Month: March 2016

Woolworths is overhauling its Homebrand range in a bid to improve the range’s perception in an increasingly competitive market for private label grocery products.

According to Fairfax Media, Homebrand generates $1.4 billion annually across almost 1000 product lines for the supermarket but it will soon be rebadged as part of the lesser-known “Essentials” line.

See more: Woolworths is no longer the most valuable brand in Australia

Homebrand has long been perceived as the cheap option for shoppers but Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci previously indicated the supermarket giant has a “perception problem” with its red-and-white coloured product line, according to Fairfax.

“The issue we’ve got with Aldi is providing the same value experience in our store as you would in an Aldi, which requires us to rethink and re-engineer some of our entry-level products,” he said last year.

Private label groceries are big business in Australia and now account for around 20% of supermarket brands, according to market research from IBISWorld.

Canstar Blue research in January showed 65% of Australians prefer to buy private labels, with Aldi the preferred choice for staples like white bread, wholemeal bread, butter and eggs.

The iconic Woolworths red and white Homebrand will slowly be phased out in favour of the new Essentials branding, which will feature red and yellow packaging. The supermarket plans to making the switch on a category-by-category basis.

Essentials is currently used on a range of non-food items, but the first food item to switch from Homebrand is honey.

A spokesperson for Woolworths confirmed to SmartCompany the Homebrand and Essentials ranges will be “consolidated into one improved value range called Essentials” following a review.

“We have been reviewing the products in all of our brand ranges to ensure we deliver even greater quality and value for our customers,” the spokesperson says.

“The Essentials range as the name suggests are products every home needs, both food and non food. When customers see each product move to the new Essentials packaging they can be assured the product will offer market leading value for money for our customers.”

Is Woolworths taking the “easy fix”?

Branding expert Michel Hogan told SmartCompany the switch from “Homebrand” to “Essentials” appears to be a re-naming and not a re-branding move, which is aimed at changing perceptions without repositioning the products.

“What they see as the front line of doing that [changing perception] is to give it a makeover, which is essentially all they’re doing,” she says.

“There’s an epidemic on this. It seems every other week I’m asked about this type of thing,” she says.

“It’s in the same process [as] calling themselves Susan instead of Tracey.”

Hogan says is it appears Woolworths is only changing the name and not the products themselves and as such, a long-term change in sales is unlikely.

“My general reaction is while that certainly it can drive a [sales] bump short term – usually a bump in traffic and interest – I tend to think people are smarter than that.

“I think the reason people are going to Aldi or preferring Aldi is [for] a whole bunch of reasons,” she says.

Hogan believes Woolworths should instead be considering what is driving the overall shift behind more people preferring Aldi’s product lines.

She says buying a product is about the experience in-store, the placement of the product and a number of other reasons aside from the name on a label.

“Customers are not quite as dumb as companies appear to think they are,” she says.

“If all the products that were called Homebrand are now called Essentials, they wont figure it out?”

Hogan believes the reason Aldi is seemingly doing better with its private label line has little to do with its name.

“One of the first things they say is its really great quality. There’s a payoff that people respond to and recognise thats actually what you’re combating,” she says.

“It’s important to look below the veneer of something to change the way a customer is responding to it.”

For SMEs, Hogan warns against taking the easy fix by only changing a product name.

“Changing the name is the easy fix. It’s the sexy, sparkling, shiny stuff. It’s easier to do that and think that’ll fix the problem,” she says.

Hogan suggests businesses look at featuring other product elements, such as how the product is made or how it has been sourced as a way to speak to the product’s quality.

“But that takes work,” she says.

“That’s something that you’ve really got to think about and you’ve got to have a story to tell.”

Originally published on SmartCompany on March 29, 2016.

Two australians have been included in Fortune‘s third annual list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.

Former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty has been ranked 33rd on the list, while Mina Guli, chief executive of Thirst, has been ranked 45th.

The list comprises men and women who Fortune says are leading and inspiring others in business, government, philanthropy and the arts.

Batty is well known to Australians for her work raising awareness of family violence and is the founder of the Luke Batty Foundation.

Guli, 45, is a corporate-lawyer-turned-activist. She launched Thirst to educate consumers about water conservation and this year she ran 40 marathons across seven deserts in seven continents in seven weeks, finishing on World Water Day on March 22.

Taking out first place on the list is Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, beating out German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the top spot.

Also making this year’s list are entrepreneur Reshma Saujani,  founder and chief executive of Girls who Code, at number 20 on the list and Salesforce chief executive Mark Benioff at number 37.

