The back-to-school season is a bustling time for small businesses, but for some, it presents a logistical puzzle of epic proportions. Imagine managing a business where 90% of your annual operations are concentrated within a six-week period, precisely when many employees are on holiday.

For Campion Education, the annual back-to-school surge is not just a busy period, it’s a logistical mountain to conquer. With schools across Australia preparing to welcome students back, the demand for educational materials skyrockets exponentially. Our business model revolves around serving these schools efficiently and comprehensively, which means gearing up for an exceptional logistical challenge.

In this article, we’ll delve into several top tips based on our approach to managing logistics during the back-to-school season, when we prepare to onboard 1,500 casual staff across the country and pack around 10,000 orders daily.

Planning is everything for back-to-school

Fail to prepare, and you prepare to fail. Begin your preparations well in advance of your peak season. Create a clear timeline that includes sourcing, staffing, training, and any other critical activities specific to your industry.

Begin staffing processes well in advance of the peak season to allow ample time for interviews and training. Finding staff willing to work during the holiday period can be a challenge, so it pays to start this process as early as possible. 

Develop a comprehensive onboarding program that familiarises seasonal staff with store policies, products, and procedures. Utilise training materials, online modules, and mentorship programs to expedite the learning process well ahead of time.

Planning is the only way to prepare for the unexpected. Contingency plans should be developed to deal with unforeseen challenges that may arise during peak seasons, such as higher or lower-than-expected demand, price sensitivity, and competitor shifts. 

Get detailed about demand

Tackling high demand during peak seasons requires precision, dedication, and deep market understanding. Our logistics and warehouse operations have the capacity to pack 10,000 orders daily during the peak season, but these impressive numbers are only possible thanks to our robust demand forecasting and inventory management systems. 

Excess inventory incurs storage costs and can lead to significant quantities of obsolete stock, while accurate demand forecasting minimises these expenses. As part of your planning, invest in a well-structured inventory management system that enables efficient stock turnover when you need it most. Utilise historical data and market trends to predict product demand accurately, so that when the dial gets turned up to 11, you’re already one step ahead. 

Collaboration with suppliers is a game-changer. Flexible terms and return policies can significantly reduce the burden of excess inventory, especially when demand doesn’t meet expectations. Strong supplier relationships enable businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and ride the demand rollercoaster more smoothly.

Never stop improving

Investing in technology and systems that streamline your operations is quite clearly the right move – but don’t assume that once you’ve implemented a new tech system, your job is done for good. 

No system is perfect. By encouraging feedback from your team, customers, and partners, it’s possible to uncover hidden pain points and inefficiencies in your operations. These insights are invaluable for identifying areas that need improvement, especially during busy periods when all hands are on deck.

Data analytics is a powerful tool for understanding your business. It provides insights into customer behaviour, operational efficiency, and areas for enhancements. Small efficiency improvements can lead to significant cost savings and huge improvements in overall customer satisfaction. 

By continuously iterating and refining your processes, you can optimise efficiency year on year, resulting in better resource allocation and profitability to help balance out those quieter periods. With the right mindset and commitment, any small business can rise to the challenge of managing logistics during peak seasons and thrive in the face of mounting orders.

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Contributed by James Cathro who is an education resource expert with more than three decades of experience across the education, broadcast, and IT industries. Since 1998, he has been the Managing Director of Campion Education, Australia’s largest supplier of education materials. 

The latest Employment Hero SME Index, which uses an accumulative dataset of over 150,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and 1.5 million employees, reveals wages in Australia’s SME sector have declined month-on-month (MoM) for the first time in six months, signaling further rate rises in the near term to lower inflation are unnecessary.

The monthly median hourly rate decreased by -0.3 per cent from October to November. South Australia (0.1 per cent), Victoria (0.2 per cent), and Tasmania (0.3 per cent) were the sole states with an increased median hourly rate MoM. Interestingly, smaller enterprises saw a 0.6 per cent increase while medium and larger enterprises dropped by -0.4 per cent and -1.4 per cent, respectively.

