Rod Cullen … with Utmost Respect

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

by Adrian Payne

Born on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsular, in 1972 he left the private school his parents had afforded for him there, to set out to find his way in the world.

At the time, the economy wasn’t the best, and he claims he wasn’t really university material, so he set out to find employment. He got his first start as a detailer/yardman/lube operator at Lane Motors in Frankston. That was forty years ago. The Automotive industry became his career, and just recently the Toyota dealership under his management was awarded The President’s Award for excellence, and qualified as a National Top 20 dealer for the second year in a row.

This is Rod Cullen’s journey from detailer/lube operator, to manager of a President’s Award dealership?

He soon decided that standing under a car with a grease gun in his hand, wasn’t quite what he had in mind for his long term employment. Putting himself ‘out there’, he again found himself in another branch of the automotive industry in an auto electrical spare parts store in Mornington. After two years there, he realised that he was building a career around things to do with cars, and decided to continue to develop a career in the automotive industry.

His next opportunity came with Hella in Mentone. Although it’s a family business, Hella was a big German-based manufacturer of quality auto electrical products, perhaps best known for electrical auto accessories like spotlights.

The company was good for Rod’s growth in the industry. Being a large multi-national, there was room for him to experience different facets within the one company. His roles included helping the sales team, handling orders and he was exposed to other parts of the business like warehousing and local manufacturing.

At the same time he took on some part time work with the father of a pal at Hella. This was a business which brought him closer to the retail side of the automotive world. The large Golden Fleece service station, that was the location of his part time work, had a large service centre attached. It included the license to service Jaguar cars. They were also into motor racing. They were hands on and Rod found himself in the midst of building and racing minis and Formula 1 cars.

At the Golden Fleece in Mentone they deliberately set themselves up in opposition to one of the first self service stations that had recently been set up nearby. They were offering old fashioned driveway service, but with a twist. Drawing up there for fuel, an attractive young lady would meet and greet and fill your tank with fuel and your day with a smile. They were fighting a losing battle of course, but he remembers the time as fun and took note that this was his first brush with ‘marketing’ in the automotive industry.

When he was eighteen, his parents moved to Sydney for a better work opportunity. Rod stayed in Victoria, believing that Sydney wasn’t the best place in the world to be. But due to circumstances, when he was twenty-two, he came to visit his parents in Sydney, and discovered that Sydney’s poor reputation among Victorian boys, wasn’t really justified. So a year or so later he moved up the Hume Highway to try his luck in Sydney’s automotive environment.

His first job was with York Toyota. At the time they were the NSW distributors of Toyota passenger vehicles. He joined as a clerk in the William Street office. He remembers that the King’s Cross area was a real eye-opener for him at the time. The night life and the ‘morning-after atmosphere’ around the streets was something he hadn’t until then even known about, being “a raw kid from the country”.

In the space of just eighteen months, York Toyota took him from clerk to allocations officer to dealer representative. By this time York Toyota management recognised that here was a young guy who had some commitment, and they decided to invest in him with some training. He was sent to York Toyota Canberra to learn how a dealership operated. The principal in Canberra didn’t at first get the message and tended to send Rod off to the showroom, to get him out of the way! He didn’t waste his time there however and got in conversation with some of the sales team. He realised that they were earning a heap more money than he was at the time, and that prompted him to take an interest in retail sales.

Returning to Sydney in 1978, he looked for an opportunity to advance his growing ambition to sell cars. He got an opportunity with Ken Samms Toyota (now Noble Toyota) at Chullora. They took him on as a sales trainee. During this time he came across some American sales training packages, and discovered through study and seminars, that there really is a science to selling. More than just being at the right place with the right product at the right time!

With some good sales training and experience now under his belt he discovered that he really was quite good at it! He was getting a reputation as a successful salesman and was headhunted by Ken Matthews Honda and Ken Matthews Prestige Cars located on the Parramatta Road. During his time there, he gained a very broad experience selling cars, from a thousand dollar Honda Civic, to an imported Italian model with a two hundred thousand dollar price tag.

When Ken Matthews sold the business in 1989, Rod decided that it was time to go out and try something by himself rather than join another organisation. Right in the heart of Paul Keating’s ‘recession we had to have’, Rod Cullen decided to buy himself a dealership out in the west of the state, in Orange. Interest rates were around eighteen percent! The manager at AGC who was also an acquaintance, wouldn’t lend him the money to buy the dealership saying that it wasn’t the right time, Rod didn’t have enough working capital and besides it wasn’t a good dealership. But Rod, as he claims now with tongue in cheek, was ‘smarter’ than the AGC manager, and got a loan with Esanda, the other major automotive lender at the time. As Rod says: “I then proceeded to go down the tube in a very short period of time!”

