22 Aussie Female Entrepreneurs Influencing a Nation

Thanks to the Finder team for sending us this one. And for taking the time to put it together. A great list of 22 Aussie female entrepreneurs who are really shaking up this country and the world.

You may have seen the latest Forbes rich list placing Gina Rinehart as the richest person in the country, the richest woman in Asia and perhaps soon to be richest woman in the world.

It’s a sign of the times that Australia’s richest person is a woman. Gina Rinehart’s success is indicative of the changing role of women in our society and the positions of authority they now occupy, something that simply wasn’t possible let alone conceivable 40 years ago.

It’s a cause for celebration that finally our society is in a position where the person who has the most drive, the brightest ideas and the tenacity to see something to the finish is the person who will succeed, regardless of gender.

What better way to celebrate this than by bringing 22 of the most inspirational and successful women in Australia to the same page? Throw in a couple of caricatures and the next thing you know, you’ve got a party featuring Mining magnates, social superstars and fitness aficionados.

The list is as diverse as the people who feature on it are brilliant, but you can never include everyone on these things, so if you think the Finder.com.au guys have missed someone, let them know and they’ll keep them in mind for next time.

2012 Sydney Young Entrepreneurs Mentoring Program

2012 Young Entrepreneurs Mentoring Program.

This mentoring program is ONLY for entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 35 years with a passion and ambition for entrepreneurship who have been working in their business for at least a year.

If you’re eager to learn the business skills and experience that you need to succeed, grow and manage all of the hard bits in business, then this mentoring program is for you.

The Sydney City Young Entrepreneurs Mentoring Program is being run by The Frank Team on behalf of the NSW Government’s Department of Trade & Investment.

There are NO MORE SPOTS LEFT! 

What YOU Get……..

• Four months to focus ON your business, rather than just working IN it
• Expert help and advice over four months that will accelerate the growth of your business and help you manage it all
• A personalised business growth plan
• Knowledge in finance systems, cash flow forecasting, budgeting, pricing and heaps more
• Marketing systems to get the $$ you need to establish and grow
• Sales and promotion tips that you can apply straight away
• Creating simple but critical systems to get your biz working without you!
• The opportunity to leverage and optimise your website
• Learning how to utilise social media to drive leads, conversion and growth
• Heaps of networking
• Hanging out with other young entrepreneurs who will inspire and support you and who know exactly what it’s like to be young, ambitious and running your own business
• PLUS – You will get the opportunity to work one-on-one with a mentor to advise and support you over the 4 months.

This program is AMAZING VALUE. You get workshops, networking, guest speakers and your very own mentor. You would normally pay thousands of dollars for all of that. But thanks to The Department of Trade & Investment you pay only $385 (inc GST) for a 4 MONTH INTENSIVE PROGRAM.

You can get in touch with us on 1300 799 923.

A young entrepreneur who has completed the Young Entrepreneurs Mentoring Program said…..
“Not only did I learn practical, realistic methods to improve my marketing systems, I had ample opportunity to apply these methods during the actual workshops. It’s all very well learning systems and strategies, but if you don’t have the time to implement them into your business nothing actually changes!”

– Amanda Gonzalez, http://www.untangletheweb.com.au/

A few successful young entrepreneurs who have attended The FRANK Team’s programs and events include…

1. Husayn Ali, BRW Fast 50 (Property Development)
2. Vanessa Cullen, Founder of Forward Thinking Design & 2010 Anthill 30under30 Winner  – http://www.forwardthinkingdesign.com.au/
3. Jeremy Liddle, CEO RioLife (Fastest Growing Small Biz in 2010)

Eligibility

1. You must be between the ages of 18 – 35
2. You must own a small business that has been running for over 12 months
3. You want to be working ON the business, and not IN it
4. You want to ACCELERATE, EXPAND and GROW the business beyond yourself
5. You are prepared to work with a mentor

Who, When & Where

Workshops/events will take place in a Sydney city location on the following dates:

