Absenteeism is a massive impost on businesses. A recent survey has found that workers are, on average, away from work for about 9.5 days per year. With the average work week nudging towards 41 hours per week according to the ABS many of us are spending a lot of time at work in potentially unhealthy positions. Belinda Lyone, the general manager at family owned business COS, is involved in supplying offices with office equipment and is deeply concerned at how our work environments are making us less healthy. That's bad for business but, more importantly, bad for all of us.

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 Jaime Hall and Nicole Bailey, co-founders of "AirBnb for venues" Venue Insider.

Here's a quick "tip" for readers working in hospitality: Instead of relying on the generosity of your customers to boost your income, try pitching their inner geeks against each other with a tips-based poll.

Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. Today: Christie Whitehill, CEO of Tech Ready Women and .

My steady corporate job was great on paper — it paid well and let me travel the world, but it was also incredibly taxing and limiting. I didn't want to be a cog in that system. I wanted to run my own business, but I never anticipated the challenges that came with it.

Over on the battlestations subreddit, damienslash offers up his new setup to the crowd, complete with a beautiful custom desk, ultrawide monitor, and some other touches we can really get behind.

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 Graham Hawkins, founder of the small business sales platform SalesTribe.

‘Draw With Jazza’, is an Australian YouTube channel hosted by Josiah ‘Jazza’ Brooks, a 28-year old artist from Gippsland in Victoria. Currently, the how-to channel has around 1.9 million subscribers.

I spoke with Jazza about what it takes to be successful on YouTube and the most important things you need to know to grow your audience.

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 Christy Laurence, founder of Instagram money-making app Plann.

Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. Today: Andrew Powell, founder and head of growth at of Rimini Street.

What works for the sales professional has changed in the last 10-15 years. This is a review of what’s changed, what the current sales obstacles are and what best practices we should follow. It’s bolstered by quotes from salespeople divulging the effective techniques they’re using right now.

Email can be a distracting time sink for any office worker. But sometimes, it's best to get it out of the way. Over at Harvard Business Review, contributor Dorie Clark makes the case for checking email first thing in the morning.

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?

Building a small or micro business takes a lot of time, effort and passion and there's nothing worse than realising partway through that business journey that you're not 100 per cent committed. While this process can often be very reactive, the secret to continuing your passion for a business is to engage in what entrepreneur Andrew Griffiths describes as 'conscious decision-making'.

Whether you love them or hate them, there is no getting away from so-called 'influencers'. These shiny, happy millennials are the hottest trend in advertising since the advent of television. This infographic charts the meteoric rise of this glitziest of professions - from Fatty Arbuckle to Michelle Phan.

Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. Today: Sabri Suby, founder and head of growth at of King Kong .

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 Ben Brophy, co-founder of communication platform Upwire.

As more people turn to freelance work and self-employment, the home office is fast becoming the new norm. Working from home welcomes the luxury of freedom that’s hard to find in a conventional office setting. However, the comfort of your own home may also act as a distraction, so it’s important to design a fully functional workspace that is both stimulating and inspiring, to boost your productivity. Here are five tips on setting up the ideal home office, for maximum comfort, style and efficiency.

If you've got a side business or other entrepreneurial endeavour in mind but haven't made a business plan for it yet, don't worry. You can create a simple, concise business plan by answering just 10 questions on one page.