Owner To Owner Podcast

@KarenLebsanft is the #CEO and #cofounder of @KurrajongKitchen  bakers of traditional #lavosh #flatbreadKaren is a proud #burraburra woman of the #gundungurranationBased in the #lowerbluemountains in #NSW @KurrajongKitchen is #Australianowned and #Australianmade, and has proudly supported #AustralianWheatFarmers since 1993. Karen runs her business successfully but the model is more family & community focussed. She's on a mission to make the brand the 'vegemite of the biscuit isle'!We have an indepth discussion on how it all got started, her people orientated approach to business (this was formed from deep personal experience), where she wants to take the brand and her own next steps. Karen covers;being brought up in #inner-city housing commission by #mum and #grandma after her dad passed how her mother had to go out to get work to feed three kids under threehow her mum and the family, depended so much upon those businesses in the community that employed herunderstanding deeply that those businesses who employed/engaged my mum and impacted my life will  never truly understand the true impactbeing driven to build a successful business that's also community focusedstarting off in the back of a little restaurantPurpose of the product - to support an entertaining and snacking experienceWhat is Lavosh - a little square cracker enjoyed with cheese and dipsbeing a wholesale manufacturer and brand with a team of around 35 people.being proudly #Australianmade with #localingredients and #supportinglocalfarmers wanting to maintain #lpcoalmanufacturing here,  and also support local suppliers being driven to stay, Australian made / Australian owned despite ever present opportunities to go offshore and someone always saying there are  better opportunities to save moneyher desire to keep everything Australian, because of the flowon effect that it can have in rural communitiesher desire to be more community focused, I think that's what COVID actually taught us.why for her being in business isn’t entirely about saving or making moneybeing able to offer people, families, far more extension than just a wagethe many ups and downs in our business over 28 years and the one thing that we drew on very strongly - #buildingthecommunity within a community, the #kurrajongkitchenfamilyblending family and business and how many businesses don't necessarily know how to blend those her language in the business - we're not a team, where not staff or employees, we're a familyhow that language leads onto "it's everybody's responsibility as a family to hold the space, to all play a role and responsibility authorities and accountabilities"where #smallbusiness misses opportunitiesthe #roi in her approach - intangibles that bring community building why there's always challenges when people are involved but knowing that happens in real families as well her greatest learnings over 28 years of making a lot of mistakes;giving people a voice, and treating them like humans, giving them a seat at the tablegiving them a voice to have a say without objection. using a different language at work to empower the person in the skill set that they're doing. And once we empower them, they will learn to own their role. And her first question is " how can I support you in your role?" her most important role, even though she is the #CEO and #co-founder is just is to make them the hero playing to the strengths of the team member (we all have strengths and weaknesses and we've all got  learning opportunity) but if you play to people's strengths they’ll deliver back and they will shinegeting sick of running a business by fear how to do the right thing so everybody will stay and do the right thing, and if not the team weeds those that aren’t doing the right thingnearly losing the business in 2012 - due to external environmental factors that we hadn't accounted for, a little bit like COVID external environmental factors accepting that we "don't know what we don't know" and chasing new knowledgeunderstanding that rather than saying I can’t afford the time, think about it as I can’t afford the risk of not knowingwhy there is no such thing as a  dumb question in businessand if you don’t understand the answer, ask them to go back to basics, and ask it again if you don't get it because it's your business it's your life it's your family that's going to be affected. my vision is to empower leaders and leaders, connect communities and create life changing opportunities across remote regional cities across the nationher emerging role as a mentor to business owners primarily when they get into this chaos stage - when they could be quite a big business and they just don't know they can't see the wood for the trees and they just need somebody to sit and talk to them, mentor, and have a sense of give them, accountability, and confidence in their decision making process to take those next steps.the next stage for the brand of 28 yearsmaking it into an Australian iconic brand - the vegemite of the biscuit islewhy culture eats strategyand finally why small business is and was really important to her mother, her family and communitieswww.kerrcapital.com.au  Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@LesWatson (aka The Timelord)  is a #smallbusiness #coach and #productivity expert.He was inspired by and trained with @DavidAllen who wrote #GettingThingsDone. He uses the #GTDmethodology in his work to improve productivity management, build team leadership & develop communication.Les believes higher productivity is determined by the answers to 2 key questions;1. Where is your focus? 