The  “secret”  every  business  owner  needs  to  know  about  finding,  securing,  and  nurturing,  profitable  strategic  joint  venture  alliances  for  YOUR  business.    In  this  special  report,  you  will  learn  how  you  can  dramatically  increase  your  business  income  in  as  little  as  90  days,  without  having  to  find  any  new  clients,  or  personally  “sell”  any  product  or  service…      To  prove  to  you  that  we  are  the  real  deal,  we  will  even  share  with  you  how  we  helped  increase  one  business’  income  by  a  whopping  $642,604.67  during  financial  year  2015.   Look let’s face it, just owning, and running, your own business can be tough? When I started my first business back in the late nineties I was young, fearless, full of confidence, ambitious, and I thought I was willing to do whatever it may take to make it work… Just 16 (very hard) months later, I sold out of that business (for a small profit) to go and work as a contractor in someone else’s business. WHY! Well to be honest the experience wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be… Like many people going into business for themselves for the first time I thought I could just learn it as I went along. I thought I would just wing it with the typical Aussie “she’ll be right mate” attitude.

I discovered working with other people was often like trying to herd cats. Plus, unlike larger firms, small businesses do not usually have all

the systems, or the personnel, to undertake all the functions of the business. That means there is often simply not enough hours in the day when you are the poor bugger doing the bulk of the work IN the business, let alone finding time to work ON the business. See back then, I hadn’t spent over a quarter of a million dollars on my business, self-development, and investment education, like I have today.

When I started out I didn’t receive my copy of “the rule book”. You know the one that shows you how to write a business plan, how to market your business effectively, and how to become an expert in human resources management, accounting practices, tax compliance etc. See back then the internet was still

relatively new and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram had not even been invented. I didn’t know the dollar value of my customers, nor did I know what my lead sources cost me, let alone made for me. However, after working in a contract capacity in someone else’s business for 12 months I realised that I am a serial entrepreneur at heart and launched into my second business vowing that this time I would get it right. Since then I have launched and run multiple businesses, gaining skills, and increasing my levels of success, as I have progressed. Whilst, none of those businesses ever failed, they all could have been even more successful had I known then what I know today! And that is precisely what I want to share with you in this report.   How Important Is Small Business To Australia? It is probably worth reminding ourselves just how important small business is to Australia’s economy. Small to medium sized enterprises (S.M.E’s) – which are those employing fewer than 200 people – comprise around 99% of all businesses in Australia. They also employ around 65% of the workforce or about 2.8 million people.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there are just over 2 million small businesses in Australia with less than 20 employees. Of these 1.3 million (64%) are non-employing firms that

comprise only the owner-manager. In terms of economic contribution Australia’s small businesses contribute around 20% of GDP and 34% of the value added within our private sector.

Yet a large percentage of small businesses have reported a decrease in their profitability over recent years.

How Many Small Businesses Across Australia Fail Each Year?

Well that probably depends on who you ask I suppose, and there is no shortage of opinions out there.

You have probably heard that the first few years in business are the hardest! In fact, like a good urban myth, it is often bandied around that 80% of businesses fail within the first 5 years. Often though these reports come from people, or businesses, with a vested interest in trying to scare the bejeezus out of you, or make you feel so overwhelmed, or inadequate, that you will be compelled to pay for their whiz-bang product or consulting service just so you can survive.

Here is an example of just such a claim I found on the internet…

“Even though small businesses collectively generate $5 trillion in sales in the U.S., the biggest challenge of an individual small business is “survival.” 80% of all new business start-ups are out of business within five years. And if that doesn’t get your attention, 80% of the 20% that survive the first five years don’t survive the second five! That means, on the average, 960 out of 1,000 businesses that start this year will not be around in 10 years.”

That is a US figure, so I thought perhaps we should take a look closer to home, and I came across this U.T.S published article which reported that it is estimated that 33% of new small businesses in Australia fail in their first year of operation, 50% by the end of the second year, and

75% by the fifth year. (https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/Start_me_up.pdf )

In May 2012, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) published a report titled ‘Small Business: An Economic Overview’.

