Business News

ATO to scrutinise loans made by SMSFs

The ATO Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo used the occasion of the annual conference of the Self-Managed Superannuation Funds Professionals Association of Australia conference to warn that the tax office would be closely scrutinising on loans made from self-managed superannuation funds.

The ATO has signalled that it is stepping up its audit program of the SMSF sector with the total number of DIY funds growing past 410,000 in 2009..

The ATO Commissioner said that related-party loans are still being made, to members or relatives sometimes to keep business operations alive. He said that 19% of all contraventions that “we have had reported to us by approved auditors are for this reason.“

The ATO offers seminars to trustees of self-managed super funds (SMSFs) to help them increase their knowledge about their responsibilities and obligations. The seminar for existing trustees is 'Running a self-managed super fund'. This seminar provides an in-depth look at the rules and regulations that govern super with respect to SMSFs.

www.ato.gov.au/superfunds/content.asp?doc=/content/00121934.htm

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My Business: how autoresponders can increase your sales

In February’s My Business internet consultant Will Swayne provides a short primer on the potential of using autoresponders to increase your sales.

Autoresponders are computer programs or systems that send emails – or a timed series of emails – to your contacts, prospects and clients. They are one of the most powerful yet under-utilised online marketing tools available to small businesses. They allow you to hold “personalised” conversations with hundreds or thousands of individuals, without any effort on your part. As a relationship-building tool, they’re hard to beat.

For example, if a prospect requests a PDF report or White Paper from your website by completing an opt-in form, your autoresponder system will immediately send an email containing a link to the report they requested. One day later, the system automatically sends a “What did you think of the report?” email. Three days after that, an email containing case studies of clients you’ve served is launched. Most autoresponder systems also have “field merge” options, which allow you to open with personalised salutations such as “Hi John”.

That’s the power autoresponders put in your hands – to be able to inform, educate, persuade and sell to a potentially unlimited number of prospects and clients in a personalised way, without your direct involvement or ongoing effort.

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Stepping up the campaign against workplace bullies

The Victorian Government will step up an awareness and enforcement campaign aimed at stamping out bullying in Victorian workplaces, following verdicts against four men accused of bullying tactics in a cafe that led to the suicide of a young waitress.

The new Respect at Work campaign will include a renewed focus on bullying from WorkSafe Inspectors, who undertake 40,000 workplace visits a year, as well as a dedicated team of specially trained professionals to focus on the most vulnerable workers and complex cases.

WorkSafe Minister Tim Holding said the Government and WorkSafe will join forces with workers, employers, unions, industry groups and community organisations in implementing the campaign.

“Bullying will not be tolerated but nor will silence. It is no excuse to see it happening and say and do nothing,” Mr Holding said. “Respect at Work will help young and vulnerable Victorians tackle workplace bullying. The consequences of bullying can be devastating for individuals and can have a toxic impact on workplaces.

The Respect at Work campaign will include an advertising and awareness campaign, community seminars, workplace visits and training and partnerships with community organisations. Mr Holding said inspectors have the power to inspect workplaces, respond to complaints and take action against businesses and individuals that are allowing bullying to occur.

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My Business: Developing your personal brand

Many successful entrepreneurs have built their businesses around their own personalities – think Richard Branson and Virgin. In this month’s My Business magazine Julia Nekich looks at the elements involved in building a ‘personal brand’.

You might need to start growing your personal brand in print media before you can even consider TV or radio. Brand building takes time – and persistence is really important. In print media, once a publication trusts you, finds you reliable, and the information you provide extremely relevant to their readers, a regular column is a definite possibility.

Nekich also suggests using social media, but ensure that your Twitter profile and your blogs are written by you (not your company) and feature your photo (rather than your company logo). This also goes for video footage that you are posting online – it’s best if it’s you speaking to your audience, not other staff.

Add to your personal branding strategy by building relationships in your industry. Pitch yourself as a speaker to your industry associations, industry events, or organisations that often hold events for their clients. A by-product of this tactic could be that you’ll develop alliances with businesses that can refer new business to you, and invite you to partner in their own marketing initiatives.

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New ASIC Guide for retail investors

The Australian Securities and Investments Commissionhas launched a free guide for retail investors, Investing between the flags, which outlines the basic principles of investing and suggestions on developing and sticking to a sound investment plan.

Chairman of the Commission, Tony D’Aloisio said the Guide would help retail investors invest more wisely, although he added that investing was never risk free.

“When you go swimming at the beach, you will reduce the risk of drowning if you swim between the flags. Similarly, when you invest you will reduce the risk of losing your money if you adopt the investing behaviours identified in this guide which has been developed over a long period of time,” Mr D’Aloisio said.