2. What do you want to do today? What do you want to do this year?In our discussion we talk about;Creating a goal and keeping accountable for itThe power of asking 'what do you want to get done today'?Getting it out of your head and onto paper - the power of writing down what you want to get achieved (and avoiding being lost with 1000 other things going around in your head)The key to effective time management being very clear about what you want to do with your timeThe secret to project success;What's the end result?  What does done look like? What are you trying to achieve?Second question whats next?Identifying the telltale signs that signal someone is struggling at a personal level with all the overwhelmThe importance of better productivity to ensure you are keeping agreements with the people around you, the ones you love The need to #lookafteryourself Why you should treat yourself just as importantly as your highest paying client, your most valuable client.Using your diary to create blocks of #metimeWhy with all of us having the same 24 hours it's about how we prioritize the things that are going to give us the biggest returnWhy leaders need to put their own mask on first before helping others.The value of a walk around the block and enough sleepThe simple components of a trusted system - paper or electronic -  where everything gets recorded to ensure it will get doneThe power of having it all in one place Doing a brain dump and enjoying the freedom and creativity that comes in there from thatWhy the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memoryWrite it down! Write it down! Write it down!Creating accountability by meeting with somebody on a daily or weekly basis to discuss what worked, what didn't work is what I'm going to do differently next week.Why you probably can't do it aloneThe key to email managment - the 4 D’s;dodumpdelegate ordecide / diariseMaking the hard decisions for an improvement in productivity Becoming the role model in your business#OneNoteWhere you can get the book “get back an hour every day”  www.getmoretime.com.auwww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@MarnieRoberts from www.winegrapes.com.au  is a #winemaker and champion of the #cooperativeownership  and operating model. As a #businessmodel #coops have been around for a long time but she believes they are in a resurgence. She grew up in #Mildura surrounded by #coops and was really attracted to the ethos of it working for a collective. #winegrapes now has about 120 #growers and is based in #regional #SouthAustralia. In our discussion we talk about;how a #cooperative can benefit and supporting local people, local growers and their #localcommunitynot being #bigcorporate#mclarenvalethe advantages for growers;the reach  and opportunities they may not get if they went out by themselvestapping into a vast array of skill sets which creates this network of growers communicating with each othergetting more 'pull'being able to lean on each otherwhat #winegrapes offersselling as a stronger unit (and avoiding leaving fruit on the vine or dropping to the ground)making wine for the grower if they can't sell thathow the cooperative model combines #infrastructurehow one of the original founders, @Paxtonwines has developed the Paxton brand while still being part of the groupcurrent challenges with #exporting #wine#globalizationhow we are reimagining the old idea of making a product in the hope that it will sell on the market (way too risky now) and are instead pre-selling or setting up strong relationships with export markets where they've got more security in what they're sellingwhy the days of just crushing a few 1000 tonnes to make wine in the hopes that it'll sell in #China and just going to trade shows, is overthe importance of #buildingrelationships#winetechthe critical importance of the #story around where wine is grownthe benefits of the cooperative model to other local communities;giving the community more powercreating belief and positive reinforcementavoiding feeling like you're just trudging onall leading to an improvement in #mentalhealththe day to day opportunities, challenges and difficulties around, setting up a cooperative, and then managing a cooperative on an ongoing basisdriving a lot and getting face to face#LanghorneCreekprobably just the logistics of distance.how #coops work - general meetings and reporting on corporate obligationshow communication is vitalneeding a strong ethos and a driving force that's laid out to make it fair for everyonewhere the #wineindustry is headedthe loss of Chinese exports#smallproducerswww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@SabrinaRunbeck is a #peakperformanceconsultant with a background in #neuroscience and #publichealth. She #empowers her clients, including #smallbusinessowners, especially in #healthcare, to increase their #productivity and better look after themselves so that they can sustain themselves and their businesses.Her mission is to help business owners prevent their passion from becoming a prison. In this high enegery conversation she talks about;the downside of being so good at just #gettingthingsdonehow #sayingyes to