Fiori Newsletter

Fiori’s Table Talk, March 2013 Newsletter

Bringing your dreams alive today

Tina’s Tales In this issue Hi Everyone, It is nice to be able to talk to you again. What a hectic start to the year for everyone. With holidays, the changing weather, school holidays, school starting, everything happening at work, turmoil in all the sports across Australia and then 7 months for an election campaign.

How hectic is all that.

And before we know it, it’s nearly Easter with all that chocolate. WOW. As they say there is only one thing you can’t replace and that is time.

Where has the time gone?

As you know over the summer break we have been relocating our office and showroom to our new location at Five Dock in Sydney. I must say the new showroom is looking really good. The new location allows us to be able to showcase our new product range in a fantastic location and layout. BUT moving offices and showroom is really hectic and tiring but I am not telling you anything new.

Our new showroom allows us to display all our products in a unique and special way. We have already had some customers into our showroom who have said they have seen nothing like our showroom before..

They have been to the general retailers but they do not compare to our layout and style. It is really nice to receive such feedback from complete strangers when they visit our showroom.

With our new showroom we are able to group our various styles together. We have divided our showroom into a number of different areas.

Oraito White plus Storm Island In this area we have the white Oraito ovens with microwave panels, integrated Fridges, coffee machine and microwave, white induction cooktop, dishwasher, undermount sink and hood.

     

Tina’s Tales Marketing News Property Insights Product Update Social Media Trends Fiori Product of the Month

Karim Rashid The multi-coloured oven with cooktop is certainly a different design from Karim Rashid. That splash of colour is magnificent

Oraito Black The classic Ora-ito tower with dishwasher, oven microwave panel combine to make a classic statement in any kitchen.

Pininfarina The Pininfarina collection is simply stunning with the oven, cooktop, fridges, dishwasher (different panel), microwave panel. When Pablo Pininfarina designed these appliances he certainly had in mind to design something that would last the test of time.

Let’s hope that it is resolved soon to the benefit of all the players and fans.

I think some of the people in administration of the sports and clubs need to take a good look at themselves.

Tina’s Tales continued..

Gorenje Pure Collection In this area we have combined the 90cm oven, 60cm Simplicity oven (only involved in white), Gorenje Oven and Gorenje Touch control oven with Steam oven matched with a variety of hoods both wall or island mounted and cooktops (both gas and electric, white and stainless)

Refrigerators Finally an area to display free standing fridges.

So that is it, our showroom in a nutshell.

Given the nature of our showroom and the level of service that we provide we will be changing the way we operate our showroom and how people can access our showroom.

Going forward appointments will be necessary so that we can adequately handle the demand and enquiries without lowering our service levels.

Standard Collection In this area we have given our clients to choose from a variety of standard ovens, cooktops and slideouts. This area is designed for those clients looking to start out.

Can you believe a 7 month election campaign? I can’t stand when I have to hear from politicians for 7 days let alone 7 months. Why can’t we go early to the polls for everyone’s sake and benefit? As a country we need to get on with things.

I hope you all get a chance to have a little break over Easter and enjoy some time with your family and friends, and especially eat some Chocolate. That is so nice.

Anyway until next month take care, be good and live well.

Ciao  Tina

If you’re ever in the Five Dock area, please pop in and have a look, come and see me for a cup of coffee and have a look. I would love to see you.

Some comments on a few other things. It is very sad to see what is happening with the NRL and AFL.

Top Mount Sinks This area lets people see the various styles of top mounted sinks that they can choose from.

Undermount Sinks This area gives people the ability to touch and feel, test out the multitude of choices available to them when it comes to undermounted sinks.

Fiori Appliances Pty Ltd 142 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046 Phone: +61 2 9713 8435 Fax: +61 2 9712 3220 Email: info@fiori.com.au

www.fiori.com.au

8 Ways to Maximize the Value of Your Business

By Dave Lavinsky

If you're like me and passionately roll up your sleeves and get to work on something great for several years or more (your business), you owe it to yourself to have a final result for your efforts that is truly a masterpiece.

I'm talking about your business, once it's complete...Done...Ready to sell for as much as you can reasonably expect, often for several times its yearly earnings.

If and when it does come time to sell, you want to be selling from a position of strength-to sell it when it is at its most valuable point and not when you're burned out, in ill health, or in some other situation where you are rushed or won't make nearly as much from the sale.