Things were looking bleak! At this stage in his life he had a wife and a young child, and their current situation wasn’t a good one to promote family life. He had only owned the business for a year, and he could see that the only way out was to sell it. At the time, nobody was buying dealerships. But a small coincidence came up. The person who Rod was consulting with to sell the business was in silent partnership with a colleague who owned car dealerships. His name was John Trivett. Rod had come across John while working in Sydney years before, and the consultant was asking John if he would be interested in Rod’s business. Apparently Trivett replied: “I don’t want the business but I’ll have the bloke”. In a long phone call from London, John advised Rod to leave Orange and take on running his Honda dealership business in Parramatta. He negotiated his way out of the business in Orange, but came away with nothing but a fresh start.

With some surprise he suddenly discovered that John Trivett’s dealerships were different. They were run along business lines that had strategies and board meetings, targets, budgets and quality professional management by people who understood good business practice.

Four years later Trivett Classics at Rockdale was opened with Audi, Volkswagen and Mazda franchises. Rod was asked to set up this new business as an equity partner. A building was designed and built on the Princes Highway not only to fit the block, but to impress! The business went from strength to strength under Rod’s stewardship until John Trivett sold out. One of the new principals and Rod weren’t able to get on the same page and Rod left to spend a couple of years doing other things.

In 2002, Rod rejoined the Trivett Group as someone had bought out the fellow who previously couldn’t quite see Rod’s point of view!

In 2003, the Trivett Group took on the national distributorship for Rolls Royce. Under Rod Cullen’s management they brought the new model Rolls Royce to Australia, and also took on the distributorship for Aston Martin. He brought three models of Aston Martin to the Australian Market, and was deeply involved in national promotion campaigns and events including Motor Shows.

As a distributor and importer for Rolls Royce as well as overseeing the distribution of Aston Martin in NSW and Victoria, Rod’s exposure to new facets of the Australian world of automotive retail was now at the cutting edge.

He got to meet some of the most successful business people in Australia. Selling vehicles at the very top end of the market opened doors for him, but at the same time he realised how demanding it is to have to meet the exceptionally high expectations of such successful customers. He realised that to maintain success he had to “absolutely smash” the expectations of his customers. It’s a small market segment which at that level relies on word of mouth. Just one bad experience could wreck a business.

By this time he had remarried and rebuilt his personal life. By 2007 he was 50, he again became convinced that the time had come to have his own business. He spent a couple of years looking around for the right business opportunity. Suddenly the

Global financial crisis hit. Rod was ‘down on the farm’ at his Galston Property with his gumboots on and he found himself not only out of work but now really short of prospects! But unlike many others in business at the time, he hadn’t been burned by being in the middle of the disaster, so he was as fresh as a daisy and looking for opportunities.

Automotive Holdings Group (AHG) approached Rod. They had taken over McGrath Lander Group from Robert McGrath. They had run the business for a year or so with moderate success, but were seeking to restructure it. After much discussion an agreement was reached where Rod would work for them managing Lander Toyota on a ‘looking-at-each-other’ basis each hoping they could find some synergy.

Lander Toyota was located at Blacktown. The business had been just ticking over, but then began to lose money. He reports that it was a ‘rudderless ship’ when he walked in the door in late 2008. Where others saw just devastation, Rod saw opportunity, so he began to turn it around. At first sales staff asserted that they were converting one in four potential customers. They were surprised when Rod turned up one Saturday with a ‘clicker’ in his hand, counting the number of prospective customers. His ‘reality check’ brought sales team members to the realisation that real targets needed to be tested, not guessed at to be achievable. New processes of setting and meeting sales targes were set, and management meetings were instituted to constantly question results and make changes to remedy poor performance. Almost immediately the business was back in profit. In 2009 they were awarded the inaugural dealer of the year for sales excellence from NSW Toyota.

Early in 2010, AHG decided they would invest in the dealership they could see real potential seeing that now it was proving its worth. They decided to invest in a brand new business facility. There were two choices. Whether to build on the existing block which had a narrow frontage or to rebuild elsewhere and relocate.

They had an existing site with a Mitsubishi dealership on Sunnyholt Road. This was an eight thousand square metre site and in 2010 it was decided to rebuild there. They designed a brand new dealership facility, one that would be an icon – an example of how it should be done! While building work was taking place, Lander Toyota was recognised as being among the top 20 dealerships.

The extra space on the newly completed site was spectacular. A stunning new showroom has space for 10 new cars. The service department has 32 working bays instead of 18. They can park 150 cars for service on the block. The frontage at the old site only allowed 12 cars to be displayed along the front, on the Sunnyholt Road site 150 can be displayed out the front, 300 more cars on the forecourt. The facility was officially opened late in 2011.

2011 also saw Lander Toyota face a different kind of setback. In Japan the tsunami had struck, the nuclear power station crisis was a major national issue. This was seriously effecting Toyota in Japan, and to add to the slow-down, industrial action there was beginning to further limit the supply of stock.

Rod and his team realised that they were only going to receive a proportion of the stock of cars that they had been used to – as it turned out, less than half. They would need to alter the profit margin on every sale to maintain viability. They could no longer accept the lower profit margins and stay afloat while they had so little new stock.

To add to the problems, the devastating 2011 floods in Thailand affected the supply of spare parts, and there was industrial action at home. All this conspired to create a difficult management situation.