the things that don't truly align with gives away our precious time, energy, and ultimately our sanitygrowing up as an only child in a family of Asians where for girls its like, oh you know you're smart, but get a job, don't rock the boat, you'll be fine.why she ended up the rebellious one because she thought "why should the boys carry out the family name and doing XYZ"getting two bachelor degrees, a masters degree finally got into medicine, and one of the best heart and lung surgery centers in the USAfeeing like  I made it and then I started working 80 plus hours a week, constantly adding more cases or seeing a new consultation just keep goingher 'aha' moment - waking at 8 o'clock in the am and already feeling exhausted but just pushing through it like a little thing, no big deal. If you don't do it, who's gonna do it, that type of mentality, so I had to convince myself#positivepsychology#sabotagingtendencieshow to actually #prioritize - no longer 10 things as a priority, there should just be one, very focused and knowing when you pick that one you have no regret, you're very present, and then you're not putting yourself into the #distractionzone, this #deadzonekey signs that someone should be looking out for in themselves or another's they care about, as, as an indicator that things aren't right.why we should be living more than 80% of the time in our desire zone to keep our momentum going, keep our joy, keep ourself lightdefinition of a #desirezone - it's something that you love to do and you're really good at it come natural to you.doing things that you love to do, and #movingtheneedle in your life or businessknowing that when we start to #procrastinate, we start to slow down our momentum, so that the disinterest zone which is also very dangerousa simple exercise to help you figure out 'your zone'  and how can you automate or delegate themcreating a #truefocus funnel by  eliminating and then #automatingovercoming a #mindset barrier where people feel like I'm by myself. I don't have the time, I don't have the money. I don't have the resources.pivoting into the empowerment side of us to be resourcefulhow if you continue to do the tasks that are truly mundane then you diminish who you are, And not only your confidence and your time, but then really how you see yourself as an individual, as a business owner.what to do if you're not moving the needle in your businessa #naturalpathforpeople, for #businessownersfor you to have that double win with a powerful career and a passion in life, we needed to see life as a whole.@BrendonBurchard https://www.highperformanceplanner.com/identifying and managing 5 key inputs;TimeIntrinsic valueMoneyEnergysanitywhy without the right energy you won't do anything at allthe four different #chronotypes i.e. natural energy cycles in people.#preventativemedicinehow to  preemptively reset yourself, because it's easier to recharge when you're pretty full than bring yourself completely down - constantly just sipping on something, right that's analogy,sanity - why most people are not realizing that a lot of things are just not enjoyablehow are you truly creating freedom for yourself, what does the freedom even look like for you, and is there future value. - it's not just the enjoyment of now, the instant gratification#personalgrowth, because without that constant excitement that will build for us, then people eventually gonna get to a point of being stagnanthow you just don't know what you don't know, and for someone else look at it, this chaos can become something so simplified#productivitycoach#businesscoach#relationshipcoachjudgment #sabotagingtendencywanting to serve and making sure everyone else is happy but forgetting  yourself.receiving empathyhaving a #purposestatement for me and a little me time because y'all deserve ita guide on when to say yes when to say nosaying heck yeah yes only to the things that truly light you up in lifewhy every no is a new opportunity toward  things that you truly can feel powerfully about so when you say that yes you don't feel like you're regretting or you feel like you're missing out right, you're you're comfortable with every single decisiondealing with not making the right decisionbuilding confidence in making decisions you may not have made before, that you may have put off because it was too hard ,or you didn't like saying no, so you're retraining yourselfhow important employees are to the success of just about every businesshttps://sabrinarunbeck.com/energywww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@JennDonovan  is co-founder of www.spendwithus.com.au, an #onlinemarketplace and directory for #rural and #regional #smallbusinesses of Australia who have been impacted by #bushfire, #drought, and #coronavirus. @SpendWithUs supports #ruralbusinesses that find it hard to compete due to location, size, technology, and other adversities.Jenn was a #propertylawyer for 17 years before turning to #smallbusiness and #socialmedia #marketing #coaching and #mentoring. She also has her own podcast @SmallBusinessMadeSimple. In our discussion Jenn talks about;the pro's and con's of having a few wines with her best friend and deciding to quit their corporate jobs and buying  a retail business without any retail experience, and as a result finding her passion for marketing and social mediagrowing a retail business in a regional area, and growing it