SMERC Projects
Current Projects
Green Advantage for Small Business
Staff : Professor Beth Walker, Gina Pickering, Jackie Scates, Benadette Strahan
Timeline: March 2008–February 2009
Small business operators care about the environment and want to maintain it for future generations, but they’re often not certain how best to go about it.
Green Advantage for Small Business is a new program available in early 2008, to raise environmental awareness and provide practical support for small business managers and operators as they tackle sustainability and environmental issues.
Green Advantage for Small Business explores cost saving techniques and provides practical advice on recycling, waste water and energy reduction practices.
The Green Advantage for Small Business will be delivered in ‘user friendly’ half-day workshops designed to suit busy small business operators as they identify how to minimise their impact on the environment while maximising business efficiencies.
Please visit our dedicated Green Advantage for Small Bussiness website to view the information and links, to help small business managers and operators improve their environmental management approach as well as develop a valuable competitive edge in their business.
Interested parties are invited to complete the Expression of Interest form.
Effective Business Exits
Staff : Professor Beth Walker, Anthony Beard, Jackie Scates
Timeline: May 2007–September 2008
Statistics show that almost 1 million small business owners will be exiting in the next 10 years, 50% expect most of their retirement to be funded by their business and the value of the wealth transfer associated with this wave of sales is estimated to be around $1.6 trillion in assets. With most planning to sell (and only 20% likely to transfer ownership), there will be a potential glut of businesses on the market, and with fewer buyers, many owners may be unable to sell their business, particularly at the perceived value, and may find they are dependent on government support in retirement. Effective succession planning is critical to ensure the continuity of more businesses and adequate retirement benefits for the current business owner.
The EBE project will deliver skills to small business operators in Perth and regional areas, including family and farm businesses, to assist with the development and implementation of a succession plan for their business. Succession plans allow the orderly transfer of management, operations, responsibility, ownership, and control of a business, over time, to ensure continuity of the business and succesful exit by the owner. The program will include information session, presentations by professional advisers and the opportunity to talk one on one with the advisers.
Interested parties are invited to complete the Expression of Interest form.
Completed Projects
Practical Employee Management Skills (PEMS)
Staff:Professor Beth Walker, Tony Beard, Tara Smith. Megan le Clus and Sedinam Duse
Industry Partners: AusIndustry, Great Southern Area Consultative Committee, Albany Chamber of Commerce, Great Southern TAFE, Small Business Centre: Great Southern, City of Armadale, City of Gosnells, and the Small Business Centre: South East Metro.
Timeline: September 2005–June 2007
The contribution small business makes to society is acknowledged in economic and social terms, yet many of them prematurely fail. Often this is due to a lack of human resource management skills, in particular how to employ and retain good staff which are key ingredients to growing a business. This project aims to redress this by offering a program to develop these skills with small business owner-managers who operate within the metropolitan and great Southern region of Western Australia.
While there are many potential outcomes from delivering education programs such as PEMS this program has been trialled before and is known to improve the owner-manager's knowledge and skills as well as build their confidence to deal with human resource management situations as they arise.