Growth Newsletter

Trying to find staff at the moment? So are plenty of others. It’s almost like there’s a chorus of “where is everyone?” amongst business owners and managers right now. It seems as if the issue doesn’t discriminate between industries or geographies. Everyone is singing the same tune.

How close our world is these days?

December is always a month of celebration in our household, but this December is all the more special. On Friday of this week, my wife, Trish, celebrates a milestone birthday. As you know, a lady never discloses her age, so let’s just say there’s a zero in there somewhere.

One of Australia’s best ever motor racing drivers, Canadian born Allan Moffat, once coined the term “Never let ambition outweigh ability”. A four time Australian Touring Car Champion and four times winner of the epic Bathurst 1000 kilometre endurance race, he certainly exhibited both in spades over a glorious 25 year career.

Isn’t it amazing how quickly you get a feel for a business when you first walk in the door? First impressions truly are everything.

In last week’s edition of Growth, I made the bold call that family business owners aren’t that great at articulating business direction to their team. Essentially, it’s what you and I call leadership.

Most family business owners and managers are great at what they do, but sorely lacking in their ability to lead and manage people. I’ll come to why in a moment.

On Monday of this week, our second and youngest son, Fraser, turned 21. Where did those years go? It seems like only yesterday that Trish’s Mum, Peggy, phoned me at work and said that she’d gone into labour. I bolted home from the office and we did the mad dash down Narellan Road and made it to Campbelltown Hospital just in time for festivities to begin!

I caught up with my expert IT consultants on the Central Coast for lunch a few weeks ago. They’re a key part of our business and without their expertise, responsiveness and ability to pull rabbits out of hats, we wouldn’t be able to function as a business.

Last week, the Federal Government engaged in the biggest budget spend in the nation’s history. A massive deficit as a result of personal income tax cuts, business investment stimulus and infrastructure spending are all targetted at firing up an economy that has been impacted by COVID 19.