Businesses for Good: Embedding the Concept of Giving into Everyday Life

One of the most exciting aspects of modern life is the feeling we wake up with every morning that something amazing could happen at any given time. The world is so huge, people are diligently working somewhere while we‘re asleep, and the world is so connected these days that if someone has an idea halfway around the world while we‘re sleeping, it‘s sitting in our Inbox when we sit down to have our morning coffee. That‘s an exciting way to live, and here at Inspire CA we‘ve always got our ear to the ground for new ideas – especially when it comes to making the world a better place.

Negative Inertia

Most people have difficulty overcoming the negative inertia that affects everyone. People at rest tend to stay at rest – the end result is that your chances of getting a donation or other contribution for a good cause goes up inversely with the level of effort required.

[imageframe style=”” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”4px” stylecolor=”” align=”right”][/imageframe]

When we were introduced to Paul Dunn and the Buy One Give One (B1G1: Business For Good) Project, we knew we‘d found one of those brilliant ideas.

Business for Good

B1G1 is an awesome concept. When your business joins up, it literally embeds giving into your everyday actions. It‘s called “micro-giving” and it is brilliant.

The examples are infinite. Your local coffee shop joins, and every time they sell a coffee, someone in the world got access to clean water – which we’ve even adopted right here at Inspire Café! Or you engage an accountant, and part of the fee you pay them automatically feeds a dozen people who are starving. It’s all about embedding the giving so it’s automatic, and about the giving being micro, so it’s painless and effortless – but cumulative.

Businesses get to choose the initiatives they want to support, and all it takes is joining B1G1 and configuring the impact you want to have. But that’s not all. It gets even more exciting when you learn about the Map.

The Map

The map can be found at http://businessesforgood.com, and Paul Dunn, current Chairman of B1G1, has created an awesome video explaining the sheer genius of the Business for Good Map below. On the B1G1 Map, you can see all the areas of the world where businesses have signed up with B1G1, and not only that – you can click on any individual business and see in real time the donations they’ve generated, precisely where those donations went and what for, and what other businesses support those specific initiatives. In fact, if you go to the B1G1 Map right now and type “Inspire CA” into the search box, we’ll pop up and you can see all the good we’ve done so far. Here’s a quick look:

[youtube id=”rCmquSzjUiw” width=”600″ height=”350″]

It’s brilliant. Removing the barriers that prevent people from doing well and making it into a constant, everyday part of normal life. No sudden efforts that then fade away, no stops and starts. Just a constant stream of good being done, all while we’re just living our lives and getting our work done.

If this aligns to your values, you can join today. There is literally no reason not to. Join today and experience what it’s like to know that everything you do not only benefits you and your business professionally, but benefits the world – and benefits it in a real-time way you can literally see on the map.

De-Mystifying Superannuation Contributions and Bonus Structures

Every good employer knows that rewarding your employees properly is the best investment in your company’s future you can make. (Maybe tying for importance with the correct business structure!)

With a competitive salary as the base, the Superannuation program intends to provide all workers with resources in their retirement through a cooperative funding between their employers over the years and their own personal contributions.

Bonuses paid out as part of an overall motivational compensation structure or as a reward for a particular service can be a fantastic tool for motivating and rewarding employees as well. Unfortunately, for many employers bonuses in relation to Superannuation Contributions is a confusing and intimidating field.

One unfortunate result of this confusion is fewer employers offering their employees bonuses of any kind. But the bonus is one of the most powerful tools we have to recognize and reward the people who make our businesses hum. Here’s our fast guide to superannuation contributions and bonus structures.

Superannuation Guarantee

We all know that superannuation is based on the employee’s ordinary time hours – that is, their usual set work time. In the case of a bonus, the first question to answer is whether or not the bonus should be considered part of these ‛regular’ hours:

If the bonus is a reward for achievements during an employee’s ordinary time hours, then the bonus sum incurs the usual superannuation guarantee requirements. This is the case for the majority of bonus payments made to employees under a salary agreement.

However, if the bonus is linked to a specific project or performance that is wholly outside of the employee’s ordinary hours, then Superannuation Guarantee payments are not necessary.

