Kahn founded OzHarvest, a food rescue charity that collects food from places like function centres, caterers, corporate offices, restaurants, cafes and tourist operators, and provides that food to charities. The charities employ a trickle-down effect and feed the disadvantaged, including homeless people, youth at risk, single parents with no support, marginalised indigenous men, women and children, refugees, those recovering from addictions, and women escaping domestic violence. The only common thread to their charity list is that all of their recipients are either disadvantaged or at risk and being provided with food helps them gain confidence in their ability to survive.

The fact that food is inevitably going to be leftover from most hotels and restaurants means that the menu is varied, much to OzHarvest’s delight. They may get sandwiches one day or eggs and milk the next, or even a whole pie for an entire family. The only perishable food rescue charity in Sydney that delivers on a daily basis, they have touched literally thousands of lives.

OzHarvest has consistently met its goal of delivering a meal at a cost of 99c. Their funding is from varied sources: 50% from corporate entities; 35% from a few select private foundations, with only 10% from government and 5% from individual donors. Their program is also reducing the hospitality industry’s massive impact on the environment by turning waste into a resource and saving thousands of kilograms of food from being dumped as landfill each year.

Caroline Bateson, the manager of PCYC in South Sydney, says the donations of food from OzHarvest are invaluable to her community. They are now able to help with snacks for after school programs benefiting the youth of the area, as well as occasionally send home whole meals for families. Due to the fact that PCYC is a charity and has limited funds, the fact that OzHarvest is able to deliver nutritious meals on a daily basis at no cost whatsoever to either the donor or the charity and the final recipient is a huge shot in the arm for Bateson, and in turn the young people in the Redfern and Waterloo area.

From 20 years of watching good food go to waste to the founder of a food redistribution service that is helping the disadvantaged gain confidence in their future, Ronni Kahn certainly fits the definition of a social entrepreneur.

120 companies from around Australia representing a broad spectrum of industries showed just how diverse entrepreneurship can be. Whether it is new products and services, simply a great new business idea, or even an old idea revamped with a new twist, the inaugural SmartCompany Crown Lager Business Start Up Awards showcased the lot and brought to light the entrepreneurial spirit of modern Australia.

According to SmartCompany they did not want to showcase just the fastest growing start up company, but the entrepreneurs who were really trying to do something different or new and making a difference in the community. They maintain that the common denominator in the competition is the entrepreneur’s passion for their business and their willingness to do things differently. And it seems that the younger the business owner the more adventurous they seem to be. The statistics show that the average age of the business owner entered into the Start Up awards is 36 (23 of them are under 30).

The vigour of youth mixed with the determination to succeed balanced with inherent entrepreneurship is a formidable force and Australia is at the forefront of the new driven entrepreneur.

Although many may bemoan the fate of a lost generation to Playstation and Xbox, the determination shown by these young business minds is nothing short of inspiring.

MediaPoint founders 26 year old Jason Xuereb and 21 year old Jamie Xuereb got their start-up capital of $500 to start a business making stickers for their friends. Jamie was barely 18 at the time and he got his share of the start-up capital working in a bottle capping factory.

Their old printing machine broke down soon after they began their business so instead of giving up they got a loan, purchased a new  machine and launched a highly competitive printing company that had the fastest turnaround times in industry history. They expanded into banners and larger scale printing and have not looked back.

This refreshing do-it-yourself take on business is an interesting new development for young entrepreneurs. Instead of following the herd and lining up for either angel investors to finance a great new idea or simply never doing it at all, they showed a new spirit of entrepreneurship. And, it is these fresh new business minds that will help the economy recover.

These days instead of relying on expensive market research, the younger entrepreneurs are using social networking to survey their potential customers and in some cases start whole new ventures. Adam Penberthy is a 25 year-old who started Fresh Marketing because he was tired of not being able to wear jeans, shorts and thongs to work. He has 7 people on his payroll and they are all under the age of 27. Their business? Youth marketing. He and his employees access a specific market and turn away clients that they believe are not in line with their vision or sphere of influence. By creating a niche and specialising in it they have managed to grow a thriving business out of a desire to wear shorts and beach sandals.

The encouraging signs of out-of-the-box thinking and a dedication to new and vibrant ideas is a positive step in business growth.  As entrepreneurship moves into the forefront of the minds of the youth of Australia the future is growing ever brighter for the country.

Shane Krider, CEO of Polaris Media Group, speaking at the 2010 Kick Off event.