Like any great work, you have to start with the end in mind, and to that end I'll be writing this to clarify just what a "sellable" business looks like. This will give you an ideal to work towards and guide your plans and work.

Below are eight things to start doing now to increase the value of your business to yourself and potential acquirers.

1. Position your company in a clearly-defined niche Your business must be the best it can be at what it does, without trying to be everything to everyone. A business that knows its customer segments, their needs and language, and how to solicit a response from them is a lot more valuable than one that is a mixture of everything, or an unknown in its market.

2. Coach your team to run the business without you Could other people ever run your business without you? They'll have to, if you're selling! So why not make this your goal from Day One? Make an organizational chart of how your business will look when it's time to sell it. List all the various workers in marketing, operations, and those they report to. It's okay if it's just you or a handful of people currently filling all those roles. Doing this will help you organize who is going to do what in your business before you hire a new person.

Then, over time, you can find other people to fill those positions one by one until you're out of the picture.

3. Build relationships with customers Goodwill, such as your reputation and brand in the minds of your current and prospective customers, is considered an asset on your company's balance sheet.

You build this over time by treating people right and maintaining good relationships.

If you intend to sell your business someday, or if you just want to have the option, this is something you have to make a priority throughout the business's life. You can't just start doing it well suddenly in the final year. Relationships and recognition take time.

4. Make sure you're stable Make sure you're not overly dependent on any one customer, vendor, employee, or anything else.

Diversify your strengths. If you have any "whale" customers that make up a large portion of your business, try to get at least 80% of your business from other people.

The new owner does not want to take the reins and have revenues drop in half in the event your biggest customer leaves.

5. Maximize your revenues This one's self-evident, but deserves to be repeated. Make sure you leverage the 4 proven ways to increase your revenues: getting more customers, increasing your average order size, get customers to buy more frequently, and finding new ways to monetize your customers and visitors.

A company with higher revenues and which shows growing revenues will be more valuable and attractive to buyers.

6. Hold expenses accountable You boost your net profit (and therefore the value) by reducing your expenses. However, no one ever shrank themselves into wealth.

You're not going to grow your business by keeping expenses lower-but the numbers will increase as it grows.

Your goal is to keep the percentages the same, such as keeping advertising at 20% of your revenues whether earnings are $100,000 or $1,000,000 per year.

Basically, you'll want to make sure that budgets are made and followed, to keep spending within projected limits and to avoid costs creeping up that don't generate more revenue in return.

Fiori Appliances Pty Ltd 142 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046 Phone: +61 2 9713 8435 Fax: +61 2 9712 3220 Email: info@fiori.com.au

www.fiori.com.au

ragù alla bolognese

Ingredients For the sauce: 1 (14-ounce) or 1/2 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes in juice, preferably San Marzano 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups water 1 tablespoon tomato paste, preferably double concentrated 1 teaspoon beef base (available in some supermarkets and specialty food stores) or 1 beef bouillon cube 1 celery rib, roughly chopped 1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped 1/2 medium carrot, roughly chopped 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 ounces sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing 2 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, finely chopped 3/4 pound ground beef (not lean) 3/4 pound ground pork 1/2 pound ground veal Fine sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 cup dry red wine 1 bay leaf 3/4 cup whole milk Freshly grated nutmeg

For serving: Fresh tagliatelle, or other pasta, cooked until tender in salted water Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Instructions Purée tomatoes and their juice in blender until smooth; set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a simmer; whisk in tomato paste and beef base. Remove from heat; set aside.

Make a battuto (the foundation for many Italian soups, stews and sauces) by finely chopping together (by hand) celery, onion and carrot.

In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium-low heat until melted and foaming; add battuto, sausage and pancetta. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sausage is broken into small bits, then continue cooking, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened (do not brown), about 25 minutes.

Add beef, pork and veal; increase heat to medium. Cook, stirring until meat is broken into small bits, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly for 10 minutes more (do not brown).

Add wine; bring to a boil and cook until wine and juices in pot are mostly evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add reserved puréed tomato, reserved beef base mixture and bay leaf.

Cook ragù at the barest simmer, stirring occasionally (making sure to stir into edges of pot), until meat is very tender and sauce is thick (as sauce thickens, add water, bit by bit, if necessary, to keep sauce moist and just barely liquid), about 2 1/2 hours.