• Information event for young entrepreneurs – Thursday 9^th Feb from 5:30-7pm
• Meet your Mentor event – Thursday 23^rd Feb from 6 – 9pm
• Workshop 1: Business Planning – Thursday 1^st March from 6 – 9pm
• Workshop 2: Financial Fundamentals – Thursday 8^th March from 6 – 9pm
• Workshop 3: Marketing, Lifecycle Marketing Systems – Thursday 15^th March from 6 – 9pm
• Networking Event: Thursday 22^nd March from 6 – 9pm
• Workshop 4: Leveraging & Optimising Your Website – Thursday 12^th April from 6 – 9pm
• Workshop 5: SEO & Social Media to Drive Leads, Conversion & Growth –  Thursday 26th April from 6 – 9pm
• Graduation Event: Thursday 3^rd May from 6 – 9pm

You will get to learn from award winning trainers and facilitators, the opportunity to meet experts and to work one-on-one with mentors to gain advice and support, who themselves are successful business owners. Each young entrepreneur gets their OWN MENTOR!!

Venue
All workshops will be held in Sydney City – TBA

Don’t sign up unless you are really committed
This is the one thing we ask.

There is a lot to execute and deliver – so only join up if you are willing to get stuff done and create some serious IMPACT. You are required to attend every workshop/event otherwise you are wasting your time.
You bring your laptop to the sessions and you implement and put all the theory into PRACTICE. And best of all you get heaps of mentoring and networking ops to support you along the way!

You can get in touch with us on 1300 799 923.

Price

This program is AMAZING VALUE. You get workshops, networking, guest speakers and your very own mentor. You would normally pay thousands of dollars for this type of training, but thanks to The Department of Trade & Investment you pay ONLY $385 (inc GST).

This program is now full and REGISTRATIONS HAVE CLOSED.

The Sydney City Young Entrepreneurs Mentoring Program is being run by The Frank Team on behalf of the Department of Trade & Investment.

Global Entrepreneurship Week Kicks off in Australia

Global Entrepreneurship Week Australia kicks off with a bang….

Check out what is happening for GEW in 2011 (Nov 19th to 26th 2011)

Events that have already taken place in Australia for 2011

+ Young Entrepreneur Meet Ups (happening monthly)
+ Start Up Weekend - Sydney and Melbourne
+ CleanTech Open
+ Young entrepreneur mentoring program
+ FRANK Team’s Business development session
+ University of Sydney’s Pitchfest

Events coming up in November and December 2011

+ Silicon Beach Sydney – November 16th
+ FRANK Team Ecommerce strategy session (Sydney) – 15th November
+ The Malaysian Singaporean Association’s Expert Panel Session – 19 th November
+ Australian Society of Entrepreneurs – Ebay Wealth session
+ Australian Society of Entrepreneurs – Personal Branding Session 1 on 5th November
+ Australian Society of Entrepreneurs – Personal Branding Session 2 on 12th November
+ Australian Society of Entrepreneurs – Joint Venture and Networking Session on 15th November

+ Adelaide Silicon Beach networking drinks – 15th November

+ Jelly Day Vibewire, Sydney – exploring the spirit of co-working – 4 th November

Our partners….

What you need to know about Contracts and Insurance

As a young entrepreneur, it is easy to get flummoxed about the “legal stuff” – so Vanessa Cullen, Director of Forward Thinking Design and winner of 2010 Anthill 30 under 30 winner; has put together a Contracts and Insurance 101 piece to help you get your head around it all….

Indemnity, Business Insurance, Contracts, IP and more

Service Contracts

• If you’re in a service industry get your service contract written by the best legal counsel you can afford.

Your professional association may be able to provide you with a basic pro-forma contract template but I’ve largely found these to be deficient when it comes to the reality of what people will try to get out of paying you for your services.

By all means, draft your own contract, using such pro-formas as a basis but do invest in submitting this to a solicitor who specialises in contractual law and has experience of your industry.

Their services certainly won’t be cheap but you’ll save so much more in the long run by having a good, solid, hole-proof contract upfront.

Who’s Signing the Contract?

• Ensure that the person signing (and named in) the contract is the same person responsible for paying you.

If anyone says they’ll be paying you on the behalf of the person who signed then get it in writing, with an acknowledgement that they’ve read the contract and understand that they’ll be held accountable for late payment.

Or, better still, reissue the contract in their name and have them sign. Ensure you’re contracting with an individual or company, not a trading name or false entity.

For large contracts you’d be well advised to conduct a background credit check on the client to ensure they have the capacity to pay versus a history of defaults.

