning off your phone

and the Internet creates a more

productive environment and allows

you breathing space to think or to get

absorbed in the task at hand. Some of

the most successful business owners I

have spoken with all have the ability

to be the master of their time and are

unapologetic for the discipline they

exercise protecting this precious

commodity.

So today I’d like to share four easy

ways you can create a more

productive working environment for

yourself - void of time-wasters and

distractions - so you can get more

done, thereby giving you the freedom

4 Simple Ways To Be More Productive

Let’s Talk Business

13

We have heard much about

Commonwealth Bank Financial

Planning recently and there has been

new legislation (FOFA) that is supposed

to protect consumers but it seems that

people are still getting a raw deal.

Our superannuation is our responsibility

but if we can’t trust our big banks what

are we meant to do?

We have heard about “dodgy financial

advice” from CBA Financial Planning

(CBA FP) but they are not the only ones.

Most large financial institutions have a

similar business model based around

vertical integration. This is where the

product manufacturer creates an

investment product such as a managed

fund or a superannuation product. They

also own the distribution network such

as branches and staff to sell their

products.

This might sound OK at first glance but

it raises the questions of conflict of

interest and conflicted remuneration. For

example a big bank might say to it’s

employees (financial planners) that they

MUST ONLY sell bank products AND

they must sell a minimum in order to

keep their jobs !

So what, I hear you say? Well, if your

job (your ability to pay your mortgage

and feed your family) was on the line,

you might “do whatever it takes” to keep

your family afloat – again, so what?

The Conflict is clear

Advisors are supposed to act in the best

interests of their clients but they are

required to not only sell the bank’s

products alone but to sell a minimum

amount. They have a points system and

if they meet their target or Key

Performance Indicator (KPI) they keep

their job. If they exceed, then they are

paid a bonus for “selling more”. This

“Minimum Sales Target” concept

extends all the way down to the teller

who smiles and asks, “you have a lot of

money in your account, would you like

to see our financial planner, would you

like to upgrade your home/investment

loan or would you like some life or

income protection insurance?”

Let’s be clear about this – if they don’t

funnel a certain number of clients to the

mortgage department, financial planner

or insurance person, they could lose

their job – they are not meeting their

KPI’s !

Interestingly, the regulator ASIC, has

reviewed banks and large financial

institutions such as fund managers (like

MLC, Colonial First State, Macquarie,

OnePath etc) or any of the Industry

Superannuation Funds (such as

Sunsuper, Australian Super, Cbus, Host,

Plum etc). Their view that selling their

own financial products to the exclusion

of ALL others is deemed NOT a conflict

of interest.

My question is ‘How can it NOT be a

conflict of interest’ when clients are not

made aware of this, their choice is

severely limited and employees are

Paul GILLMORE DFS

Founder and Director

Southern Cross Financial Services

07 5429 5561

0402 685 032

paul@sc-fs.com.au

being paid to sell those products to

the exclusion of all others?

Strategy v Product Flog

It raises the serious question of the

Corporate Imperative to make more

money versus the best interests of

the client. If management has

decided that they will track and

enforce KPI’s then you can hardly

blame the financial planners, tellers

or under managers for doing what

they are told to do at work.

It raises the deeply fundamental

question of how you achieve your

financial goals. Do you work out

how someone might achieve by

understanding their current financial

position, creating a moral, legal and

ethical strategy then use the

legislation and available products to

the clients advantage OR do you

just sell them your product because

you have to?

Corporate v Independent Advice

If 80% of financial planners are

working for big banks or

institutiions then most people are

subject to the Corporate Imperative

because 80% of planners are

employed by them.

Alternatively, you could seek an

independent advisor who works for

YOU and is paid for achieving a

good outcome for YOU as opposed

to corporate profits – I think the

choice is clear.

The Sins of the BIG Banks

Let’s Talk Business

14

Are You Thinking Small ?

Are you finding yourself in a rut,

because you’re stuck thinking

small? As the owner of a small

business, you wear many hats. And

in the day-to-day hustle and bustle

of making sure orders get filled,

customers get served and bills get

paid, it’s all too easy to start

thinking small. Most of us never

reach the level of accomplishment

that we dream of, mainly because of

“small” thinking.

Thinking big is a habit that we

naturally grow and develop over

time. It is a habit that allows us to

stretch our imaginations and expand

our personal potential. However,

thinking big will never become a

reality for any of us if we continue

to indulge in the following limiting

habits that ironically force us to

think small:

Procrastination holds you back

and pulls you away from

moving forward in your life.

Short-term thinking denies

you the ability to see solutions

that lie a few steps ahead

Solving insignificant problems distracts you from what’s most

important and from the

BIGGER picture.

Over-analyzing things wastes

time and energy on small

matters that are of little

significance.

These habits will constrict your

ability to think big, because they

force you to think small, to think

about insignificant events and

circumstances in unproductive ways,

thus draining all your creative

energies from the inside out. What

do you do to keep yourself thinking

big?

means you connect with people on

their schedules. There are also both

local and international organizations

whose goal is to promote

networking.

The largest of these is Business

Network International. You should

also start promoting your business

to people you already know and ask

them if they know others who might

be interested in your products or

services.

A Simple Strategy

Firstly, a marketing strategy that

you should take advantage of both

offline and online is networking.

This is probably the single most

important strategy you can look

into. As a small business, you will

find that one of your first and most

important hurdles is simply getting

people to know that you exist.

If people don’t know about you or

your business and that you have

amazing widgets or services to sell,

they’re not going to ask to buy those

widgets or hire you for those

services, regardless of how

wonderful and amazing they might

be.

So your first job as a small business

entrepreneur will be to get the word

out.

While not all of these people will

turn into customers, getting the

word out means at least some of

them will share the information with

people who might be interested in

what you have to offer, and that

awareness and publicity can lead to

a breakthrough in sales down the

road.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing

One of the satisfactions - and

sometimes thrills - of being in business

for yourself is unexpectedly meeting or

getting a call from someone who wants

what you offer.

But for this to happen, you need to get

the word out that you're in business.

While most business owners think the

best way to do this is through

advertising or using direct mail,

experience has shown us that while

these avenues may help increase your

visibility, they're not the activities

that'll produce the quickest or the surest

results.

So just how can you best let people

know you're in business? Here are

several methods that have been praised

over and over by people we've

interviewed about how they got their

business rolling:

Face-to-Face Time

Solicit customers you're familiar with.

One of the best ways to generate

business is to directly solicit the people

or businesses who will be likely buy

your services, and you should start with

people you already know. If you're in

the gift balloon business, for example

consider contacting the managers of

restaurants where you're been a regular

patron. If you're at all nervous about

contacting people, you can warm up

cold-calls by first sending post cards or

e-mail.

Network.

If you haven't joined any business

organizations in your area yet, now's a

good time to think about doing so.

Then you can begin networking

through these business and trade

organizations. Going to these

organization's meetings and events

Dennis Chiron Marketing Means Business

0451 184 599 www.marketingmeansbusiness.com

dennis@marketingmeansbusiness.net.au Skype: dennis.chiron2

Let’s Talk Business

15

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www.marketingmeansbusiness.com

PUBLISHER: Marketing Means Business

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We welcome contributions,

suggestions for articles and letters

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Please address correspondence to:

The Editor, LTB

PO Box 569

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please quote the source as “Let’s

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