Nike went from “Just Do It” to “just blew it” when one of its basketball shoes tore apart spectacularly on US national television, causing superstar Zion Williamson to hit the floor clutching his knee, before hobbling off the court.  The sneaker blowout wiped $2 billion off Nike's market value overnight and raised serious questions over who [...]

Australians are increasingly working from home, with the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicating at least a third of us choose to work from home at least past of the time. A study by future trends research house McCrindle shows there are lots of different reasons why people work from home. In total, 45 [...]

Many SME owners believe that they don’t have to worry too much about cyber crime. After all, why would Internet villains bother with small fry when they could go after heavy hitters such as Yahoo, eBay or Uber? Unfortunately, cyber criminals take an equal-opportunity approach. While they can and do target large organisations, they also [...]

If you don’t have your customers’ trust, you don’t have your customers – simple. Here’s how three Australian businesses’ reputations were recently damaged, and how you can minimise your risk. Your customers won’t want you renovating their family home, cutting their hair, photographing their wedding, sewing their toddlers’ pyjamas or keeping their office clean [...]

In the retail sector, internal theft is the cause of more than 40 per cent of shrinkage costs incurred, according to Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director at the Australian Retailers Association (ARA).  “Internal theft tends to be more sophisticated, has a greater financial impact per incident, and is more difficult to detect than external theft,” Zimmerman says. [...]

A new report shows there has been a substantial jump in insurance claims as a result of internal water damage since 2014. Insurer Chubb’s new report, Get Smart about Water Leaks, has found claims related to water damage have grown by 72% over this time. The average value of claims has also increased from $17,627 [...]

More expensive premiums, higher excesses and narrower coverage are set to become an insurance reality for many Australian businesses. Here’s how SMB's can prepare for a hardening market. Australian businesses have benefited from a soft insurance market for some years now, but it's time to prepare for a change. We spoke with Steadfast Broker [...]

Giving staff the opportunity to access flexible working arrangements is one of the best ways to keep them engaged productive and loyal, according to new research. This, along with other benefits such as employer-provided insurances, has considerable and long-term positive flow-on effects. This is the second article in a two-part series produced by Steadfast [...]

Knowing your figures and keeping a lid on costs can help your small business survive challenging times. In March 2017, Australia took the record for the longest period of uninterrupted economic growth in the developed world. But while business owners have enjoyed 26 years of good times, an Australian property market crash or international [...]

Research by professional services firm PwC shows many businesses are gearing up to support staff towards a partial or full return to the office. But how people work will now be very different. According to its research, 50 per cent of organisations surveyed say staff will expect higher protections at work when they return to [...]