The industries that saw the most significant MoM drop in wages include Healthcare and Community Services (-0.7 per cent); Science, Information and Communication Technology (-0.5 per cent), and Manufacturing, Transport, and Logistics (-0.4 per cent).

For 18-24-year-olds and 25-64-year-olds, MoM median rates increased by 0.3 per cent and decreased by -0.01 per cent respectively, while median rates for Under 18-year-olds saw a 0.6 per cent increase as 65+-year-olds remained unchanged. The median hourly rate for employees working in Australian SMEs is now $37.77, $0.19 less than the previous month.

Average employee growth has increased only marginally (0.04 per cent) MoM within the SME sector, with growth varying across states and territories. SMEs in the Northern Territory saw the biggest decline at -0.2 per cent, while the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland saw a decrease of -0.1 per cent. SMEs in Victoria showed a 0.04 per cent rise, while Tasmania, New South Wales, and West Australia experienced an increase of 0.1 per cent. SMEs in South Australia saw the largest monthly increase of 0.2 per cent.

Employee growth also varied among industries from October to November. SMEs in Construction and Trade Services and Science, Information and Communication Technology decreased by -0.01  per cent. Healthcare and Community Services and Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics increased by 0.1 per cent. SMEs in Retail, Hospitality and Tourism increased the most at 0.2 per cent.

Ben Thompson, Co-founder and CEO of Employment Hero, said: “After months of slowing, wages in Australia’s SME sector have decreased for the first time in six months. As the data shows wage growth is flattening to align with inflation, the RBA must consider halting interest rate increases for at least the near term. 

“This critical alignment of wage growth with inflation and an ongoing decline or slowing of average employee growth in SMEs marks a potential turning point in the nation’s economic trajectory. Our data indicates that the economy will continue to cool off as we head into 2024 and it is likely mid-next year, we’ll see SMEs cutting back on hiring and growth plans as the economy potentially enters a small recession.”

The retail sector braces for a mild Christmas as the cost of living bites

Although median hours worked slightly increased by 1.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) across Australian SMEs, most industries recorded a YoY decline except for Science, Information, and Communication Technology, which saw no change. The Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism sectors saw the most significant dip YoY at -1.4 per cent and quarterly at -3.2 per cent, suggesting workers in these industries are receiving fewer hours compared to this time last year, perhaps in response to weakened in-store foot traffic.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are the heart of the Australia and New Zealand economies, representing about 97% of all businesses in both countries. Digitising small businesses across the region can create significant economic opportunities. Recent research from global small business platform, Xero, and the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) found that SMBs could increase Aotearoa’s GDP by up to NZ$7.8 billion (A$7.2 billion) each year by using cloud-based tools to improve productivity. In Australia, research suggests that if all SMEs fully embraced digital technology, they could unlock another A$181 billion in revenue.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Xero have a shared vision to help SMBs unlock this opportunity and advance the digital economies of both countries. To support this, we are collaborating to offer AWS Lift through the Xero App Store, to help Xero’s small business customers and ecosystem community leverage the power of the cloud to digitally transform their business.

Launched in February this year, AWS Lift is a program that helps SMBs to kickstart their digital transformation journey by offering a starter pack of AWS Credits* over 12 months to help them get started on the cloud. SMBs can access these credits, up to US$83,500, to try out over 240 AWS technology services including machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), using its extensive global cloud infrastructure and deep functionality.

SMBs can also use AWS Lift to modernise operations and move from legacy on-premises data stores to a fully managed cloud platform offering world-class security, resilience, and the ability to quickly scale. SMBs receive support from AWS and a global community of AWS Partners, who have specialised skills, capabilities, and differentiated solutions for organisations from every industry and of every size to work towards digital transformation.

“At Xero, we enable small businesses and their advisors to operate efficiently using our cloud accounting platform,” said Jeremy Butteriss, EGM ecosystem and partnerships at Xero. “We know that small businesses do better when supported by technology, so we are proud to support small businesses and our ecosystem community to get started on their digital transformation journey leveraging AWS’s broad and deep set of services through the AWS Lift program, available directly via the Xero App Store.”