Polaris has started off 2010 in a very memorable way with our 2010 Kick Off and Foundation Live events in the Gold Coast. The events took place at the RACV Royal Pines Resort and we had hundreds of attendees.

As always, I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many of our distributors, and to see them realize the true vision and mission of Polaris. Many of the event attendees had already received their Beyond Freedom Evolution Departure by the time they arrived at the events and were excited to continue their studies with this product.

Our second documentary film, Unbeaten, was shown at the Foundation Live event. The Polaris mission to bring into being films of inspirational stories of individuals overcoming incredible odds in life has received unqualified support from our distributors all around the world.

Oz Sanchez, featured in Unbeaten, speaking at Foundation Live

Scott Burrows gave an outstanding key note address at Foundation Live and disabled athletes Oz Sanchez and Australian Paul Nunnari definitely inspired all the attendees.

I know those of you who attended Kick Off and Foundation Live in the Gold Coast have headed back home with more knowledge and tools to expand your business and take the actions required to move closer to achieving your goals and the life you want.

Our final 2010 Kick Off and Foundation Live events take place in Prague on 30-31 January. I look forward to seeing our UK and European team there.

One of the messages given at Foundation Live and a message I want to reiterate as you head into 2010 – You DO have the power to create this year to be anything you want regardless of whatever barriers you may be facing right now. This is a brand new year and the beginning of a whole new decade. Don’t hold back on your creativity. Just go for it!

Rachel Oliver, Australian entrepreneur, receiving the award for Polaris Media Group Top Producer from CEO, Shane Krider, at the 2010 Kick Off Event.

The 2009 Telstra Business Women’s awards commissioned a study of women in business and the findings are more than reassuring, they are downright inspiring, and quite radically different than some people may have been expecting. While many people has been living through times of quiet desperation, Australian female self-confidence seems to be running high.

The research shows that although 90% of women who are the sole proprietors of their venture are significantly worried about the economy, 88% believe they will be able to navigate their way out of the recession. That is an incredibly high statistic. If that many women believe they can make it and their self confidence remains unshaken, then it stands to reason that many, if not all will make it.

The power of thought aligned in a specific direction toward a goal, however unlikely, will most times through human effort and determination result in success and the achieving of the goal. That has been proven time and again.

So, when survey results show that women in Australia are determined to succeed and that their self-confidence is running high it makes me smile. I love that women who own and operate their own business are taking positive action instead of being downtrodden by the status quo and capitulating to the panic and desperation of the mass media. Instead of panic, the most common actions women are taking in their business are cutting costs and improving efficiency (23 per cent) and working harder (18 per cent).

I saw evidence of the spirit of Australian women entrepreneurs at the 2010 Kick Off and Foundation Live Events held in the Gold Coast just last weekend. I wish each and every one of you the best of success in 2010!

A company should have some diversity to its activities. However, it can’t be only overly experimental as there are too many risks and failure will be inevitable. A balance between the pioneering spirit of the entrepreneur and the business acumen of a conservative is the perfect blend.

Levi Strauss and Company learned to their detriment that one can diversify too far. They went after the youth market to the point that they had stores filled with branded gear that was not selling globally, while the planet was enjoying a modern denim and jeans revival. They had not given enough attention to their traditional consumers who bought their staple product, 501 jeans.

To expand continually in the business world one has to be bold and yet have a realistic attitude about which goals are attainable. That is not to say that one shouldn’t dream! I advocate dreaming, and dreaming big. But being aware of the work it takes and setting goals to achieve your dream is very different from sitting on the couch and scratching a Lotto card. While every new venture is risky, achieving success is closer than ever before and diversifying to minimise risk may help you get there.

Every time you take a risk, there are untested assumptions at play. When Henry Ford decided, in the early 20th century, to pay his workers $5 per day, it was more than double the industry standard. He based his decision on the simple belief that if his workers were paid a decent wage, they would become his customers. Had his judgment been wrong, the decision could have backfired and done irreparable damage to Ford’s finances.

Before you put your assumptions into action, think about what will happen if they prove incorrect. What if a key project leader leaves the organization, for instance, or if the engineers can’t make the technological breakthrough you’re counting on? Can your entrepreneur skills get you out of trouble or will you have to rely on help from others?

On the external side, consider what would happen if interest rates rise. What if there’s political unrest, a natural disaster, or a shortage of essential raw materials? What will your competitors most likely do? The more broadly you think, the fewer surprises you’ll encounter, and you will find out quickly that the more prepared you are, the luckier you will be. Your entrepreneur skills need to encompass an understanding of all of the possible consequences of your decisions and actions and the more you can take responsibility for them the more you will be able to take control of your future.

