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1. 25 corporate collapses – and the lessons learnt

There have been some high-profile corporate failures over the past year, and the evidence suggests that the bloodbath isn’t over. We take a look at 25 more prominent cases to draw salient lessons for every business. It’s getting ugly out there. Credit agency Dun & Bradstreet believes one in nine compa...

2. The ATO’s new Super Guarantee rules explained

The ATO recently released a very important ruling - Superannuation Guarantee Ruling SGR 2009/2 - that explains the tax commissioner's view on the meaning of Ordinary Time Earnings and ‘salary or wages' as defined in the superannuation law. It is a lengthy ruling and quite technical, but important for employers to be aware of in meeting ...

3. QLD Public Holidays

Queensland public holiday dates are accurate at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.  

4. NSW Public Holidays

New South Wales public holiday dates are accurate at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.  

5. Top 10 must-have gadgets for 2009

There is only one thing an entrepreneur loves more than closing a big deal or finding about a new tax break – discovering a hot new gadget. With this in mind – and with Christmas just around the corner – SmartCompany has compiled a list of 10 must-have ga By Patrick Stafford

6. 10 must-haves for your marketing plan

As the list of ways to promote your business grows, working out the most effective way to spruik your business can be half the battle. That's why it's vital that small- and medium-sized businesses put a solid marketing strategy in place and make sure they don't deviate from the plan. Here are 10 things your plan mus...

7. Brand trashing: The new IR revolution

It is close to Christmas and time to reflect upon the year in industrial relations. In this year we have seen: The expansion of social media disparagement. The use of adverse action claims to protect union delegates who disparage businesses. The advent of protected industrial action that i...

8. The Young Rich: Top 10 myths exposed

Reaching the über-rich ranks before you turn 40 has generated several urban myths about what it takes to get there. JAMES THOMSON reveals the truth about our young stinking rich entrepreneurs.By James Thomson

9. Android dominates Australian smartphone market, Apple crumbl

A divide has opened up between smartphone sales in the US and Australian markets during the 12 weeks ending November 25th, with Android dominating the Australian market and Apple dominating the US, according to new market research figures. The figures, compiled by Kantar ComTech, show that Apple's Australian smartphone marketshare during the quarter ending November 25 sunk to just 35.9%, down from 41.3%...

10. SA Public Holidays

South Australian public holiday dates are accurate at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.  

11. Why do people shop online?

Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular, but why? According to WebProNews, two recent surveys suggest people are a bit confused over whether it’s convenience or cheaper prices that provide the best reason to get online.A recent Nielsen survey of US shoppers found the ability to shop any time was the chief advantage of onlin...

12. Witchery and Mimco push ahead

The economic crisis is nothing new for Witchery and Mimco chief executive Iain Nairn, who has weathered two downturns in the last three decades. While he predicts tougher times ahead, the retailer believes the fashion group has the strategy to survive andBy Emily Ross

13. How to Save Money Tips

Here are some tips from our readers on how to save money in business. How to Save Money Tip: When setting up your business system – sales, purchases, servicing whatever it may be – the system needs to efficiently touch each process once and effectively (accidentally) create the accounting records and business records without needing to conduct a different process to comply with accounting and tax requirements. Have a system that works for...

14. Why online retailing is a dead-end: Gerry Harvey

Harvey Norman is being walloped by the downturn. But billionaire founder Gerry Harvey still refuses to consider online retailing, dismissing it as a dead-end for businesses. He predicts it will not make any money for entrepreneurs and says he will not be Harvey Norman is being walloped by the downturn. But billionaire founder Gerry Harvey still refuses to consider online retailing, dismissing it as a dead-end for businesses. He predicts it will not make any money for entr...

15. Can I make staff take compulsory leave, even unpaid?

This article first appeared on November 19, 2008. Dear Aunty B, It’s only mid-November but it feels like my clients are shutting up shop early for Christmas and deferring all decisions until early next year. I want to use the opportunity to shut the entire office for the Christmas week and the...

16. NT Public Holidays

Northern Territory public holiday dates are accurate at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.

17. Pizza Capers gets a bigger slice of the action

While other retailers are discounting to get cash in the door, Pizza Capers founders Scott Geiszler and Anthony Russo are standing firm with their premium product. They tell PATRICK STAFFORD about the challenges of managing their fast-growing empire. By Patrick Stafford  

18. Top social media campaigns & what you can learn from them

Social media is a great business tool, but how many companies are actually using it well? With so many SMEs and huge brands now using sites like Twitter and Facebook to promote themselves, simply creating a basic fan page isn't enough.Businesses need to be creating and designing social media marketing campaigns to connect...

