Given her alarm goes off at 3am and she’s often still at work 15 hours later, it’s hardly surprising Casey Osbourne cherishes every spare minute she gets to play with her beloved staffy Chili.
One of the keys to juggling the demands of work and home life, says the in-demand Melbourne florist, is the time saving benefits of the nbn™ network.
It’s quickly become more than just an indispensable business tool for the 28-year-old owner of Tilda Flowers – it’s her ticket to a healthier lifestyle balance too.
Whether it’s doing the books on her accounting app, or uploading her own shots to her Instagram account, the incremental time savings make a massive difference at the end of a hectic week, says Casey.
“Pictures are everything for us and the speeds of the nbn™ definitely makes a big difference,” says Casey, who has also seen her business bloom from a solo operation to a team of six since becoming a network subscriber.
“I’d say it gives me back at least 20 minutes each day for my personal life. Although when the delicate flowers arrive, my dog Chili stays at home – her tail whacks all the flowers!”
That’s the next goal on her ever-expanding To Do list – finding a bigger space.
Her business kicked off five years ago, more by accident than design, admits Casey. But the power of the nbn™ network has helped her see that the sky really is the limit.
“If it’s available, I’d say to anyone just go ahead and grab it [the nbn™ network]. In business, it’s easy to just keep on doing the same things, but changing to the nbn™ network has been one of the best moves I’ve ever made.”
A new study reveals that more Australians need to follow Casey’s example in embracing the nbn™ network as a tool for improving work-life balance.
The nbn™ S-ME Time report authored by KPMG’s Bernard Salt shows that although four in five Australian business owners agree work-life balance was the key motivation behind starting their business, one in three say work still takes up precious hours they would rather spend on ‘me time’.
The report highlights how business owners are now spending up to half of their working week online with three-quarters in industries such as construction, retail and hospitality now adopting sophisticated applications such as cloud-based customer marketing, accounting and relationship management systems to reclaim more time back in their day.
Australians need more ‘me’ time
Bernard says it’s no surprise that Australia is a small business nation driven by an independent streak and a dream of becoming their own boss.
“We’re seeing a shift towards managing a sustainable work-life balance, where work fits around lifestyle and not the other way around.
“I anticipate with the advent of high speed broadband, work will be fitted into times that suit the individual rather than lifestyle being fitted in to and around commitments.
“This is particularly evident as Baby Boomers look to reinvent themselves in the workforce and Gen Y ditches the confines of a corporate ladder altogether.”
Bernard says that with the new level of connectivity afforded by the nbn™ network, there is a range of new applications that can take your business to a new level.
“Not only making it more efficient but also expanding your market to new horizons,” adds the KPMG demographer.
“Why would you limit your business to one particular suburb when you can market your business to the whole city, or the whole world.
“It simply changes the horizon of small business. It might be small, niche and boutique but it can now be global in its application.”
Key findings from the nbn™ S-ME Time report:
- For love or money: Looking to reinvent themselves in the workforce and ditch the corporate ladder, the majority of Baby Boomers (87 per cent) revealed they started out their business to become their own boss. Ambitious Gen Y business owners indicated they are more likely to be motivated by financial rewards (79 per cent).
- More ME time: Baby Boomers are more likely to agree too much of their free time is spent on work and they would rather reinvest their free time on holidays (68 per cent) while Gen Y want to wind down and catch up on their sleep (42 per cent).
- E-fficiencies: Almost four in five (78 per cent) nbn-connected business owners agree access to fast broadband is creating new efficiencies by helping them to get things done faster and achieve more “me” time.
- The cloud-gen: Almost all (98 per cent) Gen Y business owners agree cloud-based services are particularly important to save time with around half (47 per cent) adopting cloud-based software such as accounting, email marketing and collaboration platforms to do this.
- Family first: Three in five (63 per cent) empty nesters would rather spend their regained time catching up with their children. Males are also more likely to spend more of their free time (59 per cent) with partners and children than women (48 per cent).
The nbn™ network, currently available to one in three Australians, is due to be half way complete by mid-year 2017, with three quarters built the following year and scheduled to be complete by 2020.
This is a sponsored post by nbn™. All opinions expressed by the author are authentic and written in their own words.