Empowering SMB digitisation with the cloud

In Australia and New Zealand, SMBs such as Lovisa (retail), Kontentlabs (education), Beyond Essential (healthcare), are already tapping the power of the cloud to digitise their businesses, while having the flexibility to scale as needed with AWS’s pay-as-you-go options.

For PaySauce, a Kiwi software company based in Wellington that provides payroll solutions for small and micro employers, AWS Lift was instrumental in supporting business growth and innovation.

“As a SaaS company looking to expand across New Zealand and Australia, we need access to world-class technology to help us rapidly innovate and scale to support our growth,” said Asantha Wijeyeratne, CEO and co-founder of PaySauce. “AWS Lift allowed us to get started quickly on AWS and access their comprehensive set of services, global cloud infrastructure, and team of AWS experts to help us rapidly experiment and accelerate our transformation.”

For Auckland-based HyperCinema, the world’s first live AI cinema where audiences are the star of a movie, AWS Lift helped them bring their innovation to life quickly.

“Built on AWS’s infrastructure, we have pioneered a world-first in AI entertainment and brought this unique innovation to market more rapidly than expected,” said Tarver Graham, CEO, Gladeye, which co-founded HyperCinema. “We were able to leverage a range of AWS services and infrastructure, which provided us with the scale and distributed compute capability to operate at ultra-high speeds and deliver a smooth movie-going experience to our audience. We received exceptional technical support and guidance for what is a highly complex service, and we’re excited about the possibilities of our collaboration as we continue to push the boundaries of AI entertainment globally.”

“The digital economy has created new opportunities for SMBs in Australia and New Zealand,” said Pip Gilbert, head of strategy and operations, AWS New Zealand. “Business leaders that accelerate their digitisation journey unlock growth, innovation, and cost optimisation opportunities, while building resilient and agile organisations for tomorrow. By leveraging AWS and Xero, SMBs can get started on the cloud quickly and easily, and leverage advanced services like AI/ML and data analytics to experiment and drive insight-driven transformation.”

Xero has been a long-term customer and partner of AWS since migrating their platform to AWS in 2016, which has enabled them to scale, innovate, and rapidly grow their business globally. From a startup in New Zealand in 2006, they now have more than 3.95 million subscribers globally.

Recently, Xero announced it was experimenting with a generative AI in its customer experience platform, Xero Central. As an early adopter of cloud tech Amazon Bedrock, a service to build, scale, and accelerate the development of generative AI applications, Xero has the advantage of experimenting with different foundation models and large language models, plus Xero’s extensive knowledge base to enhance the support provided to customers.For more information on getting started with AWS Lift through Xero, please visit the Xero App Store

Business travel will remain strong in 2024, with one of Australia’s foremost industry experts forecasting exciting changes from mid-year. Increased capacity and greater competition among airlines are anticipated to lower airfares and further boost business travel.  

Tom Walley, Australia-based Global Managing Director of Corporate Traveller, the flagship SME division of Flight Centre Travel Group, says: “The business travel industry is healthy and is already seeing some critical changes come through. Premium fares have already dropped, and we can expect to see economy fares come down by mid-2024 as flight capacity from international carriers increase. 

“We’re seeing travellers take advantage of being able to combine business and leisure travel. There’s also a real business focus on face-to-face meeting and collaboration, given the evidence that in-person meetings are the most productive way for businesses to operate. Overall, 2024 will bring good news for businesses that travel.”

Based on his industry and market observations, emerging global trends and travel habits among Corporate Traveller customers, Tom shares his six forecasts for 2024.

2024 Business Travel Trends Forecast

1. Business travel remains a high priority despite economic impacts. Lower airfares in 2024 will open options for budget-conscious business flyers. Tom said while economic uncertainty posed concerns for any business, there would be a meeting point in the travel industry with falling travel costs. A recent Corporate Traveller business survey found that 91 per cent of SMEs would continue to travel regardless of economic pressures. Furthermore, an October 2023 survey by the Global Business Travel Association found about 70 per cent of corporate travel buyers expect to increase or maintain their travel budgets in 2024^[1].

