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Hiring new staff or purchasing inventory. Expanding your product line or ramping up your marketing. There are many different paths to small business growth. Figuring out which direction to take comes down to how well you plan. Building a vision of what you want to achieve and what success means to you will make it easier to get started. Here are six planning strategies that will help take your business to the next level.

Some of your customers might understand the importance of the PPSR, but others may be confused by it, or unaware of its existence. Where your customer sits on this sliding scale is more important to your business than you might think. We spoke to Cheryl O’Brien from Fletcher Building Limited to find out the benefits of educating customers about the PPSR and how to go about doing it.

Pre-employment screening is one of the best ways to ensure that candidates applying for positions in local government are suitable for the role and have their identity and credentials verified. In fact, the Australian Government often recommends that government agencies undertake background screening to Australian Standards during the recruitment process.

Statistics released by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)1  shows that despite a drop in company insolvencies in December 2019, there were still 5% more insolvency appointments in Australia for the year ended December 2019.

In NSW, insolvency appointments were up 16% annually, and Victoria observed an annual increase of 12%1 . These increases were primarily driven from the construction sector, which experienced an annual increase of 18%2 of companies closing down (EXADs3).
 

You’ve heard the horror stories about cybercrime and the damage it can inflict. Now you want to know what to do. What’s the best way to protect your business from a cyberattack?

Preparedness is your best defence, advises Darren Hopkins, a digital forensics expert and Partner at McGrathNicol.

If you’re ever in doubt about the benefits of background screening when hiring a candidate, you need only look at what can happen when you don’t. 

A former manager at a state government department is the latest in a line-up of executives to be found guilty of fraudulent behaviour in relation to their job applications. Sentenced to a non-parole period of 12 months in jail, the court heard that the high-paid officer fabricated her education, references and work background. 

The specialist travel company, Chimu Adventures, wanted to understand the value of their online marketing activity on offline sales.

Their customer journey was fragmented across data silos, restricting their ability to track the user as they moved from online to offline. When a tour was booked on the phone or via an agent, there was no understanding or proper visibility as to which marketing channel had driven the sale.

Equifax Quarterly Consumer Credit Demand Index: Dec 2019

Overall consumer credit applications down -7.3% (vs Dec quarter 2018). Credit card applications declined by -9.9% (vs Dec quarter 2018) and personal loan applications dropped by -5.3% (vs Dec quarter 2018)

Mortgage enquiries increased by +12.6% (Vs Dec quarter 2018), continuing trend from previous quarter.

A materials handling company believed they were doing the right thing. They protected their interests in the company's valuable equipment assets by registering on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).

Then two customers went broke, and administrators were appointed. They found out the hard way their PPS registrations were not up to scratch when they had great difficulties recovering their rented equipment.

The new Design and Distribution Obligations (DDO) for financial and credit products comes into force by the 5th of October 2021 and requires you to publicly document and justify why a product is consistent with the likely objectives, financial situation and needs of a class of consumers.