Industry statistics indicate that the debtor payment time cycle for 30-day accounts rose in the last quarter by 4 days with the average collection days for all industries now at 55 days.
Dick Bradley, Small Business Consultant with RDA Illawarra, says that late payment or non-payment of debts by customers wreaks havoc with cash flow and business viability and that this increasing adverse trend in payment terms could have a further detrimental impact on local small business.
There is evidence tough trading conditions, combined with the affects of the credit crunch, have lead to an 11 per cent increase in business failures. This has come about mainly from the effects of poor cash flow management and there are currently quite a few reports in the market place of slow payment, in some cases by major companies, and consequently many smaller traders and contractors are doing it tough.
In recognition of the difficulties being faced by small business, including increasing problems with debtors, RDA Illawarra is facilitating a FREE seminar entitled “Managing Credit in Tough Times.” It will be held at Corrimal, Wollongong and Shellharbour over coming weeks and will outline ways of developing a systematic approach to credit policy including methods of assessing creditworthiness, the collection process and debt recovery measures available through the Small Claims Division of the Local Court.
FREE Seminars for Small Business
Presenter: Dick Bradley, Small Business Consultant, RDA Illawarra
| Area | Date | Time | Venue Address | | Corrimal | 17 Feb 2009 | 5.30pm –8.00pm | Corrimal Leagues Club 54 Railway Street, Corrimal | | Wollongong | 19 Feb 2009 | 9.00am – 11.30am | City Diggers Auditorium
82 Church St, Wollongong | | Shellharbour | 24 Feb 2009 | 9.00am – 11.30am | Shellharbour Links
Golf Dr, Shell Cove |
RSVP closes 3 days prior to event: Email: dick@rdaillawarra.com.au
Protect your brand. Help with an invention!
Intellectual property (IP) is a broad term that is used to describe various exclusive legal rights around names, inventions and the output of other creative efforts. Main Types IP Include:
| Patents | Protect inventions, eg the Hills Hoist | | Trade Marks | Protect words, phrases, logos and a range of other branding elements that distinguish the goods and services of one trader from those of another, eg Vegemite | | Designs | Protect the shape or appearance of manufactured goods, eg Speedos swimwear | | Copyright | Protects original material in literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works, films, broadcasts, multimedia and computer programs, eg Tim Flannery’s book ‘The Weather Makers’ | | Plant Breeder’s Rights | For new plant varieties, eg new varieties of Kangaroo Paw |
ITeC’s Innovation Advisory Service provides FREE advice in all the above areas. Ring 1300 650 058 for an appointment and a referral to an IP Attorney (free / no obligation). The IP Attorney will be visiting Illawarra ITeC on Friday 6 March - ring today to secure your booking.
We will be running a ‘Protecting Your Brand’ seminar soon which will provide information on various forms of Intellectual Property (IP) protection available (including trade marks), how they can protect you and improve the value of your business. For further information please call Virginia on the above number.
Marketing Workshop
It is not enough to just have a fantastic product or service; you also need to be able to understand how to market your product or service to potential customers and clients.
This two-and-a-half-hour workshop will help you understand the different aspects of marketing, help you understand how your product / service fits into the whole market and how you can market your business more effectively? We will discuss:
• Conducting Market Research
• Who is Your Target Market / Competitors
• The Four P’s of Marketing
• SWOT Analysis
• Requirements of Developing a Marketing Plan
Time: 9.30am to 12noon
Date: Thursday 19 February 2009
Cost: $40.00 – light Refreshments included
Intro to Business Planning
A good business plan will increase your chances of business success. It will help you identify your customers, market area, pricing strategies, financial and operational goals. By completing a business plan you will better understand your competitive advantages, new opportunities, current weaknesses and longer-term objectives for the business. Having a business plan is also an important requirement for gaining finance from financial institutions.
The aim of this workshop is to provide an overview of the business planning process and increase the skills of participants to enable them to complete a business plan for their business. Business Plan templates will be provided.
Time : 12 noon to 1.30pm
Date : Monday 16 February 2009
Cost : $33.00 – light lunch included
Are you charging the right price to make a profit in your business?
Price is one of the things that can cause the most grief in business. Is my price too high, too low, should I offer discounts?
In this workshop you will :
• Identify what profit is
• Know the elements of a Cost Structure
• Understand pricing
• Learn how to determine the break even point
• Examine how profit differs from Cash Flow
• Apply the concepts to a case study
Time: 9.30am noon to 12 noon
Date: Thursday 26 February 2009
Cost: $40.00 – light refreshments included
Illawarra Women in Business Awards
Applications are now open for the Illawarra Women in Business Businesswomen’s Awards and are designed to put the stars of the female Illawarra business community in the spotlight
Illawarra Women in Business (IWIB) a local networking group, is proud of the achievements of women in the local business community, and wants to recognise successful women in business through their IWIB award for the IWIB Illawarra Business Woman of the Year and the IWIB Illawarra Young Business Woman of the Year.
The IWIB Illawarra Business Woman of the Year for 2009 (proudly sponsored by the Illawarra Business chamber) and The IWIB Illawarra Young Business Woman of the Year for 2009 (proudly sponsored by the Illawarra ITeC) will be held on Friday, 27 March 2009 at the Lagoon Seafood Restaurant North Wollongong.
The awards are open to ALL business women who are operating or work as an employee in a business located in the Illawarra who best demonstrates ambition, energy, skill and vision, as well as tangible business success.
The awards are open to women who are enjoying success in building their own business and to those employees who have had an outstanding impact in contributing to the successes of a larger organisation.
The APPLICATION FORM (available at www.iwib.com.au) needs to be completed as per the instructions and returned to IWIB before close of business on Monday 2 March 2009.
Now is the time to reflect on your business achievements and to seriously think about entering the IWIB Awards.
Free Business Advisory Services
The Illawarra ITeC has five Small Business Programs to help you get started and further develop your established business. All programs provide free and confidential business advice and are available free of charge in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven areas:
• Illawarra Business Advisory Service (IBAS)
• Business Enterprise Centre (BEC)
• New Enterprise Development Scheme (NEIS)
• Illawarra Innovation Advisory Service (IIAS)
• Aboriginal Enterprise Development Officer (ADEO) Program
Do you receive our weekly Illawarra ITeC Small Business News Newsletter? If not, email Virginia today on ibec@illawarraitec.com.au and we will automatically send you a copy.
This is only a brief outline of the types of small business advice and assistance that we can offer. Want to know more? Remember I am a FREE service and can assist you in developing your business in many ways.
Call me today on 4223 3100 or check out our website at www.illawarraitec.com.au
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