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e-news | April 22nd, 2010 |
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Business NewsEvents
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Business NewsNew equal opportunity laws may affect businessEqual Opportunity laws passed by the Victoria Government will strengthen the powers of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to "investigate persistent and systemic discrimination", including in the workplace, without first requiring a complaint to be made, according to the Victorian employers body, the VECCI. According to the Government "the new laws will change the Commission from a complaints-handling body to one that educates and facilitates dispute resolution and compliance, they will also give the Commission more effective options to respond to systemic discrimination and encourage best practice and proactive compliance by duty-holders without reliance on individual complaints". The VECCI said that the State Government was claiming that it would provide a more effective complaints resolution system through early and flexible dispute resolution at the Commission but allowing complainants to also go directly to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to have their matter determined. New business names briefing forumsThe Federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research is inviting businesses to attend an information briefing on the proposed new national business names registration system that is due to start in the first half of 2011. The purpose of business name registration is to help identify those trading under names that are not the same as their personal, company or other entity name. Currently business names must be registered in each state or territory a business operates in. The new system requires business name registration nationally only. The briefing forums will be held in each capital city, to view the times and dates please go to the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research website. Registration for the forum is essential by emailing businessnamesconsultation@innovation.gov.au. Or call Wendy Chant on 02 6213 6044. Australian economy poised to accelerateAn index that predicts future short term economic activity in Australia - the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index – indicates that economic activity grew at its fastest pace in 13 years in February. The Index grew at an annualised rate of 7.2 per cent in February, compared with growth of 6.9 per cent in January, much higher rates that the long-term trend rate of just 2.8 per cent. Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the index was now growing at its fastest annualised pace since 1997 and “is signalling that growth in the Australian economy will accelerate through 2010 to well above trend by year's end”. Both the RBA and the Federal Treasury are expected to issue revised forecasts for economic growth in May, with both expected to announce sharp upgrades in part due to the price rises being captured by Australian commodity exporters.. The higher economic activity will increase the likelihood that the Reserve Bank will again lift rates in May. The cash rate has been raised five times in since October 2009 and now stands at 4.25 per cent. CEO of Commercialisation Australia announcedMr Doron Ben-Meir has been appointed inaugural CEO of Commercialisation Australia, which helps researchers and entrepreneurs turn ideas into dollars and jobs. Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said that “Mr Ben-Meir will play an essential role in building Australia’s innovation capacity and ensuring that great Australian ideas are developed in this country rather than going offshore.” Senator Carr said that the new CEO had over 20 years’ first-hand experience in the venture capital market, building technology-based companies, assisting early-stage entrepreneurs to develop their businesses, and supporting the efforts of innovators to commercialise their intellectual property. With funding of $196 million over its first four years, Commercialisation Australia gives businesses access to a range of measures tailored to help them bring their innovations to market. Commercialisation Australia is now open to applications. For more information, including how to apply, visit www.commercialisationaustralia.gov.au or phone the hotline on 13 22 56. My Business: Create a Twitter buzzLast year we saw Twitter go mainstream and despite reports that it might not remain popular, it appears to be stronger than ever. In this month’s My Business magazine communications expert Catriona Pollard looks at ways to build your social media audience. Take your Twitter and Facebook strategy one step further by including competitions to engage and reward your followers. The hope is that the lure of prizes will draw followers in and those that like what they see will stick around in the future. To claim a prize an individual needs to either follow you (on Twitter) or become a fan (on Facebook) to be able to claim their prize – meaning they have to sign up! We have seen celebrities running successful Twitter competitions for huge prizes, including new cars, large sums of money, and the chance to go on holidays with them. One of these competitions offered a donation of $100,000 to a charity of a fan’s choice. The competition called for fans to convince the celebrity in 140 words or less why it should be their chosen charity. Social media competitions are all about creativity, getting people interested and keeping true to what social media is all about – relationships and communication. They are not limited to Facebook and Twitter but can be used across all types of social media. They are really only limited by your imagination! Support line proving popular with small businessesThe Federal Government’s Small Business Support Line is proving popular with small businesses with more than 10,000 calls in its first six months of operation. Small Business Minister Craig Emerson said that “The support line is a fantastic resource for small businesspeople who often only need to be pointed in the right direction. The Government set up the Small Business Support Line in September last year during the global financial crisis to help ease the stress and strain on our small businesses. The call centre advisors offer assistance and advice on a range of topics including obtaining finance, cash flow management, retail leasing, marketing, and even stress and hardship counselling. Support Line advisers link into Commonwealth and State Governments and other services such as the network of Business Enterprise Centres and other small business advisory services around Australia. Dr Emerson said registration and licensing, government grants and assistance, and how to start a business made up the bulk of the calls to the support line. Most calls came from small businesspeople working in retail, professional, scientific and technical services, construction, health and community services, and accommodation and food services. My Business: Dealing with a potentially crippling illnessA serious – perhaps potentially fatal – illness or accident can be literally a life-changing experience. For small business owners, the impact of such an event can be further amplified by the responsibilities, and the demands, they need to meet in running their business. In April’s My Business magazine Small Business Victoria outlines its world-first online resource designed to help sufferers. The initiative flowed from research conducted by Small Business Victoria examining the scope of life threatening illness (LTI) in Victoria; how many people it was affecting and its economic impact. This was acknowledged as a major, but unrecognised, problem that was seriously disrupting the lives of business owners and their families. Amazingly, there was no evidence that the issue was being addressed by business authorities anywhere in the world. The online resource provides practical information in the form of web pages, information sheets, checklists, contacts, case studies and links. The plan is broken up into:
