It’s Friday evening. I’m heading home after a late appointment in North Sydney. The traffic is surprisingly quiet at 7pm as I head across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. To my left, I can see the Brilliance of the Seas manoeuvring away from the Overseas Passenger Terminal and preparing to do its miraculous turn in front of the glorious Sydney Opera House. You never, ever get tired of that scene.

You start off in business and take any work that is offered to you. As a former consultant that we used to engage in my former accounting practice, David Connell, once remarked, if they had the smell of a cheque book, they became a client.

The two drivers are standing outside their cars, admiring the view. Each of the vehicles is clean, polished and in the midst of a day of ferrying people around Melbourne. They each comment to the other about the other’s car, whilst remarking that their own has a smudge mark here, or needs a polish there.

Happy New Year! My best wishes to you and your families for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024.

Here we are, once again, at the back end of the year, in the season of the Fruit Mince Pie. My sister-in-law, Sue, makes the very best of them with delicious flaky pastry and her own fruit mince mix. My weight loss journey over the past 15 months will be severely tested by the delights of her cooking, this festive season.

Australia’s four big banks really need to change their ways around how they lend to small and family business. If they don’t, a large disruptor is going to enter the finance space, quickly erode their small business market and in the process, put the business models of each of them at significant risk. Maybe that’s the rocket they need!

I’ve been working with small and family businesses, and their owners, for more than three decades. It’s been an insightful and enjoyable journey, where I’m always grateful to have the opportunity to be invited into their businesses, their homes and their lives.