1. Premium international flight seats to drop further. Tom has observed business class seats to destinations such as London and New York reducing for the first time since the pandemic and has seen this firsthand in his own recent leisure and business travel, with costs ranging by up to 60 per cent depending on the time of booking and flexibility. He suggests utilising a travel management company – who can do the leg work for you and hunt down the best price – which is key to getting the best deal. As much as possible, Tom suggests being flexible with the dates and times that you fly – and with what airline you travel on. 

1. International demand to continue into 2024, but seat capacity will soften prices. Flight Centre’s current Big Red Sale indicates that every day prices will drop moving into next year. Competition will begin driving international travel prices down as Chinese carriers made a strong return to Australian capital cities in the final quarter of 2023. All eight Chinese airlines that operated to Sydney pre-pandemic have now returned, with the final carrier, Sichuan Airlines, marking the milestone at the end of October 2023^[2]. Further, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines both returned to Brisbane this month^[3]. Existing carriers are also increasing their capacities, with available seats up 25.6 per cent in September 2023 compared to the same time last year^[4]. Tom predicts peak travel periods, such as the 2024 European and North American summer, will continue to bring about high demand, and suggests business travellers plan and book in advance if they are looking to travel popular routes throughout this period. 

1. Regional business travel will sustain rapid growth. After recent Corporate Traveller research identified a 29 per cent surge in regional travel bookings this year – with some routes having grown by more than 60 per cent – Tom predicts regional travel will continue at these levels. The fast-growing mining industry, including mining for critical minerals used for renewable energy infrastructure, is believed to be behind the boom: nine of the top 10 fastest-growing routes were in Queensland where there has been high investment in regional industry, such as mining and tourism. 

1. Bleisure trips on the rise. Tom expects bleisure travel to continue to rise in 2024 as the world returns to normality, flight capacity continues to grow, and collaboration remains a priority. As we see a fixation on productivity amidst economic pressures, organisations are looking to meet and gather face-to-face. Employees are taking advantage of increased business travel to extend their trip for joint leisure purposes. Corporate Traveller’s own booking data found one, two, and three-day trips between May and October 2023 dropped by an average of 3.9 per cent year on year, while four, five, and six-day trips increased by an average of 4.6 per cent, year on year. Specifically, Corporate Traveller saw a 5.8 per cent growth in six-day trips. This trend is expected to carry into 2024. 

1. Brisbane to take over Perth as the most popular destination for international business travel as Chinese carriers add capacity. In 2023, Corporate Traveller’s booking data showed that Perth saw a 34 per cent growth in international business travel, compared with Melbourne and Sydney (each less than 10 per cent growth), Brisbane (25 per cent) and Adelaide (21 per cent). By mid-2024, Tom expects Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne’s growth rates to outpace Perth’s with the return of Chinese airlines. Sydney and Melbourne have made a full return to eight Chinese carriers and the Victorian Government has revealed it will see further flights added in September 2024^[5]. China Southern Airlines landed in Brisbane for the first time in four years on 18 November 2023, China Eastern Airlines returns from December 2023, and more carriers are expected in the new year. 

The slowest paying industries in Australia have been revealed by leading financial services company OptiPay with some businesses waiting up to 60 days after the end of the month to be paid for invoices. 

“The holiday period can be a difficult time for businesses to maintain cashflow especially when creditors delay paying invoices,” says OptiPay CEO Angus Sedgwick.

“It’s vital that business owners have a cash flow management plan in place to prepare for disruptions and also look at financing solutions to help them navigate periods of growth or when access to capital becomes tight,” he says.

OptiPay data shows the slowest paying industries:

Commercial property services            60 days EOM

Mining services                                   45 days EOM

Labour hire                                          30 days EOM (end of month)

Manufacturing                                     30 days EOM

Transport and Logistics                      30 days EOM

“We find that with all these industries, invoice financing can really help when it comes to maintaining cash flow,” says Mr Sedgwick.

