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Recent Posts by teikoh

Central Issues of Governance in an Indigenous Organisation

As Indigenous organisations mature as corporate entities in this post-Determination era, those who have been on the journey in the last 3 decades have seen them transition from "Associations" to corporations under the CATSI Act. However, the struggle over appropriate governance is still continuing. On the one hand, as corporate entities under an Act that mirrors the private sector Corporations Act, their governance policies and behaviours are expected to be as robust and independent as those of private sector companies. On the other hand, many of these corporations are "closely-held" entities subject to close family relationships and cultural protocols often more powerful than the Act. What are the central issues of governance that post-Determination Indigenous corporations need to be aware of and deal with? (more…)...
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How Is My Business Performing?

As a small business owner, you will know about Profit & Loss Statements and Balance Sheets. They tell you about your business profitability and net assets. You can see, from one period to another, whether you are making more profits than before, or less. They are the start to giving you information about the performance of your business, and hopefully leading you to create strategies to improve profitability and to increase wealth. However, they have their limitations. For a start, they are historic. They give you the bigger picture, but unless you analyse them, they fail to break it down into the component parts. Where is the profit coming from, or where is it not? How solvent are you and what's up ahead? That's why it's important to dig deeper and put some attention to key financial ratios. (more…)...
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Strategic Plan – Keystone or Cornerstone?

While we use "keystone" and "cornerstone" interchangeably in our speech, in building, they both have very distinct meanings. A keystone is the last piece of stone placed when constructing an arch and it locks the other stones into place in an otherwise fragile arch shape. A cornerstone is often the first stone laid when constructing a building and forms the reference of alignment for all other stones to be laid. So, is your strategic plan the start of your organisational development - the cornerstone of your organisation, or is it the final piece that seals your strategies - its keystone? (more…)...
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Be Focused In Your Marketing

All small business owners want more sales! Yet, not many small business owners think about how they get those extra sales - about their marketing - in any serious, consistent manner. Their growth is usually through a number of unrelated factors such as excellent service resulting in referrals, unique products or services filling a vacuum, a market devoid of good competition, even luck. From time to time, they may find themselves in a quiet period so they "do some marketing" by calling clients they haven't heard from in a while, putting an advertisement in the newspaper or a trade journal, advertising a "Black Friday sale", or sending out leaflets in the hope that someone reading it might come in. Then, for whatever reason (other than by accident that such unfocused and inconsistent marketing is actually working) the business picks up again, and the need for marketing is forgotten. The problem with this inconsistency is that you are not in control of channelling consistent growth. (more…)...
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OTS Management