APG Partners
17 Minutes
Why Adding Technology Rarely Fixes an Unclear Operating Model
Technology is often introduced with the expectation that it will make the business more efficient. But a system can only improve a well-designed process, it cannot decide how the business should operate. When the operating model is unclear, technology tends to digitise the ambiguity already present in the business.
APG Partners
16 Minutes
Why Most Strategic Plans Fail After the Planning Workshop
Strategic planning is rarely the problem. The workshop creates direction, but not the operating discipline required to convert that direction into results. Most plans weaken in the gap between deciding what to do and actually executing it.
APG Partners
13 Minutes
Growth Without Operating Discipline
Growth changes a business faster than many owners expect. The operating habits that work at $3 million can become unreliable at $10 million. This is where growth without operating discipline begins, and where the most important transition for an owner-led business has to be managed.
APG Partners
5 Minutes
Why Your Revenue Is Growing But Your Profit Isn't
Revenue growth is visible. Profit not keeping pace is harder to explain, and harder to fix. For most owner-led businesses, the cause isn't effort or market conditions. It's a structural constraint that isn't showing up clearly in the aggregate accounts.
APG Partners
4 Minutes
14,000 Business Failures and Counting: What the Insolvency Surge Actually Tells Us
In May 2024, Australia recorded its highest monthly insolvency figure since ASIC began publishing data in 1999. By the end of FY2023-24, more than 11,000 companies had entered external administration, a 39% increase on the prior year. Current projections suggest FY2024-25 will exceed 14,000.
APG Partners
4 Minutes
After the Record: What 14,000 Business Failures Tell Us About 2026
FY2024-25 is on track to set a record for corporate insolvencies in Australia. Current projections suggest more than 14,000 companies will have entered external administration by June 30, exceeding the 11,000+ failures of FY2023-24, which itself was the highest since 2012-13.
APG Partners
7 Minutes
2025: The Year Australian Business Stopped Pretending
2025 was the year the deferrals ran out. The year pandemic-era survival mechanisms finally expired. The year businesses discovered whether the problems they'd been managing were temporary or structural.
APG Partners
4 Minutes
Cautious Optimism Isn't a Strategy: What SMEs Actually Need for 2026
MYOB's December 2025 Business Monitor found that 19% of SMEs have seen revenue increase over the past six months, a four-point rise from the prior period. 26% expect revenue to grow in the year ahead. Among business owners aged 18-30, 37% expect economic conditions to improve.
APG Partners
4 Minutes
Eight in Ten SMEs Have Cash Flow Problems. Most Don't Know Why.
A 2024 survey of 507 Australian small and medium business owners, conducted by CommBank in partnership with UNSW, found that nearly 80% had experienced cash flow impacts in the previous twelve months. NAB's quarterly SME survey reinforces the finding: cash flow remains the primary concern for 43% of small businesses heading into 2025.
APG Partners
4 Minutes
The 30% Problem: When One Client Can Kill Your Business
Nearly a quarter of Australian SMEs say that losing one major account could push them under. That's not a hypothetical risk assessment. It's a structural vulnerability sitting at the heart of thousands of otherwise successful businesses.
APG Partners
5 Minutes
Three Numbers That Will Define Australian SMEs in 2026
As we head into 2026, Australian small business faces a familiar mix: cautious optimism from economists, lingering cost pressures from operations, and a policy environment that's about to get harder. The businesses that navigate this successfully won't be the ones with the best strategy decks. They'll be the ones who know their numbers.