Angeline Zaghloul is an expert in business strategy, client management and business processes, and is the Principal of Peer Business Consulting, a Sydney-based consultancy providing strategy and operations support to startups and SMEs. Angeline also publishes a weekly blog which provides research, advice and tips on key issues facing startups and small businesses. Email: info@peerbusinessconsulting.com.au Visit: peerbusinessconsulting.com.au
In Australian business culture, we’re used to getting up at the crack of dawn and working long hours. Proof of our dedication to early mornings and long work days is the tradition of ‘breakfast networking’, which usually starts at 7am. And yet, despite waking up so early, we work all through the day until late at night and become increasingly sleep-deprived in the process. Should we perhaps take a cue from the Mediterranean countries where the Siesta—the combined midday lunch and nap—has been part of the national psyche for hundreds of years? According to CQ University’s Professor Drew Dawson—author of the nation’s largest study into Australian sleeping habits with over 13,000 respondents—the main reason for our stubborn refusal to sleep are gadgets with screens, such as iPhones and tablet computers, that we take to bed with us. Staring at the light shining from iGadgets until late at night tells our brains that it’s still the day. As a consequence, we find it difficult to fall asleep and end up staying awake when we should be …
Essential oils are unique in that their efficacy begins at the aromatic level. Unlike pharmaceutical drugs, an essential oil need not be ingested, nor even applied like a medical cream, to affect your body to heal. The simple act of smelling an essential oil begins its work to heal the area of your body that requires attention. Penetrating the brain barrier The aromatic compounds in pure essential oils rise up the nasal cavity and are first detected by olfactory cells that are part of the olfactory epithelium. The olfactory cells are nerve cells with extended cilia (hair-like structures) which have receptors that bind to specific odour molecules. When a receptor binds to an odour molecule, the olfactory cell sends the signal through the cribriform plate (bone barrier between the nasal cavity and brain) to the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb in turn sends impulses to five different structures in the brain. Each of these five structures has a different response to the impulse, and a specific function to undertake. • The amygdala stores and releases emotions …
Matthew Rowe is a Director of Fifo Capital, a company providing working capital to SME’s via invoice finance. Matthew holds qualifications in property valuation and has worked in a variety of industries, including running his own retailing and wholesale coffee operation in Sydney in the early 90’s. Having experience in small business, Matthew understands the pressures that SME’s face and he is passionate about business and sharing his knowledge. Phone: 0405 296 958 Email: matt.rowe@fifocapital.com Visit: fifocapital.com.au
Another year has managed to slip down the stream and a new year has begun. How can it already be 2015!? Let’s take a look at 2014: a year in review for small business. 2014 saw a rush of invention and business innovation. We experimented with new ways of working and interacting on ‘the cloud’. Many businesses moved their entire workflow to the internet—or are now in the process of doing so. Business tasks such as accounting, invoicing, project management and customer service are all done on the internet now, and we’re able to attend webinars and learn from the best teachers in the world, all without leaving our offices or homes. The future has certainly arrived—or so it would seem. Despite the technological advances, business still happens in the human context, and business in the cloud is half the picture. The other half happens in real life—it’s still a people’s game. We may not be exaggerating when we say that the death of Robin Williams in 2014 was a knock to humanity. Williams’ death …
