The Hot Topics for 2014

2014. If we believed the moves of the late 1980's & 1990's then we'd either be driving hover cars or be dead by now. How many flicks had the world ending in the early 2000's?! Yet here we are, no hover cars, still driving combi vans, no robots taking over the world and so on......

Time does fly though and how about the Summer break! It went by way too quick. One minute we were sitting back indulging in a Christmas ale and the next we're back in the office and putting the first blog of the year together.

We hope you had a relaxing break and maybe you are still taking time off. It's fair to say life doesn't return to any semblance of normality until School goes back. For us it means our youngest daughter Jasmine enters the world of school. We don't know who to wish more luck to, Taree West PS or Jazzy herself. Jazz has been ready for school for over 12 months and now with just under 2 weeks till she starts I think we're ready too. Jazz starting school actually has a major impact on our business. From February our office will become a 2 person operation full time with Nik stepping into a permanent role. This will help us increase our in office availability and overall service standards. Having run the business solo for over 2 years, Jay has put us in a strong position but to go to the next step we need a 2nd pair of hands in the office. We hope that as this year goes on this may even increase to a 3rd person but let's see how we go with our targets huh.


Nikki is Tier 2 qualified in Insurance broking and has been learning on the run for the past 2 years. Her role initially in the office will be as support for our existing clients. Green Slips will be high on her priority list as will be processing of client documents and claims. Whilst not being in a front line role the impact Nik has had on this business since before day One cannot be understated. It was her passion and positive reinforcement that lead to us starting after 5 years of dreaming. A dream is great in principal but getting it to happen can be frightening. This wasn't the case for Nik who knew we could offer this region something different in the way of service and advice. A family run business that put's the community first. From sounding board to ideas on marketing, she has played a pivotal role. Last year she commenced involvement with Women's Business groups and has already picked up a couple of clients from this interaction. This will be stronger this year now that we have the time to spread our wings. We welcome Nikki into the office based team and are excited about the year. Having worked together many times previously we know there will be plenty of laughs, big smiles and regulars questions about "Who's coming for lunch today?"

It was a great 3 week break in our home. Nik's sister Belinda and her husband Graham who live in London returned for Christmas. It was great to catch up with them and the girls loved playing with Auntie Belinda and being scared by Uncle Graham. (He's a Chelsea fan so naturally he's scary) Must say we didn't stray too far from home which was nice. A 2 day trip to Sydney saw us catching a play at The Opera House. The 13 Story Tree house was a show designed around the Terry Pratchett book and was brilliantly done by the 3 actors. The children never stopped laughing and we must confess the adults had a moment or two as well.

Didn't spend too much time in Sydney but enjoyed some time in the Alfred St Beer Garden in Lilyfield with Steve & Amanda. The girls were taught pole dancing by their auntie, something her brother is still doing his best to ignore. We now hear the Alfred St Beer garden has a dart board so looking forward to the next catch up. The 3rd week of the holidays as can happen, Jay fell apart. A bad head cold took over and plenty of couch time was the order of the week. Good excuse to relax and get ready for the new year. We saw The Coopers Cup retained by John Thornton. Royal Taree Golf Club was the venue and even though holding the home ground advantage we finished about 16 shots off the pace. (And nothing more shall be said)

Right, so 2014! No hover cars or cyborg overlords. As much as things change the ethos stays the same. 'See the people and exceed their expectations.' Service hasn't changed in thousands of years and it is something that never will. People still value relationships and dealing with people they trust to have their interests at heart. This is a value we have run by since the beginning and it will stay the same this year.

Whilst the service proposition remains the same the risks in the world are constantly evolving. The biggest concern we are facing moving into this year is Cyber crime. With most businesses now storing files and private information of their clients on electronic systems the rate of Cyber crime has gone through the roof. And this is not just restricted to big cities. Within the IAA family an agent from Southern NSW had it's server hacked last year and held to ransom. In The Manning Valley another small business had a similar problem. Whilst not resorting to paying a ransom what it does do is cause major disruption and costs to a business. Getting investigators, police and IT specialists in plus going through down time, the costs can be staggering. Who pays the IT company to re load your data or re create a new server with all client files intact? It's you and it's big money. Back up daily is the key but even so this kind of event can strike anyone anywhere as criminals go phishing on line to rip you off. Cyber Insurance has emerged rapidly and is a product we will recommending highly this year. If you run an independent server, on line accounts or run a business that holds or takes client bank account details then you need to consider this product.

Changes to the Fair Work Act commenced on January 1st along with a raft of other changes in the employment practises landscape. We spoke regularly last year about the need to get your HR manuals into place and have a Management Liability Policy as a strong back up to this. Now more than ever this is pertinent. One of the key changes to the act is that employees can now bypass normal internal procedures and make a complaint straight to the Fair Work Ombudsman. This takes an element of control out of your business and if it happens you could be notified all too late of an incident. Please, we harped on about it last year but it is that important. Get your HR and OHS procedures sorted and consider adding Management Liability to your business protection plan.

The final key point for this year is The Personal Property Securities Register. (PPSR) This is a complex area and can have major ramifications on you as an individual or a business owner. The PPSR has replaced a number of Commonwealth, state and territory government registers for security interests in personal property, including those for bills of sale, liens, chattel mortgages and security interests in motor vehicles such as Rev's and VSR. It is important to register your interest on your own property and read up on the requirements. There are a number of consultants you can speak to or check out the government web page for more information.

https://www.afsa.gov.au/about-us/ppsr 

That's just a taste of the topics that are hot this year. Be aware and seek advice accordingly as each of them can and will affect you. For us we will be doing more to promote these among our existing clients but getting the word our through our networks as well. So an interesting and exciting year is ahead. IAA Mid North Coast will be prominent in the community as usual with more involvement in Business Chambers and business groups. Look for us in Port Macquarie throughout 2014 as well. Our support of Auskick in the area continues with work underway for the first junior AFL competition in The Manning Great Lakes. Plenty of work to do but the wheels are turning. Keep an eye out for more on the Auskick come and try days for children aged 5 - 12. We'd love to see you there.

Let's get to work huh. If you would to know more about IAA Mid North Coast please check out our web page www.iaamidnorthcoast.com.au or contact us directly. Some big things are happening this year.