The guide includes six steps to investing safely, including understanding tolerance for risk, goals and timeframes; understanding how different investments work; and developing an investment plan such as spreading investments between different asset classes, managers and sectors.

Other tips include suggestions on deciding how to invest, implementing a plan, and monitoring investments. The Guide also features case studies showing how people at different life stages have different investment goals and what to consider when working towards those goals. For a free copy of the guide, visit www.fido.gov.auABC

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How social media is changing recruitment patterns

Companies looking to attract well-qualified job applicants should be driving their own word of mouth recruitment campaign using social media, not just recruiters, according to a recruitment expert.

Joris Luijke, Head of Talent at Australian software development company, Atlassian, said that attracting quality candidates, particularly in hard-to-fill roles had traditionally been Atlassian’s biggest challenge.

He said the company had reduced its dependence on recruiters and initiated a viral recruitment campaign, using social media, with the aim of attracting more than 30 of the top software engineers in Australia within a year.

Mr Luijke said “Without a big brand name, and competing with the big guys like IBM and Microsoft, we knew we had to do something different and be much more innovative to spread the word about Atlassian and meet our hiring target.”

Atlassian staff were asked to drive the news through channels such as Twitter, Facebook, their status updates on LinkedIn and by blogging on their personal blogs. Since launching the campaign, the number of applicants approaching Atlassian had increased by 350%, including roles that usually take one year to fill, and it has now already hired over 50% of its target.

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ARA launches online staff management system

Peakindustry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has established an online Employment Relations Management System to assist retailers to understand their obligations under the Fair Work Act and the Modern Retail Award.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said ARA's Fair Work ready Employment Relations Management System (ERMS) would provide clarity and boost the productivity of the 83 percent of retailers who still needed to do more to comply with their new employer obligations which came into play on 1 January.

"The ERMS streamlines time taken to manage employees and provides comprehensive support through a dedicated, confidential portal of information, tools and templates, giving retailers a peace of mind to concentrate on other important aspects of running a business," Zimmerman said.

The ARA ERMS is a retail-specific Employment Relations Management platform including an employee lifecycle management system, as well as a system for storing employee documentation, recording file notes and other critical employment records.

ARA's new Employment Relations Management System can be seen at www.retail.org.au, call 1300 368 041

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My Business: Strategies to minimise fraud

Employee fraud is on the rise in Australia putting many companies out of pocket and in some cases even out of business. In February’s My Business magazine, Priit Taylor of accounting and advisory firm William Buck, outlines some ways to avoid being affected.

With recent reports suggesting that employee fraud can cost Australian businesses anywhere up to $18 billion annually, business managers should review their systems to guard against this risk. Many offences go unreported as business owners prefer to dismiss those involved and suffer the losses rather than bear the associated embarrassment, risk damaging the reputation of the business or undertake lengthy court proceedings. Furthermore, a great number of offences go undiscovered as many businesses do not have systems in place to uncover fraud even where it may be suspected.

The good news is that a high proportion of fraud can be avoided with the implementation of some straightforward strategies. Taylor’s suggestions include reviewing your internal controls, separating cash handling and financial reporting duties, conducting regular audits and taking out fidelity insurance.

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SMEs get advice on creating and protecting their brand

IP Australia is running a national seminar series called How to Make Your Brand Great during February and March. Leading Australian brand owners will share their insights on two vital issues to business – branding and intellectual property, to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)realise and profit from their intellectual property assets.

Brands are undoubtedly one of the most important assets of a business. A strong brand can secure and generate consumer demand and permits the brand owner to charge premium prices.

The seminars will inform small business owners on how to harness the benefits of the trade mark system and overcome obstacles such as copycats. Both speakers will discuss creating or evolving a distinctive brand personality; how to utilise domain names to enhance a brand; the application of real-life strategies to help expand a brand into overseas markets; identify key ownership considerations for brand managers; and strategies to deal with direct competitors.

For more information on seminar dates and to secure your place visit www.ipaustralia.gov.au/smartstart/brands_event.htm. Places are limited.

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Working out your telco strategy

When was the last time your business thought about a telecommunications strategy? For most businesses, it’s too often treated as a basic utility. But data from research firm IDC indicates that telco expenses are often a company’s second largest indirect cost. And a smart telecommunications strategy can help accelerate growth, reduce costs, improve productivity, and boost your marketing.

Wireless working, for example, can dramatically improve efficiency, allowing sales teams to take payments on the spot or attracting staff through flexible working arrangements. A telco can help improve your marketing in simple ways, too, with 13/1300/1800 numbers, or email marketing and eCommerce solutions. And, of course, telcos offer innovative ways to keep in touch with customers and staff, through SMS; phone, video or internet conferencing; and web portals to share files, documents and other important information.

