How a Scuba Diving Approach Can Work in Business

The mantra for scuba divers is – “Plan your Dive and Dive your Plan”. The same is true in business.

Firstly, let’s take a look at scuba diving. It’s a well-known fact that scuba diving can put you in a life threatening situation which is why you should always ‘plan your dive’.

New Risk Standard – How Can SMEs Seize the Opportunity?

There are opportunities for smart SMEs to use the new Risk Management Standard to engage staff, satisfy stakeholders and identify ways to generate new business.

The existing Risk Management Standard AS/NZS 4360:2004 is replaced from 1 July 2012 by a new, and improved, Standard AS/NZS ISO 31 000:2009 (adopted from an International Standard).

For entities that operate in heavily regulated environments (such as Super Fund Trustees, Fund Managers and holders of an Australian Financial Services Licence) the changes are significant because the licensing regime operated by ASIC and APRA links the operating environment to the outgoing Risk Standard AS/NZS 4360:2004.

The changes are also significant for organisations required to maintain a focus on workplace safety (e.g. manufacturers, mining and mining services) – the upside being that application of the Standard should deliver a more robust awareness of the risks associated with operating the business.

The changes to the new Risk Standard deal with the manner in which risk management is addressed. In summary, risk management is:

Preparing Your Business for the Carbon Tax

What is the carbon tax and how can businesses prepare for the impact of the carbon tax?

Now that the carbon tax has been approved by the Australian Senate, many businesses are starting to question the impact it will have on their future.

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.

Tips when choosing a career as an interim manager

Demand for interim managers (or specialist contractors) in Australia has increased steadily over the past few years, and it is becoming a more attractive and recognised career option.

Australian businesses are embracing specialist expertise for specific internal projects and restructuring activities (although we lag behind Europe and the US in adopting this trend).

The decision to embark on a career as an interim manager (or specialist contractor) should be a considered choice and, ideally, not dictated by circumstances like redundancy.

How to Get Access to Capital in 2012

What will be the impact on Australian business of the recent Reserve Bank decision not to reduce the cash rate, despite market expectations?

While the RBA said there had been no significant deterioration in the economy since its November meeting, it noted that Europe “remains a major downside risk for the global economy”.

How To Get Your Business Mojo Back

Tired and frustrated, sick of answering the phone (it’s only bad news), your customer base is weakening and the lingering effects of the GFC (I mean how much longer can we put up with this?) are leaving you disheartened?

And it gets worse. The bank is looking for a meeting to “see where you’re at” (how many more meetings do they need?) and the tax repayment plan you initiated only three months ago looks like it’s not going to be met this month.

Running your own business can seem like a great idea (and it was fun) but it’s becoming very difficult and it’s not much fun now.

There seems to be simply not enough demand around for your products and everyone else’s for that matter.

So how are you going to manage over the next 12 months? Because it IS going to be tough for at least another year.

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