during one of the worst droughtstransforming and then selling the shop before deciding to help other small business owners grow their businesses and really make marketing a priority for themthe spark for @spendwithus from spending a lot of time working with #ruralbusinesses, and touring around rural #NewSouthWales #Deniliquin #Hay #Leeton #Griffith and seeing everyone was really sad and not particularly looking forward to Christmas,#buyfromthebush#spendwithus starting as a #Facebookgroup  to help regional businesses sell to a different audience that was outside their towns ,  think #Amazon but for rural and regional Australia , that's got 315,000 people in it now.her hard won first first lessons in marketing - to listen to the customerswhy there is no such thing as mistake, just lessons to learn frombeing a ready fire aim person, who prefers to  just do it and perfect it as you go along because if we wait for the right time, it may never come,finding a business to buy by knocking on doorsher aims;start a marketplace out so people could actually put their products on a website with traffic comingget small businesses online with a shopping cart even if they don't have a  websitethe type and size of customers on the platformusing emotive language and not just telling me the features@ampaperartsbuilding brand awarenesswhy just opening the front door and expecting customers to flock in won't work offline or onlinegetting started by dipping a toe in the waterbeing blown away at the talent that rural Australia hashaving some very hairy lofty goals for @spendwithus to be a household name like @amazon by showcasing rural and regional Australiaher best three tips for owners who are struggling with social media;show up because people do business with people they know, like and trust. And if you are always just putting products and not showing this your actual face and your voice and your personality, then that is the number one thing that you can do betteras far as your marketing goes no matter what platform you're on or what piece of marketing, you're looking at, people have to get in front of that cameranetworking and collaborations - she is a  huge advocate that your network is relative to your net worth. So, if you want to get more sales, get out there join your local chamber, your local tourism board, whatever it is and brand  yourself as part of your business.#madethegrampianswayunderstanding that the community depends on the viability of small businesses, and why we're better off supporting each otherwww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Ashley Darwen is the founder of @ADITS, an #ITservicecompany run out of #Bowen in #Queensland. He started the business as a 20 year old, and now has 36 employees.Born and bred in Bowen he started his business / working career when still in year 11 at the suggestion of a #teacher who thought he could be putting his efforts into something productive (because obviously, schoolwork wasn't going 100% to plan!). He was offered a school-based traineeship and hasn't looked back.In our discussion he talks about;starting at a local high school one day a week, which then turned into two days a week and three days school then fourgetting bored  at 20 and then starting his own businessgoing home to his parents and saying yeah this is what I want to do and getting the support he wantednot being so sure he would as supportive if his child came home and said the same thing now!!the luck of having a supportive teacher that identified he had an aptitudebeing a managed service providerthe services ADITS offers and the customers they work with , from a #startup or one or two employees to a large school or enterprise with 500acting as a conduit between 300 vendors, it providers out there and the businessthe importance of company culture in growing a one person business to 36 employees from Bowen in Queenslandunderstanding that for a service based business the greatest asset is your team, your peoplehis approach to hiring and the value of doing the last bit of the interview over lunch in an informal settingthe challenges with getting people (employees) to #remoteareas, a town of 10,000 peopleThe challenges of coming from a Metro area to a country townhaving offices in #Townsville and Brisbane because you're not always get to find the skill set that you need or the people you needhow #COVID has brought everyone's attention to the fact that we actually can work from home now, where you can live in a, in a rural or regional location and still work for a metro company#businessculture - creating it vs evolving itthe need to genuinely care about your customers and staff how it takes a whole team to make this thing workmaking the team part of somethingtrusting your teamthe importance of customers aligning their #businessstrategy and their #ITstrategyfirst thing that we do is take an audit of their business as such to see what they've got from a technology point of view to, you know, to see what they've got.the importance of sitting down with the business and understanding what they do, how they do it and then what their plan is in the next 12 to 24 months the need to make sure is that from a technology perspective they have what is needed to scale in the next 12 to 24 monthsbusinesses going onlinebusinesses having a new appreciation for #technology and how, how they can benefit from using IT the