The good news from the report shows that in 2011, 96% of the 2.1 million active businesses in Australia were small businesses (with less than 20 staff) and accounted for nearly 50% of all employment.

The bad news was that survival rates for small businesses are very poor. In the period 2007-2011:

• 60% of sole proprietor (no staff) businesses failed; • 40% of 1-4 person businesses failed; • 35% of 5-19 person businesses failed; and • 40% of small businesses were not profitable

Looking further into the statistics, & according to data from the Australian Bureau Of Statistics (8165.0 - Counts of Australian Businesses,

including Entries and Exits , Jun 2009 to Jun 2013 ) in terms of business survival rates, of the just over 2 million businesses operating in Australia in June 2009, 87% were still operating in June 2010 (13% failure rate), 77% were still operating in June 2011 (23% failure rate), 70% were still operating in June 2012 (30% failure rate) and 63% (37% failure rate) were still operating in June 2013.

Of the almost 350,000 new business entries during 2009-10, 73 % were still operating in June 2011, 58% were still operating in June 2012 and 48% were still operating in June 2013.

So using this ABS data and writing this in the same language as the U.T.S study above, 27% of new small businesses in Australia fail in their first year of operation, 42% by the end of the second year, and 52% by the fifth year. Clearly this is better than the often claimed 80%!

And according to an article printed in September 2014 the truth of it could be even better. (http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/managing/why-do-businesses-fail-20140904-3evv4.html)

The article reports that “despite the gross exaggerations, research from data analytics and credit information firm, Veda, reveals just 1.5 per cent of Australian businesses close within their first year.”

“Statistics from the real trouble spot for small businesses is not in the early days. “The biggest risk isn't in the first year, but in the years they have to be brave and grow” says Veda general manager of commercial risk products, Moses Samaha.

To make matters worse, both the RBA & the ABS studies also show that the smaller your business in terms of size (staff) and turnover the more likely you are to fail.

In fact, according to the ABS, businesses with annual turnovers of more than $2Million went out of business almost 20 times less often than those with less than $200k pa. So according to the data if you want to dramatically increase your survival rates in business by almost 20 times you will want to increase your annual turnover to over $2M.

No matter what the true failure rates are for small business in Australia one thing is certain.

To survive in business, it’s a case of evolve with the times or die!

I really like the above quote from Charles Darwin as it tells us that even if our business is OK today, unless we are willing to adapt with the changing times, seek innovative ways of doing business, and take advantage of technological advances we may go the way of the dinosaur.

Kodak is a classic example of a strong company failing to adapt. Kodak was arguably the biggest player in the days of analogue photography. And whilst in simple terms Kodak went bankrupt because it failed to adapt to a digital world that doesn't capture the full (if you'll pardon the pun) picture.

You see, in fact, Kodak missed the boat on digital not once, but failed at least three times to adapt to changes in consumer behaviour.

#1 Epic Mistake: Digital Cameras Kodak actually invented digital photography. In 1975, Kodak engineer Steve Sasson created the first digital camera, which took photos with just 0.01 megapixels. To put that into perspective that is about 1% of the resolution that even the most low-end camera phones have today.

But in 1975 they then went and put the discovery straight back into a closet.

Then it wasn’t until 1995 that the company brought its first digital camera to market, a model called the DC40. This was years before many others would get into the digital game, but Kodak failed to take advantage of their adoption of digital technology.

Because Kodak were the leaders in analogue film technology, the business decision was made that they did not want to cannibalise its’ main business and so digital was effectively again put on the back burner.

That proved to be a form of business suicide, as companies like Fujifilm, Nikon, Sony, Canon and more, moved into the space. More importantly these companies kept on innovating and whilst Kodak was able to release competent products, it found itself forever following trends, and never leading them. #2 Tragic Mistake: Photo Sharing Kodak actually had one shot at creating a truly novel and useful feature for digital cameras: the company launched the world's first Wi-Fi enabled camera in 2005, the EasyShare-One. The camera came equipped with a special card (separate from the SD card) that could connect to a nearby Wi-Fi network. The user could then email photos to friends straight from the camera. Nonetheless, the camera initially failed to sell well, and Kodak promptly killed the product. However, if the company had the ability to foresee photo sharing was going to become the way people interacted with their photos, it may have survived. Mistake #3 An Unfortunate Swing For The Fences: Photo Viewing Kodak also made another disastrous error when it went “all in” on digital photo frames and photo printers. By the time Kodak began pushing hard into digital frames prices were in massive free-fall with

razor thin margins.