Claiming Fees

• Aside from your fees, also include costs in your contract so you can be reimbursed for travel, printing etc. Make it very clear when payments fall due.

Ensure all parties can identify the end of a stage of delivery so there’s no later argument about when your services have been deemed to be completed, your involvement in the project is in order and the account should be settled.

Licensing Intellectual Property

• Include licensing arrangements in contract terms and conditions even if project is only proposed as a one-off.

You must limit the licence to use your IP or risk it being stolen and replicated.

An example of this for us is when we design one store but the client then decides to sell our design to franchisees to roll-out subsequent stores.

We have licencing arrangements with our clients that allow them the freedom to expand and franchise but which also ensure we receive a suitable return on the replication of our design.

Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance
• You must get public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance. You’d have to be crazy to run a business without protecting yourself from litigation.

Read the paperwork carefully and ensure you’re properly covered.

Business Insurance
• I also recommend you get business insurance to protect your business from costly interruption and to protect your assets.

Be careful to enquire about ‘add on’ covers.

These are items that you’d think would be covered in the general business insurance but which your insurer has decided (in their infinite wisdom) to make separate options.

We got stung one year by not realising that business items in a business vehicle were not insured because we didn’t realise it was a separate ‘option’.

When items were stolen from a vehicle, we found we had no cover. Business items on your person or in your vehicle may not be automatically covered. Read the PDS in great detail.

Purchase Records

• Record all conversations with insurers and suppliers at purchase time, they often do and you should too. This protects you from errors in their sales process that may be difficult to prove later on.

We hope this helped!

Education from the Slums – a Ted talk to remember

We liked this one….

$6 million Govt funding for tech start ups

If you have a tech start-up, or planning one – the NSW Govt wants to hear from you!

So here is the criteria to satisfy for the Collaborative Solutions-Mobile Concierge Program

Consortia-backed submissions Each submission must be backed by a consortium of at least three members. The consortia lead must be a NSW-registered business with the capability to commercialise and export the ICT solution being developed. The consortia must include at least one user organisation to participate in the development and piloting process. The remaining consortia members will provide technologies, content or capabilities to the project. Submissions by single companies or individuals will not be considered.

Developed and piloted in NSW Solutions must be predominantly developed in NSW. Submissions with minor components developed outside of NSW will be considered, but those components will not be supported by the grant if one is awarded. The solutions must be piloted in NSW.

Development has not commenced The development of the proposed solution must not have commenced before the date of submission. Any grant funding will be for the development and piloting of the proposed solution after the date of submission.

Funding applications close on March 25, with successful grants announced in early April

There is an industry briefing to provide details of this program. If you are going to check this out – you have to confirm your place by 28th Jan 2010. Click here for more details on the CS-MC Program

Best of luck folks

Sydney Young Entrepreneurs Program Registration

Calling all Sydney Young Entrepreneurs

JUST ANNOUNCED – 2012 YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS MENTORING PROGRAM. Clike here for more info…

So where are some of our past FRANK participants @ now?

•Listed as one of BRW‘s Fastest 100 growing companies – Husayn Aly

•Anthill 30 Under 30 Winner – Vanessa Cullen

•Australia’s Fastest Growing Small Business; My Business Magazine awards – Jeremy Liddle

….and many other peeps who have

* sold their businesses
* raised some serious cash
* expanded and taken on new staff
* franchised

…… and are on track to meet their BHAG business goals!

CLICK HERE FOR 2012 SYDNEY YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS MENTORING PROGRAM. There are only 25 spots available so you do need to get in quick. You can get in touch with us on 1300 799 923 or email jessica@frankteam.com.au.

Here is is what one recent participant from the 2010/2011 Young Entrepreneur Program; Samantha Cran from AM-PM Removals said about the results she got….

How would you rate your overall satisfaction with this program?
AWESOME AND BUSINESS CHANGING

Recently I attended the Young Entrepreneurs Business Mentoring Program…All in all, the program has been most beneficial.

Also, the program has been great for networking. I’ve picked up a new account, at a session based on web design, of all things!

The Frank team has provided worked through templates that can be adopted to our own businesses. This saves an immense amount of time starting from scratch and provides established guidelines on things such as budgets, lead trackers, target markets and marketing calendars.

