Small business news and analysis

It's that time again. The 2009-10 financial year is almost upon us, and the Australian Taxation Office is preparing to knuckle down and get to work.

A chance encounter with a farmer, who told me about his ailing business, got me thinking about ways to avoid business failure. Here’s what happened.

We all know blogging can be good for business, but how do you make money from blogs? I have worked strategically on a variety of blogs and other web 2.0 strategies and have some sage advice and revenue models for would-be bloggers to consider.

Is there any such thing as being “too available” to your customers?

The key to better marketing is to focus on the benefits, not just the features, of what you offer. Here's how to create a list of compelling benefits for your business, and use it to boost your marketing results.

This one’s for those who love speaking, but struggle to find an audience; hate speaking, but know people; or simply don’t have anything very interesting to say.

They're smart, they're young, they're tech savvy - and they're not afraid of the downturn. Meet SmartCompany's Hot 30 under 30 - a group of 30 entrepreneurs aged 30 years and under who are on their way to becoming Australia's next generation of business leaders.

Only about one in three small businesses expect to hire more permanent staff in the next 12 months as a result of the economic downturn, a new survey has found.

Small business conditions have dropped to their lowest level in 13 years, a new survey shows.