For example, if the employee takes it upon themselves to develop an internal program without direction from management and this is deemed an extraordinary effort that deserves a bonus as reward, these monies would not be counted as part of the company’s superannuation contribution burden.

Contribution Base

Business owners should also keep in mind that bonuses paid out do not necessarily affect the contribution base for superannuation contributions.

For example, in the 2013/2014 financial year, the base is $48,040 per quarter. Thus, any compensation package for an employee (which includes all bonuses and salaries as separate from ‛special’ bonuses discussed above) that exceeds an average of $48,040 per quarter hits the ceiling on contributions and thus the company does not have to pay more in superannuation contributions no matter how far the employee’s overall compensation exceeds the base.

What does it mean?

In the end, the benefits of motivating employees with bonus payouts far exceed the difficulties these bonuses cause in terms of tax and superannuation contributions.

The procedures and equations are not terribly difficult once the basic concepts have been mastered, and the company that offers a generous bonus structure in addition to a competitive base salary will of course attract the best talent in their field.

But everyone needs a little help now and then, and if you’re confused about superannuation and bonus issues, feel free to sign out and we can explain everything in clear language.

Looking for more? Here’s some resources from the ATO:

http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=SGR/SGR20092/NAT/ATO/00001

http://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Key-superannuation-rates-and-thresholds/?page=21#Maximum_super_contribution_base

This guest article was written by Nick Webb, Financial Adviser of Brisbane Wealth Management firm, Stonehouse Wealth Management.

Ensure you Insure – The Golden Egg

I would like to share a story with you. It’s a story that will be familiar to a lot of you, especially because of its similarities to the classic tale of ‘The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs’.

In a lot of ways, this story of the Golden Goose is a situation I face every day – but what does this have to do with Financial Planning?

The answer is that the story of the Golden Goose is one that many of my clients across all ages, income levels, and social positions deal with.

Would you insure the Goose, or the Eggs?

It all comes down to a single, fundamental question: If you had the mythical Goose that laid Golden Eggs, would you insure the Goose, or the Eggs?

All of us are alike in basic ways. We all have a source of income, we all carry some debts, and most of us have at least one dependent – a child or a spouse, or both. But one of the fundamental mistakes people make is thinking of insurance as something other than what it really is: Income Protection. Believe me, I know: I was once pretty naive about this subject too. Just like most of my clients, my answer to the question used to be: The Goose, of course!

Despite how fast most people come up with this answer, the answer they offer to my follow-up question is usually the same. When I ask, do you currently insure your income or your car? They almost always reply their car. And yet your income is the Goose in this metaphor, and your car is one of the Golden Eggs. Once you start labelling things like this, the illogic of insuring a car and not insuring your income becomes plain.

Income Protection: The Golden Goose

Income Protection will not only provide you with the means to sustain a lifestyle for you and your loved ones should you be rendered (through illness or injury) unable to work. I urge you to consider this paradigm that is so readily overlooked by the majority of us in our daily lives. While it is undeniably important to insure your Eggs, don’t forget to insure the Goose as well – that is, yourself!

Have more questions? Looking to fund your insurance from your superannuation?

Please get in touch with the team at Inspire CA or Nick Webb directly if you would like to learn more about Income Protection insurance. There are also avenues to structure Income Protection Insurance within your superannuation so that there is no direct hit on your personal cashflow.

Think you are a contractor? The ATO may disagree!

Why employees who take the day off actually get more work done!

Australian’s love a break from work. And what’s not to love – time off means family, friends, sunshine and an opportunity to recuperate. Whether they’re on annual leave, a public holiday or the great Australian ‘Sickie,’ Australians certainly do enjoy a day off.

However, media discussions on the subject tend to focus on negative aspects such as  ‘How much will any additional time off cost businesses and the economy in lost productivity?’ But this is a rather narrow minded view on the situation.

Yes, there is a cost to the organisation for every day off taken – but there are far more benefits than costs, both for the employee and the employer. In the final analysis, these benefits mean taking the day is a something that every business should encourage!

Benefits to employees

In addition to additional time to spend with family, unwinding and getting some well-deserved rest employees get several crucial benefits from time off.They return to work more enthusiastic and more satisfied with their job, and as a result they promote a more productive working environment. Employees who are tired and frustrated are far less engaged.

