『The Australian Small Business Show』のカバーアート

The Australian Small Business Show

The Australian Small Business Show

著者： Kristy-Lee Billett
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The Australian Small Business Show has been created by small business owners, for small business owners. Your hosts Matt Heighway and Kristy-Lee Billett, who have both been running businesses for over 15 years, will bring our first hand experiences to offer insights, advice and inspiration to help you build a successful small business. Each week we’ll discuss one specific strategy, topic, resource or tip that’s relevant for every small business, and we’ll be inviting along some amazing guests and friends in business to share their expertise with you. Whether you're starting out, scaling up or a seasoned small business owner, this Australian Small Business Show is the show for you.Copyright The Footprint Collective Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved マネジメント・リーダーシップ リーダーシップ 政治・政府 経済学
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  • Single Person Risk: Is Your Small Business Too Reliant on One Team Member, One Client or One Supplier?

    Single Person Risk: Is Your Small Business Too Reliant on One Team Member, One Client or One Supplier?
    2026/09/05

    Join the waitlist for The Australian Small Business Show Club by clicking here.

    Hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Australian Small Business Show.

    In this episode we unpack single person risk from three angles. On the team side, we talk about what happens when one person holds all the knowledge in your business, prompted by a recent client experience where a well-structured team was still genuinely shaken by one unexpected resignation. We discuss why documenting processes and SOPs properly, rather than letting a team member build their own undocumented system, is the single biggest thing you can do to protect your business, and how much easier that's become with AI tools that can help capture a process as you talk it through.

    We then move to client concentration risk, sharing our own experiences of losing a client that made up a significant share of revenue, and why we think 20% of income from any one source is a sensible ceiling to work towards. We talk honestly about how easy it is to let marketing slide once a big, comfortable client comes along, and the flow-on risk of giving one client enough power to push down your prices as well as your time.

    Finally we cover supplier risk, particularly relevant right now given how many businesses across industries like construction are going into liquidation. We share an example of a manufacturing client who built a genuine three-tiered supplier strategy, with backup suppliers they maintained real relationships with, not just names on a list, so they were never completely exposed to one supplier's problems.

    Across all three, the common thread is control. If someone else, whether that's a team member, a client or a supplier, holds the power in the relationship, your business carries real risk.

    Have you been asking yourself, "How reliant is my business on any one person?" This episode gives you a practical starting point for finding out, and for building in the contingencies before you're forced to.

    Key Takeaways:

    • Document your processes and SOPs properly rather than letting critical knowledge live in one person's head, and use AI tools to make capturing them easier than ever
    • Aim to keep any single client below 20% of your revenue, and keep marketing running in the background even when a big client makes it tempting to stop
    • Build genuine backup supplier relationships before you need them, not just a name in a drawer you've never actually ordered from
    • Watch for situations where a team member, client or supplier holds enough power to start dictating terms, whether that's pricing, timelines or decisions
    • Assume loyalty isn't a long-term plan; build a simple contingency matrix so a resignation, a lost client or a supplier collapse doesn't mean panic stations

    Connect with Us:

    If you're an Australian Small Business Owner, we'd love to connect with you on socials. You can give our Facebook Page a like here: https://www.facebook.com/theaustraliansmallbusinessshow

    Or follow us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/aussmallbizshow/

    We’d love to hear from you.

    Subscribe to The Australian Small Business Show newsletter by visiting our website here: https://www.theaustraliansmallbusinessshow.com.au/

    Disclaimer: The information shared on The Australian Small Business Show is general in nature and does not constitute professional advice, legal or otherwise. We recommend consulting with your advisors on your specific circumstances.
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    17 分
  • What Type of CRM Does Your Small Business Actually Need? With Frieda Maher from SalesPOD

