Four Unexpected Leadership Traits

In the current environment of global economic uncertainty, stressed employees – and board members – will be looking to their organisation’s leader to guide them through tough times. Have you got what it takes to lead well?

If you take a look at the number of leadership self-help books around the globe, you might believe that replicating someone else’s leadership style is the key. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Ready to sell? How to make your family business stand out from the crowd

There are five key actions you can take to get your family business sale-ready, and make it stand out in an overcrowded sales market.

In my previous blog, I explained that in the next five to 10 years there will be an avalanche of family businesses coming onto the market in Australia, as baby boomers retire and their children are reluctant to take over.

In our experience, the real issue is getting to the business early enough to assist in a successful sale.

It’s crucial to make this process as easy as possible for the buyer, and to ensure your business stands out from the crowd. Here’s how…

What You Need to Know Before You Consider Selling a Family Business

As baby boomer business owners approach retirement, many are facing the sobering fact that their children don’t want to run the “family business”.

Thousands of businesses will be put up for sale in the next decade, and it will be a real struggle to make your business stand out from the crowd.

How to Raise Private Equity and Venture Capital

In a very competitive equity market, how do you position your business to attract the capital you need to survive and thrive?

Private Equity (PE) in Australia remains one of the key sources of funding for small to medium sized enterprises and a key driver of economic growth.

In the current economic climate, raising traditional bank debt to finance business growth or succession has become incredibly challenging, and as a result many business owners are turning to PE firms.

This is not surprising given that the PE and Venture Capital (VC) market in Australia has grown significantly since 1998.

While the PE and VC market experienced a period of consolidation during 2010, investment levels stayed relatively resilient despite the general uncertainty.

To put this into context…

Change Management: 8 Ways To Influence Change

With the economy teetering close to flat growth, there is increased pressure on change management to not only maintain but also improve margins and profits sustainably.

As part of any change management process the ability to influence a “step change” in how things are done is critical; particularly when implementing new processes and behaviours in large organisations.

This step change can only occur with the buy-in and support of employees and teams who are stakeholders in the business.

Traditional thinking suggests that power enables you to get things done, and in any organisation sources of power can include having formal authority, information, expertise, resources and reputation.

However, it’s important to note that…

Is Your Bank A Stakeholder In Your Business Or The Enemy?

With the number of insolvencies continuing to rise it is important for businesses to re-visit their strategies for managing their banks.

Most businesses present a good picture to their bank when they need to increase or extend their facilities due to business expansion, or when a loan matures.

However, once the facilities are in place, do you simply react to your bank’s questions and annual reviews? Or are you pro-active in managing the relationship, both in the good times and bad?