Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. This week, we're talking with Marty Spargo, co-founder of Aussie DIY energy drink REIZE.

Beth (not her real name) was one of her company’s first employees. She worked remotely as a workshop facilitator from her home and on the road. At first she felt like a core member of the team. As the company grew however, Beth struggled to maintain her identity in the organisation.

How I Succeeded is a regular series on Lifehacker where we ask business leaders for the secrets and tactics behind their success. Today: Amy Foo, VP of Finance and Operations at Zendesk APAC.

Does selling online strike fear into your soul? You'll be branded as smarmy, sleazy and will suffer a fate worse than death, right? Wrong. The reason we loathe the idea of 'selling' to people is because we hate being 'sold' to, ourselves. Yet we all love buying.

Whether you're running your own business, working as a book-keeper or accountant for someone else, or the the IT guy making sure the business has access to the tools they need there's one software category you have to keep in your business' application kitbag. That's accounting software. But today's applications go far further than double-entry accounting, raising invoices and producing a monthly or quarterly report for the tax office. They integrate with warehouse and logistics applications, point of sale terminals and other systems making them the heart of your business' backoffice. Two of the biggest players on the market are the veteran MYOB and the fast-rising challenger Xero.

Dear Lifehacker, I've been tossing up the idea of selling the homegrown vegetable and fruit produce from my garden. I was thinking about local farmers' markets and cafe's. I was wondering what regulations and permits I would need to be aware of. Could you help me?

E-commerce giant Amazon has struck a deal to acquire Whole Foods Market, an American supermarket chain with more than 400 stores. The move has put even more pressure on Australian retailers as Amazon sets up shop in Australia.

But the real threat to Australian retail lies in Amazon’s unique business model.

Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. This week, we're talking with Dr Kate Adams, founder of gift-giving service Thankly.

You can find a million articles about how to start a side business, but very few about when it's time to shut it down. People like to remain positive and shuttering a business is anything but.

How I Succeeded is a regular series on Lifehacker where we ask business leaders for the secrets and tactics behind their success. Today: Steve Davis, vice president and general manager of Ooyala Asia Pacific and Japan.

In social media marketing, engagement is key — but engagement isn't an easy thing to grow. You can't force it. Taking a one-size-fits-all approach by trying to reply to every comment you receive, or start a conversation with every person on your page may come across as disingenuous or even pushy. So how do you know when to engage and when to leave it alone?

This year, the biggest tax news for small businesses was the extension of the $20,000 write-off, up from $1000 in previous years. In addition, the company tax rate for small businesses has decreased and more businesses are now eligible for most small business tax concessions. We take a look at all of these changes and more.

Elevator pitches are a great way to condense a complex idea into a small amount of time so you can get your startup project in front of someone who matters. Author Seth Godin recommends you pitch for a meeting, not the idea itself.

If you run a small business, there are a lot of dates to keep in your head when it comes to keeping up with your obligations to the Australian Tax Office. To make your life a little easier, we've prepared a calendar of key dates for the 2016-17 financial year when it comes to Aussie small business tax time.

Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. This week, we're talking with Charles Rolls from Youth2Knowledge.

Over time, common strategies for acquiring new customers or clients have grown out of date or obsolete. Even techniques that still work require overhaul.

So you're trying to become better at networking, handing out business cards like free samples to advance your career. We all try to do it, but approaching networking like an aimless productivity robot is bullshit. Just try to be a normal person and meet people.

When you think of good role models, businesses probably aren't your first thought but you may be surprised by the wisdom they have to offer. After all, we often learn a lot from their leaders. A select few can teach us quite a bit about how to have fruitful, happy and successful lives.

The $20,000 instant asset write-off was extended into the 2017-18 financial year in the latest Australian federal budget. It's truly a real boon for small businesses. It allows small businesses that turnover less than $10 million to instantly write-off 100% of any business related purchase under $20k.

This applies to things like vehicles, tools, equipment — pretty much anything that isn't a horticultural plant or in-house software.

Newsflash: not many things cost over $20,000, which leaves you with genuine carte blanche. What does your business need? Might as well pick it up now while the going is good.