Small Business Failures Continue to Rise (in Australia)

"Over 96% of businesses in Australia are small business. Every Australian owns a small business, works in a small business, or knows someone who does.


The success of small business is vital; not just to Australia’s economy, but to our social fabric.


Latest reports by Dun & Bradstreet highlight 'a 48% increase in the number of small businesses going bankrupt over the last 12 months, while small business start-ups fell by 95 per cent over the same period.'


According to Dun & Bradstreet CEO, Christine Christian, Australian business failures have trended steadily upwards since 2008, growing over 30 per cent in the last three years.


Director of New Staff Solutions, Peta Simpson, said 'This is exactly what we’re seeing here on the Sunshine Coast, across the entire region. Staff are being let go and businesses are folding. There are some businesses who’d like to employ staff, but the future is uncertain so they’re holding off. The traditional cycle of micro businesses entering the market, growing and becoming larger businesses, in the main, is just not happening.


People are worried about rising costs of living. They’re worried about the carbon tax. Changing workplace health and safety and industrial relations legislation is a big impost on business.  Increased superannuation is another slug on business. Tightening credit and the costs of compliance also take their impact.'


Ms Simpson said 'This is costing us jobs, and it’s costing us socially. A small business owner said to me just last week "there’s no joy in owning a business anymore". The social cost is yet to be measured. Families are being torn apart, stress and depression is on the rise. When we see a 48% increase in bankruptcy, and 95% fewer entering the market, something must be done.'


'Dun & Bradstreet’s recent Global Business Failures Report revealed that Australian businesses continue to present a high insolvency risk when compared with the rest of the world. The report indicated that with its steady increase in bankruptcies, Australia is now being classified in the same risk category as a number of countries being impacted by the euro-zone debt crisis, such as Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.' "


Source: http://dnb.com.au/Header/News/Small_business_failures_up_48_per_cent/indexdl_8144.aspx


http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/small-business-failures-continue-to-rise,25480


(My note : Can a country have too many small businesses?  Think "global competition.")


thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

Quote : re today's college graduates getting jobs and making money

"You can make more money on average if you go to college, but it's not true for everybody. If you're not sure what you're going to be doing, it probably bodes well to take some job, if you can get one, and get a sense first of what you want from college."


Harvard economist Richard Freeman, noting the growing risk of a debt bubble with total U.S. student loan debt surpassing $1 trillion.


(My note - The most important asset for any business:  owners, managers and employees.  In other words, people.  A lot of college graduates are looking for jobs.  Don't miss this opportunity to hire some people who have the smarts and the drive to graduate from college.  Many of them are willing to work for lower wages than their education would normally command, and many of them could be promoted to management jobs later on to better utilize their skills.)



thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

Quote : re competition in a free market economy

"Most everyone agrees that competition is vital to a well-functioning market economy. Since the days of Adam Smith, economists have understood that the invisible hand of the marketplace works only if producers of goods and services vie with one another. Competition keeps prices low and provides an incentive to improve and innovate."


N. Gregory Mankiw, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and advisor to Mitt Romney in the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination




thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

Small Business Tools 002

I would like to ask you a question if you are a small business owner or manager.  How many people in your company need to have their own phone for business purposes?  10?  20?  30?  And how many of those people have a cell phone today?


Phone systems can be very expensive, but, in today's world, they don't have to be.  People are inventing new ways to use the latest technology (i.e. smart phones), and that includes turning them into "business systems."  Smart cell phones not only allow people to get things done from multiple locations instead of from one desk, they also allow such tasks as texting and image transfer which traditional phone systems can't do.


Most employees in a small business today have personal cell phones instead of company cell phones.  It may be possible to work out satisfactory arrangements with some or most of those individuals to also use their phones as business phone extensions.  The company may need to buy some cell phones for the other employees.  Either way, the total cost of using a cell phone system will probably be a lot less than a traditional system.


Now, in case you haven't seen or heard a "Grasshopper" ad, Grasshopper.com is an example of a new small business tool that creates a small business phone system utilizing only cell phones.  The business gets an 800 number or a primary local number as the main number for the business.  Then each employee who needs to be in the loop is assigned an extension number which is connected to his or her cell phone.


