Beating Around The Bush

The Aussie larrikin sense of humour is unique and The Crackup Sisters, or Amanda-Lyn and Alissa, are determined to keep it alive through interactive, comical entertainment. https://www.crackupsisters.com/

The sisters spoke to RBC's Jayne Cuddihy about bringing quality live entertainment to the rural and regional areas of Australia.

While they credit several people, including the many agricultural show committees with whom they work, with keeping them on track and inspired, it's their ability to stay focussed and disciplined in not just their craft and fitness, but their business which is truly amazing.

The due are now based out of Winton in Western Queensland and say it's a huge relief and privilege to be part of a one of the sensational Australian rural communities.

They run several youth mentoring programs and acrobatic and whip cracking workshops and they have big plans for Winton... but you'll need to listen to find out!

https://www.facebook.com/CrackUpSisters

A sneak peak into Rural Business Collective's 30 Day Challenge- Running Your Business By the Numbers. The 30 Day Challenge #30DC is a 4 part series delivered to Members throughout September 2017. For more information visit www.ruralbusinesscollective.com.au

RBC's Fleur Anderson talks to Ginny Stevens from Active Farmers.  www.activefarmers.com.au/lockhart/

Ginny lives around the Wagga Wagga district in New South Wales and wanted farmers to have more access to group fitness opportunities and wider health care services with the end game of improving mental health.

She's had 13 communities come on board with the concept, and another 20 interested.

Active Farmers works on a 'train the trainer' model, so they can have well trained and equipped professionals in all the communities they work with.

They use the Doctella technology for some online patient consultation https://www.doctella.com/

And through their partnership with Delta Agribusiness http://www.deltaagribusiness.com.au/ , have been able to give clients access to services such as financial planning that also benefit the mental health and fitness of rural community members.

Rob Cook of Tender Sprouted Meats talks to RBC's Jayne Cuddihy.

Rob and his wife Sarah relocated their beef business from the Northern Territory to the greater Bundaberg after a helicopter accident left him a quadriplegic.

http://www.tendersproutedmeats.com.au/

They now are involved in a 'farm to fork' operation, adding a butcher's shop and retail arm to their breeding business.

While Rob says one of the biggest challenges the business faces is being locked into one market, the couple also see it as an opportunity to market their niche brand.

RBC's Fleur Anderson  is Beating Around the Bush with Jo Palmer from Pointer Remote Roles https://www.pointerremoteroles.com.au/ , a business dedicated to creating an even playing field for professionals looking for jobs that can be conducted from home. It gives recruiters and employers the opportunity to engage not only with people living in cities, but also with the network of highly qualified and experienced professionals who live in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia.

Jo also is also the Co Founder of rural and regional event management business Agri Alliance http://www.agrialliance.com.au

RBC's Jayne Cuddihy speaks to businesswoman Kylie Stretton in this weeks's BATB episode. Kylie and her husband Shane run a livestock agency and beef business outside Charters Towers in North Queensland.

Inspired by a holistic management course, and encouraged by a significant improvement in pasture coverage, they were looking at ideas to improve the carrying capacity and soil health, so invested in 30 chooks.

The hens not only produce delicious eggs that are sold locally through a direct marketing campaign, but they have made dramatic improvements to the pasture. https://www.facebook.com/clancelladowns

Kylie has had tremendous success with the use of social media as a marketing and educational tool.

http://www.target100.com.au/Farmer-stories/Shane-Kylie-Stretton

https://fleurmcdonald.com/kylie-stretton-passionate-agvocate-and-author-of-my-story/ ​

Fleur Anderson is Beating Around the Bush with Jane Robertson, from Millwoods Shoes at Wagga Wagga https://www.millwoods.com.au/

Expecting her third baby, Jane is already chasing around a two and a four year old and was fed up at the lack of good quality, comfortable shoes for children. So she decided to make her own.

Without any prevous business experience, Jane is on the cusp of launching Millwoods Shoes- a line of quality, leather shoes for children. https://www.facebook.com/Millwoodshoes/

She is very open with her ideas and said nothing would have been possible without some tremendous mentors and advice she got from everyone she asked.

http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/4556672/wagga-women-innovate/

RBC's Fleur Anderson talks to Andrew Stevens, the founder of AgTribe. https://www.agtribe.com.au/

Based just outside of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, AgTribe is an online marketplace for the wet and dry hire of farm machinery.

Self-described as a non-techy farmer, Andy has had a steep learning curve with technology and social media, though cites them both as the main reason behind his success.

Cairns entrepreneur Fiona McFarlane talks to Jayne Cuddihy in Beating Around the Bush.

She is the founder of cherrygift.com, an SMS gift service.

Associated with https://www.skal.org/ Fiona says contacts are everything when it comes to starting a business.

http://www.cairnspost.com.au/business/new-skal-president-from-cairns-is-youngest-in-australian-history/news-story/1317eb9c555ea4cd91974cfbd3ba7324

Cherrygift.com was a finalist at the Queensland Pitchfest event https://regionalpitchfest.com/qld/

She cites The Space in Cairns http://thespacecairns.com/ as a huge support and a vibrant showcase of the local startups and ideas about the region.

Fiona has also been involved in the establishment of the FNQ Angels- a funding option for startups.

She says a huge amount of her inspiration and information comes from the internet, not least following everyone she can on Twitter @

Twitter has been priceless- follow everyone you can! And follow @cherrygifted

Find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cherrygifted/

Fleur is Beating Around the Bush with Rebel Black this week. http://rebelblack.com/about/

Rebel has been the driving force behind five small businesses, the most recent being The Rural Woman, http://therw.biz/about-us, based out of the small opal mining town of Lightening Ridge in New South Wales.

She is powerful advocate for driving change in regional areas. ​http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-02-26/lightning-ridge-permaculture/6263302

Standing by the 'Live local, grow global' mantra, she aims to provide a virtual marketplace for women in regional and remote areas. Whether this be handmade jewellery or a healer offering her services.