In our new podcast series Small Business Bytes on This is Small Business, producer Andrea Marquez shares bite-sized insights from interviews with more than 100 US small business owners about pivotal moments, challenges and lessons learned as they scaled their business.

In this series, Marquez explores how mindset is a powerful tool to guide long-term planning and overcome challenges:

1. Know the problem you’re solving: Your why leads your decisions, your brand messaging and keeps you going when things get tough. For example, Sean Brownlee founded Ravenox to create stable, meaningful jobs for veterans as they transition to civilian life. Teri Johnson created Harlem Candle Co to celebrate Black culture in the US through fragrance. Both found success by grounding their business in a clear purpose. Ask yourself: What pain point does my business address? And how does that connect to my deeper mission?
2. Don’t wait for perfect: Trying to perfect your product before launching can stall your growth. When Val Fishbane of Spread the Love Foods launched early, real world customer data helped refine everything from the ingredients to the jar size. Consider starting small, gathering feedback and iterating from there.
3. Make your brand story personal: Storytelling builds emotional trust, but it needs to be rooted in something meaningful. Conchita Pleasant started Nefertiti’s Secrets after losing her hair during cancer treatment. She turned personal healing into a haircare brand focused on empowerment. Ray Phillips of Soap Sox created his product to help children in treatment facilities feel safe at bath time. These stories make customers feel seen and understood. Share the personal moment that sparked your business. Why did you decide to create this solution?
4. Craft a pitch that hooks in seconds: A sharp elevator pitch should spark curiosity fast. Felicia Jackson (CPR Wrap) opens her pitch with a gripping moment of panic: watching her child choke and feeling powerless despite her CPR training. Matthew Tesvich (Skunk Skin) connects with humour and relatability: he jokes about his own stinky feet, then pitches odour-fighting socks. Present the problem, an emotional hook and a simple solution and try to do it in less than 60 seconds.
5. Use social proof to build trust: User-generated content like reviews, social media tags and customer photos and videos are powerful tools to grow your brand. Research shows that 70% of customers will consider user-generated content before purchasing a product. Create a branded hashtag, repost customer content (with permission) and add reviews or videos to your product pages or email newsletters.

To listen to all the episodes of This Is Small Business and Small Business Bytes, go to Amazon Music, Spotify or Apple Podcasts

(Note: Episodes are in English.)

As we reach the halfway point of 2025, we’d like to thank you for putting your trust in Amazon to help power your business this year.

We continue to invest in technology, transportation and infrastructure to innovate on behalf of our selling partners and customers. Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is now delivering at our fastest speeds ever, with the launch of same-day delivery for eligible Prime orders in Sydney and Perth and the expansion of one-day delivery to additional areas. Between 2024 and 2026, we plan to invest $1.6 billion in five new fulfilment operations sites, expanding our operations network and helping to place your products closer to customers across Australia.

Starting August 1, 2025, we will adjust some of our fees to better align with our underlying costs, drive more efficient use of FBA storage and ensure we can continue to invest in your success. A number of fees will remain unchanged, including the monthly subscription fee for the Professional selling plan, along with most referral fee types.

We know that changing fees impacts your business and our teams are working each day to ensure we can collectively better serve customers while providing you with great value.

To view the fee updates, go to Important information about upcoming changes to Amazon.com.au fees.

Available to registered brand owners, A+ Content helps you share your brand’s story, encourage repeat purchases and potentially increase sales by as much as 8 per cent for Basic A+ Content, and 20 per cent for Premium A+ Content. How? By helping you create rich content that showcases your brand and educates customers about your products’ features.

A+ Content helps your brand and products stand out from the competition, and connect with your customers, by allowing you to:

• Share your unique brand story using the Brand Story feature.
• Build brand awareness and tell your product story with rich images, text, videos, Q&A, feature hotspot and comparison modules.
• Create enhanced product descriptions to highlight product-level features.
• Reduce customer returns and negative feedback by proactively answering their questions.
• Encourage repeat purchase behaviour by helping customers explore your other products and build trust with your brand.

The A+ Content Manager makes it easy to set up and manage your content with preformatted module layouts, data-driven content recommendations and content duplication to add languages and product variations.

To get started, go to the A+ Content Manager in Seller Central.

For more information, go to the Complete guide to A+ Content for brand owners.

Note: Guide is in English only

Effective March 4, 2025, all toys intended for children under 36 months must comply with updated ACCC mandatory safety standards. These changes aim to reduce hazards including choking, internal injury, and poisoning risks.

This update applies to you if you do any of the following:

• List toys for children under 3 years old.
• Import or manufacture toys for this age group.
• Sell toys that could be used by children in this age group.

To ensure compliance take the following steps:

1. Review your toy listings for the affected age group.
2. Verify products meet the new safety requirements.
3. Update product safety information as needed.

For detailed requirements and compliance guidelines, go to ACCC toy safety standards.

Effective April 21, 2025, there are new safety requirements for Solar Eclipse Glasses and direct eclipse viewing products. This change is to ensure that customers receive products that are safe and compliant.

All sellers must have appropriate compliance documentation to show that your products meet policy requirements.

For more information on the policy and compliance requirements, go to Solar Eclipse Glasses.