In case you don't know about Grasshopper.com, here are some of the things they say on their website:


--  for entrepreneurs and small business
--  easy and instant setup
--  virtual phone system
--  manage your calls online
--  Sound like a Fortune 500 company.  Grasshopper lets you run your business using cell phones.
--  toll free or local number - local or national presence
--  unlimited extensions - for departments and employees
--  call forwarding to mobile phones - work from anywhere
--  voicemails via email - play (voicemails) online or on cell phone
--  manage online or by phone - no hardware to purchase (from Grasshopper)
--  new feature - 855 toll free numbers
--  24/7 live U.S. support
--  no long term contracts
--  upgrade anytime
--  30 day money back guarantee
--  as low as $9.95 per month


This service works like a prepaid cell phone.  You sign up, get your numbers and then get started with the monthly minutes you purchase which come with a certain number of extensions, etc.  You don't get too much for $9.95, but the higher amounts are very reasonable for what you get in my opinon.  Far less than most traditional phone systems would cost.


Go to www.grasshopper.com for more details.  I really do believe that this phone system is worth your time and consideration, especially if you are looking for more ways to get things done and more flexibility.



thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

Why do I prefer small businesses?

I believe that a Christian has a better chance of owning and running a Christianity-based business if it is a small business.  I will give you some of my reasons for thinking this way a little farther down the page.  But first, let's ask ourselves, "What is a small business?"  The U.S. government loosely defines a business as a small business if it has 500 or fewer employees.  I believe they say this because they are comparing these businesses to large corporations, many of them with production facilities and/or professional or marketing offices in many countries.  It is not uncommon for those corporations to have thousands of employees.


It's possible to have a rather large operation, especially in agriculture, with fewer than 500 employees, but, once again, these large farming operations are small compared to multinational corporations.  Businesses that I really like would be considered real small by today's standards.  These include businesses such as local restaurants, bakeries, deli's, auto repair shops, specialty book stores, bicycle shops, gift shops, farmers markets and small grocery chains.


I have worked for and consulted with small and large companies.  In general, I know how they think and operate.  Factors that I believe are important in running a successful small Christian business are personal contact with a lot of people in neighborhoods and communities, having an offering of goods or services that are in good demand on a local basis, having customers who appreciate top quality goods and services, being located in an area that is stable or growing and knowing a lot about the local competition and the industry.


These are the factors that will enable a Christian businessperson to have more influence on a local basis than some small businesses would have that have very little contact with the public.  Even many chain restaurants operate as local businesses within the umbrella company, because they hire local managers, hire local workers and sometimes alter menus, etc., to suit local demands.  I've been in places before long enough to get to know some chain restaurant managers, and they usually offered me a free cup of coffee when I would go in for breakfast and seemed to enjoy talking a little about what is going on in town or the area.


Large companies (most of them large corporations), in general, are much more impersonal when it comes to contact with the general public.  Even people like desk clerks for car rental agencies and airlines have little opportunity to really connect with people even though they come in contact with hundreds or thousands of people each month.  Also, most employees of large companies are forced to play politics within the company to keep a job or get ahead, and it is not uncommon for a large company to be ruthless in its policies and procedures in order to stay in business and grow.  Does this sound like a good environment for a Christian who wants to help a lot of people?


"They" say that there are always exceptions, and that there are some good large companies out there.  I say they are few and far between and do not serve the cause of millions of people around the world who would like to work for a Christian business.


I will be writing more of my thoughts on large and small businesses as we go along in this project.  Meanwhile, please think about the things I have just written and ask yourself, "Is the company I work for being operated as a Christian business?  Am I doing as much as I can within the opportunities I am given to connect with people and make them know that they are loved?  Is this where I want to work for the next 10 or 20 years, or should I be looking for something else that will fit better with my new priorities?  If so, how can I find out which businesses are really Christian businesses?"


A lot to think about.  Thank you for your time and consideration.  I would love to hear from you, and may God bless you.


thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

Introduction to the Top, Middle and Bottom Thirds

A lot of people and groups of people do formal comparisons of one type or another.  You see from time to time the results of "studies" that have been done comparing American cities or states on various criteria to determine "the best place to live" or "where you have the best chance of finding a good high-tech job."  Which hospitals are "the best" at providing health care.  Which airports and airlines provide "the best service and on-time performance."  On and on it goes.  Let's face it.  We live in a competitive world.