19. SMEs must act now to avoid post-Christmas cashflow crunch

Small businesses are being urged to start preparing for the Christmas shutdown period now to avoid traditional post-Christmas cashflow shortages that typically lead to a spike in insolvencies in February. Michael Fingland, managing director of turnaround specialists Vantage Performance, says many businesses fall into a cashflow hole over the Christmas break. As business shuts down over the Christmas period and the normal payment cycle stops, start-ups and small businesses can find i...

20. Life after Destra, and the digital future

Dominic Carosa, 33, was until two months ago, the founder and chief executive of digital media and entertainment company Destra Corporation. He talks to AMANDA GOME about life after Destra, the lessons he learnt, his new plans and how the digital world is Domin...

21. Australia Post strike action to continue

Australia Post workers across the country will take part in industrial action today, which is set to continue for at least 24 hours with the possibility of a strike on Christmas Eve.   The strikes will take place in NSW, SA, QLD and WA today, with a strike in VIC expected tomorrow alongside a meeting of the state's postal workers.  

22. 10 ways to prepare your website for Christmas

It's that time of the year again - with just 77 sleeps until Christmas, it's time for online retailers to start panicking about their key selling period. While normal bricks and mortar retailers have the luxury of shutting up shop every night, the internet is open 24/7 and online retailers know their shopfronts require constant att...

23. WA Public Holidays

WA public holiday dates are accurate at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.  

24. I am an exhausted wreck. What should I do?

Dear Aunty B, I am an exhausted wreck. I have fought so hard for my business this year and I feel like I don't have anything more to give. Yet we are going into our busiest time of year, and on top of that I have Christmas and parties where I have to give speeches and pep everyone up when I just want to take off my stilettos, pour myself a gin and tonic, crawl on top of the bed and nana nap.

25. 55 Twitter tips

Like any medium that captures the public imagination, Twitter brings a myriad of opportunities to strengthen customer relationships and build brands and businesses. But not all tweets are equal - and because Twitter allows users to choose whether to listen, it also means they can just as easily choose not to. "If you'r...

26. 10 lessons from the collapse of Borders and Angus & Robertso

The collapse of REDGroup Retail, the owner of Borders Australia and Angus & Robertson, sent shockwaves through Australia’s retail and publishing world. While the episode has much to do with problems specific to the book sector – such as the rise of online booksellers like Amazon and Book Depository, the government’s decision last year not to drop its parallel import restrictions for books and growing eBook sales – there are important lessons for all entrepreneurs.

27. Recruiter rides the outsourcing wave

Andrew Banks heads the winning HR firm Talent2, and has built a highly successful and lucrative career from making canny calls on recruitment trends. He tells AMANDA GOME about his strategies and predictions. By Amanda Gome  

28. Billionaire Clive Palmer gives staff luxury cars and holiday

If you were planning to give your staff a big Christmas bonus as part of a brilliant retention strategy, then think again – you've just been outdone. Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has set the Christmas bonus bar almost impossibly high by giving all 750 long-term workers at his Yabulu nickel refinery in north Queensland a luxury holiday for two to a resort in Fiji, plus a new Mercedes Benz car for 50 of his most valued employees. And on Friday he topped it all off with a Chris...

29. How will your sector perform in 2009?

The threat of recession hangs heavy over the business landscape, but not every company is bracing for bad news. In a sector-by-sector breakdown, SmartCompany reveals the industries of likely refuge in the maelstrom ahead. By Patrick Stafford and James Thomson

30. Last days of the 50% investment allowance – the 10 big que

31. 44% jump in property listings points to price falls in 2011:

The property market could be set for early-year price falls due to a build up of unsold properties, with new figures by property research company SQM Research showing the number of listings swelled 44% over 2010. Managing director Louis Christopher says while a short-term monthly slowdown in the capitals can be attributed to the Christmas period, (online listings dropped 1.9% in December), overall the huge number of listings means prices are now hanging by a thread and a market downturn ...

32. How the Advertising Standards Board became the Facebook poli

Have you noticed the remit of the Advertising Standards Board seems to have been creeping? Last week underwear company Bendon came under fire from the ASB for a ...

33. Harvey Norman avoids PR disaster, pulls offensive radio ad f

Businesses are being urged to monitor social media to avoid public relations disasters, after an incident over the weekend saw retail giant Harvey Norman sidestep a potential boycott by pulling a radio advertisement only four hours after backlash started appearing on Twitter. James Griffin, who runs online reputation management group SR7, says the incident is an example of how businesses can use social media to their advantage by not only communicating and selling, but by stopping negat...

