Mining: How Engaging in Environmental Management Can Make Money!

2018 is going to be a great year for Spatial Scientists and Surveyors. While some seem to think the economy is struggling, there are some big infrastructure projects already underway, and more about to start.

Some of the highlights include:

• The much-anticipated Toowoomba Second Range Crossing which is well underway and has provided licensed surveyors (and drones) with work for several years.
• The Gateway Upgrade North is progressing at a solid pace through Brisbane’s North-Eastern area.
• Bruce Highway upgrades.
• Roadworks in Cairns (Smithfield bypass).
• The Cross-River Rail project which has begun preliminary works near the home of mapping and surveying, near the Woolloongabba Land Centre.
• Brisbane Queens Wharf Project.
• Ongoing works at Brisbane and Sunshine Coast Airports
• Increase use of drones at construction sites, quarries and landfills

Furthermore, there are many land development, small local government and utility infrastructure projects that are either planned or well underway. A real surprise lately has been the return of the mining sector, which has allowed the critical task of mine surveying and GIS mapping to re-start at several exploration sites, as well as operating mines

In looking at the $5 billion Cross River Rail project, spatial scientist and surveyors will be needed within the following areas:

• Cadastral surveying at every new station,
• Utility connections,
• Volumetric surveying in actual tunnel works,
• Actual construction works and,
• Many more critical roles including the plethora of maps and GIS related material that will be created.

It is also of note that the procurement model chosen by the Labor Government is a Public Private Partnership (PPP), which means technicians and professionals will be need both client side and consortium side.

The Queensland Spatial and Surveying Association (QSSA) is taking the lead in assisting such practitioners in the development of their career and provides updates on several of the aforementioned projects.

Of particular highlight for the QSSA, was the recently well attended Global Navigation Satellite System course held at USQ Springfield. Our presenters from USQ and the Queensland Government detailed a thorough guide to Global Navigation Satellite System on how it works and where it can be used effectively. We are looking at running another weekend course in mid-2018. Further, we are running technical training sessions in Toowoomba, Brisbane, and the Sunshine Coast which will provide our members valuable technical training to benefit their career.

Keiran Travers is the Managing Director of Harbak and the CEO of the Queensland Spatial and Surveying Association. QSSA provides its members with an opportunity to network face-to-face and online, as well as quality targeted education opportunities. For more information or to become a member, visit the QSSA website  or email keiran@qssa.com.au.

The time between having your first drink during the Melbourne Cup and your last beer on Australia Day, can be a slow period for Australian business and hard to maintain your business bottom-line.

For many B2B business owners, business development managers, sales teams and even the beanies in the finance team, we may be entering a slow growth period where it is harder to maintain your business bottom-line. This isn’t helped by the uncertainty of the upcoming State Election, with so many industries governed by state law, this puts a freeze on hiring and investment decisions until after the election.

If you are not in retail, real estate or finishing a building project before Christmas, the almost three-month period can seem endless, with overhead costs still the same, whilst revenue slips. Every business owner needs a rest period, but none of us wants this time to eat up too much of the first quarter profits as this will affect the likelihood of a healthy bottom-line come to the end of financial year.

Seasonality affects all businesses, so it’s important to be prepared to ensure your business can maintain a healthy bottom line during that time. Here are a few things you can start implementing to prepare your business:

1.    Retain existing clients

It’s no secret that retaining existing clients is far more profitable and cost-effective than looking for new ones, particularly when your business is about to go through a slow period. According to a study by Bain & Company, “60 – 80% of customers who describe themselves as ‘satisfied’ do not go back to do more business with the company that initially satisfied them.” It is imperative that businesses stay in touch with personalised content that is relevant to the particular client and continues to build on the existing relationship and stay front of mind for when the next purchase decision is made.

I’m sure that every one of your clients has more than just a few Christmas functions that they need to attend. So do something different to thank your clients for their business, and send them a small personalised gift instead.

2.    Focus on the future

It is not uncommon for business owners to only think about what is happening at the present, however, to get you through a quieter period, it’s important to focus on the next 12 months and fill your pipeline with new potential opportunities. Harbak is able to help in this instance and can provide business matchmaking services that can include identifying opportunities for hidden revenue and discovering new potential client contacts to start talking to.

The top reason for business insolvency is poor management of cash, so monitoring cash inflow against outflow is imperative especially after Melbourne Cup day. Harbak can help you identify any shortfall in predicted sales income, and work to predict when this may happen, thus enabling you to put plans in place to fill the gaps and insulate the business from slower periods.