Add milk and continue cooking for 30 minutes more. Stir in pinch nutmeg. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve: Toss the ragù with pasta using 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of sauce per pound of pasta. Serve immediately with cheese.

Marketing News continued...

7. Keep great records for the next owner Keep excellent records of everything for the new owner-your files, databases, customer communications, marketing materials, financial records, employee agreements-everything.

Committing to do this now will make your life so much easier between now and the time you sell. Keep good records for your own efficiency, protection, and to make your business look a lot more attractive to buyers than one where all the records are filed away in the old owner's head.

8. Develop a plan for when it's "done" and ready to sell I don't want you to have plans on top of plans, but each of these will take certain actions to make them happen. So here's what to do: Add these end results into your existing business plan, and use your best judgment when choosing how to make each of them happen in your company. When it's all said and done, the next few years are going to go by whether you maximize your business's value or not. At the end of, say, 5 years, would you rather have a stable, attractive, polished business ready to sell for top dollar, or be left taking what you can get for what you have?

If it seems like a lot, remember you have until the time you sell to take care of these things. You don't have to do it all now! Just add these elements I described to your vision of what you want your company to be, and keep your eye on it until the big day finally comes. *****

Fiori Appliances Pty Ltd 142 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046 Phone: +61 2 9713 8435 Fax: +61 2 9712 3220 Email: info@fiori.com.au

www.fiori.com.au

9 Consumer Social Media Trends That Could Impact Marketers

By Patricia Redsicker Published February 6, 2013

In this article, I examine a report published by Edison Research focused on people’s latest social habits. These findings provide useful insights about consumer behavior and how your business can respond.

Here are 9 of the most interesting findings from the study #1: Almost 58 million Americans Use Social Sites Daily A social habit is the tendency to use social media sites several times a day. By mid2012, the number of Americans with the social habit had risen to 22% (approximately 58 million people) from 18% in 2011.

• Are you wondering how consumers are using social media?

• Would you like some insights to help your business better understand people’s social habits?

The use of social media in America has increased almost five-fold since 2008.

A similar study by NM Incite provides further insight as to why people use social media.

89% do it to keep in touch with friends and family, 67% for entertainment, 66% to learn about products and services and 48% for career networking.

Key Takeaway: As consumers invest more time on social media sites, try to find new ways to connect and engage with consumers throughout the day. For example,post a short question on your Facebook Page in the morning, a helpful article in the afternoon and an interesting photo or brief video in the evening. And don’t forget weekends.

Remember too that consumers are interested in learning about your products and services, so showcase them and use appealing images and keyword-rich descriptions.

Also consider introducing an e-commerce experience on your Facebook Page. #2: Twitter Driving New and More Engaged Users Twitter continued to draw new users by impressive numbers. 23% of consumers surveyed joined Twitter six months before, 30% joined less than a year before and another 25% joined less than two years before. The study also showed that engagement levels among Twitter users rose from 69% in 2011 to 76% in 2012.

Twitter is a magnet for attracting new users.

Key Takeaway: New Twitter users will not know whom to follow right away. Make it easy for them to follow your business and tweet useful resources and thoughtful tips that answer their questions, rather than tweeting promotional content. This will also help establish you as a thought leader in your industry, particularly if your tweets are focused mostly on a specific subject. #3: 40% of Americans Exposed to “Tweets” from Traditional Media The study found that 43% of Americans hear or read about “tweets” almost every day in traditional media. Another 16% hear this term regularly, but not daily. TV shows such as CNN’s AC 360 and Piers Morgan Tonight are known for promoting and extending conversations to their Twitter platforms.

Americans are being exposed to Twitter terminology through traditional media. Key takeaway: Every day, TV audiences are being heavily exposed to Twitter and the idea of tweeting. If your business advertises on TV (or is thinking about it), be sure toencourage your audience to take the conversation online in the form of tweets.

Don’t forget to give viewers a unique hashtag to distinguish your brand. To get your creative juices flowing, take a look at this stunning TV ad by American Express with numerous mentions of “tweets” and “Twitter.”, while only 9% prefer Twitter

Fiori Appliances Pty Ltd 142 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046 Phone: +61 2 9713 8435 Fax: +61 2 9712 3220 Email: info@fiori.com.au

www.fiori.com.au

Social Media continued...

