26 May 2008

Sparkling Greetings, Reader,

After a glorious mid north coast weekend, it’s almost good to be back at work. The Port Macquarie business scene appears to be humming along reasonably happily right at the moment. Of course, tourism-related businesses could always do with some more visitors, and that would extend to increased sales right across the retail and hospitality sectors. But overall I think it would be fair to say we are generally quietly comfortable.

Such is not the case with our licensed clubs. The indoor smoking ban, combined with some pretty onerous taxes, has put enormous pressure on clubs and patronage has suffered. Licensed clubs have been the mainstay of many sporting organisations, with their generous sponsorships fuelled principally by gambling revenue. It would appear that smoking and (poker machine) gambling go hand in hand, and the suffering extends beyond the clubs themselves.

Our valued Patron Member Port Macquarie Panthers has been forced to withdraw from its principal sponsorship of the Australian Ironman, though General Manager Thomas Paynter stresses that Panthers will maintain support through a lesser sponsorship. Times are tough, but tough times lead to innovative solutions, and it is probably timely for licensed clubs to reinvent themselves to become more relevant to the wider community. It’s a big challenge.

Interestingly, when an indoor smoking ban was implemented in Canberra some years ago, our little local club suffered an immediate 40% drop in patronage. But over a period of about 6 months patronage rebuilt to exceed the original figure. The interesting thing was that the new patronage was a totally different demographic. Instead of adult smoker-drinker-machine players, the new patronage comprised family groups and increased numbers of late teens and early twenties who were attracted by the clean, smoke-free relaxed environment.

There’s a lesson for all businesses here. Times change. Operating environments change. You can change with them, or go under. Adaptability and responsiveness are keys to successful business operation and longevity.

Nanotechnology

Last week I briefly mentioned what I believe will be “the next big thing” – nanotechnology. At the moment, few people outside of the science community have much knowledge of nanotech. Let me provide a very brief overview.

Through our history, we have built our technologies using a reductionist approach. That is, we start with big chunks of material and cut, shape, trim them down to the shape and size we need to build something. As our technologies have developed, we have also learned how to manage and manipulate smaller and smaller items. To date, the most complex technology created by man is the microprocessor chip – the “brain” of a PC – which typically has tens of millions of components on a slice of silicon the size of your little finger nail.

That seems like amazing miniaturisation, and it is. But we are now learning to build things smaller – by a factor of a thousand to a million times smaller. We do this by starting with individual atoms, and put them together to build the precise bits we need. The result is that we can build the same computer chip smaller than a grain of sugar. A complete functioning computer, with radio communication capability, can be smaller than a grain of rice. And we will be able to build them very, very cheaply and quickly.

Why? What are the benefits of this miniaturisation? Too many to list here, and growing all the time. Nanotechnology is not an evolutionary change, it will introduce a revolutionary change, and it’s both exciting and terrifying. But it cannot be ignored.

OK, on to some local activities that shouldn’t be ignored:

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Port Macquarie Community College

Heaps of hospitality and business related training coming up:

Responsible Service of Alcohol 807W003 Wednesday July 2nd, 1 session 9am-4pm $90

Responsible Conduct of Gambling 807W004 Thursday July 3rd, 1 session 9am-4pm $90

Bar Skills
Gain a basic understanding of the skills needed and tasks to be undertaken to operate a bar. Australian Training and Consulting Provider No. 90886 Participants will receive Statements of Attainment for the units:
THHBFB01B - Operate a Bar,
THHBFB00B Clean and tidy bar areas,
THHGHS01B Follow workplace hygiene procedures and
THHGFA01B - Process Financial Transactions from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations).
Students must be 18 years or over and hold an RSA Certificate. Participants must collect and complete a workbook prior to attending this course.
807W005 Bar Skills Tuesday July 8th & Wednesday July 9th, 2 sessions 9am-4pm $230

Espresso Coffee including Food Hygiene & Safety 807W002 Thursday Jul 10th, 1 session 9am-4:30pm $110

Food Hygiene & Safety
This course covers safe food handling and safe storage, effective use of detergents and sanitisers, waste and pest control. Includes an overview of how the new food safety legislation will affect you. Meets Food Safety Program requirements. Successful participants will gain Statement of Attainment THHGHS01B – Follow Workplace Hygiene Procedures from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations).
807W009 Food Hygiene & Safety - Friday July 18th, 1 session 9am-3pm $95

Intermediate Excel Workshop
Take the next step with Excel. You will learn about absolute references, charts, more functions, linking and protecting worksheets.
806C008 Tuesday June 3rd, 9am-3pm 1 session $90