However, Kodak, is but one example of a strong business failing to adapt to changing times.

Sony's reluctance to develop a competent digital Walkman left an opening for the Apple iPod. Blockbuster laughed off Netflix in the early days, then went bankrupt when it couldn't compete with its web-based competitor.

And iPads may chew up some Mac sales, but Apple's bottom line has never been stronger. In fact, Apple is one of four companies that have come to be known as the “Fangs” — Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google that are smashing it right now.

More recently, we have seen other disruptive technologies making big impacts. Businesses like Uber, Air BnB, Spotify, Pinterest and many others, are changing the way we do business and interact with each other.

What lessons can we take from these businesses that may apply to your small business?

Well being small means sometimes you can move faster.

You can see an opportunity and jump on it immediately.

Sometimes, if you are small and don’t have much to lose, you can take a few more chances.

But, as Kodak has shown, if you do nothing but play it safe, the cost just to stay in the game will whittle you down, until you've got absolutely nothing left.

Houston We Have a Problem!

The Top Problem Facing All Small Business Owners …

& The Absolute Best Work Around Solution For It!

 Without a doubt the top 2 problems facing small businesses are:  • Not  enough  time  &  • Not  enough  money    

 Even though we may all complain that we don’t have enough time in the day, we are all allocated the same one thousand four hundred and forty minutes every single day. It is how we choose to prioritize those minutes that will ultimately determine our results. So, because we can’t create more time, really the biggest problem facing all small businesses (and medium or large businesses for that matter) is not enough money! See with more income you can hire more people, grow your business, & outsource the things that are currently taking your time away from doing the things you should be spending more time on. You know you should be spending more time with the family, or working out more often, or just taking a longer holiday but how can you do any of that when you are up to your eyeballs in alligators; So given that you don’t have any additional time, and without any additional income streams to fall back on, how can you make more money in your business right now.  We will answer shortly so please keep reading…

So Why Is It So Bloody Hard To Continue To Grow & Run A Successful Small Business?

Whilst it may be easier to blame external factors, e.g. the economy, the government, the customer, your staff; as a business owner we really need to take responsibility for the success or otherwise of our own business.

Some of the biggest challenges faced by small business owners are:

Poor cash management

The single largest contributor to business failure is financial mismanagement, responsible for 32% of all business failures.

Cash is King! We’ve all heard this maxim and it is more true today than ever before. A healthy profit may look nice on your financial statements, but if capital expenditures or receivable collections are draining your cash, you won’t be able to stay in business for long.

Losing control of the cash is a pitfall for many business owners, particularly those with little experience in bookkeeping and account management.

How would your life change if you could access an additional $50,000, $100,000 or even $1M in cash flow this year?

Poor general management

As many as 15% of small business ventures fail due to incompetent management. This could arise simply due to a lack of experience. This was certainly the case for me when I first started out in business.

Similarly, after years in business, slogging away for at times minimal rewards, it is possible to get “business lazy” and lose the desire to make the business work. That is, it can be easier to stop doing the things that you need to do in order to keep the business on the right

track. You might let that poorly performing staff member ride because you simply don’t have the energy to pull them up or spend time retraining them.

Finding the right staff, without exception, is one of the biggest challenges for all businesses– finding the right staff, retaining them, and ensuring they buy into the vision of the business. A small business is almost like a family, and, like many families, they can work well, or they can be dysfunctional.

You might stop attending business seminars and networking events because you simply don’t have the energy or the time. You may not re-invest profits back into your marketing because you simply don’t have the cash flow to support it. This can lead to further reduction in sales and a vicious downward cycle develops.

Inflexible business planning

Business conditions change monthly, weekly and even daily. Entrepreneurs need to be adaptable and update their business plans on a regular basis

Working on the business, not just in it, means committing time and money into building a plan and strategy for the direction of your business.