Benefits to employers

Employers who actively encourage staff to take regular annual leave are promoting a more productive and engaging working environment and will experience higher staff retention rates on average than employers who discourage time off.

Regular consumption of leave balances is also a cost saving measure for the employer, because annual leave accumulates in terms of hours, not a fixed dollar value. As employees gain pay raises while their leave time accumulates, the value of that leave time increases, often resulting in a much higher payout when it is finally claimed than if it had been taken at regular intervals at lower pay grades.  This is a compelling financial reason for companies to encourage employees to take their scheduled leave.

Additionally, from a tax perspective it is also important to remember that while the annual leave accumulated by your staff is an expense on the profit and loss statement in the year it relates to, it is not tax deductible until the amount is actually paid to the employee.

In Summary

Employers who fail to encourage their staff to take regular days off will experience lower staff engagement and retention, higher cost of employment and delayed tax benefits. On the other hand employers who insist on regular days off are in fact developing a more satisfying and productive working environment as well as saving their business money in the long run. Which type of employer do you want to be?!

Taking control of your Payroll

Employers in need of assistance with managing staff leave entitlements or broader payroll issues can contact Inspire CA for assistance.

 

The 21st Century Benefits of Online Signing Software

It’s become a bit of a joke – “Where are the flying cars?” Science Fiction from decades past always envisioned the 21^st Century with a few key elements of futuristic technology: The laser gun, the spaceship, and the aforementioned flying cars.

Yet here we are well into the 21^st Century and no flying cars yet.

Another promise of the future that hasn’t been kept? The paperless office. We’ve put people on the Moon and yet we’re still pushing paper around.

For the most part. A quiet revolution has begun that’s seeing more and more individuals and businesses take advantage of the benefits of online signing software – benefits that just about anyone who regularly deals with contracts, legal papers, or any other documents that require signatures can take advantage of.

Here at Inspire CA, we wanted to improve efficiency and cut down on paper waste and costs, so we launched a project to identify online signing options. We evaluated our options on the product’s environmental stability, affordability, convenience, security, and enforceability.

Environmentally Healthy

Signing documents online saves paper. Every year literally millions of trees are used to create the paper used in offices around the world, and this puts a lot of stress on the forests. While most paper companies work hard to maintain their trees and ensure a continuing supply, eliminating paper by using Online Signing Software would alleviate much of the demand and allow forests to grow back naturally.

More Affordable

With Online Signature Software, not only do companies save the costs of paper, but they save the costs of postage to send documents around the world for signatures, the costs of messenger services, and other associated costs. Online Signature Software allows people to transmit, sign, and return legally-binding documents without any associated physical costs.

Convenient & Secure

Not only can documents be routed for signature without the costs of postage or messenger services, but the documents can be routed instantly, saving days or even weeks of transmittal time. A document can be prepared in New York and transmitted for signature in Hong Kong at the press of a button.

Not only that, but just about any common digital document format can be used – Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and many others, including bespoke templates created in the software itself. The documents can also be transmitted in any way convenient – DropBox or other Cloud server, email – and a log can be maintained that shows everyone who viewed, signed, or otherwise came into contact with the document, a very handy feature for security and legal purposes.

Legal and Enforceable

Online Signature Software complies with international standards for security and chain-of-possession, ensuring that the signatures applied digitally are legal and enforceable around the world. Most world governments, including the European Union and the United States, acknowledge the enforceability of digital signatures.

In the end, we chose DocuSign for our online signing needs, because it ideally combined all of these features with a strong customer service ethic. DocuSign’s online signature software solved the limitations of paper signatures without sacrificing any security, enforceability, or other features. If you’re ready to step into the future, click here for more information!

Sitting Back and Thinking Forward – B1G1: Business for Good

 

The original article was published by B1G1: Business for Good on 3rd February 2014.  Written by Ted Schellenburg.

 

When we met Ben Walker, the CIO of B1G1 Lifetime Partner, Inspire CA in Brisbane the other day we knew we were in for something VERY different. Ben told us “The CIO stands for Chief Inspiration Officer.” An ‘inspiration officer’ at an Accounting Firm??

