Business News

FEDERAL BUDGET 2012: The vision thing seemed to go missing

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:24:50 +0000

For two years our Treasurer has swanned around the country, claiming his was the new party for small and medium business.

Big vs. small is just silly

jthomson@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:10:09 +0000

Wow. As if things aren't tough enough. Just as small business gets a glimmer of attention from political parties after decades of being ignored or receiving lip service around election time, the knives come out. This morning, small business owners received an unexpected walloping from flat earth economist Judith Sloan.

SmartCompany turns five

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:24:56 +0000

Well, they said we would never make it. A publication for small and medium business owners? It will never work. Many people better than you have tried and failed, I was told.

Your new best customer in 2012

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:02:28 +0000

Five years ago when I started SmartCompany I had a challenge on my hands. I knew that women were not big readers of the business press. Back then the AFR was lucky if more than 25% of its readers were women. And BRW wasn't any better. That always struck me as ridiculous and I felt it was very important we get women reading the business pages.

Swan's surplus gamble

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:20:15 +0000

Just as well it's Australia Day tomorrow. Time to sit around after the barbeque and digest the very different perspectives streaming our way about the economy and figure out whether any of this should affect our planning for the remainder of 2012.

Applauding the real job makers

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:29:36 +0000

The job layoffs are just beginning. And the Gillard Government should expect them to get a lot worse this year before confidence begins to improve towards the end of the year due to a pseudo stimulus package (carbon tax refunds pumping money into the economy) and lower interest rates.

Lessons from a disaster

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:21:11 +0000

I don't speak a word of Italian. But there is something grimly fascinating listening to the dialogue and reading the transcripts of the Italian Coast Guard officer, who with increasing desperation, pleads, demands and then threatens with the captain of the sinking ship to go back on board and save the lives of women, children and those with special needs.

Why I’m optimistic about 2012

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:29:24 +0000

Right. Here is my pre-Christmas vow, and it has nothing to do with drinking less wine.

Australia loses a great entrepreneur

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:06:55 +0000

On Tuesday night Diana Gribble passed away. You may have heard of her; certainly if you worked in the arts and media where she achieved icon status.

Christmas disaster looming

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:10:43 +0000

Expect a bloodbath of business failures by Christmas unless the government steps in, drops its fixation with a surplus and produces a small business stimulus package immediately.

Five weeks to create something special

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:43:33 +0000

In July last year I almost had a revolt on my hands. I had just told my staff that we were going to launch a sister publication to SmartCompany on September 1.

The age of leadership

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:58:30 +0000

How ironic. On the back page of a national newspaper there is a story about people over 50 being deemed too old by recruiters to recommend for jobs. The same day a survey appears from the Leadership, Employment and Direction (LEAD) which asked 2,600 respondents whether they have any skills shortages and where the shortages are. From a list of 16 potential areas of skill shortages the survey found that leadership was second (after technical areas) and management was sixth.

Quotas are not the only answer

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 01:18:13 +0000

Gee. Mention board quotas and the army of men who prefer to maintain the status quo start squealing. The spluttering rage expressed in the comments section following the Governor General's comments that Australia may need quotas to force more women onto boards reminds one of the outrage expressed by any ruling class sniffing the unpleasant winds of change.

What a year!

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:38:11 +0000

What a year! Exhausted? I am. I've already had too much sparkling and it's not even Christmas. I'm about to clock off for the annual holiday: three weeks at the beach, which is just long enough to give you the unnerving feeling - fleeting I should add - that maybe the holiday is never going to end.

A lesson in perspective

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:15:41 +0000

The news business is a brutal mistress. News is continuous, the deadlines are ruthless and the pressure to produce the latest surprising, insightful and deep content that is factually correct is a daily - in fact hourly - challenge.

The spend or save debate

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 01:18:22 +0000

It's the new dinner party conversation.

The billionaires' distraction tactics

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:08:46 +0000

Let's get this straight. About a year ago retail billionaire Gerry Harvey told SmartCompany that online retail sales were a dead end, prompting a huge number of our readers to write in telling Gerry that his website was so bad, they purchase their electronic equipment elsewhere.

The tipping point

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:32:00 +0000

My sales director was looking pretty spivvy the other day in a smart new business shirt. The collar was crisp, the fit perfect, the tailoring flawless and he looked, as usual, a million dollars.

Exploding start-up myths

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:44:55 +0000

Does your company sell to other businesses? In that case, make sure you read the latest copy of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Australian Business Entries and Exits.

No accounting for growth

agome@smartcompany.com.au (Amanda Gome) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:31:30 +0000

I love accountants. Truly. My dad is an accountant , my brother is an accountant and I am pretty sure my son will be an accountant, although it is seen as a daggy career by Gen Zs so for some misguided reason he tells everyone he wants to be a lawyer. Anyway, I was talking this week at the CPA Congress in Brisbane, telling the SmartCompany growth story.