However, many business owners I talk with think it's a luxury and never do it, so they keep working year in, year out without a plan or a vision of what they can achieve.

Learn how to delegate tasks and roles that aren't in your skillset, or don’t give you maximum return for the time invested. This is one I really struggled with, and even to this day have problems with. I sometimes think it will just easier, quicker, or will be done better if I do it myself.

“Working smarter, not harder should not just be a throwaway line.”

Poor marketing

According to many business studies ineffective sales and marketing problems will undermine at least 11% of businesses. I personally think that this figure is underreported.

Understanding what the customer really wants, finding enough of the right kind of customers and keeping them happy, so they don’t turn to your competitors is a never ending mission.

Along the same lines as increased selection and competition is the challenge to market to potential customers effectively and retain your existing customers. Smartphones, social media, texting, email, twitter and other communication channels are making it easy for businesses and individuals to get their messages out.

Making sense of all of these different marketing channels and media is a full time job in and of itself. Where are your customers and how do you best reach them and what is the right messaging? In fact, in my business I have outsourced this vital component entirely.

Once you get a new customer, how do you keep these customers when competitors of all types, sizes, and locations, are trying to convince them that they can do it better or can offer it cheaper?

Identifying what your customers want and doing a better job of giving it to them will make all the difference in your company’s future. The conservative spending climate is also causing a shrinking customer base.

Since the GFC in 2009 consumers have been quite conservative with their pocketbooks, and as a result, organic growth from current and new customers is not growing as quickly as most businesses would like.

Business owners are spending more time figuring out how to go above and beyond to keep existing customers, while at the same time figuring

out how to cost-effectively reach new customers — without competing solely on price, which always ends up to be a race to the bottom.

In general, businesses of all types struggle with being able to give customers what they want, when they want it, at the price they want it, and at the highest quality levels. Doing this predictably and repeatedly is a tremendous challenge.

Doing It All, With Limited Resources

We are not all superman and most small businesses don’t have large cash reserves, dedicated research departments, marketing departments, fully-staffed IT support, strategic planning functions, etc., to address challenges or

opportunities. It can be easy to feel like you are all alone and become overwhelmed.

Finding someone to help share the load and improve your business success is what this report is all about.

The Growth Conundrum.

Growth is a dual edged sword. As we saw earlier in this report the bigger you get the more likely it is statistically you will survive. Equally, just trying to maintain the status quo may inevitably see you go the way of the dodo, (or Blockbuster or Kodak)! Getting the growth balance right is an art in and of itself.

It’s a different challenge to get good, and stay good, when the rules of the game keep changing with regard to competition, customer expectations, globalization, people issues, finance, technology, etc.

At times, these challenges can be daunting, indeed overwhelming. It’s encouraging to know that the struggles we encounter every day are normal. All small businesses face them.

So let me ask you honestly, where are you at in your business life-cycle right now, & how many of these challenges are you currently facing?

Necessity is not the only mother of invention

If you have read this far in this report you should know that survival today requires more than treading water, and that many of the companies that were once great are now gone or on their way out largely because they stopped innovating. The innovations do not have to be revolutionary or the exclusive domain of new or improved products. The improvements can be as simple as thinking in new ways, and taking on-board new opportunities. Wherever innovations come from, however they are done, and in whatever part of the business they occur, companies need to continuously innovate or risk dying.

One such simple innovation that can transform the results achievable by small business are strategic Joint Venture Alliances (JVA’s).

James Bamford, in the Harvard Business Review, wrote of the key rules for forming a successful joint venture. According to Bamford thousands of joint ventures, and many more contractual alliances, are being launched worldwide. The largest 100 x JVAs currently represent more than $350 billion in combined annual revenues.

So it’s become clear to many companies that alliances—both equity JVs (where the partners contribute resources to create a new company) and contractual alliances (where the partners collaborate without creating a new company)—can be ideal for managing risk in uncertain markets, increasing revenues, and injecting growth into any business.

In 1991, an assessment on the performance of 49 joint ventures and alliances found that only 51% were “successful”—that is, each partner had achieved returns greater than the cost of capital. A decade later, in 2001, we assessed the outcomes of more than 2,000 alliance announcements—and the success rate still hovered at just 53%.