Then we met Cam Silk, the CEO, or “Chief Espresso Officer” of the Inspire Café.

We’ve never met one of those either at ANY Accounting Firm anywhere.

You see, the Inspire Café is at the very core of INSPIRE CA — the ‘CA’ stands for ‘Chartered Accountant’ — in Brisbane’s Doggett Street. Very quickly, you get the impression that these folks are not your average, every day kind of accountants.

Inspire Café is a brilliantly conceived café, an ideal meeting space and business centre for those in close proximity to the Central Business District and on the way to the Brisbane Airport. The idea was to create a space where business owners and entrepreneurs could unite over great coffee and a bite to eat and share ideas.

The accounting firm (Inspire CA) had already been a part of B1G1, and now so is the café. Inspire Café has four meeting rooms, with that great coffee and a full service, gluten free menu.

“For every coffee or drink we sell, a child receives access to water for a day – for each meal we provide, we feed a child at school in India,” Ben Walker said. “We’re also looking to have milestone contributions in 2014. For example: for every 10,000 coffees, we would look to send a child in Cambodia to university for a year!”

“We’ve had great feedback from our customers,” Cam Silk added. “We’re already getting a strong sense of community, and we just opened the café in December! Most people want to know how to get involved in the giving – it’s great!”

These guys had a dream. A dream of a place you can enjoy a good coffee and something decent to eat with entrepreneurs and business people from different sectors, united by the special pleasure that comes from finding somewhere where you feel you belong.

Men and women who know the codes of business because they’ve been involved in start-ups, seen the rise and fall of big names and small. People who would like to hang out somewhere central with a coffee while they plan their next move. Or even a beer on a Friday night as a way to kick off the weekend. (Ben has already decided to add BDM to his business card, as in Beer Development Manager.)

Brisbane’s new Inspire Café is a place to relax, to kick ideas round in a meeting. To sit back, and think forward.

“We work with people from all kinds of backgrounds,” Ben told us. “People with amazing skills and rich deep knowledge. And all this time we’ve been wondering how to get all these great people together. The simple goal of these meet-ups is to bring passionate, inspiring and aligned people together in the same room to talk about living a life and doing work that matters.”

“And one of the things that really matters to us is B1G1. It gives everyone involved, us, our team, our suppliers and our customers an extra sense of purpose in everything we do. And that’s just a great feeling every day.”

This was this was transcribed and edited from a talk by Daniel Priestley. It has been posted with permission from Daniel Priestley (@DanielPriestley) and the team at www.keypersonofinfluence.com.au

How Your Industry Rewards High Performance

The power of influence doesn’t come from running around in an attempt to find an easy industry. It actually comes from being visible, credible and connected within the industry that you really love, and making it into the inner-circle.

Being an entrepreneur who has built successful businesses in three countries, I’ve made some really interesting observations along the way, and my findings seem to be becoming more and more prevalent as new technology prevails. It’s all about becoming highly valued and highly paid, and how industry rewards high performance.

Typically, the income distribution of most industries sees the top 10% earn 80% of the lion’s share. So if you consider the medical industry, for example, the top 10% of doctors are gleaning 80% of income within that profession. They usually earn exponentially more because they do things very differently, and their 10% is often represented by a huge spike at one end of the spectrum.

Now I want you to imagine that it’s not a spike at the end of the spectrum, but at its centre. Imagine that every industry has an inner circle populated by ‘Key People of Influence’ who earn most of the money.

Let’s take a closer look at the way in which most industries work.

On the outer circle, we generally have ‘newbies’ who are new to an industry as the name clearly suggests! They’re usually uber-excited and enthusiastic, albeit not all that functional. They may have entered their chosen field because they focussed upon people within the big spike, but failed to take into account the next category, whom I call the ‘worker-bees’. These folk are extremely functional but may have lost their spark, leaving them feeling slightly dejected. It’s as though they work hard work for little reward. They’re not highly valued, nor highly paid. In fact, they’ve become replaceable, and often feel run down after many years of service.