Never-the-less it was tackled head on. Rod made the commitment that everything would be done during the temporary period of stock shortage to keep all their staff.  But, a strategy needed to be in place to achieve that target. Looking back he believes that policy earned the business great respect from the staff and they didn’t lose anyone who didn’t resign. The business went from selling 200 Toyotas a month to selling 90.  Their previous model of ‘profit through volume’ was not going to work during this difficult time. Staff were retrained not to undersell. The used car department needed to increase the gross profit per unit, and the service department was required to offer even better customer service and performance to increase profits through profit centres other than new cars.

Despite the setbacks, the business earned The Toyota President’s Award for excellence for the first time in its 27 year history.

Publisher Dmitry Greku always asks cover story subjects for the best advice they have for others in business.

Rod recognises his conscious high level of respect and treatment for everyone he deals with. He says that during 30 years experience in retail he has learned that if you don’t treat everyone you deal with – customers, suppliers and staff alike, with the utmost respect – you won’t succeed.

Posted in Adrian Payne, BRL May 2012, Cover Story | Leave a comment

Entrepreneur Profile: Yildiray Gazi, Rave On Promotional Products

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

by Larry Woldenberg

Like other migrants, Yildiray Gazi started from scratch. He went to work for CSR Timber Products initially as a cleaner. Over the next 16 years he worked his way up the ladder to become their State Sales Manager. But as Yildiray tells it: “I got tired of the corporate takeovers. I wanted to do something for myself, so I looked for a home-based business in order to be with my family”.

During this time he thought about writing a book entitled From Backyard to Billionaire, such were his dreams. But he soon realised that spending time with a growing family precluded such a high ambition. Maybe he could only be a millionaire.

“The idea of selling promotional products,” Yildiray explained, “came to me because I used to buy them. At CSR we used to hand them out to our clients at Christmas time or at special events, so I had the idea in my mind that one day I wouldn’t mind doing something like this if I could do it at home. The time came and I started looking at a franchise magazine. There were companies offering deals, but package deals; like you can buy their system and their contacts and they’ll support you and you can print them. It was designed for retirees or those who want to do a small thing at home. I had bigger ambitions.

“I worked out that if I spent $20,000 buying someone else’s system I’d rather spend that buying equipment for myself and devising my own system. So I borrowed $20,000 from my parents and set up a little printing operation.  I was a sales and marketing sort of person in my old role. I used to look after big sales budgets, so I thought if I could do that and just change a few zeros, scale it down a little bit, then I could try to build it up. So I did that, but I did it on weekends. I called myself Rave On Promotional Products.

“I was still working for the timber products company during the day, but I was open about it. I told my boss I had set up a business and at some stage in the future I would be leaving. I was building a bridge from one side to the other until I could become self-employed. They were cool with that as long as there was no conflict of interest. So while I was out speaking to my timber products customers I would let them know that I could buy carpenters’ pencils and print their details on them. Before long I started getting orders. So I’d print them on the weekends and have them ready for despatch. I’d go off and do my day job and then at night I’d develop my business, look for more customers and send out faxes. I didn’t have a website back then.

“Things developed. They started asking what else I could do. Do you do hats? Yes we do. But I didn’t have the contacts for that, so I had to promise something and then find a way to deliver it. Because of that I started developing a range of products and over the next 3-4 months I began making the same amount of money I was making in my day job. I figured if I could do that for 3 months in a row that would be my signal that it was no fluke. I could do it and I’d back myself. So I worked hard and got enough sales to match my wages for another 3 months. That was it. After 6 months into it I decided – and it was very hard to do – to cut the umbilical cord.

“I had bad nightmares; there were difficult times. But I did it and started surviving on just my sole trading income. I’d set targets. I had a 5 year and a 10 year target. I wanted to be turning over half a million dollars in sales a year in the 5 year period and a million dollars a year by my 10th year. By hard work I achieved those goals.

“As I got to those targets, however, I had to add a few staff and helpers because it’s hard to do it all yourself. To grow to that level, I built a website:  www.raveon.com.au. I was one of the first businesses to have pricing on my website. Now it’s the norm, but before everyone just had catalogues or pages. I had a shopping cart added to my website and I’ve now got an online tracking and ordering system that cost me a lot of money to develop over the years, but it’s giving me the foundation to take the business to the next level.

“I’ve got great vision of where the business needs to be and what it needs to have, and I’ve got a system where I can train people in sales and plug them into it and give them an area. So rather than having franchise operators, I can just have people who are employees and reward them with commission so they become part of the system. I haven’t done it yet, but I’ve got the nucleus of what I need to grow to another level. I’ve got great referral programs to be released so I can have customers being the voice of Rave On as well. It’s going to be called the Rave On Army. So you can join the army and get part of the action as well. People can get online credits or commissions.

“But that’s where I see it going in the future. Advertising is a tough game to be in, but it’s also exciting. Some people retract in tough times and we’ve been through tough times economically, and I’ve survived that through having a large database over the years and keeping in touch through email marketing. We started doing off line marketing as well. Being part of Business Resource and Lifestyle magazine keeps us visible with our offline strategy. I go into a few other magazines to do my advertising. It helps me survive and be strong in tough markets.