The main failures for joint ventures and alliances going wrong are

1. Incompatible partners, 2. Inequitable or unrealistic expectations, & 3. Poor Execution

Running A Small Business Can Be Tough… But You’re Not Alone!

Let me share something with you that has taken me more years than I care to admit. I am a bit of a control freak? My natural distrust of others, and my egotistical desire to have to try and do everything myself, has certainly held back my business success over the years.

Learning to “let go to grow” your business can be challenging!

But to grow your business it can be as simple as just finding someone who wants something you have, and is willing to pay you for it! Learning to establish successful joint venture alliances has the power to transform your business, just as it has mine. And it can dramatically increase the amount of money your business creates, improve your customer satisfaction, and let you leverage your business to the fullest amount possible. There are so many ways to market your business these days; online, offline, on social media, and just staying up with the new trends is a full time job in itself.

If you are open to an innovative way to put more dollars in your pocket then I want to offer you the chance to have one of our business development managers have a real in-depth look into your business and how it works, and show you how to implement our strategic Joint Venture Alliance (JVA) into your business in 2016.

Our JVA is a programme where eligible businesses can turn on a new flood of income simply from your existing client base, without having to do any of the work yourself.

Yes, that is right, we will provide you with proven marketing strategies that will have your clients opening up their wallets and sharing it with you.

For the right business, we are willing to create a full turn-key business and marketing solution to ramp up your income. Plus, once you implement it you’re going to have more freedom than you’ve ever had before.

       

How  would  your  life  improve  if  you  could  earn  even  an  extra  $50,000,  $100,000  or  even  $500,000  p.a?  

     Could you use that to buy new equipment or increase your staff to grow the business? Could you use that to take time off for that overdue holiday of a lifetime? Could it put your kids through private schooling?

Perhaps you would prefer to buy yourself, or your partner that indulgent gift? Or maybe, you could reinvest that money and turn it into even greater wealth?

Here’s how this’ll work:

First we will get together over the phone, 1 on 1, and have a quick chat to see if we are a good fit. We’ll take a look at where you’re at, what you’re doing, and what you want to achieve.

If you are interested in having this initial chat just call my assistant, Ben on (03) 8842 9398, to see if we are a good fit. Ben is normally available Mon-Fri between 11.15am-6.15pm (AEST). And let’s face it, everyone’s business is different. The solutions to your problems are likely to be different to the business down the road.

So that’s why if our initial chat goes well, I am going to gift you $997.00 worth of my teams’ time to:

• Put Together A Specific Marketing Strategy; • Implement & Liaise With You (or one of your staff members. It is

possible that you can run this whole program on auto-pilot); • Once we have those details we’ll come up with an action plan

that will start generating you more income in the next 90 days.

I will wear the $997 charge for one of my team to invest in getting to know you and your business. I can’t be any fairer than that as all the financial risk is on us!

Please understand, if you have read this report from cover to cover you will know as well as we do, that this opportunity is NOT for everybody!

To create a successful JVA, there are a number of things that we absolutely must get right from the very start.

So who CAN we help?

If you are reading this report chances are someone has referred you to it, or we have identified something unique about your business, so you are already one step closer to turning on the income tap for yourself.

However, given our commitment to having a 100% success record with our JVA’s we have to be very fussy about who we will let our team speak with.

We have a strict (but very reasonable) set of criteria you will need to meet in order for us to proceed.

1. You must be serious about your business. (This is not for people who are just looking for a quick buck, or see their business as merely a “hobby”).

2. Your business should ideally be turning over in excess of $200,000 p.a already.

3. You must be open to new ideas and trying something different (especially if what you’re currently doing isn’t working).

So If you meet the criteria above and would like to talk to us about getting incredible results, then we will happily set aside our fees, and our time, for you.

So What’s Your Next Step?

If you are interested in having an initial chat the first step would be to get in touch with my assistant, Ben on 03 8842 9398, to see if we are a good fit. Ben is normally available Mon-Fri between 11.15am-6.15pm (AEST). And if you end up becoming a joint venture alliance partner, congratulations!