Finally, many businesses choose to deal with a range of telco suppliers, believing it’s more cost-effective. But in fact, if you’re not dealing with a supplier that takes care of your whole business, it can cause inefficiency and hidden costs. So consolidating with one telco could just be the competitive advantage you’re looking for.

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My Business: The new Angels travel in flocks

Angel groups in the US now account for 50 per cent of all Angel investments and invest in around 15 times the number of ventures invested in by formal venture capital funds. In February’s My Business magazine our resident Angel investor, Tom McKaskill, reveals the growing importance and profile of these investment communities.

Twenty years ago you would have had difficulty finding any Angel groups in the US. There are several reasons for their recent proliferation, not least the number of entrepreneur millionaires generated by the computer, internet and biotech booms of the past three decades. However, probably the most significant factor has been the rise of the public face of angel investing and the forming of Angel groups.

What was once a small portion of all Angel activity is now about half of all Angel investments. Angel groups are well organised, often have a full or part-time administrator, usually have a website and host a formal program of meetings, entrepreneur presentations and Angel education workshops.

No longer do you have to work your network to find an Angel, via Angel groups you have the ability to connect directly to between 20 and 50 Angels. Even if you are in a highly specialist field, chances are you will find a local Angel with an interest in what you are doing, or perhaps even actual experience in your field.

Potential investors may look at unlisted companies because of their long-term prospects, the opportunity to invest at an early stage, and the ability to work closely with heads of the company.

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Enterprise Connect to boost business in more regions

Small and medium sized businesses in more regional areas will have greater access to Australian Government business assistance with the extension of Enterprise Connect’s Innovative Regions Centre operations into eight more regions.

The national centre, based in Geelong, develops region-specific strategies to encourage business growth. It is part of the Federal Government’s $50 million a year Enterprise Connect Network to boost small business productivity, innovation and competitiveness.

Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Carr said the placement of facilitators attached to the Innovative Regions Centre was already operating well in Geelong and North Adelaide and would now help boost the productivity of eight more key regions.

Eight new placements will be made in:

NSW: three placements, in the Wollongong, Central Coast and Lithgow regions;
QLD: two placements, in North Brisbane and Central Queensland;
WA: one placement covering the Kwinana, Mandurah and Fremantle areas;
VIC: one placement covering the Victorian Central Goldfields; and
TAS: one placement covering Northern Tasmania.

“The facilitators will collaborate with State and local governments, business organisations and individual businesses on regional innovation strategies to help business grow. Specific focus will be given to projects that develop partnerships, networks and alliances,” Senator Carr said.

The strategic work being done by the Innovative Regions Centre complements other services offered by Enterprise Connect. These include free, onsite business reviews to eligible businesses plus access to a range of business improvement grants.

For further information about Enterprise Connect, visit www.enterpriseconnect.gov.au or call the hotline on 131 791.

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My Business: Selling shares to your employees

International research suggests that employee owned businesses grow faster and are more profitable than conventional firms. In this month’s My Business magazine Stuart Frost, the co-founder of CAD Partners, recounts his experiences in structuring an employee share scheme in his business.

It provides valuable insights to other business owners looking to exist their business through a sell down to their staff.

As one of CAD Partners employees Daniel Cadart says: “Apart from dividends and capital growth, this creates a great sense of belonging to something. Whether it’s family, a tribe, a group or community – society is evolving and finding new ways to work together. It makes me feel part of this community. It provides motivation to invest yourself in the business.”

There are advisors who offer help to set up a share plan. You can go onto the website of the Australian Employee Ownership Association for names of advisory firms. Frost also suggests ensuring you get a fixed price for setting up the unit trust and for the unit trust plan administration.

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Growing your business: SME Boardroom Roundtable event

SME Boardroom’s first annual event entitled SME Boardroom Round Table 2010 will bring together politicians, entrepreneurs and marketing experts to discuss and review the issues of business growth, sales and marketing and cashflow and capital raising.

It will be held in the Sydney offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers on March 23 between 9am and 2pm.

This interactive half day seminar will enable SME owners, advisors, government and the business community to collaborate and devise “real” solutions to manage the key SME issues of business growth, sales & marketing and cashflow & capital raising.

The seminar comprises case studies, expert advice and round tables. The seminar will explore strategies and practical solutions for addressing these issues, and result in recommendations being put forward to government.

Speakers includeJoe Hockey the Federal Shadow Treasurer; Sharon Williams, Managing Director of Taurus Marketing and Sian Lewis, General Manager of Small Business Banking, Westpac Banking Corporation.

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