gaps  in regional areas (1) #digitalinfrastructure and (2)  #digitalliteracythe roadblocks and challenges in regional Australia to do with #connectivity and #internetspeedwhy in terms of education for businesses the IT industry needs to get better at working with businesses to bridge that gap and to be that conduit and to help them through the journeysome of the risks and challenges emerging now for businesses  - via data breaches, cybercrime#Cybercrime as our biggest threat to technology at the momentpreventative IT solutions#databreaches in Australia, 85% of them come from end usersexciting uses of technologies and businesses in the medical space or aged care spacethe flexible work environment where people can work two days a week at home instead of commuting so they've got more time with their families.Keys to success;having a good team around you that share the same vision and are on the same page to make sure you know from an operational point of view that the business works wellan advisory committee and mentorswww.kerrcapital.com.auwww.adits.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Stephen Dowling is the founder of www.granthelper.com.au  and helps businesses to access #grants and increase their chances of being successful. In this discussion we talk about;the massive and confusing array of grants at #councilgrants #stategrants and #federalgrants the size of the grant market (currently in the billions)the industries where the grants are e.g. #medical, #foodandbeverage, #defense, #space, #mining, #resources#regionalgrantswhere to go to actually find itfinding a #grantconsultant that is well connected and knowledgeable#manufacturingsovereignty - a real issue - the federal government has invested quite a lot of money in that areato prop up the nation's capabilitythe #export arena, and helping #exporters to develop their channels, develop their relationships through innovative means given the travel restrictions at the momentthe #femalebusinessfoundergrant helping #femaleentrepreneurs or #businessowners to grow their businesseshis best tips for increasing chances of success;thinking about what is the project that they want to undertake and being clear on what their activities as the  starting point, rather than worrying about what the grant isincorporating  a business strategy overview, and, and a marketing plan as to have it going to grow the business as a result of the activity that they're plantingtelling a story about how a business is making some sort of transformation and how that transformation benefits the business, but also benefits the sector, maybe the #localeconomy, and so has these sort of rippling effectsusing the right sort of language when responding to questionsusing a grant consultantlooking at the grant and the benefits from an external perspectivethinking of it as an investment in a business by an external party, whether it be government or investorsreporting back to the granter -  there is compliancedeveloping business by looking at new markets and new productsthe #modernmanufacturinginitiative which is currently being rolled out across Australia. food beverage covering ;#Medical#recycling#space#waste#cleanenergycase studies;working with a manufacturer in the food and beverage sector based in South Australia who work across an entire supply chain, from harvesting wild game animals and processing them, and exporting the outputs as much as selling them domestically, and they utilize 100% of the carcass on the animal and have no waste so this particular business is actually applicable across a number of different sectors food and beverage manufacturing circular economy.a biomedtech companyunderstanding that there can be an opportunity costs associated with applying for a grant because there's often a long lead timewww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Lisa Dwyer is a dairy farmer and is actively involved in #governanceroles with a number of #agricultural and #communitybasedorganisations.She started life in the #Victorianthoroughbredracingindustry before (her own words) 'being ambushed' into the #dairyindustry via a marriage proposal. She learned about dairy quickly and together they now run an 850 acre #dairyproperty in #southwestvictoriaIn our discussion Lisa talks about;the call she got on her honeymoon from her mother-in-law that catapulted her and her husband into their own dairy businesshow with limited capital they got startedtheir first #multiculturalherdsurviving the #GlobalFinancialCrisis, #drought,  #diseasetaking on roles as;#Nonexecutivedirector at the @AustralianlivestockexportCorporation#nonexecutivedirector at @murraygoulburnChair of the @victoriastategovernment #RegionalPartnership for the #GreatSouthCoastregionher approach to and philosophy on managing it all;no compromisesbeing willing to accept that responsibility and doing all that you possibly can to deliver on what you are responsible forthe relationship with their animals from an agricultural perspective - and having this real sense of responsibility for their #animalwellbeingcrucible moments, in particular with the implosion of @MurrayGoulburn (noting she joined the board after all that occurred) - and the responsibility to make the best of the ruins of what was a 60 year old farmer-owned company, and being able to deliver back to the farmers, the investment that they had made quite often