Need help to start or grow your business in 2023?

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Y(E)P Entrepreneurship Facilitators is a service with the objective of encouraging entrepreneurship in the Ipswich and surrounding region.

They aim to inspire, educate, and connect future entrepreneurs to help them start or build sustainable and rewarding self employment.

Their passion is supporting people 45 and older, however, our services are available to anyone who would benefit from working with us, or from attending our events.

Entrepreneurship Facilitators promote and encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship. They help people to start and develop their business. They also help existing micro-business owners to keep their small business open.

 

Check out the resources or get in touch via their website.

Follow their Facebook Page for regular courses and training, usually free.

Business Breakfast with new council CEO David Keenan

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Scenic Rim Regional Council presents a business breakfast with special guest speaker DAVID KEENAN, Council’s newly appointed Chief Executive Officer.

Wednesday 7 December

6.30am for a 7.00am start
The Centre, Beaudesert

To reserve your seat, please register here.

Find out what attracted David to taking on this important role, and what he sees as opportunities for the Scenic Rim over the next decade.

Hear David’s views on how Council can support a prosperous business sector through productive partnerships with all levels of government, proactively assisting local businesses to expand, and attracting new business to the region.

Discover opportunities to engage with Council’s recently adopted strategies and programs to drive business success in 2023 and beyond.

David brings to the Scenic Rim a wealth of experience in local government through previous Chief Executive Officer roles with Mitchell Shire Council, Hume City Council, Tweed Shire Council, Southern Downs Regional Council and Mount Isa City Council.

Throughout his career David has managed every aspect of economic development – from planning large-scale industrial estates to building business incubators/accelerators to accommodate small and micro businesses – as well as working with peak bodies representing the agribusiness sector.

David is looking forward to meeting members of the business community at this breakfast event and working with local businesses to ensure a sustainable future for our region.

To reserve your seat, please register here.

For group bookings please email [email protected] or call 07 5540 5111

Business Basics Grant Update

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Opening soon: Business Basics Grants program – Round 4 

The Queensland Government is continuing to show its support for the small business sector with the launch of Round 4 of the $5 million Business Basics Grant program.

Eligible small businesses (including non-employing and micro businesses, and new and emerging businesses with less than 20 employees and a turnover of less than $300,000 for the last financial year) will be able register their interest to apply for a $5,000 grant from 9am, 24 November.

The program guidelines, eligibility criteria and FAQs for the Business Basics Grants program are now available online.

Funds are to be used for a project to increase core skills and adopt best practice — think website development and upgrades, strategic marketing, training and coaching, and business planning for continuity and succession.

This round has a $5 million funding pool, of that $1.5 million has been allocated for regional businesses outside of South East Queensland. The program is extremely popular, and we receive many more applications than can be funded. We are committed to best practice and listened to feedback from small businesses to make the application process easier.

Grants will be awarded through a two-stage process starting with businesses registering their interest to apply by completing an online form that collects basic business information. Then businesses will be selected by a ballot process to complete their applications.

This process ensures all small businesses have equal and fair opportunity to register their interest at any time once registrations open and have an equal chance of being selected to apply. Please note that not all businesses that complete a registration of interest or a full application will be successful.

Registrations of Interest will be open from 9am, 24 November and will close at 11.59pm on 5 December 2022.

To learn more visit: www.business.qld.gov.au/business-basics
Got questions? Call the Small Business Hotline on 1300 654 687 or email [email protected]

Y(E)P Ipswich – Understanding Meta Business Suite

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From Y(E)P Ipswich:

We understand how important it is to use social media for our business, but finding the time to create content and post it can be a challenge.

Once you have content, how do you know if it’s working?

Meta Business Suite is a professional platform designed to assist you in understanding the types of content your clients want to see from you on your social media accounts.

With an inbuilt scheduling tool and analytics, it pays to understand and use Business Suite.

This is an introductory workshop to show you around the page and help you figure out all the tools available to you.

Date and time

Tue 15th Nov 2022, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm AEST

 

Online Event

This online workshop will be held on Zoom. The link will be emailed upon registration.

Register here – https://events.humanitix.com/understanding-meta-business-suite

 

Understanding Manufacturing Support Webinar

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The Understanding Manufacturing Support Webinar will be hosted by the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning SEQ South Regional Office run in partnership with Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water and is aimed at providing Queensland manufacturers valuable information on Queensland Government grants and support for manufacturers.