Here’s the top 10 World’s Greatest Leaders, according to Fortune. 

1. Jeff Bezos, chief executive of Amazon;
2. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany;
3. Aung San Suu Kyi, Leader of the National League for Democracy;
4. Pope Francis, Pontiff, Roman Catholic Church;
5. Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple;
6. John Legend, recording artist and activist for the Show Me Campaign;
7. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
8. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives;
9. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court; and
10. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh

The full list is available from Fortune here.

Originally published on SmartCompany on March 29, 2016.

Name: Anthony Wright

Company: Lexvoco

Based: Melbourne

Just 18 months ago Anthony Wright was working as a lawyer and drawing up a business plan at his kitchen table.

After 15 years working as a lawyer for other people, Wright saw a gap in the market for businesses that need lawyers but cannot afford to pay for in-house counsel. His business, Lexvoco, aims to address this need by providing on-call legal advice.

“I enjoy helping other people understand and leverage their legal position and then helping other lawyers improve their work,” he tells SmartCompany.

Wright launched Lexvoco in January last year and the business has grown to a team of 175 staff in five offices around Australia. The company offers legal counsel in a number of countries including New Zealand, Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Poland, France, Netherlands, and parts of South America.

“Whether that lawyer is sitting in Melbourne or London they can still have exactly the same level of skills,” Wright says, adding that for businesses in the UK and US, utilising Lexvoco’s Australia lawyers is often more cost effective.

“The fortunate aspect of Lexvoco and professional services compared to some industries is it’s a lean business model and it’s not capital intensive,” he says.

“It’s been 14 months now and in that time … just in the first 12 months, we’re just shy of a $2 million turnover,” he says.

As a lawyer, Wright had a special interest in mergers and acquisitions and he says this continues to fascinate him when it comes to the world of business.

“For every transaction that you’re looking at as a lawyer, whether you’re buying or selling something, you’re looking at the merits of that company, that really interests me,” he says.

But while Wright had often entertained the idea of starting his own business, it took him two decades to take the leap.

“For 20 years I worked for other people, some big businesses, some very impressive people from McDonald’s as a 13-year-old to being a lawyer for a billionaire,” he says.

SmartCompany caught up with Wright to find out what a typical day in a fast-growing startup looks like and how he is finding the time to work on his business, as well as in it.

Morning

Wright has two small kids at home – a son aged three and daughter aged one – so his mornings start bright and early between 4.30am and 5am.

“My wife and I have an arrangement where we alternate our days for exercising and looking after the kids,” he says.

“First day I cycle, ride my bike with mates, second day I’m on dad duty and I’ll normally take the kids and go for a run with the pram or go skating with the kids.”

It’s then into the office in the heart of Melbourne CBD on William Street, arriving between 7.30 – 8.30am.

Wright eats breakfast at work before diving into his daily tasks.

Daily Life

Each day is a balancing act for Wright, who continues to work for clients directly while also managing the business.

“I try my best to split my time 50% actually doing work for clients, so whether that is hosting a workshop or [working with] an in-house legal team,” he says.

“The other part of the time I’m trying to grow and lead and manage the business and our staff.”

Wright says it’s important for entrepreneurs to find the right balance between these two objectives.

“I’m a bit torn by what the right balance is,” he says.

“I read plenty of different opinions from very experienced business people who talk about not working in the business but on the business, but I find that I have much more meaningful and fruitful discussions with clients and staff if I understand what they’re going through.”

Leisure

Like many business owners, down time isn’t always a common occurrence for Wright as he balances putting in “the hard yards” and having a young family.

But Wright has set himself some guidelines to ensure he can switch off from work.

“[I] try my best to always be home before the kids go to sleep because that’s really important for me,” he says.

Wright’s also a keen cycler and golfer.

“I love the beach, I love surfing, riding my bike, playing golf and thankfully my son is into most of those things already,” he says.

“[Both] fortunately and unfortunately, golf and cycling take up a bit of time.”

The future

Wright says the future is bright for Lexvoco for two reasons: the business has developed a strong team and the passion for helping other businesses access affordable legal services is alive.

“I think or I hope that we’ve got very good prospects,” he says.

“[I’m] so pleased with our performance and that fact that we’re helping people that have got challenges with currently getting their legal services performed. And because I enjoy what we’re doing and we’ve got really good people who enjoy what they’re doing, we’ve on a good pathway.”

