While some businesses have their peak season over the Christmas and New Year period, other businesses experience a lull or schedule a shutdown. If December and January are usually quiet for your business, you can plan ahead to make the most of your downtime. At the end of a busy year, it’s important to take some time to relax and recharge when...
Problems and delays getting invoices paid can be an issue for all types of business – and contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry can be hit particularly hard. Many subcontractors and suppliers have to spend considerable amounts of money to pay for the materials and labour they need to complete a project. Issues and delays...
When deciding to structure your business as a Pty Ltd Company, it’s important to understand exactly what protections operating under a company structure does and doesn’t offer. An incorporated company, often recognised by the addition of Pty Ltd after the company name, is one of the structures you may consider for your new business. A company is a...
Visitors to this year’s Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days had the opportunity to meet local small businesses and business advisers in the SBDC Regional Start Ups Arena. The Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days is Western Australia’s largest agricultural Field Days event, having started in the Wheatbelt town more than 50 years ago. A record crowd of 25...
When opening and evolving their landscaping supply business in Albany, owners Jane and Ian sought guidance from advisers at the Albany Business Centre, the SBDC’s Business Local provider in the Great Southern. Designer Dirt in Albany is more than your average landscaping supply centre. Opened in 2012, the business could be seen as an extension of...
We regularly hear from small business owners who have been asked to pay for government information or services that are actually available free of charge, or become aware of cyber scams that duplicate existing government services. Government websites are some of the most trusted and used resources for small businesses, and scammers are ready to...
Accessing the free advisory services available from state and federal governments can help small business owners avoid the costly mistakes others have made when it comes to wages and underpayments. Celebrity chefs and national convenience store franchises have done much in the past few months to throw the issue of staff wages and underpayments into...
In Western Australia, retail trading hours are regulated and your ability to trade depends on the type of business you operate. If you are classified as a general retail shop in the Perth metropolitan region, you’ll be able to open for extended Christmas trading hours from the first Saturday in December. Regional businesses should check with their...
United by a dream to “do aged care differently”, nurses Julie Arnould and Carole Bain launched their business, Perth Care + Companion Company, in 2019. Fast forward just three years and Perth Care + Companion Company (PCCC) now employs more than 100 healthcare workers, with around 90 per cent of them women. The business was recognised as a state...
By his own admission, Kade Sims is adept at counting beans – the coffee variety that is, not financial figures. So, when the owner of Beck & Call Coffee in Albany considered expanding the business model for his niche coffee roasting enterprise, he sought assistance from the Business Local network to put together a competitive grant application. An...
While navigating the uncertainty of COVID was a challenge for many small businesses, for popular Geraldton restaurant Skeetas, the pandemic proved a boon for trade. Western Australia’s hard border is likely to have played a role in the regional business’s uplift. Tourism Western Australia’s most recent Intrastate Market Profile showed that...
Small businesses in construction may feel pressured to quickly sign on the dotted line to secure work. But being unfamiliar with certain terms and clauses in contracts can lead to you working on unprofitable jobs or worse — paying out your client when things go wrong. Celia Jordaan, procurement consultant from Ichiban Commercial Consulting joined...