You don't bring me flowers

Marguerite McKinnon offers a ray of hope for small business owners across Australia. After 14 years as a news and politics reporter, she’s comfortable taking on even the most bureaucratic of bureaucrats.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE GIVEN AN UNEXPECTED PRESENT? A lovely bunch of flowers? A bottle of wine? Chocolates? A surprise present is one of those standout, rainbow moments that can change your day instantaneously.

When it comes to owning a small business, wouldn’t it be great to think someone was watching your back as you face those little and not so little things which can drive you nuts as you try to carve out your corner of the marketplace?

The issues tackled in this month’s Think Tank were common to many of the people surveyed during the planning stages of Nett. From now on, though, we want you to be proactive. What issues do you want us to cover? Who do you want us to approach to help you get the solutions you need? Everyone on the Nett team is committed to finding the answers to your questions and we’re up for going into bat for you with the political bigwigs. That’s our little corner of the marketplace, if you like.

With the election now dried-up and discarded, the new Government has a growing power-block to look after in the form of small business. The numbers are increasing: according to the Council of Small Business, there are now 1.89 million small businesses in Australia, which employ 3.6 million people and have a total capitalised worth of $4.3 trillion, yes, trillion dollars. That’s four times the worth of the Australian Stock Exchange.

Ask yourself, your mates and your peers in small businesses to share the problems they face and it always comes down to a four-letter word: TIME! And even worse is the one thing besides death that we all have to deal with: TAXES! (Now breathe... in... out... that’s better.)

Other common headaches include:

• Knowledge access: trying to find the right information on the net, fast, instead of having to trawl through site after site.
• Skills crisis: when you’re ready to innovate, it can be a painful struggle to get the staff you need.
• Big Business: we might not individually have the muscle of big businesses, but we certainly have the numbers.

Let’s not be grim: think about the small businesses that have smashed through and are now raking in millions

How about Luke Baylis and James Miller? Two 20-something IT guys in Sydney who cooked up Sumo Salad because they couldn’t find a good, fast, healthy lunch. A few years on, Sumo Salad is one of Australia’s fastest-growing franchises, and has gone global.

Or what about Paul Cave? This guy didn’t build the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but he has told us how to get over it! Recently his Bridgeclimb company celebrated its two millionth climber.

Or the four savvy skivvy-wearers in the Wiggles, who’ve painted the world red, blue, yellow and purple. In 2006, the Wiggles earned a tidy $45 million. And that’s just the guys!

Say the name of Sue Ismiel’s business and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and scream for mercy… not because of her, but because of her famous hair-removal product. Even though she sold out of the company, the founder of Nad’s has well and truly made her smooth mark on the world. So too have other business chicks, including Boost Juice’s Janine Allis, and Diana Williams from Fernwood Women’s only Gym. All of them had a dream and followed it.

So if you have a dream and need a helping hand with your business, particularly if you need some red tape looked at, drop me a line and I’ll try my best to find you the help you need: margueritem@nett.com.au