“Instead of waiting for customers to pay their invoices, business owners can unlock cash tied up in the money owed to them from their customers by assigning the invoices to a third-party finance provider and receive 70-90% upfront with the remaining 30%-10% paid when the customer makes payment less a small fee which the financier retains.”

Commercial Property Services

Commercial property services such as contract cleaning companies often have expenses they need to meet in order to keep their business running such as cleaning equipment and wages. Invoices issued to the owner of a building or a body corporate often have payments terms of 30 days from the end of that month.

“In many cases owners won’t see a revenue for up to 60 days so we’ve seen invoice financing becoming a popular option for those businesses that don’t want to rely on overdrafts and want access to funds generated by invoices immediately,” says Mr Sedgwick.

Mining Services

“Contractors tend to wait on average 56 days for payment with shorter invoice terms generally difficult to negotiate with big mining companies,” says Mr Sedgwick.

“This can be hard for small businesses that perhaps deliver for one mine as they’re waiting a long time to get paid,” he says.

Contract Labour Hire

Companies that outsource labour hire often find a large gap between paying their contractors and the payment terms of their customers. They’re often required to pay their contractors every week but the businesses using their contract labour force don’t pay invoice for up to 60 days after the end of the month.

“Companies can find themselves suddenly in need of working capital to meet the contractor payroll,” says Mr Sedgwick.

“When your business is people, you need to ensure they are paid on time every time so having a cash flow plan in place is essential.”

Manufacturing

A key cash flow issue for manufacturers is the cost/payment lag – the time between when the costs associated with manufacturing a product are incurred and when payment from customers is received.

“Often a large proportion of a manufacturer’s working capital is tied up in materials, stock and debtors which leaves an inadequate sum of working capital to pursue growth opportunities,” says Mr Sedgwick.

Transport and Logistics

Transport businesses that are either sub-contracting to larger carriers or dealing directly with their end customer have to pay drivers, fuel, repairs and maintenance weekly but generally don’t get paid until at least monthly but sometimes on 45 day terms. 

“We often see cash flow problems created in the transport industry which is why invoice finance has become very popular,” says Mr Sedgwick.

Chartered Accountants ANZ (CA ANZ) believes small businesses could be in for some unforeseen pain following changes to tax collection methods made by the Federal Government as part of the MYEFO announcement.

“With more than $95 billion in tax debt to collect, it is not surprising that attention is being given to the collection of that debt,” said CA ANZ Senior Tax Advocate, Susan Franks CA.

“The ATO has announced that it will be tightening the ability of taxpayers to access payment plans. 

“Taxpayers will now need to prove they have capacity to pay the tax debt and an emphasis will be on paying the tax debt as early as possible.

“Small businesses can have difficulty accessing finance from traditional financial service providers. With the general interest charge approximating the small business interest rate charged by banks, small businesses have found it easier to apply for finance in the form of a payment plan with the ATO than a loan from a bank. This is evidenced by small business owing most of the outstanding collectible debt.

“Denying deductibility of the general interest charge will effectively increase the cost of accessing finance with the ATO and make obtaining external finance more attractive.

“The days of the ATO being the banker for small business are numbered.

“Small businesses should talk to their Chartered Accountant about their cash flow and financing to ensure that they can pay their tax on time,” Ms Franks said.

(For more detail on Denying deductions for ATO interest charges refer to page 192-193 of the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2023-24)

Hospitality Business Owners facing an 18% drop in revenue are urged to increase their prices or prepare for a smooth exit in 2024 with 30% of privately owned businesses set to change hands in the next 5 years!

In the bustling world of hospitality, where the aroma of freshly brewed coffee mingles with the holiday spirit, there lies a tale of resilience and transformation. 

The industry, grappling with the complexities of the cost of living crisis and soaring operational costs, is finding innovative solutions to not just survive, but thrive and exit with confidence in the face of adversity.

The sector has seen a like for like decrease in hospitality revenue takings, mainly the café section by 18% year on year. 

