Heightened cyber risks have emerged as a serious issue, given most businesses now have many staff working from home. So it’s important to put in place policies and procedures to ensure data is secure no matter where staff are located. Helping staff to recognise and avoid risky behaviours is also part of a great [...]

With COVID-19 on everybody’s minds, small business owners are no doubt staying awake wondering what impact the pandemic will have on them. While it remains very tough for small businesses, there have been glimmers of hope for the future. Surviving COVID-19 is undoubtedly top of mind of small business owners at present, but was [...]

You recall a batch of biscuits because they’re carrying the wrong label. How will your insurance respond? According to Michael White, Steadfast Group’s Broker Technical Manager, that may depend on exactly how the label misleads. “If there are nuts in a product when the label says it’s nut free, this is potentially dangerous to consumers,” he [...]

Fiona Kesby and her brother Matt began outsourcing office tasks for their software business to offshore workers almost a decade ago. Now they run a business that helps SMEs enjoy the benefits of offshoring without the frustrations of managing a virtual team. In 2008, Matt and Fiona started offshoring computer-based office tasks via Upwork. [...]

When you’re ready to push your home business from the nest and into a shopfront, it’s an exciting time. It can also expose you to a whole new world of risk that could cripple your fledgling business before it can soar. Running a business from home is one thing, but taking the leap to [...]

Swedish-Australian ‘global futurist’ Anders Sorman-Nilsson says Amazon’s arrival down under will do more than just put some retailers out of business – it’ll change the way businesses across a wide range of industries operate. Many Australian businesses spent much of 2017 bracing themselves for the local launch of Amazon. While attention has overwhelmingly focused on the [...]

The sharing economy is rapidly becoming part of everyday life, especially among tech-savvy urbanites who are as comfortable booking an Uber on their smartphone as they are hailing a cab. But you don’t have to be a technology whizz or an inner-city dweller to succeed in the sharing economy, as many small business owners [...]

What you need to consider if you have a licensed venue. As your patrons begin to return to your venue, it important to make sure you are sticking to the rules required for all licensed premises regardless of a pandemic, otherwise a huge fine, or even worse, could be on its way. Here we [...]

Online businesses are charged with responsibilities above and beyond those of a traditional bricks and mortar store. Starting a retail business is, in many ways, easier today than it’s ever been. It’s perfectly possible, and indeed common, to start a retail business from home with nothing but a website and a small amount of [...]

Retailers are the life blood of the local economy, contributing around $262 billion to local GDP figures each year. Given how important retailers are to the health of the Australian economy, this means it’s essential for retailers to protect their livelihoods. We explore the top six risks facing retailers and what they can do to help [...]