The ACT enjoyed a warm summer, you could say the hot air balloon has gone sky fire over and the temperature (fortunately or unfortunately!) is about to plummet. FBA ACT joined forces with the Canberra Business Chamber last Thursday for the Business After Business: Kennards Hire event. There was a joyful vibe at the Fyshwick store which was converted to occupy many business owners from the Canberra region.  Andy and Cam Kennard generously travelled to attend and share their experience working with family and the valued learning from FBA their family have put into practice. 

Andy said it is never easy to step aside and let your children become the leaders but he needed to do this to give his children the opportunity to make their own paths in the business. There were questions from the audience asking if there was a significant difference in the turnover in the ACT to their other stores. The Kennards agreed with the ACT store manager that whenever there is a change in government, it significantly has a knock on affect. Cam and Andy had a fun banter between them which reflected the family fun had by so many of our members when attending our events; it’s not always serious business there’s always room for a laugh. Cam spoke of how significant being part of a forum group is to him, he currently has been in the same group for 9 years !!

On 5 March Martin Tobin came to share his wisdom on successful transitions at an event delivered in partnership with the Canberra Business Chamber and FBA. Key take away messages from the event included:

• Treat succession as a process, not an event
• Its important to see development as investment not a cost
• If a family business succeeds to the 3rd generation more often they go to the 4th and 5th generation but without proper planning families historically fall apart

We are heading to Eden on 13 April to join the Eden Chamber meeting. Wayne Bolin of Joyce Dickson Chartered Accountants and Irene Cassimatis of NDH Property Services Pty Ltd, members of the ACT Advisory Committee, will share their experiences and the advantages they see in being part of the FBA community. If you’re in the area, please come down!

Make sure you save the date for the Strategic Planning Course on 5 May here in Canberra. This presents a great opportunity to spend a day planning a strategy that will create a competitive advantage for your business.

For those members who are interested, nominations are now open for the 2015 Telstra Business Awards. Entrants will be judged on broadened human resources criteria in 2015 along with business achievements, strategy, customer service, financials, sales and marketing, innovation and social responsibility. Entrants also receive a free business health check, so its worth looking into!

If you haven’t already had a look, I encourage you to check out the The Canberra Business News a new online platform for new and existing startups and entrepreneurs, as well as early stage and high growth businesses to connect and access the latest information and news from the Canberra business sector.

Some interesting events coming up also include:

• Delightful Morning Tea networking at Forrest Hotel and apartments 31 March 11.00am
• Innovage (http://www.innovage.org.au/) will run from 2-3 May and is an initiave to encourage entrepreneurial thinking to develop, build or launch age related solutions (services or products) to improve the lives of older Australians and their families.
• 2015 Australian Running Festival Don’t miss your chance to participate in the 2015 Australian Running Festival, featuring the The Canberra Times Canberra Marathon
• National Folk Festival 2 – 6 April is a celebration of traditional and contemporary folk life with a festival which offers high-end entertainment to all attendees.
• GIANTS vs Sydney Swans for a bit of AFL action in the Capital

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Kylie Kovac