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Last week ICA was involved in the very successful National Small Business Conference in Melbourne. Here’s a quick video giving an overview of the conference.
 
The presentations were outstanding. You can access PowerPoint presentations from the motivational speakers, the government policy people and academics here.

We were sorry to discover that the current Victorian Small Business Commissioner, Geoff Browne, is not seeking reappointment. Geoff has done a brilliant job for small business people in Victoria. Here’s his press release. Our thanks to Geoff. More...

This month, ICA Executive Director Ken Phillips has an article in Flying Solo explaining why the new unfair contract laws for small business people are so significant. It’s a rather timely article because the ACCC has just released a new guide to the laws.

It’s worth being aware of your rights as a ‘solo’ business person under these new laws. These Australian laws are a global first. It’s these sort of laws that will make the ‘gig’ economy fairer and hence sustainable as a new business model.  More...

At ICA, we're a little exhausted because we’ve spent 10 months heavily involved in organising this event. The National Small Business Conference (10-12 August, Melbourne)  is just 2 weeks away. We believe it’s important that at least once a year politicians, bureaucrats, academics and small business people get together to discuss small business issues.

This year’s conference has a stunning line-up of presenters. We highly recommend you look at your timetable and budget to see if you can attend at least part of the conference. There’s great value, we think. More...

We’re heavily involved in assisting to organise the National Small Business Conference (Melbourne, 11-12 August)  which we strongly recommend you consider attending, if you have the time.

The conference is ‘into’ innovation. But there are limits! Watch this very funny YouTube clip presented by US comedienne Julia Louis-Dreyfus. It’s amazing what innovators can do with the humble AA battery! Ha! More...

We frequently complain about the way the ATO treats small business people.  And we are very pleased that the Parliamentary Inquiry into ATO scrutiny has recommended keeping the scrutiny of the ATO.

But we have seen some improvement. We’ve long been critical of the ATO’s ‘contractor/employee’ decision-making tool. But it’s been reviewed, modified and is now looking pretty reasonable. More...

What has Triple8Funk hiphop dance group to do with a discussion on small business? Everything! (See Triple8Funk YouTube video and website here). Triple8Funk is a successful small business operating nationally and internationally. And their dance routine on 2 July in Melbourne will lead into a discussion on small business in the Arts space.

Triple8Funk are just part of the impressive line up of speakers and discussions at the SEAANZ Small Enterprise conference in Melbourne on 1–3 July. See the conference brochure here. Full Info and Bookings can be found here. (Venue: NAB Village, 700 Bourke St, Melbourne. Very easy to get to.) More...

We’re all time-poor when we run our own businesses, so selecting a good conference to go to is important. Here are two small business conferences coming up soon that ICA believes would be worth attending:

Family Business Australia: 8 May, Melbourne

FBA are practical folk who focus on family business issues, such as succession planning, family relationships within your business and more. If you have a family business, the FBA one-day conference is worth considering. More info on our website here. More...