If you want to build a great business, you need to set challenging goals and engage in calculated risks. To be more effective, you should set specific, measurable, audacious yet realistic, and time-bound goals. Learn a better approach to planning and setting business goals.

Inspirational business speaker Ford Saeks provides four common-sense ways to grow a business.

Our article focuses on the importance of developing and implementing a strong customer management program, covering the power of effective customer communication.

Many business owners find the notion of creating a customer management plan daunting. We suggest working with someone who has helped other business owners through the process. Find out how.

Who really can afford the costs of making a hiring mistake these days, as well as the costs of separating mistakes from your business? The answer lies in extending your recruitment process and making it more reliable and accurate.

Knowing where to focus your attention when it comes to evaluating your business performance can make you more effective and make the best use of your time.

As new General Manager Zachary knew and had worked with Hugh Bowden on tax and accounting in his previous company role, he naturally leant on Hugh to assist with structuring and transitioning Armitage Group from the legacy the founder had left.

As your business grows and you add people, how do you keep everyone focused and heading in the right direction?

Xero's Trent Innes shares 'Five Lessons Learned'.

Any professional in most industries could probably give you five good reasons why you should declutter and organise your life or your business every time the darling buds of spring appear.

For small and medium business owners, doing this is no longer about starting the warmer weather on the right foot.

Many small businesses are so busy running the business and fending off daily emergencies that systems go completely ignored and chaos often prevails.

Most businesses are built by default – not by design.

Very few businesses start ‘with the end in mind’ and design it from the ground up. Most businesses grow by default with people, systems, culture, clients, numbers, habits and attitudes.

Trying to garner customer loyalty without paying attention to team loyalty will get you the same results as bungee jumping without the bungee.

To quote Henry Ford, “Business must be run at a profit… else it will die. But when anyone tries to run a business solely for profit… then also the business must die, for it no longer has a reason for existence.”

It’s great if every customer walks away from your business with a smile. But it’s not enough. They have to be compelled to come back for more.

How you articulate guarantees can have an enormous effect on their power.

Will customers take advantage of you when you offer a strong guarantee? A few will, but the money you lose on those customers is a tiny fraction of the increased sales you’ll experience by offering the guarantee in the first place.

flok connects merchants and their customers, powering lasting and rewarding relationships.

Business owners, get flok for your business at www.flok.com.  

In our experience we typically find there are seven success areas for a business to thrive. From managing cash to making sure you have the right talent in place, it can be daunting year after year.

As a business owner, can you confidently tick each box on your own? Or would having a mentor - essentially a business buddy or a sounding board - help keep you on track as well as achieve results?

In August Greg and I went to Xerocon 2014 in Sydney. What did we learn? There are Xero Add-ons for everything these days. If you can think of it, there’s an Add-on for it.

In fact there are so many Add-ons out there that the Xerocon iPhone App had them and their exhibitors listed by category. For example: farming, inventory, invoicing, payroll, property management, share management, point of sale, media, CRM, benchmarking, financial reporting, cash flow, budgeting software, project management, and the list goes on.