 

In the 45 minute webinar session Queensland Manufacturers will understand:

 

  • DRDMW in delivering the Queensland Advanced Manufacturing 10-year Roadmap and Action Plan
  • The assistance provided by the Regional Manufacturing Hubs including the Manufacturing Hubs Grant Program – (relevant to Gold Coast suburbs only).
  • The Made in Queensland (MIQ) Grant for the opening of Round 5 and application instructions on how to apply
  • How DSDILGP can help your manufacturing business.

 

 

Register here via the Eventbrite link:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/understanding-manufacturing-support-tickets-448734546107

ASPIRE Workshops

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Empowering businesses to exchange waste as a resource

Scenic Rim Regional Council has partnered with ASPIRE, a digital business tool that brings businesses together to exchange value.

♻️ ASPIRE helps businesses reduce costs associated with waste disposal and inputs, and support the environment by saving on carbon dioxide emissions.

ASPIRE’s online matchmaking tool uses innovative software to help you recognise how waste can be used as a resource and realise the value of exchanging these resources.

Council and ASPIRE are looking to work with local Scenic Rim businesses to assist in creating a circular economy.

Businesses with under 100 full time employees can join ASPIRE for FREE. Businesses with 100+ full time employees also get a 20% discount to join the marketplace.

📍 A series of in-person workshops will be held during National Recycling Week (7 – 13 November) at Boonah, Beaudesert, Canungra and Tamborine Mountain.

For venue details and times, and to book your FREE spot, click here.

Read about the array of benefits for your business on Council’s website.

Boonah Christmas Festival Parade Registrations are OPEN!

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The Boonah District Chamber of Commerce in partnership with sponsoring businesses will present the Boonah Street Festival on Thursday evening December 15, 2022.

We would welcome the involvement of businesses and clubs in the Festival Parade as we know it would not be possible without community support.

This year the theme is ‘Let’s Celebrate’ so this is your chance to decorate with all the sparkle of Christmas.

Again, we would appreciate your support and ask that you complete the PARADE REGISTRATION FORM to enable us to plan the process to flow as smoothly as possible.

Details for the Festival Parade

Venue: Register with steward at the Boonah Showground where formation will be determined and parade numbers will be allocated
Date: Thursday 15th December 2022
Time: Please assemble at 5.00pm – floats are to be positioned and ready for a 5.30pm start from the Boonah Showgrounds

Please send any other enquiries to Victoria Corner

[email protected]

or  call 0428 454 213

Register Here

DESBT Connections Update

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Safe Work Month

Safe Work Month raises community and industry awareness about the importance of work health and safety, and best practice rehabilitation and return to work. But this is not something we should work on just in October – safer, healthier workplaces are for everyone, every day.

Get involved by promoting safe work in your workplace or participate in the many events organised by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.

There’s something for everyone with programs covering topics like good work design, incident preparedness, creating a positive culture around workplace safety and wellbeing and more.
To learn more, access events or view resources to promote Safe Work Month, visit WorkSafe.qld.gov.au.

Strengthen your small business with a new online training course for work health and wellbeing
The rise of COVID-19 brought unprecedented financial and emotional pressures to many workplaces, particularly small businesses. These pressures can have a major impact on work health, safety and wellbeing.

The work health and wellbeing interactive course has four modules that focus on how to embed work health and wellbeing intobusiness systems to improve the health of your workers and workplaces.

Small business owners, managers, health and wellbeing coordinators, human resources staff and health and safety advisors will all benefit from this course.

Head to the Work Safe website to grow your skills around how to integrate work health, safety and wellbeing into your small business.

 

Queensland Mental Health Week

Queensland Mental Health Week is being held between 8-16 October.  The week focuses on the importance of mental health and wellbeing, and reducing the stigma associated with mental illness.

Protecting the psychological health of workers is just as important as protecting their physical health. During your career, it’s highly likely you will work with or manage someone with a mental health condition.

In fact, 1 in 5 Australians experience a mental health condition in any year and 1 in 2 Australians will experience a mental health condition in a lifetime.

Get involved! Attend one of the many free events held during the week to show your commitment to building mentally healthy workplaces, nurture your teams’ capabilities and improve your awareness of psychological health and safety and early intervention.

One way the Queensland Government is supporting Queenslanders’ better mental health is through new small business wellness coaches. We have partnered with the Queensland Mental Health Commission, the Queensland Small Business Commissioner, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland to engage six new small business wellness coaches located across Queensland.

