Here is the first line of an article that came across my desk this week: 

LOVE has to be in the air at the workplace these days if managers and business owners don't want to lose their precious employees.

From the Herald Sun of all places. The article reported on the Australian Association of Career Counsellors annual conference. The conference focussed on how to keep staff in an employees market - and love is the key. To read the full article, click here .

Persistence. The cornerstone of all success. The stories that inspired me most out of the Olympics were those of persistence.

Only a couple of years ago Steve Hooker had an irrational fear hurtling himself three stories into the air on the end of flexible fibre glass pole. Actually ... he had a completely rational fear. Nonetheless it wasn't a very useful fear if you are an Olympic pole vaulter. For months he couldn't get off the ground. He didn't give up. He kept training. He got help. He saw a sports psychologist and hypnotherapist. He got himself into a position where he had one jump left for the gold medal. As he said, the equivalent of kicking for goal in the grand final when you're five points down and the siren has sounded. He nailed it - and he's now an Olympic champion.

My sister in law sent me a link to an organisation called Kiva (thanks Kim) - and I have to say I'm very impressed. I think it's a phenomenon ... and its all about love and business. Although not in the way we are used to.

Kiva is a website that allows people to make micro loans to individual borrowers in the developing world. Forbes says "Kiva mixes the entrepreneurial daring of Google with the do-gooder ethos of Bono."

One of the best things we've done for our business at LYB is changing from invoicing our clients at the end of the month to automatically direct debiting people at the start of the month. Its done two great things for us. Firstly its helped our cash flow ... we're getting paid on average two months earlier than we were. And as many of you know, in small business this can be critical. Secondly we don't have to chase people for payments anymore ... and that makes life much more enjoyable!

But we still had one outstanding payment on our books that had been hanging around for a couple of years. How do you deal with someone who isn't paying their bill when you are standing for love in your business? 

Thanks to everyone who came along to our office warming party last night. It was a great night full of inspiration, connection and love. There were old faces and new, hugs, great stories and lots of laughs.

Gwen Lucas cut the ribbon in honour of Peter Lucas, her husband and the first Love Your Business Client. 

I had a great night ... even if I suffered a bit this morning. 

To see more photos click below.

I caught up with a couple of close friends last week, who have a very interesting business. They run a four wheel drive adventure race. People come from all over the world with their cars to participate in a race that runs over 10 days and multiple stages.

They are clearly passionate about what they do, as are the participants. Problem is they are not making much money. They cover their costs, pay themselves a modest salary ... and there's not a lot left over. Sound familiar? 

Today is the first day at our new office. Woohoo!!!

Let me tell the story of how we found our perfect office.

After spending a couple of months searching without much luck, Priscilla called a team meeting to get really clear about what we all wanted. We got together, and each wrote down our wish list ... what would our perfect office look like. We put all our ideas on post-it notes, which were grouped together on a piece of butchers paper.

Over the last week I have had some profound coaching sessions with my clients and it never ceases to amaze me the power of nurturing. In the old realm of business 'nurture' is rarely spoken of. It may be referred to loosely as a preferred employer, caring for the people in the business and looking after staff. But is that really the same as nurturing? Does nurturing have a place in business at all and how can it help my business to thrive?

Here is Priscilla with our recent Australian Achiever Award for excellence in customer service. Priscilla is accountable for service in our business - so it is her job to make sure that our customers are delighted, and hence it's her award.

Today is American Independence Day ... and more importantly, its Love Your Business's birthday! Today we turn five!

We've all heard the stat that 95% of businesses fail within five years (you may have seen me write about it in our last newsletter). Mind you, while I've seen this statistic quoted many times, I've never seen a study quoted. Nonetheless, today Love Your Business joins the mythical 5% of businesses in who make it past five years.