This week we talk to Dr Suji Sanjeevan, a Melbourne-based medically trained clinical researcher who made the ultimate career change to become an ambience creator. In 2015, Suji and her husband, Dr Sanjeevan, a respiratory and allergy clinician, co-founded Light & Glo Designs, a fragrance house that consists of two operational arms – Light & Glo, the retail business that specialises in premium natural soy wood-wick candles and scents, and BrandScent, a scent marketing agency that creates signature scents for brands. ISB: How did your interest in fragrances come about? SS: There is a rea ..read more

Australian consumers are more loyal to product brands than to retailers, according to new research. Google Australia along with research and statistics consultancy The Behavioural Architects, studied 1000 consumers across five categories to “better understand” how people decide where to buy things from. The study found that one in two shoppers will switch to their second-choice retailer while only one in four will switch to their second-choice product brand. Likewise, more than 60 per cent of retail searches in Australia and New Zealand are for products or product brands compared with retailer ..read more

Learn the money mindset blocks that can stall business success – and how you can train yourself to avoid them. In my work as a business and abundance mentor, I have seen first-hand that a positive relationship with money allows you to make better financial decisions, overcome challenges with ease, and experience greater abundance.  A negative money mindset, on the other hand, can lead to fear, procrastination and financial struggle. To help you identify and overcome a negative money mindset, I have outlined five mental blocks that will stall your business success and stop you from creatin ..read more

Amazon Australia has opened applications for the 2023 Amazon Launchpad Innovation Grant. Start-ups and brands with an innovative product and have plans to scale their business this year are invited to apply and have an opportunity to receive a grant package valued at more than AU$90,000 which includes: $20,000 cash. Substantial out-of-home support nationally courtesy of JCDecaux. Opportunity to apply for up to $10,000 in AWS Activate Credits. A ‘Selling on Amazon’ bootcamp experience over two days in Sydney, Australia, with flights and accommodation provided for those based outside Sydney. Fe ..read more

Research from inventory management software provider Unleashed reveals that Australian manufacturers are dangerously overstocked, carrying an average $231,700 in additional product or ingredients. “You can’t blame Australian businesses for taking on extra stock while supply chains were lagging behind,” Unleashed Head of Product, Jarrod Adam, said. “Thankfully, we are now in a place where we can safely define what ‘too much’ stock is, and where businesses can afford to free up cashflow as economic conditions tighten.” The $231,700 figure from the report represents an average ‘overstock position ..read more

Online store Alf the Label has announced that it will donate $100 from every sale of its Luxe Sue handbag to Dress for Success (DFS), a not-for-profit organisation that supports disadvantaged women re-entering the workforce by providing them with career development tools, training and corporate attire. Aside from donating a third of the sales from each Luxe Sue bag, Alf the Label will also contribute to the programs and services offered at Dress for Success. The donations will go directly to the DFS branch closest to the Alf customer purchasing the bag and will support that customer’s local co ..read more

Enterprise: eo USP: The sport-tech start-up is working with Swimming Australia, Super League, Triathlon and elite athletes such as Kyle Chalmers and Vincent Luis. Dean Hawkins has been leading international businesses across sports, fintech, television and venture capital for the past 25 years. But sport is the industry he loves, having previously worked at Adidas and SKINS. Jaimie Fuller founded the SKINS brand in Australia, and subsequently built a global footprint for that business. The pair came together to form sport-tech company eo. “Jaimie and I have been talking about the concept behin ..read more

At the time of writing this, just over 24 hours after the sporting event of the year, the Super Bowl is on everyone’s feeds, lips and televisions. With over 112.3 million viewers on NBC, they are doing something right. So how can we leverage Super Bowl-level stardom without the budgets and resources? Let’s look at four ways: 1) Create a buzz and build anticipation The Super Bowl’s success starts well before the day, with comprehensive marketing campaigns designed to create anticipation. After all, a sporting match is nothing without its spectators. As small businesses, we may not have millions ..read more

Research commissioned by online small business lender Prospa reveals that, despite the current tough economic climate, the majority of Australian small-business owners rate the health of their business as good and many are anticipating growth this year. In detail, 70 per cent of the 520 small-business owners surveyed in the report rate the health of their business as good and 83 per cent are anticipating growth in the next 12 months. The research also notes the tactics businesses are employing to achieve growth such as word of mouth referrals (employed by 45 per cent), account growth (40 per c ..read more

Fresh produce delivery service Good & Fugly has officially launched its operations in Brisbane. Originally launched in 2020, the Sydney-based start-up has been delivering quirky but tasty seasonal fruit and vegetable boxes straight to the consumers’ doorstep in an effort to fight Australia’s food waste epidemic. Recent research previously reported that 25 per cent of all Australian produce does not get picked up and is just left to rot. To date, Good & Fugly has delivered over 200,000 kgs of fresh produce to consumers at average prices 20 per cent below those that the supermarkets char ..read more