But Wright won’t be resting on his laurels, saying the speed at which Lexvoco can deliver its services will be key to the company’s future prospects.

He says the concept for Lexvoco is simple: offering fast legal services to clients with a substantial need for services but can’t justify employing a single person for the position. Lexvoco promises its clients it will return queries within 24 hours.

“Speed is absolutely key as the reality is most legal issues are unexpected and business is fast,” he says.

“The last thing you want as a business owner or general manager is to be held up by the legality,” he says.

Wright believes the biggest downfall of many aspiring business owners is simply not taking that first step, which he admits held him back from starting sooner.

“Give it a go. It took me years if not a decade to have the courage to do that,” he says.

“I spoke about this a lot with my wife, if it doesn’t work it’s not the end of the world,” he says.

“Sure there might be some tough times, you might need to rent rather than own [property] and you might not be earning as much money … but back yourself to make it work if you have an idea you think there’s a need for in the market.”

And once you have taken that first step, Wright recommends surrounding yourself with the best team possible.

“I’ve never said [I’m] founder or CEO – sometimes I say director and sometimes I say principal [lawyer] – I’ve never every referred to myself as the founder of the business because nothing ever happens from just one person,” he says.

Originally published on SmartCompany March 11, 2016.

Sydney entrepreneur Han Lam wears many hats. He is the co-founder of cleaning company The Marigold Group, juice business The Juice Stop and student concierge group Goldridge Group.

Lam is a self-proclaimed “wheeler and dealer”, having co-founded a number of businesses – both successfully and unsuccessfully – over the past five years.

Lam and business partner Jason Tran left successful careers as stockbrokers to become full-time cleaners and their business, The Marigold Group, turned over close to $2 million last year.

SmartCompany caught up with Lam before he headed to China for the Shanghai Expo to meet investors for his latest student concierge venture Goldridge Group.

I started a degree in commerce but I dropped out.

My business partner and I met at a stockbroking firm, which we gave up to pursue our cleaning business. It started as a part-time thing … getting cleaning contracts in the morning, having business meetings and then going to work.

I think we just sort of fell into it. It was a low capital start-up and you can clean at night and work during the day.

Eventually I just sort of eased out of stockbroking and turned cleaning full time. [Our families were] obviously not too impressed. We got a lot of resistance, with people actually saying we were dropping the suit and picking up a mop.

We left a lot of security at this point.

In our first month we made about $3000 between us and that’s pre-tax, pre-expenses and what not. And the first year we came in at about $80,000 turnover between us.

It was a tough slog for the first year as we realised we were targeting the wrong market. I think it really started to take off after two-and-a-half years. Now we have roughly between 60 to 70 staff.

I think a lot of people talk about passion. We didn’t really have a passion for cleaning to be honest but we have a passion for business.

I was born in Queensland but I pretty much grew up in Sydney. We came from a sort of poor background, that’s all you can say on that.

I started working at Woolworths [as a teen] so I was good at saving money and was a little “wheeler and dealer” doing things like selling phones.

Something I did while I was working, even finishing high school, was I found cars. When I bought my first car I was on, let’s call it, a learner’s licence. I knew about the market and so I started fixing the cars and on-selling them for a profit. Of the 50-odd cars [I sold], there was only one I didn’t profit from.

It shows the model of business hasn’t really changed. It’s just finding a product, fixing it and selling it for a profit. Working in the services business [with Marigold Group or Goldridge Group] is the same.

My mornings start about 6am. Waking up with a coffee always helps – that’s a must for me – followed by a quick workout session and then really it’s all in from there. I do pop into the juice bar every morning and then work from home for a bit. [Next] it’s a really intense phone and email gig, attending meetings throughout the day and entertaining clients if need be.

Dealing in the business world is a bit funny in a sense that you come across the opportunities and a lot of people say “stop bouncing off walls and focus on one thing”. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to do that. In terms of the opportunities I’ve had, I’ve had two start-ups that have failed because of that lack of focus.

We went through a phase where we were looking at opportunities to put our profits into. We purchased a frozen yogurt place and we fitted it out slightly to turn it out into a juice bar. We called it The Juice Stop.The flagship store is in Coogee Beach and we’re opening two more stores in Chatswood and Sydney CBD.

After opening The Juice Stop I was approached by the daughter of the owners of the Murray Spring Brewing Co [Ashleigh Howe]. They’re quite a large brewer in Australia and we were supplying cleaning services to their business. She wanted to use my Chinese background and Western background to target the student market. So we started The Student Concierge business.