Most of these studies are presented as simple rankings that show which city or airline was number one, which one was number two and so on.  However, in many studies involving such things as comparisons of similar technologies and comparisons of business results within an industry or between industries the results are not presented in number one and number two fashion.  Individual companies may be told how they ranked as part of the process, but not all companies know how all the others ranked on an individual basis.  It's part of the confidentiality of such projects.


So if they don't do number one and number two for the world to see, how do they do it?  The participating technologies or companies or whomever it may be are divided into groups.  Many studies divide the participants into "quartiles" (top 25%, etc.) while others use other metrics.  My personal experience is with regular reports that divided participating companies into thirds (Top Third, Middle Third and Bottom Third).  It allows more participants to be in the top group, and there is less work to do when comparing the various groups.


It's important, whenever possible, for individual companies to compare themselves ("benchmark") to others in their industry in standardized comparisons.  Why is it important?  Because individual companies need to know where they rank and why.  Changes made on any other data is guesswork.  No doubt that certain talented individuals with a lot of years of experience are able to "see and feel" how an industry in changing, and do pretty well.  Also, individual companies with multiple locations are able to rank those locations on various metrics, and those comparisons are valid.  However, even though those companies can compare locations, they may be using flawed strategies in the entire company if they don't know the industry.


This is why you always hear about companies that don't make it.  They sell out or merge or just quit the business.  It happens because no two companies in an industry make the exact same bottom line profit or operating profit.  A company needs to do all it can to be in the Top Third.  Top Third companies make money 90-95% of the time.  Middle Third companies pretty much break even most of the time, and Bottom Third companies lose money most of the time.  This is the reason (in a free enterprise, capitalistic system) that there is consolidation ("fewer and larger") which is exactly why we, as a world, are now dominated by global, multinational corporations.


On Wall Street, "Mergers and Acquisitions" is considered to be an activity that needs to be dynamic.  People who work in "M&A" get upset when there isn't much action, because it usually means that very few companies are making enough money to buy out others which is a sign of a weak economy.


Each individual company needs to do all it can to be in the Top Third.  It means having "the right mix", and it has to be done within the constraints of such things as the neighborhood or the community (for a labor force), the location of the clients and how the demands on the clients are changing.  The "right mix" or "best mix" for one company will not be the same as for others.  It needs to be constantly monitored and changed when necessary.


Okay, so now you know about benchmarking.  We will visit this subject often because we need our Christian small businesses to be profitable so they will be able to continue serving and helping others and being good examples of people who love God and serve Him.  We need them.  We need to support them.  That leaves the question, "Who are they?"  If you know a Christian small business owner or manager, please let me know.  We want to help them.  Thank you!


thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

Small Business Management Tools 001

Small businesses need management tools just like large businesses, especially in this digital age.  Some of today's tools are relatively modern such as computers and the Internet, and most small businesses try to use them.  However, some business tools go way back.


Companies have utilized such things as accounting reports for a very long time, and these reports are still very important.  Reports include a company's financial reports as well as operating reports and other special needs reports.  Financial reports include the balance sheet, a profit and loss report and a cash flow analysis.  Operating reports include sales reports, accounts receivable reports and accounts payable reports.  There are also budgets, such things as 5-year projections and production and processing reports.


The days of a legitimate businessperson operating out of his or her wallet and a checkbook are gone.  Just like the shop people in an auto repair shop need wrenches and other tools to get the job done, the business manager or owner needs tools, too.  The kind that help the owner/manager know what is going on in the company so that proper decisions can be made about the operating end of the business.


We will be talking in the future about some of the options that are available to small businesses today that you may not have thought about or known about.  But for now, if you own or operate a small business and you have one or more computers, here is a website you may check out at your convenience.  It's called Small Business CEO, and it is a collection of small business tools and resources.  The list includes free training, calculators, small business forms, how to articles and a lot more.  Check it out.  Here's the link.


www.smbceo.com/free-small-business-tools/


thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

What are the "Christian small businesses" among the "Zabaleens" in Cairo, Egypt?

Are you a Christian small business owner in the U.S.?  Do you work for one?


There are many small, "family businesses" in "Garbage City" today in Egypt where most Christians are known as Coptic Christians.  More about "Coptic" later.


The main point of my post today is that 60,000 Christians in Egypt today are known as the "Zabaleen," and they live in the slum of Cairo known as "Garbage City."  Family units or "businesses" spend their days there going through Cairo's garbage taking out items that can be recycled and sold to earn a little money.