These new coaches join the network of small business financial counsellors and tourism financial counsellors to provide a complete package of support for small businesses. Keep an eye out for more information about how to access these Small Business Wellness Coaches in your area.

Remember, if you or someone you know needs support, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.

Visit Mental Health Week website

 

Train and Retrain Staff with Micro-credentialling Courses

With skills and staff shortages hampering many tourism businesses, the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) and Queensland Government are providing industry operators and their staff with access to hundreds of free of charge tourism and hospitality-related online courses.

Micro-credentialling courses are flexible, bite-sized courses delivered online. They’re a great way to upskill and onboard new and current employees inhouse.

Staff can be trained in as little as 40-minutes with industry-specific skills. The learnings provided by the courses are helping to fill critical skill gaps and improve staff retention.

Learn more and register

 

Business Planning Course

Future-proof your business with an online Business Planning Course, delivered by University of the Sunshine Coast

Micro and small businesses form the foundation of the Australian economy, employing approximately 44 percent of the Australian workforce and contributing around one-third of Australia’s GDP. As approximately 97 percent of Australian organisations are categorised as micro and small businesses it is critical that this industry sector is supported in being successful.

The Business Planning Course is free and designed to provide local business owners with a clear understanding of the key factors that underpin their success and are critical to their long-term survival.

Participating in this course, comprised of a series of workshops, provides a platform for business owners to survive and thrive by adopting and implementing strategic management principles, thereby lowering the rate of business failure.

NB: Businesses located outside of USC course locations are able to participate via registering to complete the course online.  All dates and course outlines are in the link below. This course compliments the Mentoring for Growth Program. Mentoring for Growth
The Business Planning Course is proudly supported by the Queensland Department of Employment, Small Business and Training.

Check eligibility, dates, course information and registration

 

Get in touch with DESBT

Have a specific question or business need?

Want to subscribe to our regional newsletter?
Email your query/request to [email protected] and an officer will be in touch.

Indigenous Business Month – Actions Today, Impact Tomorrow

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Indigenous Business Month is an annual celebration that occurs every October and 2022 marks its 8th year. Indigenous Business Month shines a light on the growing ranks of successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses across Queensland.

This year’s theme is ACTIONS TODAY, IMPACT TOMORROW to inspire the next generation of First Nations business leaders. During all of October, First Nations business owners and their non-Indigenous allies are collectively called upon to gather online, and in the community to look at our actions today, and how they will impact our tomorrow.

Queensland has a thriving Indigenous business sector and we want Indigenous businesses across the state to tap into opportunities to supply their goods and services in the lead up to and after the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Visit the Indigenous Business Month website for more information and keep an eye out for events happening near you by visiting 2022 EVENTS – Indigenous Business Month.

The Gold Coast Indigenous Business Connect event is a connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, industry, executive stakeholders and government representatives.

We will come together to celebrate Indigenous Business Month for:

  • On Country experience, at the monument honouring Jenni Graham
  • Sharing Indigenous Businesses and People opportunities
  • Promoting Indigenous Businesses
  • Participate in business-to-business networking
  • Celebrating Indigenous Culture
  • Showcase Indigenous Business Connect 21-22

When:       Tuesday,  11 October 2022
Time:         9.00am – 11.30am
Where:      HOTA – Outside stage
​        135 Bundall Road
Bundall

RSVP:      6 October 2022

Register Here

6 week Yoga for Anxiety Course

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Owning, managing and working in a small business can be incredibly tough. The uncertainty, inconsistency and heavy work load can all cause increased anxiety. Over the last few years the impacts of COVID have definitely taken their toll and continue to with staff shortages and forced isolations.

This stress has physical, mental and emotional impacts on us humans and can leave us feeling exhausted, isolated and anxious.

The tools of yoga will not protect you from COVID, nor will they reduce business costs or increase revenue, but they will equip you will the ability to accept and stay calm. They may help improve your sleep, reduce your blood pressure, slow your breath rate, release tension from your body and create a positive connection with your colleagues.

Engaging with others can help build a sense of community and support. Thinking about your muscles and your breath, will bring you out of your head and into your body, providing a much needed anchor in uncertain times.

Funded by Wesley Mission COVID Recovery Border Community Service, this 6 week course is free for owners, staff and families of small businesses located on the NSW/QLD border who were part of the Border Bubble. Small business is considered less than 100 employees.

6 week Yoga for Anxiety Course

Starts Mon October 10

6.30pm – 7.30pm (QLD  time)

REGISTER HERE