I sold that student concierge last year. I’ve been approached from investors from Singapore to replicate the student concierge market. I don’t think there is a shortage of opportunity right now.

I think the businesses sort of overlap. We started with the juice bar, moved onto the cleaning business, and then brought it back to the Chinese business [student concierge business Goldridge Group], with 90% focus on that right now.

Because I have a business partner I can trust, I know he can manage the cleaning business while I manage the Chinese market company.

The people coming through the Chinese market are so entrepreneurial and driven; it’s good energy to be around.

I think in the sense that money is much more accessible in China, the entrepreneurs movement is only just starting to pick up in Australia. There are the tech hubs but we are still small in comparison to the United States or Singapore.

What I want to do [with Goldridge Group], and part of my vision, is to incorporate this Chinese market. We created a business to service a need and that’s the concierge service.

With our business model being that we are able to help them [people in China] migrate, relocate or purchase a property in Australia, then that’s the first element of trust on our end. Hopefully we can help them for a lifetime.

The natural progression is that you come here [from China], you get a Visa and then there’s no after support from your migration agency and you get sort of left alone to find home stays or a place to rent.

We said look that’s a service we can do. Then maybe we can sell these people a property or a business if they’re entrepreneurial down the track and then we can service their parents moving here.

I’ve been blessed to be able to push my way into networks to meet a lot of people and pretty much tap into those opportunities. 

I’ve been able to meet people like the “Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort. I’m meeting the private banker for the Saudi King on Monday and I’m meeting two Singaporean billionaires on Monday. This is just the start of networking.

What’s the best bit about my job? I won’t say the lifestyle because that’s a bit too cliché but it’s the opportunity to work with likeminded people in the business world. The people you come across and network with is great.

If you asked me if I could ever go back to working for someone else the answer is a big fat no. A lot of people say it’s a lifestyle – yes, every day is different and there’s never two days the same – but it’s really just about creating something. And the time spent creating things. You’re in the position to employ people, educate and train people, lead by example, and hopefully they can create something by themselves.

I just hired four staff for Goldridge and I said to them: “If you’re still working for me in two years then I’ve failed because I want you to be running your own business”. Yes it’s a risk but chances are they will work with you and want to hold onto a business relationship and that’s what I’m looking for.

My advice is to just get started. If you can’t do it full-time, do it part-time but be keen to stick with it. I’ve seen this a lot where people give up by three months but you’ve just got to commit to it.

It is a long term play, it’s a long term haul and if people can’t stick it out then you’re not going to create anything.

Originally published on SmartCompany March 9, 2016

The Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne has released an app that encourages regular movement in a bid to get office workers up and moving.

The team behind the Rise & Recharge app hopes the app will highlight the dangers of sitting for long periods of time, suggesting regular movement can help to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.

After downloading the free app, SMEs and workers will have their sitting time tracked and will be reminded to get up every 30 minutes.

App users get rewarded with credits each time they get up and move more than 15 steps, with credits culminating in the award of “chair boss”.

The Rise & Recharge app is available from Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

According to the institute, the average adult sits for nine hours a day and office workers sit for two thirds of their working hours.

Here are seven tips to reduce the time you spend sitting:

1. Stand up when the phone rings
2. Eat lunch away from your desk
3. Walk over to your colleague’s desk instead of emailing them
4. Move your bin away from your desk
5. Have a standing or walking meeting
6. Take the stairs instead
7. Stand at the back of the room during presentations

Originally published on SmartCompany on March 9, 2016.

If the word meditation still conjures up an image in your mind of a person sitting cross-legged humming, then you’re living in the past.

Meditation today, particularly the Vedic or Transcendental branch of meditation, is becoming increasingly popular amongst business owners and entrepreneurs as a way to relieve stress and enhance focus.

Read more: How meditation can make you a better salesperson

Vedic Meditation (VM) is it is an “effortless” technique that is usually practised for around 20 minutes twice a day.

The meditation requires you to sit comfortably with your eyes closed and repeat a mantra or sound inside your head.

This type of meditation was introduced to the Western world by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1960s and is hailed as simpler to undertake than some other forms.

“The highs and lows wear you down and make you tired”

Gary Tramer, co-founder of LeadChat, has been consistently practising Vedic Meditation since May last year.

“I’d heard about it in a bunch of different blogs and articles and [they] raved about it and I always thought it was one of those really weird voodoo type things people do,” Tramer tells SmartCompany.

But then Tramer went on a corporate retreat in Byron Bay that included three days of Vedic Meditation training by teacher Gary Gorrow.

