home > archives > plus regulars > feedback
As the Australian bank with more SME business customers than any other, we want to know what you’re thinking. We invite you to share your ideas, innovations and opinions. What are your gripes? What makes your business better? What would you like to know more about? We’re keen to hear your news and views.
In every issue of Business View we’ll feature the most interesting feedback from readers. You can reach us by email at business.view@nab.com.au.
I’ve recently read an article on self development which made me realise just how much of my time is consumed by my business. There’s so little opportunity to improve my skills. Can you suggest a few easy-to-access sources that might help me improve myself when I have a moment?
Typically, SME owners and managers are time-poor. They are so busy working in and on the business, they have precious few hours left for themselves.
Organisations such as the Australian Institute of Management offer a range of options including specialised events, seminars and training, and a comprehensive website (www.aim.com.au) that allows you to peruse new thinking, approaches and research online.
A more recent arrival is www.smartcompany.com.au, which has plenty of news and development ideas for entrepreneurs and includes an entertaining and informative Agony Aunt section.
I keep reading the term, SME. What exactly does it mean?
The acronym SME stands for small to medium enterprises. Definitions of SMEs vary around the world, depending on the size of the economy in which they are operating. As a rule of thumb, in Australia, an SME is considered to employ fewer than 100 employees and have a maximum turnover of $20 million, but not always. The Australian Taxation Office currently defines small and medium businesses as having an annual turnover of between $2 million and $100 million. However, the ATO is in the process of recategorising SMEs by increasing the upper turnover limit to $250 million.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics, on the other hand, says medium-sized enterprises have between 20 and 200 employees, while small businesses have fewer than 20.
And, at the recent APEC discussions on SMEs, the definition split the category into segments. SMEs in manufacturing were defined as having 100 or fewer employees, while in service industries it was 20 or less on the payroll. By contrast, SMEs in the US and Canada may have up to 500 staff members.
Since I started my business almost a decade ago, there have never been enough hours in the day to get everything done. How do others deal with this?
Even before you reorganise yourself to create more time, you should consider de-cluttering your life, insists ‘The Office Organiser’, Lorraine Pirihi, who makes a living helping business people become better time managers. As her website ( www.office-organiser.com.au) reports, a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal found that the average white collar worker wastes six weeks a year looking for things!
Time management 101, according to Pirihi, is the written ‘to do’ list – never keep it in your head, she advises – and having one place to write things down. Pirihi believes some of the biggest time wasters are scraps of paper, Post-It notes and back of envelope notations.
Telephone taming is also important. When you start a piece of work, try to finish it without interruptions. Let the phone go to voicemail when it rings, then return all your calls at once.
Reconsider how you organise your day. Do difficult jobs first, when you are at your best, and arrange your breaks at times when you cannot work effectively.
When you do take a break – enjoy!
