Risk Management Guide for Small Business

As a business owner you need to be aware of the risks (and not just financial ones) associated with your business. The NSW Department of State and Regional Development have made a free Risk Management Guide available.

The guide can help you identify risks to your business and meet legislative and regulatory requirements in the areas of:

- occupational health and safety
- fair trading
- contracts
- insurance

To read the guide online or download a free PDF version to your own computer, you can head directly to the Risk Management Guide at the NSW Small Business site by clicking here.

Tax Concessions for Small Business

From 1 July 2007, small businesses with turnover of less than $2 million a year will be eligible for a range of tax concessions under the Government's proposed changes to the law. Small businesses will also be able to pick and choose which tax concessions best suit their business.

It's important to find out more about the new tax concessions now if you are currently registered for GST because the proposed changes may affect the way you report and account for GST early in the 2007-08 income year.

Visit www.ato.gov.au/SBconcessions or give us a call to find out more.

Source: Activity Statement Update - Quarter 4 2006-07

Get Your Business Name Out There for FREE

According to True Local over 90% of the Australian Internet audience are using online directories to find a local business, service or product. Not all micro business can afford an expensive yellow pages ad - particularly those which are home-based. Many small local traders have no online presence or offline listings at all. Don't let an impossibly tight budget hold you back. Make the most of the free resources which are available to you.

Free Directory Listings

For an investment of a little time, you can get your business name out there by submitting your details to online business directories.

I've sourced several sites which provide a FREE listing in their directory.

Hot Frog (http://www.hotfrog.com.au/) gives you a free basic listing, including a clickable link direct to your own website. Another cool feature is the 'latest news' button you can use to include more information and add current business promotions. The listing includes all your contact details aswell as space to add your own business description or blurb. Listing was quick and simple and, to my amazement, Google picked our Hot Frog listing up almost immediately and ranked it high in search results according to the search criteria I used.

Web Find (http://www.webfind.com.au/) was one of the most generous free listing providers I located. Your basic listing has the option of including a logo graphic, hours of operation, a lengthy blurb about your business, bulleted unique selling points and the products and services you provide. It all comes together under a cute little “contact card� complete with a clickable link to your own website.

Local.com.au (www.local.com.au) offers a free listing with plenty of room to add your business description. It includes a direct link to your website and email, aswell as other contact details. Adding a listing was pretty fast. Although the site says it may take up to 2 days to add the listing, we had ours up within 2 hours (pretty impressive for a Sunday night).

Rave About It (www.raveaboutit.com.au) deserves raving about. Submitting a listing was painlessly simple and allowed plenty of great options such as including pictures and adding promotions. A free listing allowed me to add all my details, link directly to our site, include a lengthy description and manage opening hours.

Aussie Local (http://www.aussielocal.com.au/) allows you to submit a basic free listing in up to five different categories.

The Ozebiz Index (http://www.ozebiz.com.au/) allows you to include either your web address OR your contact details.

Business Search (http://www.businesssearch.com.au/) offer a free listing which does not include a web link, but does include your name, address, phone and region serviced. Adding a link to this site was quick, simple and almost instant. The locality search worked a treat to quickly find the listing again.

For something specifically local, go to Oomah.com From there you can access www.thecentralcoast.org, www.gosford.org, www.wyongshire.org and a host of other Central Coast regional directories. A basic listing is free but you'll have to pay if you want an active link to your site or other bells and whistles.

Other sites offering a free listing include:
dLook (www.dlook.com.au)
hhh Services.Com.Au (www.hhhservices.com.au)
Australia Map Guide (www.street-directory.com.au)
Aussie Web Local Search (www.aussieweb.com.au)
True Local (www.truelocal.com.au)
NSW Central Business Directory (www.nsw.australiancbd.com.au)
Come on Aussie (www.comeonaussie.com)
Laton Australian Business Directory (www.laton.com.au)
Local Biz Online Shopping and Services Directory (www.localbiz.com.au). This last site requires a reciprocal link to maintain a free listing so you must have a website. Alternatively, a basic listing with no reciprocal link is $2.50.

Okay, so it's not a full page colour advertisement in the Yellow Pages but it is a start. From experience, I can say that these "free" directory listings do generate some business (not always a lot, but some). For zero financial outlay they are not a bad investment at all for small business on a shoestring budget.

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Christie Lewis is a business partner with Alan Lewis Accounting & Taxation Services. Located on the NSW Central Coast. More than just a tax time necessity... we remain at your service for the entire year. Visit us online today at www.lewistaxation.com.au

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The 100 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons

According to "Guerilla Marketing" principles there are at least 100 marketing weapons in the small business arsenal. So, what exactly are all 100 weapons?

I've compiled a full list below of those recognised by author Jay Levinson (the father of Guerilla Marketing) in his Guerilla Marketing Weapons: 100 affordable marketing methods for maximizing profits from your small business.

Clearly, some are more suitable for micro-business than others but they are all worth giving some consideration to. Best of all, more than half of them are free.

I'll be exploring some of these 100 weapons in more detail over the coming months. For now, here is the list:

1. Marketing plan
2. Marketing calendar
3. Niche/positioning
4. Name of company
5. Identity
6. Logo
7. Theme
8. Stationery
9. Business card
10. Signs inside
11. Signs outside
12. Hours of operation
13. Days of operation
14. Window display
15. Flexibility
16. Word-of-mouth
17. Community involvement
18. Barter
19. Club/Association memberships
20. Partial payment plans
21. Cause-related marketing
22. Telephone demeanor
23. Toll free phone number
24. Free consultations
25. Free seminars and clinics
26. Free demonstrations
27. Free samples
28. Giver vs taker stance
29. Fusion marketing
30. Marketing on telephone hold
31. Success stories
32. Employee attire
33. Service
34. Follow-up
35. Yourself and your employees
36. Gifts and ad specialities
37. Catalog
38. Yellow Pages ads
39. Column in a publication
40. Article in a publication
41. Speaker at any club
42. Newsletter
43. All your audiences
44. Benefits list
45. Computer
46. Selection
47. Contact time with customer
48. How you say hello/goodbye
49. Public relations
50. Media contacts
51. Neatness
52. Referral program
53. Sharing with peers
54. Guarantee
55. Telemarketing
56. Gift certificates
57. Brochures
58. Electronic brochures
59. Location
60. Advertising
61. Sales training
62. Networking
63. Quality
64. Reprints and blow-ups
65. Flipcharts
66. Opportunities to upgrade
67. Contests/sweepstakes
68. Online marketing
69. Classified advertising
70. Newspaper ads
71. Magazine ads
72. Radio spots
73. TV spots
74. Infomercials
75. Movie ads
76. Direct mail letters
77. Direct mail postcards
78. Postcard decks
79. Posters
80. Fax-on-demand
81. Special events
82. Show display
83. Audio-visual aids
84. Spare time
85. Prospect mailing lists
86. Research studies
87. Competitive advantages
88. Marketing insight
89. Speed
90. Testimonials
91. Reputation
92. Enthusiasm & passion
93. Credibility
94. Spying on yourself and others
95. Being easy to do business with
96. Brand name awareness
97. Designated guerrilla
98. Customer mailing list
99. Competitiveness
100. Satisfied customers

For more information visit www.gmarketing.com