By Mike Boorn Plener, Business Connector There is no doubt that retail is a challenging game, confirmed by Peter Costello’s recent address at the ANRA Retail Nation 2014 luncheon, where Mr Costello bluntly told the CEO of Woolworths Grant O’Brien and 350 assembled top retail bosses to just move with the trend, like retail has been forced to do for ...

Mike Boorn Plener from Business Connector talks to Douglas Lim, cofounder of Alyka, about how he will be revealing insider tricks for digital marketing

Mike Boorn Plener from Business Connector talks to Douglas Lim, cofounder of Alyka, about how to get started with digital marketing

We teamed up with Bendigo Bank on Wednesday night to host this month’s Sydney Business Networking Event. Over 60 professionals joined us in the heart of the CBD for an incredible evening of learning valuable tips and expanding their networks. Journalist and PR expert Sue Papadoulis spoke about how to generate free publicity for your business by giving journalists a ...

This week we have the Sydney Business Networking Event coming up – as it does every month. It has made me reflect on what really happens at these events and how I see people’s businesses grow as a direct result. Do people come and pitch? Not quite – and thank goodness for that. Instead what happens when people in the room connect ...

There are a few who have risen to prominence. Some have done really well. However, in most cases I see either drama or never–ending mediocrity. So, don’t do business with your family. Sure if it’s your cousin it might work well. But with your spouse or parent, let alone your siblings? I know there are many cultures where ‘joining the ...

I admit I attend a lot of seminars. I even attend seminars run by the same person again and again. Why? Just the other day I attended a full-day event with one of my favourites, international speaker and business builder Kerwin Rae. At about 2:30 pm I left, even though I had VIP seating, because I was so inspired. In ...

At the station they might say “mind the gap” but what you most often really have to mind is the communications gap, or the language barrier. A few years I was doing fashion production in Bali. My production manager Kylie was in the factory being the middle–girl between us and the manager of the factory. So we asked what something ...

There is always hope. Always another rainbow. What’s really cool (and what should give you certainty instead of hope) is that, as business owners and entrepreneurs, we to a large extent create our own opportunities. Instead of chasing other people’s opportunities, or chasing the ‘market opportunity’ we need to see how we can ‘create our own luck. When you remember ...

There is a time and place where you need to throw in the towel. Hopefully that time arrives before you’ve gone mad or lost the support of your family and friends. Some would say the definition of insanity is to to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. For most that is also the definition ...