“A lot of people in my industry are cutting back on advertising because the turnover is not there, but I’m being more aggressive and growing at the same time. And that’s what I try to tell my customers – it’s in the tough times that you need to find the strength to grow. We’ve got a whole range of products that can help businesses to become more visible: pens, hats, key rings, t-shirts, coffee mugs, fridge magnets – whatever it is. We’ve now got over 6,000 items on our website and another 15,000 coming. We’ve got radio and television and newspaper advertising, too. If I promote the industry and help it grow, we all benefit. And I want to be a leader in that area.

“At CSR we used to focus on the top 8 or 10 products that made up the 80/20 rule. We had a hundred other products that we’d do as passive sales. I’ve done the same things. We’ve got a website with over 6000 products but I focus and promote maybe 10 products. Some of those are produced internally, some are external. When I have my own factory — which I’m planning for about 2013 — I can offer more core products and do some of my own embroidery and screen printing and in-house management because we do that well and profit margins are higher.

“In conclusion, Rave On Promotional Products is a small family business made up of part time and full time staff.  And behind every successful businessman are the people that he employs. I am fortunate to have a good team of people and family members:

Production Team: Ali, Aden, Tolga & Hasip

Sales/Admin Team: Karen, Fiona, Rebecca & Joy.

“In the early days I used to do everything myself, filling in with casuals. Now I oversee and fill  positions where and when required.  I would like to thank my staff for being part of the foundation of my dream and a special mention to Karen who is a great leader and friend. She understands the business from top to bottom and knows exactly what is required at the right time.

” I also think I have to give due credit to my wife Ayfer. She’s a very supportive and loving partner who looks after me and believes in all my dreams, where I want to go. It’s so important to have that. I didn’t have that before – the support and the love that I needed. I felt that I was doing things on my own and now I feel like there’s someone in the boat and rowing in the same direction as me and giving me support. And for any business owner who is reading this magazine, that’s one of the keys to being able to run a successful business—have a supportive partner that believes in you. She gives me the energy I need to get up every day and do what I need to do. I work long hours and without that support it’s not easy.”

Posted in BRL May 2012, Entrepreneur Profile, Larry Woldenberg | Leave a comment

Fair Work Australia – an Oxymoron! (Part 2)

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

The Hon. Charlie Lynn - Member of the Legislative Council

There is no shortage of subject material for the new ethics classes in our NSW school curriculum.

Under the heading ‘legitimacy of government’ one could paint a scenario which depicts a minority government reliant on a Member who ratted on the Party he was elected to represent to gain the prestigious position of Speaker of the Parliament. The Member in question is a serial rorter of parliamentary entitlements and his antics indicate he is now the Clown Prince of Parliament.

Students could discuss the ethics of a government prepared to undermine the status of the Speaker of our National Parliament in order to cling to power.

Phase two of the course could examine the integrity of Members who constitute the current Gillard minority government.

Imagine a scenario where a Labor member was pre-selected as a political candidate because he held a powerful position in a union. Imagine it was then revealed that he had misused his union credit card to engage the services of prostitutes in a house of ill-repute.  The Member then denies it was he who used the credit card.

If the Member is telling the truth one has to assume that somebody stole his credit card. They also stole his driver’s licence as it seems a copy was appended to his credit card payment.  It was certainly an enterprising thief because he forged his signature and stole his mobile phone as well. He then made three calls between his electorate on the Central Coast and the house of ill-repute in Sydney on the day of the visit.

The thief was obliging as well because he returned the credit card, driving licence and mobile phone to the owner the following day.  However if the thief is a furphy and the Member is guilty of misusing his union credit card for his own personal use one has to ask if he is a fit and proper person to be a Member of Parliament.

After pondering this question ethics students could then look at the process of investigating the veracity of the Member’s excuses.

The appropriate organisation for such an investigation is our national workplace relations tribunal, Fair Work Australia. This is an independent body funded by taxpayers. It is part of our national workplace relations system which also includes the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work divisions of the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia.

Highly qualified and highly paid judges and commissioners have been appointed by the Gillard Labor Government to investigate and adjudicate cases brought before it. Eight of the 10 appointments to Fair Work Australia come from the union movement and the other two are from the Public Service. Private enterprise, the sector that generates the income to pay for such bodies, is not represented. This leads to a common assumption that Fair Work Australia is the exclusive domain of Labor lawyers and union hacks.

An ethics class could ponder the use of the word ‘fair’ in such an organisation with so much power over our income generators in small and large business enterprises.

A reasonable Aussie battler would expect an independent tribunal with eminent judges to do the right thing and conduct a prompt and efficient investigation into the allegations. Ordinary battlers understand the separation of power in our Westminster system and accept that high salaries and lifetime appointments should make them impervious to political interference.

They also appreciate the political implications of the investigation. If the allegations are true and criminal proceedings are initiated it could lead to a by-election which would determine the fate of the Gillard minority government.

Aussie battlers might be ordinary but they aren’t stupid. They do not believe that a relatively simple investigation by Fair Work Australia should have dragged on for three years. This is longer than it took the Wood Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking.

