Next month we will celebrate episode 100 of our successful True Business Stories podcast.
To listen to past episode go to:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1998547
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We have just finished the first round of judging along with with the judging panel sitting together for a day and a half locked up in the new City of Geelong council building.
The finalists have been selected and the next stage will be 90 minute site visits. 
Following that, the winners of each category will be chosen and then off to the awards night at the Pier in Geelong for the Awards night which is always a big event in Geelong. 
The benefit in being a judge is the diverse number of business you get to meet and the passionate people you meet.

In this episode we interview Rachel Patterson , the CEO of Geelong's two major radio stations.
Rachel was born in the South Island of NZ and she tells her story about the journey to this role in Geelong.

https://truebusinessstories.buzzsprout.com/1998547/13909189-rachel-patterson-geelong-broadcasters-bay93-9-and-krock
​It great to see the continued success of regional radio. 
Mark and I have met so many regional business owners through or  podcasts and  we will reach the 80th episode next month.

We recently interviewed Xavier Prime for our True Business Stories podcast.
Bought up on a farm near Colac in Victoria, attended local rural a school, became and apprentice carpenter and then left Australia to travel and work. 
After working in various countries in Europe and including on oil rigs in the North Sea and off Darwin he returned and now owns his farm with his partner, Kimberly and setting a high standard in regenerative farming.
truebusinessstories.buzzsprout.com/
Xavier is typical of the next generation of farmers who look for better ways to manage stock and the land

'We have uploaded our new podcast featuring Greg O'Shea,  the new franchise owner of the latest short term apartments opening  in Geelong in September 2023.
A great story of his journey from working in a chinese cafe in Camperdown in country Victoria when he was a school student to working in a 3 Star Michelin restaurant in London etc. and then managing a TAFE culinary school with Cordon Bleu affiliations.
Now about to open his own business in hospitality and tourism.

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There is a well known expression in business. Differentiate or die.
For example, in my local shopping area there are 14 places where you can buy coffee. Two are always busier  than all the others. Why is that?
In a city such as Geelong you have the largest number of hair stylists per head of population in Victoria. What make some stand out above the rest?
Over the last five years we see a proliferation of people calling themselves business coaches and the many accounting firms now saying they are business advisors. Hardly any have actually run their own business. So, what enables a successful business advisor stand out from the pack?
Look at your own business segment and ask yourself what you do that is hard for your competitors to match?
First, identify what business you are in and what problems do you solve better than any one else?
If you don't know sit down with us andwe will answer that question for you.

We have had to close off applications to attend our new workshop for business owners. This is good news for us and also bad as some people will  miss out.

Working together as a couple can be both rewarding and challenging. While it can be great to share success and work towards common goals, it can also create unique stresses and conflicts that are not present in other types of relationships both  business and personal.
I have coached and worked with many couples in business and experienced the best and worse of how to work together. When the personal relationship goes wrong, the results are devastating and often ends with the business being sold or closed.
One of the main challenges of working together as a couple is the potential for work-related disagreements to spill over into personal disagreements. This can create a cycle where work stress leads to personal stress and vice versa, making it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Another issue is that working together can make it difficult to establish boundaries between work and personal life. It's tempting to talk about work all the time, which can lead to burnout and a lack of time and energy for other important aspects of the relationship. The kitchen table is not the place to be always talking about business, especially when it should be for family conversations in front of your children. That's the opposite of what happened in our own family business a long time ago. The kitchen table was just an extension of daily issues within the factory. 
I have also experienced that working together can create power dynamics and conflicts of interest that may not exist in other professional relationships. For example, one partner may have more decision-making power than the other, or there may be conflicts of interest when it comes to promotions or salaries. 
To lessen these challenges, it is important for couples working together to establish clear communication, boundaries, and expectations. They should strive to keep work-related disagreements separate from personal disagreements and prioritize their relationship outside of work. I know that this is a near impossible task sometimes and it takes a lot of self discipline. Remember aggression begets aggression.
It is always helpful to establish clear roles and responsibilities and to seek outside support or mediation if conflicts arise. Again I have worked with couples and unfortunately by the time I am called in, its often too late.
The safe thing to do would be to set the ground rules right from the start. However, no one ever does that. As I say to startups, write the rule of the game now. The business rules that is. You could say begin with end in mind. We all plan for the start, but we never plan for an end.

​Bill Winter