Property Insights RBA positive about the economy The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's recent board meeting are positive about the economy but it appears in no rush to cut the cash rate again.

More Sharing ServicesShare The minutes of the February 5 board meeting, published on Tuesday, indicate the RBA is waiting to see how the last series of interest rate cuts - in October and December – will flow through the economy before deciding if further cuts are needed.

"Interest rate sensitive parts of the economy had shown some signs of responding to these lower interest rates, which were well below their longer-run averages, and further effects could be expected over time," the RBA said in the minutes.

The RBA kept the cash rate at three per cent at its first meeting of the year in February and last cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point at its previous board meeting in December.

"The tone of the minutes suggests that the hurdle to cut further is reasonably high, especially if the global backdrop and market confidence continue to improve.

"The onus lies upon the rate-sensitive sectors to disappoint."

Ms Ong said she expected the RBA to cut the cash rate in the second quarter of 2013, taking the rate to 2.75 per cent.

Commsec economist Savanth Sebastian said the minutes suggested the RBA expected the domestic economy to improve over the next few months.

"It essentially confirmed their view that they are happy to wait on the sidelines and are relatively upbeat about the domestic economy," he said.

"They highlighted that interest rate sensitive parts of the economy are starting to gain a bit of traction, given the low interest rate environment so that certainly seems to suggest that, over the next couple of months, they are expecting an improvement to take place.“

#4: Number of People Following Brands Doubles This was an interesting discovery.

Turns out that social media users are more interested in brands than ever before. In fact, brand-following behavior on social media sites increased by a respectable 17% in the last two years, and by 8% from 2011 to 2012. It’s likely that this trend will continue on the same upward path.

Interest in brands is actually growing among social media users across the board.

Key Takeaway: According to Get Satisfaction, the top reasons why users follow brands are to get free offers and deals, because they are existing customers, for interesting or entertaining content and because their friends are fans of the brand.Make sure the offers you make on your website are also promoted on your social media channels. For example free research reports, webinars or product giveaways.

Be creative and change up your offers every so often to keep things fresh and your fans engaged.

Mr Sebastian said that while one further quarter of a percentage point rate cut was a possibility, he expected the RBA to keep the cash rate on hold throughout 2013.

RBC Capital Markets senior economist Su-Ling Ong said the content of the minutes was predictable, confirming there was scope to cut if needed.

"The tug of war between mixed domestic data and improving global conditions is clear and is keeping the RBA on the sidelines," Ms Ong said.

He said although the RBA appeared to be confident that economic conditions were improving in China and the US, it remained concerned about the risk of a further weakening in the euro zone.

Fiori Appliances Pty Ltd 142 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046 Phone: +61 2 9713 8435 Fax: +61 2 9712 3220 Email: info@fiori.com.au

www.fiori.com.au

To be continued next issue...

Fiori Product of the Month

GORENJE ORA-ITO BUILT-IN OVEN Model: BO87-ORA-W (White) / BO87-ORA-X (Black) Energy class: A-20% - 20% less energy consumption as A energy class Dimensions of the product (W×H×D): 59,7 × 59,5 × 56,5 cm Features: SoftClose door hinge Max Oven Temp: 275⁰C DirectTOUCH – Electronic control module with pre-set menus and fast pre-heating Electronic control Multifunction oven BigSpace - 65 l SuperSize baking area Design: HomeMADE® modelled on traditional wood-fired bread oven Glass control panel Ergonomic handle Easily removable oven door EcoClean enamel coated oven interior Smooth oven door surface Variable grill Conventional, Circular heater, Defrosting, Lower heater and fan, Lower heater with circular heater and fan, FastPreheat, 200ºC in 6 minutes, Small infra grill, Large infra grill, Large infra grill and fan, WarmPlate, for professional service, StayWarm, keeping dishes warm, AquaClean Accessories: Grid Deep enamelled frying plan Shallow enamelled frying pan Pan handle Stainless grease filter Telescopic oven guides – 3 levels Meat probe

Fiori Appliances Pty Ltd 142 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046 Phone: +61 2 9713 8435 Fax: +61 2 9712 3220 Email: info@fiori.com.au

www.fiori.com.au

Bringing your dreams alive today

It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and reality of tomorrow.

Fiori Appliances Pty Ltd 142 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046 Phone: +61 2 9713 8435 Fax: +61 2 9712 3220 Email: info@fiori.com.au

www.fiori.com.au