Ask yourself: Can that be done next year?
Things that should be on your radar this month 👀
1. It’s been a tough year for the tech sector, and five experts have weighed in on where they think the industry is headed in 2023, the challenges ahead, and the opportunities that are likely to emerge.
2. If you’ve ever been hesitant to get support for your mental health, you’re not alone. A recently released Treasury report found that nearly half of all business owners feel uncomfortable talking about mental health, and nearly 30% felt too embarrassed to get help.
3. Elon ran a poll on Twitter this month asking if he should step down as CEO and 57.5% of people told him to get lost 👋
4. David Jones has been sold back to an Australian private equity firm for a mere $100M, just seven years after its sale to South African giant Woolworths Holdings Limited for $2.1B.
5. Nearly one in five directors have failed to apply for their compulsory director ID before the extended deadline. We know that none of our newsletter readers could have possibly forgotten the deadline (!) but here’s a reminder of how to apply just in case.
AI tech recs for you to play with over the break
📝 ChatGPT: ICYMI, everyone is talking about a piece of consumer AI tech that came out this month. This free chatbot can solve complex problems, write code, make subtle changes to tone of voice, and much more. Its servers are pretty busy at the moment, but this tool is definitely worth trying out if you can access it.
🎙 Adobe Enhance: This podcasting tool, which is still in its free beta phase, uses AI to remove background noise, echo and volume fluctuation to transform your voice notes into clear, professional-sounding audio.
🤖 Dalle 2: Developed by the same people behind ChatGPT, this app generates AI images from text prompts. While it came out earlier this year, we’re still having fun seeing what kind of images we can get it to create. Reply to this email with your most impressive AI creation and the text input you used to generate it – we love seeing what other people come up with.
The highs 📈 and lows 📉 of small business life (for the year)
📈 Where to begin?! There’ve been so many moments to be proud of this year – even just looking back at how much our business has grown is a massive high. We think the thing we’re most excited about, however, is how much we're looking forward to next year.
Before starting Project Alfred, even the *idea* of starting another task, week, month, or year was draining. Now, we’re getting excited to make business plans, take on new clients, grow our team, and so much more. It’s truly refreshing to feel this invigorated – bring on next year!
📉 While we’re always keen to look forward (not back), we’ve been reflecting on our disappointment that our first hire at Project Alfred didn’t work out this year. Going through our first hiring process was challenging, and in the end it was a lot of effort for little reward.
The silver lining is that we’ve now got a much better idea of how to hire efficiently, who we’re looking for, and what questions to ask them. Growing our team is one of the things we’re looking forward to the most in 2023!
Productivity hacks 👩💻
- If there’s just one thing you take away from reading this month’s newsletter, let it be this: take 👏 a 👏 break 👏
The meaning of ‘winding down for the year’ seems to have warped over the last few years, with many of our friends and clients now describing their wild dash to the finish line as how they’re ‘winding down’. The *worst* thing you can do for your mental health, body, and business is to ride that adrenalin rush into the break and waste this opportunity to rest. Trust us, starting the new year refreshed is much more important than whatever task you’re stressing over.
- In a similar vein: Have a plan for the first day back at work, and make sure you plan to take it easy. There’s nothing worse than dialling it straight back up to 100% after time off, so instead spend the day easing yourself into the year. Work out how you’re going to tackle all your unread emails, decline any meeting that can wait, and give yourself some time (in work hours!) to think about your business goals for the year. You’ve got a whole year to be busy, don’t set the precedent on day one.
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As anyone who knows Project Alfred will tell you: We’re huge proponents of healthy work-life balance. We’ve met plenty of people who feel like this means not thinking about or even mentioning work over the break, but we don’t think this is the right approach. If you’re running a business, you spend *so* much of your life at work – not wanting to talk about that time with family and friends might be a little bit unhealthy.
Who better to speak with about the year's wins, or to discuss your plans for the future? It’s important to recognise and celebrate your successes, and it’s something that many business owners do less often than they should. So don’t shy away from talking about work, just don’t talk about it all the time – that's a better way to think about work-life balance.
That's just our two pennies' worth.
- Liam and Amy, co-founders of Project Alfred
(changing the way people think about accounting)
Recent issues
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As their public dispute goes nuclear, we’re diving into the fistfight between Employment Hero and Hostplus. We'll also examine the trials and tribulations of Australian SMES grappling with payroll errors, uncover the truth behind cashback rewards, celebrate Australia’s first tech unicorn in two years, and examine some of the latest startups that have raised money this month.
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We look at Hatch, a Gen Z jobs marketplace that has secured $7 million in seed funding to expand nationally, using AI to match candidates with roles based on skills and values. Plus, discover how Taylor Swift's concert at the MCG broke Melbourne's internet, insights on gender pay gaps from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, and the latest advancements in AI with OpenAI's new system, Sora, generating short videos from text prompts.
