Aretex

🎙️NEW EPISODE - NOW LIVE🎙️

What does it take to rebrand failure into a stepping stone for success?

In this episode of the Anti-Failure Podcast, Chris is joined by Grant 'Truck' Lawrie, sharing his remarkable start-up journey through antiques, event management, hospitality and skincare. Together, they explore how Grant turned financial setbacks and market challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation.

You’ll learn about the vital role of flexibility, the importance of passion in business, and how to stay resilient when the odds are against you. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation that promises to ignite your courage and curiosity!

🎧Listen here - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rebranding-failure-with-grant-lawrie/id1706725846?i=1000666821080

The recently conducted tree planting activity, in partnership with Bureau of Fire Protection - Solsona & Barangay Rangers, was a resounding success! We have planted a variety of tree & fruit seedlings last Saturday.
Aside from fulfilling our cause to aid the restoration of our environment, our eyes feasted on lush green valleys of Solsona, Ilocos Norte.
Magnificent work, team! We are all grateful for the opportunity to help our planet.
Here's to more environmental activities in the near future! 🌱💚

The bigger they are, the harder they fall!

This week the story of Evaldas Rimasauskas, a Lithuanian man who defrauded Google and Facebook of $122M using a spear phishing campaign back in 2019, has been doing the rounds on social media. This reminds us that even these Silicon Valley goliaths aren’t completely immune to being scammed.

Rimasauskas created a fake company with the name of a computing provider used by both Facebook and Google. He then sent a letter impersonating their financial institution to the relevant accounts departments, changing the bank account details on record and began issuing false invoices to the two tech giants.

Between 2013 and 2015, he collected a total of around $122M from fraudulent invoices.

A common problem we talk about with clients is single point of failure. More often than not, these large scale failings and frauds occur due to a process problem rather than a people problem. What systems weren’t adequately incorporated into the accounting and financial management process that allowed one man to siphon off over $100M from two of the world’s biggest and most sophisticated tech companies?

In this case, it would appear that authority to execute didn’t have robust enough safety parameters around it. Whether it was just one person who approved and completed the transaction or insufficient checks and balances on the validity of the accounts and payments being transferred.

But single points of failure don’t just create huge catastrophes like this one. It can be small things that add unnecessary risk to your business - an outsourced accountant that goes on leave for 3 weeks, a client going bust with outstanding invoices, or critical IP to your business living in someone’s head rather than properly documented.

We work with Australian SMEs to prevent single points of failure from impacting your business and livelihood. From accounting and financial management, IT infrastructure and security, back-office admin and automation, and compliance and business intelligence. Providing a managed service that, unlike other outsourced solutions, becomes an integrated part of your team. One that can scale up or down as you require it.

Reduce your exposure to single points of failure and ensure your business’s legacy for generations to come! Reach out to us today and see how we can help.

🚨Is your business at risk?

One of the most popular attack vectors for hackers is via vulnerabilities in employee digital workspaces. That's why it is imperative that all software and operating systems are kept up to date.

Each month, the major tech providers (Apple, Google and Microsoft) release the list of vulnerability patch updates made during the previous period. We'll share them here with you to demystify the process and give you greater clarity on your device security.

Vulnerabilities:

Apple - 1 critical, 19 high
Google - 1 critical, 36 high
Microsoft - 6 critical, 53 high

For a full rundown on total vulnerabilities and what they are, view our article.

https://www.aretex.com.au/digital-workspace-vulnerabilities-august-2024

💥Repeat with me 'I have failed, but I am NOT a failure!'. The distinction is an important one to make if you want to have success in any of life's pursuits. Today's guest on the Anti-Failure Podcast is Mike Campbell, sharing his knowledge and wisdom from over a decade of helping Aussie men become Everyday Legends.

Mike started a personal training career in his early 20s. Over time this evolved into a broader coaching business that focused on all areas of personal development, not just fitness. He is now a coach and mentor, author, public speaker, husband, father and friend. But not necessarily in that order. Chris and Mike discuss the value of failures if handled with a level of emotional maturity, how to get out of your own way, the mental roadblocks to entrepreneurship, and creating sustainable behaviour change.