34. How I sold my start-up for $40 million

The group-buying industry has exploded over the past year, and a small group of entrepreneurs control the Australian market – Spreets chief executive Dean McEvoy is one of them. In just over a year, McEvoy went from starting his group-buying venture with barely any cash, to last week selling the company to Yahoo!7 in a $40 million deal, highlighting ...

35. TAS Public Holidays

Tasmanian public holiday dates are accurate at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.  

36. Mid-year sales kick off: Myer and DJs reveal five tricks the

Mid-year stocktake sales began yesterday with both Myer and David Jones unleashing a range of new strategies to get shoppers into their stores and onto their websites. The Myer sale started online at 9pm on Tuesday along with a VIP preview for the members of the retailer’s Myer One loyalty program, while David Jones kicked off its sale with a card member preview on Tuesday and opened to the general public yesterday. Myer spokesperson Jo Lynch told SmartCompany she...

37. Your sector-by-sector guide to 2012

The only certainty is uncertainty: chances are the Australian economy is headed for another topsy-turvy year. But for the nation's small- and medium-sized enterprises, there are good sectors to operate in, and not so good. We've taken the pulse of 15 key industries. Here's SmartCompany's guide to 2012, ...

38. 2011 Public Holidays

  NSW PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

39. Time & materials versus fixed price billing

Just before Christmas I had one of my coffee/mentoring sessions with a vibrant young Victorian entrepreneur and an interesting question came up around how she should invoice her services. Although not an expert in the area of pricing models (I generally recommend Jon Manning of Sans Prix for some hard-core consulting), I have owned and run a number of businesses that billed in a variety of ways and therefore had a general framework for thinking ab...

40. Mistakes of the young rich

If you are young, rich and self-made, you are walking a tightrope. What drives your success can also cause your failure. By JAMES THOMSON. By James Thomson   If you are young, rich and self-made, you are walking...

41. ACT Public Holidays

ACT public holiday dates are accurate at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.  

42. The board has just told me my job is on the line. What do I

Dear Aunty B, We just had our last board meeting of the year. I expected it to be a pleasant enough affair – we’ve had a pretty reasonable year – but ended up being a disaster. Three directors who hold minority stakes basically ganged up on the chairperson and I, telling me that unless the company’s growth rate doubles in the next 12 months, I will be out of a job. I pleaded my case – basically sayi...

43. Decoding the new Commercialisation Australia grants program

Adrian Spencer, chief executive of grant consultancy GrantReady, is gearing up for a big year. The opening of the Government's new Commercialisation Australia grants program has him marshalling all his grant writing experts to handle the volume of inquiry he's expecting to flood into his Melbourne firm. "This is the biggest new grant for Aust...

44. Abigail Forsyth

Melbourne-based business KeepCup, founded by brother and sister team Abigail Forsyth and Jamie Forsyth launched its re-usable coffee cup just over 12 months ago and has already sold more than 300,000 units, which retail from $12. The pair, who also own a chain of trendy inner city take-away food stores called BlueBag, took the bold step into the world of design and manu...

45. Top social media campaigns & what you can learn from them

This article first appeared August 10, 2010. Social media is a great business tool, but how many companies are actually using it well? With so many SMEs and huge brands now using sites like Twitter and Facebook to promote themselves, simply creating a basic fan page isn't enough.

46. Measuring ROI for online advertising

Advertising your business on the internet has the potential to get your brand in front of a worldwide audience. After all, it only takes a click of a mouse and your logo, brand and key messages could be zinging their way into the homes and businesses of millions across the globe. But once you've settled on the righ...

47. Tammy May

Economists and business commentators are constantly worried about the high levels of debts carried by Australian households. But for Tammy May, the chief executive of personal finance consultancy MyBudget, those economic concerns are a business opportunity. "The amount of Australi...

48. I'm organising our staff Christmas party but I'm stuck for i

Hi Aunty B, I was wondering if we can open up the question of where employers have taken their staff for their Christmas parties in the past?   We want something simple, but memorable. We have done restaurants, comedy clubs, white water rafting, theatre restaurants and in-house BBQs. ...

49. The manager’s guide to social media

Once limited to hushed exchanges in the break room, employees have more venues to complain than ever. Web 2.0 tools have created a virtual water cooler and employees' gossip - about everything from how managers handle layoffs to organising company social functions - can instantly reach an opinionated, enabling and often highly reactionary audien...

50. Which sectors will win and lose in the downturn?

Are your sales efforts aimed at the right sectors? As the Australian economy hurtles towards recession, veteran business watcher and IBISWorld founder PHIL RUTHVEN nominates the industries that will be hardest hit – and the sectors that should hold up.   As bad...