When Fair Work Australia finally referred their report to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to consider 76 potential criminal charges against union executives they were advised it was the wrong agency. The farce continues.

In the meantime the Gillard minority government continues to cling to power with the support of the Greens, a coalition of clowns from rural conservative seats and a Member who would have faced  criminal prosecution three years ago if he had been an ordinary battler.

Ethics classes will have much to ponder if they ever address the political, legal and moral circumstances of the ongoing saga.

Posted in BRL May 2012, Politics, The Hon. Charlie Lynn | Leave a comment

Start Thinking Like Your Banker

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Adam Goldstien, Wealth Adviser – Skeggs Goldstien

Whether your business is in its early stages of development, or a business that has been in existence for a while, securing credit before you need it can be critical to your ultimate success or failure.   

In our last article we discussed Turnaround Management and some of the reasons why businesses fail. In that article we indicated that one of the reasons for business failure is Under Capitalisation. This is a situation where a business does not have sufficient capital to conduct normal business operations, is not generating sufficient cashflow and is unable to access forms of financing such as debt or equity to grow the business.

Many businesses in this position will fail because they are unable to access the capital that they need to survive. This happens more often in the first five years of establishment when banks view them as riskier because of their age and thus limit their access to credit. These businesses often tend to look elsewhere for credit and choose high-cost sources of capital, such as short term credit over lower cost forms such as equity or long term debt which can also increase their risk of failure.

So let’s start thinking like a banker

A banker’s number one job is to manage risk.

For many business owners the process by which banks make the decision to approve or deny a loan may seem obscure and difficult for some to understand. There are some obvious factors they consider such as income and credit rating, but there are several other important criteria by which banks judge loan applicants.

What’s a banker trying to do? When a banker provides credit, they want to see that money paid back with interest and are ultimately looking for low-risk businesses that will be able to make their repayments.

A banker will assess your business for credit on both a qualitative and quantitative basis. Some of the qualitative questions asked by Business Bankers are as follows:

•   The skill level of management is?

•   Management’s integrity is?

•   The conduct of previous/existing loans has   been?

•   The bargaining power of the business’ customers is?

•   The bargaining power of the business’ suppliers is?

•   The level of competition is?

•   Where is the industry at in its lifecycle?

This makes sense on the part of the lenders, due to their need to assess risk. A business that is already succeeding is a significantly lower risk than one that is faring poorly, or is so new that they have no revenues to speak of at all.

So, when you’re looking for a loan, you need to present information to the bank that will support your case for credit and that your business will be able pay them their money back. You’re going to do that by running a successful business and proving that to them by knowing your business inside and out. When you make your case before the bankers, you need to bring your “A-game.” If you know what you’re talking about, the bank is going to trust you.

In addition to the above qualitative factors, your banker will undertake rigorous financial analysis using sophisticated software to better understand key financial measures. These financial measures include:

1. Liquidity

2. Profitability

3. Strength of Cashflow

4. Efficiency Levels

5. Gearing Levels

6. Working Capital

7. Debt Service Cover

How can you get yourself ready to make an application?

1. Know your business and know your numbers

2. Demonstrate that your business is in good health

3. Ensure your business, growth and marketing plans are up to date

4. Make sure you are up to date with the ATO and your statutory obligations are being met

5. Get advice from a professional who understands the banks requirements and can assist in preparing an application.

By being aware of these factors that are considered by the bank before they lend money, you can better prepare your business to successfully attain the credit needed to not just survive, but thrive.

What will they require of you once you have secured credit?

Once you have successfully secured credit from your banker, it often doesn’t stop there. Since the onset of the GFC, Banks have increased their level of scrutiny on financial covenants. This is especially so if they are securing the finance on a cashflow basis only. They will require regular reviews of your situation to ensure the business is still in good shape and able to meet its commitments. Some of the financial covenants the banks will scrutinise are as follows:

1. Liquidity

2. Debt to Profitability (EBITDA)

3. Strength of Cashflow – Working Capital Ratios

4. Interest Coverage

5. Debt Service Cover

In summary, the more prepared you are when presenting an application to the bank the more likely it is you will be able to secure credit and continue that revolving credit facility that you will likely need in the future to secure your success.

Posted in BRL May 2012, Business Advice, Financial, Skeggs Goldstien | Leave a comment

Does Your Business Dare to be Different?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

In the hugely competitive global marketplace of 2012, business differentiation is a key strategy for business success. Consumers are presented with many choices for the products and services they require and so attracting their attention – and their loyalty – has become dependent upon their perception of the uniqueness of your business.    

According to Theodore Levitt, author of Thinking about Management, “differentiation is one of the most important strategic and tactical activities in which companies must constantly engage. It is not discretionary.”

This vital need for differentiation has grown steadily over the last ten years, and the result is that modern businesses have developed unique missions and strategies, unique brands, unique products, unique processes and behind each of these, a unique workforce is bringing it all about.

All this uniqueness adds up to businesses having unique needs for workforce skills and training, requiring unique, customised solutions.