Link Business is a leading brokerage specialising in business transactions, Farzin Hesari, CEO says the challenges faced by small hospitality businesses during the festive and New Year period and beyond cannot be underestimated. “It can be a tough time for hospitality entrepreneurs. The rising cost of living and rent poses a significant threat, and there’s a genuine concern that customers might opt for a quieter summer at home,” says Farzin Hesari, CEO of Hesari.

Helping Business Owners Exit Their Sector

For some having owned a successful business for a number of years now is a good time to exit the Industry as the omens point to things getting harder in 2024. 

Sally Weatherson was faced with just such a decision. With an unwell husband, wages and food costs at an all time high, despite having good landlords, Sally knew the time to sell had come, “ We decided to sell our Cafe and a Flower shop and it could have been really stressful. But Link Business and their two agents Kristy and Nick Kolaitis, they were the right people who were passionate enough to sell your life’s work, and that is comforting at a time of huge stress. They were always on the phone, kept pushing for us and kept us informed”, said Ms Weatherson. 

Embracing Change and Transparency

Hesari advocates for a shift in mindset, urging businesses to move beyond the small business mentality if they choose not to exit. One proposed strategy is a modest increase in coffee prices by 50 cents. Hesari believes that customers, understanding the challenges faced by businesses, will remain loyal. “We need to break free from the fear of upsetting our customers. A slight increase in the cost of coffee won’t deter them, especially when they understand the challenges we’re facing,” he emphasises.

Utility bills and rates are on the rise, adding to the financial burden of these businesses. Hesari encourages businesses to communicate transparently with their customers. “People appreciate honesty. If they explain the situation and the reasons behind these increases, they are more likely to understand and continue supporting us,” he asserts.

To support businesses in navigating these challenges, Link Business offers a comprehensive Business Value Catalogue on its website. Farzin Hesari encourages entrepreneurs to explore the catalogue, stating, “Jump on the Link website and see the business value catalogue for yourself. We leverage data and technology, analysing trends to help you buy or sell your business successfully.”

The company employs mergers and acquisitions strategies, recognizing that 30% of private businesses are expected to change hands in the next five years. Hold onto your Coffee Cups, 2024 could be very bumpy!

The average mobile downloads of Vodafone post-paid customer is among the nation’s biggest downloaders, consuming a whopping 25 gigabytes of data on their mobile a month – which is 57 per cent more than the national average of 15.9GB* and more than enough data to “Netflix and chill” for a hundred hours straight!

These stats and more have been uncovered in Vodafone Unwrapped 2023, a first-of-its-kind dive into how Australians are using their mobiles to download, talk and text.

Unwrapped reveals Vodafone customers spent more than 8.25 billion minutes on their mobile this year, the equivalent of talking for 15,703 years non-stop!

When it came to the busiest month for chatting on the phone, May was the most popular, with some 383 million calls being made – hopefully to the nation’s mums to wish them a happy Mothers’ Day.

Vodafone Unwrapped 2023 key stats include:

• The average mobile downloads of Vodafone postpaid mobile customer is approximately 18% more data than in 2022
• More than two million Vodafone customers make a call every day
• More than 2.79 billion phone calls – or about 7.94 million a day – have been made on the Vodafone network in 2023
• The average number of calls per customer per week = 27
• The average number of minutes per customer per week = 79
• On average, Vodafone customers spend 2.9 minutes for every call made on the network 
• 5pm on a Thursday arvo is the chattiest hour of the week
• Good Friday (Friday 7 April), had the greatest number of calls on a single day, when Vodafone customers made more than 14.9 million calls
• 5G network traffic has doubled in size over the last year and now makes up 33% of total mobile use. 4G still reigns supreme at 66%, while 3G now accounts for less than 0.5% of data traffic.

“Vodafone Unwrapped shows how our customers are leading the digital charge in downloading data and connecting with each other and the world. Over the past three years, Vodafone has revolutionised its mobile network, tripling 5G coverage to over 3000 sites across 3,115 suburbs in Australia. Network use is soaring, with 5G traffic doubling in the last year, connecting three million 5G handsets,” said a Vodafone spokesperson.