Conversely, the inner circle is populated by Key People of Influence who actually run industries, make most of the money and have lots of fun. They’re the ones whose names come up in conversation and who take fun trips away. They possess the type of influence that makes an actual difference to an industry. What typically happens is that newbies enter what I call ‘the merry-go-round of opportunity’ where they search for opportunities and become stuck in one territory. Or, instead of pushing through and doing things differently, they go looking at various industries. So they’re running around in circles thinking, ‘Which industry is the best money-spinner for me?’ They might conclude that it’s the stock market, or the property industry or that they’ve got to enter multi-level marketing. They keep searching for the elusive ‘easy’ industry, not realising that each has three areas, as mentioned above.

But I’m here to tell you that the power of influence doesn’t come from running around in search of an easy industry. It actually comes from being visible, credible and connected to the industry that you’re genuinely passionate about, and making it to the inner-circle, also known as the ‘Key Person of Influence Zone’.

Why would you want to do that?

Well, the reasons are many and varied. When you get to the point where you’re highly functional at what you do, you’re usually in an industry that you know a lot about. The further you inch towards your industry’s centre, the more radically your income takes a leap. When you’re not yet there, your income might jump incrementally from, say, $45,000 to $50,000, but you’re not quite a Key Person of Influence.

By tipping into the actual Key Person of Influence Zone, you’ll find that you’re on a whole new trajectory where you’re actually moving up in the income stakes, big time. When you reach the inner circle of your industry – you’re great at what you do, highly functional and an excellent performer – you don’t just earn extra income, but incredible rewards. You’ve got more influence over what’s going on around you and you now get to see the myriad benefits at your disposal.

So the difference between people on the outer circle and those in the inner is the difference between functionality and vitality. The people on the outside are extremely functional but replaceable. The people on the inside are not only great, but in a position where they’re vital to their industry. In fact, it’s very difficult to shake them out of the business! They are industry leaders who are doing things differently.

Here are five things you can do to transition from functional to vital.

1.  Learn to Pitch Yourself

If you describe yourself as being functional and replaceable, then you wind up being functional and replaceable. Key People of Influence don’t describe themselves in boring ways. They don’t say, ‘I’m a personal trainer.’ They say, ‘I’m a fitness trainer who specialises in working with people who want to rapidly lose weight and become marathon-ready.’ They usually have a special niche, or a passion that is evident in their pitch. They have the ability to talk about what they do and make it sound incredibly unique, as opposed to functional and ‘beige’.

2. Put Your Pitch in Writing

This could mean authoring a book, which is a great way of separating yourself from the pack and heralding yourself as an authority. You may also write articles and blogs, or provide really great updates or newsletters, the point being that you need to be able to put your ideas down in print. We live in a world where most people are searching for text and tags. Your way of relating to that world must therefore be translated into text.

3. Understand Product Strategies

High performing people completely understand their product. Further, Key People of Influence have a helicopter view of their product strategy and understand why they give certain things away for free or cheaply, and where their core business lies. They know their product mix, or the ecosystem within their industry. So you must know your product. Today we have some really easy ways of understanding such things, the likes of which most small businesses have never seen before.

4. Raise Your Profile

You’ve got to actually be seen to be a Key Person of Influence. When somebody Googles your name, that first page needs to come up with all the things that you want them to see, i.e. your brand values, thoughts, opinions, and what makes you special. Who Google says you are is your personal brand, so it’s worth Googling yourself and doing an image, video and text search to discern what it’s saying. You must raise your profile and be deliberate about how you do so.

5. Take the Money Step

Step five is all about entering joint ventures and partnerships. Key People of Influence are brilliant when it comes to forging strategic alliances, as I’m sure you are too.

You maybe haven’t thought too much about this, but you are already standing on a mountain of value. In Australia, there is a mountain range known as the Glass House Mountains. If you reach the summit of Mount Tibrogargan, the largest of the group, you could be guilty of looking around at all the other mountains and thinking, ‘I’d love to climb those bad boys’ without taking the time to acknowledge your current achievements.

Most people are already standing on a huge mountain, but haven’t learned the art of pitching, writing, forging joint ventures, raising their profile or understanding their product.

Perhaps it’s time for you to acknowledge your mountain of value!

Daniel Priestley is a successful entrepreneur, event producer and author of ‘Become a Key Person of Influence’ –www.keypersonofinfluence.com.au

Want to learn more?