Christians are not treated well in Egypt.  They make up about 10% of Egypt's 80 million people.  Egypt, like most Middle Eastern countries, is basically a Muslim country.  Tensions between Muslims and Christians are worse there since the Arab Spring revolution, and Christians have no formal leader or representative in the current constitutional drafting process.  Furthermore, there may not even be a drafting process in the near future, and the state is doing a poor job of protecting Christians in matters of crime and national policy.  A recently formed committee that was to draft Egypt's new constitution was just suspended by the courts.


Nobody knows what will happen, and whatever it is, it doesn't look good for Christians.  They can't build churches without government approval, and Muslims in Egypt are forbidden to convert to Christianity as they are in most Muslim countries.


How would you try to run a Christian small business in these conditions?  There are challenges for Christian small businesses in the U.S., but, in reality, they are small compared to most other places in the world.  We should be thankful here in the U.S., and we need to go in our closets and pray for the Christians in Egypt.  If you are a Christian in Egypt we hope and pray that you will find the strength and determination to keep the faith and let your light shine before men.


Holy Bible - Matthew 5:10-12
10  "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad:  for great is your reward in heaven:  for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."  (Jesus Christ)


thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system

Mission Statement

Hi folks!  Thank you for your visit to this blog.  My mission in this project is threefold.  First, I want to help small Christian businesses be more "successful."  Number two, I want to help small Christian businesses get to know each other and help each other be more "successful."  And number three, I want to work with Christians to teach all nations ("TAN") about the Father (God), the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Ghost ("3n1") as we go about our work in number one and number two.


I grew up in Texas USA and graduated from Texas A&M University in agriculture.  My years of normal career work included time spent with several companies (both large and small) and finally 15 years as an agricultural management consultant.  Learning the unique consulting system we employed and then working as a consultant was a very rewarding experience.  The company I worked for was technically a small business, but we had clients all over the U.S. and in a few foreign countries.  To me it was the ideal combination, and the company was very successful until the owner died.  The company was then sold by the heirs and integrated into another consulting/software company which is doing well today.


The time came for me to stop doing management consulting for that company just before the owner died, and to decide what God really wants me to do with my time and my experience as I now go through my "golden years."  I have been a born-again Christian since I was 10 years old thanks to my parents taking me to church from the time I was born.  I always tried to do my work while being the kind of person God wanted me to be.  Now I am trying to continue in that mode as I work on this "TAN 3n1 Project."


If you are a Christian small business owner, manager or employee, won't you join me in helping to spread the gospel around the world?  I believe all of us need to share tips, suggestions and facts to help small Christian businesses around the world be more "successful" so they may continue to do their part in their neighborhoods, communities, states and regions.  More later about why we need to help each other be more "successful."


The Internet offers an unprecedented opportunity to reach people and help our brothers and sisters all around the world.  The Internet may not last forever, but I believe that if it does not it will be replaced by an even more advanced system of global communication.  There's no turning back now.  In many ways we are truly a global society, and I believe God wants us to make certain that at least a portion of this system is used for good and for His glory.


If you are not a Christian small business owner, manager or employee, but you are a Christian who wants to be involved with your particular skillset, then please know that I will be happy to communicate with you and look for ways for you to help the project.  God will bless you for your faith, your willingness and your determination.


The email address for this project is thetan3n1project@gmail.com .  I can also be contacted on Twitter (@raystanford) and other social networking sites later on.


Thank you for your time and consideration.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you.


Ray Stanford, Jr.

My New Blog Project

This notice is for you Twitter followers who may be expecting to receive links to a previous blog about the state of New Mexico and all the wonderful things about it such as New Mexico green chiles.  It was basically a learning experience for me, and I am now into a new project that I hope you will want to follow.  If not, I will understand, and I will hope that you will choose to join my list of followers again some day.  I will continue to follow you.  God bless you!


Ray Stanford, Jr.

email address for this blog available

I needed to do a post to this blog to be able to work some more on the design of this site.  I thought this would be a good time to give you the new email address for this project.  Feel free to use it to contact me.  I've also added some tags after the email address to help people find us.


thetan3n1project@gmail.com


tags:  God the Father Jesus Christ the Son Holy Ghost Holy Spirit christian christianity Holy Bible old testament new testament free will satan the devil angels sin redemption forgiveness heaven hell lake of fire globalization multinational corporations global trade small business one world government wealth treasures control power politics religion babylon the great the global money system