“Now you can share the Vodafone’s network experience with family and friends through our new Refer a Friend offer. Our customers will be able to earn up to $250 credit towards their bill each year, while every referred friend will get a $50 credit. It’s never been a better time to experience Vodafone’s best-ever network.”

*According to the ACCC’s latest Internet Activity report: https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/internet-activity-report-june-2023.pdf

Steve Blain, Founder of DBO Golf talks about how Business Booster has helped him help others.

Golf is a game of precision, skill, mental fortitude, and social connection, all while enjoying nature and getting some much needed physical exercise. I’ve enjoyed playing golf for many years, and over this time I noticed a number of people, especially seniors or those with a physical disability, struggling to bend over to put the tee in the ground or the ball on the tee due to limited mobility.

Around the same time, I started volunteering for the Adaptive Golf tournaments in Australia and was paired to caddy with a person who was paralysed from the waist down. He could do everything independently besides place the tee on the ground.

I observed that people often hated having to ask others to help them, and some would stop playing altogether because they did not want to play if they could not play independently.

I am an aircraft maintenance engineer by trade and had just finished a contract with Airbus at the end of 2018. Instead of looking for another contract I created DBO Golf in 2019, using the skills I’d built to start working with my wife on a device that would help golfers with limited mobility regain their independence on the course. It took us three years of engineering to come up with a device that would place the tee in the ground, at your preferred height, using screws on the handle to easily change the height of the tee, and then pick up the tee after you’ve teed off. It can even pick up golf balls and place it on to the tee, all without having to bend over. I named the device the ‘T-Up Assist’.

But creating a small business and building prototypes was expensive, so I knew I needed to find a way to make money while still having the flexibility to work on my business. In 2020, I decided to try driving with Uber because I saw that it would allow me to choose when I worked and for how long, and fit work around my life, rather than the other way around. I’ve now been driving with Uber in Brisbane for just over three years, which has given me the time and money needed to work on DBO Golf.

Toward the end of 2022, my wife and I started seeing promotions for Business Boosters, a program organised by Uber that offered driver partners and delivery people with small businesses, like me, a chance to attend business-related masterclasses and pair with a mentor that would help me learn ways to run my business successfully. The program is in partnership with Inspiring Rare Birds, an organisation committed to mentoring and educating small business owners, so I knew that it would be a great program to be part of.

Out of almost 2000 applicants, I was chosen alongside 99 other Uber driver partners and Uber Eats delivery people to participate. It was as beneficial as I thought it would be, and I learned a lot about how to achieve my goals as a small business owner. It also helped me realise just how many others there were like me, trying their best to follow their dreams and start their own business.

My mentor, Phil Ore, is fantastic. Throughout 2023, Phil has helped me understand the nuances of running my business and getting my prototypes up and running to show potential investors how they could help transform the game of golf to be more inclusive and accessible. He was readily available to me and I am grateful that this is a 12-month mentorship, which means my mentor is able to see how I apply skills learned from the program to grow my business further.

The first 12 weeks of the program is group training. I attended every workshop and submitted a video pitch at the end of the 12 weeks. Uber gave every person that completed the 12 week program a $2,000 cash grant to work on their business. My video pitch was short-listed and I was given the opportunity, alongside 9 other drivers, to attend an in-person live pitch in Sydney for a chance to win a share of $100,000. Little did I know that the judges believed in the T-Up Assist so much that I won the top prize of $50,000. That money has been a game-changer for my business, giving me the extra funding I needed to start manufacturing and inject more money into the website and promotions.

The mentorship and the grants I received from the program have helped me reach customers who need this device the most, including the man I partnered with all those years ago who, as a paraplegic, needed something that would help him gain his independence on the golf course.

However, perhaps the most important lesson I learned on this journey is that while starting a small business is an equally challenging and rewarding experience, it’s one that you don’t need to do on your own. It helped me connect with a great network of small business owners, all of whom are in the same position as me.

My message to small business owners is to take advantage of any opportunity to connect with a mentor and learn the nuances of running a small business. Apply for grants programs as they appear, because you never know when you might take home the big prize.