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We’ve started the year at break-neck speed, onboarding two exciting new clients, growing the Project Alfred team, getting frustrated at the Australian government’s proposed changes to sophisticated investors, reading about Atlassian’s WFH 1000 days progress and exploring new startup blogs.
In our final 2023 newsletter we look at when to pay attention to your brand, the resurgence of startup funding, rebates for Sydney startups looking for office space and some potential relief on the cost of living.
Liam is participating in Movember and raising money for Beyond Blue to support their efforts in mental health awareness and support. Every donation made on Liam’s fundraising page will be matched by Project Alfred - so if you can afford it, we’d love you to contribute. … And a reminder: every donation is tax deductible!
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Christmas is around the corner, so notify your staff about leave requirements if you’re shutting down. We dive into the Australian funding scene with Employment Hero's impressive cap raise, making them a double unicorn. Learn from a costly lesson about keeping receipts, discover the inspiring journey of Vegemite and find out why work created by AI can't be copyrighted.
How one business has monetised ‘the meeting that could’ve been an email’, a business that has pivoted its offering as a result of the higher cost of living, a significant payroll underpayment issue making the news and the first ‘real’ holiday Liam has taken since starting Project Alfred.
How Barbie & the Matilda's have sparked equal pay discussions, small business grants in QLD, how Australia harnesses students' entrepreneurial spirits, marketing tech we're using, and our August highlights as we celebrate our 2nd birthday.
What direct-to-consumer startups can learn from Barbie, the Twitter rebrand that’s left question marks over our heads, tech to make travelling for work a breeze, our tip for surviving the second half of the year, and much more.
Some good economic news (finally), the hot new website everyone is talking about (ours, obviously), tried and tested website tech we swear by, a list of 20 small business EOFY tax tips, and much more.
An excellent opinion piece about why work from home is a good thing for society (despite what Elon Musk thinks), a desk setup that’ll make your colleagues green with envy, the TLDR on the PwC tax scandal, some EOFY spending advice we know some people need to hear, and much more.
There’s been a spike in company insolvencies that the AFR is describing as a “zombie apocalypse”, advice from HR experts on how to promote work-life balance in your team, a Slack feature we don’t think gets enough airtime, a monitor stand we’re drooling over, and much more.
The TLDR on the banking drama and how it could affect your business, exciting AI tools to keep your eye on this year, the businesses where the UK’s four-day workweek trial didn’t work, our non-negotiables when flying for work, and more.
Apps to boost your sleep skills (these do more than just fix dark circles under your eyes), mindset shifts to stop you feeling like you’re burning both cash and energy, and how to get excited about the next quarter.
An important reminder about what AI can and can’t do for your business, more reasons you should go paperless (and a stack of great resources to show you how), a workday lunch tip to get you away from your desk, advice on setting effective goals for business growth, and much more.
Our thoughts on work-life balance, projections for the tech industry in 2023, some AI tools (or toys) to play with over the break, highs and lows of the year that was, and more.
Tips for making the most of December (T-minus 21 working days ‘til Christmas 🤯), a step-by-step guide to registering for your company director ID, one of our favourite tech recs of 2022, an important cause close to our hearts that we’d love you to support (scroll to the end to find out how), and more.
How to protect your business from cybercrime, apps to build a connection with your colleagues and customers, the science behind the perfect productivity playlist, and more
Three tech recs that’ll make your life 10x easier, the impact of late invoices on your cash flow, the pros and cons of going to a conference, a massive shout out to our community, and more.
The technology shaping Australia’s future, Slack shortcuts we can’t live without, and tech recs to help you share your knowledge online.
Tips for hiring in a tough labour market, an ominous shift in pricing strategy for subscription models, and tech recs to help you grow your team.
Some new economic policies coming in on July 1, tech recs to help you celebrate (or survive) EOFY, and some tips for cultivating a growth mindset next financial year.
Some tips to help you focus, proposed policies on the horizon after the election, the crash of a not-so-stable stablecoin, a big debate we had on LinkedIn, and some tech recs that anyone who’s into design will love.
Did ASIC actually just kill off 'finfluencing’, ideas for designing your perfect work week, tech recs to level up virtual meetings and a sneak peek into the tech stack we use here at Project Alfred!
Tech recs and productivity hacks to help hybrid workplaces get the best of both worlds, our thoughts on the latest Federal Budget hot off the press and an audio book we’re loving right now.
High Court rulings around being an employee or an independent contractor, funding for Covid-affected businesses, great news about mental health support for small business owners, some new favourite tech finds, the Super Bowl…and we’re hiring!
22 things you should do to help your business in 2022, what records you need to keep and what you can let go of in the new year, why eating a frog is the best way to start your day, and some of our highs and lows from the last month.
How to stay on the ATO’s nice list this Christmas, our how-to guide for director IDs, small business trends for 2022, how to work smarter not harder, and some of our own recent business highs and lows.