The sky is falling. The sky is falling.

Got chatting in a group at a recent food industry function.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to ‘tough times’ as always happens these days.

I remarked that a major positive of being under pressure, is small and medium business owners will have a much better understanding of how their businesses operate.

A business owner was quick to responded “I only see negatives in negatives.  There are no positives when things are negative.”

This comment startled me.  I have a keen interest in the human aspect of being in business.

It reminded me of the importance of self-speak / self-talk.

Self-esteem and confidence can have a major impact on how a business is going.  Whether you are the Board, management or employee – everyone should practice positive self-speak.

It’s virtually impossible to navigate stormy waters with a bucket over your head.

If your business has a positive ‘inner voice’ you will be amazed how quickly the tone and culture will change.

Then, even more amazing, is how quickly your business will start seeing positive results, in what you thought to be tough times.

It’s certainly not easy to maintain and takes practice.  After 2.5 years into my new business, studying an MBA and IVF I can personally vouch for that.

But I highly recommend it and my business would have failed a long time ago without it.

I mentor other businesses and it’s one of the first things I talk about.

Thanks for hanging-out at my blog.

If anyone has their own examples of positive self-speak they use or a time when positive self-speak changed a perceived outcome, personal or business, I would love to hear it.

Just use the comments section below.

Speaking of being positive, if you like my blog feel-free to share it around your own networks.

Happy Friday everyone.

The butcher, the baker, the local cake maker..............met a pieman.

Unfortunately, these types of nursery rhymes have outlasted the tradition of the local food producers that until recently have existed for centuries and were an essential part of local culture and community.

However, it is no coincidence that our food labeling laws under which remaining food producers must operate make as much sense as these nursery rhymes.

Australia must be the hardest place in the world to be a food consumer.  Why?  Because that’s the way the rules have been designed thanks to the lobbying of those that have everything to gain by confusing us.

This is known as arbitrage; when one party to a transaction, knowingly takes advantage of the fact that the other person entering the transaction does not have all the information they need, to have a full understanding and knowledge of the transaction they are entering into.

What does this have to do with food labeling in Australia?

Way back in 1970, a Nobel Prize winning Professor of Economics by the name of George Akerlof came up with a theory about what happens to a market when consumers have an information disadvantage.  The idea is that if consumers have no way of being able to confirm what is good quality and what is bad quality, they will only be prepared to pay a lower price. 

Consequently, if information is confusing or lacking, the consumer is trained to focus on price. 

Quality uncertainty means that poorer products are eventually able to drive good products out of the market.  This is known as market break-down.

How does this work in the food game?  By gradually introducing cheaper alternatives and then gradually presenting them in a way that makes it harder to tell the difference in quality at face value i.e. packaging all looks the same but information is hard to find.

In the end, only the lower quality products are sold because they are cheaper to produce and have a higher margin.  The consumer has been arbitraged.  The seller knows more about the product than the buyer.

Sound familiar?  Remember the early ‘home-brand’ products?  Look at them now.

Akerlof’s theory suggests that what consumers actually want is clear information about the products they are buying.  Unfortunately, some have much to gain by not making information simple for food consumers.

I strongly believe that if local food packaging was made simpler, consumers would pay more and we would have a better chance of saving what’s left of our local food processing industry.

The work free smoke place.

Why are people still allowed to smoke at work?

Walking around the centre of Adelaide, I am still amazed at the number of people standing outside their office building having a cigarette and a chat – and a coffee in some cases.

In a previous life, I worked in the city for a large financial institution.  There were people on the same floor that went for a cigarette in the car park below up to 4 times a day – some people took two cigarettes at a time.

We timed them.

Get up from desk.  Wait for smoking buddy to finish what they are doing at their desk.  Go to kitchen and make a coffee.  Wait for lift.  Travel in lift stopping at various floors.  Smoke, chat and drink coffee in car park for 15 – 20 minutes.  Wait for lift.  Travel in lift stopping at various floors.  Go back to kitchen to rinse coffee mug and finish discussion.  Return to desk.  Stink-out entire office.

All things considered, we calculated these people were only working about 4 days a week.

I’m addicted to reading.  There was a large park across from our building.  Sometimes when I felt the need, I just wanted to lay in the sun and read, instead of working.

SuperTemp to the rescue.

SuperTemp to the rescue.

Need help but want more bang for your buck?

Invest in outcomes, not just advice.

Are traditional recruitment methods not keeping pace with change?

The future is flexible.

Never heard of an Interim Manager?

I guarantee at some stage you’ve wished for one.

It should be an exciting time for small and medium business in Australia.  So why are many struggling to add value to their business?

Market culture and stakeholder attitudes are changing quickly for small and medium business.

Survival means responding to new opportunities in real time.  This requires a constant supply of fresh thinking.

Introducing the Interim Manager – your ‘SuperTemp’ of the future.

Interim Management is a cost-effective way of obtaining short-term skills when they are needed most, with lasting benefits for your business.  These skills are instrumental in changing your company’s outlook, improving your potential for future growth and re-developing your long-term sustainability.

It enables you to:

     -          Hire a manager

     -          To work in your business

     -          For as long as you need them

     -          Only when you want them.

Engaging an Interim Manager does require an upfront investment, at a time when additional spending might be unwelcome.  However, the benefits far outweigh the cost and interim management is now the fastest growing area of human resourcing worldwide.

Research also shows that many businesses start by looking for a consultant and end up engaging the services of an interim manager.

For many small and medium businesses in Australia, interim management has become an established resourcing strategy.  The lag-time and (repeated) cost of finding and retaining talent has made traditional recruitment methods obsolete for these organisations.

So whether you have a staff shortage, a skills shortage, a sudden problem or a need to take time off, a ‘supertemp’ may be just the thing you need and is worth considering over other forms of help.

Can you help us with some market research?

Can you help us with some market research about Australia's Asian Food Bowl Strategy?

SOS has been engaged by one of Australia's oldest and largest food companies.   Awesome news for us.

So, we are on the hunt for information relating to the Australia-Asia Food Bowl concept / initiative from the following market segments:

- Government (white papers, strategic plans) 

- Industry (e.g. research, strategic plans, response to Government) 

- Media (e.g. how is media reporting the Asian Century / Asian Food Bowl) 

- Peoples' Opinion (e.g. blogs, opinion pieces, editorials, comments) 

- Bucking the Trend (food export success stories) 

We just know that someone in our network may have a gem of information that we don't know about.