The Business Booster has been a great success, and Uber is running it for the second year this time. I wish all participants the best of luck, and cannot wait to hear all about it!

About Business Booster

Uber’s Business Booster Program, in partnership with Inspiring Rare Birds, is a business development program created exclusively for those earning on the Uber and Uber Eats platforms, to help them reach their small business goals. Now in its second year, the program invites 100 driven and entrepreneurial individuals living in Australia and New Zealand to participate in a series of masterclass as well as pairing them with a one-to-one bespoke mentor for 12 months and providing a cash grant at the end of the program.

American Express has embarked on a bold new strategy which will see acceptance of American Express skyrocket across Australia. Called OptBlue, the new merchant acquiring program will see thousands of small merchants onboarded to the American Express Network through two of Australia’s leading merchant acquirers, Fiserv and Tyro Payments, who are first-to-market with the new program.  

With OptBlue, small businesses will be able to process American Express transactions at a competitive rate to the other card schemes, with both acquirers providing a one-stop-shop servicing solution for all card types including a single statement and settlement process, plus a single onboarding journey and servicing contact. 

Stacey Rylands, Vice President of Merchant Acquisition for American Express Australia and New Zealand, says: “Enabling American Express Card Members to use their Cards in more places has been a top priority for some time and we have made incredible gains across industries and key locations. The launch of OptBlue in Australia is set to supercharge the scale of our merchant Network and once and for all help put an end to the question: ‘do you accept Amex?’ at the checkout.” 

“Not only is it a win for American Express Card Members, but for thousands of additional small businesses across the country set to benefit from Amex Card Members who on average, spend 3.4 times more annually than non-Card Members and 2.4 times more per purchase. At a time when small businesses are facing significant economic pressure, every high spending customer through their doors is a huge win.”  

OptBlue was first introduced in the U.S. before being implemented in Canada and Mexico, delivering successful merchant coverage growth for American Express in those markets. Today in the U.S. 99% of places that accept credit cards can accept American Express.  

In Australia, over 136,000 new places were added to the American Express Network in the last 12 months alone¹ with retail and dining seeing the highest gains.  

“The massive strides that have been made to increase American Express acceptance has completely changed the experience for our customers. Now through OptBlue, a first for American Express outside of the Americas, it will be even easier for American Express Card Members to shop small and for businesses to see the benefit”, concludes Rylands.  

Dominic White, Chief Product Officer at Tyro Payments says: “Simplifying payment acceptance with innovative solutions built for Aussie businesses has been in Tyro’s DNA for more than 20 years. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Amex to launch yet another first-to-market platform that allows thousands of Tyro merchants to accept more payments and makes it even easier for more Australians to shop locally.”  

Gavin Jones, Fiserv General Manager, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific says: “Our clients are always looking for ways to streamline their operations, and we are committed to enabling them to do so. Fiserv has a long-standing partnership with American Express to enable acceptance of Amex Cards around the globe, and the expansion of this partnership through the OptBlue program will provide our merchant clients a better way to accept Amex Card transactions. Merchants will benefit from access to funding, reporting and billing directly with Fiserv. As a result, merchants can get paid faster for their Amex transactions and simplify reconciliation, facilitating improved cashflow and simpler reporting.” 

Once part of the American Express Network, merchants will receive access to American Express’ global marketing engine, tools and services to help them thrive including offers, promotions and, for eligible merchants, initiatives like Shop Small that are designed to help them attract more customers and reward them in more ways.  

Other key facts about American Express acceptance in Australia

• 2 in 3 Amex Card Members say that it is important that businesses accept American Express. 
• Over 1 in 3 Amex Card Members say that credit card acceptance is one of the top 3 reasons for choosing to shop at a new business. 
• 65% of Amex Card Members say they typically look on the checkout page to see whether American Express is accepted. 
• 48% of Amex Card Members say they tend to abandon in-store purchases if they can’t see that American Express is accepted. 46% for online purchases. 
• 71% of Amex Card Members say they are more likely to return a business that accepts American Express.