During pandemic lockdowns, Victorian Chamber of Commerce & Industry introduced a program to assist recovery and build resilience. It consisted of 8-hours of free mentoring and advice – the business equivalent of speed dating!

There hasn't been much publicity about the arrival of the .au domain extension, released on 23 March 2022 and time is running out to protect your brand. Australian businesses have until 20 September to reserve their .au equivalent domain name before it becomes available to the general public. If you already own the equivalent .com.au,.net.au or .org.au, you are permitted to register the .au version of that domain.

The Commonwealth of Australia, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), has awarded the contract to provide Project Coordination Unit (PCU) services to the East Micronesia Cable Project (EMCP) to nem Australasia Pty Ltd (nem).

The current hiring environment presents an opportunity to review how you compete for talent, the “war for talent” has been over hyped over the last decade but not only is net overseas migration falling, meaning reduction in the number of available workers, the trend domestically according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics is for the largest net inflow to Australia’s regions since 2001, when records were first kept.

If you are a director of a company, irrespective of size, there is a new requirement under Australian law that you must have a Director ID. The Federal Government has introduced a system of unique identifiers for directors of Australian companies as part of modernising the country’s business registries. The Director ID is a unique identifier which will be kept indefinitely by the person to whom it is issued.

Cost restructuring, downsizing, reengineering – they all lead to the same exit door. Perhaps, it’s strange to be discussing this subject now. Many businesses are booming, and their only problem is getting staff. However, history tells us that the cycle will turn.

We are sometimes so wedded to our current business model and practices, that we are unwilling to face the challenges of planning ahead – working on the business instead of in the business.

Achieving an owner’s vision and objectives for their business requires all key elements to be aligned, then implemented to ensure success. The secret to ensuring growth is to review the commercial model collaboratively and critically (how the business makes money), then enhance this model to optimise Sales and Profit.

While it might seem obvious that business planning is an important part of improving performance, it has not always been widely accepted that this is the case. In 1994 Henry Mitzberg, a well known Canadian business writer and thinker argued that there was a difference between strategic thinking and strategic planning and that the bureaucracy of the planning could stifle the thinking.

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a wide range of businesses adapt, pivot and drive growth through their online e-commerce presence and they all have one thing in common.. their online growth was as a result of their existing ecosystems of customers, contacts and connectors.

The Victorian Government’s Mentoring Program provides eligible Victorian businesses with eight hours of mentoring, coaching or consulting services for free.

The GED applies to any person who is engaging in an activity in Victoria that could cause a risk to human health or the environment. This is a fundamental change which means that many businesses will now be experiencing environmental regulation for the first time.