Owner To Owner Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elise Brown owns Fairdinkum Dogs www.fairdinkumdogs.com.au in #castlemaine. She was only 18 years old when she bought the business from a family friend (who was the second owner). That previous owner thought Elise was a great fit for the brand, and the product, because she had seen her riding her horse past her house, with her #BorderCollies on her tail. Elise talks about;buying your #firstbusiness at 18, and the second one soon afterhow the opportunity to buy the business came aboutnervously asking how much  they wanted for the business, and within an hour chatting to the banks and previous business ownersgetting her #mothershelp with #buyingabusinessgetting her #grandmothershelp to learn to sew after purchasing the businessreassessing priorities when first daughter was born and deciding then to take the business onlinebuying her second business, a #petshopbeing  20 and running both businesseslifting a tonne a day, falling pregnant and selling the businessWanting to just focus on being a mumseeing both sides of the coin, being a #wholesaler and a #retailer@KerryAnderson (mother) giving the confidence to just pursue my dreams#waterproofoilskindogcoats #custommade to fit any breed shape or size.why #Shopify is an amazing website (so you can upload your products onto the website but then with the click of the button you can be selling off @Amazon @eBay @Facebook @Instagramhow #Shopify was a really big turning point for my business#DigitalChampionsGrant (federal government grant) - having two days of training and @michellebridges as our guest speakergetting picked as 1 of  30 businesses to be part of the Facebook gift guideturning up at local shop shopping center and seeing my photo there and at  #MelbourneAirport#digitaltransformationbeing part of our communitybeing Seventh Generation Castlemainianconstantly reiterating that we're #Australianmade and #Australianownedbeing there for you and your best matetips for #productdevelopmentDisciplines to @contentcreation#blogging and just giving away information and helping customers#localcommunity   #Familymoving to the regionsbeing a part of the communitysupport from the local community and family#smallbusinesscommunities#collaboration#Australianmadedogtreats#Manufacturingbyhand#handsewing#locallysourced#Sellingtostaff@MidlandPetSupplies#websiteplatforms#employinglocal#animalwelfarethe Australian Rural Entrepreneurs Book http://www.kerryanderson.com.au/products/australian-rural-entrepreneurswww.kerrcapital.com.auwww.kerryanderson.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Louise Brockman is the founder and CEO of the Advisory Board Center. She grew up in a small business family and started her first business at 19 years old. It's in her blood. She has experienced the absolute highs and lows. With this cumulative experience, she is on  a mission to help other #businessowners take advantage of outside advice. In our discussion she talks about; the big adventures she had when the family started a new businessher #firstbusiness was a #restaurant in #MissionBeachwhen the family lost everything in a cyclone hit, and she couldn't afford to go to universityworking in #corporatelife for a period of time but really missing  #beinginbusiness#starting and #growing a #software based #professionalservicesbusiness helping #SMEs with their #outsourcedhumanresourceswanting to grow it, needing to be cautious and deliberate in the decisions about what's nextsecond guessing the decisions mademisjudging the launchhaving to sell everything that I owned, to keep the business goingrealising a year later, that when she had the opportunity to grow that business wanting to be confident of not messing it up and put herself at riskputting together her own advisory boardher life-changing momentgrowing their business to 135 offices in eight countries in five years, and selling the  businessbeing so grateful for what the #AdvisoryBoard had done leading to spending five years researching testing and validating the advisory board sector globallyput everything on the lineusing her personal experience as a great foundation for building this current businessbe open and willing to seek advicethe different levels of #advice available #smeownerspicking the advice that is fit the purpose for the situation you're in, the period of time, the market#informaladvice - getting advice instance from #familyandfriends, people who know you and love you and want the best from you. It's very supportive and they want the best, who knew personally.#peertopeeradvice - extremely informal, really supportive#beertobeersupport  - really important mutual support#businessnetworkgroups, and #informaladvisoryboards, e.g.  #chamberofcommerce or #businessgroupsthe really important socialization of business owners - because it's lonely in business it's important to get out of our own bubble and socialize with other people that have this similar situationwhy #Informaladvisoryboards is where the market has been -  no one's paid, but generally they last for about six months and they kind of fizzle outone on one relationships like a #businesscoach #mentor #consultant as targeted support for that for a period of timethe unrealistic expectations of one person having the answer to everything about their businessas mentors and advisors being really careful about where the boundaries are -  when should we provide advice and when we should stop when it starts getting outside about entering expertise or knowledge.using #formaladvisoryboard with a #chair and external advisors, a #charter so everyone's focused on some critical aspects of what's important to the business and #measuringimpact#governanceboards with #boarddirectors - with directors becoming personally liableThe mistake of jumping straight to the ‘who I know’ component vs figuring out what the business needs and prioritisingThe types and size of businesses using advisory boards#projectbasedadvisoryboardsfilling #knowledgegaps and #skillsgapsnot duplicating your management disciplinesnot becoming a #shadowdirectorfocusing on context, not content#buildingtrust or learning to trust advisorswhy #businessowners need to step up and do better #duediligence with regards to the way that they're evaluating their advisors - they're not all commodity providerswhy you should interview them and make sure they are really curious about your business#futurefocusssed  advisors or mentorswww.advisoryboardcentre.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

Annabelle Hickson www.annabellehickson.com  is the founder of @Galahpress. Her new publication @GalahMagazine is a modern voice from the bush.Annabelle is also a #pecanfarmer west of  #tenterfield, an #author, a #podcaster. She maintains a rich and diversified portfolio of activities alongside her family life (a farmer husband and 3 lovely kids).In this episode she talks about her transition out of Sydney, and we cover a lot of ground including; growing up suburban Sydney, getting a dream job after uni and then working as a journalist for the Australian newspaper, thinking life was going to go down a much more urban trackfalling in love with a farmerloving life out here, one she never knew about beforecreating your own opportunities, your own business and an empirestarting @GalahMagazine - a publication that spoke about #regionalAustralia through the lens of advantagethe historical voice from the bush, in a kind of post colonial sense, you know, the Bush was such an important part of our national psyche - built on the sheep's back you know everyone was a farmer, they knew a farmer, they had a connection with the bush.how nowadays, that connection has really eroded, and, you know, we're one of the most urbanized countries in the world and I think it's something like 85% of us live within 50kms of the coasts,how the Bush used to be so powerful and now it's much less powerfulthe song of decline, the narrative of decline is something that we hear about a lotbeing really surprised and delighted to find that when I moved out to regional Australia. It was not this sad place, it was vibrant and joyful and full of innovation.why it's really important for us to tell these stories  - to not always talk about drought, and lack of access to medical services, and lack of jobs because this life out here is also really richas you know it's not all light, there's a darkness too, but I think it's a more complex picture I guess then historical stereotypes have portrayed.why living 80 kilometers out of town, and feeling quite separate from #townlife and being a real outsider, is probably good for making observationswhat's happening in #Tenterfield -  primarily an ag town, you know traditional grazing community but now there's lots of different people coming - opening Airbnb’s, new shopkeepers, new restauranters - there's a real mix of people coming into the communityhow from her my point of view having this diverse makeup of people in the community is the key to the future of regional Australia. Having people that don't have skills that are just kind of ag-based, you know, we've got architects, restauranteurs, artists, and all of this that makes up the vibrant, diverse life that I want#decentralization - has been this dream for so long but now it actually feels real, we have technology that allows that to happen. And then, with COVID we've sort of been forced into it and I actually think it's a really exciting time for regional Australia.