3.    Business Development

Whether it is occasionally or on an ongoing basis, business development requires plans and techniques to generate the additional work that will be required to either maintain or expand current workloads. To maximise a business development campaign’s chances of success, you need to consider a few fundamental questions:

• Are you looking to attract new clients or get more work from existing ones?
• Where do you get the most business from now?
• Where is the low hanging fruit, potential customers ready to buy now?
• Where are the new markets we can approach?

Harbak has recently worked with professional services clients creating a business development plan that helped the company to ensure consistent work through the quieter periods and maintain their business bottom-line.

Keiran Travers is the Founder and Director of Harbak. The company provides Business Management, Business Match Making (Business Development) and Advisory Services. Harbak offers business matchmaking services for small to medium-sized businesses who are wanting to consolidate their existing clientele and grow their business connections and opportunities. Harbak can facilitate low-risk introductions with key industry stakeholders and find hidden revenue opportunities to drive business growth. Contact https://harbak.com.au/contact

Imagine a tender closing and no organisation responding.  It’s an embarrassment on so many levels, and unfortunately, it does happen. To avoid such an experience happening, many government agencies “test the water” before the tender is released.

The concept of market sounding is for the public sector to ascertain the private sector’s appetite for a project, and gain up-to-date market knowledge through open and recorded conversations. Market sounding allows the public sector to gain private sector input and understand the associated project risks whilst also advertising the project to ensure prospective contractors do apply with conforming bids. As part of Harbak’s services, I have been conducting detailed market research for clients for almost ten years, predominately within the Waste and Construction industries.

Tendering is one of the most crucial and difficult areas in contracting out to the public sector, as it is through this process that the public sector can select the best service provider in relation to capacity, quality, and cost, as well as balancing the risk. Without thorough market sounding, it can be difficult to articulate the conditions of a project, and run the risk of no response to the tender – which is an increased risk in non-metropolitan areas as there are often fewer potential respondents. To conduct in-depth market sounding, the government needs to communicate with experienced providers of the infrastructure and services, thus allowing the government to collect opinions on market conditions, technical aspects of the project, and the allocation of risks.

Market sounding needs to be conducted at the appropriate time. Too early in the project development can make the public sector sounds vague, as relevant questions have not been identified. Whereas the risk of conducting market sounding too late is if the project definition is too detailed, thus leaving little room for effective private sector feedback. My previous experience in conducting market sounding work means that our team is proficient in knowing when to conduct market research and the right questions to ask in this process. We can make sure that your risk is both understood and potential reduced. A thorough market sounding experience can provide your project with interest and may be even a result that you have not previously recognised

Keiran Travers is the Founder and Director of Harbak. The company provides Business Management, Business Match-Making (Business Development) and Advisory Services. Harbak offers business match-making services for small to medium-sized businesses who are wanting to consolidate their existing clientele and grow their business connections and opportunities. Harbak can facilitate low-risk introductions with key industry stakeholders and find hidden revenue opportunities to drive business growth. Contact us for more information about our services.

On demand CFO’s and General Managers are revolutionising the fast growth of small to medium-sized businesses in Australia, enabling entrepreneurs to focus on their personal strengths and outsource the everyday stuff that they hate doing.

I have been providing small to medium-sized businesses with on-demand business management services for several years, working closely with NFP associations and SMEs that want to grow fast.

There are a number of different outsourced management roles that Harbak can provide:

• CFOs – Managing the overall financial health of the business
• General Business Management across staff, sales, marketing and administration
• Everyday financial management, reporting on the company balance sheet and profit & loss
• Business development (see our Business Matchmaking Service)
• Client Management – Development of focussed client management plan that indicate where your clients are going to spend their money and how you can secure that work

Here are some key benefits to outsourcing your general management positions:

• Entrepreneurial business owners can focus on what they do best, which is often driving the opportunities for growth, whilst the outsourced General Manager manages the day to day running of the operations
• Outsource your weaknesses – many entrepreneurs go cold at the thought of balance sheet, P&Ls and company financial, outsourcing an on-demand CFO can ensure that the right information is provided to ensure the best business financial decisions are made
• Consider the strengths your team right now and augment those skills with outsourced specialists. You’ll be surprised at how cost effective this can be. Often an outsourced role will complete the task set in half the time of a full-time person.
• An Outsourced GM, allows you to concentrate on what you enjoy and can be highly cost-effective – You don’t have to worry about paying Super, Holidays and Sick Pay etc.

Keiran Travers is the Founder and Director of Harbak. The company provides Business Management, Business Match Making (Business Development) and Advisory Services. Harbak offers business management services for entrepreneurs, associations and small businesses within mining, waste management, construction and engineering industries. In outsourcing executive and financial management roles, Harbak can assure a low risk, safe pair of hands for this position. Contact us for an appointment today.