| Date | Title | Description |
| 20.11.2024 | The Balancing Act of Small Business Ownership: Navigating Leadership and Public Relations | Owning a small business is like walking a tightrope. One misstep can send you tumbling. The challenges are many, but two stand out: managing a team and mastering public relations. Both require finesse, patience, and a keen understanding of ... |
| 20.11.2024 | The top five PR mistakes small businesses make with journalists | Roxy Sinclair. Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
Whether its finance, marketing or logistics, small business owners need to get used to wearing an array of new and different hats, one of which is public relations (PR). For businesse... |
| 19.11.2024 | Why being someone’s boss is the hardest part of being a small business owner | Two Franks co-owner Chryssie Swarbrick. Source: SmartCompany. article-article-body
It’s hard being a boss, and to tell you the truth, I don’t know if I’m cut out for it.
I’ve always been a member of the team or a lone wolf, freelancing and ... |
| 08.11.2024 | The Art of Storytelling in Small Business Marketing | In the bustling world of small businesses, standing out is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. With over 25,000 cafes in Australia alone, the competition is fierce. Yet, one cafe in Coburg, Victoria, has cracked the code. Two Franks, ru... |
| 07.11.2024 | Why my small business social video got over 1 million views | Chryssie Swarbrick's cafe, Two Franks, is in Coburg, Victoria. Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
After a few weeks of collecting footage, I quickly created a video of my uncle and his frequent visits to our shop, putting it online w... |
| 03.11.2024 | The Shrinking Spaces: Affordable Housing for Millennials in the Asia-Pacific | In the Asia-Pacific, the dream of homeownership is slipping through the fingers of millennials like sand. As cities swell with populations, affordable housing becomes a mirage. Young adults are finding refuge in micro apartments, granny fla... |
| 31.10.2024 | Is owning a cafe in Australia becoming an unachievable dream? | Two Franks co-owner Chryssie Swarbrick. Source: SmartCompany. article-article-body
There’s life before being a small business owner, and life afterwards. Before I owned a cafe, I was just like most people, outraged by rising coffee prices, ... |
| 25.10.2024 | Navigating the Digital Landscape: Essential Tips for Small Business Owners | In the fast-paced world of small business, social media can feel like a double-edged sword. It’s a powerful tool for connection and growth, yet it can also become a source of frustration and missteps. As small business owners juggle countle... |
| 23.10.2024 | Up your social media game by avoiding these five common mistakes | Chryssie Swarbrick's cafe, Two Franks, is in Coburg, Victoria. Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
It’s a tough time being a small business owner. Not only do you have to work the floor, do the rosters, approve timesheets, order, invo... |
| 08.08.2024 | The $60,000 hire who automated herself out of a role in nine months | L-R: Cherie Clonan and Jessie Zevaka of The Digital Picnic. Source: Supplied. article-article-body
Let’s get real. As a founder (Cherie) you don’t always know when a pivotal moment is happening in your business. So when Jessie said in her i... |
| 07.08.2024 | Sole traders are under pressure, but the tide is turning to digital tax tools | Nicole Kelly. Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
The Australian Taxation Office has given taxpayers, the green light to lodge their tax returns, but this year, taxpayers need to be more wary than usual.
The ATO has heightened its scr... |
| 07.08.2024 | The 2023-2024 tax season, by the numbers | Source: SmartCompany article-article-body
Everything about tax time comes down to the numbers, but some are a little more abstract than others. Here, we collate a handful of the key figures related to personal and business tax returns, and ... |
| 23.11.2022 | Frankly Speaking: Five things I’d do differently if I was starting my small business now, with what I’ve learnt | Source: Private Media.
Have you ever wished for a time machine?
Nine months into our set-up process for Two Franks, I’ve been thinking about our journey so far. It’s dragged out. A lot more than we expected.
At the beginning, we were raring... |
| 28.10.2022 | Frankly Speaking: How choosing a coffee supplier taught me some valuable business lessons | Source: Private Media.
I have a confession to make. I’ve never really been a coffee drinker.
A staunch tea lover, my cupboard has always been filled with herbal offerings and teapots of various sizes. Even living with an award-winning baris... |
| 29.09.2022 | Frankly Speaking: The perils of council permits when opening a small business | Source: Private Media.
A few months ago, not long after we got the keys to Two Franks, I paid a visit to another local small food business that we had connected with on Instagram.
After placing our order and chatting with the woman behind t... |
| 01.09.2022 | Frankly Speaking: How much would you pay for a cup of coffee? | Source: Private Media
This morning I paid $6.20 for my regular coffee — an oat milk latte with one sugar — at one of my favourite Melbourne cafes.
I couldn’t help but wonder where my tolerance for coffee prices sits. Would I still tap at $6... |
| 15.07.2022 | Frankly Speaking: It’s all in the name (or how to name a small business) | Source: Private Media
I’ve always had a real thing about names. I’ve named everything from new products and campaigns to friends’ pets. As a teenager, I used to read baby name books for fun, write down names I liked in a little notebook and... |
| 06.07.2022 | Frankly Speaking: The opportunity of a lifetime | Source: Private Media
Have you ever had an opportunity present itself to you that you just can’t ignore?
You know, the kind of situation that gives you a little tingle at the back of the neck and a flutter in your stomach?
My sister Angie a... |
| 06.07.2022 | A Q&A with SmartCompany’s new columnist: Frankly Speaking’s Chryssie Swarbrick | Small business owner Chryssie Swarbrick. Source: supplied.
SmartCompany exists to champion Australian small businesses and so we’re thrilled to be collaborating with Melbourne small business owner Chryssie Swarbrick to take readers behind t... |
| - | Frankly Speaking: After launch day setbacks, a pop-up keeps us afloat | Source: Private Media.
When I last wrote, we were gearing up for our very first customer-facing event: a two-day pop-up to coincide with Valentine’s Day.
My stomach was in knots for days beforehand, thinking of all the ways things could pos... |
| - | Frankly Speaking: We’re running out of money. What do we do? | Source: Private Media.
Well. Here we are, nearly a year since that For Lease sign was placed in the window of the old butcher shop.
Here’s the gist: we’ve had delays due to an objection to our planning permit from a disgruntled neighbour, d... |
| - | Frankly Speaking: Using Marketplace finds and bringing our branding to life on a limited budget | Source: Private Media.
It’s been fourteen months since we first got the keys to Two Franks and I can finally say, with some confidence, that we are only a handful of weeks from opening.
We’ve run four successful pop-ups over the last couple... |
| - | Frankly Speaking: The importance of community when building a small business | Source: Private Media.
I’m sure you’ve already noticed by the abundance of twinkle lights, but we are smack bang in the middle of December. Christmas is but a few haphazardly-wrapped gifts and a round of Secret Santa away.
Did I ever think ... |
| - | Frankly Speaking: After 473 days, we are ready to open our cafe | Source: Private Media.
It’s 11.34pm and I am scrubbing the tiles of the cafe on my hands and knees with the largest brush I could find at the supermarket. I have to wake up in 5 hours to get ready for our first ever day of trade at our cafe... |
| - | Frankly Speaking: Building a band of baristas taught us valuable hiring lessons | Source: Private Media.
The dust is starting to settle from the plaster-stripped walls, a coat of paint has given our little shop a brand-new start, and the plumbing is in for the coffee machine.
With our opening date looming, it was time to... |