And if not? Well you haven’t lost a cent, and you can go back to running your business like we never met.

In Conclusion, Let Me Share A Story With You!

Over a century ago, Russell Conwell was famous for his traveling lecture in which he encouraged listeners to find the “acres of diamonds” in their own backyards. Conwell was born in Massachusetts in 1843 and during the Civil War served as a captain in the Union army. He studied law, but became a Baptist minister and a popular public speaker. “Acres of Diamonds” was his most famous talk, which he delivered over 6000 times! At the heart of “Acres of Diamonds” was a parable Conwell heard while traveling through present-day Iraq in 1870 and in summary it goes like this: There was once a wealthy man who lived not far from the River Indus. He was contented because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was contented. One day a priest visited the man and told him all about diamonds. The wealthy man fascinated by diamonds, learnt how much they were worth, and went to his bed that night a poor man. He had not lost anything, but he was poor because he was discontented, and discontented because he feared he was now poor. He promptly sold his farm, left his family, and travelled to Palestine and then to Europe searching for diamonds. He did not find them. His health and his wealth failed him. Dejected, he cast himself into the sea. One day, the man who had purchased the once wealthy mans farm found a curious sparkling stone in a stream that cut through his land. It was a diamond. Digging produced more diamonds — and more diamonds. “Acres of diamonds”, in fact. This, according to the parable, was the discovery of the famed diamonds of Golconda. The point of the story is that we often dream of fortunes to be made elsewhere and miss out on the opportunities that are right in front of

us. Now, we are not suggesting you go out and start digging up your backyard, but we can show you how you could “dig up” untapped riches from your current business. Best of all, you won’t even need to pick up a shovel, work up a sweat, or do anything dramatically different to what you are doing right now. Just Take What You Already Have & Put It To Better Use... Over the life of your business you have attracted a client following or database of clients if you like. Right now, those very clients are spending money everyday on things that you get no reward for. For example, they buy petrol, groceries, clothes, motor vehicles, houses, investments and a million other things every year. And let’s face it, that is going to happen whether you get paid for it, or not. Are you one of those people who looks for diamonds in faraway places. Is the grass really greener there? Is there an opportunity that has been in front of you this whole time and you didn’t know how to capitalize on it? Let Me Ask You A Serious Question? If you knew of a way to earn a significant amount of additional revenue, and which takes up virtually none of your time, as well as being risk free, would you do it? If you answered YES, then why haven’t you already done it? In my experience the answer comes down to one of 2 reasons: 1 Either you didn’t know about it, or 2 You are still not convinced that it is risk free.

You may have spent years building your database and the trust and respect of your clientele, and the last thing you would want to do is put that at risk. We get that and we respect it too. We run a small business of our own, and face the exact same challenges you face everyday. Now given we have not yet had a chance to develop a history of success together yet, I am not going to ask you to trust me. I am just going to ask you to give us a chance to earn your trust.

In the 2015 financial year alone we have assisted just one of our JVA partners to earn an impressive $642,604.67 in additional revenue they otherwise would never have received, by providing goods and services to their clients, all of whom would have most likely have simply bought a similar product or service somewhere else anyway. Now I am not saying that this result is typical, and until we have met with you we are not even sure if this result would be possible for you. However, not only is it possible for you to have additional passive income streams, with virtually zero effort, but you also have the ability to create more goodwill within your current database. Your clients will most likely be so grateful that you cared enough about their success that you referred them to us, that they will in turn refer you to their networks, organically growing your income further. So What Are You Waiting For?

To have an initial chat, simply pick up the phone and call my assistant, Ben on 03 8842 9398, to see if we are a good fit. Ben is normally available Mon-Fri between 11.15am-6.15pm (AEST). I look forward to connecting with you soon… Kind  Regards, Matthew Bateman / Director E: matt@thepropertymentors.com.au W: www.thepropertymentors.com.au The Property Mentors PO BOX 233, Prahran VIC, 3181              

Opportunity  won’t  always  knock  twice…    In  fact,  it  may  just  be  sitting  silently  at  the  doorstep  the  whole  time  waiting  for  you  to  trip  over  it!     Read what just some of our happy clients are saying about us?