over decades was probably one of the things that I am most proud ofThe unlimited opportunities in #agriculture - as the world's population continues to grow, and the desire for safe, #highquality #sustainablyproduced #food and #fiber, which is exactly what we do here in Australiathe perennial challenges of #globaltrade which we're seeing playing out in the media nowthe challenges of climate changeher frustration with the ongoing negative discussions about agriculture and the link to why (unsuprisingly) young people don't want to pursue agriculture as a career -the new era for #Australianagriculture how #agtechtechnology and new capital streams will deliver a much more highly sophisticated ag sector that will attract the best and brightest talentthe objectives of the state government regional partnership for the Great South Coast region (the greatest region in Victoria!!);helping government understand what's required in the regionsensuring that the people of the regions feel as though they're being heard#digitalconnectivitygetting a more equitable voice for #rural and #regionalVictorians, and particularly for the #disadvantaged, and also for the #youth and #women.#digitalliteracy#digitalaffordability#satellite #reliableconnectivity#digitalnow initiativemovement into the region - from #Hamilton, #Portland, #Warrnambool #Camperdown #Kerangthe significant natural tourism attractions e.g. #GreatOceanRoad, #12apostles #BudjBim (#indigenousagriculture) #GrampiansNationalPark and #visitoreconomy#preeminence from an agricultural perspective#renewableenergy (already produced more than 50% of the of the state's wind energy)why there shouldn't be any limitation on the ways in which you can get involved in your local community, and her advice to;start with very modest, expectationsdo your homework and you must go to every meeting prepared, andlisten to the views of others and make considered contributionsalways look for the #silverlining because nothing will be achieved, out of a negative perspectivewww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Joanne Martin finds purpose in helping #innovators, #changemakers and #entrepreneurs to really ignite and #scaleup their #smallbusiness through #content marketing, #communication and #brandstrategy.She helps #aspiringauthors to write their own #book, and has also created a #multiauthorbook #platform to enable people to basically contribute a chapter to a book along with other authors and entrepreneurs.She runs her business out of #LakeMacquarie, #NewSouthWales. In our discussion she talks about;starting her career in the #corporateworld, working in marketing communications and also transformational change finding her passion for #writinglearning by doing a lot of #ghostwriting for people who run their own #blogs but don't have time to actually write the things themselves founding out she wanted more autonomy in her life and actually making a  business out of providing service to corporateswanting to do something different and not be constrained by working for someone else. starting to help entrepreneurs and working with #femaleentrepreneurs and #startups and #women.working with #smallbusinesses in the #regions and helping them get cut through and actually access the right clientsbeing asked in 2019 to co-author a book in USA - not being sure she had time but accepting and finding new networks, and new directionsidentifying how her corporate background, skill set including learning & development and communications & marketing actually flipped things on their headband and made her more powerful. established her own publishing companyhow she takes people through the writing process and  gets them to start thinking about how to promote themselves and what they want to do on the back of that how COVID has changed the game considerably for everybody around the globe - and while a lot more people are online, it's a lot noisier and harder to cut throughhow regardless of where you are physically located, the opportunities to build a global audience, a global brand, and a global client base being more realistic the particular challenges for regional and remote business ownersgrowing up in the country with parents who always ran a businessThe importance of personal connections and the opportunity for identifying your ideal client and then working out where they are and how you can actually connect with them#multiauthorbooks#strategicmarketing networking within your community the need for smaller #regional, #remote owners to be more creative and innovative in the way they promote #findingyourvoicethe importance of the #stories behind what people are doing and whythe importance of focussing on what's in it for the customerhow the #buyfromthebush campaign actually put a lot of regional businesses on the map getting away from the selling stuff to people#engagementmarketing the big push to #buylocal and to #buyaustralianlooking to support the economy here and #regionaleconomies and #regionalcommunitiesdripfeeding your story as part of your promotiontalking about your product or service in a way that brings customers on the journeyher current book on innovation secrets that allows people to walk away with tips that they can apply straight away within their business. the merits of the traditional route to #publishing vs #selfpublishingthe advantages of #Kindle and #Amazon@AnthonyTurner  book (Disaster Recovery) being cathartic after doing a lot of work in disaster recovery after the Black Saturday bushfires Victorian floods of 2010 2011 writing and sharing your story to help change the lives of others and make the world a better place, and potentially also to leverage that as a marketing tool or personal branding tool being approached now by quite a big magazine in Europewww.kerrcapital.com.au  Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Warwick Powell connects #regionalAustralianbusinesses, #marketplaces, #regionalcommunities and economic project opportunities with the growing markets of Asia and in particular, #China, #HongKong and #Macau. He's had wide experience in #cmmunitydevelopment and #regionaldevelopment and has spent 25 years engaged in regional businesses, particularly in #regionalQueensland, working across diverse industries from information technologies and communications, through to #naturalresources, #tourism, #agribusiness and property development.Some of his current roles include;Chairman at @SisterCityPartners (a not for profit regional investment banking enterprise founded to build resilient regions)Chairman at www.BeefLedger.io (a blockchain enabled integrated provenance and payments platform development and implementation in the beef supply chain)Adjunct Professor at QUTHe also has an extensive understanding of China, Australia, trade relationsIn this absorbing discussion Warwick talks about;how Australian regions can better connect with the bigger markets immediately north of Australia.why Blockchain as a technology is now 'hitting its straps' having been around about 12 and a half yearsthe main virtue of #blockchaintechnology - the ability for information, that many parties need to have confidence in, to be created and shared in a way so that all the different parties can depend on itthe problems in traditional information systems where the information that's been passed along from one player to another runs into a whole bunch of risks in terms of validity, accuracy, timeliness, authenticity, etcwhat blockchain allows us to do - to ensure that all the players involved in a particular supply chain activity are involved in the key phases of information production, validation, storage, dissemination and consumption at the same timethe shared responsibility for data integrity in blockchain, which speeds things up, reduces costs associated with having to doublecheck things, and ultimately smooths out the ways in which supply chains work#supplychainshow #beefledger uses #blockchaintechnology to improve the flow of information all the way through to the end consumer, but principally focused around the wholesale marketplace to ensure that owners of assets and buyers of assets can be confident in what they're buyinghis collaboration with @QUT and the www.futurefoodsystems.com.au CRC #CooperativeresearchcenterOne of the things about the blockchain ecosystem is that a lot of effort over the last 10 years has gone into really what I would describe as back end or back office issues.#smallbusiness using #blockchainhow #blockchain starts to tackle questions around #informationdoubtand why doubt equals discount and provenance equals profitwhy when there is doubt around the veracity of the claims you're making about your product the marketplace will discount thatwhy when the marketplace has confidence in the provenance claims of the products they're buying provenance equals profit.how to build a loyal customer base by building their confidence that what they're getting is more likely than not to be what it's meant to behow at @beefledger they are trying to create the right incentive mechanisms using blockchain technologies and smart contracts that reward the pursuit of excellencewhen the question of #informationintegrity becomes a common public goodthe reality that Australian production systems are often quite a bit more expensive than alternatives in other parts of the world, which means we really need to work very hard at the value proposition that that is sufficiently persuasive that says, look, it is a bit more expensive but there are the benefits#Australianexportersthe economic sanctions that are China putting on Australiahow he sees the next 20 to 25 years with Asia continuing its path to economic development and greater wealthAustralia as one of 15 signatory countries to the #RegionalComprehensiveEconomicPartnership (#RCEP).@ASEAN groupthe ongoing growth of China which is likely to become the world's largest economy in the next, within the next 10 yearswhy Australia needs to think seriously about the importance of #RCEP  as an institutional framework.#customs #paperlesscustomsblockchain enabled digitized payments -  the fast lane vs the slow lanethe need to ensure that there are sufficient pipelines for data flows.the need to build capacity throuhgh #education not only in a very traditional sense, but also amongst #SMEs, to make sure that people don't feel alienated from these new technologies.the growing marketplace for digital products In Asia because of their digital nativenesshow developing countries have been able to skip over some of the legacy infrastructure that we're still held back by and have moved straight into a mobile smartphone experiential marketwww.beefledger.iowww.futurefoodsystems.com.auwww.qut.edu.auwww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au