🔗https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stand-up-to-failure-with-mike-campbell/id1706725846?i=1000664520226

👨‍💼Accidental CEO👨‍💼

Ryan Gilbank was helping a mate broker the sale of his business when he realised it was such a great deal that he bought it himself. In this episode of the Anti-Failure Podcast, Chris and Ryan discuss the evolution from employee to business owner and the journey to becoming the leader that your team needs you to be.

Ryan also shares his passion for giving and how it's been one of the biggest factors for driving growth, and the importance of creating legacy over simply chasing more revenue. If you've been second-guessing taking that entrepreneur leap, Ryan's story will provide inspiration and some helpful tools to take your first step.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/accidental-ceo-with-ryan-gilbank/id1706725846?i=1000662465901

Welcome to the Aretex family, Daniel Schipper.

Stepping into the role of Principal for Aretex Technology Services (ATS), Daniel is driving Aretex's managed services for information technology and digital capability. He brings a wealth of experience leading significant IT, SaaS development, business automation and digital transformation projects, across a range of organisations.

With a passion for simplifying complex problems, Daniel will be leading ATS to drive down the cost of IT and improve the efficiency of our client's technology infrastructure. Supporting our clients across all areas of their business with a host of IT infrastructure, cyber security, back-office automation and digital transformation services.

We're taking the A-way - building robust systems and processes that scale with you - and applying it to every facet of your business. So you can focus on running your business and serving your clients.

Our Team in Laoag office is born ready!!! 🎨

The seven groups were given the chance to express their creativity by illustrating one of the letters of the word EMPOWER which served as an acrostic for the values that we uphold as a company: Excellence Motivation, Passion, Objective, Welfare, Empathy, and Responsibility
and the 7 Pillars Of Quality which served as the guiding principles for delivering quality work: Competency, Recruitment & Retention, Innovation, Key Performance Indicators, Client Engagement, Focus, and A-Philosophy.

A-mazing! ⭐️

⚓Shipwrecked in the Philippines⚓

Chris Eagar is a fascinating human with an unbridled sense of adventure. He has a healthy appetite for risk and isn't afraid to fail.

In this episode of the Anti-Failure Podcast, we dive into how Chris and his brothers turned their yearly trips together into a 3 season TV series, a book, and TV production company. Along this unique journey they've driven a rickshaw across India, circumnavigated North America, and been shipwrecked in the Philippines in the middle of the night. The stories will have you on the edge of your seat!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shipwrecked-in-the-philippines-with-chris-eagar/id1706725846?i=1000660221569

Big news coming for NSW GP practices in the next week, potentially with the state budget release on June 18. RACGP has been deep in negotiations with NSW Labor around payroll tax changes, intent on finding a middle ground that suits all parties and still supports the medical industry.

As for the bulk billing offer extended to Victorian and South Australian practices, we concur with the author here and highly recommend speaking to your lawyer and/or accountant to understand what the ramifications are for YOUR practice.

If you’re uncertain about any of these payroll tax changes and need accounting support, we’re here to help - https://www.aretex.com.au/medical

NSW payroll tax update imminent - Medical Republic Meanwhile, tax lawyers advise clinics to stop and think before rushing into the SA and Victorian bulk billing offer.

🎙️NEW EPISODE - NOW LIVE🎙️

🏋️Growing a Small Studio To Over 800 Members

Connor Pettersson was living the dream - working as a journalist in Bali, surfing everyday. But he felt disconnected and alone, when one day tragedy called him home. This set him on a path with an ambitious goal to change the lives of 100,000 people through health and fitness.

He's since grown his boutique personal training studio into 3 hugely successful gyms with 800+ members, and helped raise over $100,000 for various charities. Sharing his insights, failures and learnings from the journey with Chris, the pair discuss creating a quality service culture, finding employees that buy into your vision, sustainable growth strategies, outsourcing to allow you singular focus, and being present when it's time to switch off. Hit that download button and get ready to be inspired!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growing-a-small-studio-to-over-800-members-with/id1706725846?i=1000657845083