“It was one of those defining moments, to unlock another dimension to life,” he says.

Gorrow has been practising Vedic Meditation for 17 years and teaching it for 11 years mostly around Melbourne, Sydney and Byron Bay.

“I was first drawn to VM because I was quite stressed and was finding it difficult to maintain balance, which probably isn’t surprising given the fact that I was running three businesses at the time,” Gorrow says.

“Learning to meditate profoundly shifted things within me, so much so that I felt compelled to dedicate my life to teaching this technique to others.”

Gorrow told SmartCompany the common perception that meditation is difficult doesn’t apply to Vedic Meditation and that with the right teaching, anyone can do it.

“I think there are a number of reasons for the surge in popularity of Vedic Meditation,” he says.

“Stress is certainly one.”

“Entrepreneurs are typically inspired, hardworking people, committed to achieving their lofty goals. Many business owners push themselves to achieve their success, but this very often comes at the expense of their health [and] relationships. Many of my clients utilise meditation as a practical means to neutralise stress and enhance their overall wellbeing.”

Tramer, who has a degree in neuroscience, now wakes up at 5am daily to make sure he has time for 20-minute Vedic Meditation session and says he is seeing the many benefits of it, particularly as a business owner.

“Particularly with the rise of entrepreneurialism there’s more and more people who are doing their own things, which comes with a lot of pressure, a lot of hours lot of stress,” he says.

“There’s many moments of seeming failures, issues crisis that will happen every other day to make your stomach churn and your anxiety rise. Then there’s days where you’re on top of the world … the highs and lows wear you down and make you tired.”

“I find it balances. So where you have a situation like a key staff member quitting, or a client unhappy, the negatives don’t seem to faze you as much, and equally a good outcome, you don’t jump for joy either.”

Tramer says the simplicity of the VM technique appeals to him, as it’s not necessary to be in a quiet spot or a dark room and there’s no need to sit in a particular way.

“[I’ve] meditated in a plane, on an Uber, at home whilst the kids are falling asleep in their rooms – it’s very portable,” he says.

Gorrow agrees, saying the effortless technique can be mastered quickly in just a few sessions.

“It’s free from dogma and brings immediate benefit to anyone who practices it,” he says.

“The only requirement is that you can sit for 20 minutes and close your eyes.”

Tramer believes VM is becoming increasingly popular in business circles, noting that VM is now being associated with Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurs.

“When you’re looking to buy a car you’ll suddenly notice everyone else is driving the same car … now it seems everybody is doing [VM] too,which is quite telling I think,” he says.

How Vedic Meditation can improve your business

Lea Waters, director of the Positive Psychology centre at the University of Melbourne, is currently completing a meta-analysis on the impact of meditation in the workplace, compiling the results of 100 studies into meditation.

The research will be completed over the next six months, in time for it to be presented at the European conference in Positive Psychology to be held in France in June.

“We’re definitely finding that people who engage in meditation either in a formal program the workplace has provided or on their own are showing higher performance at work, they’re showing better cognitive functions and there’s higher levels of wellbeing,” Waters told SmartCompany.

“I think there also is an emotional element. If you’re a business owner, there’s a lot of emotional investment. You want to be able to think clearly but also manage and control the emotional response in the ownership of your business.”

Waters says research shows regularly practising meditation – half an hour daily for eight weeks – starts to change the structure of our brains.

According to Waters, the amygdala that processes fear becomes thinner, as the brain is able to calm itself down, while the hippocampus becomes thicker, making it easier to regulate our emotions.

“Our pre frontal cortex, which also plays a role in that cognitive function piece like problem solving decision making and the ability to pay attention, has become more active in people that engage practice in meditation,” she says.

Gorrow says organisations that are implementing meditation programs are no longer seen as laughing stocks. Instead, meditation is now considered to be a practical tool that can ultimately help businesses increase the bottom line.

“I’m seeing a new paradigm emerging within businesses where more and more organisations are understanding the vital role the mind plays in proceedings,” he says.

“Neuroscientists estimate that we use only 9% of our brain power and VM is a science-based technique known to increase the grey matter.”

“The benefits are irrefutable. Thousands of scientific studies have proven meditation transforms the brain, dissolves stress and improves all aspects of mental functioning.”

“One of the greatest assets to any organisation are its people and if there was a way to develop the full and clear functioning of the minds of those people which makes it something worth investing in,” he adds.

Originally published on SmartCompany on March 7, 2016.