There has also been an astonishing array of speakers covering relevant topics, for example; accounting, internals systems such as salesforce, website design and past and present success stories – simply inspirational.

I’d like to thank the Frank team for tailoring a program based on the businesses attending, allowing each person to feel their needs were met in the areas requiring most development.

If these are some of the results you want; then put your name down for 1 of the last 5 spots for our Young Entrepreneurs Mentoring Program – If serious ACCELERATION, EXPANSION and GROWTH are on the cards for your business – then check this out

Eligibility

If this is you then you may be eligible for the program -

1.You have a business, or want to SERIOUSLY get into business (i.e. you have taken some steps)

2.You are between the ages of 18 – 35

3.Your turnover is from $0 – $750K annually

4.You want to be working ON the business, and not IN it

5.You want to ACCELERATE, EXPAND and GROW the business beyond yourself

Don’t sign up unless you are really committed

This is the one thing we ask.

There is a lot to execute and deliver – so only join up if you are willing to get stuff done and create some serious IMPACT. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

Your Reward

1.From A to Z – everything that you need from financials to marketing to strategy planning in these workshops – and you come in with a laptop and get started straightaway. You execute immediately.

2.Walk the talk – speakers give us expert advice on the numbers, seeking venture capital, digital media strategy, doing business using mobile platforms as well as how to take your business to external markets…..and more…

3.Business Idol – where you get to pitch, share and learn from MENTORS who know their fields the best….

4.Awesome community – and networking; and we share, cross pollinate and hook you up with what you need for your business…

Price

* $4000 value was $1975
* Now $675…..and if you refer someone else, we DROP 15% off the price for BOTH of you!
* So that’s $574 ONLY.
* And if you don’t get what came for – it’s a 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE – no questions asked! You can’t help but win on this one.

10 spots pre-filled. 5 SPOTS LEFT. If this even slightly raises your interest, get in touch with us ASAP.

Dates

•6th April 2011 (wednesday;6.30 – 9.30 pm)

•16th April 2011 (saturday; full day)

•30th April 2011; (saturday; 3 – 9pm)

Venue

Sydney CBD

How to Register?

The 2011 Young Entrepreneurs Program has ended, the 2012 Program kicks off on 9th Feb 2012. Hurry and register now as their are ONLY 25 SPACES. Click here for more information.

There are only 25 spots available for the 2012 YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS MENTORING PROGRAM so you do need to get in quick. You can get in touch with us on 1300 799 923 or email jessica@frankteam.com.au.

Your 2011 – Massive success; or Epic fail?

Imagine this….it is 31st Dec 2011 and the whole world is about to celebrate the coming of 2012 – what do you think will be your final reflective thoughts of YOUR 2011?

Well…….you have 361 days to create this year as you want it….and counting.

Richard Branson in his book “Screw It, Let’s Do It”, said,

“I always tell people that if they want to do anything well, they must plan and prepare.”

Don’t forget to take time to do this important step. It is only too easy to get caught up in the excitement or the ‘busy-ness’ and forget. Don’t watch that Youtube interview, don’t check your Facebook, don’t plan on how to spend your riches…until you have planned and thought about your business goals and strategy. Branson’s achievements only prove the value of this importance business step.

Have you thought of what makes a great business, as opposed to a frustrating, going-nowhere business? How will you know that yours will be successful? Well, let’s hear from some hugely successful young entrepreneurs on how they started and planned their path to building great businesses…

Scott Farqhuar’s checklist (regarding what he looks for in a biz) – Atlassian
1. Would I personally use this?
2. Do I get excited about the possibilities of this idea?

Matt Wilson’s checklist– Under30CEO.com

1. How much time/effort will the idea take to implement?
2. Is the idea profitable?
3. Does the idea fit your businesses long term strategy?
4. How will the public view your idea?
5. How will your employees view your idea?

Now it’s your turn. Rate yourself in our simple Business Fire Test checklist – 10 questions and you will know exactly where you are at, and what you need to do.

And if you are a Sydney Young Entrepreneur we have some outstanding 2011programs with mentors, business experts and super hot business content!

Check out Groupon’s simple idea – on the importance of focus!

Groupon’s CEO, Andrew Mason – and their rise to massive success in 2 years!

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