KPI are running their accredited 8-hour Brand Accelerator event in February 2014 with some of Australia’s most well respected entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

Melbourne | 7^th February

Sydney | 13^th February

Brisbane | 28^th February

As one of their event partners, KPI has offered our readers a 40% discount on the retail ticket price, with sale ticket prices starting from $39 for general admission.  If you’d like to join our group on the day, we’re going to be seated in the Gold front seating section.

Book your ticket for the KPI 8 hour Brand Accelerator | Business Strategy Day.

5 Things For Business owners to Implement Now for a Successful Year Ahead

 

With the first quarter of the calendar year well underway, it’s time to look at setting up the year for success.

One of the biggest challenges we see in business is the lack of planning. In a lot of cases it’s because business owners don’t know how to plan or where to start with their planning.

This article will give you a crystal clear To Do list so you’ll know where to start, and then where to go from there.

Based on our experience in advising many businesses over the years, here’s a list of the 5 most important things to have in place for a successful year…

1. Accounting software that supports real-time reporting

To make key management decisions in your business, you need up-to-date financial information.And in modern business ‘up-to-date’ means ‘now’, not last month’s figures. Today’s figures.

One of the downfalls of traditional accounting software is how inefficient it is at maintaining the data. Bookkeepers have to share a single data file. They have to wait for bank statements, and then enter the information manually. And advisers need to ensure they have the correct software version to interpret the numbers.

And that means way too much lead time to produce even a standard report.

If you haven’t worked it out already, we love Xero. It solves many of these  inefficiencies, and automates too many tasks to mention here. Once it’s set up and being used effectively, Xero can shorten the lead time on key management reports (and therefore decisions) to days.

If you choose only one suggestion from this list, we recommend this one hands down. It’s the perfect place to start.

2. Identifying Key Lead Indicators

One part of the planning process where many business owners come unstuck is working out what to aim for. In the book, “The 4 Disciplines of Execution”, co-author Sean Covey clearly explains the difference between lag and lead indicators. And business owners often get hung up on lag indicators such as revenue, profit and net cash. And that’s understandable, because it’s where the rubber hits the road, so to speak.

Unfortunately, they often forget to plan for how to get there–i.e. identifying the lead indicators that produce the lag indicators. For instance, revenue comes from converting leads, getting these new clients on board, and helping them with relevant products.

If you focus on moving your lead indicators, the lag indicators look after themselves. And that starts with knowing what your most important lead indicators are.

3. Revenue and Profit Potential

One process we take our clients through is identifying key indicators that make up their revenue, and how changes to those indicators will affect their overall profit.

Don’t just pull a figure out of the air. You need to work forwards from what lead indicators are achievable, and determine how it will affect your revenue and profit potential.

It’s a valuable process, because we can calculate ‘What if?’ scenarios for clients on the fly, and build realistic revenue and profit potential targets.

4. Budgets and Cash Flow Forecasts

Once you’ve determined your revenue and profit potential, it’s time to go into the numbers a little deeper.

Budgets are great for accountability and ensuring the business sticks to its goal, but the hidden gems are the cash flow forecasts. You can budget for a large profit for your business and still face considerable fluctuations in available cash from loan repayments, late payments from debtors, GST, superannuation, and so on. And they won’t necessarily align with the profit and loss budget.

Profit is theory. Cash is fact.

5. One Page Plan

Finally there’s the One Page Plan, which we not only recommend but use ourselves. Developed by Verne Harnish, this organisational tool helps you put all of your planning, key numbers, business roadmap and accountabilities on a single page. It gets everyone in the organisation on the same page as well (if you’ll pardon the pun).

The One Page Plan clarifies your:
– core values
– key objectives (both short- and long-term)
– management KPIs
– niche/target markets
– SWOT analysis
– key numbers (from three years down to 90 days).

In short, it’s a single resource that keeps everyone in the organisation super-focused and driving towards a clear and common goal.

So, it’s almost the end of January. How do you stack up against these 5 key areas? If you’re only a 1 or 2 out of 5, or even a zero, don’t fret. As they say, the first step in solving a problem is recognising and defining it.