For more information please visit www.business.vic.gov.au/illness Tough stance on excess contributionsThe Australian Taxation Office is cracking down hard on excess superannuation contributions, with warnings that investors will face heavy penalties for breaching the maximum amounts. The tax office is warning self-managed super members against tipping in excess contributions, including the use of a popular new scheme which splits the money into a separate trust. About 70,000 people could be facing penalty tax charges later this year as a result of putting too much money into their super funds. Substantial penalties apply to all super members who make excess deposits, and the warning comes as we enter the final months of the financial year, when people traditionally stash extra money in their funds. About 35,000 people are already facing fines and penalties for putting too much money into their super after the laws were applied to the June 2007 tax year. People aged under 50 cannot put in more than $25,000 from before-tax income. People over age 50 can put in up to $50,000 from before-tax income and are also limited to a total of $150,000 a year. My Business: Planning for retail profitBefore signing up for what may be crippling lease payments, retailers need to draw up realistic plans that will accurately guide them in making rental decisions. In April’s My Business magazine retail lease expert Stephen Spring outlines how to avoid defaulting on your rent obligations. The most important thing a retailer can do is to develop a comprehensive business plan. Work out how much capital you will need to fit out premises and stock the shop with goods (bought wholesale) with a contingency for a margin of error of 10 per cent. The stock must have ample width (range across categories) and depth (choices within categories). Too much stock and you will tie up valuable cash. Too little stock and you will lose sales. Research and work out the truly achievable gross profit margin – sell price less wholesale price expressed as a percentage of sales. You can access industry business benchmarks to tell you. Business benchmarks are compiled from financial surveys from those already operating in the industry. The results are then processed into averages that you can use. There are typical gross margins for each particular shop type so don’t fool yourself and take pot shots. Use accurate industry data. The bottom line is that many retailers ‘rough cut’ these numbers when they really don’t need to. There is plenty of assistance and information out there upon which to base realistic forecasts and hard numbers on fact. It will undoubtedly cost time and money to bring together a realistic retail plan, but that’s better than signing an unaffordable lease blind, only to spend years working for the landlord. Advice for business start-upsAfter much thought and many a restless night, you have finally come up with the next great business idea. There is just one problem: you have no real idea how to start the business successfully or ensure its long-term viability. With more than 1.2 million small businesses in Australia, it is a fair bet that you are not the first to make this realisation. Nick Reade, ANZ General Manager for Small Business, says the creators of start-up businesses often have passion but need help to turn their concept into a winner. He recommends first asking some tough questions. “Are you passionate, patient, determined and self-disciplined? If not, you may struggle to cope with the demands of a new enterprise,” he says. If you decide you have what it takes, the next step is to determine your business’s point of difference. At an early stage, this may involve a quick test of your product or service with an independent group of would-be customers.
Reade then suggests focusing on two important early steps: creating a business plan, and building a team of advisors. “Remember, you do not need to do it all by yourself.” A good accountant or lawyer is also often invaluable. Reade says online resources, such as those found at ANZ’s free small business website are a big help for start-ups. To enrol in a free online course today at www.thesbhub.com.au/starting Fall in construction activity surprises the marketWeaker demand seems to be behind a surprising fall in construction activity in Australia with residential building falling flat after several months of solid growth. The Performance of Construction Index by the Australian Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association fell 4.1 points to 48.7 in March. It is now below the key 50-point level that indicates expansion. Home building activity was muted, while apartment building and engineering construction extended declines from previous months although the outlook for commercial construction sector was more buoyant with the continuation of the gradual recovery that has been evident since January. A senior economist with the Housing Industry Association, Ben Phillips, was quoted in the media as saying that the housing weakness highlights the fragility of the recovery in the sector. "The residential construction numbers for houses and apartments confirm a worrying downward trend for the new homes sector," he said. He attributed the slackness partly to continuing tight credit conditions. My Business: Understanding your phone optionsArranging new phones for your business opens up new opportunities to communicate in more sophisticated ways, but also creates some complicated choices, as My Business Technology Editor Simon Sharwood explains in the latest issue of My Business. Where to start? The most basic decision is whether you can live without landlines. Mobile carriers offer small business plans that let you go entirely mobile, even including a conventional, eight digit, landline-style number that your customers and contacts can dial to reach a mobile phone (Vodafone and BigTinCan are players in this arena). These services even let you transfer calls between mobile handsets, so the whole system behaves a lot like the private branch exchange (PBX) that most businesses use to transfer calls around an office. The next thing to consider is your choice of carrier, and at this point things get even more complex and confusing, because while there are dozens of companies that can sell you a PBX and handsets, their relationships with carriers are sometimes hard to fathom. Another option is to buy VoIP from an internet service provider, which will usually have an integration partner to wire everything together in your office (an arrangement on offer from iiNet). My Business: Avoiding self-managed superannuation mistakesThe ATO has announced it will be stepping up the monitoring of self management superannuation funds (SMSFs) to ensure that there are no breaches of the regulations by Fund trustees. In the April issue of My Business magazine superannuation lawyers, Claire Malone and Bryce Figot, outline the problems that can arise. Trustees of self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) are responsible for the administration of their fund. Many trustees seek assistance from professional service providers (such as accountants, financial planners or fund administrators). But responsibility for compliance ultimately lies with the trustees. Recent statistics give insight into the compliance issues that are typically occurring in practice. Failure to comply with superannuation laws can ultimately lead to a fund being made non-compliant or a trustee being disqualified, which can in turn lead to significant penalties. Although the rules can be strict, they do serve an important purpose: to ensure that mums and dads have adequate money to retire on. A contravention is generally not the end of the world; in 2009 there were 6476 SMSFs that reported contraventions of the rules. Of these contraventions, almost half were rectified prior to the ATO receiving notice of them. Only 99 SMSFs were made non-complying in that year. EventsPayWorld Summit 2010
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