MS Word & Excel for Business
This course is suitable for anyone seeking employment or returning to the workforce. It will provide an excellent grounding in essential skills for the office. Two units of competency BSBCMN213A Produce simple word processed documents and BSBCMN214A Create and use simple spreadsheets from Certificate II in Business BSB20101.
806C011 Wednesday Jun 18th to Aug 27th, 11 sessions 6pm-9pm $420

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Rydges Friday Business Lunch

Top billing this week goes to Rydges, for their innovative Friday $20 Business Lunch. I was supposed to mention it last week, then I got carried away with other things…

A waterfront location, fine wine, fabulous food, great music, be in and out within the hour, and all for only $20. Sounds too good to be true, but Rydges Compass Restaurant is providing exactly that. Friday $20 Business Lunch includes a main course and a glass of wine or draught beer, from 12 noon Fridays.
Reserve your place on 6589 2822

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Hastings BEC News

This Update, together with back-issues since the start of 2008, is now hosted on our Blog at http://hbec.blogspot.com , where you are invited to catch up on activities and leave your comments and suggestions. I also invite you to comment on blog postings. What do you think of issues raised in this issue? Have your say on our Blog.

Our next HBEC Networking Breakfast will be held Thursday morning 12th June, at Panthers Pier One Restaurant.

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Office space available on Gordon Street

NSW Business Chamber has a couple of offices available for lease within their complex at 146-148 Gordon Street. Give Kellon or Maree a call on 6584 0910 for details.

Could be a good opportunity for a home-based business looking to move up into dedicated office space.

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2nd Annual Customer Care Awards Presentation Dinner is only two weeks away

To be held on Black Friday evening, 13th June at Panthers Auditorium
Last year was a terrific event, this year will be even bigger and better!
Awards will be going to a great mix of established and new faces, so be there to share the fun.

Come along and help celebrate with the leading businesses in our region, and also enjoy a “spooky floor show” – “The haunting tale of the red hot poker”.

Make sure you book your seats early as places are limited.
Tickets available from PM-H Council offices, or from Panthers Reception.
$65.00 per ticket (includes initial drinks, a scrumptious dinner, and the floor show) (Table bookings also available)

Special thanks to Gillespie Media for the fantastic support they provide to Customer Care. Well done guys!

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Port Macquarie Home Business Forum

The Home Business Forum meets every 6 weeks in Port Macquarie from 9:15 until 12:30.
Our next meeting is on Friday 13 June 2008 at Panthers. The cost to attend is only $15 with morning tea provided. Our Guest speakers are:

• David Ross - Direction Accounting - 4 Ways to Hidden Profits
David Ross is a Chartered Accountant and Business Coach and has presented courses and seminars to over 300 local businesses with extraordinary results. This presentation will show you how to discover the HIDDEN PROFITS in your business and what to do to reap the rewards. A very practical and critical session for any business owner.

• John Carroll - Joyer Consulting – Marketing for Small Business.
John is a specialist in branding, marketing communications, leadership and corporate culture. He has conducted hundreds of workshops and training sessions and has written and produced thousands of advertisements in all media types for some of the world’s and Australia’s leading brands & businesses.

If you are interested in attending or to find out more,
please contact either Renee Bell Photographer Tel:02 65848866 Email: info@reneebell.com.au
OR Lisa Christie Tel: 0438 847 825 Email: lisa@visualedge.com.au

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HBEC Member John Hynes – John the WOW man, and Hastings SOLAR Plus has passed on the following clever suggestions. Simple, maybe even obvious, but too often overlooked:

1. Next time you order cheques, have only your initials (instead of your first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your chequebook, they will not know if you sign your cheques with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your cheques.

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED".
(Gregg’s comment: I have followed this good advice for years, since being suggested by the Federal Police. The only sticking point was with the bureaucrats staffing the local RTA office who insisted on having my signature on the back of the credit card before they would accept it. Sigh! The ultimate absurdity was that they accepted me signing the card IN PENCIL in front of them – and then rubbing it off again)

3. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each licence, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Also carry a photocopy of your passport (separately) when travelling abroad.
(Yes Rob, you DO press “Copy” while they’re on the machine!)

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Business guru Robert Gerrish, in his recent newsletter (www.flyingsolo.com.au ) considered how the foul-mouthed TV show restaurateur Gordon Ramsay might look at your business:

Ramsay cuts through ego and pretence and goes for what matters. He seeks honest answers from restaurateurs, asking:
- Are you passionate about what you do?
- Is what you’re offering what the market wants?
- Are you competent enough to provide a quality product?
- Do you have the support to allow you to do your best work?
- Do you give the best value for the price, or look to do as little as possible for the price?
- What’s the purpose of offering your customers a lot of choice?

So how would you answer his questions? And I’m not talking about your cooking.

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Have a great week, and don’t forget to book for the Customer Care Awards. It will be a wonderful night!