According to Lynette Eyles, Business Unit Manager from TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute (WSI), providing customised solutions is the core of WSI’s business differentials.

“We listen intently to the needs of our customers, whether they are individuals, government organisations or businesses. After gaining an intimate understanding of how to assist them we are able to customise not only the content of training but also the way it is delivered.”

WSI Senior Training Consultant Irene McAdam says that consultancy and training provided must be tailored to help businesses become competitive in the global marketplace.

“The current marketplace is one of ‘sink or swim’ for many businesses. These businesses need to find ways to adapt so that they can flourish and it is very much a unique process for each business,” Irene says.

“There are many reasons these businessesinitially come to Western Sydney Institute for help. It might be prompted by a workplace health and safety issue, or a leadership need, or there may simply be a need to increase efficiency in the workplace.

“Whatever the reason, we are able to provide a raft of solutions designed specifically for them. We analyse the needs with help from our trainers, who are industry experts, and work at gaining an understanding of all related needs such as the timeline for developing skills, who the training is for and any cultural backgrounds which might impact upon the needs. We also assist businesses to access funding.

“Sometimes it is a case of providing ‘gap training’ which builds upon existing skills and offering a selection of competencies to meet the ‘gaps’. Recognition of prior learning – which includes acknowledging a person’s relevant experiences as well as their previous study and training – is used. At other times, training is delivered to confer employees with new qualifications.

“In this ‘sink or swim’ marketplace, some workers are at risk of retrenchment, so one of the ways that we have tailored our services to suit the unique needs of businesses is by stepping in to support workers at risk of retrenchment by giving them additional skills for their future employment.

“In other cases we have helped businesses to meet changing legislative requirements or to work on enhancing leadership skills within their business – it all depends upon their unique situation.

“The methods used for delivering training also take into account the uniqueness of the business. Training can be provided in the workplace, at another location, online, by distance or any combination of these delivery methods. Mentoring is also a feature of some of the customised solutions we provide to businesses,” Irene says.

“Western Sydney Institute is a strong supporter of local businesses. We are inviting businesses to contact us to find out how their bottom line can be improved through training and consultancy services. We are happy to visit businesses, provide a free assessment and make recommendations to help them to flourish withinthe modern marketplace.”

Posted in BRL May 2012, Business Advice, TAFE | Leave a comment

What Motivates Staff? Effective Staff Retention

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Part 4 – Staff Development and Performance Management

Andrew de Wynter, Senior Consultant – The HR Department

Effective learning and development is essential to help your staff grow and maintain current knowledge within their area of expertise. This is also related to our first article on initiatives to motivate your staff i.e. providing them with opportunities for achievement, recognising good performance, providing sufficient job challenges, giving more responsibility to those who seek it, and enabling advancement and growth for your star performers. 

As the employer, you need to foster the creation of learning opportunities (or interventions in cases where performance is lacking) to assist employees to gain the skills that are required for them to achieve your performance expectations.  If you wish to retain your star performers, they may require constant development opportunities and challenges to maintain their level of interest and commitment to your organisation.

Ensure that a full range of options is available.  It’s not just about training courses – try in house mentoring, a job swap day, shadowing, job enlargement, etc. Options like these give your employees the opportunity to gain understanding of those working around them. It also can provide the first steps to cross skilling your team.  Make sure these learning and development opportunities are accessible to staff during work time wherever possible.

Establish systems to measure the performance outcomes from learning and development activities if there are any real improvements after the training.  You can also link this to your performance management process, e.g. at the annual performance review meeting.  Clearly document the employees who have undergone development or intervention activities, record their successes and the communication surrounding the activities. It’s vitally important to acknowledge any achievements and improvements.

Ensuring that performance management is effective involves making sure that the process is as transparent as possible. This will foster a relationship of trust and commitment. The areas being discussed during the performance management process need to be specific and measurable and linked to the daily activities of the employees’ roles. Their job descriptions should provide the framework for measuring performance against objective outcomes.

This may require implementing a support system and structured education for managers to enable them to manage their employees. Make formal performance management a cyclical process

with, for example,  annual or quarterly reviews; but importantly keep informal communication about performance management timely and relevant.  If an employee is recognised when they achieve or counselled when there is an issue the effects are instant.

Link the system to meaningful and achievable measures for all employees.  If targets are not achievable, your employee will be disheartened and won’t try. As mentioned above, link the performance management to learning and development activities to round off the process.  Ask your employee for feedback. Performance management should be a two-way dialogue, enabling the employee to discuss any barriers or issues of concern. Getting to know your employee provides insight into what motivates or discourages them.

Goals should be consistent with and reflect the strategic direction of the organisation. Each employee should have performance measures which contribute to the organisation’s goals. For example if the organisational target is a sales budget of $xxxx per month this could translate into a monthly or weekly production target for a manager and a KPI for an employee to produce/ assemble yyy items per day. An additional measure would be that the items produced had a fail rate of less than 2%. This type of transparent KPI allows the employee to see how they contribute to the organisation’s bottom line.