#treechange and the reasons behind it - significantly cheaper real estate prices - you can get a lot of bang for your buckthe #giftofcommunity - you know everyone's names, they know you, they care about you, even if you don't have the same political views, they will help you when you need it you know we had fires around here and everyone just helped everyone and that feeling of being seen and heard and cared for, I didn’t know what I was missing.life before #treechange - pretty much hung with people who were very much like me in my Sydney lifewhy mixing with people who aren't all alike is good for humanityfeeling a lot more courageous here than I did in my city life. I don't think I ever would have thought I could start my own publication in Sydney because I was surrounded by amazing publicationsfeeling emboldened out here, and I think. I think in a way that's a reflection of the community being so much smaller and that awful voice of comparison, just isn't as loud and you can just kind of try more thingsEmerging business opportunities in #communityregeneration #renewableenergy #smallscale #ecotourism #smallscalefood #smallscaleag #verticalintegrationwhy a lot of country towns that are way ahead of the politicians;#Communityownedcompanies that have the aim of creating and generating enough renewable clean energy to power their own communities, and any profits that are made go back into the community.@cleancowra in #centralwestNewSouthWales@genienergy  in #Narrabri #NorthwestNSWFarming on one or two hectares and employing 10 People@SueHewitt who went back from Melbourne to her family fig farm in South Australia. She went back and worked out how to build a premium food brand #foodprovenance  #industrialvoyeurism #foodtourism #farmtourismHow you can have direct access to city based customers these days through @Instagram and @buyfromthebush and bypass the traditional middlemen and redistribute those margins. I just think it's such an exciting time, keep the margins local.Moving away from competitiveness into cooperation so that they can actually build something strong for the community@GraceBrennan #buyfromthebush@Donnahay - the doyen of Australian cookbooks and magazine publishing as a mentor.@Jilliankirby from https://www.yourexchange.co/  #dubbowww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

The Outback Alliance is a cross-sectoral group of #ngos and individuals who focus on the development, welfare and protection of Outback Australian communities and nature.The Alliance works together to advise, assist and advocate to all levels of government to adopt an approach to policy development and implementation that ensures the sustainable development of Outback Australia.  The vision of www.outbackalliance.org.au is for a thriving #outbackaustralia, for the people and the land. In this episode Daina Neverauskas,  Andrew Drysdale and Frank Quinlan (Federation, Executive Director of the #RoyalFlyingDoctorService) talk about the work they are doing to promote better and fairer outback & remote policies. In this discussion we cover;their cross-sectoral to  promoting remote and outback issues with representatives from #smallbusiness, #rangelands, #healthservices,#Aboriginalservices, and #environmentalservices like #Pewtrust.the interconnectedness of #outbackcommunities #rangelandsthe sheer size of the outback which covers approximately 6 million square kilometers, or 80% of Australia with 3% of the populationThe 7 or 8 federal MP’s who would have 80% of their electorate in #rangelandsthe challenge in trying to influence government to have policies that work for a very, very large area, but a very, very small percentage of people with a very, very small voting powerThe challenges particularly from a business perspective for people living in Outback or remote Australia like the cost and speed of transport, getting fresh perishablesRebalancing the opportunities for #smallbusiness vs #largebusiness (in the coastal parts of the country)The #mantleofsafetythe #royalaustralianflyingdoctorservice ( a child of the outback) over 90 years has been  about ensuring that folks who are living a long way from the tertiary hospitals and other places can get the care they need, as and when they need it#healthoutcomes in outback AustraliaThe importance of #chambersofcommercethe isolation of quarantines and lock-upsthe pressures that folks are under when their businesses disrupted because the community requires shutdowns and quarantinesthe need for open discussion about mental health issuesAccess to basic treatment services, and preventative services that we take for granted in the cities- preventative health checks,#localGPsthe hope of interdependenceThe vanishing rail systemThe case for ensuring access to care and services to support the folks who farm our fiber and our food#commercialinfrastructureThe need for a much broader definition of infrastructure to include personal health and well being#domestictourism #localtourismAn example of opportunity and challenge - #winton @Tattshotelwinton (1200 kilometers northwest of Brisbane) - a couple who switched international travel for an Outback tripThe impact of #covid on #smallbusiness#hardwarestore in #charleville#rangelandalliance#procurement#landbasedlivelihoods#citycousins#Socialwellbing#Emotionalwellbeing#communitydonations #communityleaders#localfootyclubswww.kerrcapital.com.au www.sosbiz.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au