Online’s Adore Beauty gets shops with iKOU buy
Online cosmetics retailer Adore Beauty will secure three stores and a revenue boost with the purchase of a growing organic skincare brand.
Small Business
Bosses on notice after win for FWO
Landmark ruling imposes $1.44m in penalties on a coffee chain for the underpayment of workers by franchisees.
Helping hand for struggling SMEs
Former NAB and ANZ executive Anthony Healy is on the lookout for firms to add to his portfolio of investments in the Australian Business Growth Fund.
Small businesses increasing use of technology: CBA
Commonwealth Bank is seeing small businesses step up their use of technology, including artificial intelligence, to cope with increasing problems of labour shortages.
‘Fight for survival’: SMEs cut hiring amid wages boom
More smaller businesses are likely to shut up shop in the coming months as wage hikes and a broader economic slowdown leave many struggling to survive.
Suppliers miss out as businesses service bank loans
Banking major ANZ’s business lending arm says it’s aware customers are prioritising servicing loans and that’s hitting suppliers which aren’t being paid on time.
Cakes made by AI: Inside Qld bakery’s $53m smart factory
A Queensland bakery which began with eight workers nearly 30 years ago has turned the art of cooking on its head with a $53m AI-powered ‘smart factory’.
Inside Australia’s first AI ‘hacker house’
The concept is popular in the US and has been briefly tried here but the woman behind Build Club’s hacker house is confident about her AI start-up incubator’s prospects.
Grim warning for Aussie hospitality sector
Aussie hospitality businesses have been hit with grim financial forecasting for the year – unless one consumer trend changes.
Tinnies to superyachts draw crowds to boat show
A bevy of spectacular boats has been assembled on the Gold Coast for the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show which is expected to attract 45,000 visitors.
Supermarket suppliers face a profit pinch: Jarden
The nation’s food and grocery suppliers are increasingly pessimistic about their ability to recover rising input costs from supermarkets in the form of higher prices.
Small businesses turn to rescue plans as ATO gets tough
Businesses being chased by the ATO for tax debt are increasingly turning to rescue programs to save their companies from financial ruin, latest data shows.
‘Slim pickings’: Budget hits and misses without the spin
Gerry Harvey’s warehouse power bills have doubled, builders are beset with labour shortages and it’s slim pickings for small business, according to industry leaders.
Small business pain to weigh on economy
The number of business failures in the nine months to March are at the same level they were for the 12 months to July as far back as 2018 and the signs of improvement are far from positive.
Jobs threat: recruitment bots’ backfire in the works
Algorithms are penalising exceptional candidates and, ultimately, the companies that miss out with hires of ill-suited staff sifted by AI.
Former Big W worker builds $18m salon empire
Brendon Mann picked a shocking time to start a business. But he’s laughing all the way to the bank now.
Supermarket bosses say divestiture powers risk jobs
Woolworths and Coles bosses have told a Senate committee hearing that forced divestiture would affect jobs growth and investment.
Brisbane company borne out of dad’s death signs massive Microsoft deal
It took the death of his father for Jamie Wilson to leave accountancy and start a data security company that has just signed a deal with Microsoft and a potential 345 million new clients.
The worrying productivity trend facing small business
Small businesses are struggling to get the most out of their workers, according to a report from Xero, with productivity lagging behind pre-Covid levels.
I spent thousands with Meta – it nearly ruined me
A small business owner almost lost her business after her Meta account was hacked. She wants the consumer watchdog to step in so it doesn’t happen to others.
Keep on truckin’: sales of big rigs hit record levels
Australia’s truckies are not letting the economic hard times get in their way and are spending up to $1m on new heavy vehicles, lifting big rig sales to record levels.
Farmers at crisis level, Senate inquiry hears
Farmers aren’t paid enough for their produce while supermarkets use cheap vegetables as ‘clickbait’ to get shoppers through their doors, a Senate inquiry has heard.
Business defaults hit a record high and ‘worse is to come’
CreditorWatch research shows businesses with one default have a 24 per cent chance of becoming insolvent in the next 12 months and that rises to a 62 per cent likelihood for three defaults.
‘Nuisance’ tariffs going but food won’t get cheaper
Moves by Treasurer Jim Chalmers to axe tariffs on products from fridges to chopsticks and pens won’t save consumers significant money, industry experts say.
Great Southern Bank’s first-home buyers business soars
Australia’s largest customer-owned bank, Great Southern Bank, reported a softer after-tax profit in the first half of the 2024 financial year but a leap in its first-home buyers business.
Crippling debt: Insolvency ‘tsunami’ worst since GFC
Corporate insolvencies are heading towards their highest level since the GFC more than a decade ago as battered and bruised businesses succumb to crippling debts.
Retail woes aren’t over yet, says Deloitte
Consumer caution will linger for some months despite the nation’s ‘retail recession’ being largely past us, a new report has found.
Whisky maker’s last ditch bid for survival
UK turnaround specialist Hilco Capital is backing a revival of Victorian whisky maker Ostra Distillers, bankrolling a rescue plan to avoid liquidation.
Bankruptcies to rise as more directors hit the wall
Directors of previously wound-up companies are still in the firing line if they gave personal guarantees as business-related insolvencies increase.
Doggie treats firm take a bite out of the US market
A family business which just over two years ago launched an Australian first doggie treats vending machine linked up with Trade and Investment Queensland and is now exporting to the US.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/small-business/page/3