At 21, Neysha graduated from university and landed a contract with Elite models in Milan, Italy. She moved to Europe and threw herself into her work. However, at 23 she was diagnosed with throat cancer, underwent a full thyroidectomy which left her with a scar across her neck, and endured three years of treatment until she was in remission.

With her modelling career over, Neysha was keen to show she knew how to succeed. According to this driven young woman, the whole situation did nothing but ignite her determination in life. She began MACO soon after. Her hard work and commitment pulled her through her first year. A tough start, she made a financial loss, however her natural business smarts meant she had budgeted realistically so she could survive while she grew the business.

MACO started out as an architectural magazine but, by the third issue, was expanded to include a cuisine and travel section. By 2004, the magazine featured more than 200 pages. Neysha then decided to separate out the travel section and launch Destinations Magazine.

In 2004, Moving Magazines, a magazine- and book-distribution company, was launched to help other budding publishers distribute and market their products.

They now produce seven magazines and a number of books, including their first children’s book, Brown Sugar & Spice, a book for the tween market launching in December.

Ten years ago she was young and hungry for success. After life dealt her lemons, big sour ones at that, she has managed to turn her life into a creative powerhouse learning how to succeed against the odds and blazing the way for other women to follow.

Studying up on other business successes is essential to grow one’s knowledge of life and recognize possibilities and opportunities. Ram Charan is a highly acclaimed business advisor, speaker, and author who has coached some of the world’s most successful CEOs. For 35 years, he’s worked behind the scenes at companies like GE, Bank of America, DuPont, Home Depot, 3M, and Verizon.

Charan started his business career as a teenager working in his family’s shoe shop in India. He went on to earn an engineering degree and then an MBA and doctorate in corporate governance from Harvard Business School. His impressive academic career spanned 30 years and he didn’t stop there. He wrote several books and is a successful entrepreneur in his own right.

Not surprisingly, he gets bombarded with questions regarding approaches to business. Some people argue that taking great risks is essential to the growth of their business, and that venture capitalists love aggressive ideas. His opinion is that although successful businesses have been built by business owners taking great risks, truly smart business minds use their entrepreneur skills to accurately measure the risk versus the potential benefit in order to make a balanced decision. Henry Ford, Richard Branson, or Rupert Murdoch, all made bold decisions with uncertain outcomes, but they made a sharp distinction between risk-taking and gambling.

According to Charan, there’s no shortage of companies that avoid risk and instead rely on a fully proven business model; a tried-and-true product mix, or a continued focus on a single, profitable market segment.

Assessing one’s attitude to risk is imperative if you want to see how you will fare in the business world, and especially if you want to gauge your potential personal success. Charan says his most common test in gauging the potential of a business owner is to ask about the person as a leader. Are they really a risk taker?

Living with risk is not an easy idea for some. However, it is possible to learn to take on risk and still sleep well at night. Charan says dealing with risk is a thought process. I believe it is. You have to think through the risks you’re taking, prepare for the potential outcomes, and watch for the early warning signs that your beliefs and assumptions may have been wrong.

The way in which you deal with risk will dictate your progress. An unrealistic view of risk would be a foolish gamble. Keeping a firm eye on your goal, while having a true understanding of the risks involved and a solid plan to manage those risks, is key.

Boasting 25 venues – from casual cafes and bars to high-end restaurants and a Phuket resort that opens fully in the New Year – the hard-working entrepreneur employs a workforce of about 1,000 staff.

His business is solid, having over 70,000 visitors coming through the doors each month in Singapore. Pretty crazy considering that when he first started he was discouraged from opening more restaurants for fear of cannibalising his existing business.

Ma maintains that by opening in different locations they were able to give each restaurant an individual spin, resulting in an increase in numbers and turn-over.  His philosophy is that if you are going to expand you may as well do it on your own terms.

Ma believes that to achieve as an entrepreneur you must see the goal without regard to the resources needed to achieve the goal. While building his successful business has seemed to be second nature, he said the key for aspiring entrepreneurs is to do something that keeps them excited.

His next level of excitement lies in hotels. Ma is pushing ahead with a partnership with renowned American restaurateur Tom LaTour, former chief executive of Kimpton Hotels, in a venture to build and manage hotels.
The first property in the LaTour IndoChine Hotel Group’s portfolio is the still-under-construction IndoChine Resort and Villas in Phuket.

This universe doesn’t stand still for anyone and it certainly seems that Mr Ma is advancing full speed ahead; his dream of being an entrepreneur has become a reality.