Case studies, Entrepreneurship, Starting a business
Charmaine Cowling had just opened a Yoga studio on the Sunshine Coast in November 2019 and things were going well. Then Covid came along. “Do you know you’re closed tomorrow from midday?” Charmaine’s husband asked her, after watching the news. “We didn’t sleep much...
Entrepreneurship, Starting a business
In my mid-twenties, I got seriously stuck. I’d returned to Sydney after working and travelling overseas for three years and although gainfully employed in Public Relations, I was stuck in a rut. I studied, as you tend to do when stuck, and gained a Masters of Arts...
Building your reputation, Entrepreneurship, Starting a business
In February 2008, I found myself gainfully unemployed. I had a vague hope of being self-employed “one day”. But at the ripe age of 28, I thought I’d need more years experience before I could contemplate making this a reality. I’d had a long and extended quarter...
Entrepreneurship, Money & Sales, Starting a business
When I was a kid, the Dollarmites came to school. You grew up in the 80s in Australia if a Dollarmite bank account was your first foray into the adult world of money. An initiative from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, it was, for many kids, their introduction to...
Entrepreneurship, Starting a business
Image from Where the Wild Things Are by illustrator Maurice Sendak. As a child, monsters are very real. In the twilight years between childhood and adolescence, their power shrinks into being imaginary creatures. As we become adolescents and then, finally adults,...
Entrepreneurship, Money & Sales, Starting a business
I’m regularly asked how much business owners should spend on marketing. Fair enough. We want to know what’s reasonable to invest and what we should expect from our marketing spend. But there’s a better question – a question that will give you a much more accurate and,...
