Cup of sorrow: the brutal reality of Australia’s franchise king – SMH

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Adele Ferguson and Sarah Danckert of the Sydney Morning Herald conducted an investigation into Retail Food Group (ASX:RFG). RFG offers franchises in Michels’Patisserie, Donut King, DCM Coffee, Pizza Capers and other companies. The investigation found that many families had invested their life savings, and were now walking away from their stores as they could not make a profit. A key takeaway from this is to ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are aligned. When a franchisor is taking a significant share of revenue, and leaving franchisees to manage expenses, there is no alignment of interests,

InfinityLab offers an alternative future. By investing in new ventures and sharing the bottom line profit, InfinityLab ensures that the interests of all parties are aligned

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Job-killers: bank workers at the forefront of massive disruption – SMH

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In the eighties it was automatic teller machines. In the nineties it was mass branch closures. In the naughties, it was offshoring. Now, automation and fintech loom as the great finance sector job-killers. For bank employees, it is a time of “massive upheaval and change. While NAB has announced that it will cut 6000 jobs over the next three years, it will however be hiring 2000 new people with digital skills. “The finance industry is at a crossroads,”

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Diversity is a massive problem in Silicon Valley – meet the fund backing minority entrepreneurs – BusinessInsider

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Diversity is one of the most contentious words in the tech industry right now. The good news is some companies see diversity as good business.
Comcast Ventures set up a fund specifically targeted at minority entrepreneurs. The Catalyst Fund has $US20 million (£15 million) under management to invest.
It’s been running for five years, mostly focusing on building dealflow, and now wants to rebuild Catalyst’s brand as the go-to place for minority entrepreneurs — mostly in the US, but Europe too.

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EveryAGE Counts – The Benevolent Society

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The Benevolent Society commissioned a study to drive positive change in economic, social, health and civic participation outcomes. The report was released in September 2017, and recommended a variety of social change and campaign activities, including:
– Grassroots campaigning and empowering older people to build a social movement for change
– Further research and policy development
– Engagement with employers, industry and government
– Social media campaigning and social marketing
– Addressing cultural representations with arts, film and other media producers
This research is informing the planning of the EveryAGE Counts campaign which will be launched in 2018.

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Ageism to be tackled in bid to change negative perceptions – SMH

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The Benevolent Society announced its campaign EveryAGE Counts on Thursday, as it launched a report that revealed concerning findings about growing older.
Almost 30% of older people said they had been turned down for a job due to their age.
There were some positive perceptions:
73% of people say older people had a lot to offer younger people,
65% report older people have a strong work ethic
65% believe older people are responsible.
Almost 80% of respondents agreed that ageism was an important issue.

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