    What Type of CRM Does Your Small Business Actually Need? With Frieda Maher from SalesPOD
    2026/08/29
    Join the waitlist for The Australian Small Business Show Club by clicking here.Hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Australian Small Business Show.This week we're joined by Frieda Maher from SalesPOD, an independent technology consultant who helps small businesses plan their CRM and customer facing systems without being tied to any particular software provider. That independence matters, because Frieda isn't trying to sell you a licence, she's trying to find what actually works for your business, and that's exactly the lens we bring to this conversation.We start by unpacking what "CRM" actually means, because it gets thrown around as if it's one thing when it's really a broad church. There's marketing CRM (newsletters, automated sequences), sales CRM (tracking conversations and pipeline so nothing falls through the cracks when more than one person is talking to customers), service CRM (think Zendesk style ticketing) and e-commerce CRM (the Shopify style "people who bought this also bought that"). Most small businesses don't need all four, and a lot of us are only using a fraction of what we're already paying for.Frieda gives us a genuinely useful filter for deciding whether you need a system at all: value only ever comes from two places, more sales or more efficiency. If a shiny new feature doesn't move you towards one of those, it's not worth the extra cost or complexity. We also dig into the real tipping points, when a spreadsheet stops cutting it (usually once more than one person is talking to the same customers), how to think about growth and pricing tiers before you commit, and why integration, making sure your systems actually talk to each other, is one of the most overlooked and most technical parts of the decision.One idea that reframes the whole conversation is Frieda's point that choosing software is a three to five year decision, not a forever one. Your business will change, the software will change, and planning with that horizon in mind changes how you evaluate cost, implementation time and what you're prepared to compromise on now.Have you been asking yourself whether the system (or spreadsheet) you're using is actually helping you grow, or just quietly costing you sales and hours every week? This episode gives you a genuinely practical framework for answering that, before you spend another dollar on software you might not need.Frieda Maher is an independent technology consultant at SalesPOD, specialising in helping small businesses plan customer facing systems, with a particular focus on CRM. Unlike many providers in the space, Frieda isn't aligned with any single software vendor, so her recommendations are built around what genuinely suits the business in front of her, not what she's incentivised to sell.Connect with Frieda: Website: https://www.salespod.com.au LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/friedamaher/ Key Takeaways:Understand that "CRM" isn't one product, marketing, sales, service and e-commerce systems each do a different job, and most businesses only need some of themUse Frieda's value filter (more sales or more efficiency) to cut through flashy features that won't actually move the needle for your businessRecognise the real signs you've outgrown a spreadsheet, usually when more than one person is talking to the same customersTreat any software decision as a three to five year commitment, not a forever one, and let that shape how you weigh cost and implementation timePrioritise integration, checking new systems talk to what you already use, as one of the most overlooked steps in the buying processGo in with realistic expectations on switching costs and implementation time, because both are almost always underestimatedConnect with Us:If you're an Australian Small Business Owner, we'd love to connect with you on socials. You can give our Facebook Page a like here: https://www.facebook.com/theaustraliansmallbusinessshow Or follow us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/aussmallbizshow/We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe to The Australian Small Business Show newsletter by visiting our website here: https://www.theaustraliansmallbusinessshow.com.au/Disclaimer: The information shared on The Australian Small Business Show is general in nature and does not constitute professional advice, legal or otherwise. We recommend consulting with your advisors on your specific circumstances.
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    25 分
  • Why Are You Building Your Small Business?

    Why Are You Building Your Small Business?
    2026/08/22

    Hello and welcome to this weeks episode of The Australian Small Business Show.

    Join the waitlist for The Australian Small Business Show Club by clicking here.

    Hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Australian Small Business Show.

    In this episode we get honest about something we don't talk about enough: why we're actually building our businesses in the first place. Kristy-Lee came back from a mastermind with a lot to think about rather than a clear next step, and it led to a realisation - she'd been chasing a goal she'd set because she thought she should, not because it actually motivated her. That fuzziness, we discuss, is something almost every business owner runs into eventually, and it's worth stopping to name.

    We unpack the different reasons people actually build small businesses, from wanting to create a legacy and build something bigger than themselves, to giving back to a local community, to chasing lifestyle and freedom of time and location. We also talk about the shift toward building a business as a wealth creation vehicle (a saleable asset) and how that single decision changes everything else, from how you handle a client leaving to how you make marketing and retention decisions. When you know what game you're playing, every decision gets easier. When you don't, you can end up going through the motions without realising it.

    Have you been asking yourself, "why am I actually doing this?" If so, this episode will help you get clear on what game you're playing, because once you know that, you can start playing to win it.

    Key Takeaways:

    • Get honest about why you're really building your business: legacy, community contribution, lifestyle and freedom, or wealth creation are all valid, but they're not interchangeable.
    • Notice when a goal has stopped being yours and started being one you think you "should" have, that fuzziness is a signal, not a failure.
    • Understand that your real "why" should drive practical decisions, hiring, marketing, retention and systems all look different depending on the game you're playing.
    • If you're building toward a sale, treat every decision as a test of whether it moves you closer to that outcome, not just whether it solves today's problem.
    • Expect your reason for building the business to evolve as the market shifts or your own life changes, that's normal, not a sign you got it wrong the first time.

    We'd love to hear from you on this. Why are you building your small business? Let us know on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok, or email Matt directly at matt@thefootprintgroup.com.au.

    Connect with Us:

    If you're an Australian Small Business Owner, we'd love to connect with you on socials. You can give our Facebook Page a like here: https://www.facebook.com/theaustraliansmallbusinessshow

    Or follow us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/aussmallbizshow/

    We’d love to hear from you!

    Subscribe to The Australian Small Business Show newsletter by visiting our website here: https://www.theaustraliansmallbusinessshow.com.au/

    Disclaimer: The information shared on The Australian Small Business Show is general in nature and does not constitute professional advice, legal or otherwise. We recommend consulting with your advisors on your specific circumstances.
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    15 分
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