Posted in BRL May 2012, Business Advice, HR Department | Leave a comment

Food Manufacturing Conglomerates are Lying to You!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Tim Pittorino, Managing Director – Fitness Revelation Corporate Solutions

The reason people are increasingly tired, stressed and…I’ll just say it – fat – is that mass marketing has replaced common sense.

Mainstream society blindly believes that just because a food item appears on the supermarket shelf it is both safe and healthy. The truth is 90% of food you buy is about as safe as cigarettes! After all, smoking a single cigarette may not have a major, immediate effect on your life, but it is the habit of smoking that puts you on a respirator and eventually in a coffin.

Eating processed food will have a similar effect. Processed food is anything that comes in a packet, tub, container, can or carton – the types of food that currently constitute around 90-100% of most people’s diet.

We have become accustomed to eating these food ‘products’, and have all but abandoned the whole foods that enabled the human race to evolve over the past 40,000 years. Whole foods gave us abundant energy and lean athletic bodies and conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity were non-existent.

Today, it is important to note that whole foods are available at every major supermarket in the country; such foods include: fresh vegetables, lean meat, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruit and unprocessed dairy products.

Consumption of whole foods matters, but unfortunately we have been fooled into believing a number of myths about food, particularly in relation to:

Wheat, the major ingredient in almost all  breads, breakfast cereals, pastas, pastries and baked items.

Wheat was once a healthy grain but it now comes in the form of white flour that has been ground, milled, microwaved and blended. The result of wheat being heavily processed is lifeless flour that prevents minerals being absorbed, while providing high glycaemic carbohydrates that cause insulin spikes and fat bellies. With this in mind, it is easier to understand why low-fat diets have made Australians fatter over the past 20 years.

Dairy, which includes a range of natural products that have been heavily tampered with.

Most dairy products originated from a cow, but are now boiled and boiled again, killing many enzymes and all of the good bacteria. These products are then processed further through homogenization. Homogenization breaks down ‘lactase’ – the enzyme responsible for metabolising ‘lactose’. Insufficient lactase is the main reason people get bloated, lethargic and flatulent after drinking milk. Because of these symptoms, milk and dairy products are often eliminated from the diet and this is contributing heavily to our growing epidemic of osteoporosis.

If you want to know the best sources of wheat and dairy and how to properly read and understand food labels, please call Corporate Solutions today for a free lunchtime seminar.

Posted in BRL May 2012, Fitness Revelation Corporate Solutions, Lifestyle | Leave a comment

Is Property Still a Super Investment?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Jeremy Carter, Partner – Fusion Private Wealth

Property has been the number one wealth strategy of the last 30 years in Australia. Buy a home, build some equity and as soon as cash flow permits, borrow more to purchase investment property for others to rent. Unfortunately the days of reaping certain returns through this strategy have disappeared along with the property boom.

With Australia now being one of the least affordable countries in the world in which to buy a home, and with the continued uncertain global economic outlook, is property still a good investment?

The short answer is “Yes”, but you need to consider different strategies and unless you are a high income earner, avoid negative gearing. The days of large capital gains are gone for now so you need to focus on finding positively geared property that can pay its own way from day one.

Australian Property Monitors predicts growth in the housing market of between 3-5% this year but after you remove inflation of around 3%, it’s not an impressive outlook. In this market it’s vital to do your research to understand the area you are buying in, look for affordable properties with renter appeal and be prepared to invest time negotiating to buy well.  Also, when gearing, less is more; you don’t want to borrow the maximum – you want to build a cash flow positive property portfolio.

One strategy gaining popularity with many investors today is using their superannuation to invest in property using a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF). The ATO figures from Dec 2011 show there are now over 450,000 SMSFs in Australia and increasing by 32,875 new funds last year.  SMSFs are allowed to borrow to invest in property by using a structure called a bare trust.

The tax efficiency of superannuation allows for the principal of the property loan to be paid down with pre-tax dollars allowing investors to own the property much faster than purchasing it in their personal name. In many cases the property is paid off in full in only 7-10 years.

Some of the other significant benefits of purchasing property in a SMSF include:

• Reduction of income tax liability through salary sacrifice to quickly repay the loan.

• The asset is held in a structure protecting the asset from any legal claim against you

• Rental income is paid directly into the SMSF and as such is taxed concessionally.

• The 15% super contributions tax can be significantly reduced or eliminated through deductions within the fund.

• In retirement after age 60, income derived from assets held within your SMSF is 100% tax free.

• Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is only 10% if you hold the property more than 12 months and NIL after age 60 and in retirement.

Because lending to a SMSF has to be done via a “non-recourse loan” where the asset is the only security for the loan, banks are only willing to lend up to 80% on residential property and around 65% for commercial property. Most people are not aware that it is possible to self-finance the loan to the SMSF from equity within their existing home. Because the loan to the SMSF is made at commercial interest rates, this can also assist in reducing your home loan repayment time.