And then… taking action.

Implement each of these in your business and you will add considerable value to your business. And we’d love to help you follow them. That’s what lights our fire. Leading and inspiring business owners to produce better results. Tax and accounting is important, sure. We’re great at that, but what will put you, your business and your family in a dramatically better financial position in a year’s time, will be implementing management systems and practices such as those I’ve listed above.

So… go for it. The year won’t wait for you. It’s time to swing into action.

We’ll explore these topics in more depth in the coming weeks so you can develop your business to its next level of performance.

Trade Marks: What are they worth?

Guest article written by Nathan Donovan, Principal of Brisbane commercial law firm, Donovan Legal.

When I talk to business owners about trade marks, they usually come back at me with the same old reactions.

1. I didn’t realise I could register a trade mark.
2. I assumed trade mark registration was really expensive and just for big business.
3. I didn’t think I needed to register a trade mark. I’ve already registered my business/company name and/or domain name.

My response?

1. Trade marks can (and should) be registered whenever possible.
2. Trade mark registration is not as expensive as you would think (excluding any professional advisor costs, filing and registration fees cost as little as $420 and initial protection lasts for 10 years).
3. Registration of business names, company names and domain names will give you a measure of administrative protection but not the level of protection enjoyed by the owner of a registered trade mark.

If you’re a business owner ask yourself this question; “What is my brand and what is it worth to my business?”  For many businesses their success will be tied to both the strength of their unique selling proposition and its ties to their brand.  What you don’t want is to put all your energy into creating a great product or service only to see a competitor imitate your brand.  Trade mark registration is designed to protect your intellectual property rights to your own brand. That being said, the only way to utilise the benefits of trade mark registration is to first understand how they work.

What is a trade mark?

A trade mark extends beyond just the name of your business and its logo. It includes almost anything which distinguishes your goods and services from those of a competitor.   Some of these distinguishing features can include letters, shapes, colours, sounds and even scents.

It is crucial that that your trade mark is unique and distinctive rather than just descriptive. If your mark simply describes where you are (e.g. Brisbane Dentists), what you sell or do (e.g. Burger Joint), or the kind or quality of your goods and services (e.g. Best Cold Beer), chances are, your trade mark would not be capable of registration.

What are some of the benefits of trade mark registration?

A registered trade mark is recognised as a type of personal property that can be sold or commercialised (e.g. franchising and third party licensing).  Once your trade mark is registered you have the exclusive right to you use your trade mark throughout Australia in relation to the goods and services specified on your trade mark certificate.  In fact, at the same time you register your trade mark in Australia, you can also register your trade mark in other countries, provided they are signatories to what is known as the Madrid Protocol (which most major economies are).

How does a trade mark differ from a business name, company name or domain name?

It is important to understand that business and company name registrations are not designed to give business owners proprietary rights in the name. In reality they serve to enable the public to find out which individuals or legal entities stand behind the business name or company.

The ASIC, which manages business and company name registration, has some administrative processes designed to restrict registration of the same or similar business names. Strictly speaking, business name registration does not prevent someone from registering a business name that is:

• similar to your business name; or
• the same as your business name if they already own the registered trade mark.

Similarly, registration of a business name will not prevent a competitor (or even a cyber-squatter) from registering the same or a similar domain name to your business name.  When it comes to .com.au domain names (a second level domain or 2LDs), it is good to keep a few things in mind.

1. There are no proprietary rights to a domain name.
2. If domain registrations are not renewed every two years the domain licence lapses and can be registered by someone else.
3. Whilst there are policies requiring an appropriate commercial justification when registering a .com.au domain, the policies are quite broad it is usually not hard for a competitor to register similar domains to your brand.
4. Before you adopt a brand, make sure the domain name is available AND register!

What should you do if you want to register a trade mark?

Trade marks can be registered online at www.ipaustralia.gov.au. This website offers a wealth of information to guide you through registering your own trade mark. Of course the safest thing to do would be to seek out a lawyer or trade mark attorney to register your trade mark for you.  Doing your own trade mark registration can be risky and it is far better to talk to an experienced lawyer who can ensure your trade mark is properly registered with the broadest protection possible.