Hey, are you growing your team?
Things that should be on your radar this month 👀
1. Businesses are well and truly feeling the pinch of tough conditions in the labour market. Companies all over Australia are getting creative with how they’re finding and attracting talent, including a McDonalds in Sydney that reportedly offered a $1000 sign-on bonus for new employees.
2. A bill was taken to parliament this week that would introduce a Fringe Benefits Tax exemption for electric vehicles to bring the price down for Australians.
3. A report earlier this month found many people operating a small business from their home might be unwittingly voiding their home insurance – a particularly important issue in this age of hybrid and remote work.
4. Netflix could be paving the way for the future of tech subscription models by announcing they'll be rolling out an ‘ad-supported’ pricing tier.
5. Amazon’s recent $3.9 billion acquisition of health company One-Medical could herald a future where you pay a healthcare subscription, not a premium. And while this raises questions about data privacy, it shows that these days, every industry is a tech industry.
Tech to help streamline your business 🚀
🏢 Desky – Growing your team but keeping the same office space? For hybrid teams, a bigger office isn't always the answer, but hot-desking might be – and the Desky app makes it easy.
👥 Employment Hero – Why does it feel like more people = more work? With this HR software, you can spend less time on all those team-related tasks you’re constantly bogged down in.
📝 ClickUp – As your team grows, so does the number of projects you’ll be juggling. ClickUp can help you visualise where everything is at, and make sure your team is on the same page.
The highs 📈 and lows 📉 of small business life
📈 We had a change of scenery this month when we went to work from Robe for a few days. It was very satisfying to have a REAL beach in our Zoom background, not a greenscreen one. Even though it wasn’t exactly swimming weather, there’s just something about a view of the ocean: we felt twice as focused when we were working, but twice as relaxed when we knocked off, too.
📉 After updating our initial proposal numbers, we found we had over-estimated our growth rate in forecasts. It’s always the dream to smash our expectations, but it's also very grounding to talk about the fact that growing a business is difficult – we hope it gives our community the perspective that others in the #BuildInPublic community have given us.
Productivity hacks 👩💻
If you’re hiring, or considering hiring, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that expanding your team will make your life easier. In actual fact, recruitment can be a tedious business, and it’s probably going to be a huge time-sink. Our biggest tip? Automate as much of the process as possible; set up automatic replies from a dedicated careers email, use Google Forms to pre-screen candidates, and use tools like Calendly to let them book their own interviews. If you’ve never employed someone before and are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect, read our guide to hiring for the first time.
“That could have been an email” – said most people after most meetings. If you’re looking for more time in the day, check out these five tips for boosting productivity in your meetings. Giving your team the tools to prepare for meetings and setting clear agendas can help make meetings shorter, less frequent and more meaningful.
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There’s quite a bit of scary finance news going around at the moment. With interest rates and inflation rising, it's easy to focus on what you and your business can do to ride the wave. But it’s also in your best interest to check on those around you – talk to your clients about their situation and how they’re feeling about it. Your business relationships are going to be super important if the environment gets tougher, so it's a good idea to strengthen them now. It’s easier to retain a client now than to find a new one later.
And in other news, we’ve got a few exciting things in the works for next month, so we might sign off this week with a ‘watch this space’.
That's just our two pennies' worth.
- Liam and Amy, co-founders of Project Alfred
(changing the way people think about accounting)
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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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