Page 57 - Tropic Magazine Issue 19

TROPIC • OPINION

Eden Moller
Tropic intern

Time to switch off

Snapchat and Instagram are the two major apps that most
teenagers use, including me. Sure, they’re a great way to
connect with others. But something has been bothering me
with this addictive need to constantly check my phone. And I
know my peer group experiences this too.
Being a teenager, I understand the social pressures around
your profile appearance. You’ve got to make sure your posts are
on trend and there’s relentless pressure to be available online
24/7. Making sure you like recent posts and responding to any
direct messages is part of our daily routine. Some teens are so
emotionally devoted to social media they wake up in the night
just to log on and check they haven’t missed anything.
An article from Pew Research Center, published last year, found
that 95% of teens have access to a smartphone and 45% of them
were online “almost constantly”. This social media addiction
can become a serious problem, especially when it comes to
Adam Volcov replacing time for study or homework with scrolling through
Director Instagram or Snapchatting back and forth instead.
VBA The other issue I’ve noticed with social media is the fact that
people aren’t communicating in real life. Just about every
conversation happens online. Sometimes, I even see people
What’s the plan Stan? texting each other while they’re in the same room! Sure, social
media is a great way to connect. But it’s time we put the phone
Writing down goals greatly increases our chances of success. away more often. I’m pretty sure we’ll all feel better for it.
I’m sure you’ve heard that before… but you just can’t find the
time and motivation to do it. I hear you. As a business owner I
feel the same way, but as an accountant and business advisor
I have the luxury of seeing what works and what doesn’t. Marsha Klipp
Without a doubt, the more successful business owners have Lawyer
a clear plan for growth and make time to step out of the daily Holding Redlich
grind to achieve their goals.
The start of a new financial year is a great time to breathe new
life into your business and develop a plan for growth. This
doesn’t mean you need to kill a small forest by writing a detailed Broader horizons
business plan. You just need to set aside some time, get away
from the office and review the key aspects of your business with July 2019 marked my one-year anniversary of joining
the team. Here are some suggested questions to help you plan national law firm Holding Redlich. As a Cairns local, joining
and grow your business. a commercial national law firm has been a great learning
People: do we have the right people on our team? Do they need experience. With a national footprint, I get to work with and
additional training and skills development? Do we have enough learn from our colleagues in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne
capacity to achieve our growth plans? and upskill every day. In February of this year, I was very
Business systems and technology: do we have the right systems fortunate to be offered a secondment in our Sydney office.
in place to remain competitive and deliver a good experience to Through this experience, I worked on several multi-million
our customers? dollar corporate sales and acquisitions as well as financing
Sales and marketing: how can we deliver more value to our deals. As a young lawyer, these are dream transactions.
customers? Do we know what they want and are we still relevant? Holding Redlich has the technology, connections and culture
How are we going to promote our business? which allows and encourages its staff to work on transactions
Finances: is our business profitable and cash flow positive? Can from any of its Australian offices. Although my time in Sydney
we fund our growth? Or do we need to speak with our bank or is coming to an end, I still have the opportunity to gain similar
investors? experiences as part of a national firm while maintaining our
When it comes to business planning, less is more. My tip? unbeatable North Queensland lifestyle in our Cairns office. I
Prepare a one-page plan for your business that summarises what am also looking forward to applying my broadened legal skills
you plan to achieve this year. and experiences to better serve our Cairns clients.

More: vbabusiness.com.au MORE: holdingredlich.com

57 • tropicnow.com.au