In Summary

Superannuation is a great tool for building a tax efficient asset portfolio to take into retirement, improving your family’s financial security. Self Managed Superannuation puts you in control of your investments and can offer significant advantages compared to regular managed funds. The ability to invest in direct property using a SMSF is a real bonus for investors who are comfortable with and want to invest in real estate. For full details of SMSF investment rules, visit www.ato.gov.au and look for the super pages. Fusion has fact sheets about Self Managed Super available upon request.

Investing in property through a SMSF can be worth considering:

• If you have good cashflow and combined equity of at least $200,000 in your superannuation and home.

• If you like property as an investment and are in a position to contribute to super above your employer contributions.

Posted in BRL May 2012, Business Advice, Financial, Fusion Private Wealth | Leave a comment

Work-Life Balance – What Legacy will You Leave Behind?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Stephen Frost, Managing Director – BREED Local Community Partnership

Recently, I was present when my father received the sad news that a school friend of his had passed away; a good friend for more than 65 years. I saw intense sadness and regret. The sadness was the loss of yet another mate and regret was that he had not made the time to catch up with him personally before he passed on.

I took the instant decision to place my work and social commitments on hold and support my ageing parents through this time of intense sorrow.   The funeral was in Queensland and complicating matters further was that my mother is afraid of flying, so we would have to make the journey by road. Yes, it was an inconvenience and I had to cancel a number of planed meetings and events, but I felt a more compelling need to support my father and ensure he got to the funeral safely to say farewell to his last surviving mate from that period of his life.

This got me to thinking; when was the last time I put my family, or myself for that matter, before work commitments? It also got me thinking about what I will be remembered for: working around the clock getting tenders in on time, running a successful organisation or being committed to my family, doing something good for the community and helping to make a difference? Time and others will be the judge when I have passed on myself; nonetheless, I hope I will be remembered for the latter. It also got me thinking about how I manage my team at BREED and how their work and family commitments are viewed. If we are all spending extremely long hours at work, what quality time and energy is left for our family and local community.

Organisations that are committed to work-life balance see a happier, healthier and more creative workforce. It can dramatically impact on an organisations recruitment, rates of absenteeism and retention. An organisation can also be more competitive in attracting talented personal and generally more productive. So there is definitely a business case here, but what is the relevance to our community organisations?

Organisations with a better work-life balance are more able to take on corporate responsibility opportunities in the community. With the many work pressures that people have these days, community organisations are seeing a decline in volunteerism.  Think about your own local community organisations; I’m sure it is always the same few people involved. Not only do community organisations need your involvement, this is a great way to help make a difference and help create a wonderful sense of achievement.

We can all get involved at some level and it can start within our organisations at the coal face. We can make time available for our staff to be involved with the community.

In my organisation I work with businesses and youth and there are endless opportunities for businesses to assist our future generation to attain the grounded education, community support and career direction they need to be productive citizens and our future leaders. The African proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child” rings loud and true.

I know how I want to be remembered; what about you?

Posted in BREED, BRL May 2012, Features | Leave a comment

How to Fund Raise for Your Non-Profit Organisation

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Ruchaya Rayya Nillakan, Tax Accountants & SMSF Auditors

Did you know that 85% of non-profit fundraising every year is acquired from direct individual donations? That 85% consists of large and small donations but it is the steady stream of small donations that keep most non-profits afloat. 

For the new organisation or the person, who is new to non-profit fundraising, it’s important to develop a fundraising strategy and plan.

Ideally, first step should be to cultivate donors in the local community and then move on to Internet Fundraising.

How does one raise funds?

One can raise your funds through grants, product sale and special events and by phonathons. Online fundraising is very popular around the world these days.

Primarily one has to find one or two donors who will make a large donation (known as major donors).

Let us discuss some simple steps to get prospective donors interested and involved in the project.

1. Create a list of prospective donors who may be interested in organisation’s activities.

2. Primarily one should concentrate on friend-raising activities rather than fundraising ones, like organising some special events (a spaghetti dinner, carnival, concert, or some other fun activity) with several door prizes.

3. Now create a mailing list of those persons who are somewhat interested or may become interested in the organisation. Include the following points in the mailing list database:

a) detailed address of office and residence

b) phone number

c) personal and detailed information

4. Within 3 days mail a nice letter to every listed individual. In the letter, mention:

a) how the organisation is helping people in the community

b) that it is only possible with the support (monetary and otherwise) from good people like them

c) ask them for a contribution and include a pre-addressed return envelope to make it easy for the donor.

5. Try to invite the prospect to become involved as a volunteer:

a) have a volunteer coordinator well prepared in advance to accept all calls, and to put them to good use

b) the coordinator should introduce them to the staff, and make them feel ta part of the organisation. Once a volunteer feels to be a part of the organisation, he or she (and friends) may be more likely to contribute.

6. Send letters and newsletters to those who did not volunteer. It may work to good effect if they are asked to speak to their civic groups, church groups about the organisation. A good relationship always pays.

7. Thank anybody and everybody whenever and however possible on whatever occasion.

Finally, maintaining donors’ involvement over time is indispensable. Try to get them excited about what you are doing with their kind help.

Remember: non-profit fundraising is all about building relationships.

Posted in BRL May 2012, Business Advice, Super Smart Plans | Leave a comment